My Library, Mornings in Jenin...

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa;

A very powerful narrative about a world of loss, of home, country and heritage.

Palestinians were driven from their ancestral villages, their homes, their land by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948.

Mornings in Jenin is haunting and heart wrenching, a novel of vital importance. Lending voices to the headlines, it forces to take a look at one of the political conflicts of our lifetimes.

It is more then 60 years since "El Nakba" The Catastroph and "El Naksa" The Disaster happened.

The western world has been and still is taciturn when it comes to tell what happened to the Palestinians and their Country. There has been and still is great injustice.

I hope, for peace in the world.

“A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts.” Seneca Roman Philosopher mid first century AD

A love for scent and fragrance...perfume;

The very scented Christmas lilies.

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant scent.

Chanel Bois des Iles was my very first perfume I received a life time ago from my elegant and worldly Godmother.

Bois des Iles, was launched in 1926,

The perfume concentration is richer and sweeter, while eau de toilette is quite lighter, but magnificent. The top notes are composed of aldehydes, bergamot, neroli and peach, the heart composition consists of jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, woody iris and ylang-ylang, and the base of vetiver, sandalwood, benzoin and musk.

Gardenia a flower for the perfume production.

Always liked Arpege;

Arpège is a 1927 perfume by Lanvin. Along with Chanel's Chanel No. 5 and Patou's Joy, it is one of the three best known perfumes in the world

Perfumers André Fraysse and Paul Vacher had created the perfume for Jeanne Lanvin, one story relates that she offered it to her daughter Marguerite as a thirteenth birthday present, and asked her to name it. Lanvin's daughter, already an accomplished musician, called it "Arpège" ("arpeggio").

Lavin Arpege Eau De Parfum - Ladies Fragrance. An exquisite & mystical fragrance for women Provides a truly classical French perfume Top notes: Bergamot, Orange Blossom, Honeysuckle & Rose Middle notes: Jasmine, Iris Blossom, Ylang-Ylang Base notes: Sandalwood, Patchouli, Vetiver & Vanilla.

Orange flowers have a wonderful scent;

Green Tea (Elizabeth Arden) has a fresh citrus fragrance, nice to wear on hot summer days;

Fragrance compounds in perfumes will degrade or break down if improperly stored in the presence of:

Heat

Light

Oxygen

Extraneous organic materials

Proper preservation of perfumes involve keeping them away from sources of heat and storing them where they will not be exposed to light. An opened bottle will keep its aroma intact for several years, as long as it is well stored. However the presence of oxygen in the head space of the bottle and environmental factors will in the long run alter the smell of the fragrance.

Perfumes are best preserved when kept in their original packaging when not in use, and refrigerated to relatively low temperatures: between 3-7 degrees Celsius (37-45 degrees Fahrenheit). Although it is difficult to completely remove oxygen from the headspace of a stored flask of fragrance, opting for spray dispensers instead of rollers and "open" bottles will minimize oxygen exposure. Sprays also have the advantage of isolating fragrance inside a bottle and preventing it from mixing with dust, skin, and detritus, which would degrade and alter the quality of a perfume.

Pollution

Synthetic musks are pleasant in smell and relatively inexpensive, as such they are often employed in large quantities to cover the unpleasant scent of laundry detergents and many personal cleaning products. Due to their large scale use, several types of synthetic musks have been found in human fat and milk, as well as in the sediments and waters of lakes.

Perfume composed of largely natural materials are usually much more expensive.

Synthetic sources

Main article: Aroma compound

Many modern perfumes contain synthesized odorants. Synthetics can provide fragrances which are not found in nature. For instance, Calone, a compound of synthetic origin, imparts a fresh ozonous metallic marine scent that is widely used in contemporary perfumes. Synthetic aromatics are often used as an alternate source of compounds that are not easily obtained from natural sources. For example, linalool and coumarin are both naturally occurring compounds that can be inexpensively synthesized from terpenes. Orchid scents (typicallysalicylates) are usually not obtained directly from the plant itself but are instead synthetically created to match the fragrant compounds found in various orchids.

