Spring Tulips
More still life. The light needs to be just right on these for them to be interesting.
main light camera left, background light camera left flagged, rim light below and behind the table
Chicken Do Piyaza and Eggplant Subzi
On Tuesday I had the absolute pleasure of attending a Pakistani cooking class. These are the two dishes we learned to make. Both are delicious! If you are in the Geneva area and would like to attend a class, contact me and I’ll give you the details.
Chicken Do Piyaza
ingredients: 1 whole chicken skin off and cut into 12 pieces, 1 cup of yogurt, 1/2 cup of cooking oil, 4 medium onions peeled and thinly sliced, 1 garlic pod peeled and sliced, a 2 inch piece of ginger peeled and julienned, salt to taste.
Eggplant Subzi
ingredients: 3 medium eggplants, 1/2 cup of oil, 2 pureed tomatoes, 1 tblsp each of ginger and garlic paste, 1/2 tsp each of kalonji or whole cumin seeds, 1 tsp of fennel seeds, 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp chili powder or cayenne pepper, salt to taste.
Christmas Flower
Last month I bought our family’s first ever Christmas flower at the local DIY shop. The kids and I planted the enormous bulb into the tiny plastic pot that came with it and added some of our own extra soil. Then we put the tiny pot inside a bigger ceramic one for support, put it by our back French doors, watered it and waited.
We didn’t have long to wait before it began it’s rapid journey to bloomdom. We had a tall stalk with a bud in no time at all and then the bud unfolded and exploded into an enormous four piece firework of reds, yellows, greens, and pearly white. Gorgeous!
Of course life hurriedly swirled around our new beautiful flower and while I had intended to photograph it properly, all I managed was a few snaps one morning with the Canon point and shoot camera. Luckily for me though, this fancy flower has shot up a second budded stalk that is in the process now of unfolding. If it explodes into a gorgeous bloom before we leave next week, I’ll make myself find the time to shoot it properly. But for now, the snaps…
French Fry Day
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Adding the verb aller – to go to some actual places to make sentences.
If you speak French well and find errors here, Please let me know. I am just learning.
Je vais à la poste.
I am going to the post office.
Allez vers le droite, puis vers la gauche et puis droit devant.
Go to the right, then to the left and then straight ahead.
Ils vont au supermarché.
They are going to the supermarket.
Je vais à la banque et puis chez l’épicier.
I am going to the bank and then to the grocer.
Les enfants vont à l’école au centre ville.
The children go to the school downtown.
Préférez-vous aller à pied, à bicyclette ou en voiture ?
Do you prefer to go by foot, by bicycle or by car?
French Fry Day
~ ~ ~
Last week’s tidbit was the verb aller - to go.
This week we’ll add some directions and destinations.
Next week I’ll try to put them together, which is not as simple as you might expect…
| la poste – post office | a droite – to the right | |
| le supermarché – super market | a gauche – to the left | |
| l’épicerie – grocery store | tout droit – straight ahead | |
| la banque – bank | à pied – on foot | |
| le centre-ville – downtown | en voiture – by car | |
| l’école – school | à bicyclette – by bike
|
French Fry Day
Every Friday I drive across the border into France for my French lesson. I am not a fan of the language for various reasons (not the least of which is that it is confusing and difficult to learn). But I have a nice teacher and I am working reasonably hard to learn the language so I can communicate here.
I imagine the tidbits will become progressively more complex, but considering my current level in the language for now they will be on the single cell level.
Today’s morsel:
Aller – to go
| je vais tu vas il/elle/on va |
nous allons vous allez ils/elles/on vont |
