Decorazione…

8 Nov

I don’t know what has come over me.  As soon as Halloween was over I was mentally planning and thinking about Christmas decorations.  This is not normal for me.  Usually we spend the holidays in Canada or Belgium but this year we decided to stay in Italy at our own home for once.  And we’re all really excited about it.  Of course we will miss being with our families but the thought of decorating our house and having a cosy Christmas morning in front of the fire is very appealing.  So by November 1st I was already busy sewing the first of our Christmas decorations…

Our theme this year is definitely red and white.  We will do our whole tree in just those two colours.  We went to the fabric shop and purchased some felt and this was our first project.  A simple garland using silver thread.  After we made this one I saw one of my twin daughters cutting up some tiny hearts.  She said she was making a heart garland for her twin sister to show her how much she loves her.  Seriously!  I almost melted on the spot.

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Fotographia week 3

6 Nov

After a 2 week break from my photo course I had to get my assignments done this week-end.  Unfortunately the weather was grey and rainy the whole week-end so my contro-luce (against light) shots outside couldn’t get done.  So I moved the shoot inside with some bright lights.  I also had to do some contrast shots as well.  I seem to be having a hard time getting my shots IN FOCUS.  I can’t understand what’s going wrong.  Maybe I need glasses?This is one of my light contrast shots.  As I mentioned earlier, the shot is out of focus.

Contro luce shot. 

Contro luce shot.  Hi Fido!  Thanks for biting off my chicken’s tail.

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I love jellybeans

6 Nov

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Mini brownies

4 Nov

This is my all-time favorite brownie recipe.  I make them for just about any occasion and they are so tasty.  The recipe is from joyofbaking.com.  You can make them in a pan as you would usually for brownies or as mini brownies.  I just put the mini cupcake papers directly on a baking sheet and fill them up.

Brownies:

5 ounces (150 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chopped

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter cut into pieces

2 tablespoons (15 grams) cocoa powder

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (125 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or spray with a nonstick cooking spray) an 8 inch (20 cm) square pan, and line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a large stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder and sugar . Next, whisk in the vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Finally, stir in the flour, salt and chocolate chips (if using).

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a little batter and a few moist clumps clinging to it. Do not over bake. Remove from oven.  Enjoy!

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Good pull

4 Nov

I was just browsing through some photos of our trip to Canada this past summer and I came across this photo of a gorgeous ox getting ready for the pulling contest.  There were the most beautiful oxen at this country fair.  I think I took hundreds of photos of various pairs in their holding pens.  They all had such different physical features and manneurisms.  Besides my children, oxen have become my next favourite subject to photograph. 

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Birthday purse

3 Nov

This summer I made this oversized beach purse for my friend for her birthday.  It’s made from a buttery yellow linen and a soft beautiful floral cotton.  It’s actually reversible as well.  It’s a very easy pattern that sews up in an hour.  Next time I’ll add some interior/exterior pockets as well.  And from what I’ve seen my friend uses it a lot!

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Mini chef hats

3 Nov

A few weeks ago I decided to make some chef hats for my kids.  Don’t really know where the idea came from but I holed myself in my sewing room for an entire morning and came out with these.  The kids loved them.  And as you can see from the Kiva Kids post they actually wore them in public (so did their friends).  I think all my friend’s kids will be receiving them for Christmas this year.

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Kiva Kids

3 Nov

We are a very fortunate family.  So we try and do as much for other as we can.  A few weeks ago my children and a few friends decided they wanted to have a cake/cookie/coffee stand at a local market and give the money to a good cause.  After discussing with their friends they all decided on Kiva.  My kids have been loaning on Kiva for years and they love they fact that they can keep re-loaning the money to new people once it has been paid back.  So after a Saturday of constant baking, painting and planning the kids were ready for the market early the next day.  In the end they sold every single cupcake, cookie and brownie.  Plus lots of Papa’s nespresso coffee.  The grand total was 170 euro.  I guess the fact that they’re all adorable helped a bit.

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Zuppa di Cipolla

3 Nov

I made this fantastic Onion Soup the other day.  The onions were first oven roasted then pan sauteed.  So good.  The kids pretty much gagged through the entire meal though.  I guess onion soup isn’t for everyone.  Get recipe here.

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Scraps

3 Nov


I’ve decided to take a rest from zippers for a while.  And seeing as I have a huge basket filled to the rim with scraps I thought I would start sewing something with them.  Still not sure what it will become but I’m having fun puzzling it all together.

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