Category: France

Julia Child + Vote + Podcast Brown Rice Corn Seafood Island Recipe

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Photo of young Julia Child with blog title superimposed.
Isn’t this pic of Julia as a teen the coolest?
Want to listen to a podcast/audio version of Happiness Between Tails? Click the Spotify podcast link above. And please give it a follow.

Note: Today’s podcast episode above is for a recipe by my husband, Khashayar Parsi, who often sites Julia Child and Jacques Pepin as mentors. It was Julia who gave Jacques his television start. Type “recipe” into this site’s search bar for more recipes including this one for his Jacques-inspired double pop-over.

A man — the man behind the woman — oops — the saying is supposed to go, “Behind every great man is a woman”?! But we all need help. Certainly encouragement never hurts and I’m fortunate my husband has my back as I write my novels.

In Julia Child’s (she was t-h-e trailblazer and iconic TV cooking show host) case, her secret weapon was her husband, Paul Child. As her producer and #1 cheerleader, he made sure viewers like you and me could appreciate her unique personality as well as practically reach through our television screens to smell, taste, touch, and hear her gorgeous dishes… 

Speaking of weapons, let’s back up to her service with the OSS (Office of Special Services), during World War 2. During that time, she was a head typist, plus created her very first recipe; one to repel sharks from naval officers, which decades later was used to keep sharks off of downed space equipment.

Back to her show; she didn’t start cooking until later in life, and eventually began the TV show in her 50s! She’d recently published her famous “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” book that she’d co-wrote with a couple of friends, gave cooking classes as a result, and then was invited onto a very fuddy-duddy Chicago public TV show about books. During her interview, she gave an omelet-making demo that blew everyone’s minds to the extent that the station invited her to host her own show. The rest, as you probably know, is history…

Which is to say that success is ageless. Late-blooming and re-blooming are fave subjects of mine, as on this post and this one.

Julia produced cooking shows well into old age — which is to say that her commitment to service and staying actively involved ought to motivate us all to…

Vote!!!

Here in Los Angeles County, voting day is coming up on June 7, 2022. Yes, there are 30 offices to vote for, but that’s no excuse not to do our civic duty. This site about California issues offers great info.

If you live in the U.S., have you voted yet?

Ancient and Modern: Lovely León, Spain by da-AL

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Photo of da-AL at León book fair.
Rain can’t dampen the beauty of León’s historic district — especially when it’s got a late night book fair!

I love Spain! It’s no accident that one of my soon-to-be self-published novels is called, “Flamenco & the Sitting Cat.”

A dream to sightsee on foot, León, Spain, was the next to last stop of a fun-filled vacation that my husband and I began with a weekend in beautiful Barcelona and then a stop in wonderful Huesca. We crossed the French border into pretty saint-jean-pied-de-port, enchanting Espelette, and phenomenal French Basque Country cities Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Bayonne, and Biarritz. Upon our return to Spain, we enjoyed delicious food and seaside dogs in San Sebastián, and then the breathtaking city of Bilbao.

Statues of a pregnant Mother Mary are rare.
Interior of Santa María de León Cathedral.
Santa María de León Cathedral

León, founded in 29 B.C., has so much fascinating architecture that the two days we visited weren’t enough to see everything. León’s gothic Santa María de León Cathedral was constructed mostly during 1205 to 1301, its north tower and cloister during the 14-century, and its south tower in 1472. Ever see Mother Mary pregnant? (Tap on photos to see them bigger and their captions.)

Shops in historic León, Spain.
Footsteps mark the way along religious pilgrimage route El Camino de Santiago.
Seashells mark the religious pilgrimage route El Camino de Santiago.
The historic district of León features quaint parks.

It’s an important cathedral on The Way of Saint James (El Camino de Santiago) religious pilgrimage route.

Inside Casa Botines is the Gaudi Museum.
Photo of Casa Botines by Dantadd of Wiki.
My husband enjoyed chatting with Antoni Gaudí.

Architect Antoni Gaudí welcomes company. He’s best known for Barcelona’s Sagrada Família Cathedral. In León, he designed Casa Botines from 1891 to 1892. In 1929, it became a bank but has since reverted to its original appearance. Downstairs featured a display of Francisco Goya’s political cartoons.

Photo of da-AL with employee and Susana, owner of 'a comer' restaurant.
Susana and her employee cook with love — ‘a comer’ restaurant is a must-eat-at!

Spain’s homestyle food (unlike typical restaurant fare most anywhere) is loaded with delicious veggies. I swooned when we happened into a tiny eatery that cooked like I was visiting someone’s gourmet granny — we ate there twice! Every single morning, ‘a comer’ take out restaurant owner Susana shops for the best of what’s in season, then cooks a new menu from scratch — thank you from the bottom of my stomach, querida Susana!

