But I Digress… | a blog by mari gold, on food, travel & life

Water, Water Everywhere

Posted on March 11, 2016 by marigold

Botswana flag

Zimbabwe flag

Victoria Falls is in Zimbabwe, next door (geographically–bureaucratically it’s miles) from Botswana. Borders of the two countries are about twenty feet apart but crossing from B to Z involves going into an immigration “office”, forking over $30 and waiting two minutes for a Zimbabwean visa, a government money machine. We went first to our hotel on the Zimbabwe side (the Falls are on the Zim/Zambezi border) and then into the entirely missable town, a haven of souvenir shops and men hawking dubious goods.

The Falls, while not word’s highest or widest, are considered the largest existing sheet of falling water. They were “discovered” by David Livingstone in 1885 –he’s one half of the probably apocryphal quote, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” uttered by reporter Henry Stanley. Livingstone, the first European to see the falls, was suitably impressed, naming them in honor of Queen Victoria. The more colorful name, still in use is Mosi-oa-Tunya—”the smoke that thunders.”

Our local guide walked us from one end of the falls to the other passing through rain forest vegetation. You get delightfully wet here and there. Along the way you climb down a longish flight of stone steps to see the Devil’s Cataract and then up to view Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls, where the water yields a perpetual rainbow, and other sections . Towards the end of the path is the Victoria Bridge where guys bungee jump, screaming (with fear, delight or some combo of the two) as they plunge. (I passed.)

Leaving the park there is a statue of mining magnate Cecil John Rhodes who was Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896 and is now very un- PC due to his imperialistic attitude and setting the template for apartheid.

This recipe has nothing to do with the Falls or Africa but water is part of the name and it makes delicious soup.

Watercress Soup
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 large white potato (12 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (2 cups)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 bunches (14 ounces total) watercress, thick stems trimmed, coarsely chopped
Lemon wedges, for serving
Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil and garlic, cook until sizzling and fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in potato and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook 1 minute.
Add stock and 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in watercress. Return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among soup bowls and squeeze a lemon wedge into each bowl. Serve immediately.

Serve as a first course or a light lunch with bread and cheese, perhaps a salad. There are lots of excellent South African white wines to drink with this although not all are easy to find in the U.S. Good hunting.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Botswana, bridge, water, Zimbabwe | Comments Off

Into Africa

Posted on February 28, 2016 by marigold

Our first stop after entering sub-Saharan Africa at Johannesburg was Eagle Island, a private game reserve in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. After the “rules” were laid out–the main one being not venturing out at night without a staff member in case of animal unruliness–we were served an elaborate high tea and met Moses, our guide. Moses knows every tree, springbok and termite for miles –even this tiny, baby banded mongoose.

Next morning on our first game drive (getting up at 5 or so is part of the game reserve drill), we met antelopes of many flavors (by the end of the trip I kick myself for inwardly saying “oh, just another herd of Impala”), warthog, elephants, hippos in water (when they open those jaws wide, it’s not to say “ahh”, it’s to signal displeasure) and a Malibu stork killing and swallowing a long snake. Yummy.

When not out viewing animals, our digs are beyond luxurious with beds shrouded in mosquito netting, excellent food, terrific in-and- outdoor showers, our own mini-pool and an introduction to that all-African snack, biltong, similar to our beef jerky and available in beef, kudu and other exotic flavors.

Looking out from Eagle Island

Several days later we move, via another ten-seater plate, to Ngoma Lodge further north overlooking a stunning view of the Chobe River. Here I learn to tell if an elephant is a lefty or righty (check which tusk is more worn down) and how to sex a giraffe (boys have thicker horns.) It’s also where Johannes, our guide, pulls our Land Rover off the road at lunchtime, setting out a complex meal complete with tablecloth and napkins. Afterwards there’s a dramatic afternoon show at the river: Impala locking horns to practice fighting; two large male elephants struggling as one attempts to hold the other underwater while the rest of the herd arrives trumpeting to check on the fracas. Then it’s Murder on the Chobe when a cow is set upon by a crocodile. The struggle is both gruesome and fascinating; we watch for a long time as the cow runs out of steam. Back to the lodge for drinks and dinner but, thank God, the choices are grilled fish or lamb curry, not beef.

