kasonad

need a gift idea?

2010-11-30T13:15:00.000+01:00

I just looooove etsy. Here are a few reasons why...
(click on the caption to visit the shop)

Holiday butt covers for your Cat and Dog...

The Wisconsin Beer Soap Collection

Belly Button Cleaner

Making bacon coffee mugs

Recycled Skateboard Mustache Necklace

Lego Style MacBook Keyboard Sticker Decal

Chuck Norris cutting board

Scrabble Magnets

Great wedding favors

2010-11-08T16:40:00.000+01:00

Pan and I went to a wedding a few weeks ago. They had a wonderful idea for wedding favors. A professional photographer was stationed after dinner on the outside balcony. He offered to take professional "couple" pics to offer to the bride and groom as a gift, and for each of the guests to receive in HD by e-mail. I thought it was a great thought! The idea was to have one serious picture and one kissing picture.

of course we couldn't stop laughing... but we got it in the end!

My New Workout Regime

2010-11-02T08:09:00.000+01:00

Are you too cheap or too lazy to go to the gym? Well, I am, so this is the solution I've found to workout.

Resistance Bands!

I've had these hanging out in my closet for the past 4 or 5 years, and I've decided to finally put them to use.

Everyone's trying to save money, and resistance bands are an easy way to firm up without breaking the bank. The unique thing about bands is that the tension increases as you stretch them, so the exercise gets harder as you move through the range of motion, challenging your muscles in a different way than weights do. That helps you get stronger faster. Plus, they're light, so you can tuck one in your bag when you travel. Add these moves to your routine and you'll look like a million—for only a few bucks! -Shape Magazine

The Ultimate Resistance Band Workout - Shape Magazine

Spot Training: 5 Moves for Your Arms, Back, Legs, Butt, Shoulders - Fitness Magazine

Give it a go!

mmm Mushrooms

2010-10-25T12:35:00.000+02:00

Who doesn't like mushrooms? Here in France, especially in the countryside, mushroom picking is a favorite past time!

check out the article from The Guardian: Wild mushroom foraging is damaging forests

Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica Fungi Service

paper cloud mushroom pillow

Grow your own 1up mushroom

And how much do I just love etsy...? Here are a bunch of rad handmade mushroom items from the etsy community!

Melvin Mushroom Rubber Stamp

bright handmade toadstool buttons

Forest Mushrooms Silk Lining Clutch Bag

Small handmade copper mushroom earrings

Green Fungi Lil Hoot

Mighty Mushrooms - blank cards

less than a year to go!

2010-10-14T18:27:00.000+02:00

Luneville

2010-09-30T11:57:00.001+02:00

My mom came to visit last week and we went on a porcelaine hunt for fine china and we were very disappointed with what we found. I have always liked the Luneville porcelaine that

my mom has and we looked online and found some vintage sets and we splurged. We didn't know what was in the set and I received a huge box a few days ago, and here's what I found:

I love these plates, unfortunately 3 of them arrived broken and one has a nice crack in it, and I assume that soon I will find it in two pieces. =( Oh well! I'm still awaiting the arrival of 6 dinner plates and 6 soup dishes which are supposed to be in perfect condition.

my favorite chocolate zucchini cake

2010-08-31T09:13:00.000+02:00

Mmm, How much better can a dessert get? It's chocolate and it counts as one serving of vegetables. =)

I originally had this cake at a friend's house. I then went online, to allrecipes.com, where I found the recipe she used and I changed it a tad. Here it is:

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups grated zucchini

Preheat oven to 350*F or 175*C. Spray your pan with Pam.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Add the eggs, and mix.

Add the oil, and mix.

Fold in the zucchini and other ingredients you'd like to add (walnuts, chocolate chips etc).

Bake for 50-60 minutes. Less if you choose to make muffins.

Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar or smear on some icing or glaze and enjoy!

abundance

2010-08-28T08:54:00.001+02:00

Well our vegetable garden is quite... what's the word... productive?

Yes, Pan has a wheelbarrow full of zucchini. And that's the least of our problems. We have heaps of peppers, jalepenos, beets, eggplant... etc etc.

So I know I haven't posted in a long time, so I'm going to be posting lots of recipes this week... You can look forward to:

chocolate zucchini cake
zucchini bread
zucchini soup
zucchini gratin
and if you're lucky, stuffed zucchini

my improv dress

2010-08-05T09:04:00.000+02:00

So I bought this fabric on sale a few months ago, and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. So I got up my courage, cut out four rectangles and sewed them together! I added a casing under the chest for elastic, and I tied the straps in knots because they were too long. I still need to figure something out. I was going to hem the dress, but I don't have any long dresses, and I kind of like it!

And I just received a package from my dear mother and I can't wait to post some of the things she sent me. She's the best. =)

I wish I was this talented...

2010-08-02T11:24:00.000+02:00

So I thought I would share with you the talents of my wonderful childhood friend, Amber. Since I've seen her last, she has created Live It Out Photography and I'm amazed, bewildered and flabbergasted at the incredible photos she has created. Lucky for me, she's even agreed to fly to France to shoot my wedding! "I'm so excited I could pee." =)

Amber and Jon are a husband and wife team specializing in portrait and wedding photography. They have a very relaxed, photojournalistic style where "your loved ones are captured just as they are - doing the things that make you laugh everyday." You can contact them at amber@liveitoutphotography.com. Don't hesitate to ask them to shoot your wedding, kids, or pets! Amber also does engagement shoots, boudoir shoots, and family shoots.
Check out their website, blog, and facebook page!

Here's a little about the crazy couple:

JON. ...can usually be found a) playing video games, b) cooking, c) reading harry potter.

