Saturday, In the Park

The Big Bean

As autumn slowly unfolds and the trees dip themselves in gold and red, the desire to explore new places and new spaces takes hold.  Recently, it was Chicago's Millennium Park and The Art Institute of Chicago.  In the park, it is impossible not to be fascinated by Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate, a 110-ton elliptical sculpture of polished stainless steel, and the Frank Gehry-designed pavilion.  Highlights from the Art Institute include an Edouard Vuillard painting; a Van Gogh self-portrait; Georgia O'Keeffe's Sky Above Clouds IV painting from 1965, so perfectly presented on a staircase landing; two contemporary chairs, Honey-Pop Armchair by Takujin Yoshioka, and the pleated paper Cabbage Chair by Oki Sato that is shipped to the consumer as one compact roll to be open, cut and rolled back into shape upon installation (How cool is that?); a close-up of a must-see-to-believe Jackson Pollack drip painting; and the intensely beautiful stain glass window by Marc Chagall, one of three.  Finally, no weekend visit would be complete without a viewing of George Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 

Click on images to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images by D. Sleziak

Crisp

With crisp evenings, leaves turn colour seemingly overnight

While on a walk, you know it's autumn when delightfully warm days fringed with cool nights bring a touch of bright colour to the foliage; when the shadows lengthen to ghostly delight and trees fill with the trill of song birds migrating south; when a forlorn leaf clings to newly barren branches; when the silky tufts of milkweed burst forth from their pod.

 

 

You know it's autumn when the fresh and light tastes of summer are replaced with a longing for a not-too-sweet yet substantial treat; when what seems perfect is fresh dough rising in a cosy kitchen and baking for a three-hour period is where you find your bliss; when after a walk you return home to a slice of warm Cherry Cheese Sweet Bread.

Softening cream cheese and thawing sour cherries

combine on a rolled yeast dough.

Rolled and placed on parchment then into the oven

followed by cooling, glazing, slicing and serving.

 

 

 

 

 

Images D. Sleziak