The colors are great!
This lady was working in her garden on part of her fall harvest. She seemed pleased that I asked to take her picture.
Here is part of her harvest!
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Location:Germany
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Fohren-Linden
Fall has arrived and it is freezing at night. The leaves are dropping. I took these shots on a walk Denise and I took a couple of days ago.
The colors are great!
This lady was working in her garden on part of her fall harvest. She seemed pleased that I asked to take her picture.
Here is part of her harvest!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The colors are great!
This lady was working in her garden on part of her fall harvest. She seemed pleased that I asked to take her picture.
Here is part of her harvest!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Bramasole
Thought I would go back and catch a note I was intending to make in Cortona. It is one of my favorite places and a place I had been looking forward to visiting.
If you have seen the movie, "Under the Tuscan Sun," you will be familiar with the movie's premise of Francis Mayer buying an old villa (Bramasole) in Cortona and remodeling it, etc..
I really wanted to see the real home.
When we took our cooking class, we talked to our teacher about seeing the home. She has been there and has met Francis on several occasions socially. She gave us directions on how to reach the home which was about a 20 minute walk from our rental. We also found out that the house used as Bramasole in the movie is actually in Sicily. The surrounding area there is similar to the terrain in Cortona. SO - Here is the real Bramasole.
The house has lots of terracing and landscaping.
Here is the drive in from the country road. Notice the niche in the wall. This reminded me of the old man in the movie who placed flowers in the niche. I took a closer shot of it above.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
If you have seen the movie, "Under the Tuscan Sun," you will be familiar with the movie's premise of Francis Mayer buying an old villa (Bramasole) in Cortona and remodeling it, etc..
I really wanted to see the real home.
When we took our cooking class, we talked to our teacher about seeing the home. She has been there and has met Francis on several occasions socially. She gave us directions on how to reach the home which was about a 20 minute walk from our rental. We also found out that the house used as Bramasole in the movie is actually in Sicily. The surrounding area there is similar to the terrain in Cortona. SO - Here is the real Bramasole.
The house has lots of terracing and landscaping.
Here is the drive in from the country road. Notice the niche in the wall. This reminded me of the old man in the movie who placed flowers in the niche. I took a closer shot of it above.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Cortona, Italy
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Cheese
Food-wise, I have learned a lot on this journey. Tonight I was reflecting on some of my revelations and confirmations.
1. Pizza is a universal food. We not traveled anywhere that there is not a pizza available within a fairly short distance. The crusts may be a little different and the sauces and toppings differ, but the world seems to have some type of pizza as a staple.
2. I always thought of bread as a universal food. I still see that as true, but the types of bread differ greatly from one area to another.
Germany has what I consider to be great bread. They have a large variety of sweet breads, multi-grain, etc. They also have a big variety of rolls. They are big sandwich eaters. Bulgaria also has good breads. Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria all have good pastries. I would give the Italians the edge on quantities and quality of pastries, with the other two still receiving high marks. It is very normal for most people in these countries to have a pastry and espresso or cappuccino in the morning or afternoon.
Italy however suffers in the bread department. I thought most of their bread was pretty mundane, and often too hard or tough for my taste. We were told that most bread in the southern part of Italy is made without salt. It may be healthier that way, but it lost my interest.
For the most part, what India called bread was more like a tortilla than any thing else. They have a few different forms but they are not what I think of as bread. One style that is kind of like a rice cake (imagine that) is called Idly. It is filling and you eat it with curry. It basically takes on the taste of whatever curry you dip it in.
3. It has really been driven home to me that just about everywhere you can find cheese of some type. BUT, there is cheese and then there is CHEESE. I have been ruined for eating what I now consider low quality cheese. And I can say unequivocally that in some cheeses freshness is the key where as with other types aging is the key. Two very different cheeses which are keys to the dishes they are a part of are the Pecorino and Parmesan cheeses of Italy and the cow milk cheese of Bulgaria. The aging of good Parmesan is key to it's sharp strong taste that enhances the taste of anything as far as I am concerned (or just eat a chunk by itself for a rich tasty jolt). The freshness of the light mild white cheese used in the Shopska Salads of Bulgaria is what makes the dish along with simple fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.
4. My recommendation when traveling to fairly distant and unfamiliar territory - ask the locals what they order and try it. You'll know pretty quickly if this is an area where you can thrive on the local cuisine or if you will have to hunt things on the menus that look vaguely familiar even if not regional.
Well, I have rambled enough for now about food. I am looking forward to sharing what we have learned with everyone back in the states.
Here are a couple examples of "maturing" Italian cheese.
A chunk of Pecorino bought at the weekly market in Monterchi, Italy
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1. Pizza is a universal food. We not traveled anywhere that there is not a pizza available within a fairly short distance. The crusts may be a little different and the sauces and toppings differ, but the world seems to have some type of pizza as a staple.
2. I always thought of bread as a universal food. I still see that as true, but the types of bread differ greatly from one area to another.
Germany has what I consider to be great bread. They have a large variety of sweet breads, multi-grain, etc. They also have a big variety of rolls. They are big sandwich eaters. Bulgaria also has good breads. Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria all have good pastries. I would give the Italians the edge on quantities and quality of pastries, with the other two still receiving high marks. It is very normal for most people in these countries to have a pastry and espresso or cappuccino in the morning or afternoon.
Italy however suffers in the bread department. I thought most of their bread was pretty mundane, and often too hard or tough for my taste. We were told that most bread in the southern part of Italy is made without salt. It may be healthier that way, but it lost my interest.
