“For Thee Viking” by thegrocer*.
This week, I’ve been channeling my inner vegan, because in a few days we’re having houseguests from across the pond!
They’re coming to D.C. to attend the ALA Convention this weekend. Though we’ve chatted online many times, this will be our first face-to-face meeting.
photo: carroll.mary.
Bon Matin!
For breakfast today: a cup of tea, a croissant, and a music video to open your eyes.
In my current pursuit of all things French, I came across musician and composer, Émilie Simon. Are you familiar with her work?
"Désert" was featured on her self-titled debut album (2003), which received the Victoire de la Musique (French Grammy) for Best Electronic Pop Album.
Originally from Montpellier, France, she’s conservatory trained in ancient music, and has made her mark both as an electronic pop musician and mainstream soundtrack composer ("March of the Penguins," French version).
The "Désert" video is haunting, strange, a fascinating example of art rock and visual poetry. Some find her soft, babyish voice remniscent of early Kate Bush and Claudine Longet. She must have a thing for plants; her third album, Végétal (2006) includes not only lyrics about vegetation, but actual sounds of plants.
Why am I intrigued? I’ve dreamed about plants growing out of my arms (have you?). The really disturbing thing is that none of these plants were edible. ☺
So, what did you think?
*English translation of "Désert" lyrics:
Where is the sea
I don’t know why I was just looking for the sea
But the only thing I found was a desert
A desert around me
What can I see
You close my eyes when I just need to go and see
If you want me to be blind I will stay here
With this desert around me
The world I can see
Is a nowhere land
Without you I’m a nowhere girl
In the desert
In the desert
With you
Where is the sea
I don’t why I was just looking for the sea
But the only thing I found was a desert
A desert around me
Where is the sea
I am alone
I am dreaming of the sea
That you are not here next to me
The world I can see
Is a nowhere land
Without you I’m a nowhere girl
In the desert
In the desert
With you
I’ve just finished my croissant. Now, I’m craving some green soup with flowers:
photo: JBluBird.
♥ Check out Émilie Simon’s official website (cool design).
♥ Her YouTube channel features her recent work (she now lives in New York and is releasing CDs in the U.S.)
Au Revoir! Has anyone seen my watering can?
Copyright © 2010 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan’s alphabet soup. All rights reserved.
Source: Alvhyttan
"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."
~ Chapter XXI, Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Okay, how cute is this? A sushi costume for your dog!
You don’t have a dog? What about some sushi slippers for yourself?
These are available for purchase on Etsy.
or a little munchkin?
You have your choice of toppings, and if you like, a different one for each foot.
Of course, nothing better to top off a sushi-inspired outfit than a cucumber salad bib. Just wish they made one in my size ☺!
If you like sculpture, check out these Paramodel trucks created by Japanese artists. They combine toys with plastic food models (like the ones found in Japanese restaurant windows). These come with signed certificates of authenticity.
No surprise, now I’m hungry. What’s your favorite sushi?
photo: apc33.
Enjoy your Saturday!
Bunny Sushi by barron.
♥ Thanks to Bridget at BB-Blog for the sushi links!
♥ Click here to go to the Sushi Booties Shop. They also have fortune cookie slippers!
Copyright © 2010 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan’s alphabet soup. All rights reserved.
photo by Romaine3.
Ah, lemon curd! Summer in a jar!
Would you like yours on a scone or a piece of warm toast, between the layers of a cake, or baked in a tart? I love this perfect blend of the tangy and the sweet — for me, it’s quintessentially England.
Recently I purchased Poetry on a Plate — a truly delectable smorgasbord of poems and recipes compiled by the Poetry Society of England. It’s similar to The Poet’s Cookbook (which features poems and recipes with an Italian theme), but Poetry on a Plate also includes musings from chefs and food writers. It’s the best of both worlds — poets talk about food, chefs talk about poetry.
I especially love this lemon curd poem — a little French flavor mixed with the English, and like Susan Rich’s, "A Poem for Will, Baking," it shows how people turn to cooking or baking as comfort, solace, and meditation. I love the interweaving of recipe process with travel itinerary, the palpable sadness. With each step the narrator completes, the person leaving is farther away. Is this a permanent leaving, or will she make a sweet return? Lemon Curd, after all, is a drama that could go either way. In any case, he has made something to fill the void, at least for now.
MAKING LEMON CURD
by Robert Seatter
I am making lemon curd
while you are travelling back to France.
(One o’clock you take the bus.)
An insanely domestic thing to be doing
in the middle of this black hole of loss;
but the precise imperatives
of the Sainsbury’s Cookbook of Afternoon Teas
are a sort of comfort.
(Two o’clock you check in at Heathrow.)
Four brown eggs and four yellow lemons,
half a bag of caster sugar and half a pound of butter:
all you need for the perfect lemon curd.
(Three o’clock you fly to Lyon.)
Mix the sugar with the lemons,
and beat with patience for ten minutes or more
till you get a sticky paste that remains on the back
of a wooden spoon.
(Six o’clock your time you land, then
take a train to Montpellier.)
Then beat more patience,
without letting the water boil
else it mars the smoothness of the curd.
Allow to cool and then place in the fridge.
(Ten o’clock you sleep alone in crisp white sheets,
in a foreign room, your mind still travelling.)
And I have a perfect lemon curd,
stoppered in a jar, labelled and dated
with the date that you left.
~ from Poetry on a Plate: A Feast of Poems and Recipes, 2nd Edition (Salt Publishing 2006).
Arc de Triomphe, Montpellier, France (photo by Peter Curbishley).
Also very cool is that I always used to buy my lemon curd tarts from Sainsbury’s. And is it my imagination, or is Montpellier graced with beautiful golden yellow buildings? Le citron!
Please help yourself to some tarts and cake, just in case. Life is so unpredictable.
photo: Le Silly.
Lemon Curd Cake by dolcedanielle (Martha Stewart recipe here).
Today’s Poetry Friday host is uber cool rock mom, Kelly Polark. Paint your toenails black and zip on over there to feast on the full menu of delicious poems being served up in the blogosphere!
Happy Weekend!
♥ Related post: "Fresh Squeezed Emotion."
Copyright © 2010 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan’s alphabet soup. All rights reserved.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 