Modern Day Mona (Lisa) Halloween

Salve!

Benvenutu Al Nostro Halloween Da Vinci

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Leonardo Da Vinci, The Mona Lisa

(That is Tom Hanks hand above, from the movie The Da Vinci Code.)

I fell in love with the movie when it first came out, and it is a favorite to this day.

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Currently Under Da Vinci Authentication

The Mona Lisa drawing top left, was done by our daughter Veronica many years ago.

I found it after she moved out and of course, I love it! So, I have kept it all this time.

Her drawing from art school just added beautifully to our Modern Day Mona (Lisa) Halloween.

We also found this great Mona Lisa Wine and bought a few bottles. 🙂

I wanted us to do a scene where it looks as if Gordon is painting me, but he’s actually carving a pumpkin with my face (Mona), while I’m holding a glass of wine.

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Our Set

Gordon, Ready To Carve The Pumpkin

We have the How-To’s to guide you down below.

Gordon wrote out a Step-By-Step of Instructions.

I’m Posing With My Favorite Prop…. WINE!

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As Always, He Outdoes Himself Every Time!

Gordon is a natural artist, and untrained.

So, Why Mona Lisa?

It’s because our son Brodie’s girlfriend Mackenzie’s uncle, found a Da Vinci painting at a yard sale. He is in art and recognized it as a possible Da Vinci. He paid a very small amount of money for it. I can’t tell you how much because when the man he bought it from found out it was worth as much as it was, he was so embarrassed that he told Mackenzie’s uncle to say he paid far more for it than he actually did. If you are wondering how much he actually paid? Let’s just say that I easily have that much money on me at all times.

It took Mackenzie’s uncle 5 years to have it authenticated. Once it was, they sold it to a collector for 81 Million. Who then turned around and sold it to some Sheik for 450 Million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold.

That painting is:

Salvatore Mundi

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We had the privilege of staying in Mackenzie’s aunt and uncle’s condo out in Indian Shores, Florida over a long Labor Day weekend in 2022, and I just had Mona on my mind when it came to creating this Halloween theme.

If you would like to check out our stay:

A Labor Day Vacay Away

They even had a Mona Lisa hanging on the wall above their bathtub. 🙂

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The Food

We always like to feature a food/foods to go with whatever Halloween theme we may be working on. That is when I got to work looking at authentic Italian food recipes. It was then that I came across Leonardo Da Vinci’s favorite food, which is Minstrone.

Leonardo Da Vinci was a Vegetarian. He lived to the ripe old age of 67. Pretty good for living in a time when there was no healthcare. He probably lived as long as he did because he was a Vegetarian.

Julie’s Minestrone

(Yes, I am the one that made this. I based it on a recipe that Gordon got while in Culinary School.

I did add a few extra’s though.)

Gordon Carved The Beautiful Pumpkin…

…I made The Delicious Soup!

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Leonardo Da Vinci

Self Portrait

Born in Vinci, Italy April 15, 1452

Died in Amboise, France May 2, 1519

It’s really impressive to think that in this age of 2023, that we are still infatuated with a man that lived over 500 years ago. I think most of us will be long forgotten by then, but not him. He really was someone very special and worth remembering.

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Easy Halloween Night Eats

Halloween Night for us is always casual. We want to eat something special, but fairly easy. After all, we’ve got little Trick-or-Treater’s coming to our door wanting their treats. Which we happily provide. 🙂

Here Are Our Very Easy Halloween Night Eats

Gordon With His Pumpkin and PumpkinHead Beers,

he just needed a (wait for it)…hand. 🙂

Our Grilled Cheeses w/ Olive Loaf and Pickled Items, Arugula, Yellow Sriracha Mustard, Mini Cucumbers, and Stuffed Olives

(Recipe Down Below)

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RECIPES START HERE

Felice Halloween

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Minestrone

We were looking for a Minestrone recipe when I came across this one. It is from when Gordon was in cooking school.

I figured that it would be perfect, and it was!

I did add a few extras that weren’t in the recipe.

I’ll explain those as I do the write-ups.

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Of Course, I had to Halloween it up!

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The Recipe:

(I will write the recipe just as it is listed above.)

Bacon, Diced -1 Ounce

Oil, 1/2 Ounce

Minced Garlic, 1/4 Ounce

Yellow Onion, 4 Ounce

Celery, 2 Ounces

Carrots, 2 Ounces

Green Bell Pepper, 2 Ounces

Zucchini, 2 Ounces

Cabbage, Chifonade, 2 Ounces

Russet Potatoes, 4 Ounces

Roma Tomatoes, 4 Ounces

Chicken Stock, 1 Quart

Cooked White Beans, 1 Ounce

Cooked Macaroni, 1 1/2 Ounces

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Grated Parmesan Cheese, 1 Ounce

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Cooking Methods:

Cook the White Beans on the side.
Place the Bacon and Oil into a Saucepan and Sweat. Do Not Brown.
Add the Onions, Celery, Carrots, Peppers, Cabbage, and Garlic, and sweat until the Onions are Translucent.
Place the Vegetables and the Chicken Stock into a Sauce Pot over Medium High Heat and bring to a simmer.
Add the Potato and the Tomato and simmer for 20 minutes until the Vegetables are tender. Do NOT overcook them.
Add the Cooked Chick Peas and Pasta. Simmer the Soup until all ingredients are hot. (NOTE: The Ingredients above don’t even mention Chick Peas. I noticed that too when making this soup. So, do what you want.)
Adjust the Seasonings with Salt and Pepper to Taste.
Garnish with Grated Parmesan Cheese just prior to serving.