AMBER. ...is obsessed with all things music, has a love for peanut butter bordering on the ridiculous, and has been known (on numerous occasions) to terrify jon by jumping out of moving vehicles to save wounded animals.

Live It Out has been featured on Rock 'n Roll Bride, The Loveliest Day, as well as It's a Wonderful Life. We just can't get enough! Here are some of my favorites:

playing

2010-07-28T10:37:00.000+02:00

Last weekend Pan and I decided to go fly a kite. When we were in Rhode Island last summer (sweet sweet Newport...) we bought an awesome kite. A competition kite, but, unfortunately there wasn't enough wind in Newport to actually fly the kite. Ironic, I know. So we took it out for another spin, and it worked out ok. Here are some pics. I got a little carried away with my photo editor... so the pics aren't actually representative of the weather. =)

We went to "le roquet" which is on top of a mountain and it's a big piece of land that belongs to our favorite shepherd. The view is amazing, and the air is fresh, and there's wind. There are also bales of hay, sheep, cows, and wind mills. A s**t load of windmills. Take a look!

all organic. =)

2010-07-21T17:38:00.000+02:00

So lately I've been spending a lot of time in the vegetable garden... It's quite refreshing and nice to see things grow and evolve. A few months back I planted lots of seeds and small small plants. Now I have HUGE plants and lots of vegetables. Not everything is ripe for the picking, but soon... So far we have eaten onions, garlic, potatoes, salads, radishes, and some cherry tomatoes. Soon we will be able to eat eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, cauliflower, cucumbers and beets. And in the fall melons, pumpkins, and leeks. If you click here you can see what some of these plants looked like soon after I planted the seeds. Huge difference.


cherry tomatoes

yes, I did eat all the ripe red ones. delish.

tomatoes

onions

pumpkins.

beet roots.

a red bell pepper

soon to be eggplant

an eggplant

my huge zucchini plants...

love that zucchini

cauliflower

hot peppers

soon to be cucumbers...

cauliflower, beets, and peppers, all in a row

canteloup

pink paisley

2010-07-07T16:33:00.000+02:00

So I bought this fabric about a year ago... And I wasn't quite so sure what to do with it. I didn't buy enough to make a dress so I decided to make a skirt. Of course I have access to like a gazillion skirt patterns online, but no. I decided to wing it. I don't think it came out half bad! I put a zipper on the side and a tie to hide it. =)

Yeah, it's all wrinkled. I hemmed it this afternoon, threw it on to do some shopping, and took the picture after spending 30 minutes in the car... So yes, it's a bit wrinkled...

it's ok to dream...

2010-07-01T10:54:00.000+02:00

So a friend of ours lives in this small village not too far away. His neighbor died a few months ago and well, we just fell in love. It's not for sale yet, but sometime soon...

Ok it's not a beautiful chateau... but it's a house. Not what we're interested in, but it's a plus! Take off the stucco to reveal the stones... Anyways...

Theres the barn in the back that we love and that we'd turn into our house. The green house is behind us and if you go through that little door in the middle, you go too the garden.

Theres the garden with the amazing view. The weather wasn't so great that day, so you can't see all the mountains in the distance, but you get the idea.

One hectar of land to the right of the property.. to the tree line.

The barn from the "view" side, the view is down behind me.

Can't you imagine a huge bay window overlooking the valley and mountains?? Actually, two bay windows. One on the 2nd floor (the living room) and one on the ground floor (the parental suite).

yes, that view!

To the right, it's a garage I guess, with a stone wine cellar underground. If you go through that little door you arrive at the green house and the street.

Isn't it just wonderful? Lots of work though!

Vintage Vogue

2010-06-27T12:00:00.000+02:00

I've been looking online at different patterns these past few days, trying to find my next project... I came across some too cute Vogue Vintage patterns.

Look at these vintage dresses! Unfortunately, I think each dress needs almost 5 or 6 yards of fabric, if not more, to make the skirts so full! So I don't think these will be on my to-do list anytime soon

I sometimes wish we could still wear these types of dresses now and days! Oh, how things have changed over the past decades... Now we need a super special occasion to wear something like that!

The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

2010-06-24T12:00:00.002+02:00

How CUTE is this dress.

I just LOOOOOOOOVE it, wish I was so talented!! Visit Grosgrain's blog by clicking on the link below the picture! She's giving away the dress too!

The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Wanna Polka?

2010-06-22T12:00:00.001+02:00

So I took the pattern I used to make that awful green dress and changed it up. I'm much happier with the results.

Sorry the pictures aren't great, no one here to take them!

Some of the changes I made:

I shortened the zipper in the back.
I "slightly" trimmed the top back and front all the way around under the arms.
I replaced the yoke with spaghetti straps.
I added bias around the top (and used the bias for the straps as well).
I shortened the dress.
I used a more amusing fabric!

I think I'm going to try it again soon, but I'm going to use a contrasting fabric for the band under the bust and make an A-line version without the pleats in the front and back. I might also try to make a v-neck or sweetheart neckline... Who knows... The possibilities are endless!

apricot clafoutis

2010-06-19T14:15:00.000+02:00

Delish. Just delish. And simple. Very simple.

Apricot Clafoutis:
120g butter
120g sugar
2 eggs
120g flour
5g baking powder
a big bag of apricots
(a clafoutis is traditionally made with cherries, but I just love the acidity of apricots...)

Cut the apricots and take out the pits.
Melt the butter in the microwave, make sure not to burn it.
Mix the butter with the sugar. You beat it well for a few minutes so it looks creamy and white.
Add the two eggs.
Mix the baking powder with the flour and add it to the butter mixture.
Mix well, no lumps!
Butter a pie dish and sprinkle raw sugar (or plan sugar if you must) on the mold.
Pour your mixture into the pie dish, spread it well.
Place them in the mixture, either side facing up/down.
Bake at 180C for 20 minutes, give or take, depending on your oven. The doughy part should be golden.

and of course you can substitute the apricots for other juicy fruit: cherries, peaches, etc

and a year later...

