“This fall, Inspiration4 launches as the first all-civilian mission to space … and you could be on board,” says the ad, directing our curiosity to their website.
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Tuesday, February 9, 2021
The Best and the (Mostly) Worst of the Super Bowl LV Commercials
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Where to Find Your Inspiration
Okay, so where am I?
I’m at the keyboard trying to put a dent in my sixth or seventh book. This could be either one since I have the “memoir’ book and the photography book in motion simultaneously. When I say “in motion” I really mean moving at a snail’s pace. Heck turtles move faster on a hot summer’s day. Yet I digress…
The memoir book, aptly called “Behind the Mike: Mostly True Stories from the Media Guy”, has been a 10-year journey to tell my weird stories from the agency days where Mad Men were taken down a notch in the days before the short-lived #MeToo movement. I was inspired by the great Mary Lawrence and her book “A Big Life In Advertising”. I started writing it on the 24-hour hours of flights on my way to Malaysia in 2012 and now it has ballooned into 1,000 page of literary anarchy. Time to trim the fat off these pages for sure.
Typewriter inspiration for the Great American Novel can spring from many diverse birthplaces. It can spark from a pithy sentence spoken by a close friend, suddenly spurring on an analogy, and then question followed by a thought and then all of the sudden a book idea is birthed. It can come in the form of an overheard conversation in the peaceful spot of your local coffee cafe—remember when we could write our novels and screenplays at Starbucks?—a unique situation that supplies the creative for your protagonist. It can come from a walk in the supermarket, an afternoon at the movies, a night on the town, or even a particularly curious seatmate on plane. (Remember what it was like to sit next to someone interesting on a plane an actually understand what they are saying with a mask muffling all of the nuanced conversation into the vapor?)
Whitby Abbey / "Dracula" |
Whitby Abbey
“Dracula’
Whitby Abbey, located in Yorkshire, England (no, not the infamous Transylvania and trust me, not worth the long drive from Bucharest to see Dracula’s Castle) is the locale that provided the muse for the classic novel “Dracula”. Bram Stoker was visiting Yorkshire in 1890 when he stumbled upon the decaying ruins of the 7th Century Christian Monastery and he found the Gothic architecture so haunting that it became the genesis for this classic tale. The structure still stands today and as the fog sets into the town looming below and the waves of the North Sea crash against the shore… well, one can see why he chose it.
“Wuthering Heights”
This decaying farmhouse in West Yorkshire, England is said to have provided some inspiration for the novel Wuthering Heights. Although physically the farmhouse doesn’t bear much resemblance to the family home in Emily Bronte’s novel, there is a plaque affixed to the ruins indicating that the farmhouse bears an association with the book. This countryside is said to have worked its magic on many writers including Bram Stoker.
In 1876, “The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer” was published and put author Mark Twain in the literary map of the world. It was a novel that was so ahead of its time in that it was filled with meaning and symbolism, aside from being engaging and fun to read. It was a story about the titular mischievous young boy, who wittingly tricked his way to get everything he wanted.
In Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri sits a small cave that soon became McDougal’s Cave. Today the former McDowell Cave was renames to honor the great work of the renowned author.
“The Great Gatsby”
“I want to write something new, something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned.”
- F. Scott Fitzgerald in a letter in 1922, as he began to write the novel which became “The Great Gatsby”
Sands Point, NY, a small village along the north shore of Long Island, provided the inspiration for Easter Egg in “The Great Gatsby” in the form of a French Normandy-style mansion, which was once owned by Fitzgerald’s friend Mary Harriman Rumsey.
“Fitzgerald’s Latest A Dud” was The New York Times’ headline for the review of Gatsby in 1925. At the end of Fitzgerald’s life, at the age of just 44, his publisher still had many copies of the first edition gathering dust in a warehouse. “My God, I am a forgotten man,” Fitzgerald wrote to Zelda when The Great Gatsby ceased to be published by The Modern Library. It seemed everyone had neglected his work.
