Tag Archives: photography

Edible Home-Made Gifts

14 Dec

It’s that time of year to start making little gifts to give your teachers, postman, hairdresser and kid’s bus driver.  The last few days I’ve been busy roasting nuts, melting chocolate and writing out thank you notes.  Here are a few of the home-made gifts on my list this year.  They’re easy, delicious and perfect to show someone your gratitude for all they’ve done the past year.

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We have a few people on our list that aren’t super keen on sweets so I thought I’d make some spiced nuts for them.  I found this recipe in an old Martha Stewart magazine from eons ago and they’re absolutely tasty.  A little sweet, a little spicy and a little salty.  Perfection.

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Here’s how to make them:

Spicy Almonds

1 tsp course salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp white vinegar
2 cups whole blanched almonds, toasted

-First of all toast the almonds in a 350 (180) degree oven for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven.
-In a large bowl combine salt, sugar and spices.
-In a large skillet over medium heat bring butter, molasses and vinegar to a boil.  Add toasted almonds and stir to evenly coat.
-Add nut mixture to spice mixture, toss to coat.
-Transfer to a baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake but mixture for 4 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.
-Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

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Next we made some orangettes which are chocolate covered candied orange peel.  My daughter made them for her papa’s birthday last week and I realised how easy it is to make them.  Perfect to take as a hostess gift or give anyone who loves the orange/chocolate combo.

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There are only four ingredients to make these professional looking sweets.  Here’s how to make them:

Orangettes

100 g Chocolate (good quality, preferably Belgian of course)
2 oranges
300 g sugar
3 ml water

-Cut the oranges in quarters and cut away everything to leave only the peel.
-Slice into skinny slivers (like above).  Wash under cold water.
-Put sugar and water in pot and bring to a boil.  Add orange peels and cook for approximately 60-80 minutes (or until you see they have become candied).
-Let candied peels cool on parchment paper.
-Melt chocolate and dip candied peels in to completely cover.
-Put peels in fridge so that chocolate hardens.  Store peels in container for up to 2 weeks.

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And last but not least I decided to make yet another edible gift that involves chocolate.  I found some lovely little chocolate liners so I decided to try my hand at chocolate/truffle making.

I put some chopped chocolate in a double boiler and melted it.  I then added some heavy cream and a few drops of mint extract.  I did a bit of guessing at the measurements but at the end I had a thick smooth and pour-able mixture.  I then filled the little chocolate wrappers and sprinkled crushed candy cane on top.  From what the family says they are quite rich but very delicious.

You can also check out my Belgian Chocolate Spread which I made for everyone last year.  It was a huge hit and quick to make with only 3 ingredients.

Do you have any favorite recipes or homemade goods that you give away at Christmas?

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Bag Lady

13 Dec

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Bag Lady…that’s me.  I have a thing for purses, sacks, bags and wallets of any kind and apparently I was born this way.  My mother tells me that when I was a little girl I had a mountain of purses that were filled with bags that were filled with wallets.  And I can honestly tell you that it is still the case and that I have one daughter who seems to have inherited the same fixation (better than booze or drugs, no?).

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 Last week I finished up sewing my first messenger bag.  It involved a pattern of approximately 30 different pieces in three different materials (not including the interfacing).  It took me over three hours to just cut it all out!  The bag is completely reversible and has 8 pockets.  I used a polka dotted linen that I bought in Japan last spring for one side and a striped canvas from Max Mara for the other side.  It’s gorgeous. 1-IMG_4633Considering I put 6 hours into making this messenger bag I’m not sure how many I’ll be sewing up in the future.  Here is a great tutorial for a simpler version of a similar messenger bag (without pockets).

1-IMG_4627Now off to wrap it up for my fellow bag-loving daughter.  I think she’ll be able to fit at least 6 more bags inside this one.

ps…I’m over on the wonderful Tasmanian blog The Brothers Trimm talking about Christmas traditions…go take a peek!