2010-06-15T09:27:00.002+02:00

So last year I wanted to make this cool skirt from www.alteredcloth.com:

Except it didn't quite turn out how I wanted, so I turned it into a dress:

(Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry... I used the automatic picture taker and it wouldn't focus properly... and the fabric is hot pink, not red like the picture suggests... Gotta get a new camera...)

You can't really see the pleats under the scarf I tied around the waist...

What do you think of the scarf/belt? The length?

from scratch...

2010-06-12T10:59:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago I planted some seeds in this nifty "seeder" (?) and have lately been seeing some sprouts! It's very exciting, I check on them maybe every 30 minutes. =)

my plantastic seed organiser

In the front you can see my cucumber sprouts, and in the back they are cauliflower sprouts.

zucchini sprouts

cucumber sprouts from a different angle

I also planted beetroot seeds in the vegetable garden and I noticed for the first time today some tiny little red sprouts. Aren't they cute???

officially a dressmaker.

2010-06-08T18:20:00.002+02:00

In my last post I wrote about different dress projects that I loved, so this weekend I went to BurdaStyle and found a free dress pattern, Danielle, and had it printed at my local copy shop. It's much easier that way. You don't have to tape together 20 different pages when you print at home...

I had bought some linen in Paris last week and wanted to use it to make the dress, but I was afraid that I would fail at my first attempted dress using a pattern, so I went into my stash to find a fabric I could live without and wouldn't cry if it got ruined. I chose a green calico that my mom had bought for a quilt she was making years ago. I decided it would be good enough to test-drive the Danielle pattern (without the sleeves). And good thing I did, because the size I used was waaaaay to big on me, I spent lots of time readjusting the size and the zipper. It was just terrible. I've never used my seam-ripper so much before!

Here is what I came up with:

Do u see the yellow rickrack on the hem line?

It's to go with the awful yellow zipper I had on hand... Doesn't look too bad though! Next time I'll use a shorter zipper though... This ones a bit too long I think. And I think I'll also cut straight across the top and add thin straps. I'll also probably use a contrasting fabric for the band that goes around the empire waist. You probably can't even see what I'm talking about!

And yes... In case you were wondering, I did lose 15 pounds.

are you inspired?

2010-06-03T18:58:00.000+02:00

Some "projects" that I just looooove, all from BurdaStyle... BurdaStyle is a website for people who sew, chuck full of sewing patterns, projects, skills and tutorials. Maybe one day I'll actually try to make one of them... (The links to the patterns are at the bottom of the page.)

Living in Color Heidi Dress

Kimono Tee

Azalea

The Jenny Dress

Melissa

Linda

Cate

Anda

Minna

Theresa Dress

Low Back Dress

nature and nurture

2010-05-30T14:00:00.005+02:00

Our beautiful vegetable garden...

(my camera takes horrible pictures, so these are courtesy of my soon to be sister-in-law =)

The "tuiles" or roof tiles that we use to protect the plants when the weather is bad.

carrots

big blooming salads

a gorgeous salad

potatoes

some cherries...

who loves rhubarb?

2010-05-27T17:44:00.000+02:00

I do! Let me count the ways...

rhubarb crumble
strawberry rhubarb crumble
rhubarb compote
rhubarb jam
rhubarb granita
rhubarb dressing

Do you know what this is? We found it while doing some spring cleaning...

(These are the after pics)

Here are the before pics...

Lots of salt and lemon helped me "untarnish" the copper.

And yes it is a "confiturier," used back in the day to make confiture or jam, marmalade, jelly, whatever you'd like to call it!

rhubarb confiture

mmm

The ingredients:

1kg rhubarb, washed and chopped into pieces
1kg sugar for confiture (confisucre)

The recipe:

Let your rhubarb soak in the sugar overnight. It will become pasty and syrupy.
Using a fine strainer, strain the syrup into your "confiturier" or your crockpot.
Bring the syrup to a boil and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes. The syrup should become thicker and "reduce."
Add the rhubarb and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring often. The rhubarb will fall apart and become thick and gooey, just like in the last picture.
Pour the confiture into your sterilized jars, close, and flip the jars over. Let sit for 24 hours before tasting!!! (If you really can't wait, lick the spoon... I did.)

Chateau de Val

2010-05-14T16:34:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago, when Pan's sister was visiting, we decided to talk a little road trip. We wanted to see the Chateau de Val, and on the way we stopped to take some pictures of the landscape. Isn't it just gorgeous?

In the picture above, you can see the view of the castle from the road. Can you see it?

Some history:

The last family to live in the castle were evicted by EDF, the French Electric company, in 1946. EDF decided to flood the valley to make a dam, and in the process also evicted a few towns that were located in the valley. EDF had assumed that the dam would drown the castle, but after the flooding, the castle stayed unharmed and was not touched by the water level. EDF asked the family if they wanted to return to the castle, but they said no because the farm and gardens had disappeared. So when you look at the pictures, you can imagine that where the water is now, 60 years ago, there were villages and farmland. EDF didn't want the responsibility of maintaining the castle, so they sold it to the nearby town of Bort-les-Orgues.

A perfect view of what was the valley, before the dam.

The beams in the tower roof.

wonderful cottons

2010-05-11T12:13:00.000+02:00

Yes, it's been a while, but I still haven't posted some of the fabrics that my mom brought back for me in February for my birthday (among other things I will post when the time comes). They are just darling.

However, I have had to put my sewing machine away, since I'm working on my flower garden quilt. I've decided that I can't use my sewing machine until I need it to do the backing/binding of my quilt. Aaaaah... How I miss my Pfaff. It's quite motivating though.