"The Great Gadsby" Mansion |
“Persuasion”
Bath, England |
Jane Austen resided in Bath, England from 1801 to 1806 and this town became the setting for her novel "Persuasion". Not only was the town the center of fashion and nobility in the early 19th century, but it also became the location where her characters socialized, attended balls, and attempted to arrange marriages. Many of Bath’s addresses are included in the novel and Bath itself still pays homage Austen with events like the Jane Austen Ball and the Jane Austen Festival.
“The Shining”
Stephen King’s stimulus for his haunting novel “The Shining” came in the form of a precarious hotel in Colorado's Estes Park. King’s stimulus for his haunting novel “The Shining” came in the form of a precarious hotel in set below steep mountains. King and his wife Tabitha checked into The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, on October 30th, 1974. Having recently written Carrie and Salem’s Lot, two novels set in the writer’s home state of Maine, King needed a change of scenery to get his inspiration going. In another somewhat obscure fun fact, the hotel’s on-site pet cemetery served as inspiration for another successful King novel, "Pet Semetary".
The ghostly hotel fueled King’s idea process and the pressure to perform had him on edge to create a masterpiece. He was under a self-imposed deadline due to the fact that he had to pay for his room each additional night in which he did not find the right idea. The fact is, that this combination of stress and inspirational atmosphere was the perfect concoction in order for him to create one of the most notable novels in history.”
(c) The Stanley Hotel |
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Itching to Travel? There’s 10 Countries That Still Want U.S. Travelers
What do Albania, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Maldives, Mexico, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia and Turkey all have in common? They are all welcoming U.S. travelers without a quarantine period. For those who have six months of pent up cabin fever, this should be music to their ears.
Keep in mind that the health advisory issued by the US State Department on March 31 still stands. It instructs US citizens to avoid all international travel due to COVID-19 while the CDC lectures “travel increases your chances of getting and spreading COVID-19.”
As Coronavirus cases in the United States passed the five million mark, more and more people sought the need to get out of the house at the worse times—protests, going back to bars and parties, and family vacations. The majority of U.S. citizens are opting to stay local, choosing to stay off airplanes and opting for shorter road trips instead of international air travel and for good reason. Absent from the European Union’s list of 15 countries whose tourists are allowed to visit is the United States.
Once one of the world’s most formidable travel credentials, the power of a USA passport has withered in the haze of the coronavirus, with borders looked down tighter than that vaults that contain all of the conspiracy theories of what is the real deal with COVID-19. With almost 200,000 deaths credited to the virus, most countries now view the United States and their tourism dollars with apprehension, proving that it doesn’t matter how much they want American greenbacks when US travelers could be carrying the deadly virus with them no matter how asymptomatic they appear.
Now with constraints easing up for some destinations, Americans are still on the restricted list for approximately 200 countries, but the Big 12 that left their doors open offer simple entries [think a temp check before and after boarding and a COVID-19 test before getting your passport stamped] into foreign land. It’s worth pointing out that anyone that boards an international flight should check with the airline and the US Embassy prior to finalizing travel plans, and oh, pack a couple of comfortable, full cover masks.
So without further ado, here are the nations where US passport holders can visit without quarantining for days or weeks and jump right into living it up in a new land.
Perhaps the most underrated Mediterranean destination in the entire world is Albania, which sits just across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, The former communist country recommenced international commercial in June. Known for its scruffy mountains, glistening beaches, and fortress towns, Albania was closed to foreigners for much of the 20th century. The first set of inquisitive travelers found a land where ageless codes of conduct still held influence and where the wind shrilled through the exhausted remnants of half-forgotten ancient Roman and Greek sites. A quarter century later after throwing off the constrains of communism, Albania’s gorgeous mountain are the perfect backdrop that rivals any other Mediterranean country.
Antiqua & Barbuda |
Antigua & Barbuda
Their tourism site screams, “Escape 2020 and visit Antigua and Barbuda, where we’ve got the sun, the sea and plenty of much needed space.”
Antigua’s ribbed coasts embrace dozens of picture-perfect coves splashed by mesmerizing powder-blue water, while the secluded bays provided sanctuary for everyone from pirates and yachters. If you can pull away from that plush beach towel, you’ll unearth divergent English overtones to this island including the humming capital of St John’s, in the splendid English Harbor, and in the bygone forts that pay homage to its colonial past. At the same time, you will discover that Antigua classic Caribbean, full of story-inspiring villages with a liquor-infused smoothness that make the wide-smiled locals even that much more appealing.