Photo of hosts Marco Tsitselis and Mariu Alvarez Garcia.
We’re so glad Marco and Mariu rented us a lovely room!

Our hosts, Marco and Mariu, made our stay at their home extra cozy and our visit to León extra memorable — many thanks to both of them!

It was time to hit the highway to Madrid!…

Breathtaking Bilbao, Spain by da-AL

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The Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain
The Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain, features many American artists, from Frank Geary’s architecture to Jeff Koon’s “Puppy” flower sculpture.

Sure Frank Gehry’s amazing architecture at the Guggenheim Museum helped put a failing Bilbao, Spain back on the map. Front, back, in, and out the Guggenheim Museum, Spain, turns perceptions upside down and inside out (tap or click each photo for more info)…

The river that runs beside Guggenheim Museum Bilbao features innovative structures, lights, and steam.
A shot of me from an upstairs window, admiring Jeff Koons’ “Tulips.”
I’m waving hi to you from the feet of Maman (Ama) by Louise Bourgeois.

However, art and art-worthy architecture abound everywhere in Bilbao.

There's much notable architecture in Bilbao, Spain.
There’s much notable architecture in Bilbao, Spain.

Along the way to the museum, we stopped to see Azkuna Zentroa. Built in 1909, it now houses a building within a building balanced on unusual columns.

Akzuna Zentroa, Bilbao, Spain.
Look up at Akzuna Zentroa to see the bottom of a swimming pool.
The kids’ room at Akzuna Zentroa’s library.
Many amazing columns hold up the inside of Akzuna Zentroa.
In the windows behind me, folks are busy reading!

It’s part of the Spain half of Basque Country. That means that both Spanish and Euskara are spoken. Good food abounds, including pintxos, Northern Spain’s version of small delicious plates of tapas.

Bilbao, Spain is a beautiful city.
Bilbao, Spain is a beautiful city.

Our airbnb hostesses Iciar Ruiz (who owns her own design business) and her daughter, Alba, helped us decide what to see.

Iciar and her daughter made our visit extra nice.
Iciar and her daughter made our visit extra nice.

My love and I had just left the beaches of San Sebastián, toured the phenomenal French side of Basque Country, wonderful Huesca, pretty Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, and enchanting Espelette. Our adventure started with beautiful Barcelona. There was more for us to see…

 

Part 2: Tehran Visits The Louvre by da-AL

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Abbas Kiarostami, (Iran 1940-2016)
Look twice at the folks in the foreground.

Art bridges cultures and makes us see differently (that’s why the first of my novels-in-progress is titled, “Flamenco & the Sitting Cat”)  — look again at these art photos by Abbas Kiarostami, a noted Iranian film producer/director/screenwriter, poet, and photographer.

In his photos, Kiarostami examines the relationship between art and visitors. He shot them at the Louvre, between 1996 and 2012.

My husband happened to visit Iran’s National Museum and generously returned with these photos. Hover over them for descriptions and click on them to see full-sized. Look closely — the people in the front are observers like us…

How do you view art?…

See Part 1: The Louvre visits Tehran by da-AL

Part 1: The Louvre visits Tehran by da-AL

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Art bridges cultures…

Wedding of Thetis and Peleus
Wedding of Greek deities: Thetis and Peleus (Italy 50BC – 50AD)

Art museums often lend each other masterpieces. This year, however, marked a first — a large-scale show by a major Western museum in Iran! The world’s largest museum, the Louvre, proudly calls it, “…an outstanding cultural and diplomatic event for both countries.”

The Louvre contributed fifty masterpieces for “The Louvre at Tehran” to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Iran’s National Museum. Meantime, back in France, The Louvre exhibited, “The Rose Garden: Masterpieces of Persian Art from the 19th Century, on Qajar dynasty Iran.”

Lucky for us, my husband happened to be in Tehran to snap these photos for us. The art spanned centuries. Hover over the pictures for descriptions and click on them to see full-sized.

Assyrian sphynx in Iran via the Louvre
Marcus Aurelius (Roman art around 170AD)
Ottoman Sultan Mustafa II by Levni (Turkey 1700-1720)
Neshor (customs inspector) bearing 3 dieties (Egypt? 589-570BC)
Close-up Thoth (baboon), patron of scribes
Statue of royal scribe Kha (Egypt 1279BC-1213AD) with Thoth (baboon), patron of scribes
Wedding of Greek deities: Thetis and Peleus (Italy 50BC – 50AD)
Assyrian art
Assyrian art
Vicctor Riquetti painted by Joseph Aved (France 1850)
The Dominion of Time Over the World (France 1550-1600) holds Death (ship), Time (hourglass, Fortune (sail)
Assyrian art in Iran via the Louvre

What does art mean to you?

See Part 2: Tehran Visits The Louvre by da-AL to see the contemporary art photos of Abbas Kiarostami, a noted Iranian film producer/director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer.