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Alessi Factory

21 Feb

The other day we decided a trip up the lake to the Alessi Factory Shop in Omegna was in order.  I was thinking that Alessi products would be the ideal gift to take to friends in Japan.  Italian-made funky design…how can you go wrong? Personally, I’d be happy to never see another round metal Alessi tray with the traditional little man cutouts though…

You can see that you’re approaching the outlet by the oversized sculptures of random kitchen appliances that you can find on the side of the roads.

Look…a 6 foot coffee pot just hanging out on a building ledge.

And a maxi-sized teapot at the factory entrance.

And I’m pretty sure this an over-sized version of the Alessi toilet plunger.  But I could be wrong.

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Mucche della Mansarda

20 Feb

Not long ago I was rummaging through my mansarda (attic) and I came across an old frame with a portrait of an elderly woman in it.  It must have been taken in the 1920’s or 1930’s.  I wanted the frame for another project so I took out the old portrait and in between the portrait and the wooden backing I found this really bizarre photo of a couple of oxen (I love oxen!).  It’s old and the paper is really faded and brittle but I really love this photo.  It’s now hanging above my sewing machine and I find myself gazing at it often.  Maybe these cows used to live in what is now my garden.  Or maybe those cows that live at the cheese farm down the street are the great-great-great-great grandcows of these ones here in the photo.  Yeah…my kids like that story.

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Vintage Aprons

19 Feb

A few days ago my mom arrived in Italy with a suitcase full of beautiful materials and a stack of vintage apron patterns that used to belong to my grandmother.  I’ve fallen in love with almost all of them and I will be definitely making some of them in the coming months.  It’s fun to see how beautiful women used to look in the kitchen with all those fancy aprons.  No yoga pants and sweatshirts to be seen in those days.  Look how dainty they all are!  Ruffled apron skirts, scalloped edges, embroidered pockets, quilted panels, lace edging and miniature pleats. I just love all the little details.   You can also see the prices on all of them…they ranged from 25 cents to 40 cents.  What a bargain!

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San Valentino

14 Feb

I’m wishing everyone out there a wonderful day full of love and happiness.  Not just because it’s Valentine’s Day though.  I think all of our days should be full of love and happiness.  

Here are the treats (not sugar free I’m afraid) that the kids are taking into their classmates and teachers.

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Yayoi Kusuma

13 Feb

Next month my family and I are going to Japan for a two week vacation.  It’s a trip I’ve been fantasizing about for years and I am so excited to go.  I’ve always been so intrigued by Japanese culture, art and food (who isn’t?).  The last while we’ve been busily organising and planning our trip and trying to find all the most interesting activities and places to visit with a family.  One of the most exciting ones we’re in the process of organising is a trip to The National Museum of Art in Osaka to see an Yayoi Kusama exhibit.  We weren’t planning on going to Osaka but when we saw this exhibition we decided to fit it into our plans as a daytrip from Kyoto (where we will be staying for almost a week).

Yayoi Kusama is an amazingly interesting and talented Japanese artist who has been voluntarily living in a psychiatric institution since 1977 (she is now 82).  She’s famous for her paintings, sculptures and installations that almost always include polka dots.  She was quite prominent in the modern pop culture scene in New York City in the 60’s where she is said to have had a huge influence on artists such as Warhol.  She has actually just opened a big exhibition at the Tate Modern in London which includes one of her largest “Mirror Rooms” to date (on from February 9th to June 5th).

I pretty sure my polka dot obsessed daughters are going to love this exhibition!

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Agrumi

4 Feb

This past week has been quite a citrus-y week. First lemon curd and now blood orange marmalade.  But living in Italy it’s quite normal to eat and cook with citrus in the winter months.  You find trucks from the south of Italy parked on the side of all the roads selling their oranges and clementines.  The men who sell these fruits have such a thick southern accent that I sometimes have a hard time deciphering what they’re saying to me and I do a lot of smiling and nodding. But the oranges that they sell are so delicious.  Full of flavour, not too acidic and sometimes so sweet.  I found a recipe for Orange Marmalade in an old Martha Stewart magazine from years ago.  I altered it a little by adding more chopped rind, less sugar and by using blood oranges (Tarocco) instead of normal oranges.  Apparently these Tarocco oranges are packed full of antioxidents, vitamin c, folate, calcium and dietary fibre.  But I’m thinking all that good stuff is wiped out by the truckload of sugar the marmalade recipe calls for.  But it is oh so tasty.

Recipe: Blood Orange Marmalade

3 Organic oranges (I used 2 blood orange and 1 normal)

2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 cups water

7 1/2 cups sugar (I know…it’s nuts.  I only added 7 cups of sugar)

1. Rinse oranges under hot water.  Cut orange in 8 wedges lengthwise.  Slice these wedges very thinly crosswise (to get little triangle shaped pieces).

2. Over medium-high heat bring orange slices, orange juice, lemon juice and 6 cups of water to a boil in large heavy bottomed pan (Le Creuset pots are perfect for this).  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  The oranges slices should become slightly translucent and tender.

3. Stir in sugar and bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved.  Continue cooking (skimming foam from surface) until mixture reads approx. 220 on a candy thermometer (about 15 minutes).    If you see mixture is still runny cook a further 5-10 minutes until syrupy.

4. Let cool and transfer to an airtight container or sterilized bottles. Enjoy!

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Snow Day

3 Feb

Yesterday morning my kids woke up at 6:30 and stared at their school’s website, praying for a snow day.  And it paid off.  By about 6:45 the school put up the announcement that school was called off for the day due to snowy weather.  There were a lot of cheers.  I heard them from my bed.  So we spent the day baking bagels, learning to make traditional danish buns (from a Danish friend), going to the park with the sleds, playing in the snowy garden and then going out sledding for a second time on the grounds of a local castle.  By the end of the day the kids were red cheeked, happy and in need of a mug of hot chocolate.

Not a bad backdrop to admire while your kids throw themselves down a snowy hill.

Chrysanthemum didn’t appreciate the snow so much.  She has delicate feet.

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Fast Forward

31 Jan

Yesterday one of my daughters was “sick”.  As in fine and not sick at all.  But I love these mornings with just one of my children.  We chat, we read, we sew and most importantly we always bake.  It was decided that we would make some biscuits and take photos to make a “Fast Forward” for her and her twin sister’s blog (http://cocova.wordpress.com/).    Here it is…

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Caramelle

30 Jan

I’ve been buying various candies lately so that the kids can make some Valentine’s Day gifts for their classmates.  Is there anything more cheerful than a bowl full of candies?  All those great colours and (artificial) aromas are just irresistable. 

I bought these cinnamon hearts in Canada when I was there after Christmas (because of course all the Valentine’s Day stuff was on the shelves by the 26th of December).  I’m pretty sure there aren’t too many kids that actually like cinnamon hearts but I just can’t resist.  Cinnamon hearts DEFINE Valentine’s Day for me.  They bring back warm and fuzzy memories of heart shaped chocolate boxes and drugstore bought Valentine’s cards.  I’ve already made each of my children suffer the spicy pain of eating at least one.

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The Classics

28 Jan

A friend of mine who is sadly moving away dropped by yesterday with a few things for the kids.  She gave them some paints, pastels, canvases, stickers, a few Dutch card games and a collection of English Classics.  Considering my kids are schooled in Dutch, French and Italian I’m really excited to introduce them to a little bit of Anglosaxon literature.  My kids absolutely love to read.  They pass hours curled up on the couch reading their novels and comic strips.  They almost exclusively read in Dutch so I think these books will be a great motivation for them to start reading in English.  And I have to say that I’m quite keen to re-read a few of these classics myself.

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