When It's Not Really About the House

Here are a few more little gems from the lens of Mr. Paradis.  Who never leaves home without his trusty I-phone. There has been such alot of profusion around here, I can't help myself but share it with you.  I do truly find plants to be utterly miraculous. What world of reward for relatively little effort!

What can I say, it's a cavalcade of spring flowers over here at Passage Paradis!

And speaking of which, has anyone been to the Chelsea Flower Show? It's still possible to get tickets here for this year's show, the 25th-29th of May.  

I've managed to get there a couple of times.  Next week I'll post some pictures from the last visit.

MARY FEDDEN

I discovered Mary Fedden recently in England.  She was a teacher at the Slade, which is an art school in London.  And had David Hockney as a student.  She was married to painter Julian Trevelyan.  At 94 years old, she still lives in Chiswick, London, a wonderful place where I've also lived.  She is a Member of the Royal Academy, who provide an official biography for her here.

There is something about the way she renders flowers that makes them deliciously startling in her paintings.  What do you think?


There you go Sophie!  You weren't imagining it!

Spring in my 'Hood

We're coming into the month of roses and hollyhocks.  It just kills me, in April!!!!!!

And those are yes, what you think they are.  PEACHES!

And an artichoke plant.  Laden.  Last two photos taken Monday of this week down the street from me.  Now you know why we Angelenos put up with those earthquakes!

Mr.'s Paradis

OK so Nurse Jackie is gone again, for anybody who had that brief encounter with her.  I just had to make myself laugh, in lieu of crying.  I don't know how all you parents out there do it.  I know my cat concerns are small potatoes by contrast.  Meanwhile, I WAS deeply horrified by all the syringe paraphernalia.  If I extend my one small cat's troubles to a whole world full of them, the plastic syringes with their surgical steel needles (which I in fact was NOT required to plunge subdermally into my baby - Whew!) multiplied a bazillion times is a graphic representation of a universe full of troubles and a universe's full plate of troubles when I consider the "hazardous waste disposal" involved.  !!!!!

So onto lighter things......Mr. Paradis thought that HIS I-phone picture of the wisteria was better than mine, which I posted previously.  What do you think?   He also feels you should know that he took the photos of the Bonzai Vending Machine and the Fatburger (with art direction and post-production by Mlle Paradis!)  Ah yes!  Such a talented guy I married.  And now the record is straight, I feel much better.

So hope all are having a good week so far.  I may be a bit late on the Corner View this week but I am thinking of you!

Ducking Out

I'm going to be spending a couple of days with family so till I get a quiet moment again to send out something more substantial, here's a gorgeous shot of the wisteria arbor at Huntington Gardens.

I don't think I could ever get sick of wisteria.  There's something so haunting and magical about it!

Quinoa is My Friend

So this is NOT a post about hamburgers, sorry.  One or two of you seemed to get pretty excited about L.A. style hamburgers.  You might be inspiring me to do a post.  I was kind of surprised on moving here, that L.A. was still so hamburger oriented and OHMIGOD - you would not believe the lines at Pinks the famous hotdog joint. When I left New York, fast food was pretty much pizza or sushi.  But that is a whole other conversation.

In a more 21st century multi-cultural vein, do you like Quinoa?  (Do you know how to pronounce it?!)  I've been eating alot of it lately.

My lovely trusty French cinnamon shaker

In my family, we females seem to have a little bit of hypo-glycemia.  I personally have a really hard time eating anything for breakfast that doesn't give me the sugar shakes.  Even when I eat old-fashioned oatmeal, which I love, or Shredded Wheat and Bran which I (and my cat) ALSO love, I get the shakes or the disorientation about mid-morning or the terrible drained fainty feeling.  Let's just skip the egg discussion.  I'm not a great lover of the sulphur-ey taste of eggs, they are a little rich for a.m.s, can't bear the smell that early and there's something in them called "cholesterol". So even if I liked them more, I would be disinclined to consume them on a regular basis.

For people like me, it's horrible really. We really need that substantial protein shot first thing in the morning to get us comfortably through the day.  I used to always have a bag of peanut M and M's with me when I worked which I would either eat on the subway for breakfast (!) or in order to pop one or four of them at about 10 a.m. with coffee and then again around 2:30 after the inevitable post-lunch droop.  But that was before.....QUINOA. 

If you don't already know, this is a miracle food.  Very high in protein. Here's what wikipedia can tell you about it's nutritional profile.  But BETTER is that it is SO easy to make.  Dump a little pile into a small saucepan, swirl it in some water, drain.  Then refill with some fresh water to cover (old chinese trick for rice cooking: put the tip of your finger on the surface of the grain then add water to the first knuckle) cook on a low simmer till done.  How long does it take?  Like between 5 and 15 minutes?  Go feed the cats or something and it will be done!

Lately I've been making a fairly big pot of it, just so I don't have to go through the whole routine every day.  But so I'll HAVE some!  Now my husband could and does, eat a bowl of corn flakes every single day of the world, and will do so for the rest of his life. This is WAY BORING for me.  I need to eat something different at least every couple of days.  So here is what I'm doing with quinoa to make my breakfast life more interesting:

Cinnamon is a crucial component of this.  And so is maple syrup.  My cousin (also hypo-glycemic) is very excited about agave syrup.  I have some, but haven't tried it yet.  You?

Trader Joe's French Village Plain Cream Line Yogurt

Toasted Almonds (you don't HAVE to burn 'em like I did)

Fresh Valencia Oranges
(Don't You Love Cinnamon and Orange Together?  It's Like Christmas!)
Peeled and Cut into Tidy Sections

Your Two Other Friends From Above - Cinnamon is Good for Regulating Blood Sugar

THIS IS JUST WHAT I DID TODAY.  It's really so refreshing and satisfying.  

My first breakfast quinoa recipe was a take on classic rice pudding (which I, alone in my immediate family LOVE LOVE) without all the cream and fiddling and cooking. So once again, the yogurt, the maple syrup, the cinnamon. I also throw raisins or dried  currants in there. And a sprinkling of shelled pistachios.  Once some mint. YUM!  I think the next one I try will be Indian styled yogurt with a little buttermilk and a toasted chili or two and some minced cilantro. OK wait - pomegranate seeds would be good with yogurt too!  A big pile of them, and some lemon zest.  With some tinned mandarins or lychees?  Why not?  And then again, what about strawberries and banana with vanilla yogurt?  Am I onto something here? Stay tuned for further reports!

So do you eat quinoa?  I know alot of people are baking with quinoa these days.  I haven't tried that yet.  Any high protein breakfast ideas of your own?


  

It's That Time Again

Hope your weekend is big and delicious.  And garnished with good stuff.