Tag Archives: photography

Japanese Purchases

18 Jun

As some of you may know, we went on a two week trip to Japan a few months back with our three kids.  It was an absolutely amazing trip.  We saw and did so many wonderful things and met so many wonderful people.  It was really a trip of a lifetime.

While there we had a few occasions to pop into various shops to browse around.  Obviously with three kids these occasions were few and far between but I did manage to pick up some really neat little gifts and souvenirs.  The Japanese are famous for their beautiful packaging and I’m a huge fan of everything they do.   I love the care and time they put into making everything from cookies to presents to even toilet paper look pretty.

I’ve noticed that people who pop by our house are so intrigued to see our little Japanese purchases so I thought I’d show you a  few here.    Of course many of them have something to do with packaging (either the way it was packaged or something to help me package nicely).

These little mini packages of rice crackers with a face and clothing printed on the plastic wrapping.  The kids bought them to take into their classmates as a souvenir from Japan.Same idea as the rice crackers but these are two chocolate balls and instead of kimono wearing geishas and warriors it’s Russian Babushka dolls.I tried one out today and although they’re cute they taste pretty crappy.

I couldn’t go to Japan and not buy the famous and over-used Washi tape.   Even if it did cost more than it does in Italy.  Striped and polka dotted twist ties.  I regret not buying tons more of these.  So great for all those bags of cookies and brownies that I leave in people’s mailboxes.

My daughters were given Japanese yen for their birthday from their grandmother and could buy anything they wanted.  In the end they both decided to buy these  Wabisuke purses Made in Japan.They are so well made with a thick canves in the most adorable fabrics.

Look at this elephant material!  I wish I could have bought this by the metre.

And of course one of the all time favourite purchases was this Lego Candy we found at a stall in the Nishiki market in Kyoto.  You can actually build stuff with it!  I’m already planning my son’s birthday cake with these arranged on top.

I can’t forget that I also bought these Echino materials as well while in Japan and received these amazing Japanese Temari Balls as a gift.

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Chocolate Oat Dulce de Leche Bars

15 Jun

These are the richest, sweetest, gooeyest, chocolatey-est bars you’ll ever eat.  When you take your first bites it’s heaven.  After you’ve finished a whole bar you kind of feel like you shouldn’t have eaten a whole bar.  It’s a love/hate relationship to say the least.  I would definitely advise to cut very small bars and eat them slowly.  You should have seen my son after he ate one.  He was doing laps around our house for over an hour.  Then he passed out on the grass.  Like I said…they’re so right but so wrong at the same time.

After making these squares I made the whole family go for a 2 hour walk in the woods to try and get some of the sugar out of our systems.  We saw these gorgeous roses.  The pink against the bright blue sky was just mesmerizing.  I stared at them for a long time.  My kids stared at me staring at the roses and asked me to hurry up because they wanted to go home for some more squares.I gave some to my Italian neighbours and friends and I could tell by their faces that they were maybe a bit too heavy and rich for their liking.  My British, Irish and American friends thought they were great though.  I’m thinking that maybe these would be better to make in the cold winter instead of the warm summer.  In summer it’s all about light, fresh and fruity around here (something like this frozen honeydew recipe from the  joelix blog or this citron meringue pie from the classicplay! blog would fit the hot summer weather much better).  Get recipe for Chocolate Oat Dulce de Leche Bars here on the Daily Crave site.

I found these plastic boxes in Chinatown in Milan (usually used for take-out in sushi restaurants).  They’re actually great for giving little baking gifts to neighbours and friends.  I absolutely love this Tour Eiffel tape that I found in Japan (and it’s not washi!).

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Japanese Sewing Books

14 Jun

The other day Amazon Italia delivered me two beautiful Japanese sewing books (in English!).  They are full of really great skirt, dress, shirt and pant patterns.  The books are really well laid out and the patterns explained in a very understandable manner (not the case for a lot of sewing books).

The book’s  styling and photography is really beautiful and the material used for the patterns really shows off the unique Japanese fashion sense.  I’d love to get my hands on some of those thick linens they use in a lot of the patterns.  They mention that a lot of the linens are actually Italian but I’ve have yet to discover where you can actually find them in Italy.The book Simple Modern Sewing always offers three variations to one pattern.  That way you can almost always find a style that suits you and your body type.  This checked top above will definitely be one of my first projects.Wish me luck.

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Chocolate Chunk Cookie Cupcakes

12 Jun

These are a mean cupcake. Mean as in you can scoff down 5 or 6 because they’re just so good. And then you realise that they are extremely rich and you have to lay on the couch for a few hours to recuperate. But not to worry. It’s all worth it. And I’d say they’re maybe more of a muffin than a cupcake which opens the whole discussion of the difference between a muffin and a cupcake. Please let me know your views.

I’ve been making these for years and it’s truely one of my kid’s favorite recipes. The other day my son was home “sick” and he was desperate to read stacks of books from when he was little and bake something together. In the end we decided on this recipe because it’s tasty, quick and loved by all.

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (226g) softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup whole milk
1-1 1/2 cups chocolate chunks or chips

1. In small bowl mix together dry ingredients.

2. In mixture cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs one at a time then vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in two batches alternating with milk. Stir in chocolate chunks/chips with spatula.

3. Spoon into cupcake papers placed in muffin tin and bake at 375 (180) for approx. 20 minutes.

4. Remove from oven, transfer cakes to a wire rack and let cool.

Recipe found here on the Martha Stewart site.

Enjoy!

