Thursday, July 12, 2018

FOOD
Magical Leek Soup
Mireille Guiliano 

Dr. Miracle, the family physician who helped me wake up and recover from my weight gain, was something of a gourmand. He gave me a number of recipes, but none more important than the one he gave me for the first, and only, “tough” weekend. On reflection, it wasn’t so tough at all, because of his “magical leek soup,” a trick used by many of the local women for generations. He had prescribed it to both my mother and grandmother at one point or another.

Leeks are a mild diuretic, and 48 hours or so of leek soup would provide immediate results to jump-start the recasting. For me, it was the start of a lifelong commitment to wellness as well as the beginning of my appreciation, my love, of leeks, about which there is much more to say. It is a trick I still use from time to time; do try it the first weekend.

The printed recipe follows. For a visual step-by-step watch the slideshow.


Recipe for Magical Leek Soup 
Serves one for the weekend 

2 lbs. leeks
Water to cover in a large pot

1. Clean leeks and rinse well to get rid of sand and soil. Cut end of green parts leaving all the white parts plus a suggestion of green. (Reserve the extra greens for soup stock.)
2. Put leeks in large pot and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer with no lid for 20-30 minutes. Pour off the liquid and reserve. Place the leeks in a bowl.

Instructions:
The juice is to be drunk (reheated or room temperature to taste) every 2-3 hours, a cup at a time.
For meals or whenever hungry, have some of the leeks themselves, ½ cup at a time. Drizzle with a few drops of extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Season sparingly with salt and pepper. Add chopped parsley if you wish.
This will be your nourishment for both days, until Sunday dinner, when you can have a small piece of meat or fish (4 - 6oz.–don’t lose that scale yet!), with two vegetables, steamed with a bit of butter or oil, and a piece of fruit.


Alternative: 
Pity those who don’t love the sweet taste and delicate texture of leeks. Eventually, you probably will. But if it’s not to your liking, follow the example of my cousin in Aix-en-Provence. After the birth of two sons she needed to shed a few pounds, but didn’t love leeks. A neighbor suggested a variation of “magical leek soup” with the “trick” of hiding the leek among other flavorful and healthful ingredients. You too may prefer the Provençal version, known as soupe mimosa.

Mimosa Soup Recipe 
1 head of lettuce
½ lb. carrots
½ lb. celeriac
½ lb. turnips
½ lb. cauliflower
1 lb. leeks
2 hard boiled eggs chopped
½ cup chopped parsley
Water to cover in a large pot

1. Clean and chop all ingredients in rough pieces and, except for the cauliflower and parsley, put them a pot. Cover with water, bring to boil and simmer unlidded for 40 minutes. Add the cauliflower and cook for another 15 minutes.

2. Pass all the contents through a food mill.

3. Serve in a bowl and add more parsley and pieces of chopped boiled eggs.

Instructions:
Eat a cup every three hours (room temperature or reheated) or so all day Saturday and Sunday until the same Sunday dinner of fish or meat, 2 steamed vegetables with a dash of butter or olive oil and 1 piece of fruit. Somewhat less liquidy and magical than the leek soup it nevertheless is an effective and tasty alternative.

Both versions are so good, and an adventure for most palates, that you will have a very hard time seeing them as prison rations. Especially if these tastes are new to you, jot your impressions of flavor and fragrance in your journal. In time, this exercise will intensify your pleasures, and you may want to keep a regular diary of your experiences gastronomiques, including some wine notes (just as serious oenologues do). 


Link: http://frenchwomendontgetfat.com/print/511)
Until later,
Jack
ARTS&FOOD®™ is an online magazine dedicated to providing artists and collectors around the world with highlights of current art exhibitions, and to encourage all readers to invest in and participate in “The Joy of Art” and Culture. All Rights Reserved. All concepts, original art, text & photography, which are not otherwise credited, are copyright 2018 © Jack A. Atkinson, under all international, intellectual property and copyright laws. All gallery events', museum exhibitions', art fairs' or art festivals' photographs were taken with permission or provided by the event or gallery. All physical artworks are the intellectual property of the individual artists and © (copyright) individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees. 
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©ARTnFOOD.com)

Friday, June 8, 2018

Former President George W. Bush's Art

The art exhibition and display of gifts and photos 
at the George W. Bush Presidential Center.


