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IF – Contained

January 9, 2009 · 21 Comments

A reader and friend asks, What is a “Pie Bird”?

Pie Birds date back to quaint Victorian times and are used when baking pies, to prevent the pie filling from boiling over into your oven.

Made of ceramic, these bird-shaped devices act as a clever vent, allowing the steam created from the fruit or other filling to escape from inside the pie.
They also support the pastry crust in the center of the pie so it does not sink in the middle.

Piebird (detail) by Lisa Rivas ©

“Pie Bird” • digital illustration – Lisa Rivas © 2008

To Use the Pie Bird:
First, line the pie dish with pastry, placing the “bird” in the center.
Pour the filling around the pie bird. Cut a hole in your pastry top
and place it on top of the pie, allowing the pie bird to stick out of
the hole. Pinch the crust around the bird’s shoulder, allowing the head
to stick through the pastry.

Happy baking!

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch,
you must first create the universe.

Carl Sagan

Filed In: Illustration, Sabroso

Homegrown,

August 26, 2008 · 1 Comment

Tomato abundance!
08 / 2+6 / 08

Eights ?

Well, the # 8
in numerology is for
PROSPERITY!

This year I
planted 3
“Roma Tomato”
plants and 2
“Cherry Tomatoes.”

The harvest has
been splendid
over +260
Roma Tomatoes
so far and
more coming
from where
these came from!

I call this
bumber crop,
Abundance!

 

Tomato Sauce ...even more abundance!
www.gregmorneauart.com •
painting by Greg Morneau • “The Waiting Place”
www.donnarizzo.com • ceramic sugar bowl by Donna Rizzo • “Willow Dancer”

Above containers with Tomato Sauce and below a bowl of refreshing “Gazpacho Soup”

Gazpacho Soup

In China, “red“ is a lucky color, so it’s often used to bring luck into a household.


 Keep reading here for a “Gazpacho Soup” recipe!

Often described as a liquid salad. Gazpacho was
traditionally eaten by workers in the fields, whether they were
vineyards, olive plantations, citrus groves, wheat fields or cork farms.
This cold soup replenished them
with the necessary salt and vitamins lost through physical exertion.

Originally
gazpacho was nothing but bread, water, and olive oil, all pounded in a
large wooden bowl called a dornillo. The tomatoes and peppers appeared after Christopher Columbus.

GAZPACHO SOUP

•    4 thick slices coarse bread crusts removed, soak in water (5 min)
•    3 pounds Roma tomatoes skins removed
•    3 medium garlic cloves
•    2 firm medium-sized cucumbers, peeled
•    1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
•    1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
•    2 stalks celery, chopped
•    1/4 cup olive oil
•    4 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar
•    2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
•    2 tsp sugar
•    1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
•    Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Squeeze water out of the bread and combine with tomatoes, garlic
cloves, cucumbers, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt &
pepper in a food processor and blend slightly to desired consistency.
You will have to do this in batches. Place in a large mixing bowl and
mix in the rest of the ingredients well.
Store in non-metal, non-reactive storage container, cover tightly and refrigerate overnight, allowing flavors to blend.
Serves 8.

Filed In: Friends, Ideas, Sabroso, Techniques

Lechosa?

July 24, 2008 · 3 Comments

What is Lechosa? It’s the Venezuelan name for “Papaya”, the fruit of the plant “Carica papaya” a native plant to the tropics of the Americas.
It has also been nicknamed “tree melon”, since these melons grow on a tree!

The most popular way to eat papayas is to cut them in half, scoop out the seeds and eat the flesh with a spoon. The unripe green fruit of papaya can be eaten cooked, in curries, salads, stews and as sweet preserves. The black seeds are edible and have a sharp, spicy taste. They are
sometimes ground up and used as a substitute for black pepper.

Lechosa or Papaya

“Papaya”
• watercolor, digital, printed on ricepaper and mounted on canvas
• 10″ x 10″
• Lisa Rivas © 2007

A wonderful dish is grilled “green papaya cubes” on skewers with fish or seafood with a squirt of lemon juice!

Trivia: The “Papaya” was the first fruit tree to have its genome deciphered.

Filed In: Fine Art, Las Botánicas, Sabroso

A Beneficial Being!

July 22, 2008 · 3 Comments

Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both culinary and medicinal purposes.
It has a characteristic pungent, spicy flavor that mellows and sweetens considerably with cooking.
We all know the strong aroma of “garlic”…

 Garlic Flower

 Well, this sweet and exotic flower is part of it…

In Europe, many cultures have used garlic for protection or white magic,
perhaps owing to its reputation as a potent preventative medicine.

More to come…

Filed In: Ideas, Illustration, Sabroso

Blueberry Season…

July 3, 2008 · 4 Comments

…peaks in July! And they are native only to North America.
July is “National Blueberry Month” in the United States and Canada.
Blueberries, prove that good things can come in small packages.
They are one of the richest sources of antioxidants,
full of anthocyanins
— the compounds responsible for their blue hue —
known to reduce heart disease and cancer in humans.

Berries by ©Lisa Rivas

“Berries”
• watercolor, digital, printed on ricepaper and mounted on canvas
• 10″ x 10″
• Lisa Rivas © 2007 


Your mother may have told you carrots would keep your eyes bright as a child, but as an adult, it looks like fruit is even more important for keeping your sight. Eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults.

Filed In: Fine Art, Las Botánicas, Pattern, Sabroso

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Go joyfully through life... listen, observe, dream, create & smile!
~Lisa Rivas

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