Mid-March in Manhattan

I'm back and am happy to report that we all had a wonderful time in New York.  Turns out New York is my Mom's second favourite city (after Amsterdam) - who knew?  
Given that New York is a little further south and closer to the ocean, spring is slightly further ahead there.  So although most of Central Park looked like this,

if you looked closely you could see some spring flowers blooming.  Do you know how exciting that is for someone from frozen snowy Toronto.

The weather wasn't very warm and we actually got snow on our second to last day.  I was just happy it wasn't rain as a little snow is a lot easier to deal with than getting wet with rain - and the snow was so pretty in Central Park. 

Early spring is a funny time of contrasts with spring flowers for sale in outdoor shops

and bouquets of spring blossoms in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

along with skating rinks in Central Park still being used.

It was St. Patrick's Day when we were in New York.  People were decked out in green hats and necklaces,

and bleachers were set up along 5th Avenue for the St. Patrick's Day parade,

and rows of buses lined side streets to drive the parade participants home.

And we saw a glimpse of the parade itself (from a window at the Met as we were more interested in seeing the museum than the parade).

We enjoyed the flowers and St. Patrick's day fun and didn't let any mere snowflakes get in our way of us enjoying ourselves - including eating street vendor food in the snow on the steps of the Met.

I'm sorting through the loads of photos I took and will have some more posts soon.  I love the freedom and creativity that using a digital camera allows so I can take endless amounts of photos (and I do), but it sure does make a big editing job when you come home.

March Break

I'm so happy that it is the March Break. For once I have big plans that include both going to the cottage (yay!) and travel (double yay!). My all time worst March Break was spent toilet training one child and teaching the times tables to another. Thankfully that was years ago and things have been looking up since then!  
William and I went to the cottage for the weekend.  It was nice to get away and have one last bit of fun in the snow before we say goodbye to winter (or am I being wishful). 
I was struck by the gorgeous blues made by the shadows on the snow.

The temperatures were above freezing every day so the snow got progressively wetter and mushier as our weekend progressed.  If you stayed on the plowed road then the walking was good, but in the forest there was up to three feet of snow and you sunk down over your knees with every step.  Needless to say I mostly stayed on the road.

We were able to walk on the frozen lake which is always fun.  All that unmarked snow was just waiting to be used as a giant slate and covered in Chinese characters.

The chipmunks were out and about in great numbers.  They were sleepy and adorable sitting on the snow trying to wake up.

I'm not sure what creature made these trails in the snow, but I loved how they looked like ancient writings.

Does this last photo look 3-D?  Because it is.  My new camera creates 3-D photos.  Of course, I hadn't figured that out, but within about one minute of playing with my camera William had found that feature and mastered how to make them.

As for the rest of the March Break ... tomorrow morning bright and early William, and my parents, and I are going to New York City for four days.  We have in mind to spend lots of time in museums and art galleries which are right up our alley.  We also want to walk across (or halfway at least) the Brooklyn Bridge and visit Peck Slip to see the street named after our ancestors (which you can read about here).  
We will be in New York for St. Patrick's day.  It will be interesting to see how it is celebrated.  I doubt we will watch the parade as we have too much else to do, but I'm sure we will see evidence of the luck of the Irish everywhere. 

Kate's photo of the Brooklyn Bridge (I'm going to try a 3-D version when we are there)

Anyone else having a spring break?  Do you have big plans or restful stay-at-home plans?  Happy St. Patrick's Day my friends.

Persian Curry

We've cooked our way across North Africa and Israel and have finally made it to Persia in our quest to cook our way around the world.  I'm slow in getting these posts written and I have a lot of catching up to do as we just cooked Thai food tonight and that is at least four countries removed from Persia.  

This Persian curry recipe was suggested to me by our eldest son Malcolm.  Malcolm is an eclectic reader and one of the books he has enjoyed recently was a book of poetry by Rumi, who is a 13th century Persian poet, theologian, and mystic. At the back of the book was this recipe for Persian curry.  The original recipe was obviously meant to feed a crowd as it was four times as large as the one I have printed below.  Malcolm cut the recipe down, but it still makes a big pot full.  Malcolm also recommended this curry as a good recipe to take on a canoe trip - you just have to pre-soak the split peas (and chickpeas if you aren't using canned) in a Nalgene water bottle during the day so they don't take too long to cook at dinner time.  Good to know.  I wonder if Rumi ever thought this curry would be enjoyed by people canoeing through the wilds of Canada.  Well it was and it was also enjoyed by us here at home.

