The world as frankps sees it!
The Good Life
Hjemmelagde pølser
08 months ago
Fra tid til annen holder jeg grillfest på terrassen min, og etter som årene har gått har mine venner blitt mer og mer kresne. Ikke det at de noen gang har kost seg med Gilde-pølser, for det har de nok neppe! Ja, på en selv kjenner en andre. Nei, hos oss går det stort sett i pølser fra den lokale slakteren. Og de pølsene er gode de, veldig gode! Men denne gangen ville jeg prøve å lage pølser selv, og slakteren sa, ja, det er i tiden.
Slakteren pekte på noen fete kjøttstykker og jeg nikket. Det er ikke akkurat pølser fra Norsk Edelgris jeg hadde tenkt å servere! Slakteren hadde også grise- og lammetarmer som var ferdig vasket og lagt i bløt. Så noen meter tarmer ble kjøpt inn før turen bar videre. Urtene og krydrene viste seg å være det vanskeligste å få tak i. Supermarkedene hadde ikke det jeg ønsket meg, men det hadde heldigvis den lokale grønnsakshandleren.
Først ut var pølsen Luganica, som også er et sted nede på hælen av Italia. Oppskriften skal være et par tusen år gammel. Så da må den vel være god? Jeg hadde i vært fall vann i munnen da jeg leste oppskriften. Men hva som er godt, får vel nesten gjestene avgjøre! Den andre pølsetypen jeg laget er selvkomponert, og den er jeg mer spent på. Får se hvordan den faller dem i smak…
Her er det delikate resultatet:
I dag skal det lages potetsalat og Foccacia. Det blir sikkert like gøy!
My First Bird Photos
29 months ago
I have been a frequent reader of the Norwegian photo magazine Natur & Foto since their very first issue. And in that very first issue, there was an article about Bence Maté and his Hidephotography project. Located at Pusztaszer not very far from our summer house. I wanted to try bird photography, so last autumn, I had my first walk in the area which resulted in this one picture:
I could only imagine how it would be in the spring. The area is so much alive then.
Later that autumn Bence Maté was voted BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year (2010). This made me want to visit his hides even more. After a phone call two days were set, I was this year’s first person to visit him. A little bit early in the season, but what a thrill!
Bence has built around 20 hides, both on his doorstep and around Hungary for photographing birds. The hides are very lavish and include the tower hide which overlooks trees where I managed to shoot this picture of a kestrel and his breakfast:
After the early morning session I was taken in to the forest, Bence has made several forest pool hides around his traditional Hungarian farm house. These hides are much cooler than the tower as they are sunk into the ground. I was actually almost freezing! They are also fitted with the mirror glass and look out over a concrete pool filled to the brim with water and lined with logs to disguise the edges. They can seat about three people. But we were only two, me and my guide, Gergely Nagy. On a still day, the water acts as a mirror and I got some wonderful reflections of the birds as they came to drink and bath.
At the pool hides I was able to shoot several birds, among them a Common Buzzard:
The Buzzard was jumping from tree to tree above the pool hide for about a 15 minutes. The waiting and praying was almost driving me crazy! The hope of getting such a magnificent bird on a 3 meters distance was to much. I could hardly sit still. And finally, it came down and posed for me for a long, long time:
When it finally left, I was exhausted! But there was more fun waiting for me. A group of jays had during the morning hours made a lot of noice in the forrest and they were getting closer and closer. The jays seemed even more shy then buzzard. They must have been 4 or 5, but only one would get down to the water at the time:
In the afternoon we took the trip to a hide at a lake close to the village Baks. I was to see a lot of white and grey herons, and not to forget a swan that was getting on my nervous. I was close to become a criminal in a national park. Not good, not good at all!
A grey heron found it’s way up to the hide and started cleaning it’s feathers 2 meters in front of me. It was so close that I could almost have grabbed it. The blood was pumping fast, just as the camera clicks. What an exciting day! But there was more…
The most beautiful creatures at that lake must have been the spoonbills. One got a little bit closer then the others, but sadly not as close as the grey heron.
I am not sure that I have found myself a new hobby. This was the first time I’ve done bird photography and I got memories for life. But I am not sure that a hobby goes on getting up when other go to bed is something for me. One thing is sure, I will take the ferre and visit Bence again…
Törley – Some sparkling bubbles for New Year’s Eve
01 year ago
I’m a frequent reader of “The Good Life” blog The Hungarian Girl.
