Pieter Cornelis “Piet” Mondriaan was born on March 7, 1872, grew up to become a primary education teacher and then entered the Academy for Fine Art in Amsterdam.

His early work, consisting largely of landscapes, depict the fields, rivers and windmills of his country in the Dutch Impressionist manner. He subsequently moved to Paris and became influenced by the Cubist style of Picasso and Georges Braque (and dropped the extra “a” in his surname).

Mondrian began producing grid-based paintings in late 1919, and in 1920, the style for which he came to be renowned began to appear.

In 1940, Mondrian moved across the Atlantic to Manhattan. He continued to be prolific and died in 1944, at age 72. (He is buried in Brooklyn).

The Mondrian Cake was created by Caitlin Freeman, pastry chef of San Francisco’s Blue Bottle Coffee and author of Modern Art Desserts, published by Ten Speed Press, April 2013 (the book, of course, includes the recipe).

Here’s a video showing how the cake is made.

It takes time; but when you’re done, the bragging rights are worth it.

MORE ABOUT MODERN ART DESSERTS

Pastry chef Caitlin Freeman took inspiration from the art world to create a book of 27 desserts inspired by the modern greats. Cakes, cookies, drinks, gelées, ice cream, ice pops, and parfaits pay homage to Richard Avedon, Frida Kahlo, Ellsworth Kelly, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Henri Matisse, Cindy Sherman, Wayne Thiebaud and Andy Warhol, among others.

Each recipe and dessert photo is paired with a photo of the original artwork, along with a museum curator’s perspective on the original piece.

For just $16.18 at Amazon.com, it’s a nice gift for dessert lovers who are also art lovers.

It couldn’t be easier to make the popular Mediterranean olive spread, tapenade (at least in these modern days of food processors). You can use any type of olive, from mild to pungent; black, green or a mix.

Here’s a recipe for green olive tapenade (pronounced TAH-pen-odd), often served with with crusty bread. It has a lovely balance of tangy green olive, subtle garlic, thyme and briny flavors that keep you coming back for more.

And it’s just great with cocktails, wine and beer.

This recipe is courtesy Pompeian, which uses their Classic Pure Olive Oil in the recipe.

Here’s a recipe for black olive tapenade.
 
 
RECIPE: GREEN OLIVE TAPENADE

Ingredients

1. PULSE olives, garlic and thyme together in a food processor until roughly chopped. With machine running….

2. DRIZZLE in olive oil until a thick paste forms.

3. SERVE with baguette slices, toast or crudités.

 
We often bring tapenade as a house gift, so make a double batch.

In this case, you’re grinding flaxseed. Why?

This superfood adds noteworthy nutrition to food (see the health benefits below), so much so that a growing number of consumers have been clamoring for it. An estimated 300 new products with flaxseed were launched in the U.S. and Canada in 2010 alone (the last year for which data is available).

Flaxseed is appearing in everything from crackers and breads to oatmeal and frozen waffles. The eggs that claim higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids come from chickens who eat flaxseed-enriched feed.

At home, you can add freshly-ground flaxseed to just about anything: cereal, cottage cheese, dips, eggs, fish, meat and poultry, salad, smoothies, soup, yogurt. It’s easy to add to batter and dough: cakes, cookies, pancakes, pie crusts.

Better nutrition is just a few grinds away. Photo courtesy Blossom.

You can use any mill or spice grinder to grind flaxseed for recipes; but the point of a separate flaxseed mill is to use it consistently as you sit down to eat.

Plus, the ceramic grinder in the Blossom mill (shown in photo) is specifically calibrated to grind tiny seeds, like flaxseed and sesame seed. It’s $24.30 at Amazon.com.

Then, pick up whole flaxseed at any natural foods store or online.

According to Web MD, flaxseed could be considered one of the most potent plant foods on the planet.

An excellent source of protein, fiber and minerals such as magnesium and copper, its top three benefits are:

Studies show that flaxseed may help to reduce risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and diabetes. It’s also a great source of fiber.

The tiny seed was cultivated in Babylon as early as 3000 B.C.E.

It’s time for a flaxseed revival. King Charlemagne would be pleased.

Tie one on! say the father and son team behind DressTiez, and we couldn’t agree more.

We fall into the category of unintentionally messy eaters. We don’t want to drip pizza, sauce and other runny foods down the front of our shirts and sweaters; but we invariably do.

During our teen years, when crisp white shirts were the fashion, our dry cleaner told us to switch to dark colors. He couldn’t get the food stains out.

THE WORK-AROUND

Dark colors still show all the food we’ve dropped on ourselves and require just as much dry cleaning. But the results are happier: Our washed and dry-cleaned clothes are returned with no stains.

We also learned to avoid eating messy foods—juicy burgers, fondue, powdered doughnuts, ribs, spaghetti—with anyone other than close friends and family.

DressTiez are an elegant solution for messy adults. Here, navy from the Classic Series. Photo courtesy DressTiez.

This new product, a sophisticated-looking, waterproof adult bib, keeps your clothing immaculate. You can eat with the confidence that your clothes remain completely protected, no matter how drippy your victuals.

The polyester bib with a Velcro closure is machine washable, but it’s even easier than that:

Returning after a messy dinner of pizza and Caesar salad, we simply wet a nail brush, ran it across the soap and scrubbed off the dried pizza sauce, strings of mozzarella and drippy dressing with ease.

DressTiez are $29.95 each ($39.99 for the Custom Series) and are nicely gift boxed. They easily fit in a handbag or pocket.

Our only wish is that the mesh drawstring bag provided to tote the bib were of a different design (we switched it out for one of the numerous zipper cases we had on hand).

But this is a new company, and we wish them lots of success. We’ll do our part by forwarding the website to other messy users of our acquaintance.

Get your DressTiez at DressTiez.com.
  

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Jelly Belly Candy Company has launched the first beer-flavored jelly bean, called Draft Beer.

Beer has been a oft-requested flavor for decades. After years of working on the formulation, the non-alcoholic product is ready for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter baskets and beyond.

Jelly Belly sent us a sample and yes, it does taste like beer. The irridescent pale gold jelly beans are alcohol free, yet deliver a beer aroma and subtle beer flavor.

 
Stock up for National Jelly Bean Day, April 22nd. (Here’s the history of the jelly bean.)

There’s a limited edition of the Draft Beer Jelly Belly, colored green for St. Patrick’s day, available exclusively at Jelly Belly Visitor and Tour Centers in California and Wisconsin.

All Jelly Belly jelly bean flavors are dairy free, fat free, gluten free, OU kosher, peanut free and vegetarian.

Bottoms up!