LEMONS-It Must Be Spring

We mostly called it macaroni, sometimes shells and sometimes spaghetti – today it seems it’s just pasta.  But whatever you call it, this dish is a delightfully different main or side dish for this season.

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 lb linguine

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 shallots minced

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp grated lemon zest, plus 2 TBS lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package instructions.  Reserve 1 cup of pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.  Meanwhile, in a small pot, heat oil over medium  Add shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until tender, 4 minutes.  Add cream and lemon zest.  Bring to boil and cook until slightly thickened, 8 minutes.  Add lemon juice and season to taste with salt and paper. Pour cream sauce over pasta and toss, adding enough pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats pasta.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Every Day Food

Dried cloves (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I‘m grating the ginger on my food, sprinkling tumeric all over and eating cherries and pineapple.  But there’s more….

Natural remedies have been around since the beginning of time.  I often wonder how early man discovered that a certain herb or leaf when applied or eaten had the desired medicinal effect.  When I was in South Africa and visiting the Botanical Gardens in Capetown, I was astounded by the number of plants I had NEVER heard of that were used to treat various conditions and ailments.  We know from tales and folklore of the Medicine Men of Native American Indian tribes, of mid-wives and holistic physicians.  Such a dichotomy to the world we mostly live in today; There’s a pill for anything and everything.  We would probably all be much better off if we looked to the kitchen once in a while and ate a diet that included those fruits and vegetables that have great healing properties.

As you know I have already posted a few of these wonderful natural healers in a previous blog; PAIN??? Look To The Kitchen

Here are few more:

Toothache: 

Gently chewing on a clove can ease tooth pain and gum inflammation for two hours straight, say UCLA researchers. Experts point to a natural compound in cloves called eugenol, a powerful, natural anesthetic. Bonus: Sprinkling a ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves on meals daily may also protect your ticker. Scientists say this simple action helps stabilize blood sugar, plus dampen production of artery-clogging cholesterol in as little as three weeks.

Stomach Ailments:

Indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel diseases…if your belly always seems to be in an uproar, try munching 18 ounces of fish weekly to ease your misery. Repeated studies show that the fatty acids in fish, called EPA and DHA, can significantly reduce intestinal inflammation, cramping and belly pain and, in some cases, provide as much relief as corticosteroids and other prescription meds. “EPA and DHA are powerful, natural, side effect-free anti-inflammatories, that can dramatically improve the function of the entire gastrointestinal tract,” explains biological chemist Barry Sears, Ph.D., president of the Inflammation Research Foundation in Marblehead , MA . For best results, look for oily fish like salmon, sardines, tuna, mackerel, trout and herring.

PMS:

Up to 80 percent of women will struggle with premenstrual syndrome and its uncomfortable symptoms, report Yale researchers. The reason: Their nervous systems are sensitive to the ups and downs in estrogen and progesterone that occur naturally every month. But snacking on 2 cups of yogurt a day can slash these symptoms by 48 percent, say researchers at New York ’s Columbia University . “Yogurt is rich in calcium, a mineral that naturally calms the nervous system, preventing painful symptoms even when hormones are in flux,” explains Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., a professor of gynecology at Yale University .

Foot Pain:

Experts say at least six million Americans develop painful ingrown toenails each year. But regularly soaking ingrown nails in warm salt water baths can cure these painful infections within four days, say scientists at California ’s Stanford University . The salt in the mix naturally nixes inflammation, plus it’s anti-bacterial, so it quickly destroys the germs that cause swelling and pain. Just mix 1 teaspoon of salt into each cup of water, heat to the warmest temperature that you can comfortably stand, and then soak the affected foot area for 20 minutes twice daily, until your infection subsides.

Sore Muscles:

Suffering from tight, sore muscles? Stubborn knots can hang around for months if they aren’t properly treated, says naturopath Mark Stengler, N.D., author of the book, The Natural Physician’s Healing Therapies. His advice: Three times each week, soak in a warm tub scented with 10 drops of peppermint oil. The warm water will relax your muscles, while the peppermint oil will naturally soothe your nerves — a combo that can ease muscle cramping 25 percent more effectively than over-the-counter painkillers, and cut the frequency of future flare-ups in half, says Stengler.

Thanks to my friend Gail for sending me this informative and helpful information!