Former President 
George W. Bush's ART

NOW A PAINTER!


Painted Portraits by former President George W. Bush.
Former President George W. Bush has taken up painting, inspired to some degree, by the writings and artworks of Winston Churchill. A major exhibition of his work opened on April 5, 2014 at the one-year-old George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas, on the SMU campus. There his Library and Museum provide access to presidential materials, the archives and the artifacts of the George W. Bush Administration (including 80 terabytes of digital information, more than 200 million e-mails and more than 43,000 artifacts).

Editor's Note:
If Rembrandt's style is his goal, his current primitive and amateurish works need practice. On the other hand, if a Chelsea gallerist or museum curator were to view his painting, looking at them as if he were an unknown emerging contemporary artist, his work would most likely catch their eye and the work would compete very well when compared to some of the current art stars like Elizabeth Peyton and Billy Sullivan. To President G.W. Bush's credit, there is also a consistency of technique throughout his entire collection, which is admirable for an artist.

EXAMPLE: TWO CURRENT "FAMOUS" ARTIST WHO PAINT IN A SIMILAR STYLE TO President George W. Bush.
A painting by current art star Elizabeth Peyton.

The detail of a painting by the 
contemporary artist Billy Sullivan.

Former President W. Bush is receiving tremendous press coverage over his new career and has received a 99.9% positive rating for what he is creating. Everyone seems to be wishing him well on this new frontier - The Art World!

(Above) The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
is the 13th such resource in the nation operated by 
the National Archives and Records Administration, a federal agency. 
The George W. Bush Presidential Center is comprised of his library, institute, and foundation. It occupies a 226,565-square-foot-building on the SMU campus, surrounded by Texas prairie landscaping.  

The George W. Bush Institute (pictured) is an independent public policy organization,
reporting to the Bush Foundation.  

The museum's art exhibition is titled "The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy". It features more than two dozen never-before-exhibited portraits of world leaders whom George W. Bush met on the world stage, during his tenure as the 43rd President of the United States, plus a self-portrait and a portrait of his father.


 A painted portrait of the artist's father, 
the 41st President of the United States, 
George H. W. Bush

Helping to make this exhibition more interesting to visitors who are not interested in art, each painting is surrounded by photographs of President Bush's encounters with that leader and below the artwork are "objets d'art" (personal gifts and other memorabilia) associated with that specific leader or country.

Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair, Hamid Karzai, The Dalai Lama and Jiang Zemin are some of the paintings of presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders currently on the walls of the G.W.B. Presidential Center. 


Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Tony Blair of Britain.

George W.Bush started painting only two years ago, after reading "Panting as a Pastime", an essay by WWII English Prime Minister and painter Winston Churchill. 


Winston Churchill's studio and paintings.
At first George W. Bush experimented with his iPad sketch application, then he got serious and turned to private instructors, artists Bonny Flood and Gail Norfleet, to teach him the craft of painting.

The first of his artworks seen by the public were somehow gathered through social media and leaked onto the internet. They included a portrait of his Scottish terrier Barney and his self-portraits (one in a bathtub and the other in the shower).


Bush's Scottish terrier "Barney."

George W. Bush, self-portrait in a bath.

George W. Bush, self-portrait in a shower.

A painted portrait was presented to Jay Leno, the talk show host, by former President Bush on national television before Leno's job with "Tonight" show ended.

Jay Leno's Portrait by G.W.B.

Bush and Leno looking at the former President's art gift.

Other U.S. Presidents who took up painting include Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter. As former President Bush puts it, he is trying to bring out his inner Rembrandt. 


Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

Self-portrait by former President George W. Bush.