The majority of the world's synthetic aromatics are created by relatively few companies. They include:

International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF)

Givaudan

Firmenich

Takasago

Symrise

Each of these companies patents several processes for the production of aromatic synthetics annually.

Animal sources

Ambergris: Lumps of oxidized fatty compounds, whose precursors were secreted

and expelled by the sperm whale. Ambergris is commonly referred to as "amber" in perfumery and should not be confused with yellow amber, which is used in jewelry. Because the harvesting of ambergris involves no harm to its animal source, it remains one of the few animalic fragrancing agents around which little controversy now exists.

Castoreum: Obtained from the odorous sacs of the North American beaver.

Civet: Also called Civet Musk, this is obtained from the odorous sacs of the civets, animals in the family Viverridae, related to the mongoose. The World Society for the Protection of Animals investigated African civets caught for this purpose.

Hyraceum: Commonly known as "Africa Stone", is the petrified excrement of the Rock Hyrax.

Honeycomb: From the honeycomb of the honeybee. Both beeswax and honey can be solvent extracted to produce an absolute. Beeswax is extracted with ethanol and the ethanol evaporated to produce beeswax absolute.

Musk: Originally derived from the musk sacs from the Asian musk deer, it has now been replaced by the use of synthetic musks sometimes known as "white musk".

Other natural sources

Lichens: Commonly used lichens include oakmoss and treemoss thalli.

"Seaweed": Distillates are sometimes used as essential oil in perfumes. An example of a commonly used seaweed is Fucus vesiculosus, which is commonly referred to as bladder wrack. Natural seaweed fragrances are rarely used due to their higher cost and lower potency than synthetics.

Plant sources

Plants have long been used in perfumery as a source of essential oils and aroma compounds. These aromatics are usually secondary metabolites produced by plants as protection against herbivores, infections, as well as to attract pollinators. Plants are by far the largest source of fragrant compounds used in perfumery. The sources of these compounds may be derived from various parts of a plant. A plant can offer more than one source of aromatics, for instance the aerial portions and seeds of coriander have remarkably different odors from each other. Orange leaves, blossoms, and fruit zest are the respective sources of petitgrain, neroli, and orange oils.

Bark: Commonly used barks includes cinnamon and cascarilla. The fragrant oil in sassafras root bark is also used either directly or purified for its main constituent, safrole, which is used in the synthesis of other fragrant compounds.

Flowers and blossoms: Undoubtedly the largest source of aromatics. Includes the flowers of several species of rose and jasmine, as well as osmanthus, plumeria, mimosa,tuberose, narcissus, scented geranium, cassie, ambrette as well as the blossoms of citrus and ylang-ylang trees. Although not traditionally thought of as a flower, the unopened flower buds of the clove are also commonly used. Most orchid flowers are not commercially used to produce essential oils or absolutes, except in the case of vanilla, an orchid, which must be pollinated first and made into seed pods before use in perfumery.

Fruits: Fresh fruits such as apples, strawberries, cherries unfortunately do not yield the expected odors when extracted; if such fragrance notes are found in a perfume, they are synthetic. Notable exceptions include litsea cubeba, vanilla, and juniper berry. The most commonly used fruits yield their aromatics from the rind; they include citrus such as oranges,lemons, and limes. Although grapefruit rind is still used for aromatics, more and more commercially used grapefruit aromatics are artificially synthesized since the natural aromatic contains sulfur and its degradation product is quite unpleasant in smell.

Leaves and twigs: Commonly used for perfumery are lavender leaf, patchouli, sage, violets, rosemary, and citrus leaves. Sometimes leaves are valued for the "green" smell they bring to perfumes, examples of this include hay and tomato leaf.

Resins: Valued since antiquity, resins have been widely used in incense and perfumery. Highly fragrant and antiseptic resins and resin-containing perfumes have been used by many cultures as medicines for a large variety of ailments. Commonly used resins in perfumery include labdanum, frankincense/olibanum, myrrh, Peru balsam, gum benzoin. Pine and firresins are a particularly valued source of terpenes used in the organic synthesis of many other synthetic or naturally occurring aromatic compounds. Some of what is called amberand copal in perfumery today is the resinous secretion of fossil conifers.

