Barefoot Kitchen

I love Ina, who doesn't love Ina and Jeffrey.  I enjoy a lot of her recipes (with a little less butter of course).  Some of her baking recipes are my favorite.

Watching her show is a joy, some times I am not even interested in the food she is making, I  just enjoy the atmosphere, her happy and easy going way which makes you feel  happy too.

The magical place from where she churns out all those wonderful recipes and joy, is her kitchen, and we all love that too. Here is Ina, her kitchen and Plum Crunch recipe. Enjoy!

Entrance

Ina and Jeffrey

                                                             
                                Plum Crunch

3 pounds prune plums pitted and quartered
11/2 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
1/4 cup all purpose flour
6 tablespoons creme de cassis liquor

FOR THE TOPPING
11/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter

Vanilla ice cream for serving

Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees

In a large bowl combine the plums, brown sugar, flour an casis. Pour the mixture in a 12x8 inch shallow baking dish.

For the topping combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, walnuts and butter in the bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix at low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter the mixture on top of the plum mixture.

Bake the plum crunch for 40 to 45 minutes, until the plums are bubbling and the top is browned. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.

 Credits: Barefoot Contessa, google

Stars of the past

Yesterday Elizabeth Taylor passed away, media is full of cheap gossip, from her scandals to her marriages and so on.

She was a star from the galaxy, of a special Hollywood era. An era when the Hollywood stars had character, class, discipline, glamour and grace. Sure they had their share of scandals and imperfections, but no one is perfect.




At this time, Hollywood is full of multi million dollar churning mega stars, who are rich in material wealth, but poor in character and class, they go in and out of jails and rehabs like you and I go to the corner grocery store.

We look at not so distant past, there is a never ending list of stars we adore, Grace kelly, Deborah Kerr, Dorris Day, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Lana Turner, Ingrid Bergman, Betty Davis, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Cary Grant, Jack Lemmon, Rock Hudson, James stewart, Clark Gable, Steve Mcqueen, Paul Newman and the list goes on.

Grace Kelly

Deborah Kerr

Dorris Day

Katharine Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn

Lana Turner

Ingrid Bergman

Betty Davis

Gary Cooper

John Wayne

Cary Grant

Jack Lemmon

Rock Hudson

James Stewart

Clark Gable

Steve McQueen

Paul Newman

Times have changed, we are left now with likes of Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen.

Elizabeth Taylor

RIP Elizabeth Taylor.


Important clarification, as pointed out by fellow blogger The Devoted Classicist, Ms. Dorris Day Lives in Carmel, California, where she jointly owns Cypress Inn and dedicates time to her Doris Day Animal Foundation.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall

Mirrors have been an integral part of home decor for quite some time, they make the space look bigger, brighter, can be used in the place of wall art and so on. Convex mirrors are also used in the rooms, however convex mirrors are less of a use to focus light and more for a virtual image as they cover a wider field of view. A lot of times we have seen convex mirrors being used in dining rooms,  Keno brothers have very interesting explanation on this.

The landed gentry, however, were thinking less about fun and games and more about keeping an eye on the guests (and maybe the family silver). Like a wide-angle, fish-eye camera lens, the outward-bending glass allowed a butler to see an entire room—and which glasses needed refilling—while staying discreetly out of sight. It was the ultimate domestic surveillance system.

Leigh and Leslie Keno having fun

If you are in the market for a convex mirror to keep an eye on your guests in your dining room, here are some good examples available through 1st Dibs.

Regency-Dolphin mirror

Very interesting asymmetrical sunburst mirror

Thousand eye mirror

Credits: Traditional home, 1st dibs

McQueen with his machines

There is a book on Steve McQueen's cars and motorsycles, "McQueen's Machines" by his son Chad McQueen and Matt Stone, I have not seen it but it must be good. McQueen has always facinated me as a person. He was a car crazy guy. Experts say Ralph Lauren has tried to build his car collection based on McQueen's style, I don't know about that but it is for sure McQueen's collection was pretty diverse and intense.



I have tried to put some interesting McQueen and his machines pictures. Enjoy.

On his Truimph

Jaguar XKSS

Filming "Le Mans"

one of the Porsche used in Le Mans

With his mechanic

Steve and his Mini

Jaguar XKSS

His1958 Porsche 356 Speedster

His 1963 Ferrari and Peggy Moffitt

Ford Mustang  Bullitt

Bullitt

Jag

Jaguar

Steve's 1972 Mercedes 300SEL 6.3

Title of his 300SEL

1969 Porsche 911

He had identical Porsche 911s, a 1969 and 1970.

Identical 1970 Porsche 911S coupe

His 1970 Porsche 911

An actual pit stop during Le Mans

Credits: Google