photography

BIG green chair – SOOC

This lime green chair at Rutgers Gardens is *really* big. It has a twin facing it, too. I saw some “tiny” people sitting in the chair but didn’t get a photo of them. These sculptures must be fairly new – I don’t remember them from previous years.

For more shots straight out of the camera:

Review with Purple Columbine

On My Blog

Interview with Ruchama King Feuerman, Novelist

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Ilana-Davita reviewed Roya Hakakian’s Journey from the Land of No. She also interviewed Shimshonit, a blogger in Israel who used to live in my hometown.
• Jew Wishes reviewed Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld. Sounds like a powerful book, not at all an easy topic.
• Mrs. S. wrote about Jerusalem in 1967.
• On Websites for Small Biz, I talked about sites with busy designs: why do some designs work?

Upcoming: Lots of recipes on Sunday. Stay tuned.

Red at Rutgers Gardens Sale

Do you have popular plant sales where you live?

And these are just photos of the annuals!

For more photos with a little or a LOT of red, visit:

Pink Azalea with Red Spots

Happy Mother’s Day. Our azaleas have already faded (this shot is from last week), but the rhododendron is starting to show color, and the roses have tiny buds. We have a bit of a chilly day here… lots of unusual winds yesterday.

For more flowers, visit:

Review with Rocket-Like Columbine

On My Blog

  
  
– Interview with Lisa Palombo, Painter
– The Promised Land (video)

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Jew Wishes reviews Beatrice and Virgil (same author as Life of Pi).
• Ilana-Davita presents the first of her blog interviews, Weekly Interview: Treppenwitz.
• Mother in Israel has a provocative and well-discussed post called Should Co-Sleeping be Outlawed?
• Carver posted about Melanoma Awareness (a topic that hits too close to home for her).
• On a related topic, HaAretz had an article:
  Skin cancer increasingly likely among Jewish Israeli men
  There were some nutrition prevention suggestions on that article:
  “Dr. Niva Shapira, a nutrition counselor at the Cancer Association also noted that recent studies have shown a Mediterranean diet rich in fish and olive oil reduces the risk of melanoma.

  Food proven to help protect against radiation includes broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, kiwi, grapes, strawberries, oranges, fish, olive oil, avocado, almonds, tea, cacao and spices including rosemary and sage.

  In contrast, processed red meat; Omega 6-rich oils like sunflower, corn and soy oil; fried food; celery; parsley and figs all increase skin oxidation and skin cancer risk. “

Upcoming: Why Do Jews Eat Dairy on Shavuot? The standard, the fun, the funny, the historical, the hysterical. Feel free to leave your own funny comments on this topic in this post, if you dare to see your words (name dropped) appear in the upcoming post.

Inn with Orange Hills

I took this photo of the Country Inn at Jiminy Peak in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts back in January. I love both the round and triangular elements of the facade and the orange color of late afternoon on the mountains.

For more window views, visit:

Coming Soon: a return to Ruin Rui – to be posted on this blog by tomorrow (Thursday)

Today’s Flowers: Hellebore

My neighbor has this beautiful nodding flower in his front yard called a hellebore. I find it delicate and gentle.

Today is Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the Omer. My kids get to go on a field trip tomorrow in honor of this day when Rabbi Akiva’s students stopped dying (2000 years ago?), and some people may get haircuts. The Omer is counted every day from Passover to Shavuot; Shavuot falls on May 19 and May 20 this year. For a fun post on Lag BaOmer, visit Mrs. S.

For more flowers, visit:

Azalea Season – SOOC

Azaleas are in bloom all over the place. I brought in some red ones and put them in a vase; my husband said, what are those called again? He said they are in bloom around his work building.

For more shots straight out of the camera:

Japanese Noodle Vegetable Salad with Peanut Sauce

Adapted from Japanese Foods that Heal: Using Traditional Ingredients to Promote Health, Longevity, and Well-Being by John and Jan Belleme

Ingredients for the Salad

12 oz. udon or soba noodles (recipes called for soba and I used udon, in the hopes my kids would like this – no luck, but I loved it)
2 cups of small broccoli florets
1 cup of sliced cabbage (recipe said use napa cabbage; I used savoy cabbage)
1 large carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
3 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
optional: 1 kirby cucumber, peeled and sliced (I skipped this)

Spicy Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons peanut oil (I used olive oil and sesame oil instead)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
3 Tbsp. shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. rice vinegar (I skipped this)
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. fresh lime juice (I used fresh lemon juice)
1 Tbsp. mirin (Japanese rice wine – delicious condiment, if you can get some)
1/2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes (I used hot pepper sauce instead)

How to Make the Noodle Vegetable Salad

Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling water. Stir to prevent sticking. Cook until tender but firm. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Set aside in large bowl.

Steam the broccoli until bright green and tender-crisp. Remove, then steam the cabbage and carrot sticks. Add to noodles. Add the scallions and cucumber to noodles as well.

Mix all the peanut sauce ingredients in the food processor. Puree until smooth. Add to the noodles and toss gently. Serve.

Thursday Challenge: Face

My daughter and middle son made these muffins a few months ago, in honor of my birthday.

Thursday’s Challenge is FACE (Portrait, Self-Portrait, Happy Faces, Emotions,…).

Next week is WATER (Ocean, Lake, Waterfall, Ice, Rain, Wet Things,…).