Lamb Curry (converted to pounds from kilos so you don’t have to)
2 lbs boneless lamb
1 large onions, chopped, about 3 1/2 cups
3-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp olive oil with butter
2-3 Tbsp curry powder
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (OK, use dried)
1 tsp thyme, dried
1/2 Meyer lemon sliced (with rind) –(you can cheat with a regular lemon)
2 peeled and chopped apples (tart green granny smith if possible), about 2 cups
1/4 cup raisins (if you like them–not all that African but good in this dish)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
8-12 small potatoes, quartered, about 1 1/2 pounds
Preheat oven to 300° F. On stovetop, add butter-and-oil mixture to a large covered pot or Dutch oven and turn the burner to medium-high. Brown e meat well and remove it from pan.
Add curry powder , turn heat down to medium and cook gently for a minute or two. Add onions and garlic and cook 5 minutes. Return lamb to pan.
Add coriander, black pepper, cumin, rosemary, thyme, sliced lemon, apples, chicken broth, raisins if using, salt and pepper. Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Cook for 2 hours. Check at 2 hours to see if the meat is falling off the bone. It should be starting to do so. Add the potatoes and cook for another 45 minutes.
To serve, adjust salt and add some more curry powder or cayenne if you dish spicier. Serve over rice with chutney and yogurt.
With this, drink St. Louis Lager, a major beer brand in Botswana. Or, choose from one of S0uth African’s excellent red wines. Or, let it all hang out with mango juice.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Africa, biltong, elephant, hippo | 4 Comments

Posted on January 25, 2016 by marigold

Seized: Inside the Mystery of Epilepsy, an arresting documentary film about the condition, had its genesis via a woman I’ve known since she and my younger daughter were in first grade. The woman, diagnosed as a teen, is now grown with three lovely daughters and a relationship with filmmaker Peter Schnall of Partisan Partners who made the movie together with co-producer Elizabeth Arledge. Seized, screened at the Directors Guide Auditorium on West 57th Street, follows four families, each with a member who has uncontrolled seizures, showing them and their doctors exploring the newest therapies. Some of these help a lot; some a little, some don’t seem to be effective.
All but one of the families was present and participated in the after-film Q–and-A. As many in the room deal with seizure disorders, it wasn’t a huge surprise that someone had an episode; coincidentally, a man seated next to me who was assisted out by Orrin Devinsky, MD, Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry Director, NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, and the doctor the woman who inspired the film works with. In the near future, the film will be available on public television (check local listings); copies will be available to present at schools, libraries and other organizations. It’s well worth watching and hopefully will break down some of the stigma associated with the condition.
Cut to a very different group in a different part of town. The setting was the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem. The event, Operation Conversation: Cops & Kids, is a program of the All Stars Project, to help decrease mistrust between relatively rookie police and inner-city youth. A group of kids and cops “enacted” a typical workshop with role playing; afterwards, we were directed to engage the nearest police officer in conversation for fifteen minutes. I especially enjoyed chatting with a very young Chinese officer, a recent graduate of the Police Academy who is assigned to a tough area in the South Bronx. The program is a great effort although as a white woman I certainly can’t fully understand what it must be like to be challenged by police largely because of the color of my skin.
For the life of me, I couldn’t find a recipe to relate to epilepsy, inner city teens and police so coped out (pun intended) to offer:

Grilled Tuna Puttanesca
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
1-1/2 tsp. rinsed and drained capers
4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium clove garlic, minced
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Pinch granulated sugar
1-1/2 Tbs. chopped fresh basil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 5-oz. tuna steaks (preferably about 1 inch thick)
Heat a pan over medium-high heat.
Combine the tomatoes, olives, and capers in a medium bowl. Heat 2 tsp. of the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. (lot of mediums here, sorry) Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, just until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the red pepper flakes and sugar; stir in the tomato mixture and basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and take off the heat.
Brush both sides of the tuna with the remaining 2 tsp. oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook until rare to medium rare in the center, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Slice the tuna into thick slices and serve topped with the salsa. (If you feel like going more all out, serve with linguini or other pasta.)

