Let It Snow

The first
real snow
of the season

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos D. Sleziak

 

 

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four

The main event at a recent dinner party

In this holiday season, it is all about family, traditions and celebrating.  One multi-generational recipe in my family is for potato pancakes.  Crispy golden brown latkes with a dollop of sour cream -- what could be tastier or more satisfying on a cold winter's night?

                                              Potato Pancakes



                          8 large waxy potatoes, peeled

                          2 medium yellow onions, chopped and sauteed (optional)

                          8 garlic cloves, minced

                          2 tsp salt

                          1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

                          1 tsp paprika

                          1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp marjoram

                          1 egg, lightly beaten

                          1 1/3 cup flour

                          3 Tbsp oil with a high smoke point, such as grapeseed oil, for frying 

               Grate potatoes into a large bowl using the fine side of a box grater or use a food processor 
               to puree potatoes.  Season with salt, pepper, paprika and marjoram, and add onions if
               using.  Stir until well incorporated.  Add egg and mix well, and then add flour, mixing
               well.

               Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Working in batches, drop 1/4 cup
               mounds of potato mixture into the skillet; press lightly with spatula to flatten.  Cook unitl
               golden-brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined
               plate to drain.  Repeat with more oil and remaining mixture, periodically stirring mixture to
               incorporate any liquid.  Serve warm with sour cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo D. Sleziak

Let Them Eat Cake

An array of cakes -- pick one

Yum...

As a child, I had the privilege of attending many wedding celebrations, and it was there that I was first introduced to the most delicious, densely flavourful and wonderfully rich cake.  It was always presented in the same fashion: a slim slice, wrapped tightly in foil, topped with a lace paper doily, and tied with a snippet of slender curling ribbon.  Attached was a small card, a note thanking the recipient for helping the bride and groom celebrate their special day.  Every guest received one, and I often begged my mother for her piece, too, as one was never enough. 

Fast Forward...

 

As an adult, I have been dreaming of baking my own boozy, fruit-studded cake for a number of years.  But, such a creation takes planning, as the all the jewel-like ingredients need to be assembled, and, once the cake is baked, it needs to be tended to over many weeks to ensure proper ageing and fermentation.  In the busy holiday season, year after year, I always seemed to come to the notion of baking a fruitcake too late -- except for this year.  Weeks ago, I poured over the options, considered the possibilities, and found a recipe that recalled, as closely a possible, the cake of my youth.  I altered a few of the "additions" by including pecans and currants, two favourites.  The cake is now lovingly doused weekly as it sits wrapped in muslin.  As the magic happens, the flavours meld and blend and enrich, and with fingers crossed, I will soon be presenting my dinner guests with a decadently delicious token of thanks and goodwill.

The lineup: whole almond, pecan, Brazil nut, date, 
 dried apricot, glaceed pineapple, dried cherry, currant

Ingredients: the mix + eggs + flour + vanilla + rum

       

Into the oven



Wrapped and ready for dousing

 

 

 

 

 

Top photo Marthastewart.com, all others D. Sleziak

Drop

The rain outside
makes
a watercolour photograph

Photo D. Sleziak

Between the Covers: A Good Life



Between the covers -- pages just waiting to be delved into

Last in this three-post series on recommended
reads, Living in Morocco by Barbara and Rene Stoeltie is a visually rich tome that brings readers the authentic Moroccan lifestyle from homes in Marrakesh, Tangier, and beyond.  The individual homes featured offer a highly personal take on living in Morocco and move far beyond the atypical lantern or tile to bring items such as modern art, sixties designs, and 19th century English furniture successfully into the mix; a superbly stunning book, it underscores the eclecticism of Moroccan design.  In addition, the layout is superb, the text is multilingual, and the book includes a glossary of Arabic and Moroccan terms so that readers can distinguish between a dar, a ksar, and a riyad with ease.  If our homes truly are a reflection of our lives, these home owners enjoy a very good life indeed.

Authors Barbara and Rene Stoeltie, former artists and

gallery owners, include incredibly alluring images such

as these details of a garden gate (left) and a star-shaped

pool with roses (right).

 

 

 

Cover shot from Taschen; top photo D. Sleziak

Other images from the pages of Living in Morocco

Between the Covers: A Good Look






Cover shot
 

Hey Good Looking

The recently published, W: The First 40 Years,  chronicles the Who, What and Wow of the fashion magazine's first four decades.  Begun as a large-format bi-weekly publication that sought to capture the latest scoop in fashion and in the lives of the fashionable, today it is a monthly magazine that fuses fashion, fame and art.  More than just a collection of arresting images, the book includes essays that chart the evolution of contemporary culture as captured and created by the publication.  This is a book that is worth a second look.

Cover shot via Chapters/Indigo;

Top image from www.Wmagazine.com with text overlay

Between the Covers: A Good Read

A good read just waiting for you to tuck in

A good read is sometimes hard to come by, but not if you pick up The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany begins her life's work at 72 by acclaimed poet Molly Peacock.  