The ticketed exhibition is open to the public at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, SMU campus, Dallas, Texas, during normal business hours until June 3rd, 2014. For more photos of the exhibition go to: https://www.flickr.com/photos/georgewbushcenter/13622415065/in/photostream/

Collectibles for sale at the Presidential Center gift shop:
Dog Painting buttons.



The Art of Leadership
Special Exhibit
Gallery Booklet, $20
A full-color, 36-page gallery booklet catalogs the exhibit and features 30 portraits of world leaders painted by President George W. Bush, including a self-portrait and painting of his father.


Exhibition postcard. $1.98



(Source, The George W. Bush Presidential Center + Google, Wikipedia + information gleaned from various news organizations covering this subject.)


Until later,
Jack

Until later, 
Jack
ARTS&FOOD is an online magazine dedicated to providing artists and collectors around the world with highlights of current art exhibitions, and to encourage all readers to invest in and participate in “The Joy of Art” and Culture. All Rights Reserved. All concepts, original art, text & photography, which are not otherwise credited, are copyright 2018 © Jack A. Atkinson, under all international, intellectual property and copyright laws. All gallery events', museum exhibitions', art fairs' or art festivals' photographs were taken with permission or provided by the event or gallery. All physical artworks are the intellectual property of the individual artists and © (copyright) individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees. 
Trademark Copyright Notice: ©ARTSnFOOD.blogspot,com

©ARTS&FOOD, ©ARTSnFOOD.com, ©ARTSandFOOD.com, ©ART&FOOD, ©ARTandFOOD.com, ©ARTnFOOD.com)

Thursday, May 31, 2018

ARTS
The Cherry Creek Arts Festival
is coming again to Denver.
Colorado in July!

Every year Cherry Creek Arts Festival hosts artists but also has many Artisans and Craftspeople. These masters create "fine and artistic objets d'art," plus useful objects like designer jewelry, clothes, and furniture.

Here is a selection of CRAFTS from past CC Arts Festivals.


The outdoor Cherry Creek Arts Festival is one of the most prestigious arts festivals in the U.S.

Ayala Naphtali, Jewelry, New York, NY

Ayala Naphtali, Jewelry, New York, NY


Ceramics by Robert Hessler, Kingston, NY

Ceramics by Robert Hessler, Kingston, NY


Five Aluminum Columns
by Merle Randolph, Marion, OH



Found objects/ceramics by Valerie Bunnell,
Northampton, MA

Found objects/ceramics by Valerie Bunnell,
Northampton, MA


Fred & Janis Tate Jewelry Designs

Fred & Janis Tate Jewelry Designs

Fred & Janis Tate Jewelry Designs

Fred & Janis Tate Jewelry Designs
Ceramics by Ed Brownlee, Lebanan, PA
Ceramics by Ed Brownlee,
Lebanan, PA

Glass by Todd Cameron, Minneapolis, MN

Glass by Todd Cameron, Minneapolis, MN

Glass by Todd Cameron, Minneapolis, MN
Glass by Richard Ryan, Bourbonnals, IL

Glass by Richard Ryan, Bourbonnals, IL


Glass by Thomas Maras, Hudson, WI

Hats by Diane Harty, Frisco, CO 

Wood carving by Jay McDougall, Otter Tail County, MN

Wood carving by Jay McDougall
Otter Tail County, MN




Until later, 
Jack
ARTS&FOOD is an online magazine dedicated to providing artists and collectors around the world with highlights of current art exhibitions, and to encourage all readers to invest in and participate in “The Joy of Art” and Culture. All Rights Reserved. All concepts, original art, text & photography, which are not otherwise credited, are copyright 2018 © Jack A. Atkinson, under all international, intellectual property and copyright laws. All gallery events', museum exhibitions', art fairs' or art festivals' photographs were taken with permission or provided by the event or gallery. All physical artworks are the intellectual property of the individual artists and © (copyright) individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees. 
Trademark Copyright Notice: ©ARTSnFOOD.blogspot,com

©ARTS&FOOD, ©ARTSnFOOD.com, ©ARTSandFOOD.com, ©ART&FOOD, ©ARTandFOOD.com, ©ARTnFOOD.com)