The flamingos of Aruba |
Aruba
U.S. citizens who want to escape our bitter winters have catapulted Aruba into the most visited island in the Southern Caribbean. The inducements are apparent: abundant all-inclusive resorts, miles and miles of famous white-sand beaches, and the delightfully condensed capital of Oranjestad. Now it’s welcoming Americans who want to escape the coronavirus lockdowns. Here is all about fun in the sun.
Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic |
Dominican Republic
With magnificent mountain panoramas, desert backwoods, redolent colonial construction and beaches everywhere, The Dominican Republic is one of the most geographically diverse countries in the Caribbean. The coastline defines the DR and doubles down on its diversity with palm-lined white-sand beaches in some spots and rocky cliffs in others. You also get your fair share of dunes landscaped by the winds and placid mangrove bayous. With plenty of resorts that can deliver your every vacation need, the aquamarine waters showcase the temperature seas where migrating humpback whales play where pirates once ruled. Add unbeatable scuba diving and water sports and you have a grand vacation awaiting you.
Kosovo |
Kosovo
Europe’s newest country, Kosovo is an enthralling destination at the heart of the Balkans. The country happily gives visitors implausible hospitality, delightful mountain towns, grand hiking expeditions, and Serbian monasteries awash in medieval art…and that’s only the beginning.
When Kosovo professed its independence from Serbia in 2008 only half of the world’s countries diplomatically accepted it with nearly 100 unaccepting. The past tragedies are hard to miss with their roads peppered with memorials to those killed in the 1990s and NATO forces present to guard the monasteries. For the naysayers who have never set foot in Kosovo will tell you otherwise, it’s entirely safe to travel here. Because of this reputation, Kosovo sits as one of the final off-the-beaten-path destinations in all of Europe.
The Maldives |
The Maldives
Maldives has perhaps the finest beaches in the world. With an immaculate beach on nearly every one of the nation’s 1200 islands, you might be inclined to be bored with such perfection. To a person, most agree that you won’t find whiter-than-white powder sand and incandescent aqua-blue water like this anyplace else on earth. This truth alone easily produces one million plus visitors annually to this petite, secluded and otherwise little-known Indian Ocean utopia. Unparalleled luxury coupled with a remarkable underwater world makes the Maldives an understandable selection for a genuine vacation of a lifetime.
Chitzen Itza in Mexico |
Mexico
Mexico’s pre-Hispanic peoples erected some of the world’s boundless archaeological shrines, including Teotihuacán’s soaring pyramids and the superb Maya temples of Palenque. The Spanish colonial era left stunning towns full of tree-shaded arcades and opulently-chiseled stone churches and homes, while the modern Mexico has seen a swell of abundant art from the likes of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. World-class museums and galleries detail the country’s intriguing history and its endless creative vitality. Popular culture is just as vibrant, from the visionary fusion cuisine and street art of Mexico City to the breathtaking handicrafts of the indigenous populace.
Serbia |
Serbia
A landlocked country in the center of the Balkans, Serbia is pleasantly off the tourist track and offers a little something for everyone. The art nouveau town of Subotica revels in its Austro-Hungarian heritage; the unconventional Niš reverberates to the clip-clop of Roma horse carts, and minaret-dotted Novi Pazar prods the most blessed of Serbian Orthodox monasteries. Time-honored wine regions and thermal spas clasped in rolling hills date back to Roman times. On the slopes of Zlatibor, Kopaonik, and Stara Planina, ageless customs coexist with après-ski bling, while the scenic Tara and Đerdap National Parks overflow with the prospects of rafting, hiking, biking, and kayaking.
Tunisia |
Tunisia
Although its place on the map is a slender wedge of North Africa’s massive horizontal expanse, Tunisia has plenty of history and varied environmental beauty that would envy many a larger nation. With a temperate, sand-fringed Mediterranean coast, fragranced with sea breezes and jasmine, Tunisia is an elite land for a forthright sun, sea, and sand experiences. Outside the beaches is an electrifying, unappreciated destination where divergent cultures and implausible extravagances of landscape—the Sahara and forested coastlines—can be explored in just a few days.