Linguine with Spring Vegetables

Pasta is such a seasonal dish especially when you cook it with vegetables.  The winter sauces are hardy, rich and often made with root vegetables.  Come Spring and Summer, we lighten up the dishes with lighter sauces and lots of garden fresh vegetables.

Coarse salt and ground pepper

3/4 lb linguine

1 lb asparagus (trimmed) and cut into 1″ lengths

1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

4 oz sugar snap peas (stem ends trimmed), halved

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 TBS buter cut into pieces

2 TBS fresh tarragon leaves

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 4 minutes short of al dente; add asparagus, zucchini, and snap peas.  Cook until vegetabless are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.  Reserve 1/2 to 1 cup of pasta water.  drain pasta mixture and set aside.

In the same pot, bring cream and butter to a simmer.  Toss in pasta mixture and enough pasta water to create a thin sauce (it will thicken as it stands).  Season with salt and pepper, and top with tarragon.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Every Day Food

TOWN is encouraging the public to interact with the company’s website by posting photos of interesting buildings, facades, street scenes, anything that speaks New York to them.   We have so many landmarks, so many pre-war buildings with amazing sculptures, setbacks, cornices and spires.  However, do most visitors and for that matter denizens actually see this beauty.  The answer is a resounding NO.  You have to look up, as in LookUpNY.  That’s not to say that New York is all about what’s up in the air.  I have been scrolling through the hundreds of photos already submitted and there are snippets of neighborhoods, parks, statues, landscapes, seascapes and more; After all New York is a pretty big city!

I strongly suggest you visit http://www.townrealestate.com/lookupny/ and look at the fabulous photos, check out the daily quiz question about the photo of the day in the Gallery.

This is MY blog so you can guess this is heading someplace other than the TOWN web site.  I asked Murray to give me some photos I could submit to TOWN and who knows maybe he would win.  All I wanted was to go on the helicopter ride around the City which is part of the first prize.  I picked the ones I wanted to enter and was about to file all of them on my computer when it occurred to me what would make a better FAB FOTO FRIDAY than several of his spectacular shots of The Chrysler Building.  This striking landmark, this icon of the City deserves a blog post of its own.

I did some quick research and just a couple of remarkable facts are:

Ground breaking:  September 1928

Built at the pace of 4 floors per week – no workers died on the job

Originally designed to be 975 ‘ – 125′ added when the spire topped off the building.  The spire was built secretly inside the building and then hoisted onto to the dome and lowered into the 68th floor .  The remaining sections of the spire took a mere 90 minutes to bolt in place.

Built to house Chrysler Headquarters, there are many homages to the auto industry;  radiator caps, hub cap design, setbacks with abstract images of automobiles, gargoyles like hood mascots anchor the upper corners of the building.

Briefly the highest building in the world until the Empire State building eclipsed it.

BUT enough words, take a look at the pictures!

Art Deco Architecture

The Chrysler Building at Night

This is MY CITY

Reflections

Hood Ornament in the Sky

Two Iconic Figures
Nacho and the Chrysler Bldg

All photos courtesy of Murray Head

Actually it wasn’t the ingredients as much as it was the cooking technique that brought such flavor into every mouthful.  If you recall, the cauliflower was blanched for 3 minutes in the pot of boiling water that would also be used to cook the pasta.  So when the pasta was cooking in the water that the cauliflower had been in, it absorbed a light flavor that was as I said, delicious!  

Well my passion for pasta got me thinking about how many of my Tuesday recipes were pasta dishes and so I’ve decided to make a new category on the blog; We Called It Macaroni.  And I’m going to be publishing a LOT of pasta recipes! I’m no Lydia however, I’m taking on the job of educating my readers to the joys of Italian cooking, particularly PASTA, and taking them beyond red sauce and meatballs!  You can now search the blog category We Called It Macaroni for any of the pasta recipes published previously.  ”Mangia”

Lovely light and flavorful pasta dish.

Orchiette with Brocolie Rabe, Oregano and Lemon

Coarse salt and ground pepper

3/4 orchiette or other small pasta shape

1 bunch broccoli rabe (1 lb) – trimmed, cut into 1 1/2 ” pieces

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 TBS fresh oregano leaves, for serving

2-3 TBS fresh lemon juice , for serving

In  a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to directions, adding broccoli rate 4 minutes before the end of cooking.  Meanwhile, in a small saucepan heat oil, garlic and red pepper flakes over medium heat until garlic begins to sizzle, 2 minutes.  

