Fat Thursday

I was going to write about something completely different today but I was reminded that today is the Fat Thursday in Poland. Actually I was listening to the radio news about Ukraine and the Fat Thursday seemed almost more important than political subjects. Such is the power of tradition in Poland. Fat Thursday is celebrated by overeating. Not only in Poland. Germans, Hungarians, Spanish also follow this fattening tradition. Polish favourite pastries are pączki – large deep-fried doughnuts typically filled with rose jam or other marmalades, glazed with sugar.

Another favourites are faworki – thin dough ribbons, deep fried until crispy and sprinkled with caster sugar.

You are meant to consume the traditional sweets to bring you luck. The more you eat the more luck you will have. I just realised that I am in trouble this year. There is no way I could even get one of the mandatory sweets, in Sydney and this time of the day. It is the Thursday evening. The best I could do was to have a piece of toast with butter (as a fat component).  I am not sure at all that I have fulfilled the requirement of the day this way. So talking to my friend in Poland, who was just preparing a Fat Thursday party for his family, I asked if they could have a doughnut for me, like a drink to my health. Have a doughnut to my luck, sort of a thing. I am not sure if this will work. But I did my best to comply.

Judy Cassab

          

                                                                 

One of my big interests is paintings. There is a longish family history attached to it. My mother was a frustrated as she did not feel fulfilled as artist. She was good at drawing and had a keen sense of colour. I think I took the interest in painting with some of her genes. Frankly, I do not fully subscribe to  the theory of genes as a strong determinant of the way we are. I accept that there might be some influence but they are not hard coded in us. Inherited genes can be overridden given special attention. This is my belief. I was always interested in drawing and painting. My mother, however, liked to take over my art homework and produced work which always impressed my teachers. I find is surprising that this treatment has not damaged my independence. However, if I was to dig a little deeper into my psyche, interesting things may came up related to my mother taking over my creative tries. I was growing up believing that my job is to admire paintings of others without trying painting myself. Do I have regrets? Maybe some, but not too strong. I am directing my creativity to writing, this keeps me happy.

One of things I really love doing for fun is going to Art Galleries of the world. Especially, important ones. My favourite gallery is Mauritshuis in The Hague and my favourite painter Vermeer, favourite painting View of Delft. Having written that, I realised that I do not have really a favourite paining, there are many of them. Many others of Vermeer’s as well. And I like portraits best. I guess my interest in psychology comes out to play. So why I selected the View of Delft? Not sure. It is a beautiful painting.

                                       

I was going to write about Judy Cassab not about myself, so ad rem.

Recently I bought Judy Cassab’s diaries from the period from April 1944  to September 1993. Judy is now 93 and I am sorry that she stopped writing so soon. Or maybe she continued her diaries only I do not know about it yet?

Judy Cassab was born in 1920, a Hungarian Jew. She came to Australia in 1951 escaping from painful memories of the war and extermination of her closest family. She was then, already an accomplished painter with special talent and interest in portraits. In a very short time she became famous in Australia and other parts of the world like England, paining portraits of rich and famous, royalty of the world in many aspects of the word. Her paintings are not only portraits. There are also  abstract painting of truly Australian landscapes. I am yet to get to know this part of her art.

Looking at the portraits of Frank Packer and the self portrait, I hope you agree with me she is a great painter.

                   

She is also a wise woman, reading her diary is not only art educational. I have clarified few life questions for myself reading the book. I respond to her sense of humour and I am learning about Australian painters, painting politics, , I am now reading about 1990 times and I will miss my mornings with Judy Cassab’s memories when I finish the book.

In a couple of weeks I will go to see her exhibition in The National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. Really, really looking forward to it. I will write more about her (and myself) after I come back from the trip.

 

12 Years a Slave - story not only about past

I did go to see the film and I am glad. The film has indeed many cruel scenes, but not more than say Django Unchained or other films by Tarantino or many others. Steve McQueen is the director. I did not know him, but I think I may catch up on his other films and see Hunger and Shame at some stage. He impressed me.

Reflecting on violence in films, I question if it is necessary or could intended messages be passed without showing violence explicitly? I do not think that there is one black and white answer to it. Pun not intended.

Was there too much violence in 12 Years a Slave? I do not think so, even if I looked away several times to avoid seeing particularly painful scenes. Painful to watch, yes. There were moments that made me shudder but without the visual message the pain of the story would not be that powerfully shown. The film is not supposed to only move us emotionally; it is meant to make us feel the pain of what it means to be considered a lesser being. I think that the film is important and current as there are people who feel better and even superior to others. 

