Riddle Me This How is it possible –Orange, so fresh the leaf is intactRuby-red strawberries that if wild would collapseTogether with nuts and raisins, to beIn the same still life in a nineteenth centuryComposition? What, summer and winter?Unless, if not…
A Pomegranate, Siena – A Poem
George Henry Hall was considered a “master of fruit, vegetable and flower still-life painting”, although that’s not all he painted. Here’s a selection of some of his works. A Pomegranate, Siena is a beautiful example of the artist’s renowned realism….
For the People Waiting – A Poem
So many still lifes of previous centuries feature abundance. As The Met points out, for this particular painting by Severin Roesen: “Nineteenth-century improvements in cultivation and shipping practices enabled the extravagant assortment.” It was about status, and fortune, and horticulture,…
Chocolate Biscuit/Cookie Truffles
These chocolate biscuit /cookie truffles are a lovely visual feast. With only three ingredients and a swing of a rolling pin, you have a nice little treat for yourself, or to box up as a gift for some lucky other….
Cherries – A Poem
This project of mine, writing poems as a response to food-themed art, has the added benefit of making me more mindful of small things. Like cherries. They have associations beyond, well, cherries. I remembered Marcel Proust and his madeleines. They…
Fruits of Midi – A Poem
In France, the southern regions along the Mediterranean Coast are known colloquially as le Midi. It’s thought Renoir may have painted this still life somewhere in le Midi on his way to study classical paintings in Italy. There’s a more…
World Bee Day – May 20
It’s United Nations World Bee Day on May 20! More info on the importance of pollinators here And here is my little tribute to the bee.
Figs – A Poem
Figs are one of my favourite fruit. When I was in Greece, I was thunderstuck by the amount of figs fallen to the footpaths from overhanging trees. Fallen figs were underfoot. All that gorgeous bounty, gone to waste. I was…
Ten Minute Tuna Pasta On the Run
This is why we always need pasta and tinned tuna in the pantry. This ten-minute tuna pasta, while maybe not as sexy as say, a slow-cook beef ragu, was born out of the necessity for a quick, nutritious, tasty, filling…
Two-Step Passionfruit Slice
Who doesn’t love passionfruit? Sweet, tarty – the idea of a little surprise when you cut it open. It is the Kinder Surprise of the natural world. And, you can use either fresh or tinned passionfruit pulp for this two-step…
