Theodore Roosevelt Sculpture at the American Museum of Natural History, NYC

On my bucket list for last year was a trip into NYC to the American Museum of Natural History to see and sit next to the very realistic bronze sculpture of Long Island's own past United States President, Theodore Roosevelt.

The trip involved a ride on the Long Island railroad, then on to a NYC subway to the museum's underground stop at 81st street.

There were amazing mosaics of animals on the subway walls.

Looking down, this was one of the floor tiles at the subway s top.

 Outside the front entrance to the museum, an equestrian sculpture of Roosevelt stands.

 It maybe because the design of this portrayal of Roosevelt is a bit too idealistic, that the museum decided to use a more human, trail blazing, adventurer styled bronze of the President.  His hat, binoculars, neckerchief, and explorer's clothing appear in the new bronze. 

 

 Quotations from Roosevelt are engraved into the building's facade.  The museum is a tribute to his life long interest in the environment and natural history.  There are exhibits inside from his youth, and lists of the National parks and expanses of land in the United States that Roosevelt set aside for  future generations.  Sometimes he had to go against big businesses and the houses of government to get this done.

 For the holidays, the Museum decorated the front steps with topiaries of dinosaurs.

 There is a magnificent display of the universe with huge models of the planets and the solar system, explaining the relative sizes of the heavenly bodies and the distances between them.

 As a child, I remembered the many beautifully designed, painted, and sculpted dioramas of animals and geography.  As an adult, I am taken by the efforts to replicate all of that by the many artists that worked on these creations.

 When I look at indigenous and primitive artifacts on display, I cannot help but connect these with modern artists that used them for inspiration.

 Fossils and

 recreations of ancient animals,

 dinosaurs full size on display,

 and the bones of past creatures reconstructed, so that visitors, adults and children can marvel at their size and ferociousness. 

 When I got to the museum, I looked for this particular diorama of a cross section of garden soil with its leaves and bugs.  It was still there, and still giant!

 Some of the exhibits are large and hanging,

 some are cast and small.

 One of the areas that I most enjoy is the portrayal of human development.

 Then, there is a area dedicated to minerals and gem stones.

 Huge crystals are displayed in the walls.

 Geodes and

 gem stones are on display.

 But the thing that made this trip to the American Museum of Natural History was the new realistic sculpture of President Theodore Roosevelt.  Visit the museum soon,and discover all of the things that you remember from your childhood visits, and see the new exhibits that make us appreciate anew, the contributions of Roosevelt. Located at Central Park West at 79th Street, NY, New York 10024.

Cream of Vegetable Soup

I grew up eating soup for breakfast instead of cereal with milk.  Cream of vegetable soup seems great on a winter's day, no matter which meal.

 Gather fresh and frozen vegetables, and a large cooking pot.

 I keep recipes in a binder in clear sleeves.  Most of the time I alter recipes, maybe it's due to being left-handed, or because I was trained in art school by wonderful abstract expressionists. 

 Love red potatoes with the skins on.  Cut into chunks.  The original recipe directed me to puree everything, but I like chunky soup.  Either was is fine.

 I nuked them in my Corningware casserole until they were half cooked.

 Chop up those darling fresh carrots that are now sold in large bags.

 A large can of chicken broth, 49.5 Oz's.,  speeds things up.

I had a bag of corn,

 and string beans in my freezer.

 When I buy fresh parsley, I freeze most of it.  So I needed to chop it a little and remove some of the large stems.

 The supermarket in town, often puts one sort of vegetable on sale.  Usually there is too much to eat right away. I cut up and freeze the rest, this time zucchini.

 I had broccoli heads frozen, and they too needed to be chopped.

 Spoon in the cooked potatoes with the skins on.

 Chop around four or five stalks of celery.

Add to the pot.

Chop onions, and add.  I used two large ones.

 Now it is time to make the Roux, which thickens the soup.

 I use my Lodge cast iron small frying pan, marked "5sk" on the bottom.  Melt a stick of butter and spoon in two tablespoons unbleached flour slowly.

 Using a flat wooden mixing stick, I work the flour into the melting butter.

 It is almost smooth, but it's hard to do this and take photographs at the same time!

 Pour 1 1/2 cups half & half slowly into the roux.

 Stir.

 Pour roux into the soup.

Season with salt

 and fresh ground pepper.

 Simmer for half an hour or until you like the consistency.  this is my large stainless Revereware pot, with its copper bottom.

I made this much soup and it is ready to take for lunch, (small containers) or pull out for the family, (large containers.)  It freezes well.

This is a book that I got from my sister-in-law.  Food Cures. Quite interesting reading, considering that I prefer  a "back to basics" approach to health; food rather than prescriptions.  This soup is worth a try, and the book is worth a read.  Cheers from the Jarvis House.

Cream of Vegetable Soup

1 1/2 cups vegetables,
(your favorites, depending on the vegetables and how thick you like the soup)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup celery
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 large can chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups half &  half