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.
Mucche della Mansarda
20 FebVintage Aprons
19 FebA 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!
Carnivale
17 Feb
It’s almost that Carnival time of year again. Soon the streets will be filled with confetti, paper streamers and spray string (I hate that stuff). Already all the bakeries have overflowing trays of freshly baked (fried) chiacchere. There will be kids wandering the towns and cities dressed up as princesses, pirates, clowns, soldiers, cowboys and knights. It’s an exciting time of year for Italian kids. Lots of festas and even a day or two off school.
Amazingly enough one of my children actually wanted to wear the cloak that I made. She was even excited about it. In the end I did manage to hem it and it looks like a grade nine student Home Ec project. As I was doing the last iron to make it look as good as possible (considering) I managed to melt part of the sleeve. Gotta love those synthetic fabrics. I told her not to let anyone approach the cloak for close inspection.
Cestino
16 FebAnother little sewing project from this week. It’s a different and more elaborate pattern than the smaller basket I made last week (meaning it takes 45 minutes instead of 25 minutes to make…still super easy). The outside is made from a delicately thin plasticized material I bought in Canada. The colours are beautifully bright and spring-like. Something we’re all in need of after this spell of freezing cold winter weather. It’s a great size to store all sorts of bits and bobs in. I’ll be busy making lots of these when I get a few moments (might be a while though).
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.
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!
Tutorial: Small Fabric Basket
12 Feb
Here is a very basic tutorial that a good friend of mine designed for a very sweet little fabric basket. Very quick and gratifying. I used oilcloth for the outside and a cotton for the inside but it would be possible to use only cotton as well (or even nicer would be linen). If using cottons or linens I would recommend using interfacing to make it stiff enough to stand up on it’s own. The paper clips are used to avoid getting little pin holes in the plasticized material or oilcloth. Please let me know if I wasn’t clear on any of my instructions (I know the corner part is a bit hard to see in the photo). 
Petit Fours
10 Feb
I don’t have a bucket list but if I did I think attempting to make petit fours would be on it…at about number 87. And yesterday I did just that. I attempted to make petit fours. Key word being attempted. The result wasn’t the image I had in my head when I started yesterday morning (blush pink miniature cakes with smooth perfect icing and a sweet embellishment on top). But they are really tasty. And if I were to ever attempt to make them again (doubtful) I have lots of things I would do differently to make the whole process MUCH easier and less time consuming. One of the most important aspects of making Petit Fours is making the glaze the perfect consistency. At first mine was too liquidy. Then too thick (hence the lumpy result).
The recipe is from on old Martha Stewart magazine from 2006. I always keep MS magazines and re-read them from time to time (yeah that’s right…I’m a geek). It’s a marzipan cake which is absolutely delicious. Very dense and moist. I spread some raspberry jam in between the cakes and the almond and raspberry tastes really compliment each other. The glaze is a simple icing sugar/milk mixture.
Get Spring Shower Almond Petit Fours recipe here.
Pesto di Rucola
9 FebAnother day, another mason jar recipe. I was browsing through some great blogs and I came across this recipe. I had a fridge full of lemons and arugula so I figured it was meant to be for me to make it. And I’m so happy I did. It is all sorts of delicious. It’s one of those recipes that I can make at any time due to the fact I always have every single ingredient in my house. I’ve looked at Italian recipes for Pesto di Rucola and none of them call for anchovies but I think it’s a really perfect addition to the recipe. It gives some saltiness and of course the famous depth of flavour that is always associated with adding anchovies to any dish. Put anchovies on my pizza and I’ll be running away in horror but saute them in a pasta sauce or puree them in pesto and I love it.
My husband and I ate it on crusty white ciabatta with goat cheese for lunch. Then on pasta for dinner. Then in a salad dressing the next day. You just don’t get bored of this stuff. Get recipe here.
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