Sunday, May 29, 2016

To The Apron!


Aprons are good-old unisex accessory, and they are not any more just for butchers and cooks. Style is no longer has to be sacrificed for utilitarian functionality in the commercial and domestic kitchens. While most of the hip aprons found in the stores are designed for women, there are also frequently made aprons for men and children. Aprons bring the perfect harmony to celebrate holidays with style and joy of cooking and backing, and joy of fashion.

The culinary and style enthusiasts alike experience a high demand for aprons rebirth. This recent resurgence as fashionable and fun accessory for cooking and entertaining is bringing out the clever designs, array of colors and prints to functionality of the little bit of cloth for domestic tasks. Fashion-forward aprons making women pretty, and they are complimenting their outfits as any other fashion accessory. In retrospective, families want to live better and healthier live-styles and as a result people returning to the kitchen.

My mother, a city lady, always used an apron in the kitchen. She was sewing and used her old Zinger till her old age. She used two sets of aprons – one for domestic and kitchen work, and another to host the guests. She was making beautiful aprons for all three-generation females in our family. At one time, my mother, my daughter, and I worked in the kitchen with matching aprons. My earliest memory runs to my little Indian Dance in mom’s apron, towel turban on the head, and mom’s high heels on a hot summer August day at the family gathering outdoors. In the fifties, Zelda was a champion of table settings and cooking for family and friends in a cocktail apron around her waist when she entertained guests. She was a working woman, and we all had our own responsibilities to help my mother. She knew how to make something from nothing. I can say that I was raised with aprons. My mother was sewing the everyday aprons from old cloth to salvage or from fabric scraps and the fine aprons from new fabric specifically selected to match the tablecloth or outfits, to serve and sit down to dinner. Despite their humble beginnings, the aprons turned out to be real showcases of great sewing skills, and ability to be creative, frugal and artistic.
Fragment from the book entitled "Aprons: Tale of Traditions" written by popular Florida Author, Ida Tomshinsky.
 

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Beer Bread

Beer Bread

3 cups self-rising flour
1 can or bottle beer
2 tablespoons sugar

Mix flour, sugar and beer together. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 375 degree F for forty minutes.

Serve with a simple tossed salad.

Tip: Enhance browning on top, spray loaf with butter-flavored cooking spray before baking.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Structure: A Short Essay

What is structure? In the business company, the future depends on teamwork and structure.
In personal life, each family has settlement structure.
Personal structure comes from the heart, structural tone; from one atom, to two atoms and more, to shape and design something that last, very complex, very hearty and warm - building a perfect family-like structure. Every brick has design forms, follows the structure and future-perfect architecture digest.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Alexandrite & Pearl, June Birthstones


Alexandrite is the fusion of Garnet, and, by extension, Ruby and Sapphire, Amethyst, and Pearl. If you love magic, especially the magic of science, you’ll love Alexandrite, the color-change gem. Outside in daylight, it is a cool bluish mossy green. Inside in lamplight, it is a red gem with a warm raspberry tone. People say, “emerald by day, ruby by night.” It flicks back and forth by switching from fluorescent to incandescent light. The value of the gemstone increases as the color change becomes more distinct. It is truly spellbinding to see the spectacular changing colors in this wonderful gemstone; someone might feel some of the mysterious magic and lore ascribed to it such as to strengthen intuition, aid in creativity, and inspire the imagination.

Originally, Alexandrite discovered in Russia’s Ural Mountains in the 1830s. Those first gems were of very fine quality and displayed vivid hues and dramatic color change. The gem was named after the young Alexander II, heir apparent to the throne. It caught the country’s attention because its red and green colors mirrored the national military colors of imperial Russia. It’s now found in Sri Lanka, East Africa, and Brazil; but this gem is exceptionally rare and valuable. Most cut gems weigh less than one carat. Larger, higher-quality gems rise in price dramatically.

“Green in sunlight.
Red in lamplight.
Color-changing Alexandrite
is nature’s magic trick.”

Pearls are also the June birthstone. In all of human history, mankind has admired, even worshipped, pearls. Persian mythology called them “the tears of the gods.”

 Ancient Chinese legend claims the moon holds the power to create pearls, instilling them with its celestial glow and mystery. Pearls are unique because they are the only gemstone formed within a living creature. Since natural pearls are rare and difficult to recover from the ocean’s depths, man invented the technique of culturing salt and freshwater pearls from mollusks carefully seeded with irritants similar to those produced by nature. Cultured pearls come in many beautiful colors, from pale cream and white to rose, lilac, green, gold, gray, and black. There are four main types of cultured pearls: Akoya, South Sea, Tahitian, and freshwater each having unique qualities.

Today, pearls are both classic and contemporary; a strand of white pearls can be timeless, but a bracelet of chocolate pearls is more modern. One thing to keep in mind with pearls, no matter the color or size, they can be worn every day or they can complement the most formal attire.

 

Monday, May 16, 2016

The Voice of the Grass

Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere;
By the dusty roadside,
On the sunny hillside,
Close to the noisy brook
In every shady nook,
I come creeping, creeping everywhere.

Here I come creeping, smiling everywhere;
All around the open door,
Where sit the aged poor;
Here where the children play,
In the bright and merry May,
I come creeping, creeping everywhere.

(Sarah Roberts)

Monday, May 9, 2016

Veggies


 
Photographer: Ida Tomshinsky, 2016
 
Radish and Dill 

Saturday, May 7, 2016

From the Pantry: 5 Minute Prep



 
Photographer: Ida Tomshinsky, 2016
 
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Rigatoni: Serves 4
Place the tomatoes, garlic, basil, rosemary and cheese in a blender and process until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. In a large pan, heat the vegetable broth. Add the pesto and stir on medium heat. Add the rigatoni or any other pasta and 1/4 cup cheese and continue cooking on medium-low for 5 minutes until hot. Garnish with cheese and fresh tomatoes.