Flowers on a table

My most recent painting

Egypt bans 92-year-old's marriage

I'm sorry, he looks like an over ripe banana.

From the BBC

The Egyptian authorities have banned a 92-year-old man from marrying a 17-year-old girl, the Egyptian al-Akhbar newspaper has reported.

The ministry of justice invoked a law which says the age gap between spouses should not exceed 25 years.

Egypt brought in the law prohibiting the marriage of elderly men to very young girls during the Gulf oil boom.

It was an effort to prevent wealthy men from the Gulf states seeking young poor brides from the Egyptian countryside.

Not much is known about the 92-year-old man who tried to marry an Egyptian girl of 17 except that he is an Arab from the Gulf.

An Egyptian justice official said by refusing to endorse their marriage it would now be impossible for the girl to travel abroad with her husband.

However, in special cases, the justice ministry does allow foreign men to marry Egyptian women more than 25 years their junior if they deposit a very large sum of money in the name of their wife at the Egyptian National Bank.

Both husband and wife also have to report in person to the ministry which checks their marriage is genuine to prevent any kind of trafficking in women.

According to the al-Akhbar newspaper, 173 such marriages were allowed in the past year after the foreign husband deposited a sum equivalent to about US $8,000 and was screened.

Beautiful garden

Wayland, MA. garden center, yadi yadi yah.

Smile for your close-up

Garden center in Wayland MA.

Chinese lanters

These are from the garden center is Wayland, MA.

Orchids

These are from the garden center in wayland, ma as well.

Pretty fish

These are from a fish/garden center in Wayland, MA.

Ladybug

Can you see the ladybug on the flower?

Chinatown, NY

It was very intimidating being in New York City and not being able to tell what's what. In Chinatown all the signs are in chinese, not just the store signs but also in the grocery stores, restaurant menus and such.

South Street Seaport, NY

Last week my BF and I stayed in New York City. This is a view from South Street Seaport.

My apples

The two little apples of my eyes, my nephew Jonathan @3 and his sister my niece Lily @8 months.

Curried haddock with green mangoes

I love cooking with green mangoes but unfortunately only shrimp and fish goes well with it. The tartness works well with seafood, I guess very much so in the sense that lime works with it as well.

Total cook time and prep time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
· 2 table spoons of Shan curries mix [or 2 tablespoon curry powder]
· 1 teaspoon garam masala [nice to include but can be excluded]
· 1 teaspoon ground cumin
· 1 medium onion, diced
· 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
· 1 small green mango chopped [any way you want]
· 1 large ripe tomato quartered
· Pepper to taste
· Salt to taste
· 2 tablespoon olive oil
· 1 lb halibut cut to one inch squares [halibut can be substituted for any type of firm fish]

Directions
1. Mix the Shan curry [or curry powder] in a medium size bowl. Add garam masala, cumin, onions and garlic, mix together
2. Add 2 tablespoons water to the mixture, stir so that the water absorbs the powders
3. Pour oil into pan, heat over slow fire on stove
4. Add mixture to the oil; keep turning the mixture from the bottom, making sure that it does not stick to the pan. Keep turning until the onions become transparent
5. Add chopped green mango, tomatoes, salt, and pepper to taste as well as 2 cups of water to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil over slow fire. Keep cooking it this way until the tomatoes and mangoes become soft – usually takes about 10 minutes
6. Add the halibut to the sauce; make sure that it is completely covered by the sauce. Cover the pot and let it simmer for about 10 minutes so that the fish soaks up all of the seasonings.

You can cook it for less time if you prefer After 10 minutes turn off the stove and let the curry sit for about 5 minutes, then it is ready to serve. Curry such as this can be eaten with bread, over rice or just by itself

Shan Curry Mixes: http://www.shanfood.com/. Any type of curry such as chicken or vegetable will do for this recipe, if you don’t want to use this mix, you can use curry powder instead Green mangoes can be substituted with tomatoes

Mix ingredients in bowl, combine with water

Simmer in pot

Add chopped mangoes, tomatoes and water

Endicott, Johnson City NY

Due to work obligations [my boyfriends'] I found myself upstate New York in Johnson City. Besides the view of the mountains, there isn't much else to report. Here are some pictures that I took.