day lilies and etruscan motifs

 day lilies are in bloom around the neighborhood . . 

they always usually are around my birthday . . 

 and chanda worked on her pottery etruscan motifs today.

 the book we're reading is lost civilizations, etruscans: italy's lovers of life.


it's a time-life book.

the etruscans used an alphabet similar to the greeks, and several of these motifs were found on their houses and funeral huts.

this is a contemporary reconstruction of a wattle and daub hut with motifs that stands in bologna's margherita gardens.

 a painting from the tomb of the shields. the woman is offering her husband an egg, a symbol of immortality. the etruscans would carve underground tombs into the volcanic rock of their land, coat the walls with "plaster," a mixture of calcium carbonate and clay, and then cover with a neutral color. over this artists would paint their scenes with colors derived from iron (yellow), iron oxide (red), ground lapis lazuli (blue), and a combination of malachite, copper, calcium and flint (green). lamp soot or charcoal was used as a source for black.

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 this evening i attended a cooking class at eataly focusing on olive oil and dishes from the liguria region of italy.

 we tried three different kinds of olive oil, which the chef also used in three different dishes: summer bread salad, pasta with green beans and potatoes, and striped bass with olives and tomatoes. it was a fun class, though the cooking demonstration could have been a little more indepth.

a greek feast

 this afternoon, morgana and chanda put together a feast based on foods found in ancient greece.

we had dates, a mix of greek olives, feta cheese, figs, pita bread, and goat cheese.

in the kitchen chanda prepared horta, or steamed greens with white wine vinegar and olive oil and a little sea salt. she used kale greens.

 

 she and morgana also marinated lamb meat in olive oil and white grape juice and then cooked it under the broiler.

 two of the books they used for inspiration . . 

 the horta recipe from food and feasts in ancient greece.

yogurt was also mixed with roasted garlic to make tzatziki (in the past we've had it with cucumber and mint).

 we had white grape juice and apple cider to drink. 

 reviewing the lesson book with korrina and daddy.

 from the ancient grains for modern meals book, morgana made:

she roasted the grapes with honey, and then cooked the farro with ground anise seeds and water and a cinnamon stick.

they mixed it all with heavy cream, and even added whipped cream for breakfast the next morning. it was sweet, but very good.

studying and baking

korrina joined us this week as she's studying for the GRE on saturday.

this is part of chanda's synopsis of the war on troy and the travels of odysseus . . 

greek history books . . now i know why people spend their lives studying greek history . . it is endlessly fascinating and there is so much material out there to read!

morgana's timeline which she struggled over . . and finally completed!!!

work to be pleased about . . 

 meanwhile, korrina took a cooking break . . 

 to whip up a batch of gluten free cookies from a mix bought from our local health food shop (health and harmony, one of my favorite mom and pop stores still left in our neighborhood).

 store bought mixes are really very easy!!

and very yummy . . 

to montauk

chanda and i took the lirr to southampton today to meet nana and nonno and drive them home after nonno had some tests done. it was a pretty day for traveling and we worked a little on ancient greek history. we read about how they hunted boar, harvested olives, almonds and walnuts, and cooked outside over open fires. chanda liked reading about how travelers to sparta found the local "black" broth horrible to eat. the author (imogene dawson) picked out appropriate quotes referencing food from homer, hesiod, euripides and others.

a homeric hymn

morgana worked on a hymn to aphrodite this morning.

 

the words are from homer, and the music is a five-tone scale built on a dorian mode. in ancient greece flutes and zithers were tuned to scales different from today's major and minor scales. the modes expressed different moods and children were encouraged to learn songs in modes that evoked courage and steadfastness, rather than slackness or softness as in those modes that were found at drinking parties (according to plato).

february new year's dinner

we had two crackers left from christmas time!

cornbread, brown rice and black-eyed peas, collards and onions.


sweet potatoes too.

these little piggies are from sturbridge. morgana made them with her co-workers for the holidays. they were a tradition in the middle 1800's!

we had anzac cookies for dessert from the around the world cookbook. we ate early in the day as morgana ran off to a ballet rehearsal, and korrina ran off to meet several friends for the evening.

chanda worked on her greek history with some help from xena.

it was her argonautica synopsis which was finally ready for the lesson book.

 

in the evening, when morgana returned, we had milk and gingersnaps while playing the hobbit game.

we had long discussions about the rules!!

it's good there were cookies for sustenance.

snowstorm

we woke to snow falling small and softly outside. it changed to rain and then back to snow . . to hail . . and finally back to a small snowfall again. 

 little nutcrackers that have managed to stay out of their storage boxes.

 

 we made valentines today . . 

 we just need to fill them out and mail them!

 chanda worked on her border for her argonautica greek passage with translation by r. c. seaton.

 and then she made dinner . . with a little help from me.

 a lovely winter poem in brian jacques' redwall cookbook.

 with beautiful illustrations by christopher denise.

 stones inna swamp soup, or bean soup with celery and green pepper and parsley dumplings. there's supposed to be mushrooms, but chanda isn't a big mushroom fan and since she's the chef, she chose to leave them out.

 lots of parsley . . 

 stirring it up, but waiting for morgana to get home before adding the dumplings.

 i tackled the around the world cookbook . . 

 to make anzac biscuits, one of our favorite treats with coconut flakes and macadamia nuts.

 i used the new cookie sheet i received from my parents for christmas. it's the "gold" baking sheet from williams sonoma! i've always loved these from afar, so it was a really nice surprise when i opened my package this christmas!

 

while i worked in the kitchen, chanda began her writing . . she managed just to do a little bit before running off to watch a little of the fellowship movie . . 

after anzac cookies i finally opened my mollie katzen book to make . . 

 a gingerbread! i've been craving this every morning for three weeks now . . it's easier to bake when i don't have to worry about also putting together a dinner (and vice versa).

 we sat down to a delicious stones inna swamp soup . . except the stones melted a little as the water wasn't boiling when they were thrown in! live and learn!