So what do you do with all those fresh, gorgeous vegetables you harvest from your backyard garden? You use them in recipes, of course!
I was delighted to come across this little French cookbook, French Cooking In Ten Minutes which was written in 1930 by Edouard de Pomiane. The author was born in 1875 and lived in Paris. He was a doctor specializing in research of the stomach juices, and thus began a logical interest in cooking which then became his passion.
He challenges the 1930 rules of cooking and serving. He writes of an efficient kitchen. He tells us what cooking utensils we need.
He takes us by the hand and guides us through the basics of sauces and soups, building on each to make more complex things like Béarnaise sauce. He shows us how to pan fry a steak and cook perfect eggs. Now we have time to enjoy a lovely meal for our lunch break or supper with a guest.
Continue reading →
What fascinates me about the lovely gardens Monet created at Giverny is that he would continually move his plants around, digging them up and planting them somewhere else. He had a staff of gardeners tending the grounds, so he would give them daily instructions on what he wanted done.
The Artist’s Garden at Giverny
- Claude Monet, 1900
And why did he move his plants around? Continue reading →
Pickfair was the legendary Beverly Hills home of silent film stars
Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.
Its fame was second only to the White House! Doug & Mary entertained not only actors and actresses, but also scientists, athletes, political figures and royalty from all over the world. Pickfair was the home of the very first movie star, the girl with the golden curls, and her dashing equally-famous husband.
It’s hard for us to imagine just how popular Doug & Mary were way back then, before movies talked. They were the King & Queen of Hollywood, adored world-wide. Newly married in 1920, they made their home in the still-wild Hollywood hills in a former hunting lodge that was transformed into an L-shaped, 22-room Tudor mansion, elegantly furnished and dubbed Pickfair. Continue reading →
What’s better than having a nice backyard where you can escape the world? It can be an oasis, a place with special touches that make you happy. It’s flowers and a vegetable garden and butterflies and birds splashing in a fountain. It’s a place where the kids can play and friends can relax.
So, what is it YOU want of your backyard? There it is, just waiting for you to transform it! My backyard – and your backyard – doesn’t have to be just a patch of grass to mow every week. A backyard can be whatever we need it to be to satisfy the desires of our heart.