Drain pasta and broccoli rabe and return to pot.  Add oil mixture and toss to coat;  season to taste with salt and pepper.  * I always sprinkle a little Peccorino-Romano or other Italian grating cheese on top of my pasta dishes

To  serve, sprinkle oregano over pasta and drizzle with lemon juice.

** As you can see, this recipe uses only olive oil as the sauce for the pasta dish;  Therefore you should definitely use the small pasta shapes such as orchiette and secondly when I see a recipe calling for so little sauce I often save a cupful of the pasta water to add to the sauce. Also I would use as many garlic cloves as I wished and just shake the red pepper flakes in and not measure.

***  You can also add cherry tomatoes with the garlic and cook them till they burst, add yet another dimension of flavor and texture to your dish.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Every Day Food

Jackie Robinson

“Give me a number and I’ll give you the guts” turned out to be a promise hard to keep.  When Branch Rickey , the General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers made the unprecedented and momentous decision to bring a Negro ball player into the major leagues, he altered the future outcome of American baseball.  Rickey had it in his mind to change the game, prove that he still had it, and assuage a gnawing age-old guilt he harbored from his college days.  And of course baseball was his life and his business and he knew the way to infuse life and money into it, was to win and win big.  His eye was on the prize of the World Series.

But back to the promise…Branch Rickey planned on adding a black baseball player to his farm team, the Montreal Royals with the intention of bringing that player into the Dodgers.  But not just any player;  The man would have to be good, he would have to be strong, he would have to have courage and conviction, he would have to have a thick skin and he would have to want the prize as much as Rickey did.  He found these characteristics and qualities in Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, a short stop playing for the         Kansas City Monarchs.  Rickey knew that the road ahead for this player would be fraught with every kind of discrimination that was still prevalent in our country at that time.  He knew and hoped Robinson who was known to have a temper, would be able to withstand the pressures and pain that came with the number.  All that Branch hoped for was, Promises made, promises kept.

In the 1940′s post-war era, baseball became and has remained as The National Pastime of the American public.  People of all ages flocked to the games;  It was an inexpensive and entertaining way to spend the afternoon and could also be a family affair.  There were two  white leagues (AL + NL) and the Negro league, each with their own style and fans and never the two to mix.  That is until Branch Rickey decided to break the color barrier.

Brian Helgeland directed this film based on the significance of Jackie Robinson’s role in baseball.  He extracted an excellent performance  from Harrison Ford.   Although at times, one might say Ford’s portrayal of Branch Rickey bordered on caricature, he was entirely believable and best of all, you forget that you are watching the former Indiana Jones.  I thought there were notable performances from John C. McGinley who played the Red Barber, T. R. Knight as Harry (Harold Parott), Rickey’s right hand man, and André Holland who portrayed Wendell Smith, the sports writer for the Pittsburgh Courier, and Lucas Black as Pee Wee Reese.  Chadwick Boseman embodied the moody and guarded reticence of the angry young Robinson and showed us a deeply moving  display of pent-up anger and frustration when Robinson was being horrendously taunted by Ben Chapman, (Alan Tudyk), the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

42 brings the injustice and ultimately the absurdity of racial discrimination  once again to the forefront of our consciousness much in the same manner as The Help.  We are collectively ashamed and cheered by the triumph of those oppressed characters, once again confirming the age-old adage that good triumphs over evil.  Rickie predicted it himself when he said, “ We can win only if we can convince the world that I’m doing this because you’re a great ballplayer, a fine gentleman.”

I found myself tearing up during many scenes, it was emotionally moving.  I Loved It!

Flag of the United States on American astronaut Neil Armstrong’s space suit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having spent a good part of last week and this weekend listening to the news channels practically all day, the word radicalization kept popping up.  This is not a word we use in our everyday conversation and so its use stood out in broadcast.  Of course its use and application in this instance made it all the more prominent.

It got me thinking about another word that is used again and again in news broadcasts: Embedded.  You hear this word whenever the news is about a war or war zone.  It refers to a journalist or reporter who is traveling along with a platoon or regiment and he or she are embedded with the troops.