A Life's Work

 

Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700 -1788) was born of a long line of royalist supporters who were in serve to the crown.  She was a friend of George Frideric Handel's, an occasional dinner partner of Jonathon Swift's, and a life-long friend and companion of Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, the Duchess of Portland.  She was also a wife, two times: once arranged at the tender age of  seventeen to a sixty-one-year-old drunk; a second time married at age forty-three to the love of her life, Patrick Delany.  A fashion connoisseur, a keen observer of nature and an artist, she began her life's work -- the creation of nearly 1000 botanically accurate cut-paper flower collages -- at age 72! 

A Wash, a Snip, a Swirl

A wash of colour, a snip of paper and a swirl of glue combined countless times until 985 astonishingly detailed flower mosaicks (a term Mary ascribed to them) took root and bloomed.  But the book isn't just a biography of Mary Delany and how she came to her life's work; it's a swirl, a flourish, a collage of the author's, Molly Peacock, own life beautifully juxtaposed and interwoven with Mary's, lived nearly three-hundred years ago.  Illustrated with thirty-five full-colour plates, the writing is poetic and engaging, saucy and bold.  Including tidbits 

Cover shot

on fashion, gossip, court life, and politics, it explores the nature of creativity and what it means to have lived a good life.

Today, most of Mary's creations are housed in the British Museum and can be viewed upon request.



Passiflora laurifolia, Bay Leaved (Passion flower) by Mary Delany, August 1777,
from the collection of the British Museum.



 

 

 

 

 Top photo D. Sleziak

Book cover via Chapters/Indigo;  Ilustration via the British Museum.

Simple Pleasure



Morning walk in a landscape wrapped in fog

evokes mystery, serenity and calm;

there is no other place I'd rather be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: D. Sleziak



View Finder

Liberty of London ceramic tile window display 

Imagine...

 

the prettiest scrap of antique Belgian lace from the collection of the Victoria and Albert museum morphing into a visually delicate yet graphically appealing window shade, or...   

 

a classic photographic series becoming the striking border for your deeply coloured, contemporary furnished dining space, or...

 

a text written by the Royal patron of Portuguese exploration, Henry the Navigator, becoming the paper that backs the bookcases in your nautically

theme library, or...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                             

a most beautifully painted Chinoiserie panel         

rendered as a black and white mural gracing

the cupboard in your sitting room...

 

 

 

 

Imagine this and so much more. And then, turn your vision into reality.

 

 

Discover...

A 19th Century Mary Hillier photograph canvas rests on a sideboard
 

Surface View, a British-based firm with an on-line playground that links collections with curators (their wording for you) and blows the possibilities wide open -- any image can be produced in any number of formats, from ceramic tiles and wall decals to mounted prints, epic posters, lampshades and wall murals. Your role is to bring the two together.

 

Explore...

 

and browse the collections of places like the National Portrait Gallery, the Ashmolean Museum, the Royal Horticultural Society and the National Maritime Museum plus other image repositories like the Getty Images Gallery as well as works by contemporary designers and artists.  Select your image and your product and voila, your classic car wall decal will be on its way in no time.  Employing a workshop of skilled craftsmen who digitally re-master images from original sources, they combine cutting-edge technology with old-world care and responsible environmental practises.  So, for that one-of-a-kind accent piece that will set your rooms off from all others, set Surface View within your sight.

 

All images via Surface View


Inside Out

The view from the kitchen window

As the garden transforms from green to gold and beyond, the kitchen keeps pace matching hue for hue, delight for delight.

Outside, as this little beauty cast off her chartreuse green hue of summer for a pale copper shade of autumn,...

inside these darlings traded their pungent sharpness for a slow-roasted mellowness in Todd English's take on creamed onions -- Six-Onion Roast with Goat Cheese and Walnut Crema.



Outside, as this tree sang with the most dazzling yellow leaves, inside this spaghetti squash soared with the bright taste of lemon and the nutty flavour of Parmigiano-Reggiano in a Shrimp and Squash symphony.

 

Outside, while the cool nights coaxed the intense vividness of this flaming burning bush, inside the red richness of these jewels added depth and zing to Cranberry Crumble Muffins.

Outside, as these crisp orange-brown leaves struck a pose against the brilliance of the bright blue sky, inside the creamy texture of pumpkin lent a satisfyingly smooth denseness to Fudge Brownies.

Outside, while these red-orange leaves danced in the clear afternoon light, inside this tureen of vegetables was whirled into the full-flavoured silkiness of Pureed Cauliflower Soup with a touch of Sharp Cheddar cheese.

Outside, while the trees and branches now all lay bare,...



inside our bellies purr with pure satiated delight.

Photos D. Sleziak

Late Bloomer

The blush of Indian summer discovered yesterday in the garden.

 

 

 

 

Photo D. Sleziak

Gratitude

In this season of giving thanks...



Early autumn in the garden



   "Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving."
                                                                                                             -- Kahlil Gibran

Photo D. Sleziak

Where It Comes and Where It Goes

A line in the Himalayas, Richard Long, 1975

 



Inspiration.  Where does it come from? 

From personal experience...

Stone stack, Joshua Tree National Park

From family history...

                                                                    Onions from the farm



From other artists...

Untitled, Richard Long, 1990
(River Avon mud on card)

From nature...

                                                                                 A pair of rocks from my collection



                                            


Inspiration.  What does it lead to?




Muck, Darina Sleziak, 2011
(Charcoal from farm fire and graphite on rag paper)

                                                                              

 

 

 

Photos D. Sleziak