I love Inclusions

Of course I had to talk about my favorite topic in the mineral world: Inclusions.
What was once considered a flaw, nowadays has a totally different meaning. Flaws not only can be beautiful but add a unique characteristic to a stone. A long time ago, nobody cared for gems that were not flawless. An Aquamarine had to be clean, free of "impurities" to be considered good. The same for Diamonds, Amethysts and all the Quartz varieties. The only gem to have its value enhanced by inclusions was Amber. As time passes and the world evolves, some people started to realize that inclusions are a whole world inside a gem. They can tell stories that trace to millions of years ago. How the stone was formed, what happened along the way, even how the weather was like back then.
The piece below is a Quartz with water inside. Isn't  it amazing to think that the water has probably been there for millions of years?

 

The uniqueness of inclusions is also a very appealing factor to me. You can cut a million Amethysts that look all exactly the same, but an Amethyst with Cristobalite inclusion? each one will be different.  

I also love to see uncut crystals . The one on the top is an Aquamarine with a Quartz crystal inside. The Quartz is very visible through the top and side faces. 
One of the reasons we cut gems with inclusions is to make it visible. Sometimes, the inclusion is in the center of a large crystal that has a crusty face, or is too big, so you can barely see it or it's just inside an ugly piece of rough or a very damaged crystal. Cutting it, not only makes it visible, it also makes it more aesthetic, because you have control of the position of the inclusion in the gem. What side should face up? Should it be in the center or in on one side? How big should the gem be?
It is nice to have a good balance between the overall size of the gem and the size of the inclusion. You don't want a huge gem with a tiny little inclusion in the middle. The inclusion will not look so tiny if it is inside a small gem. The other option to cutting a gem, is to polish the crystal keeping it's natural shape. This is particularly good for phantom-like inclusions.  A phantom, is a layer or more of inclusions, that follow the host crystal growth shape. Sometimes, the individual crystals are visible, sometimes they are so tiny and packed together that you only see a layer of color inside, like a smaller crystal inside a crystal. This is very common with Chlorite, but I have seen a huge variety of minerals presented in a phantom form. Another great point for loving inclusions is that, by being inside a Quartz or any other host, crystals that are too soft or delicate are preserved in a very good state.  An example is the rare oxide Ankangite. It is rarely found as a specimen, yet it was found recently inside Quartz. Thin long needles that would never survive being mined, are frozen, untouched, inside a Quartz "window". Or a Phlogopite inside Topaz preserved undamaged FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS.  We are not talking about the latest iPad model, that will be obsolete in months. It is something that has been on earth way before we were. Really, are you in love yet?
(I really wish I had documented better all the inclusions that I have sold in the past. My most memorable ones were a polished Quartz with bicolored Tourmalines with water bubbles running through them, a Quartz sphere with an Amazonite crystal, surrounded by Schorl needles that looked like lashes on an eye, and a gorgeous large polished Quartz with an Anatase that was so intensely blue, it looked like a Sapphire.)

Spring Nirvana

I am not a deep-fried person at all. I like to cook and eat healthy. BUT, when I saw those zucchini blossoms at the farmers market, evil took over and all I could think was stuffing them, dipping them in beer batter and frying. After making a pact with the high cholesterol gods and promissing them it will be only this one time, I headed home with a bag full of those babies. Let me tell you, these are one of those delicacies that show up in the market for a very short period of time in Spring.

They are very delicate and I recommend cooking the same day you buy them. The recipe is not really difficult but it is a little time consuming and possibly a little messy.  This is a staple in Italian cooking in springtime.

Here it goes:

Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

8 zucchini blossoms.

oil for frying

For the filling:

1 cup of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano cheese

1 small clove of garlic, pressed

1 tablespoon of chopped Italian parsley

1 egg

4 slices of salami Toscano chopped

pinch of nutmeg

salt to taste

Batter

1/3 cup of flour

1 egg

1 cup of beer

salt and pepper to taste

Wipe the zucchini blossoms, remove the pistils and make sure the cavities are clean. 

Mix all the ingredients of the filling together so you make a paste. check the salt.

Fill each blossom with this mix. Some people use a pastry bag. I just used a smaller spoon.

Twist the end of the blossom to secure the filling.

In another bowl, mix well the batter ingredients. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan. Mine was close to an inch deep. When the oil is hot enough, dip the zucchini in the batter and fry in small batches. Turn them carefully a couple times to make sure they are nice and golden brown. Serve them immediately. As an appetizer 2 per person sprinkled with a little parmesan. As a light meal, 4 per person with a nice arugula salad.

(I must say, I made a mess with the frying part of the process. The oil at the very beginning was "exploding" and I think I should have waited a little longer to start frying.  A lid helped. )

If you don't like salami, you can substitute for chopped anchovies or just skip it. I also deep fried a few without the filling just to try and they were really nice too.

                                                                                                         

                     
BUON APPETITO!!!