Thinking about Polish issues, there are lots of condescending words and behaviours directed at people who are “different”: non Catholics, homosexuals, other nationalities, non patriots (whatever that means) and many others just different to “typical” good Poles.

Some others think that riding a motor bike is very suspicious, dangerous to society and should be punished.

There is a scene in the film when Salomon, the hero, is looking through the window of his place of torture and sees the White House.

This story is not only about the past.

The film is also very beautifully filmed by its cinematographer Sean Bobbitt; the pictures of the southern nature are like paintings, some abstract, some impressionistic. They were the moments to take a breath and focus for short moments on beauty, not just human cruelty.

 I got rather serious, too serious perhaps, but such are my reflections after seeing the film.

Another film I saw lately was August: Osage County. Again, a difficult film, this time about the cruelty of a strong woman, brilliantly played by Meryl Streep. Julia Roberts plays another strong woman and she also displays streaks of cruelty. I am not going write about my observations on the subject of strong women, cruelty and reasons. Not this time anyhow.

12 Years a Slave

Few days ago I read in a friendly blog views on the film which seems to be screened across the world right now. I know of India, Poland and Australia showing the film in February. It has good reviews, 10 Oscar nominations and reputation of showing  extreme cruelty. The post, I mentioned, has many comments. Most of them, if not all, say NO, I DO NOT INTEND TO SEE IT. The reason is cruelty scenes in the film and unwillingness to subject oneself to unnecessary stress, horror and depression. I do agree with all the comments and my sentiments are very similar. It made me think, though. Sometimes we have to know unpleasant things to understand the world. There are times the knowledge can protect us or we may even be able to prevent suffering of others. I know that  is seems far-fetched to think that me having knowledge about slavery can save others from suffering.

Tomorrow is my movie day and I wonder if my friend and I will choose to see 12 Years a Slave. Romain Rolland French winner of Nobel Prize for Literature, idealist and a lover of truth said -  There is only one heroism in the world: to see the world as it is, and to love it.

I wonder if I am heroic enough to even see the film, not to mention loving all people after seeing that much human cruelty as I read the film contains. 

Mental juicy steak and cold beer

Disclaimer and a warning : To my surprise, this turned out to be one of most favourite of my posts. Strange. I feel that the title is not only stirring interest but may be misleading. Sorry to all of those who got here for culinary interest. This is not about it at all. I hope you read on though and find it fun and to reflection.

It was a long time ago when I saw Adorable Julia a film with Lilli Palmer and Charles Boyer based on Somerset Maugham’s story - Theater. I believe that there has been a remake of the film in more recent years. The story itself is not all that remarkable and the film was not good either but I was very young and impressionable. Lilli Palmer, in my eyes, seemed very sophisticated and I was in owe of her Julia. For some reason the last scene stuck in my mind, even if the message was perhaps difficult to comprehend for a girl not yet 20.  Julia, an actress, after an affair, with a young man age of her son, during a dinner takes a deep breath, smiles affectionately at her husband and takes a big sip of beer, then gets stuck  into a big juicy steak with gusto. Her diet, her regime, she had kept for a long time to impress her young lover and her adoring audience, were not necessary any more to her. She decided to eat her steak when she felt like it and enjoy beer without paying attention to the consequences. It was some type of a New Beginning.

The story does not match my situation but the reason why I recalled the restaurant scene was that recently I have been struggling with my daily tasks often not being completed. My ambitious goals have been more and more difficult to reach. This is how it has been most of my life. Aiming to achieve and consequently a go-go person who did not have time for friends or fun. I have achieved many goals in my life and I felt good about myself for some short moments as the result. My working days were always full of activities but I felt each day that I achieved too little. I want to feel like Julia, relaxed, doing things I enjoy doing, reading books I enjoy reading, going to see a movie when I want to do it or meet with friends even if my long planned website is not built to my satisfaction yet. And all of that without feeling guilty. I still want to contribute through coaching and writing but not to strict, self imposed deadlines. I still want to keep my daily routine but if I skip one day or two I want to feel that it does not matter and be happy and relaxed anyhow. Will I manage? I will give it a go. I want to have my guilt free mental stake and beer. At least from time to time.

This turned out to be one of most favourite of my posts. Strange. I feel that the title is not only stirring interest but also misleading. Sorry to all of those who got here for culinary interest. This is not about it at all. 