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A Kid’s Life: Germany

11 Dec

Time for another interview in my A Kid’s Life series.  This series is a way for all of us to see how families from other countries and cultures live their daily life.  It’s surprising how similar some of our daily habits are around the world!

This time we chat with Petra who lives with her family in Germany.  Petra is one of my all time favorite people .  We met in university a long time ago and have kept in touch all these years.  She’s kind, down to earth and so hilarious.  And the fact we both ended up in Europe is such a bonus.  We’ve caught up in person a few times over the years and it was wonderful.  When together we revert back to our young (and slightly immature) selves.  Petra is super creative and spends lots of time doing amazing crafts and art with her kids.  I have many fond memories of sewing evenings with her in snowy Quebec City during our university days.

After reading Petra’s interview I’m in shock at one particular aspect of German culture.  People, school ENDS for the day  at 11:50am.  How do parents manage? And it’s amazing to think that the German kids get only 6 weeks of summer vacation while the Italian kids get 12 weeks of summer vacation.

Petra talks about her multi-lingual and multi-cultural household with such humor and let’s us in on daily life in Germany.  Enjoy!

What country do you live in?

We live in southern Germany, near the French border.

Are you and your husband the same nationality?

No, I am Canadian and my husband is French. We found each other in Germany.

Do you both work? Or does someone stay at home?

We both work. My husband works full time and I work part time in a kindergarten. I work mornings 4 days a week and one afternoon; that way I can be home for the kids in the afternoon.

How many languages are spoken in your house? What one(s)?

I speak to the kids in English and my husband speaks to them in French. My husband and I speak French with each other because, well, his English is just not as good as my French. The kids speak mostly English with each other, but German is becoming more and more used. We all speak German fluently.

How many kids do you have? What are their ages?

We have 2 kids. Alexis, our son, is 7 and Nellie is 5.

At what age do kids start school in your country?

Kids start school at 6. Kindergarten is not obligatory, but most kids start going at the age of 3. In the state where we live, kindergarten is free of charge starting when the child is 2 but in other states, such as in the one where I work, one must pay the kindergarten fees.

During the school year what time do your kids usually wake up?

The kids get up at 6:30 and then the race begins. Usually they are fed, dressed and their teeth have been brushed by the time I shove them out the door at 7:20. There is, however, no extra time for such frivolities such as fancy hairdos nor last minute homework corrections with this schedule.

What do your kids typically eat for breakfast?

Alexis normally eats about a half a loaf of bread (good, grainy, German bread) with butter and jam in the morning and drinks cold milk (Germans don’t like the cold drink thing, but I’m Canadian, eh, and grew up drinking stuff cold). Nellie always starts off by trying to get some candy (yeah right) and when that doesn’t pan out she ends up eating a piece of cheese, a piece of fruit and drinking cold water. There is a morning snack at both kindergarten and school (prepared by yours truly) so there she gets some bread (who are we kidding, it comes back with the jam licked off and I can see where she scraped the butter off with her teeth) and Alexis eats another 2 pieces of bread and probably eats the leftovers from any classmates who are not big eaters.

Click to read the rest of the interview…

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Fabric Scrap Christmas Balls

7 Dec

This year I haven’t had so much time to make lots of new Christmas decorations but I have made some of these little fabric-scrap Christmas balls for our tree (I also sold some at the Swedish Christmas Market).  They are super easy to do and a perfect holiday craft for kids.  And they’re beautiful!  Mine might not be in the traditional Christmas colours but they do brighten up any tree or room.  And what a great way to use up all those fabric scraps you’ve been saving for years (or is that just me who does that?).

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First of all you need to get your hands on some Styrofoam balls (of any size).  Take a long wooden skewer and gently make a hole that goes all the way through the ball from the top to the bottom.  It might take a few stabs to get it through.

Now take a piece of ribbon and gently push it through the hole with the help of the wooden skewer so that it comes out the other end.  Tie a knot so that it doesn’t slip back through the hole (I also added some wooden beads on both sides of the ball).