Beer? Wine? Your call but cheers for the patients, doctors, kids and cops.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cops, epilepsy, tuna | 1 Comment

Boston: adultery, cucumbers, lost cars

Posted on January 4, 2016 by marigold

In Hopkinton, MA visiting family on a day with no plans Boston beckoned, specifically, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardener. Enlivening my drive into Boston, I blew past the city, this year’s first tribute to my non-existent sense of direction. Recovering, I found the MFA with a long line outside, more than bearable on a beautiful, sunny day. The exhibit, Class Distinctions in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, includes many works never before seen in the U.S, some gathered from private collections, some from other museums.
I especially liked the painting of a barber surgeon at work on a client with the tools of his trade scattered about as well as Rembrandt’s The Ship Builder and His Wife which has never before left Windsor Castle. Kudos to curator Ronni Baer for a fabulous job. The entire show is a gem.

Lunch at the museum café was lovely food-wise but the person who installed the chairs around the good-looking bar in the center needs to rethink them–they’re a good three inches too low so eaters sit uncomfortably below their food like a “drink me” scene straight out of Alice.

Note too-high bar/chair ratio

The nearby Gardner has a small show devoted to works by Venetian-born Carlo Crivelli, The often-overlooked Crivelli, who lived from 1430 or 1435 to about 1494, painted religious subjects exclusively; was banished from Venice for committing adultery, and is known for literally gilded the lily, building up surfaces with low relief plaster he then painted and gilded, adding drama to crowns and armor.

Carlo Crivelli, Saint George Slaying the Dragon, 1470, gold, silver and tempera on panel, 94 x 47.8 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Crivelli was also big on cucumbers which he inevitably included in garlands of fruits and veggies.

For a personal grand finale, I “lost” my car in the MFA parking garage having failed to note the number of the space I was in. Apparently some New Yorkers can’t deal with these new- fangled parking ideas.

In a salute to Crivelli, this is a recipe for Cucumber Sandwiches. I’d serve as an h’ors d’oeuvre with drinks.

1 (8 ounce) package spreadable cream cheese (meaning whipped)
1/4 cup sour cream

1 (7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (1 pound) loaf sliced pumpernickel party bread

2 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced

Mix cream cheese, Italian seasoning and sour cream until well-blended. Spread it on the bread slices and top each with a cucumber slice. If you want to go wild, add a sprig of dill. Wilder yet? Also a small dot of pimento. Live it up.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Boston, car, cucumber, St. George | 4 Comments

Joy to the World A and B

Posted on December 23, 2015 by marigold

NOT Bambi’s parent

Both “Joys” were concerts, the first an “event” at the Church of the Intercession at the northern end of Manhattan. The program centers around Clement Clark Moore, author of A Visit from St. Nicholas. Last year upon arriving, I was handed a pair of antlers which most of the audience were wearing–of course, I put mine on. This year I brought them and came with a friend who wins the antler fashion award as hers are red and feature flashing lights.

The church, a New York City landmark, began in the hamlet of Carmensville north of Harlem. Later Carmensville became what we know as Hamilton Heights where the first church was wooden. Years later, the church joined forces with Trinity Church as one of its chapels; it’s stone and very handsome with wonderful stained glass windows.

This year’s Moore event began with a brass band, children’s choir and dancers; later the poem was read with all the attendant children encouraged to come sit on the chancery stairs. The reading was very dramatic, accompanied by a bass player; last year’s simpler rendition was more to my taste.
Both participants and audience are multicultural; many carols are sung one verse in English, one in Spanish. After the reading and a procession that included St. Nicholas and

The Rector, Church of the Intercession

the Church Rector (looking a bit like Mark Rylance as Cromwell in Wolf Hall) we left the church, glowsticks in hand, and walked down a steep hill to the cemetary where a wreath was laid on Moore’s grave. After came a reception with sandwiches, wine, soft drinks, coffee and cookies.

The second, the Holiday Concert at the Guggenheim Museum, was far chicer and very uptown. Those with First Class (i.e., pricey) tickets sit on chairs level with the musicians where cookies are served. The rest of us stand along the ramp for the whole height of the museum. Music is played by the Vox Vocal Ensemble, conducted by white-tie clad George Steel. There is plenty of brass and percussion (anyone every seen a female percussionist?) The male musicians and singers wore dinner jackets while the ladies mostly opted for long dresses. The eclectic program included a piece composed entirely of clapping; Stravinsky’s Fanfare for a New Theater; Three Kings, a work by conductor Steel (fabulous) and traditional carols, all accompanied by a show of changing lights behind the musicians. Standing at level two of the ramp, Mr. Steel’s comments were impossible to understand but the music was brilliantly performed even though the sound was distorted by the museum space.