The Blue Mosque in Turkey |
Turkey
Located in the Mediterranean and connecting Asia and Europe continents that are separated by famous Bosphorus, Turkey is a unique destination that welcomed last year about 40 million tourists. The country that has always been a hub for cultural interaction and home to varying climates inspires the visitors today with its history, nature and gastronomy that reflect the diversity of civilizations for centuries. Located at the crossroads of cultures, Turkey has a distinctive understanding of art and fashion, which is the synthesis of tradition and modernity.
Sunday, August 9, 2020
Try Turkish Spices to Cure Your Pandemic Woes
The pandemic and social justice are dominating the headlines—as they should—this summer. For me, the impact on my normal travel is starting to weigh on my being and I’ve been searching for solutions as I watch the growing list of countries that don’t want U.S. travelers potentially bringing Coronavirus into their lands.
I was excited to see a small list of countries open to U.S. citizens without restrictions: Albania, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Maldives, Mexico, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia and Turkey. The one that stood out the most is Turkey. With non-stop flights from multiple U.S. cities, including my home base of Los Angeles, I imagined Turkish Airlines incredible business class whisking me to Istanbul from gate to gate in around 13-and-a-half hours. What the worst that can happen up in the air for half a day, right?
In the middle of my fantasy, CNN and Dr. Anthony Fauci screamed across my television, talking about second and third waves and the meteoric surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the States. It made me think twice about jumping on a plane this summer.
But while my summer travel is still pending, I imagined a way to work out my travel bug at home. How? Turkish cuisine, that’s how.
A little backstory for you…
Turkey is located at the meeting point of the Middle East, Asia and Europe with its geographic serving as one of the most critical routes along the Silk Road. Spices were incredibly valuable in the global trade. It is said the salt was just as valuable as gold. Imagine that. With that kind of history, it’s no wonder that Turkey has remained as the center of the global spice trade for centuries.
In the inimitable and delightful dishes of the Turkish cuisine, spices are never used in excess, but rather judiciously curated, ensuring that spices are just as important as the key base ingredients in every meal. Considering how rich the Turkish cuisine is in terms of spices, it’s certainly not a shocker that İstanbul has one of the most revered spice markets in the world.
Hosting visitors since 1664, the Spice Bazaar is one of the oldest covered bazaars in İstanbul. Situated on the European side of the city, the Spice Bazaar is a historic landmark spread across a large area where various genuine items that belong to the Turkish culture as well as all kinds of spices are sold.
Let’s dive into some of the most popular spices of the Turkish culinary culture:
Bay Leaf—Grown in many regions across Turkey, the bay leaf is a spice that has long been used in the Turkish cuisine with its pleasant smell and distinct aroma. Consumed in main dishes and salads, bay leaf is dried before being used in various areas such as dishes, sweetened fruit juices, tomato pastes, pickles and soups. Bay leaf adds zest to meat and fish dishes with its aroma. Particularly added to sauces used for meat dishes, bay leaf is also used to marinate fish, in pilaf, fish soup as well as in the bottom of the pot while boiling turkey and chicken. When bay leaves are placed inside large fish during grilling, the fish meat will absorb the smell and taste of the leaf, gaining a very delicious aroma.
Cinnamon—The king of the sweets. Obtained from the bark of the cinnamon tree and known for its strong and sweet flavor, this spice is widely used in the Turkish cuisine in both desserts and salty dishes. It is used in all types stuffing including stuffed mussels, seasoned rice, dried fruits, and chicken dishes that create a special flavor unique to this cuisine. As a sweet spice, it’s also useful to cut down the sugar intake, becoming an indispensable part of Turkish desserts. It plays the lead role in cakes and traditional Turkish puddings such as sütlaç (rice pudding), kazandibi (white pudding with caramel base), and muhallebi (milk pudding). Add a stick of cinnamon while brewing tea to add extra flavor in place of a processed sugar cube.