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Combine white glue in a bowl with some water (it should be quite liquid-y) and grab a small paintbrush.

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Go through your material scraps and pick out a selection of your favorite materials.  Cut them into small pieces of different shapes.

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Now you just have to glue the tiny fabric scraps on the ball.  I brush a bit of the watered down glue directly on the ball then as well on top of the material.  You can overlap the scraps so that no white shows from the ball.  Be a bit careful not to get too much glue on the ribbon (or else it will turn stiff).  Let hang to dry overnight.

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We’ve made over a dozen so far and they look really lovely on our tree.

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“Traveling With Kids” Column on Classic Play (Packing for the Plane)

7 Dec

I just wrote a new post for my Traveling With Kids series over on the blog Classic Play!  This time I give some tips to make flying with kids a bit more pleasurable.  Over the years I’ve had my fair chair of in-flight inconveniences/disasters but I’ve compiled a list of essentials to pack that make everything run more smoothly.  So if you’re travelling by plane with kids this Christmas make sure to read this first!

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Freddo e Felice

4 Dec

It has officially turned winter here.  We woke up on Sunday to below zero temperatures.  Okay, it was only -1 but it felt like -100 to me.  The cold permeates my body to the core of my bones.  I can’t seem to get warm from about mid-November until about mid-March.  I’m a sorry excuse for a Canadian.  The Italians can’t believe it when they hear me talking about how cold it is here.  They imagine all Canadians to be hardy, sturdy, cold-loving people.  Not me.  Nope, not in the least.

Despite the cold temps we decided to go out for a walk in the local woods on Sunday morning.  None of us were really in the mood to change out of our pajamas and venture outside but the promise of buying a Christmas tree at the end of the walk was motivation enough to get us out.  The day was clear and sunny and absolutely gorgeous.

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This was the view from our walk in the woods.  Castle, lake, medievil church and mountains in the background.  Even after living here for over a decade I’m still in awe at the scenery that surrounds us.

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Those kids who whined and complained about leaving the house ended up happily exploring the forest and lakeside for hours.

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After carefully picking out our Christmas tree we headed home and started to decorate it in front of the fire.

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And since we were in the Christmas decorating mood I decided to pull out my newly purchased felted acorns.  A talented friend of mine makes them and I love them so so much.  The kids found some branches in the woods which we spray painted white.  We then just simply put them in a vase and hung the little acorns.  Very simple but so lovely.

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Slowly we’re getting into the swing of the holidays.  Lots of baking and sewing in the weeks ahead!

1-IMG_4240And to top off our first winter-y day we enjoyed our first melograno of the season.  Delicious.

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Dutch Surprise

29 Nov

It’s that Sinterklaas time of year again.  I have three really excited children in the house who have been busy writing letters and making drawings to send to the Sint (even my two oldest who don’t believe anymore).

Last week Sinterklaas arrived by boat on Lago Maggiore.  There were hundreds of little Dutch speaking kids (and a few locals as well) that got to shake his hand and fool around with the Zwarte Pieten who handed out the traditional pepernoten and candies.  The parents got to drink hot mulled wine and eat thick pea soup to keep warm while the kids ran around in a Sinterklaas frenzy.

And now the kids have to wait until the 6th of December for him to come and leave gifts and lots of chocolate.  It’s the favorite day of the year for all Dutch speaking children.

Another tradition that the Dutch have at this time of year is called “surprise” (pronounced sur-preeze).  People buy a gift for someone and then write a poem and wrap up the gift in creative ways.  The person receiving the gift has to guess who it’s from.  It’s a lovely tradition that has so much more meaning than just buying a gift and giving it.  My kids are all doing it in their classes in school so they have been busy crafting elaborate ways to wrap their gifts.

One of my daughter’s picked her sister’s name out of the hat (for the second year in a row).  She decided she wanted to make a working piano out of a shoe box to hide her gift in (a puzzle).

It was an elaborate design that included bells and corks and wooden skewers.  And surprisingly enough it works!  All three keys.

