Flickr favorites - City in the morning

1. Budapest in the morning, 2. City Hall - Philadelphia, 3. Morning Raaga, 4. city in the morning

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Although I am living in the countryside and I'm really loving it for so many reasons, I always have a soft spot for big cities.

Cities are particularly interesting in the morning just before everyone and everything wakes up. Even the most busy metropolis looks serene, and this is the only time of the day when the city, and only the city gets the main role.

What do you think? :)

Take a look at Artmind's blog to see more Flickr Favorites.

Flickr favorites: Spring

1. Untitled, 2. Blue Love, 3. my favourite theme, 4. spring flowers

To Spring by William Blake

O thou with dewy locks, who lookest down
Thro' the clear windows of the morning, turn
Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,
Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!

The hills tell each other, and the listening
Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turned
Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth,
And let thy holy feet visit our clime.

Come o'er the eastern hills, and let our winds
Kiss thy perfumed garments; let us taste
Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls
Upon our love-sick land that mourns for thee.

O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour
Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put
Thy golden crown upon her languished head,
Whose modest tresses were bound up for thee.

If you would like to see more flickr mosaic or wish to play the game, please visit Artmind's blog :)

Sourdough bread recipe and flickr favorites

I love bread, I really like to make it, all kinds of it weather sweet or sour. This really easy sourdough recept comes from Jamie Oliver's book the Happy Days with the Naked Chef.

It takes a week to prepare, but it's really worth the effort.

Monday:
Mix 500g of organic rye flour with enough water to make a soft dough in a bowl. Put it outside for an hour and then bring inside, cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place. (it has to be organic, rye flour!)

Tuesday:
It will start to bubble. Leave it alone.

Wednesday:
The mix will continue to bubble and go slightly grey. Stir in a handful of flour and a little bit of water, enough to get the mixture back to the same consistency as on Monday. Leave it covered again.

Thursday:
Leave it alone

Friday:
By now the mixture should be beery, malty smelling and ashy coloured. Make the bread by adding all of this starter dough mix to 1kg of strong flour, then add enough water to make a firm, pliable dough that isnt sticky. Knead for a good 5 minutes. Remove a 500g piece of dough for your next starter before adding any salt, cover and put to one side, ready to repeat the process the next day and so on, etc. Add salt if you want to. Shape the dough and put it into a bowl or tin lined with a floured tea towel. Leave for 14 hours.

Saturday morning:
Bake the bread. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Gently turn the dough out on to a floured baking tray, cut quite deep slashes into it, and bake for 1 hour or until it is crisp and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Allow to cool.

My thoughts: I like my bread more flat, because it's easier to dip with it, but if you want a nice "high" loaf, makes sure that the bowl where you will leave it to rest those 14 hours is high enough.
To achieve a more crispy outside you have to spray some water on the bread before baking, but the best way is to put a roasting tray on the bottom of your oven before warming it up and when you put your bread into the oven, pour a half a liter boiling (!) water in that tray (keep your face back!!) and that really, really quickly shut the door to keep the steam inside. When your bread is ready and you put it on a roaster to cool down, first thing you do is spray a little water on it :)
Also very important: if you can, always wait till your bread cools down completely. This way it will stay moist inside and you can enjoy it longer.


as you may guessed, flickr favorites are also about bread, I collected these yummy photos from my flickr contacts:

1. Hot (rye bread), 2. Homemade bread, 3. Bread, 4. kukoricás kenyér - corn bread

Created with fd's Flickr Toys


for more flickr favorites from other etsy artists, please visit Artmind's blog!

Sweet potato with lemongrass creme fraiche and flickr favorites

Ugly on the outside, beautiful in the inside, what is it? Yes, that can be many things, but now I am thinking potato. Sweet potato. A wonderful vegetable, rich in flavor and other goodies, like complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin B6.


Lately I try to cut down on meat consumption, so I got very excited when a friend of mine recommended Yotam Ottolenghi's new book Plenty, full with delicious vegetarian dishes. The first recipe I tried was the sweet potato wedges with lemongrass crème fraîche.
The creamy texture of the sweet potato with the spices and the freshness of the dip make these quiet easy to make dish a wonderful afternoon snack.

What you need for 4 persons:
3 medium sweet potatoes (900g)
4 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 fresh red chilli, finely diced
15g coriander, leaves picked

for the dipping sauce:
1/2 lemongrass stalk
200g crème fraîche
grated zest and juice of 2 limes
50g fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Preheat the oven to 210°C. Wash the sweet potatoes but don't peel them. Cut each lengthways in half, cut again lengthways into quarters and then once more, so you should end up with eight long wedges.
Place them in a roasting tin that has been lines with baking parchment and brushed lightly with some of the olive oil. Brush the wedges with the remaining oil and sprinkle with a mixture of the ground coriander and salt. Roast for about 25 minutes until the sweet potato is tender and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down a little (can be eaten warm or at room temperature)
While you are waiting, make the sauce, Very finely chop the lemongrass or grind finely in a spice grinder. Whisk with all of the other ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.
When ready to serve, place the wedges on a large, flat serving dish. Sprinkle with the diced chilli and coriander leaves, and serve with the sauce on the side.


So as you might already guessed, my flickr favorites today are also related to this vegetable :)

1. Spicy Sweet Potato Soup, 2. Sweet Potatoes / Camote, 3. Oven-baked Sweet Potato Fries, 4. téli sült zöldségek - roasted winter vegetables

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

for more flickr favorite from other etsy sellers or to play along please go to Artmind's blog!

Flickr favorites - the not so dark side

Today is a day when finally after long weeks of raining and cold weather ths sun is shining again, so let's take the opportunity to believe that "there is still good in" everybody and everything :)

1. Darth Vader Pumpkin, 2. Vader's Hot Tub, 3. Vader Wants Candy, 4. STOP WARS

Created with fd's Flickr Toys



for more flickr favorites of other members of the European Street Team please click on Artmind's blog!