Clove—When combined with cinnamon, clove offers decadent flavor and because of that it is widely used in cakes and desserts, tarts and fruit. In many Turkish restaurants, and in meat and kebab restaurants in particular, it is served after meals with onions and garlic to eliminate bad breath. If you have a toothache, you can bite down on a clove and it will lessen the pain (it works, trust me!).
Cumin—A member of the parsley family, it’s used to spice stuffing, meatballs, and soups, and it is an indispensable ingredient agent in meat sauces and foul beans (breakfast dish). Used as a medicinal herb since the ancient times, the black cumin seeds contain approximately 100 different essential elements including carbohydrates, minerals, proteins and fatty acids.
Mint—The dried version is widely used in soups, mantı (Turkish dumplings), and on cacık (a yogurt side dish), while fresh mint is added to salads and served as a calming tea steeped in water.
Red Pepper Flakes—Grown in the Southeastern Anatolia region, this spice is added when you want to add heat to recipes. Most restaurants serve it in tableside next to the salt and pepper. It can be added while cooking meat sauces, soups, legumes (beans and chickpeas), and stews.
Rosemary—A versatile spice used fresh or dried in red meat dishes, poultry and stews thanks to its pleasant taste and aroma. It’s sometimes added to omelets and soups or to the raw dough of breads and pastries. Most home chefs add a teaspoon of dried rosemary to their potato puree for a distinctive Turkish taste.
Saffron—Cultivated in Safranbolu saffron usage originated in Ottoman cuisine. Saffron is typically diluted in rose water or vinegar for pilafs and meat dishes. It is also the critical element of milk pudding recipes due to its pungent aroma and hay-like taste.
Sumac—One of the most widely consumed spices in the Turkish cuisine, sumac gives the dishes a sour and piquant taste together with a pleasant aroma. The spice comes from the crimson part of the sumac plant before grinding it together with table salt. It is popular when mixed with red onions or regular onions and parsley to be eaten as salad or mixed into yogurt as a dip.
Thyme—As a species that naturally grows in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions, classic thyme is produced by drying and crumbling the leaves. It can be used poultry or lamb marinades. A simple pinch of pinch of thyme in a bowl of olive oil as a dip for fresh bread is also very popular. Fresh thyme is preferred especially in salads for both its taste and aroma. Many choose to place a small twig of fresh thyme in olive oil dispensers to add zest with the aroma of thyme.
Cinnamon |
Monday, July 13, 2020
Sports Are Back to Save the Ad World
They mater because they generate revenue.
They generate jobs.
They generate passion.
Now with the return of the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball—all at once it seems—sports will generate billions in advertising revenue. This is exactly what the country needs. And right now.
At the four-month mark where every major professional sports league went on hiatus due to COVID-19, the return of live sports is just what we all need. Live sports signals an important return to normal for the country and spark a television advertising sales marketplace that was left in a disparate place. During the last full season, each sport played, the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL produced nearly $7 billion in ad revenue for networks across the United States. That’s not to mention the billions produced overseas and the remaining parts of North America.
Don’t think that sports matter? Here is exactly how much national ad revenue the big four sports leagues added to the networks’ gross sales during their last full seasons (*according to Kantar Media):
- NFL—Regular Season: $3.3 billion, Playoffs: $1.3 billion
- NBA—Regular Season: $528.2 million, Playoffs: $877.5 million
- MLB—Regular Season: $144.7 million, Playoffs: $338.5 million
- NHL—Regular Season: $35.9 million, Playoffs: $102.2 million
Seth Winter, EVP of sports sales for Fox Sports says that “the reopening of live sports is “a very symbolic and real indicator of the move forward to whatever the TV ad industry’s new normal will be post-pandemic.”
Jo Ann Ross, president and chief advertising revenue officer, ViacomCBS domestic advertising sales says that, “There is a thirst and a hunger for live sports.”
All you have to do is look at the few live sports that aired recently to demonstrate how thirsty advertisers and audiences are for any sort of live sports:
- UFC 251—1.3 million people purchased the event on pay-per-view That’s among the highest in the sport’s history. UFC has generated this many buys only four times previously with the the most recent coming in 2018, when Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 229. That event generated a record 2.4 million buys.