Interesting that these two words stand out to me and I am trying to think of some more words that have been co-opted into a use other than perhaps their original meaning and intent.  Sadly, these two words apply to our state of the world where terrorism, unrest, war and strife are often front page news.

I grew up in the 50′s and other than listening to war stories from my Dad, I don’t remember any new words creeping into our vernacular.  Well let me amend that by adding astronaut, cosmonaut, sputnik and muttnik were certainly words I had not encountered up to the point when the USSR and the USA  began to race to space.  

The next influx of terms and words that I remember coming into everyday use, came as a result of the Vietnam War.  Napalm, Agent Orange, guerilla warfare are just a few that come to mind (it was a long time ago).  Again the language of war!  So sad that it is under severe circumstances that the new words appear or the old ones take on a nuance, we’ve not acknowledged before.

Of course the technology of the late 70′s and 80′s and 90′s has brought us not only words but a whole new language.  Gigabytes, megabytes, micro chips, HTML, beta, VCR, CD, DVD, Tivo, hard drive, software, hardware, firewall, spam, and on and on.  I know a whole blog post could be created just with the language of technology – I could start with Hi-Fi !!

Other than the slang of youth, their own mis-use and/or decision to re-invent a meaning of a word (i.e. like, random, down, sick) and so on, I wonder what other words have come into our daily vernacular?  What words do you know or remember as taking on a new meaning or were or are being used on a much more regular basis?  PLEASE let us all know.  I just dashed this blog post off this morning without much aforethought and no research so would greatly appreciate reader input!!

]]> http://pbenjay.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/radicalized-embedded/feed/ 1 pbenjay Flag of the United States on American astronau... http://pbenjay.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/the-friday-finale-au-revoir-quebec-a-bientot/ http://pbenjay.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/the-friday-finale-au-revoir-quebec-a-bientot/#comments Sun, 21 Apr 2013 04:32:50 +0000 pbenjay http://pbenjay.wordpress.com/?p=14086 ]]> The Friday Finale – Farewell Quebec – See You Soon

The last day of your vacation always comes too soon, whether you’ve been gone two weeks or 4 days!  We planned this trip with that i mind so we booked return flights just after 5:00pm with the thought that we would have a good part of the day to continue our exploration of the charming village of Vieux Quebec.  

After a breakfast of crèpes and the usual assortment of toasts, bread, ham, cheese, a pork breakfast paté, and about 100 jams, jellies and spreads – whew! We went back to our rooms and packed. Marjorie graciously allowed us to store all of our belongings for the rest of the day and so out and off we went!  

The day was significantly warmer than it had been all week but there were some clouds so it was hard to decide what to wear now and on the way home because everything else would be packed.  By now you must know what our first stop was – Yes we went to the Starbucks in the Frontenac.  The Chateau is clearly the focal point of the town, if not by its sheer size then certainly by its magnificent facade.  Each side of this historic structure is different and impressive in its own right.

Looking Up, Up, Up

The Morning Fix

We took a different route to Starbucks this morning and passed by a beautiful Art Deco building.  Known as the Price building, we discovered it was the very building that we had admired for the past several nights.  In the evening, it was lit up and bore a striking resemblance to the Woolworth Building in New York City.  The Price family was in paper and in the dazzling lobby were some plaques depicting the industry.

Logging is the backbone of the paper industry

Matt and Stacey wanted to walk up to The Plains of Abraham and I had had it with walking up any more hills so we accompanied them part of the way and then we meandered through some of the more residential streets of Old Quebec.  From the top of the hill on the Plains, Matt captured some beautiful photos of the city below and beyond.

View from the Plains of Abraham. The south side of the Frontenac is in the distance.

A closer view:

A bust of Samuel Champlain in the forefront

All good things must come to an end and so we joined each other for lunch at a restaurant we had discovered the first day we were in Quebec but had not frequented.  Restaurant 1640 proved to be a great place to have our farewell meal.  The cream of vegetable soup was delicious and my quiche was just the right size.

Farewell lunch at Restaurant 1640

So it’s au revoir Quebec, à bientôt!

All photos courtesy of Matthew Weinstein

THIS IS MATTHEW!