I think I'm going to make some vintage napkins with these...

I think I'll make a cute tank with the brown strawberries and sundress with the yellow/orange fabric... Don't know about the others though...

My Flower Garden: step 2

2010-05-08T09:41:00.001+02:00

All my hexagons are finished! So I spread them all out and tried to make all the flowers I could... Using all different combinations.

Here are some examples. Before making the hexagons, I was a total fan of the fabric, but now that I have started piecing together the flowers, I don't think the fabric is well adapted to this sort of project. I think you need fabrics that are more solid colored with smaller motifs. Some of the fabrics I used had too many colors and the motifs were too big, so it looked a bit awkward pieced together. But it's a lesson learned!!

And below are the hexagons I'm not using in my flowers because I don't like the motifs AT ALL. I'll find something else to do with them...

who woulda thunk it

2010-05-06T10:33:00.000+02:00

So I passed my french drivers test!!! Well, at least the written part. And boy, was I nervous. They ask all kinds of questions that are weird. For example:

If you are driving at 50km/hour and you hit a pedestrian, what are his/her chances of survival?
10%
20%
30%
40%

Anyways... That's just one example, but there were lots of questions like that one. For example (again):
If you are driving at 90 km/hour, how many meters will it take for you to stop?
15m
20m
27m
50m

So yes, I'm very happy I passed. There were about 40 of us, and after you take the test, the monitor calls up each student one by one to tell them if they passed and hand them their sheet. There were about 25 students before me, and only about 3 of them passed, so that didn't help my situation, until I saw the lady put the little sticker on my sheet and smile. Phew. Now it's on to driving lessons... Woohoooo... I've been driving for what, 9 years now?

homemade beautiful

2010-05-02T13:22:00.001+02:00

Do you ever get so confused when you go to buy a body product, that you don't understand anything you see on the label? The list of ingredients goes on for ever and ever. Nothing makes sense anymore. And for me, I always went home with something I didn't want or didn't need, and never ended up finishing the bottle.

So for a while now I've been making my own bath products. Well, just two: face scrub and body scrub. I also bought all the ingredients necessary to make chapstick and body butter, but I haven't gotten around to it as it's more complicated...

To make the two scrubs, you probably already have everything in your house, so don't worry. You can start right away!

For the face scrub you'll need: honey, almond powder, a lemon, and essential/fragrance oil (optional)
I use creamy honey, I don't know how it will turn out if you use liquid honey.

I scoop 3 or 4 tablespoons of honey in a bowl, mix until it's soft. Then I add some almond powder, until I like the consistency. Not too little that you have to search for the scrubby bumps, and not too much that it's too thick. You can add a squirt of lemon juice, this will also make it more liquidy, so you might want to add more almond powder after. I added a couple drops of cherry blossom fragrance oil I ordered off the internet, but the natural honey smell to the scrub smells good too!

I've made this a couple of times before without adding any fragrance. Sorry my instructions aren't very precise, you just got to play with the ingredients until you like what you have. What's nice about this is that it's gentle on your face and the honey is great for your skin!

For the body scrub you'll need: an oil (I use olive oil or jojoba oil), raw sugar, essential/fragrance oil (optional)

I pout about half a cup of the sugar into a bowl and then add oil until it's absorbed. I don't like the sugar to be drowned in the oil, but it shouldn't be dry either. Since I spilled my bottle of cherry blossom oil while making my face scrub, I added about 2 tablespoons to the scrub, bc I didn't want to throw it out! But you can also add vanilla or cinnamon to give it a little punch.

I like olive oil bc it's easy to find and you can go at it to make a big quantity, but I'm not a fan of the smell. (This is the first time I'm using a fragrance in this scrub as well) I like the jojoba oil bc it's more exotic and has a less pungent smell and is a bit less oily (I know that probably doesn't make any sense...) I've always used olive oil, and this is my first experiment with jojoba oil, and I'm sure it'll be great.

tea-licious

2010-04-30T09:26:00.000+02:00

How I love tea, tea towels, teapots, teacups, lemon wedges... basically anything to do with tea. My favorite tea is:

Gout Russe 7 Agrumes from Le Palais des Thes. "A remarkable blend of black teas, scented with the natural essences of lemon, lime, sweet orange, bitter orange, grapefruit, bergamot and mandarin." The shop is just wonderful too.

So many different teas to chose from, and you can taste them too! Wonderful packaging. You can buy the teas in sachets, in 100g bags, or in tins, or by weight. It's amazing!

And a few months ago, I was trying to use up some of my fabric. I have about 8 or 10 yards of this yellow flowery fabric that we used as tablecloths at my engagement party, remember? So I decided to make little tea towels. I never got around to posting the picture so here it is:

Sorry, my camera doesn't really take good pictures... But they're cute!

roasted red pepper soup

2010-04-28T17:50:00.001+02:00

The other day my future sister in law had the brilliant idea to make a cold soup. Since we had had gazpacho recently, we decided to try another recipe. We came up with a roasted red pepper soup.

So yes, all you need to do is take a few red peppers (1 per person for a small bowl) and 1 yellow pepper and roast them in the oven. After they are roasted, and to make the peeling process easier, you can put the peppers in a paper bag until they cool. I just peeled them straight out of the oven, and I wasn't to picky about the little pieces of skin. (remember, all the vitamins are in the skin!) I also took out all the little seeds. Then you let the peppers cool. I put them in the fridge and finished the next afternoon.