PERSIAN CURRY 
Ingredients:
1/4 cup split peas
1/4 cup lentils
I can chickpeas, drained
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 large carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 can of diced tomatoes
optional: cauliflower, leeks, spinach, cabbage, green peppers
pinch of cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Method:
1. Soak the split peas for about 3 hours.
2. Bring the lentils and split peas to a boil and cook for about 1 hour.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and enough water to cover.  Continue cooking until the vegetables are soft.  The recipe doesn't specify the quantity of each spice so I have included a minimum amount and you can add more to taste.
4.  Serve the curry with rice.  

We also felt that flat bread and pomegranate for dessert fit with the Persian theme - as did a colourful tablecloth and sitting on cushions on the floor around our low table in what we assumed was an ancient Persian style.

And since this recipe is from a book by Rumi, I will leave you with some chickpea inspiration that he wrote.

Linked to Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm

Downton Abbey House Tour

Oh Downton Abbey, what is there not to love?  It is like the Triple Crown of TV shows with equal parts delectable drama, gorgeous clothes, and an amazing setting. I know I'm not alone in spending as much time admiring the magnificent house as the antics of the Crawley family.  The location that has taken the world by storm is Highclere Castle - a real English country house where the shows are actually filmed.  
Highclere Castle is a Gothic revival style home lived in by the 8th Earl of Carnarvon and his family.  Highclere has been in the Carnarvon family since 1679.  The magnificent 1000-acre gardens were designed by Capability Brown in the 1770s while the house was extensively remodeled for the 3rd Earl by Sir Charles Barry in 1839–1842, after he had finished designing the Houses of Parliament.  
I love going on tours of country houses and since an actual tour isn't possible for me living in Canada (although the house is open to the public) I thought a virtual tour would be fun. Want to join me for a tour?
Let's get oriented on the floor plan. Do you see the orange arrow - that's the front entrance.  We'll start there.

Highclere Castle was faced in Bath stone when it was remodeled in the mid 1800s.  You can see the beautiful honey-coloured stone surrounding the front entrance.

ENTRANCE HALL

The entrance hall, which leads through to the saloon, is decorated with a Gothic fan-vaulted ceiling and a geometric parquet floor.

SALOON The saloon is a double-height Gothic style room that is the heart of the house.  It was built in the 1860s and features gorgeous stone carvings, a minstrel gallery, and a vaulted ceiling.  The walls of the lower level of the saloon are decorated with embossed leather wall coverings (circa 1680) that were brought back from Cordoba, Spain in the 19th century.  

STAIRCASE
The grand staircase is located in the great tower at the centre of the house.  The magnificent oak staircase which was built in 1862 took almost a full year to carve and install.  

DINING ROOM The dining room is decorated with soft yellow walls and curtains and a large Victorian table that can seat up to thirty people. The room is dominated by Van Dyck's enormous portrait of King Charles I.  

LIBRARY The long masculine library features mahogany carvings on the walls, gilded bookshelves, red curtains, and a magnificent collection of over 5650 books, some dating to the 16th century.  The design of the library is unusual in that it is actually two rooms with an opening between them divided by tall gilded columns.  The library was designed by Sir Charles Barry and was based on the Reform Club Library in London.  

In the photo below you can see Napoleon's chair used when he signed his abdication. The chair was made for Napoleon and the Carnarvons have a sketch of him sitting in it. The chair and desk date from 1803 and were brought from Napoleon's house in St. Helena where he was exiled.

MUSIC ROOM

I didn't recognize the music room from the TV show and I'm guessing they don't use it very often because it is a smaller room and may be difficult to film in.  I did find one publicity shot of the three Crawley daughters taken in there though. The music room has a baroque painted ceiling dating from the 1730s and the walls are hung in 16th century Italian embroidered tapestries.

DRAWING ROOM

The drawing room was decorated in a rococo revival style by Lady Almina, wife of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, in 1895. Lady Almina was given bolts of green French silk by her father Alfred de Rothschild and she used the beautiful fabric to cover the walls.

I'm guessing the colours are most accurate in this last photo.

And if you want to recreate the drawing room in your own home you will find a great post here with more photos and purchasing suggestions.

SMOKING ROOM I couldn't find any photos from Downton Abbey filmed in the smoking room - again likely because of its smaller size.  The smoking room is adorned with many fine paintings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

And that takes us to the end of our tour of the ground floor (I'll leave the upstairs for another post).  The lower level with the kitchen and servant's work rooms are actually a set and are not filmed at Highclere Castle.  
If you want to read more about Highclere Castle you can go to the official Highclere Castle website (here), or read this thoroughly researched post on Jane Austen's World (here with other interesting posts on the same website), or this interesting Daily Mail article (here), or watch the video clips below.

I can't wait to see more of the series and you can bet that I will have my eyes peeled for views of the interior of Highclere Castle.  Do you have a favourite room?  I love the drawing room with the beautiful green fabric on the walls, the gold decorations around the ceiling, and the chandelier.

Linked to Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now