From “The little book of household madness” by Kaz Cooke.

Lost your eyebrow pencil? A plain black felt-tip pen or burnt piece of cork will do just as well.

Organise your wardrobe into coloured-coded sections. Staple matching shoes to each outfit.

Polish your television roof aerial, install storm windows, sand the outdoor furniture and carve your own kitchen bench from soapstone.

My love of great food  always tests the boundaries of my great taste in all  food related matters…

6 piece condiment set.

What a lovely lunch! Awesome food, very nice service and great surroundings! And fresh produce from the garden…

Cured salmon with an avocado purée and sweetbreads with fresh peas, mint and lemon.

Petit fromage, asparagus.

Viognier braised rabbit risotto, dill, pancetta.

Broad beans, beef brisket, reject potatoes, burnt shallots, white anchovies.
I had the beef and it was sensational! Melt in the mouth, beautiful dish. Can’t wait to go back…

A recipe from the Australian Women’s Weekly “World Table” cookbook.
CHICKEN, MUSHROOM AND LEEK FRICASSEE: an easy recipe that makes enough for 6 and that you can freeze.

2 tablesppons olive oil
1.5kg chicken thighs fillets, quartered
3 rindless bacon slices (195g), chopped coarsely
45g butter
3 medium leeks (1kg), trimmed, sliced thinly
3 stalks celery (450g), trimmed, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 ½ cups (375ml) dry white wine
1 ½ cups (375ml) chicken stock
400g button mushrooms
1/4 cup (60ml) pouring cream
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F.
2. Heat oil in large heavy-based flameproof dish. Cook chicken, in batches, until browned all over. Remove from dish.
3. Cook bacon, stirring, in same dish until browned lightly.
4. Add butter and leek; cook, stirring occasionally, until leek softens. Stir in celery, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Stir in flour, then wine and stock; bring to the boil, stirring.
5. Stir in chicken and mushrooms; transfer to oven. Cook about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened slightly.
6. Return dish to stove top, discard bay leaves; stir in cream and parsley. Simmer, uncovered, until casserole is heated through. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves.
7. eat!

Make sure you use a big dish, there is quite a lot of food in there!
I found that the sauce hadn’t quite thickened enough while cooking in the oven. So I cooked the dish on the stove top for a bit longer and added the cream and parsley right at the end.
Serve with rice.

In the early 16th century, Margaret of Austria (Marguerite d’Autriche) (1480-1530) had the royal monastery of Brou built to commemorate her love for her late husband Phillibert II, who died prematurely at the age of 24. And she never saw it completed (she died while living in Belgium).

From “Foolish words, the most stupid words ever spoken” by Laura Ward.

From the history section:

There cannot always be fresh fields of conquest by the knife…That we have already, if not quite, reached these final limits, there can be little question. The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will be forever shut from the intrusion of the wise and human surgeon. Sir John Eric Erichsen, British surgeon (later appointed Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria) in 1873

Aujourd’hui, rien (today, nothing). Diary entry from Louis XVI, King of france, on 14 July 1789-the day the Bastille was stormed

When the Paris Exhibition closes, electric light will close with it and no more will be heard of it. Professor Erasmus Wilson of Oxford University, 1878

Some excellent deals this week!
But my pick of the week is definitely the Covergirl Mascara: CLUMP CRUSHER! Just the name! Does it mean your eyelashes are in a perpetual state of clumps that you need a mascara to crush them? We all must look pretty awful without this!
There must be people in offices all over the world coming up with weird names to make you feel and look more beautiful! I think I will have to do a special FashionAdvisor blog about nail polish colours…

First, we had people rescuing a man who was stuck by pushing a whole train carriage to free his leg.

Now we have a  dancing party in the train. Go and check the video on you tube (man starts train dancing party in Perth, Australia).

It’s all happening in the trains!

While I was sorting through my pictures from the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, I came across a rather gruesome (but awesome in a way) photo of a sculpture of Death.  It made me think of other photos I’ve taken of death-related art. So here it is…

Tombeau de Jean sans Peur et Marguerite de Bavière. Musée des Beaux-Arts. Dijon, France

Tombeau de François II de Bretagne. Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul. Nantes, France

Tombeau de Philibert II. Monastère Royal. Brou, France
Pour la petite histoire, il fut le dernier mari de Madeleine d’Autriche. Laquelle fut d’abord fiancée à Charles VIII, qui la répudia pour épouser Anne de Bretagne, fille de François II (voir tombeau précédent) et Marguerite de Foix…

Cappella Brancacci. Florence, Italy

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo). Florence, Italy

Putredini dixi/ pater meus es mater/ mea et soror mea vermibus (Job 17,14): J’ai dit à la putréfaction “tu es mon père”, à la vermine “tu es ma mère et ma sœur”. ( I said to putrefaction “you are my father”, to vermin “you are my mother and my sister”).
Musée des Beaux-Arts. Dijon, France