So the next day, I took out the peppers and put them in a mixing bowl. I added 2 tablespoons of olive oil, some heavy cream (depending on how rich you want it to be), and I blended with my emulsion blender. I added salt, pepper, and hot pepper (from morocco). We cut up some chives and coriander and sprinkled them on top! And it was uber delish! I also think it would be good as a dip with chips or veggies, seeing as it is quite thick and velvety. But in that case, I would use a yogurt and not heavy cream to cut down on calories.

FREE fabric... what could be better? (ok, don't answer that...)

2010-04-27T08:11:00.001+02:00

A few years ago, a friend of mine went to a furniture shop that was going out of business. Guess what she did? She went through the trash to find all the fabric samples that had been thrown out... and somehow they ended up in my collection!

i love the yellows...

and the greens and reds and purples...

and the velvets and velours...

and the satins and silks...

Don't know what I'm going to do with all of them, but I'm sure I'll figure something out soon.

Some ideas:

little zip pouches for make-up or cameras etc.
evening clutches
belts
tea cozy?
pillow shams (I hate that word)
cushions for outdoor chairs

and I'm sure I'll think of some other things...

aren't you jealous?

2010-04-25T10:00:00.000+02:00

My wonderful muffins, doesn't the crumble on top look delicious?

They're raspberry flavored. And they are presented on the lovely cake stand my mom sent me "from the easter bunny." =) If you remember, I featured this cake stand in my post a few months ago.

This cake stand was produced by Jeanneatte Glass between 1954 and 1957. The pattern is Harp, and the color is ice blue. I just love it.

love it

2010-04-23T10:28:00.001+02:00

my favorite salad

2010-04-17T10:20:00.002+02:00

So I whipped out my spices the other day and made a salad.

Chickpea salad... mmmm

1 can of chickpeas
1 diced red pepper
1 diced red onion
1 lemon
3 tbs olive oil
feta
salt & pepper
paprika & hot pepper (from morocco)
fresh mint leaves (from the garden)
I didn't have any, but you can also add cherry tomatoes, halved.

spice it up

2010-04-15T18:15:00.003+02:00

I've had a few comments form people saying that I've been slacking off, and I want to apologize. I've just been so busy lately. Anyhows, I've been having fun with some of the goodies I brought back from Morocco... one of my favorite things that we brought back from our trip...

paprika, hot pepper, cinnamon, coriander, ginger, curry, harissa, cumin... can you tell which is which? I had a hard time identifying the contents of the plastic baggies they gave me. But in the end I figured it out. Although I do wish I had brought back more curry and harissa... Oh well, next time! Let's just hope they last me a long time. At this rate, however...

The countryside of Morocco

2010-04-02T09:53:00.002+02:00

After a few days in Marrakech, we decided to rent a car to visit the countryside. We really wanted to visit the desert, but that trip would have needed an overnight stay somewhere along the way... so that was out of the question. We took off at 9am, after a delicious breakfast at our Riad. Once we left the city walls, the scenery changed drastically.

Some pretty poppies and a little village house on the hill...

Another house on a hill...

We hah lunch at a little restaurant across from the "Cascades d'Ouzoud" and monkeys kept coming to steal our bread. One monkey even jumped on our table and took two pieces right out of the bread basket!

That's the fellow that stole our bread. He was the biggest one of all the monkeys we saw.

Little boats you could take to cross the river at the bottom of the waterfall.

The waterfall from the bottom. I think they are at a height of about 110 meters.

The weather wasn't great, but you could still see some of the mountains.

A cool place we passed, looks like an ancient castle.

A shepherd and his flock along the side of the road, as the sun is trying to peek through! You see shepherds almost every 500 feet in the countryside.

Some gardens of Marrakech

2010-03-31T10:12:00.003+02:00

During our trip to Marrakech, we visited a few different gardens. We visited the old Bahia Palace and it's gardens. We visited the Majorelle Garden and the Palmeraie, a garden of palm trees, as well as the Agdal Gardens, the royal plantation.

Here is a window in the Bahia Palace.

One of the doors leading out of the Majorelle garden.

The Majorelle Garden is a botanical garden that was designed by Jacques Majorelle in 1924. The garden was owned by Yves Saint Laurent, until his death. There is a memorial dedicated to him, and his ashes are scattered throughout the garden as well.

A banana tree. Can you see the bananas?

The outside of one of the buildings.

A fountain surrounded by cacti and palm trees.

Huge, huge bamboos.

Some impressive cacti.

A camel in the Palmeraie. Notice the "forest" of palm trees?

Here is the Sahraj el-Hana (Tank of Health) and an ancient Dar in the Agdal Garden.

The plantation covers about 400 hectares, approximately 4 square kilometers. The tank is now used to irrigate all the crops: orange trees, olive trees, fig trees etc. The tank is filled with carp, that they use for food. Some weigh 5 kg. Back in the day the tank was used to train troops to swim.

A small building in the midst of orange trees and olive trees.

The streets of Marrakech

2010-03-29T17:13:00.001+02:00

Marrakech was a total change of scenery from my little life in France.

The "door" to enter the city. The city is surrounded by ramparts that are a gorgeous brick red color.

An old Fiat Uno taxi. All the taxis are either Fiat Unos or Peugeot 205s. They are old, and they are tanks. Pan's dad has an old Uno '92, so we were very proud to see them everywhere. One even had 885,000 kilometers.

The rug shop where we bought our rug. Rugs are for sale EVERYWHERE in Morocco. They are mostly made by hand and each one is unique.

One of the town squares where there is always an open air market.

A "herborist" where they sell herbs, lotions, oils, and other concoctions. Similar to a pharmacy, but a little more earthy.

Baskets outside a shop. The dried flowers are used as shampoo, potpourri, or for tea.

Avocado juice. Weird.

The view from a cafe we went to near the Riad we stayed at.

