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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Play Me, I'm Yours.

Well, not the way you may think initially. There is a piano exhibit scattered all over the city of Cincinnati. They have been painted by various artists and can be played by anyone. The exhibit is the brainchild of a British artisan and it will eventually settle in London. Art, especially musicianship is a dying art form in the Black community in the USA due to parents who can't afford instruments and their children who can't practice in apartments with noise rules. Last but not least, I enjoyed music class in school and those classes were cut from curriculums long ago for the most part.

So there is a select few who can play the piano anymore and it's a darn shame. Music still soothes the savage beast in us if we let it.

Blessings go out to you and yours.

Checkout the Museum if Musical Instruments in Phoenix AZ: http://themim.org/

Music, while doing your hair or getting it done, a novel idea! HA

Friday, February 5, 2010

Macaroni Cheese


macaroni cheese

main courses | serves 4 - 6
This is my twist on the old-school frumpy Anglicized dish of macaroni cheese. Using these four different cheeses together, each one with its own characteristics, works really well. For the classic finish, it has to be popped under the grill to crisp up and go brown on top – lovely. Once you see how quick it is, you won’t be making any bechamels or claggy old sauces for a long time.

Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Cook the macaroni in a pan of salted boiling water 2 minutes short of the timing on the packet instructions, then drain in a colander and reserve a little of the cooking water. Heat the butter in a large heavy-based frying pan. When it starts to foam, add the marjoram or oregano and fry for a minute until it starts to crisp up, then turn off the heat. Add your cooked pasta to the marjoram or oregano butter, along with a couple of spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water and the Parmesan, fontina or taleggio and mascarpone. Return to a medium heat and toss and stir around until most of the cheese has melted and you have a lovely gooey sauce – you may need to add a little more of the reserved cooking water. Season to taste, then tip it all into an earthenware dish. Grate over the nutmeg, tear over the mozzarella and sprinkle over the extra Parmesan. Bake the macaroni cheese in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, finishing up with a quick whack under the grill, until golden brown

ingredients

• 500g/1lb 2oz good-quality macaroni
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a knob of butter
a small bunch of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked
• 100g/3½oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra for grating
• 100g/3½oz fontina or taleggio cheese, roughly torn
• 100g/3½oz mascarpone cheese
• ¼ of a nutmeg
a small ball of buffalo mozzarella cheese


Friday, December 11, 2009

Warm Salad by Jamie Oliver




warm salad of crispy smoked bacon and jerusalem artichokes
starter | serves 4

This is a brilliant salad that always makes me smile when I eat it. The smokiness of the bacon goes so well with the potatoey-mushroomy-garlicky flavour of the Jerusalem artichokes (which you can find in good supermarkets and markets). If you can’t get hold of any then use some good new potatoes instead.

Remember, the trick to a warm salad is to get everything ready to go. Ask your family or guests to make their way to the table while you finish it off, and don’t let them talk until they’ve cleared their plates, so they get the salad while it’s good (I’m only joking about the talking!).

First of all, scrub your Jerusalem artichokes or potatoes and boil them in salted water until tender. Once cool, cut them in half and set aside. Meanwhile, carefully remove the core of the radicchio or treviso, then halve, break apart and finely slice. Wash and dry in a salad spinner. Put the gem lettuce leaves in a large bowl with the radicchio or treviso and the parsley or chervil.

Cut your bacon into 1cm slices. Pour a small amount of olive oil into a non-stick frying pan and fry the bacon. When it’s lightly golden, add the sliced onion and your cooked and drained Jerusalem artichokes or potatoes. Fry on a medium heat until the bacon is golden and crisp, the onion is sticky and soft and the Jerusalem artichokes have sucked up all the flavours and turned crispy. The important thing to remember here is that you need enough colour, but not so much that you’re on the edge of burning everything.

Now is the time to get everyone round the table, holding their knives and forks ready to tuck in! Divide half the contents of your pan between four plates, then add 5 tablespoons of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar to the pan, with a little pinch of salt and pepper. Mix everything together so the flavours improve and then pour immediately over the salad leaves waiting in the bowl. Toss lightly and quickly (using your fairy fingers!) so each leaf is coated in the tasty balsamic dressing. Put a nice handful of the salad leaf mixture on top of the hot bits and pieces that are already on each plate. Eat at once as it is, or quickly shave over a little Parmesan – nice both ways.

PS This is my favourite warm salad – but have a go at finding your own versions. Instead of bacon, try opening out some good-quality sausages and frying the meat until crisp. Or some nice crispy roasted meat like chicken, duck, quail or even game birds, torn up, with some sautéed mushrooms and roasted tomatoes, would go really well in a salad like this.


• from Cook With Jamie


ingredients
• 2 handfuls of large Jerusalem artichokes or new potatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 radicchio or treviso, outer leaves discarded
• 3 little gem lettuces, leaves washed, dried and stalks removed
• a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley or chervil, leaves picked and finely sliced
extra virgin olive oil
• 8 rashers thickly sliced smoked streaky bacon or pancetta
• 1 small red onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Diviacity!








I'm so inspired by my creative sister, Steph Jordan of Diviacity, that I need you to urgently take a look for yourselves! ART is Beauty. Maybe I can make pieces for hair decoration. I've always loved to work with my hands.

Steph is a pro however, she's been in business for 25 years. Please support her and follow her on Twitter and Youtube .

Hopefully you'll follow me too, lol, I'm @Black_Dove.

Peace and Love.

Monday, October 26, 2009