New Year’s Eve is just a few days away and as we all know it’s the night that sparkling wine takes center stage. Although, sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France are most renowned, great sparklers can also be found and enjoyed throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
I’m not the greatest fan of sparkling wine (as some already know). Törley is Hungary’s leading sparkling wine producer dating back to 1882, and it’s today one of the most successful brands of sparkling wine outside of the champagne region. Their original name was “József Törley and Co.”, after it’s founder. This sparkling wine (in Hungarian: Pezsgő) is delicate, well balanced, and refreshing.
History
Törley is located just outside of Budapest, in the Budafok area. This area alone once had 18 different producers of sparkling wines! In the 1910′s the winery’s output reached 2 million bottles. After World War I ended and the Trianon Peace Treaty was signed, the level of champagne production by the Törley plant significantly decreased and touched bottom during the Great Depression. In 1929-30, the annual production barely reached 200,000 bottles. In the 1930s, the demand for sparkling wine increased again and during the Second World War production again reached 1 million bottles annually. During the wartime boom, the demand became far greater than the quantity which could be produced by the existing technology. Despite the demand that the war had created, the hostilities quickly reversed the Törley plant’s fortune when a bomb destroyed the main building and the majority of the factory’s stocks in July 1944. After World War II ended, Communism took control of Hungary and the winery was subsequently nationalized in 1949. Under nationalization, the government merged the François brothers’winery into Törley’s. The resulting Törley winery shrank to only four employees and the scope of the business was limited to selling what wine remained in stock. Production resumed in 1951 with Törley becoming the only champagne factory in Hungary and operating under the supervision of the Unicum Likõrgyár (the Unicum Liqueur Factory). The constantly increasing demand and the export possibilities encouraged the factory to develop an annual capacity of 30 million bottles by the end of the 1980s through continuous expansion and purchasing production lines of the latest technology. Today, the Törley factory produces some 12 to 14 million bottles each year and has close to a 50% domestic market share in Hungary.
By the beginning of the 20th century Törley sparkling wine was commonly known as “Hungarian sparkling wine” and vied in popularity with the Pest operetta. The name was identified with the heady drink served in hotels, cafés, restaurants, dance halls and bars everywhere. In 1907 the winery celebrated its 25th anniversary. By then Törley sparkling wines were known from America to Australia. The firm had warehouses in Hamburg, Berlin and Copenhagen. But the greatest recognition of all was that by then Törley had become a popular drink in Paris as well. On October 29, 2004, The Wall Street Journal’s wine critics rated Törley’s Grand Cuvee the second best sparkling wine in the world.
Sadly Törley, as so many other things, is not in Hungarian hands. Since 1992, Henkell & Söhnlein Hungaria Kft, a subsidiary of Henkell & Söhnlein Sektkellerei AG of Wiesbaden, Germany has owned and produced the Törley brand.
Visiting
Törley is open to the public through it’s museum, and you can walk through some of the cellars (where more than one million bottles are treated) and of course taste the sparkling wine in the Zsolnay Hall. In the cellars you will be introduced to the origin of sparkling wine, the secrets and methods of sparkling wine production.
The tours are offered in both Hungarian and foreign languages, and last about 70-90 minutes. Visitors are asked to register at least one week in advance. You can register over phone (+ 36 1 362-1634), fax (+ 36 1 362-1635) and e-mail (gyorgyvilla@palacecatering.hu). The visiting address is 1221 Budapest, Anna utca 5-7.
I hope to be visiting Törley next spring, so look out for a future blog post.
Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
01 year ago
by frankps
in The Good Life
This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace. It is brilliantly done, and explains Dan Pink’s argument that there are three factors that lead to better performance when we are dealing with complicated questions: Autonomy, mastery and purpose.
Weber Q® 200
11 year ago
Yesterday I bought myself a simple grill on the balcony. I ended up choosing the portable Weber Q® 200. I loved the design, but was surprised how heavy the rack was. The was a special deal out at Smart Club, which basically let have a stand with it for free. I ended up also buying a full length cover for it. The Weber grills are pretty expensive here in Norway, but I hope that I have gotten value for money!
So looking forward to the weekend, to let the BBQ season really begin. I only hope that the local petrol station will get in gas bottles by then. They promised to get them in again by the weekend.