Steamer, mistakes and Thursday Dinners

 

I like cooking and since I started to be health conscious I like steaming as a cooking technique. I have had a steamer for some years and it has proven to be a great pot in which to prepare healthy, well balanced meals for one. Tasting good depends on the cook and her/his mood and ability to cook, the steamer will oblige. The trick is to remember to turn the gas off after the water has evaporated or add some more water before the pot burns. This did not always work well in my kitchen.  Consequently, I had to do a lot of pot scrubbing. The pot changed its colour and black is now a dominating tonality of the bottom part of the steamer. Since it is a New Year, a New Beginning, I decided that I will get myself a new steamer, a steamer I will treat better than its predecessor. I have accumulated a high number of points granted as a result of my Master Card purchases and I thought that it will be a good idea to get myself a new steamer through the Altitude Award Program. I found a really nice looking steamer among available to me goods and I ordered it, feeling that I have done a good thing to better  organise my kitchen.

I was waiting patiently for delivery of my new cooking tool and IT CAME yesterday. It is huge! 

I tend to be a bit quick in making decisions, not always doing appropriate research. That was the case this time. I did not check the dimensions of the pot. It says “super sized” on the box in which the cooker arrived. If it was not an internet type of purchase I would have never considered to buy it. But I have it now and have to think where I could store it in my small kitchen and how I could use it so I do not have feeling of failure.

For some time now, I wanted to hold regular dinners with my friends to discuss important, interesting, topical subjects enjoying friendly company and atmosphere. This idea is still in planning stage but the new steamer may precipitate the start of my Thursday dinners on Fridays. The strange name comes from famous Thursday Dinners given by the last Polish king, Stanislaw August. The dinners were instituted to discuss art at large and famous people were invited to share their views on cultural issues. 

I am no royalty and my place is not a palace. It is rather small, so my dinners will be for 6 – 8 friends who are not necessarily famous but as most of my friends – fun, knowledgeable in their areas of interest, interesting people. I expect the dinners to be lively and fun. My new steamer will be very useful in preparation of bigger size meals. This will make me feel better.

Why Thursday dinners on Friday? I think Fridays are better for most people to socialise than a middle of working weeks. King Stanislaw did not have to worry about such things.

Getting to know Australia – Thredbo

I have lived in Australia for many years, but during the years I lived and worked in here I went for holidays and traveled mainly in Europe. It is the time to change it especially that Australia is sooo beautiful. For an European beauty of the country may not be immediately visible. At least it was not for me. I missed European vivid green of late spring and summer and shy, pale green of spring. I was not impressed by the muted colours of gum and eucalyptus trees. I am now.  Now I understand beauty of Australia. These days colours of Australia are familiar and make me feel at home.

I went with two of my friends to Thredbo this week. A lot of Australian landscape I saw during the trip was new to me. We were driving for miles not seeing a sign of life. Maybe except for wombats, possums or kangaroos killed by drivers.  Not that this could be really called a sign of life. Vast areas of gold soil, dry grass with spars gum trees. I must have been in a good mood and easily pleased but I really liked the gold-silver views.

We went to Thredbo, Australian ski resort similar to Zakopane in Poland or Chamonix in France. It is strange to think of snow in Australia especially that we were there in the middle of hot summer.

This was the view from our window. I was told that the Kosciusko mountain  is just behind what we see at the picture. One day I would like to take the chair lift to the top and see the mountain with a Polish name. 

They were very enjoyable few days even if temperature was definitely on a high side for me. We still managed a walk along the local creek. For me it was another opportunity to discover Australian landscapes different to those I know from Sydney and its neighbourhood.

Additional attraction was a visit to Wildbrumby Schnapps Distillery. Place between Jindabyne and Thredbo. I loved everything about it. Design of the place, coffee they served, coffee place on a shaded deck with sweeping Snowy Mountains views and sculptures placed casually around the place, veg’s patches and most of all their selection of schnapps.

 I always loved eau de vie de Poire Williams and here I found a strong schnapps named Pear William. I could not believe my luck. After years of searching in Poland and Australia for the drink to no avail I found it in Australian middle of nowhere? Not quite, it is not the same drink but beautiful to my taste nevertheless. 

Australian schnapps

I left the place a happy person with three bottles of schnapps. My friends where a bit surprised at my excessive purchase. Maybe I did go over board... hmm... On reflection I found an excuse of my excessive behaviour. One of the bottles will be a present for my friend who likes after dinner drinks the other will be an ice-cream accompaniment and Pear William will be my after dinner. I think this is quite acceptable. One present, one cooking ingredient and one small bottle of Pear William for degustation. Nothing excessive.