A GIRL'S REFLECTIONS

Winter this year has been warm and rainy. The lack of sunlight and super short days depresses me a little.

However, once in a while we get a break in the rain.
Then Vancouver becomes magical again.

My local Whole Foods started carrying plantains this summer. I noticed them right next to the bananas. Plantains are a dietary staple in almost all tropical areas and can be cooked dozens of ways.

When they are green they are starchy like potatoes and can be cooked the same ways as potatoes. Ripe plantains turn black, soft and sweet, however unlike bananas they require to be cooked before eating. We bought a few every week and enjoyed them in different recipes.

My sister and I came up with this recipe for riped plantains and they were delicious. The recipe is a take on a savory plantain cake my uncle use to make when we were kids.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 – 4 Over-ripened mashed plantains
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1-cup all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1 finely chopped red onion
• 1-tablespoon red chilli pepper
• 1 tablespoon crushed ginger
• 1-teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1-teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Grease muffin tin(s) and set aside
3. In a large bowl combine plantain, oil, onion, pepper, ginger and set aside
4. Whisk flour, salt and baking soda together in another bowl
5. Add the flour mix to the wet ingredients and stir until just blended.
6. Fill muffin tin(s) about 3/4 full.
7. Bake for around 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from muffin tin(s).
9. Serve warm and enjoy!

For more Foodie Friday fun and recipes visit Design by Gollum and Picture Clusters

I do not remember art being part of my childhood. I first became aware of the Mona Lisa while reading a Mills and Boon romance novel. I was about 10 years old and had no business reading that book.

I do not remember the tittle of the book but I do recall the heroine’s eyes being compared to that of the Mona Lisa’s. I came up with a mental image of Mona Lisa based on the book’s cover picture.

A few years later, I saw a picture of the Mona Lisa while at a bookstore. She looked nothing like the woman I had imagined.
The Mona Lisa’s mysterious history intrigues me.

First of, it was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci who is considered a genius. Art historians cannot agree on who exactly the woman in the painting is. Although, it is said to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco Del Giocondo. The painting believed to have been complete shortly before Da Vinci died in 1519, didn’t become famous until the mid-19th century when it became associated with feminine mystique.

It was stolen on August 21st 1911 by a Louvre employee, an Italian patriot who believed the painting should be returned to Italy for display in an Italian museum.

I took these pictures of the Mona Lisa, last October at the Louvre where it hangs, embedded in a concrete wall and protected by two sheets of bulletproof glass. I fought my way through a crowd of about 16 people deep to get close enough to take two snap shots.

In 2010 When I returned to Vancouver from Paris, my friend E had asked if I had seen the Mona Lisa. He was very disappointed when I said no – I tried to explain that it was too crowed but E looked at me with very sad eyes and said –

You can’t go to the Louvre and not go see the Mona Lisa. It’s a pilgrimage.