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I Julie, made the recipe above, X’s 3. I wanted more than the recipe called for.

Here is how I made this magnificent soup!

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I fried up several pieces of Bacon, then set aside onto a plate lined with a paper towel to drain the fat.

A Pot, and a Sauce Pan

I used the white Cannelloni Beans.

All of my Ingredients

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Time To Chop All The Ingredients

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Chopping The Cabbage

Remove the Core From the Cabbage, and Chop as Shown

Wash and Peel and Potatoes and Chop into Small Pieces

Draining The White Beans

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Sauteing The Vegetables in Olive Oil

I just added some Olive Oil to a Sauce pan and then I added the Vegetables.

Onions first, then Green Bell Peppers, followed by some Minced Garlic and Zucchini.

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Adding The Chicken Stock to a Large Pot

Continue to Sweat the Vegetables

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Although the Chick Peas were not in the list of Ingredients, I did have a can or two, so I heated them up in a pot on the stove top to warm.

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Chicken Broth Warming, Vegetables Sweating, Chick Peas Heating…

Look at the Beautiful Broth!

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I’ve added the chopped Tomatoes to the Broth, you can see the White Beans and Chick Peas warming in the pots in back, and the Vegetables sweating in the Sauce pan.

Adding the Vegetables to a Mixing Bowl

Salt and Pepper

Sauteing Some Cabbage in Olive Oil

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The Tomatoes in the Chicken Broth

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It’s Time to Start Combining Everything

The Vegetables….

Simmering Away….

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Adding Some Italian Seasonings

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Halloween Pastas!

Now Comes the Halloween Element

(I purchased a series of Halloween shaped Pastas specifically for this soup.)

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Pancetta, Italian Bacon

Chopped, Fried, and left to Drain on Paper Towels

I thought the Pancetta would go well in our Minestrone, and it DID!

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Simmering Away…..

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Now It’s Time To Cook The Halloween Pastas

Here are a few sauce pans on the stove top, bringing the water to temperature.

Cook According to Package Directions

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Now, Add the Pastas to our Great Soup!

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I did not add the Crumbled Bacon or Pancetta to the Soup until we were ready to eat it. I didn’t want it to get all soggy.

I did add some Parmesan Crackers as a garnish, along with some Grated Parm.

This truly was a delicious soup and I am starting to understand why Master Leonardo loved it too.

Buon Appetito!

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Pumpkin Carving

Here I am using a black and white picture I found on the internet to trace out the areas I am going to carve. If you can’t do this, simply print out the picture and tape it onto your pumpkin and use a punch to trace the outline of your drawing.

TIP: Never grab your pumpkin from the top vine, as they tend to break easily.

Here you can see the outline that I drew.

This is a drawing our daughter Veronica did in art school, so I used this as inspiration as well.

I like this area of the yard as it is peaceful and cool and provides me a great setting to do this type of art.

Time To Get To Work

You can see I have picked a nice tall and wide pumpkin to use for this specific drawing. It is good to have this in mind when purchasing it. You can also see the common tools I use for this. I start with a thin sharp knife to carve the outline. Place a little bit of tape on the knife if needed so you don’t cut yourself.

Cut at an angle on the outer side of the line then do the opposite type of cut on the inner side of the line. These are very shallow cuts as you are simply tracing the outline.

This will take some time so get comfortable.

What a great day to do this! The weather was perfect!

In steps my beautiful inspiration… I am such a lucky guy!

I tried to do the face in a more lifelike view while the wine glass and arm are more expressive and cartoon like.

Still working on it.

Now for the face. Use your thin knife like a peeler and peel away the pumpkin’s outer skin. I usually make the cuts outlining these area’s a little deeper, so that I don’t accidentally peel up the wrong piece.

This will take up most of your time, but well worth the effort. Here you can see the more realistic face and more cartoonish hand and wine glass!

Me, being very proud of my work.

Julie pushes me to my artistic limits which is good.

Here is another look at what I did!

I like it and I hope you try this one as well!

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Now It’s Time To Cut Open The Pumpkin

Let’s get to all those delicious seeds!

In the typical carving kit, you will find a thin saw blade, perfect for cutting off the top of the pumpkin. Make this cut as a steep inward angle. Be sure to cut a notch into the pumpkin, so you will know where the top is to be placed back on.

Here you can clearly see the notch I cut. I also cut the top section flat to make it look nice using my chef knife.

Now, trip the inner edge of the pumpkin so that you can get at those seeds.

Not seen, I scooped out all the pumpkin’s slimy innards and kept the seeds. I then scooped out more of the inner flesh of the pumpkin making it about ¾ of an inch thick, so that light would more easily show through. This will highlight the face when it is dark.