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What have I been up to?
Lots of writing assignments, a minor home renovation project, some time off to relax, and a day on the set of Emeril’s new Planet Green cooking show. More about that in my next post…
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Some of you have asked what happened to The Mystery Project, which I was working on for the last 10 months and which I blogged about earlier this year.
Unfortunately, I was unable to reach agreement on a contract with the person who held the primary contract with the publisher (this happens occasionally in publishing) and I am no longer associated with the project.
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I’d say more but the censors wouldn’t approve.
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Since my last post was about China, I figure we’d take a short detour to the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan on our way back to the beach.
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My fascination with Bhutan, began may years ago. How could you not be intrigued by a land that’s home to the world’s only blue poppies and blue sheep?
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Every July, Washington’s Smithsonian Institution...
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hosts a weeklong festival on The Mall, the grassy park that runs from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol.
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This year the forty-second annual Folklife Festival celebrated the state of Texas, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and Bhutan.
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On the opening day, while touring the festival’s a traditional Bhutanese Buddhist temple with a flock of journalists, I met a strikingly handsome young man.
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The friendly Bhutanese turned out to be the king! He’s a great ambassador for a country with a development program measured by the country’s Gross National Happiness.
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Imagine what life would be like if all governments ensured the contentment of their people and tried to balance economic growth and modernization with quality of life and spiritual values!
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Throughout the day, you could watch and participate in demonstrations of Bhutan’s 13 traditional arts.
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These include bamboo basketry...
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woodworking...
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metalurgy...
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leatherwork and embroidery.
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The finest examples of Bhutanese design were amazing and had been passed from one generation to another for centuries.
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Each region of Bhutan has distinctive traditional weaving and clothing styles.
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Dyes are made from vegetables and minerals.
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Patterns have symbolic meanings.
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You could also listen to Bhutanese music played on long trumpets, oboe-like instruments, double-sided drums and conch horns…
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Watching traditionally garbed Bhutanese, who had rarely left their small mountain villages, whip out cell phones to snap photos of typical Americans was entertaining, too.
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What is Bhutanese food like, you ask? In brief... spicy!
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Unlike other parts of the world, where chilies are used as a spice to flavor food, here chilies are served as a vegetable. Each day at the festival, the cooking demos of chili cheese curry (the national dish of Bhutan) were a crowd favorite.
Want to cook something different—and fiery—for tonight’s dinner? Here’s the recipe:
This hot pepper and cheese stew is usually made with yak cheese but I was assured feta cheese works well.
CHILI CHEESE STEW
1/2 lb hot green chilis (long serranos, shorter jalapenos or less spicy poblanos)
1 medium onion, diced
3/4 cups water
2 tsp olive or vegetable oil
2 tomatoes, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 lb feta cheese
1/2 tsp. fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
Remove seeds from chilis and cut lengthwise into strips. In a saucepan, add chilies, onions, oil and water bring to a boil, then simmer 15 minutes. Add tomato and garlic and simmer for 5 more minutes. Just before serving add cheese and cilantro leaves. Heat through but do not let cheese dissolve. Serve over rice.
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Now… to the beach.
Back in July, I posted about my trip to the Chesapeake Bay. I had such a great time that I decided to do it again.
So as the sun sets on summer, here’s another peek at one of my favorite places to get away from the world.
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*** BLOGS DU JOUR ***
Recently, Fifi Flowers asked my permission to turn one of my photographs of the Getty Villa into a painting. I was flattered and now you can see what a talented artist can do with a little inspiration.
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