I have known, and admired, Julia Busuttil Nishimura, for many years now and always felt connected through our love of Italian food, Tuscany (Julia lived in Florence and in Orbetello, just 10 minutes away from where we lived in Porto Ercole while I was writing Acquacotta) and Japan. So I have been eagerly awaiting her debut cookbook, Ostro: The Pleasure that Comes From Slowing Down and Cooking with Simple Ingredients, and it is a beauty it is full of food I want to make and eat. It's also a joy to look at, as it is presented so beautifully with photographs of Julia (and often her darling little boy Haruki) at home and tables full with food that look Caravaggesque. I have already made her everyday banana loaf, several times, after years of searching for my ideal everyday cake, it is now my go-to banana loaf. I tested her ricciarelli (soft almond cookies from Siena) and pork braised in milk (a classic Italian dish that I have always loved) when she was writing the book and I have long-known her absolutely wonderful, incredibly moist lemon olive oil cake (which is also divine with blood oranges). I absolutely love her homemade approach to everything, including all the wonderful handmade pasta like trofie and orecchiette (look at those beautiful dishes below), but also things like classic tiramisu homemade savoiardi, homemade mascarpone (yes and yes, I absolutely believe that for the freshest, most delicious mascarpone, it needs to be homemade especially if you live outside of Italy). Yes, these are all things you can also buy in a packet, but Julia's point is, it is a pleasure to make these things by hand, and the ingredients are so simple water, flour, cream, eggs, you probably have them all in your house already. She is a woman after my own heart. Her book inspires you to give it a go. Question: How does the author feel after reading the cookbook? === The answer to the above question is
OPTIONS:
- not enough information
- uninterested
- inspired
- doubtful
inspired

It's always interesting to read back on why people do things, especially people who end up making a career or a fortune out of the seemingly benign choices they make. Thelma Schoonmaker, the film editor whom my previous post was about was one of those people; she got into editing after seeing an ad in the New York Times. I'm in no way suggesting I'm going to make a fortune, nor that I'm a Thelma Schoonmaker in the making, but I certainly do make a lot of benign choices. Art blogging, for me, was one of those benign choices. I made the decision to start an art blog very randomly, so randomly I'm not even sure where the idea came from. At the time I had been studying a bachelor of psychology for about two years and found myself interested in the subject, but underwhelmed with the lack of creative ideas and media I was being exposed to. I'd always been interested in art and most creative mediums, often recording music or taking photographs on the side. But the pages and pages of white and black scientific journal articles must have got to me, because I found myself yearning for splashes of colour, moving imagery, challenging concepts and undefinable ideas. The next thing I knew I had started an art blog aptly titled: Artistic Expansion and I began spending hours a day searching through the internet for content, often finding my best pieces in the most random places, often not even defined intentionally as 'art'. Over the last two years I must have blogged hundreds of multi-coloured, multi-textured and multi-layered images, accumulated over 2000 followers and consumed more art than I ever had in my entire life. I find it interesting not because of it's success, but because before I started my art blog, I really had no idea how much I did or could love art and once I had made my art blog I couldn't imagine how I ever functioned without it. Question: Where does the author find art? === The answer to the above question is
OPTIONS:
- on the internet
- not enough information
- in the New York Times
- in scientific journals

Answer: on the internet

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he had instructed his representatives not to sign a communique by all seven leaders attending the G-7 summit in Canada, citing statements by Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made after he left. "Very dishonest and & weak," Trump tweeted in response to Trudeau's remark that the new U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel were "insulting." "Based on Justin's false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers, and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!" Trump added. "International cooperation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks," French President Emmanuel Macron's office said in a statement about Trump's withdrawal from signing the communique. The statement also said Trump's action is a display of "incoherence and inconsistency." "Germany stands by the jointly agreed communique," Germany spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement. Trudeau closed the summit Saturday by refusing to budge on positions that place him at odds with Trump, particularly new tariffs on steel and aluminum that have irritated Canada and the European Union. He said in closing remarks that Canada would proceed with retaliatory measures on U.S. goods as early as July 1. "I highlighted directly to the president that Canadians did not take it lightly that the United States has moved forward with significant tariffs," Trudeau said in the news conference following the two-day summit. "Canadians, we're polite, we're reasonable, but we will also not be pushed around." British Prime Minister Theresa May echoed Trudeau, pledging to retaliate for tariffs on EU goods. "The loss of trade through tariffs undermines competition, reduces productivity, removes the incentive to innovate and ultimately makes everyone poorer," she said. "And in response, the EU will impose countermeasures." Trudeau and May also bucked... Question: When did British Prime Minister Theresa May pledge to retaliate against the US for tariffs on EU goods? === The answer to the above question is
OPTIONS:
- at the opening of the G-7 summit
- following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement that Canada would proceed with retaliatory measures on U.S. goods
- after a tweet from Trump disparaging Trudeau
- not enough information
following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement that Canada would proceed with retaliatory measures on U.S. goods