A Satisfied Life

Steve Jobs died a billionaire at age 56, but before he died he said:

 

Steve Jobs died a billionaire at age 56, but before he died he said:

As we get older, wiser we get, we slowly realize that wearing a clock of 5 thousand euros or 30 euros - both will mark the same time...

Whether a wallet or purse is it 500 € or 50 € - the amount of money inside it is the same...

The road and distance are the same, whether you drive a 150.000, 00 € or a 30.000 € car, and you arrive at the same destination...

Whether we drink a 300, 00 € or 10 € bottle of wine, the hangover is the same...

If the house we live in is 300 or 3000 square feet, loneliness is the same.

Whether you fly first class or economical, if the plane crashes, you crash with it.

There's a huge difference between a human being and a human being.

Bettina Graziani

 Simone Micheline Bodin (1925 – March 2, 2015), known professionally as Bettina or Bettina Graziani, was a French fashion model of the 1940s and 1950s and an early muse to the fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy. She also has been a designer of knitwear and, later, a poet and composer.                                      

Bettina wearing a blouse by Givenchy

                                                     Bettina & Prince Aly Khan

In the mid-'50s she was persuaded by Prince Aly Khan, ex-husband of Rita Haworth to
retire from modelling and settle down to a quiet, albeit luxurious, domestic life.
In 1960 disaster strikes when Aly Khan is killed in a car accident, which Bettina survives,
 though she’ll suffer a miscarriage. She inherits Khan’s Chantilly château, Green Lodge
 (which she will later sell to Khan’s son, Karim).
In 1967 Bettina, “the green-eyed railway worker’s daughter” goes back to modeling at
 the age of 42.
And all because she’s bored. Bettina works for Coco Chanel, but she has a problem,
 for as the couturier says of her, “She needs to lose a little weight. I have told her to follow
my example and don’t eat at weekends.”  After presenting Chanel’s collection in July, 
Bettina says, “It was fun to do it once. I never will again.”

                                              Bettina in Jacques Fath, 1950

                                        Bettina in Givenchy winter dress, 1955

Graziani wrote poetry, composed music and appeared in two French films (Bete Balanço, 
1984, and La folie douce,1994). But fashion remained her great passion. In 2010, she was
 appointed a commander of France's Order of Arts and Letters.In later life she attended the
 Paris  fashion shows each season, promoting the work of the designers Azzedine Alaia and 
Yohji Yamomoto. She noted how the models had changed. "They are so young, and
 they all look the same." 
- ©The Daily Telegraph, London

Spanish Bar Cake

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Cooling time for water raisin mixture. 2 hours

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 12 or more servings

Calories 346 kcal

Author Barry C. Parsons

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 cups raisins
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening or butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg beaten
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

For the Frosting

• 2 1/4 cups icing sugar
• 1/4 cup butter at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk more if needed

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
2. Add the water and raisins to a saucepan.  Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add the shortening to the boiled mixture. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
4. Sift together the sugar, soda, flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt.

5. Add the sifted ingredients to the cooled raisin mixture, along with the beaten egg and the nuts, if you are adding them.

6. Fold gently until the flour is just incorporated into the batter. Do not over mix.
7. Turn into the prepared pans and Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Cool completely and ice with frosting if you like

To prepare the frosting

1. Beat together the icing sugar, butter, vanilla and a tablespoon of milk until smooth.
2. If necessary, add more milk until the frosting is a good spreadable consistency.

3. Cut the cake in half, frost the first layer then top with the second layer and frost again. To get the characteristic lines on top, run the back of a fork over the top frosting in straight lines.

4. This recipe also makes about a dozen cupcakes if you prefer.

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