Beautiful Ottawa River (in Deep River, Ontario)

Photos:Ziniania

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_River,_Ontario

Beautiful Dreamer

photo: Ziniania

photo: Ziniania

a poem by Stephen Foster 



Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away!

Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng.

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,
Mermaids are chaunting the wild lorelie;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.

Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

 

Cactus and flowers

My other two legs ......ahem, I mean my bike !

If you see a lady with a blue helmet and a bike with 2 green bags with tiny orange polka dots..........Zooming past you, it's me " Ziniania "with my beloved summer companion.

Spanakopita (spinach pie)

  

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/spanakopita-spinach-triangles-or-pie-recipe/index.html?rsrc=like

Songs and memories

Last year I visited my family in Greece. It was hot it was the end of July and we had a great time reconnecting and enjoying the time spent together. When we were traveling in my brother's in law car in the small streets of Aegina we would listen to this song and my brother in law would start singing along

On the radio ,in the car we would listen to the German song that came 1st on  Eurovision 2010

My sister's ring tone on her cellphone was this Lady Gaga's tune

In my sweet niece's room we would try to imitate Shakira's moves listening to this song. Soccer and Greece go along ...

and finally we would listen to this Greek song that was last summer's hit

"To kalokairi mou" means  "My summer" in Greek. All these songs made my summer vacation a musical memory that makes me happy and nostalgic all at the same time. Happy because it was a beautiful vacation with all my family there and nostalgic because now every time I listen to these songs, I feel the summer heat
on my skin, I smell the sea and the suntan lotion, I swim in the blue waters of my homeland with my sister at my side, I smell the jasmine in their garden, I taste all the good food that we shared, I remember all our discussions and I can taste the coffee we had on their veranda, I can feel the happy hugs of welcome and the sad good byes and I hope that we will be able to repeat all these great moments soon and listen to new songs and form new memories !!!

A little treasure

I was looking for an old book and inside it...  I found this !
A well worn bookmark with this beautiful poem... 

It survived 21 years !!!

I love you my prairie friend and your hugs are always with me !!!

15 minutes sketch

Ziniania

Eye Candy Friday

Stuffed Eggplants or papoutsakia = little shoes in greek

You will need:

3 black eggplants 8 x 4 inches , and 1/2 cup of olive oil.(wash well the eggplants, remove the green tip and cut in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop some of the meaty flesh to create a cavity. )The olive oil is for brushing the half pieces of eggplant, that you will broil in a preheated oven ( black skin side down)for 15-20 minutes.
When done you set the eggplant halves aside to cool.

For the Meat sauce:

500 gr of veal or beef ground meat
1Tbsp of olive oil 
2 medium onions chopped in small pieces.
1-2 garlic cloves minced
3 fresh tomatoes cut in half and grated (to use the pulp)
1/2  cup of chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan and sauté the garlic and the onion for 1-2 minutes. Add the ground meat and sauté until no longer pink . Add tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper and let it cook
uncovered so the meat sauce thickens (30-35 minutes).

For the Béchamel sauce:

5 Tbsp of butter
6 Tbsp of flour
2 cups of milk 
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of parmesan
2 eggs

In a sauce pan heat the butter until it melts , add the flour and whisk , add the milk and whisk slowly until the
mixture thickens and becomes like a thick cream. Remove from heat and add salt, pepper, nutmeg , eggs and the cheese.

extra: 1/2 cup of parmesan to sprinkle on top before baking.

Assembly:

In a 9 x 13 inches Pyrex you arrange the 6 eggplant halves. You feel them with the meat sauce and you top
them with the béchamel sauce . You sprinkle with the extra 1/2 cup of Parmesan. You preheat the oven and you bake for 35-40 minutes in a 350 °F until the top is golden brown.
I made it yesterday and it was very very tasty !!!

Zebra cake

recipe taken from the blog below : 

http://kopiaste.org/2009/09/theres-a-zebra-in-my-kitchen/

A morning walk on Somerset street

http://ottawachinatownroyalarch.blogspot.com/ 

A black dress

Happy Canada day