Most of the vendors use donkeys to move their things. They are EVERYWHERE. Seriously. Loads of tired, hot donkeys pulling wagons of stuff (herbs, cinder blocks, rice etc...)

The flower market.

An orange juice vendor. They are all over the main square in Marrakech. The best orange juice I've ever had. And freshly squeezed in front of you.

Nuts and dried fruit.

Herbs, dried or fresh.

The view from a restaurant we ate at, a view of the orange juice vendors and further, you can see the roofs of the "souks." The souks is a huge labyrinth jam packed with vendors selling you everything and anything.

unexpected

2010-03-20T09:27:00.002+01:00

So, last weekend when Pan got home from Paris, we had an interesting conversation. It went a little like this:

Pan: I have a surprise for you!

me: You do? What is it?

Pan: I can't tell you now... (building up the moment...)

me: Please!!!! Tell me, tell me!!

Pan: We're going on a trip to the sun for a week!

me: Yay!! Where are we going? When do we leave?

Pan: I don't know yet, have fun planning the trip. =)

Now you can just imagine how that made my day! So, I spent the next 5 days trying to organize a last minute trip to the sun. My choices were: Tunisia, a Cruise on the Nile, Turkey, or Morocco. And after spending hours looking for the best options, I settled on Morocco, where at the moment it's about 90 degrees... Instead of going for an all inclusive trip to a beach resort, I found a cute like riad in the heart of Marrakech that looks so charming and authentic. I just couldn't resist! It has a pool, and a spa (hammam, jacuzzi, sauna, scrubs, massages...) And the best part is, we leave tomorrow!

marker roll

2010-03-17T15:52:00.003+01:00

A few months ago I found this tutorial, and I really wanted to try it as a gift for pan's godson. However, in France, it's impossible to find crayons. IMPOSSIBLE. Crazy, right? So I decided to change my idea and I opted for this pencil roll, and replaced the pencils with skinny markers. I'm quite happy with the results.

welcome s p r i n g =)

2010-03-15T09:20:00.004+01:00

Spring is finally here! Or, at least, almost here. This weekend we spent much time in the garden with the family preparing for the warm weather.

The Hyacinths I planted 3 years ago... still going strong.

Some pretty flowers peeking through in the flower beds.

Pretty.

Lots of sprouts!

A minefield of bulb sprouts.

The soon to be vegetable garden... With a soon to be fence all around.

A fancy tree Pan planted. Don't ask me what it is.

More sprouts...

A cherry tree we planted near the vegetable garden. One of two. We also planted an American maple tree, an apricot tree, a plum tree... and another cherry tree, and two rosebushes, among others...

My iris sprouts.

Some daisies...

More sprouts. =)

Some fresh branches...

LanieFaye headbands

2010-03-10T23:02:00.000+01:00

I was browsing Facebook the other day... I know... Facebook... sorry! But I can't help it. And one of my friends posted this picture:

And seeing how I just loooove headbands, I had to pop over to the site she linked to and take a look. LanieFaye Headbands is a creation of a Syracuse fashion student trying to jump start her career. She has all kinds of cool headbands that are just amazing. I'm very tempted...

seersucker

2010-03-07T11:19:00.005+01:00

My skirt wasn't the only thing that stayed un-hemmed for such a long time. This dress has also been at the bottom of my "unfinished" pile. This dress is just as awesome as the skirt. It's seersucker with lemon and orange wedges all over it. And the fabric is from Wall*Mart. I think this could possibly by the cheapest dress I've ever bought. It cost about... $1.50.

I think I could also make this dress a bit shorter too... We'll see what happens in the summer. And don't mind the black socks... The floor was cold. =) I used elastic thread to make the gathering on this dress. I also used this tutorial, this tutorial, and this tutorial.

my new skirt =)

2010-03-04T19:23:00.003+01:00

So over the summer I bought some awesome fabric and I used the great book "Sew What! Skirts: 16 Simple Styles You Can Make with Fabulous Fabrics." I made this skirt in September but I didn't actually get around to hemming it until yesterday... Isn't it cute?! I just loooooove the fabric!! It's corduroy. Totally awesome.

I was thinking about making it a bit shorter... But I can always hem it later... What do you think?

And yes, there is a zipper, an invisible zipper! Can't see it, can you?

And yes, the skirt is brown but my tights and sweater are black. Sorry about the mismatching...

lovely cake stands

2010-02-24T13:20:00.001+01:00

I'm not sure if you've seen the February edition of Martha Stewart Living, but there is an amazing article in it about cake stands. I love cake stands. And of course, Martha collects them. She has a huuuuuuge collection. Enough to make a girl want to be Martha. But anyways... I've been reading up on cake stands and the history is quite impressive. There are hundreds of different patterns, loads of different colors, and many different companies. Most of the vintage pressed glass cake stands were made during the Great Depression. This site has a huge collection of cake stands for sale, and many of their cake stands were featured in Martha's article. Here's another site that also has lots of cake stands among other china, crystal, and silverware. Here are some of my faves:

sapphire blue Wexford pattern glass cake stand plate

Round Cake Stand in the Fancy Loop-Clear pattern by Heisey

Round Cake Stand in the Moon & Star-Green pattern by Smith Glass Co

Low Cake Stand in the Moon & Star-Amber pattern by Smith Glass Co

Round Cake Stand in the Moon & Stars-Amberina pattern by Smith Glass Co

Cake Stand-High 12" Diameter in the Diamond Point-Ruby pattern by Indiana Glass

Round Cake Stand With Lid in the Wexford-Clear pattern by Anchor Hocking-Cryst

Round Cake Stand in the Spanish Lace-Turquoise pattern by Fenton Crystal

Round Cake Stand in the Silver Crest Spanish Lace pattern by Fenton Crystal

Round Cake Stand in the Harp Blue (Ice) by Jeannette Glass

Some history, from Wiki:

Depression glass is clear or colored translucent glassware that was distributed free, or at low cost, in the United States around the time of the Great Depression. The Quaker Oats Company, and other food manufacturers and distributors, put a piece of glassware in boxes of food, as an incentive to purchase. Movie theaters and businesses would hand out a piece simply for coming in the door.