The weather did a 360 and went from sunshine to clouds with the threat of rain and the temperature dropped a bit.  Already totally acclimated as true Québécquois, we didn’t let a few clouds and raindrops deter us from our mission.  Today’s sojourn was to be a walking tour of the Upper City;  Quebec City consists of an Upper City and a Lower City.  Hardly surprising as I’ve tried to relate to you the many ups and downs of the town.  Armed with umbrellas we set off;

“Neither snow nor rain nor dark of night…”

We headed straight to the Starbucks located on the Grande Allee for a shot of caffeine and warmth.  Note the girls are wearing gloves today!  The Upper City is outside the walls of Old Quebec and the size and magnitude of  the buildings was a far cry from the stone houses in Vieux Quebec.  Below is a photo of the street and doorway of our B & B.

Chez Marie-Claire
64 Rue Sainte Ursule

The Ursuline nuns are a real presence in our neighborhood.  There is a museum devoted to their order, they run a school and there are several plaques in the area with historical information regarding their historical contribution to the town.

As I said, the Grande Allee is home to several government buildings, the largest being The Parliament (pictured below).

The Parliament of Quebec

The ediface is adorned with multiple life-size bronze statues depicting the heroes, statesmen and other historic figures.  We went inside just to see the lobby and went through a security check just a shade less than an airport.  Built in the late 1800′s it’s 8 stories high and quite elegant inside.

From there we took a quick look at The Plains of Abraham which on this day looked rather dismal and empty and certainly it was windier there than on the streets where the large buildings buffered us from some of the wind gusts.  We passed a very large castle-like building which was the Mènage Militaire.  

Time to eat again (quell surprise)!  This afternoon we seem unable to make a unified decision as to where and what to eat!  Everyday, I say I don’t care because I don’t usually eat lunch, however in the end I try to find something on the lighter side.  Since we couldn’t agree on a restaurant or an ethnicity, we opted to go to Epicerie Europeenne, which was essentially a small market with a superb cheese and olive selection as well as pre-prepared sandwiches.  Good choice for all!  We decided to pick up some local cheese, a baguette, some olives and some gin and Bloody Ceasars for a pre-dinner at home cocktail hour. Another good choice!

Au Revoir!

All photos courtesy of Matt Weinstein

Breakfast Is Served

Animated Conversation Between Brother and Sister

Marjorie gives us some ideas as to where to go and what to see on this lovely day.  We are going to go to the Lower City and explore the many boutiques on Rue Petit Champlain and then walk to the street where there are many antique shops.  Quebec City is a multi-level town.  I think our hotel is somewhere in the middle and it’s a long way down!  I say let’s take the Funicular, if not for the ease then at least for the experience.  Of course it WAS an experience.  The four of us are in this rather small green metal and glass box 193 feet up and on our way down the track WHEN all of a sudden it lurches to a stop 2/3 of the way down. Oh boy!

193 Feet Up!

Uh, We’ve STOPPED

Eventually it began again and we don’t know why it did or why it stopped and when we got to the bottom and saw the ticket-taker at the other end, he apologized to us that our car was suspended for 3-4 minutes!

Stacey and I discovered a fantastic kitchen supply store and saw so many gadgets that we had never seen in the USA.  We each bought a pair of scissors that will chiffonade herbs – I can’t wait to use them on basil to make a fabulous Sunday sauce.    We meandered our way through the oldest part of Vieux Quebec admiring the architecture and reading the numerous plaques provided by the government informing us of the historical significance of the buildings and places.

This is the Place Royale, the original centre of Vieux Quebec

Our foursome spends considerable amount of time discussing when they’re going to eat and where they’re going to eat and here we are in a Vietnamese restaurant – with me slurping up a delicious soup.

The hostess instructs me in the art of eating this soup.

No trip to another country or state would be complete for us if we didn’t find the antique section or at least a flea market.  Stacey dons a hat and strikes a pose.

Combien ca coute?

More walking and eventually we are looping back towards home and that means what goes down must now go up but we’re not near the funicular and I groan as I look up at the stairs and the elevation we need to reach to get back.  We walked through the ramparts amidst more cannons than I have ever seen before.  As we climbed higher and higher the views were amazing, and one of the most surprising would be below!

The Port of Quebec is FROZEN still!!!

It was good to get home and sit down and curl up in my overstuffed armchair.

All photos courtesy of Matthew Weinstein