These recipes are all favorites of somebody, somewhere. The best of the best, so to speak. They represent many, many years of cooking and dining experience and were submitted by a lot of wonderful people for the K's Kwisine column that continues to run since its start in 1987.Daughter Heidy and I were fortunate to spend a week with Harry Kaiserian and his wife at the Italian Cooking School Scula di Cucina "La Bottega del 30" north of Sienna, Italy learning how to make some traditional Italian dishes.
Arches contains one of the largest concentrations of natural sandstone arches in the world. The arches and numerous other extraordinary geologic features, such as spires, pinnacles, pedestals and balanced rocks, are highlighted in striking foreground and background views created by contrasting colors, landforms and textures. With the addition of the Lost Spring Canyon area, the park is 76,519 acres in size.
Water and ice, extreme temperatures and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured rock scenery of Arches National Park. On clear days with blue skies, it is hard to imagine such violent forces, or the 100 million years of erosion that created this land that boasts the greatest density of natural arches in the world. The more than 2,000 cataloged arches range in size from a three-foot opening, the minimum considered an arch, to the longest one, Landscape Arch, which measures 306 feet from base to base. New arches are being formed and old ones are being destroyed. Erosion and weathering are relatively slow but are relentlessly creating dynamic landforms that gradually change through time. Occasionally change occurs more dramatically. In 1991 a slab of rock about 60 feet long, 11 feet wide and 4 feet thick fell from the underside of Landscape Arch, leaving behind an even thinner ribbon of rock. Delicate Arch, an isolated remnant of a bygone fin, stands on the brink of a canyon, with the dramatic La Sal Mountains for a backdrop. Towering spires, pinnacles and balanced rocks perched atop seemingly inadequate bases vie with the arches as scenic spectacles.
Here sheer-walled canyons, towering red sandstone monoliths and beautiful valleys host a myriad of wild animals and adventures for everyone in the family. Spectacular plateaus and canyons fill the park, where the land has been preserved as it was for thousands of years. A visitor center four miles up from the West entrance offers camping information and more.There are 100 National Monuments in the United States.
... canyons, monoliths, colorful formations, bighorn sheep, soaring eagles and a spectacular road reflect the environment and history of plateau-and-canyon country.
This artisan center (map shown above) houses several dozens of working artisan shops. Their website says:
Here are some glass beads from one of the largest bead stores where I have ever shopped, the Beadz Unlimited store. (Photo courtesy of Beadz Unlimited.) Aren't they gorgeous? I found some unusual glass beads in colors that are difficult to match, and also purchased a few beading staples.Once the University of Canterbury, The Arts Centre today is a unique and colourful complex that promotes community education and the growth of arts and crafts in Christchurch. Located in the greenest and architecturally most harmonious part of the city, The Arts Centre is only six minutes walk from the central city, and 15 minutes drive away from the Christchurch International Airport.
West on Worcester Boulevard, The Arts Centre’s role as a venue for cultural recreation in the heart of Christchurch is enhanced by it’s immediate neighbours; the Canterbury Museum, the Christchurch Art Gallery and the Botanic Gardens.
This is NZ wool fibre from Fibre Artisans located within the gallery. It is a "Kid Mohair/Merino" blend, produced by Touch Yarns in New Zealand. The quantities and selections were vast, and I had a hard time choosing from their inventory.
Hand carved buttons made from prolific rhododendron branches were another souvenir. An artisan there makes buttons from about a dozen different native woods. Each button in each set was unique. Unfortunately, this artisan is retiring soon. Maybe someone else will take over his trade.
Healesville Sanctuary is one of Australia’s most recognised attractions, showcasing more than 200 species of Australian wildlife, only one hour from Melbourne.
The pictures, top to bottom, are of the Brogla crane, a wallaby, a sleeping koala bear, a kangaroo, and an emu. These photos were taken Jan. 30, 2009, in the heat of the Australian summer. Most of the animals we saw (including a platypus, whose picture did not turn out due to underexposure in his habitat) were suffering from the hottest summer on record there.
In fact, the Australian Open was being played in Melbourne last week on one of the record high heat days in that area, with temperatures recorded on the court at 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The daytime temperatures hit 115 degrees Fahrenheit when we were walking around the city!
More about the sights Down Under to come later this week.
We interrupt this blog to bring you a notice that I will not be posting for about three weeks due to exciting developments on the National Scrabble front.
On the left is player Gloriosa Agdeppa (California) and on the right is Eric Tran from the Calgary Scrabble Club. He executed an amazing game against me in the tournament and won that game with an impressive total game score of 597.
Eric racked up four bingos (using all seven letters on your rack in one play, resulting in an additional 50 points for the bingo) in our game. Four bingos played in one game was just super, and I was so proud that he beat me so thoroughly, that I took his picture with his score sheet just to prove what an awesome player he is! He is 21 years old and a student at the university in Calgary. Needless to say, I believe he won the overall game plays in the tournament and received a fairly large monetary prize.
The picture above is an interior shot of a spice and tea store in the downtown area of Chinatown in Calgary.
This picture is the dome of the Chinese Cultural Center in downtown Calgary. It is patterned from the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The cultural center had a well stocked gift shop, and a few toonies were spent there.
We shopped at several lovely yarn stores in Calgary, and tomorrow the posting will be about the hand dyed yarns purchased from independent Vancouver, BC fiber dyers.
This YouTube is mesmerizing. I must have watched and listened to McClean singing "Starry, Starry Night" several dozen times already. It is powerful in itself, but also could be an entertaining background vocal for surfing the net. It was originally made into a PowerPoint presentation, although not as accessible via email as the YouTube version above. Full screen and speakers tuned up, you can imagine the visual and auditory effects would be spectacular. This video, though, ain't bad!
In 2005, my National Scrabble Association tournament player friends and I made a trip to the British Isles. One of the stops on the cruise was to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The above pictures are from the Van Gogh Flckr pool.
I've always been fascinated by Vincent Van Gogh; poor ear, poor dear.
Fortunately, water was distributed at no charge. But for around $200, the cost of a round-trip airline ticket to Dallas was worth the extra expense of a $3 pack of peanuts (with complimentary H2O). But since the flight was under two hours, I held off on snacks and just chewed gum.In what could be the ultimate cost-cutting move by airlines buffeted by sky-high fuel prices, US Airways Group says it will eliminate free snacks in coach class on all its domestic flights starting June 1. The airline's largest hub is in Charlotte, N.C. In what could be the ultimate cost-cutting move by airlines buffeted by sky-high fuel prices, US Airways Group says it will eliminate free snacks in coach class on all its domestic flights starting June 1. The airline's largest hub is in Charlotte, N.C.
American_Airlines says: "If you are planning to travel by air on American Airlines, expect to pay an extra fee every time you check a bag. The airline points to rising fuel costs as the reason for why they are charging travelers $15 for the first bag. Checking a second bag already costs an extra $25. In addition to the new fees, American said it is also going to cut its U.S. flights by more than 10 percent, which will cause at least some people at the airline to lose their jobs."