Most of this glassware was made in the central and mid-west United States, where access to raw materials and power made manufacturing inexpensive in the first half of the twentieth century. More than twenty manufacturers made more than 100 patterns, and entire dinner sets were made in some patterns. Common colors are clear, (crystal); pink, pale blue, green, and amber. Less common colors include yellow (canary), ultra marine, jadeite (opaque pale green), delphite (opaque pale blue), cobalt blue, red (ruby & royal ruby), black, amethyst, monax, and white (milk glass).

Although of marginal quality, Depression glass has been highly collectible since the 1960s. Due to its popularity as a collectible, Depression glass is becoming more scarce on the open market. Scarce pieces may sell for several hundred dollars. Some manufacturers continued to make popular patterns after World War II, or introduced similar patterns, which are also collectible. Popular and expensive patterns and pieces have been reproduced, and reproductions are still being made.

grammar

2010-02-22T12:54:00.006+01:00

So, I have received an e-mail from a dear friend regarding my grammar:

Hi Alexandra,

Take a deep breath and read this knowing that this is positive thought from me to you, written with love.

I have a big favour to ask, please don't be mad. Could you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use apostrophes. It is driving me crazy. I know this is a blog and I have asked people your age because I know that perhaps I am not up on all things. Leaving out the apostrophes makes one wonder if you even know they are supposed to be there, AND I KNOW YOU DO.

You know that I love you and that I want you to be hugely successful, so please find the beauty in the language, and the written word; press that blasted key.

Seeing that I'm an English teacher, I guess me friend is right and I should start typing correctly. UGH. So now I will have to start using correct punctutation (including apostrophes). I will also have to use capital letters where they belong, and make correct sentences.

On a crafty note, I have finally started my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Well, it isn't a quilt yet, just some fabric hexagons.

Yesterday morning I made 34 little hexagons... while watching cartoons! I used this tutorial which has great step by step explanations and loads of pictures. So far I've finished 6 strips of my jelly roll and only have all these to go! I think there were 40 strips in all. 6 down, 34 to go! Oh, and aren't those little ramekins so cute! My mom found them at Michael's during the Valentine's Day season. So adorable for an icecream sundae or my crafting supplies. =)

I'm not sure how many hexagons I need to make to make a decent sized lap quilt, but I have a feeling this project is going to take me a while. =)

Cabin + Cub

2010-02-21T10:07:00.001+01:00

a few weeks ago i was window shopping on etsy and i came across a realy cute little shop: Cabin + Cub. the shop is full of all kinds of wonderful woodburnings, prints, original collages, calendars, and paper goods. you should definitely take a look. i ordered this cute little woodburned squirrel wall hanging for pan. when we were in USA he was amazed at home many squirrels there were running around everywhere. we dont see too many here in france. so i thought itd be a cute valentines day gift to remind him of our trip. :)

the woman who runs the store is valerie, and she also has a great blog. the service was excellent, valerie answered all my questions rite away and the shipping was quick and well packaged!

here are some other things in her shop that i just love

such a cute desk calendar, and each month has a different image. this wood look adorable on an old vintage wooden school desk.

a cute whale of a notepad.

and here are some adorable collages that valerie makes. in her shop she specifies the materials used:

"Cute little mixed media collage made from vintage book illustrations, paper ephemera and ink illustration. Each collage is original and one-of-a-kind and is signed and dated on the back. Collage is on real paper-backed wood veneer and sealed with a protective coating. Ready to frame."

strawberry yogurt

2010-02-20T11:29:00.002+01:00

so for my birthday (yes my birthday is tuesday in case you want to send me a card, or a gift...) my mother decided to buy me a yogurt maker (well i asked her for a yogurt maker...) so we browsed online and found this on amazon.

but then the question is:

"how do you make yogurts without a recipe book?"

so we found this:

sooo many good recipes and cute pictures in the book. so last night i decided to try one out. well actually i took a recipe they had and tweaked it a bit. i like tweaking.

so, in order to make strawberry yogurt, you need:

a yogurt maker (on amazon there are plenty to choose from, starting at around $20)
glass jars (you can use all kinds of glass jars, not just the ones that are included)
a liter of whole milk (room temp)
one yogurt (made with live cultures) (room temp)
2 cups of strawberries (or another fruit)
sugar

cut your strawberries into small pieces and place in a bowl
cover the strawberries with sugar (about 1 cup) and let sit for about 45 minutes (the quantity will shrink)
drain the strawberries as much as possible
whip the yogurt and add the milk
fill the bottom of your jars with the strawberries
cover strawberries with milk mixture
place carefully in the yogurt maker
turn on yogurt maker (mine takes about 8 hours to complete)
refrigerate for 2 hours before tasting

so thats how i made my yogurt. and it was delicious. the only thing that surprised me was that the fruit didnt stay on the bottom. the strawberries came to the top? dunno why. oh well. i cant wait to try some other flavors:

cinnamon yogurt
chocolate yogurt
homemade fig jelly yogurt
cherry sorbet yogurt
vanilla yogurt with macadamia nuts and caramel
nutella yogurt
honey yogurt with grilled almonds

Chateau de Villandry

2010-02-19T12:28:00.004+01:00

yes, i have a passion for castles, so not only did we visit the chateau de st germain, but we also visited the chateau de villandry. the chateau de villandry is a castle in the loire valley. there are castles at almost every street corner in that area but we only had time to visit one!

