Sweet Potato and Stilton Knishes
I have a list of blogs that I typically cycle through for inspiration - recipes, travel and photography. Leading upto Purim, the interweb was flying wild with hamantaschen on every platform. I see them as basically jam cookies in a cool shape. That's it. Then Molly posted a savory potato version that caught my fancy and my hands twitching. I was inspired.
During a casual conversation with a barely Jewish friend, I realised there was a story to hamantaschen, that is named for Haman's Ears, and why it is baked for Purim. Here is the story, if you like, and expectedly, it is filled with Old Testament, love and persecution. And yet....
Dear Florence
Indeed, it isn't about the food or the place. Truly, Florence is the one place I have felt so close to beauty and never felt overwhelmed by it. Rather, it has always sent my spirit soaring, filling me with hope and bringing smiles on my face. Rome may have the power of mind and the history of greatness but Florence has the grace that captures hearts and holds them true for lifetimes. I'll take the gutters of the Florentine streets to the ravishing Trevi fountain because even these smell of metaphorical roses.
Oh Firenze ti amo!! Grazie per il tuo spirito bello.
Festive!
And, so begins my festive season.... With great cheese and simple pairings....
What is the start to YOUR Holidays?
As my time here teaches me, the true value of the Italian culture is in the way they do not see tradition as a shackle but rather as a way of life; A point of differentiation that needs to be proudly maintained and taken joy of. From amazing cheeses to generations old balsamic vinegar to all the cured meats, the magical food history of this land is rich and bountiful. And, unlike the American mentality to hoard and pile richness on richness, the Italians elegantly approach each ingredient with the respect warranted for it all by itself. And, they indeed pair, it is not to be over-the-top but to be subtle complement of flavors that leave your floored with they deceptive simplicity!
Boston for GrownUps
In Boston, I will always find a home, if I am ever homeless in NYC...
Exactly ten years ago, I landed in the US. My stop, New York; the place I call home, in every sense of the word. Two months after I got here, I found myself in a new city, known to me only as a major historic landmark and to a lesser extent, a place where my cousin lived. When I first stepped off the Greyhound bus, looking a little lost, searching for my only family connection, a tenuous one at that. You see, as much as she was my closest relative, I barely knew her. Much like from the city, I didn't know what to expect of this weekend I had signed up for in a new city with a near-stranger.
Saying a story with the Phone
There is a lot written about photography in general and more recently, iPhonography in particular (sorry Androiders; you have the better camera but nobody seems to bother!). Yet, a lot of this literature focuses on getting the shot and less to do with how to say different stories with the same photo. That is, post-processing.
A well shot photograph, that is technically accurate needs no massaging and perhaps, that is why, little is spoken about this part of the process, even though everybody does some amount of it withe every photograph. Still, a photo in a regular camera typically needs less processing and takes less processing.
Today, I sharing some tips and tricks I have picked up playing with my photos. Again, I think this is best with a human element in the image to create emotive effect. It is almost as if you can tell the subject mood, life story, thoughts by what you choose to highlight in the image.