- The Match: Champions for Charity golf tournament, which aired on May 24 and featured Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning vs. Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady drew 5.8 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN. WarnerMedia reported that this telecast was the most-watched golf match in cable TV history. The WarnerMedia’s ad sales team sold every spot a month in advance with the expectation of this type of outcome.
- When NASCAR races resumed on Fox one May 17th, over six million viewers made it the most-watched NASCAR Cup race on any network (outside of the Daytona 500) in 2018.
All of this comes of devastating news that U.S. advertising revenue plummeted 31% in May due to only those few events take place due to the pandemic. What makes this worse is that the Standard Media Index reports that majority of major ad categories reduced their media spends drastically—by 10%-20% or more. Only pharmaceutical manufacturers spent more in May than they did in the same 2019 period.
Two media companies saw ad revenues deteriorate as a direct result of the absence of NBA games when the playoffs take place in May, broadcast by Walt Disney’s ABC and ESPN and WarnerMedia’s TNT. WarnerMedia saw ad revenue decline by 45.5%, while Disney saw it tumble by 39.6% for the month of May.
First up is MLB on July 25th followed by the NHL on August 1st. I can wait to see what advertisers have in store for us...
Michael Jordan: The gold standard of sports advertising. |
Monday, May 18, 2020
Making Turkish Pita: The Ramadan Way
I’ve spent parts of Ramadan all over the Middle East including Lebanon, the Sultanate of Oman, and Syria. Without creating serious debate, one of the best places for anyone to be during the holy month of Ramadan is in Turkey. Here, the solidarity of the holiday reaches its peak while honoring many of centuries-old traditions across all parts of the society.
For many outside of Islam, it would be easy to put Ramadan into a bucket of religious holidays, but truthfully it is much more than praying multiple times a day and fasting from before dawn until night. It’s also as much about bringing people together as much as any other kind of biased opinion you may have heard other the years.
In Turkey, Iftar is a daily celebration of the breaking of the fast. Tables are elaborately set where families, friends and neighbors gather around the same table to feast on dishes that are prepared throughout the day. When I recall Ramadan traditions, the first to come to mind are crowded Iftar dinners, delicious treats, and home chefs revealing their culinary skills.
These rich dinner tables, extraordinarily adorned with a large variety of dishes, are an indicator of the hospitality and family values—with very few countries more adept at it that the Turkey people. Iftar is also where you discover that the centuries-old tradition of helping the poor and those in need shine bright. It’s a place where you can invite the needy over for Iftar, or prepare a special dinner for them for a greater sense of community. Even better is the incredible amount of hot food distributed to thousands of people by institutions, organizations, and of course, the locals.
Foods most frequently served on the tables include regional and traditional varieties of lamb and beef dishes, vegetable and legume dishes, soups, pilafs, dates, olives and cheese varieties, soujouk (fermented halal sausages), fattoush salads, various pastries and pies made of thin sheets of dough.
One these long summer days, there isn’t time for more than formal meal, but in the true underlying meaning of unity, Sahur is prepared and consumed in the wee hours of the morning. Only members of the household attend this meal, proceeding the upcoming 12-15 hours fast of the coming day.
Sahur comes from one of the oldest traditions of the month of Ramadan, the mesaharati (or the Ramadan drummer) wandered from one street and neighborhood to another, informing those who fast about the approaching Sahur time. This tradition, which started to make sure that nobody would miss Sahur in an era when not every household had a clock, may have lost its functionality today but symbolically, it continues across the entire country. The drummers are rewarded for their month-long effort to wake up the people by collecting tips on the last night of Ramadan. Sahur tables are highlighted by lighter dishes like yogurt parfait, dates, fruits, toast with lebne dips and cheeses, and the all-important freshly-brewed chai.
An essential part of Ramadan centers on the “Ramadan pita.” In Turkey, it is a traditional delicacy of the cuisine. In pre-COVID days, pita queues in front of bakeries start hours before iftar. These days, takeaway isn’t as readily available, so breakout your chefs hats and baking sheets and let’s make some delicious Turkish pita.