Poppies

Ok, this is not food related nor rocks, but I have to share a few photos taken on April 25th.
There is a State Park called Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve near a city called Lancaster, 90 minutes drive from L.A. Every spring, the mountains turn orange. A very bright fiery orange. California Poppy is the official state flower. Here are my favorite photos:

A little Bit of Mining History

I have been posting for the theme auction that starts today at  Mineral Auctions . The theme is historic mines in North America. It was a very enjoyable research for me and although I read about several mining districts on all parts of the US. Canada and Mexico, I will only mention on a couple Copper Mines and at a later date, may come back and write about other locations like Gold in California and Silver in Mexico.

This chart shows recoded mining activities in the Americas in general.  As you can see, the start of the mining boom in the U.S. was in the 1800's. 

Calumet: The first englishman to visit the Michigan Copper Belt was Alexander Henry. He remained there for several years after his arrival  in 1765. In his correspondence he reports the discovery of masses of virgin Copper weighing several tons, laying detached upon the surface. He mentions a mass of ten tons which he thought may have rolled down a hill. He went back to England in 1770 and founded the first company ever organized for mining Copper in America. Henry returned to the mines with two companions but they never got farther west then Quebec, where their effects were seized and sold for debt. They were never seen again. There were various other explorers that described the area in a similar way.  A lot of studies were made, but practical mining only began in 1844. In 1867, a man called Alexander Agassiz, took over the management of the Calumet and Hecla Mines. Later they were consolidated as the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company.
The year of 1898 was the most prosperous ever known in the Copper districts of Lake Superior and both owner and employees, which by then were 10,000 were making a lot of money. Their production in 1898 was 90 million pounds and the shares were soaring at the Boston Stock Exchange.
Here is a photo of the mine in 1906:

The Quincy Mine is an extensive set of copper mines located near Hancock, Michigan. The mine was owned by the Quincy Mining Company and operated between 1846 and 1945, although some activities continued through the 1970s. The Quincy Mine was known as "Old Reliable," as the Quincy Mine Company paid a dividend to investors every year from 1868 through 1920. The Quincy Mining Company Historic District is a U.S. National Historic Landmark District.

Quincy Mine was at some point the leading Copper producing mine in the U.S. It was exeeded by Calumet and Hecla in 1867. The Quincy Mining Company closed operations (but did not dissolve) in 1931 due to low copper prices. During World War II, the mines re-opened due to increased copper demand. When the government stopped supporting copper prices after the war, the mines quickly closed for good.


I have a few Calcites with Copper inclusions from Quincy Mine.

As a coincidence, we have been watching a documentary made by Ken Burns:  The National Parks: America's Best Idea  . It was aired by PBS but we got them through Netflix. There are 6 discs of almost 2 hours each, so once every other day, we watch one. I must say it is one of the most beautiful and moving documentaries I have ever seen. The coincidence is that the National Parks started to be created around the same time that mines were being discovered and implemented and sometimes arose conflicts of interest. The documentary shows the railroads being constructed. The railways that would take ore and lumber across the country.
I highly suggest this documentary. It shows the greatness of men and nature. A greatness that we probably miss. But still gives us hope and makes us proud. Men that dedicated a lifetime for a cause and sometimes all they owned to preserve places that otherwise might have disappeared. All with the future generations in mind. A gift. For us.

Spring is here!

There are many things I like and dislike about living in LA. One thing I really love is the availability of farmer's markets. You can find one somewhere, every day of the week. So this morning I went to the one on Arizona and 3rd St, in Santa Monica. The morning was cloudy and so it was perfect for walking around. Spring is here and you can really see it. Fava beans, sweet peas, zuchinni flowers, beautiful leafy greens of all sorts, plump tomatoes, a feast.. Two days ago, I made pesto, and as usual, I made more then I will use so I have some left to use through the week. A mineral dealer friend, Riccardo Prato, from Genoa, Italy, gave me this very delicious pesto tip,  he told me to skip the garlic. We tried it there and you know what? It was so perfect! I think the garlic overpowers the basil. So I've been going garlicless.
Back to the farmers market. There is one cheese producer that has lots of goat and buffalo cheeses. Today,
I decided to buy burrata. Burrata is a mix between mozzarella and cream. It is a mozzarella ball with a light cream and mozzarela filling. It sound heavy but it really isn't. it feels fresh and light. So I decided to make a salad with sliced tomatoes, prosciutto, burrata and kalamata olives. All drizzled with pesto and a little balsamic. It is one perfect meal.
Here is the pesto:
1 big bunch of basil
1/2 cup of pine nuts
1/2 cup of pecorino or parmigiano (grated)
1 cup of olive oil (you can add more to control how runny you want it)
salt to taste
Blend everything in a food processor
I sometime would try it a couple times and add more cheese or pine nuts.
Serve over pasta.

In Italy they toss it with short pasta like penne, and add cubes of  cooked potatoes and string beans or asparagus. It sounds weird to mix potatoes with pasta, but try it and tell me later.