Of the two, I give the Guggenheim points on virtuosity and Intersession points on heart. It’s Christmas so there’s room for both.

In the full-on holiday spirit, here’s a recipe for Yorkshire Pudding. I’m not serving it to my clan who will be (I hope) happy with gravlax, pork loin, mushrooms on toast, haricots vert, bread pudding with whiskey sauce and ice cream and a lot else. The holiday beverage is prosecco.

Yorkshire Pudding
3 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk
¾ cup/115 grams all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon/5 grams kosher salt
About 1/4 cup rendered beef or pork fat, olive oil or melted butter (rendering is sort of a challenge in today’s world. It will yield the most delicious Yorkshire but the other fats will work fine.)
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, flour and salt. Do not overmix. Allow the batter to rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. Add a teaspoon of fat to each cup of a 12-cup muffin tin and transfer to the oven to heat, about 5 to 7 minutes. Once hot, divide batter equally to fill the cups about halfway, and return the muffin tin for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the puddings are golden brown and crisp. Serve immediately.
Pass the beverage of your choice and enjoy the holiday. God Bless us every one, as Tiny Tim said

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged antlers, Christmas, church, concert | 6 Comments

Decking the Halls 2015

Posted on December 13, 2015 by marigold

Central Park Arsenal

Time again for the wreath exhibit at the Central Park Arsenal, a building I had never ventured into until, two years ago, a friend mentioned the wreath show.

This year’s group gets a B- as opposed to the A+ of years past. Some wreaths are fun, some, like a nicely executed drawing of weeds, fine as drawings go but only wreath-like in that there’s a curved line at the top and some just plain dull. My votes for Best in Show go to a wreath fashioned from NYC condoms and Holiday Spirits, made of miniature liquor bottles and cleverly cut up beer cans.

The wreath I hang on my own front door must be a good fifteen years old. Made of twisted branches with some bling intertwined, a red bird and holiday bow, it’s become a tradition. I’m also fond of the wreaths around the necks of the Public Library lions, Patience and Fortitude, (Patience on the south; Fortitude on the north.)

Patience, all dolled up for the holidays

A few fun factoids about these guys: They were originally known as Leo Astor and Leo Lenox, after NYPL founders John Jacob Astor and James Lenox. During the 1930s, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia named them Patience and Fortitude, for the qualities he felt New Yorkers would need to survive the economic depression. For the past several years, P and F went wreath-less because of vandalization. Wreaths only returned in 2014, made of marble-safe, marine-grade plywood, fake foliage and no metal. New Yorkers and visitors are glad to have the decorations back; as someone said, without them it was like Rockefeller Center without the tree.

For your own ho ho hoing, here is an ultra-simple recipe for:

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels (courtesy of The Baker Chick)

28 Pretzel Rods

16 oz Dark or Milk Chocolate (dark works better and, for what it’s worth, tastes better, too.)

Chopped Candy Bars, Sprinkles, Mini M&Ms etc

1 cup white chocolate chips

Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment paper or a Sil-pat. (a thingy that keeps whatever you put on it from sticking.)
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate 60 seconds. Remove and stir, and then warm in microwave for 15 second increments until it is smooth.
Start dipping the pretzels right away, using a spoon to bring the chocolate up to where you want and letting it drip down. Set rods on the cookie sheet.
Allow the chocolate to become slightly solid before placing the candy/toppings on or they slide to the side. (Dip 4-5 pretzels, wait a few minutes and then start topping. There is a good 5-7 minute window where the chocolate will still be soft enough to press the toppings in.)
Place each candy piece by hand because rolling or sprinkling won’t work and will end up with a sticky candy-glob mess.
If the melted chocolate in the bowl has started to harden, give it 15 more seconds to get it melted again.
Repeat with the rest of the pretzel rods/toppings.
Melt white chocolate (the same way chips were melted) and drizzle over the pretzels with a spoon.
Place the tray in the freezer to quickly harden the chocolate and then wrap or store.