Makes a lovely little gift as well (I like to tuck them into friend’s mailboxes or hang them on their gate as a little surprise treats)

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Facelift: Armadio

11 Jun

A while back I received this old sticker-covered cupboard from a friend who was getting rid of it.  It took me three hours to get the hundreds of stickers off the cupboard doors (my fingertips were raw and bloody by the end). After the de-stickering I gave it a few coats of white paint.

I  then ordered some wallpaper samples from an online shop in Holland.And this is the result.For now I’ve left the big cupboard door white.  Good idea or would it look better with wallpaper?A great way to brighten up and bring new life to old furniture!

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Lovely Week-End!

9 Jun

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Cherry Rhubarb Lavender Jam (the jam that almost killed me)

7 Jun

Yesterday I picked up some ripe, beautiful cherries at the supermarket and decided I needed to continue my successful jam-making run that started a few months back (Blood Orange Marmalade, Strawberry Lime Vanilla Jam).

Many years ago I loved to sit down with a paper bag filled to the brim with fresh cherries and polish off the whole thing.  Unfortunately things have changed since then.  Since my last pregnancy I’ve acquired a fruit allergy and am unable to eat  most fruits raw.  It was a hard adjustment for this fruit-lover but the little boy I got in return was well worth it.

So now I have to enjoy apples, peaches, pears, plums, strawberries and cherries (to name a few) cooked.  Usually the thought of cooked fruit brings images of old people in hospital beds but I’ve found some great ways to enjoy my favorite fruits over the years.

So how did this jam almost kill me?  Well, I pitted all the cherries, washed my hands with hot water and soap 5 times and an hour later touched my eyes.  And this my friends turned me into a swollen-faced mess.  My face puffed up to double it’s normal size, my eyes were swollen shut and welts appeared.  My kids ran away screaming in terror.  I actually heard my son ask my husband in a traumatised voice “will mama ever go back to normal?”.  Luckily I had some antihistimines close by.  The jam ended up turning out so delicious that it was almost worth it.  Almost.


I browsed through the internet for a good cherry rhubarb recipe and came across this one on the apt 2b site (amazing recipes on this blog).  In the end I couldn’t really manage all the steps that the recipe calls for (due to suddenly being blind!) so I literally dumped approximately 300g of chopped rhubarb with 200g sugar into a large pot and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.  I then added about 600g chopped pitted cherries, another 2500g  sugar, a few tablespoons of lemon juice and a few apple quarters.  I let it simmer for another 15-20 minutes before adding some fresh lavender tied in cheesecloth (the recipe didn’t call for it but I thought it would be a nice addition) and a few tablespoons of powdered pectin.  I let it simmer a further 5-10 minutes and then removed the apple pieces and lavender bundle.

Then I went and soaked my head in cold water for half an hour to try and get the swelling down while the jam cooled.  The jam cooled but the swelling didn’t go down.

I think I lucked out because the jam turned out perfectly.  It’s sweet with a slight tart and perfumey aftertaste.  My family loves it and after breakfast one jar was almost finished.  I take that as a compliment.

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Shopper

6 Jun

Yesterday in our sewing group we made a really simple, beautiful and usable shopping bag.  This quick and easy project was very welcome after our previous projects  filled with pleats, zippers, piping, hems and darts.  For the outside material I used  Ripple by Brandon Mably (for Rowan).  The inside material is just a simple floral that I bought decades ago and has been taking up space in the material cupboard.It’s a semi-lined (only the handles and about a 1/4 of the way into the bag) and big enough to fit lots of spesa (groceries).Off to the market I go!

I was thinking of trying to transform this shopper into a flowy summery shirt (I’ll call it the Shopper Shirt….everyone will want one!).  Wish me luck and let me know if you have any advice to actually make it work!

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FumoTre

5 Jun

This is FumoTre.  She spends all her time sitting at our kitchen window watching us with intent eyes.  She loves posing for photos.

 She doesn’t seem too upset about the mysterious disappearance of FumoUno (our #1 cat) and FumoDue. I’d almost put money on it that she has something to do with said disappearance.

She brought me a gift today.  A rat.  She was throwing it around like it was a ball.  I gagged. I guess since her owners moved away and left her she has officially joined our family (which 4 of the 5 members are happy about).  Now all we have to do is teach her not to bring any more of those rat gifts.

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Signs of Summer

3 Jun

The warm weather has officially arrived  over here in Northern Italy and we’ve been very busy enjoying all the the activities and things that come with it.  Seeds have been sown, the treehouse has been installed, stone pathways amongst the vegetable patches laid, the citronella candles and torches dug out and my beloved tuquoise weber dusted off and placed in it’s home for the summer (outside my kitchen door).  Spirits are high around here.
My 50 year old rose plants that are found all over my garden are in full bloom and absolutely lovely.   This vase is actually a peach juice can that I (insisted) on bringing back from a vending machine in Japan.  The colours are so soft and romantic – perfect to display a rose or two.

The weather is finally nice enough to sit in the garden with a glass of iced tea and a favorite cookbook.  This is one of my favorite things about summer.  

My first batch of lettuce is ready to be eaten.  Five different kinds and enough to feed the entire town where I live.  And the plants that the escaped chickens enjoyed a few weeks ago have miraculously grown back.
Time of year to invite friends over to hang out and eat in the garden surrounded by millions of our mosquito friends.  There is a lot of laughing, chatting and slapping (mosquitos) done on these occasions. Get recipe for these most delicious mini brownies here.

It is the season to make many beverages.  Limeade, lemonade, homemade orangina and raspberry squash.
Kids had their first lemonade stand this week.  The locals still don’t really know how to deal with the whole thing.  They stop and say “che bello”, give some money then head off without any lemonade.  One guy even told them they should be selling wine instead.  Nico thought it was a really good idea.

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