Vincent van Gogh

 Happy Birthday Vincent van Gogh March 30th

Arles, France

Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-1890) was a post-Impressionist painter of Dutch origin whose work, notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty and bold color, had a far-reaching influence on 20th-century art. Although he didn't start painting until the final 10 years of his life he failed to sell a single one of his 900 paintings during his lifetime.  

In just over a decade, he produced more than 2,100 artworks, consisting of 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, drawings, sketches and prints. His work included self portraits, landscapes, still lifes, portraits and paintings of cypresses, wheat fields and sunflowers. His oil paintings and drawings are now some of the world's best known and most expensive works of art. 

Van Gogh moved to Arles in 1888 and stayed one year. He hoped Arles would be a refuge for him since he was ill from drink and suffering from smoker's cough. Van Gogh was enchanted by the local landscape and light, and his works from the period are richly draped in yellow, ultramarine and mauve. His portrayals of the Arles landscape are influenced by his Dutch upbringing; the patchwork of fields and avenues appear flat and lack perspective, but excel in their intensity of color.The vibrant light in Arles excited him, and his new found appreciation is seen in the range and scope of his work

Which brings me to this van Gogh painting. I was quite surprised to see this particular piece of art hanging in the kitchen of the condo we are renting. When we were in Arles this photo below shows the same cafe where supposedly van Gogh painted the picture.

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Buttermilk Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake

Cook's notes: This recipe is perfect for a spring brunch. Buttermilk makes the coffee cake moist with lemon and allspice enhancing the flavor of the blueberries.  

Coffee Cake Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 pint of blueberries, drained and patted dry on a paper towel
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 TB. lemon zest
• 2TB lemon juice

Coffee Cake Directions:

• Preheat oven 350 and grease a 8 x 8 pan
• In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, allspice and cinnamon with a spoon
• Beat in buttermilk, butter, eggs, zest, lemon juice just until blended
• Toss blueberries with 1 TB. flour and stir gently ino batter
• Bake 28 minutes or until center comes clean using a toothpick
• Cool in pan and then drizzle icing over the top

Icing Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup white vanilla chips
• 4 TB. powdered sugar
• 2 TB. milk, add as needed

Icing Directions:

• Microwave baking chips uncovered on HIGH for 30 seconds
• Stir until melted  
• Beat in milk and powdered sugar
• Drizzle over coffee cake 

Despite its name allspice is just one spice. It gets the name because it tastes like a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.