For the most part, what India called bread was more like a tortilla than any thing else. They have a few different forms but they are not what I think of as bread. One style that is kind of like a rice cake (imagine that) is called Idly. It is filling and you eat it with curry. It basically takes on the taste of whatever curry you dip it in.
3. It has really been driven home to me that just about everywhere you can find cheese of some type. BUT, there is cheese and then there is CHEESE. I have been ruined for eating what I now consider low quality cheese. And I can say unequivocally that in some cheeses freshness is the key where as with other types aging is the key. Two very different cheeses which are keys to the dishes they are a part of are the Pecorino and Parmesan cheeses of Italy and the cow milk cheese of Bulgaria. The aging of good Parmesan is key to it's sharp strong taste that enhances the taste of anything as far as I am concerned (or just eat a chunk by itself for a rich tasty jolt). The freshness of the light mild white cheese used in the Shopska Salads of Bulgaria is what makes the dish along with simple fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.
4. My recommendation when traveling to fairly distant and unfamiliar territory - ask the locals what they order and try it. You'll know pretty quickly if this is an area where you can thrive on the local cuisine or if you will have to hunt things on the menus that look vaguely familiar even if not regional.
Well, I have rambled enough for now about food. I am looking forward to sharing what we have learned with everyone back in the states.
Here are a couple examples of "maturing" Italian cheese.
A chunk of Pecorino bought at the weekly market in Monterchi, Italy
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Anywhere
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Fall is definitely in the air
Denise and I took a walk yesterday. Fall colors are arriving, crops are in, plowing and planting going on, deer season is in swing, great weather for waking. Frosty at night and pleasant during the day.
Got a picture of this great "senior citizen" resting from working in her flower and veggy garden. The picture below was part of her harvest.
Several places in the area they cut timber in the past few weeks. They stack along the road and then a truck with a grappler and and large stake bed comes and hauls them away.
The way they harvest the small logs is to go through a planting with a machine that looks like a front end loader with large scissors in front. The machine cuts the tree off, then picks it up and pulls it through an apparatus that limbs it. Then they take the trees to the roadside to stack.
Some local four footed residents.
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Got a picture of this great "senior citizen" resting from working in her flower and veggy garden. The picture below was part of her harvest.
Several places in the area they cut timber in the past few weeks. They stack along the road and then a truck with a grappler and and large stake bed comes and hauls them away.
The way they harvest the small logs is to go through a planting with a machine that looks like a front end loader with large scissors in front. The machine cuts the tree off, then picks it up and pulls it through an apparatus that limbs it. Then they take the trees to the roadside to stack.
Some local four footed residents.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Germany
Concrete construction
This post is for Tris and you other folks that may be interested in construction. Due to land issues, etc. most people build up instead of out. What is amazing is how they form up for pouring cement. For each section of floor a fairly small wooden plate ( kind of like a fourth of a sheet of plywood) is held up by strategically placed poles. Then another is placed beside it and so on and so on until the piece of floor is ready to pour.
The scaffolding is some of the same poles tied together with chunks of rope. Even several stories up!
This guy is bending and forming the rebar.
About six stories of scaffolding - all tied together. Guess you have to trust the guy tying the knots?
Lots of buildings look like this on top. the builders prepare for the future possibility of more floors.Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The scaffolding is some of the same poles tied together with chunks of rope. Even several stories up!
This guy is bending and forming the rebar.
About six stories of scaffolding - all tied together. Guess you have to trust the guy tying the knots?
Lots of buildings look like this on top. the builders prepare for the future possibility of more floors.Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:India
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Ashraya project
Here is the facility where H.I. Takes girls and women who were in prostitution and give them vocational skills to sew, etc. They make punjammies (like pajama top and bottom sets) to sell which help support the program. All of these ladies are housed, fed, clothed, and cared for on the campus.
They have a group out of Costa Mesa, California who sell the punjammies through their Princess Project to help support this program of getting the girls and women out of prostitution.
This is the rice cooking setup to feed the women of the Ashraya project and the 450 students living on campus.
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They have a group out of Costa Mesa, California who sell the punjammies through their Princess Project to help support this program of getting the girls and women out of prostitution.
This is the rice cooking setup to feed the women of the Ashraya project and the 450 students living on campus.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Harvest India campus
Kitchen
The first pics are of the preparation to feed about 300 pastors and our team after the evening conference session.
They really know how to produce large quantities of rice and curry with little accommodation
They really know how to produce large quantities of rice and curry with little accommodation
Location:Narrasaropet India
Preparing for new school
We both had the privilege of laying a brick where the cornerstone for a new school will be built on the Harvest India campus.
The school will be one of about six planned buildings to bearded on the Harvest India site. A school and dorm building already exists across the way (a couple hundred meters) which houses about 450 students.
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Location:Harvest India
Monday, October 1, 2012
Tortillas
For all you tortilla eaters here is a view of making tortillas India style. The FDA may be a pain, but ...
Drying them means filling the entire patio area with them.
Here is the production line - about 8 people making them.
Once they are dry enough, they are gathered for packaging. This is how they are gathered.
Drying them means filling the entire patio area with them.
Here is the production line - about 8 people making them.
Once they are dry enough, they are gathered for packaging. This is how they are gathered.
Location:Tenali, India
The mass of humanity
This is the street we were driving on in Narrasaropet. Busy intersection!
Everywhere you go in a town there is a mass of humanity.
I can't figure out where they all go late at night when the streets are pretty empty.
We are back at Zeb's so I will try to catch on some blogging. There is very little Internet or wifi service where we were in India.
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Location:Tenali and surrounding area
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