Flickr favorites - flora et fauna

1. Tulips17, 2. *, 3. Mushrooms, 4. Family Breakfast

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Flickr Favorites - He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

It's Tuesday so it's time for the flick favorites, nice tradition started by Mitsy (aka Artmind).

The theme is -well - spring again, I just cannot think of anything else lately... so flowers, spring, sun and... oh yes, love is in the air! :)

Thank's Bence for the inspiration, that necklace is just stunning!!

1. day 263/365 "he loves me, he loves me not", 2. "he loves me - he loves me not" necklace, 3. he loves me, he loves me not, 4. he loves me, he loves me not

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Flickr Favorites - Orange and More

Let's see what we have here - items not in order of importance:

- the sun is shining, the winter is almost over
- spring is coming, obviously :)
- the kids have vacation, they have a great time together
- Lent has begun: perfect time to clean the mind and the body
- the Dutch government collapsed, just before the Dutch local elections
- Hungarian elections are coming
- the crocuses are growing in my backyard
- black birds are mating - in my backyard :)
- I am homesick again
- I just baked the best bread ever
- yesterday I saw the worst movie ever
- I made some new pendants from polymer clay - haven't touched it for almost two years, shame on me :)

Everybody, have a fantastic day! :)

1. (((((((( ((((((((, 2. ., 3. Imperial Art Appreciation: Orange, 4. Somewhere

for more flick favorites please check out Artmind's blog!

Flickr Favorites - Flora et Fauna, Man and Machine

1. 080514 Insect Macros_019, 2. a new machine, 3. Szeglet Orsi, 4. water-lily

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

There is an interesting detail about the mosaic, the third photo with the very pretty lady is made by a Hungarian pop musician, Tibor Kasza, who's hobby - photography - is already starting to catch up with his daily job: making professional popular music :) You can see his photostream, mainly gorgeous Hungarian models and celebrities on his flickr page.

If you would like to see more mosaics or join the fun, check Artmind's blog!

Flickr favorites and the winner of June's giveaway

This weeks flickr favorits - don't let them fade away:

1. Water edge #2, 2. Sister Morphine, 3. air mail, 4. Not yet...

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

***************

And the winner of my June giveaway is ....

Stéphanie Kilgast!!

She won these orange flower earrings, congratulations!!

Estella, I know, I know, but Stéphanie was really very active :)

Audrey Hepburn and my flickr favorites

Last week the theme of the weekly EST challenge was Audrey Hepburn. I chose her famous black and white outfit from the movie My Fair Lady as an inspiration, and I made a lovely fabric cuff. I used a silk embroidered white lightweight fabric and a black satin ribbon with floral motives.

And because it's Tuesday, of course my flickr favorites, to balance the elegant black and white I chose bright colors this time:

1. Untitled, 2. the field - fore !, 3. Mass Ascension Balloons, 4. Ladybug on a peony 2

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

If you also would like to play the mosaic game, please feel free to join at Artmind's blog!

Flickr favorites - people

1. 28, 2. It's me, 3. my book&me - by Pepe, 4. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

The inspiration for this mosaic came from that amazing shot from a young Hungarian photographer, Viktor Baumgartner, the girl with the hat (I have something with Hungarian talents, I wonder why? Haha!). I found his work on flickr and I immediately added him as contact. There is something in his work what I like so much, I cannot really get an exact grip on it - not that I have to :)-, are those light or the colors, the compositions?

The other pictures are also Hungarian realted (surprise!): the handsome guy with his book is János Gábor Varga, who makes amazing original, never seen before jewelry under the name Blindspotjewellery. The book in his hand - his book! - it's about something else, it's a nonfictional literary work on health and hygiene. Wow.

The lovely lady with the beautiful smile is Judit Wild, who is a multi talent, she is a sociologist, specialized in media reserach, she also studied photo journalism, and now she is making very unique, lovely jewelry. You can find her jewelry work under her brand name, Vadjutka.

And last but not least one of the hats of my dear friends, Kriszrina, aka Kankalinhats. I already blogged about her :)

If you also would like to play the mosaic game, please feel free to join at Artmind's blog!

Flickr favorites - semi industrial

For this week's mosaic the inspiration came from the fantastic chess set made by Bence Fördős, a very talented Hungarian designer. This chess set was his diploma work, what became a very succesful piece. The Hungarian Design Council together with the works of other young Hungarian designers has admitted this work to participate in the range of exhibitions, Objects from Hungary (OH!), representing Hungary all over Europe.

If you are interested, you can by his work in his etsy shop!

1. My equipment, 2. wonderland 015, 3. Chilli padi, 4. Chess set

Let's join the game at Artmind's blog!

New choker/cuff & today's flickr favorites

New design, a choker what can be used as a cuff also:

colors on flickr:

1. Gumdrops, 2. Fall Apples, 3. Pepper-ers, 4. 38 of 365

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Flickr favorites 2. - my flickr contacts

I really, really like this game, so here is the mosaic for today:

1. Yin and Yang, 2. Sunflowers in Vase, 3. Steampunk boy Mouse, 4. Ponsawan & Ada, 5. A Taste of Rain, 6. Life-size felt birthday cake (happy 2nd birthday!), 7. Preview of 2009 I., 8. Window Ring (2009, IT) Ring 154.3, 9. Cherry Blossom Ring

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Flickr favorites

A brand new game by Mitsy aka Artmind, making beautiful mosaics from flickr favorites.

1. My Nephew 009, 2. Lotus group, 3. yummy, 4. waaaalnut at the beach

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.