My other daughter picked one of her best friend’s name out of the hat.  She knew right away that she wanted to make a jumbo sized paper cupcake.  She hid lots of cupcake related gifts inside.

We used cotton batting for the “frosting” and decorated with a fabric cherry and paper sprinkles.  The whole top lifts off like a lid.  Very sweet.

And last but not least my son picked a classmate who he plays basketball with.  So a papier mache basketball was a must. He left a little hole in one end so he could fit a little stuffed monkey inside.

And the part I love the most is the poem you write about the person you’re giving it to.  It is usually quite funny and full of little jokes and compliments about them.  I think these little notes are kept for many years afterwards.

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Julmarknad

26 Nov

This past week-end I participated in a Swedish Christmas Market in Milan.  I’ve been busy sewing and crafting for the last few months getting ready for this famous market that happens every two years.  I may not be Swedish (although I apparently look it)  but I really loved being in the middle of this fantastic market filled with Scandinavians of every kind and interested locals.

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Photo source

The market was located in a beautiful old palazzo called Palazzina Liberty which is situated in the middle of a park not too far from the centre of the city. From what I hear a few thousand people made their way to the Julmarknad to take a look at the Swedish food stalls, crafts and watch some typical Swedish Christmas traditions.

I made children’s smocks, camera straps, felt garlands, button earrings, button hair elastics, button magnets, reversable head bands and Christmas balls (Jill style).  It was colourful to say the least.

Surprisingly enough the camera straps were a hit!  At first nobody understood what they were for because I had written the sign in English (anyone know how to say camera strap cover in Italian?).  By the end of the day I saw a few ladies proudly walking around wearing their new straps.  I was proud!

My new goal is to bring the smock back into fashion.   I know they are a little old-school but there is nothing cuter than a little girl in a pretty smock.  Join the movement to bring the smock back (I take personal orders!).

Overall a very fun day where I got to meet some great new people, buy some lovely Christmas gifts (more about those in a few days) and share my passion for colourful handmade goods with the people of Milan.  Can’t wait for the next one in 2014.

Oh and this extremely tall and talented accordion player is reason enough to visit.  This guy is amazing.  And he’s wearing knickerbockers.  What more could you want?

 

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Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

21 Nov

Hello all.  I’m back after taking a much needed break.  We had a really tough week last week and we’re just surfacing from some serious grieving over the loss of someone very special.  Dealing with your own grief while dealing with the grief of your children can be quite overwhelming.

But we’re getting our life back together and starting our daily grind again.  And we’re all happy about it.

Today is a beautiful day here in Northern Italy.  The sun is shining and the mountains are in clear view.  Absolutely stunning scenery all around me.

View from my sewing room this morning

Since I started my sugar hiatus five weeks ago I haven’t done much baking.  I had to steer clear of all sweets those first weeks because the temptation was overwhelming.  But the cravings have subsided and I can actually bake without wanting to stick my head in the mixing bowl to devour whatever dough I’m preparing (okay it did cross my mind with these cookies but the urge passed very quickly).

These Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cranberries and White Chocolate are probably one of my favourite cookies (and similar to these that I made a few months ago).  They are sweet with a touch of tart and very hearty.  I could imagine these would be the perfect apres-ski snack with a mug of hot chocolate.

I made up a batch of these and baked half the dough and froze the other half .  As I’ve said in the past, having cookie dough ready in your freezer is great for last minute guests, hungry school kids or late-night cravings.  And people, Christmas is coming up really soon!  We’ve got to get on the holiday baking now!

Continue reading for the recipe!

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Traveling With Kids column on Classic Play! (Quebec City)

20 Nov

My newest Traveling With Kids column is on Classic Play! today.  This time I write about our wonderful trip to Quebec City a few years ago.  Quebec City offers so much to families with kids of any age.  I’m pretty sure it’s the closest you’ll come to European (especially French) culture in North America.  And it’s a great way to show off that middle school French to your kids.  And, most importantly, don’t forget to try the poutine!  Pop on over here to read all about it.

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