Roots, rhizomes and bulbs: Commonly used terrestrial portions in perfumery include iris rhizomes, vetiver roots, various rhizomes of the ginger family.

Seeds: Commonly used seeds include tonka bean, carrot seed, coriander, caraway, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, and anise.

Woods: Highly important in providing the base notes to a perfume, wood oils and distillates are indispensable in perfumery. Commonly used woods include sandalwood, rosewood,agarwood, birch, cedar, juniper, and pine. These are used in the form of macerations or dry-distilled (rectified) forms.

Do you like to use perfumes? which is your favourite and which was your very first perfume you bought or received?

The Hot, The Loud and the Proud;

It is end of April and following Noel's meme "The hot the loud and the proud", it is time to show some of my attention seeking plants and flowers from my garden.

Crotons with their strong coloured leaves are one of them especially when illuminated by the sun.

Epidendron- or also called Crucifix Orchids are favourites of mine. I like the strong tropical orange...
...or the yellow butterball flowers shining from the dark.

Soon the hot red leaves of the Poinsettia will be a focus in my garden throughout winter.

All come in the categories of The Hot, The Loud and The Proud;

Please follow the link to be dazzled by hot tropical colours.

All photos TS

Food glorious food; Risotto with Pumpkin;

Cooking a risotto is easy.

I had some Pumpkin left which had to be used. Generally Risotto does not contain Pumpkin. My ingredients are:

1 Onion diced, small piece of Pumpkin cut in cubes, 1 cup arborio rice (roundcorn rice) 3 cups of water.

Sweat onions and pumpkin in a little olive oil, add 1 cup of rice, add 1teaspoon curry powder and

mix, let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Now add water always a little say a 1/3 of the cup and stir. As soon as the water is soaked up by the rice add more until you have used it all and the rice is soft but still has a little bite to it. Add salt to your taste before it is finished cooking. When the rice is ready to serve add a good handful of cheese. Parmesan or cheddar if you prefer. I do not think this has to be completely authentic because every cook has his or her own recipes. Some use white wine or chicken stock instead of water. You can also use sweet potato instead of pumpkin which is very delicious too.

I cook this rice in a Terracotta pot suitable for the stove top. I cook this dish on low heat from 5 -3 never higher on a Miele cooktop which goes up to 9 .

I serve the risotto with slowly cooked small tomatoes from the garden. They too are cooked in a terracotta pan suitable for the stove top. They too are cooked slowly on low heat 3-4; until they caramelize slightly and smell delicious, then a delectable sauce has accumulated as well.

Ingredients; small tomatoes cut in half, cold pressed virgin olive oil, Thyme and a little garlic. Herb salt and Pepper.

Lettuce from the garden, with a simple dressing of herb salt, white balsamic vinegar and cold pressed Macademia oil.
Campari on the rocks to keep the cook happy!

The finished vegetarian dish. The skin and the seed of the tomatoes are kept and eaten. When you grow your own vegetable you do not throw half of it out. The skin contains many minerals and the seeds as well.

Meat is not essential with this dish.

The English Philosopher and Politician Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was a gourmet, he also liked to experiment with food. Allegedly he caught a bad cold while trying to stuff a chicken with snow and died soon after from the consequences of this cold!!

The Hot, The Loud and the Proud;

The Hot; Ipomea horsefalliae

The Loud; Vriesia grows in the fork of a tree in my garden.

Vriesea carinata

Lobster Claw

Paint Brush

This attractive small plant has a rosette of fifteen to twenty, light green leaves, which are soft textured. Each leaf is only 15-centimetres (6-inches) long, and 2.5-centimetres (1-inch) wide. Also, many offsets form in the leaf axils. On its inflorescence are the most brilliant colours of the genus. The flattened stem is between 5 and 7.5-centimetres (2 and 3-inches) long. On this stem are lobster-claw-shaped bracts. They are coloured bright cardinal red at the base, blending to yellow, and green towards their tips. Out of each bract, a bright yellow flower appears.They grow as epiphytes on bushes, and low on trees in shady areas.