Ingredients
• A pack of yeast (25g)
• 2 water glasses of warm milk
• ½ dessertspoon of sugar
• ½ water glass of warm water
• ½ tea glass of oil
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 5 ½ water glasses of flour (more if necessary)
To be used while shaping the dough:
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 5-6 tablespoons of water
• (Mix the flour and water well; it must be a fluid mix so add more water if necessary)
To apply on the pita:
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 tablespoon of milk
• 1 dessertspoon of yoghurt
• Plenty of sesame
• Black sesame
Preparation
Put the yeast, milk and sugar in a deep bowl and keep for 10 minutes (until the yeast melts). Add the remaining ingredients in order, knead the flour, and after it thickens, wait for 40 minutes after it thickens (ensure it is a soft dough that does not stick to your hand). Divide the dough into 2 or 3 pieces.
Sprinkle some flour on the surface and take some flour on your hands before spreading the dough. Give it a circular or oval shape. Place the spread out dough on a tray that is either previously oiled or lined with a baking paper. Also sprinkle some corn flour on the tray so it won’t stick. Immerse your hands in the water-flour mixture and give it a square or lozenge shape by first pressing on the edges and then on the middle. The trick is to keep on immersing your hands in the water-flour mixture so that the shapes won’t disappear during baking. The dough is left for half an hour to leaven and the same procedure is repeated on the shaped parts to make sure that they will last. Finish off by applying the sauce on and sprinkling a lot of sesame and black sesame.
Bake in an oven pre-heated to 200°C until golden brown.
Note: This article originally appeared in ALO magazine.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
An Uncommon Cure for the COVID-19 (Boredom)
Photo credit: Instagram/heinz |
Well, I'm working. More than ever it seems. The COVID-19 lockdown has pinned most to our homes and according to Ladders we are working three more hours a day on average. Nonetheless, I am thankful for the continued employment and remaining safe during this unprecedented pandemic. I carry a heavy heart for those lost and the 20+ million who had to file for first time unemployment benefits. Amidst all of this I must say that I am quite fortunate that my decades of work has paid off for the stakeholders I serve. All of my advertising and marketing numbers show double digit growth as we have shifted every campaign to virtual. The results have empowered other programs that will remain evergreen as we move into a new normal of conducting business.
All of this work hasn't staved off the need to cure boredom, however. Nights that were spent going to hockey games, writing subsequent columns, and seeing family and friends need to be filled somehow right? You can only clean the house, or rearrange your man cave, or work on your great American novel so much. You need an outlet. My daughter suggested jigsaw puzzles and what a novel idea I thought. The last one I did was at a museum in Helsinki and it soaked up a lot of time and not as mind numbing as I remember.
So imagine my glee when scrolling through Instagram I saw this among all of the cooking displays, Stay-At-Home memes, and throwback sports posts:
Heinz has really nailed the branding and capitalized on it as of late. Everything from the Oscars Snub Campaign to the real placement of the Don Draper ads that were imagined in Mad Men to this 570-piece all red puzzle. Brilliance quite simply.
Yeah, yeah, I am sure you are thinking, "A puzzle? Brilliant?" Consider this...
Helsinki puzzle completion. |
To have a chance to own one of these beauties, you need to comment on the Heinz Instagram puzzle post, telling them who you want finish the puzzle with. From what I can see, some have already won, but there are some of the 57 are still available.
Brian Neumann, senior brand manager at Kraft Heinz Canada, told Clio Muse that, "Heinz is known for its iconic slow-pouring ketchup. In a period when everyone has a little more time on their hands and puzzle popularity has skyrocketed, we wanted to help pass the time by connecting the two. We're always looking to deliver fun, contextually relevant ways to give our consumers a smile, and this ridiculously slow, all-red Heinz ketchup puzzle seemed like the perfect fit."
Brilliant.
Even better (for Heinz), those who do get the puzzle will engage with Heinz for hours outside of a meal, because, well, this isn't your typical COVID-19 afternoon activity. With all 570 pieces the identical red pantone of the famous Heinz ketchup, assembling this one will take quite a while without lines to guide you or an image for reference.
Anticipation...it's making me wait!