If you trim a tree, you could hand these out during the process. Or, pass with or instead of dessert. Or just eat them yourself. Messy but good. Happy holidays!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged chocolate, condom, holiday, lion, spirits | Comments Off

Boola Boola

Posted on November 20, 2015 by marigold

Many men in my family went to Princeton but I couldn’t –wrong gender. As a girl, I remember thinking Yale was a terrible place, largely because of football. Over the years, I was dragged to far too many Princeton games, often sitting in Palmer Stadium during rain or snow because my father and uncle were far too interested in the score to deal with a sniveling kid. Games with Yale or Harvard were considered the most exciting; typically, the family males never had a good word for either school.

Times and situations change. Last weekend I went to New Haven to visit a college friend who lives there. We didn’t take a campus tour but strolled around peering inside several of the residential colleges and spent an afternoon at the Yale University Art Gallery. The permanent collection is wonderful as is the exhibit from the British museum, itself currently closed for renovations. The Donald Blumberg photographs were worth close study, especially those taken outside NYC’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral where Blumberg used the dark of the interior to make his subjects stand out, often choosing to photograph at oddly tilted angles.

Blumberg photo from the St. Patrick’s series

We had a lovely sort-of-brunch at Roia, a restaurant occupyi ng what (I think) was the main dining room in the former Taft Hotel, now the Taft Apartments occupied by Yale-affiliated tenants. Roia retains its original ceilings and manages to effectively combine old and contemporary. Once upon a time, the hotel hosted guests of all stripes, from Einstein to Woodrow Wilson to Babe Ruth as well as many theatrical presences as it was next to the Schubert Theater, site of out- of- town tryouts when these were economically feasible. We also walked past Mory’s, famed as the place where the Whiffenpoof’s still sing on most Monday evenings, now a tad less exclusive and open to those with a Yale connection. (Since 1972, women can become members–large rah.)

Were I college bound today I’d be thrilled to apply to Yale even though it would make my (often idiotic) forbears spin in their graves. I wouldn’t be accepted but at least blue and white no longer forces me to turn away in mock horror.

Mory’s serves something they call the “Un-Wedge Salad” that’s similar to this Classic Wedge Salad. Bacon-lovers, rejoice.

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (your call on this one. I’d omit.)
1 cup coarsely crumbled blue cheese
Buttermilk or whatever milk you have on hand
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
1 large head of iceberg lettuce, cut into 6 wedges, each with some core attached
1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced (or omit.)
Mix mayo, lemon juice, pepper and hot sauce in medium bowl. Add blue cheese and stir until well blended. If too thick, thin with buttermilk (or use regular milk)by tablespoonfuls to desired consistency. MG’s note: “too thick” is personal. I like it about the consistency of mayonnaise.

Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until golden brown and beginning to crisp. Drain well.
Arrange wedges on plates. Spoon dressing over. Using slotted spoon, transfer warm bacon from skillet onto salads, dividing equally. Garnish with red onions–or not. (and if the bacon isn’t warm, that’s OK as well.)
Whistle the college song of your choice and serve.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bacon, blue, Einstein, iceberg, Yale | 6 Comments

Iolanthe, The Mikado and More

Posted on November 10, 2015 by marigold

Gilbert & Sullivan fan(atic) that I am, over the weekend I took my almost-sixteen-year-old granddaughter to Iolanthe. She wanted to see The Mikado which I was all for but the G&S company (that shall be nameless) had pulled that production because they’d had pushback from a Japanese group. I sent them a stiff email pointing out that Mikado pokes fun at English mannerisms and institutions of the late 19th century (the program opened in March of 1885.) Also asked them how come King and I is running on Broadway–where is the irritated Thai lobby to point out that much of this show makes the court of Siam look ridiculous (remember the scene in which the royal wives, wearing crinolines for the first time, reveal to the British guests that they aren’t wearing underwear?)

Constance Carpenter (?) and Yul Brenner in King and I

Needless to say, my annoyance didn’t change the outcome so Iolanthe is was, at the NYU Skirball Center. I think, from what a woman at the table peddling t-shirts and such told me, that NYU was partly responsible for The Mikado cancellation. The power of today’s college students!

