Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
There are no roars in the Trophy Room......
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Autumn arrives in early morning......I discovered it by nightfall...
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree" Emily Bronte
“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.”- Rabindranath Tagore
Like the tree streches its branches and speaks to the winds of wisdom so has another autumn arrived for us to reflect upon.....
“Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.” - Sir Winston Churchill
Sunday, October 25, 2009
If I cook? Absolutely ......Today ...Thin Sliced Wild Boar Steak with Fresh Chantarelle Sauce....
1 to 3 lb. Boned Wild Boar meat
125 - 250 ml Port wine
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
125 – 250 ml olive oil
3 Spring onions, diced
64 to 200 grams sliced or slivered almonds
Cut boar meat into thin slices. In a bowl, blend port wine and garlic and Herbs de Provence. Marinate meat for 4 hours. Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet/pan. Mix meat, almonds and onions for 4-8 minutes, until done.
Boar engraving......
2 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
3 1/2 Cups of double cream (or heavy cream)
Optional: 2 tbsp cognac or sherry
Use some of the water from boiling the Chantarelles and mix it with the cream.
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper....
Let simmer for 20 - 25 minutes
Serve with rosted potatoes and/or grilled vegetables.
What type of wine would I pair this dinner with?
Very likely a Brunello from Tuscany, Italy - for its smoothness with flavors of rosted chestnuts, plum, and earth which is a good match and excellent with game...
If, not........
Well, well, well...would you then care for a glass of Grappa???Saturday, October 24, 2009
Campaign Furniture - Easily portable...
Bring your travel library with you.
A Tantalus for your travels - most important
Campaign furniture - Africa and India comes first to our mind - when we talk about furniture made for travel - any type of furniture that could be easily disassembled and transported on a short notice. I refer mainly to the British Empire in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Made for the military campaigns by some of the best furniture makers you could find in the Empire. Furniture that was built to last under severe rough conditions.
The Duke of Wellington.....The Duke of Wellington used campaign furniture on his expeditions. Today , I suppose it is rare and rather collectible. "Under Canvas" - a simple life - around the globe.
Travel Flask...

Thursday, October 22, 2009
A Philosophical Writer, Painter, and Poet - Hermann Hesse, (1877-1962).......
German-Swiss writer Hermann Hesse, born in Calw, Germany,awarded the Nobel Prize for "the most distinguished work of an idealistic tendency" in literature. Determined in early age "to be a poet or nothing" He did undertake psychoanalysis and Jungian psychology. His work found a new dimension reflected in; Demian (1919), Steppenwolf (1927), and Siddhartha (1922) -.... this book was an inspiration for me when I read it as a teenager ....Siddhartha, was not a follower of any but his own soul. ...one day years later after I had left my family home on my journeys...back for a short visit - I found an inscription in the book from my father...his reflection , perhaps an understanding.......
His grandfather had a deep interest in Far Eastern culture, and religion - this and the large family library inspired Hesse at an early age. Hesse traveled to the East in 1932. He moved to Switzerland in 1912, of which he became a naturalized citizen in 1923.Sunday, October 18, 2009
An Eccentric - Eccentric - Eccentric - Rebel - 7th Marquess of Bath
Longleat - 1675 - Artist - Jan Siberechts
His life..... art, writing, and music....
which, you can follow througout his life in his paintings and writings. You can experience his murals entitled "keyhole glimpse into my psyche" at Longleat House.
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