The Proud; Beaumontia grandiflora;

An interesting rare perfumed plant is Herald's Trumpet (Beaumontia grandiflora) which has wonderful large white flowers with a sweet tropical perfume. It is a vigorous woody climber which is native to the region from India to Vietnam and belongs to the same plant family (Apocynaceae) as Oleanders, Frangipanis and Mandevillas which typically bleed a white milky sap from cut stems.

Plant details

Common name: Herald's Trumpet
Botanic name: Beaumontia grandiflora
Climate: Will grow best in the warmer zones of Australia, north of Coffs Harbour, NSW. It prefers sub-tropical and tropical conditions to thrive and can look miserable in areas where temperatures fall below 10°C.
Description: Herald's Trumpet is technically a climber but is normally grown as a shrub to 2-3m (6-10') tall with dark glossy green leaves that are deeply veined. The large white flowers have a rich tropical scent and flowers through the warmer periods of the year, spring and summer.

This meme, The Hot, The Loud and The Proud is created by Noel

It is about plants in bold colours. It appeals to me as my garden is full of "hot, loud and proud plants and flowers.

20th Annual Grandparents' and Special Friends' Day;

at Somerset College; my granddaughters' school.

The get together is an annual event up to year 4. As it is also Easter time, the children and grandparents bring their Easter hats for the Easter hats parade. It is a lot of fun for the children and grandparents.

Somerset College is one of three International Baccalaureate World Schools on the Gold Coast accredited to offer the IB Diploma Programme.

Here is a link to this great school Somerset College Gold Coast

Poem by Kevin William Huff

Teachers
Paint their minds
and guide their thoughts
Share their achievements
and advise their faults

Inspire a Love
of knowledge and truth
As you light the path
Which leads our youth

For our future brightens
with each lesson you teach
Each smile you lengthen
Each goal you help reach

For the dawn of each poet
each philosopher and king
Begins with a Teacher
And the wisdom they bring

I hope Friday the 26.of March was a happy day for you too.

Food glorious food;

It is still raining and very windy. I am going shopping today to buy the ingredients for dinner with the family on Saturday. It will be simple, but delicious. As I usually cook everything from scratch it is still a lot to prepare and cook, lots of fun too.

As entree I prepare Tapas;

White pizza to eat with different cured meat and salami.

I have to make the Pizza dough, but I buy the cured meat.

Gildas; small skewers with anchovies, green Olives and chillies. (Gilda means Lollipop!)

I buy the best anchovies cured in olive oil and green olives but I have chillies in the garden.

Slices of lightly toasted french bread topped with sauted mushrooms and aioli.

I buy a stick french bread, saute the bought mushrooms and make aioli, a mayonnaise with garlic.

Tiny blinis with salmon and creme fraiche.

I make the blinis, small omelets, buy salmon and creme fraiche,

Small grilled eggplant rolls filled with chillie jam and Feta.

I grill eggplants from the garden, use homemade chillie jam and the best available bought Feta cheese

For the main meal I cook delicious shepherd's pies served individually in small earthenware pots. This time of year I have to buy potatoes as there are non available yet from the garden.

I buy only organic potatoes, if possible. I buy 1.5 kg shin beef and mince the meat with my mincer attachment on my Kitchen Aid.

For dessert I make a creme caramel. I use organic sugar to make the caramel, organic milk, and eggs from my chooks. I am "decadent" and add whipped cream to make it very smooth.

To drink, who likes what, Beer, Campari, red and white wine, natural soft drink, wellwater, Brandy Alexander;

This is the menu, we, that is, Eight of us, will eat for dinner on Saturday evening.

It is still raining and the wind comes in gusts, never mind I am shopping and then I am cooking!

What are you cooking on Saturday evening for dinner with family, friends or just for yourself?