Iolanthe has some slowish parts but overall it was a really splendid production. There were a few other teens in the audience and some little kids but mostly there were us older folks, all big G & S fans. Several of us agreed that we’d never seen the Nightmare Song in Act II (When you’re lying awake with a dismal headache, and repose is taboo’d by anxiety, I conceive you may use any language you choose to indulge in, without impropriety…) better performed. Bravo James Mills. Click here for a nice performance by another Lord Chancellor.

For those not up on it, Iolanthe satirizes British politics and concerns a band of immortal fairies who become entangled with the House of Peers, a bunch of brainless snobs. The whole must be taken with a good handful –a grain would not suffice– of salt and includes some wonderful numbers including When Britain Really Ruled the Waves which the Anglophile in me adores.

And what do you eat while you listen to Iolanthe? (at home via YouTube or similar.) Fairy cakes, obviously, which are the Brit way of saying cupcakes. You know how to make a cupcake, right? Instead, especially if you’re inculcating a child, make:

Fairy Bread

White bread (what else? Go another step and cut off the crusts. Go mad and use cookie cutters to render the bread into shapes.)
Butter
Sprinkles, the glitzier the better.

Butter the bread, lavishly cover with sprinkles and serve. Yes, you can do this. A four year old or even younger can make it–and eat it and have a delightful sugar high. While the tot has a glass of milk what you need is a nice brandy, a stiff vodka or your tipple of choice. Here’s a howdy-do, as G & S often wrote.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bread, cupcake, Gilbert & Sullivan, sugar | 7 Comments

Franklin and Eleanor Redux

Posted on October 23, 2015 by marigold

Eleanor and Franklin before they married

The village of Hyde Park is about an hour and a half north of NYC, a lovely drive especially when fall foliage is at peak or close. The official name of the home where FDR was born, lived and is buried is Springwood. A visit there begins with a park ranger providing opening commentary and then escorting groups to the house where you shuffle through—it’s dark to preserve the contents and rather impersonal. I searched for mementos of Fala, the President’s Scottish terrier, with no luck (although am told they are on view in the Presidential Library–see below.)

After Franklin married Eleanor, ( his fifth cousin), in 1905, the couple lived at Springwood with Franklin’s mother, the dragon-esque Sara Delano. While FDR’s room is spacious with a beautiful view, (anything for Sara’s cherished, only child), Eleanor’s is tiny and crammed in between Franklin’s and Sara’s with a cramped day-bed wedged into a corner. Eleanor never felt at home at Springwood and this room is a shining example of why.

Eleanor’s Room

Roosevelt’s will left instructions to create the first presidential library, (today there are thirteen with Obama’s still to come.) Years ago I saw the old Roosevelt library that was far more homespun with items like FDR’s desk and wheelchair; this high-tech version is excellent but grandiose with exhibits on the New Deal, WWII, etc.
Outside In the rose garden is a large white stone marking FDR’s grave where Eleanor is also buried. Directly in front of the stone–also unmarked–are two smaller graves, one belonging to Fala, the other to a dog owned by Anna, Roosevelt’s daughter.

And then there’s Val-kill Cottage. Only two miles away, this was the only living space Eleanor personally owned. (In 1918, after Eleanor found letters revealing FDR’s affair with Lucy Mercer, her social secretary, the marriage morphed into a political partnership — it’s said that Eleanor never liked sex in the first place, six children notwithstanding.)
In Val-Kill, Eleanor lived as she pleased, using bridge chairs for the overflow at the casual buffets she served guests including John Kennedy and Winston Churchill and often hitting the hay on her open-air sleeping porch. The rooms are a hodge-podge of furniture—nothing, including fabrics, matches– but far more personal and intimate than rather imposing Springwood.

The hodge-podge Val-Kill living room

f found the houses, especially Springwood, more interesting than delightful. Campobello, which I visited last summer, is far more charming, probably the difference between a summer ‘cottage’ and a stately, presidential home.

Apparently, one of FDR’s most-loved foods were scrambled eggs. Figures, right?
Should you be at a loss to produce this easy, always satisfying dish, here’s the deal:
Scrambled Eggs for Two
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk (2% or what have you although full fat milk makes the best eggs)
Salt and pepper
2 tsp. butter

Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper in bowl until blended.
Heat butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Pour in egg mixture. As eggs begin to set, gently pull eggs across the pan with a spatula (wooden is nice but no-stick is fine as well), forming large soft curds.
Continue cooking – pulling, lifting and folding eggs – until thickened and no visible liquid egg remains. Do not stir constantly. Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Don’t use a cast iron pan as this can make eggs turn greenish. It won’t hurt you but doesn’t add to the appeal. For a jazzier version add cheese like pepper jack or add salsa. Unless this is a celebratory moment, you’ll probably serve your eggs with coffee (although Franklin also loved a good Martini.) Both Franklin and Eleanor felt food was necessary to keep a body going, not something to wax rhapsodic over. Complex man, simple in terms of food.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged dog, eggs, FDR | 3 Comments

Culture Vulture

Posted on October 4, 2015 by marigold

One–among many wonderful features–of living in NYC is the plethora of fascinating events. And when the Pope isn’t visiting and the UN isn’t in town you can even get to them.

Thanks to a friend who works at the Met, (Museum, not Opera), I went to one of the Friday evening events, a dance performance in the Mughal galleries by Astad Deboo who is well past the bloom of youth. Dressed in an elegant, floor-length black robe with lavish gold trim, Deboo displayed amazing muscle control in a series of poses and spun until most of us would have staggered to the floor/thrown up or both. The same pal also took me through the truly elegant John Singer Sargent exhibit with portraits of other celebrated artists of the period, (think Robert Louis Stevenson, Ellen Terry, Henry James and the like),

RLS by Sargent , 1887, Taft Museum of Cincinatti

the works drawn from other collections as well as a group of the Met’s own watercolors. The entire show was dazzling including a simple charcoal drawing of W. B. Yeats that blew me away.

MOMA currently features Picasso’s sculpture, a show that the New York Times critic, Roberta Smith, rightly dubbed “staggering.” Check out her full review here. Crammed with loaned works, the exhibit takes up eleven galleries and includes series like the six “Glass of Absinthe” pieces from 1914, rarely all on view side by side (well, round by round as are many pieces in the show.) As you leave the last gallery ready for a breather you confront The Bathers, loaded with humor, made of bits of wood and standing on a bed of pebbles to reference a beach.

Whole lotta’ looking goin’ on so, for a change of pace, went to Habeas Corpus, an “installation” at the Park Avenue Armory by performance artist Laurie Anderson. To further enlighten audiences about the horrors of Guantanamo, Anderson brings us a live feed of Mohammed El Gharani, now free in West Africa after having been “detained” at Gitmo for seven years. By telepresence, Mohammed sits in an “armchair” so that he and it resembled the Lincoln Memorial and talks about his prison experiences. The rest of the room is pitch dark except for dots of light thrown by a sort of disco ball that make the space appear to move–more than a little disorienting.

Mohammed El Gharani “at” the Armory

Finally, at one side of the huge drill hall, Anderson and other musicians play “immersive guitar feedback work” some composed by her late partner, Lou Reed. It’s loud, weird and sometimes annoying, particularly musician Merrill Garbus who fiddled with electric cords and provided technological banging and shrieks. Saving the best for last, the stage was taken over by a keyboard player and Omar Souleyman, clad in a gallibaya (or thobe) with a red-and-white checked keffiyah (headress) and large, black shades. Souleyman sang and clapped and soon the entire group of (mostly white, youngish, educated and very New Yorky) visitors were on their feet dancing. It was intensely hypnotic–I could have danced for hours.

More in a pacific vein from the mid-East:
Tabbouleh

1/2 cup fine bulgur
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup boiling-hot water
2 cups finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (from 3 bunches)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 seedless cucumber, (i.e., usually long and thin, sold in plastic wrap to protect the unwaxed skin), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces (yes, you can cheat and use a regular cuke–it will make the end result a little wetter but compromise {ahem} is the secret to life, no?)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Stir together bulgur and 1 tablespoon oil in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes. Drain in a sieve, pressing on bulgur to remove any excess liquid.

Transfer bulgur to a bowl and toss with remaining ingredients, including 2 tablespoons oil, (or a little less) until combined well.

You will probably not serve this with a glass of absinthe (although it’s legal once again)) but you could serve tabbouleh as a side dish, in place of a salad, as part of a mid-Eastern spread, etc. When I have it around I eat it as part of lunch.

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