From wiki:

     The Château de Villandry is a castle-palace located in Villandry.   The lands where an ancient fortress once stood were known as Colombier until the 17th century. Acquired in the early 16th century by Jean Le Breton, France's Controller-General for War under King Francis I, a new chateau was constructed around the original 14th-century keep.   The château remained in the Le Breton family for more than two centuries until it was acquired by the Marquis de Castellane. During the French Revolution the property was confiscated and in the early 19th century Emperor Napoleon acquired it for his brother.

   In 1906, Joachim Carvallo purchased the property and poured an enormous amount of time, money and devotion into repairing it and creating what many consider to be the most beautiful gardens anywhere. Its famous Renaissance gardens include a water garden, ornamental flower gardens, and vegetable gardens. The gardens are laid out in formal patterns created with low box hedges.
   Still owned by the Carvallo family, the Château de Villandry is open to the public and is one of the most visited châteaux in France.

As we noticed, the family doesn't actually live in the castle itself, but in some buildings that were once for farming or servants. We only visited the main castle.

Le Chateau de Villandry

the castle facade

some "outbuildings" to the right of the castle where we think the family now lives.

a view of the right wing of the castle and the 14th century keep (in the back) and the moat surrounding the castle.

the kitchen, my favorite room. the wonderful collection of copper pots and the gorgeous wooden furniture and old fashioned tiled floor.

the fireplace in the kitchen, which was the primary stove and oven. i would love to have that in my kitchen to let simmer my soups!

the view from the top of the keep!

a view of the gardens from the masters bedroom. what wonderful detail... in the summer it is filled with color!

some other châteaux i would love to visit:

Château de Chenonceau (we were supposed to go saturday, but we ran out of time...)
Château de Val
Château de Cordes (we actually went once, but it was closed...)
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau
Château d'Amboise
Château de Sully-sur-Loire
Château Royal de Blois
Château d'Anet
Château de Fontainebleau
Château de Vaux le Vicomte
many others...

our new car!

2010-02-18T08:00:00.002+01:00

so we decided that i needed a car. one car for two people who dont work at the same place just doesnt cut it. so we decided to buy a car. =) we spent some time looking online, but we didnt find anything great. so we talked to pans dad. he bought a new car last week and asked us if we wanted to go with him to the dealer to pick it up. he got a great deal on his new car so we took a look and found exactly what we wanted (even better than what we wanted actually). shes a peugeot 308! shes used, but she only has 1,400km on her, which is about 870 miles. no joke. so we got a new car for the price of a used one. we think it was the car they used for test drives or on the floor as a demo car. so yes... here she is!

isnt she prettY? here are some close ups.

and shes blue!!! all the other cars they showed us were gray and i HATE gray cars. gray is for people who cant choose a real color.

and she has lots of trunk room. yes she does, im not kidding. for a hatchbook shes HUGE. haha. i cant wait to pack her up for our next vacation (which we have no idea when that is... but im just dreaming...)

and the interior. 6 speed manual transmission... of course were in europe! and lots of cool buttons and red lights. a jack jack for our ipod and a 6 cd changer (not that anyone uses cds anymore...)

cant wait to pick her up!!

Chateau de St Germain

2010-02-17T12:12:00.003+01:00

Last week with my mom, we visited the Chateau de St German which is now an archeology museum. here are some fun pictures. but to think that i was once obsessed with archeology? what was i thinking???

the castle from the gardens

the court yard, view of the chapel

a model of the castle from above. the castle is aaaaaaall the way in the back. with amazing gardens in the front. imagine weeding...

a staircase.. i love the brick detail

a gigantic fireplace. look how tall it is, compared to the chairs!

a cool doorknob and lock. the F is for Francois I.

the jugs they used for wine and soup back in the day...

old school dice... pretty original...

the needles they used to sew... and some thimbles in the back.

some spoons.

well that was what i thought was the most interesting finds on my journey through the museum. but the castle itself and the gardens are pretty amazing, not to mention the view!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2010-02-14T12:11:00.000+01:00

Creme Brulee

2010-02-10T10:08:00.001+01:00

a few days ago my uncle decided to show me how to make creme brulee. and now i just neeeeeeeed a "chalumeau." a chalumeau is a blow torch for food, totally awesome.

before

after

one of the many things i love. once i have the recipe down pat ill post it for your taste buds. but basically it's a "cream" with brown sugar sprinkled on top, and when the brown sugar is roasted with the blow torch, it crystallizes and becomes crunchy and delicious. the blow torch is the secret.

Sancerre

2010-02-09T17:24:00.005+01:00

My dear mother arrived in Paris a few days ago, and so far we have been busy busy bees! shopping, museums, cafes, dinners, cheese, and... wine!
yesterday we decided to go visit Sancerre.
from wiki:
Sancerre is a medieval hilltop town (ville), commune and canton in the Cher department of central France overlooking the Loire River. It is noted for its wine.

I went to sancerre a few years ago with a friend. she knows one of the winemakers very well, so we visit the vineyards and had a merry old time tasting wine. of course i brought some bottles back to paris, but unfortunately there was no wine left after my first night home. =( so with me mother and aunt, we decided to take another trip to restock my cellar. and it was awesome. first we visited:

Chateau de Tracy

It's a beautiful chateau that has been in the family since before 1200. The same family still lives there and they have been making wine since before 1396. Here you can read about the history of the family and the vineyards. The guardian was very pleasant, as they are closed on Sundays. He was very nice and let us taste some wines, and we came away with two cases. =) Next on our trip was the:

Domaine Vincent Delaporte

(me, the father of the vineyard, my mum, my auntie)

We had an appointment so we were received very well. We spent 3 or 4 hours with the vigneron. He explained to us all different facets of the wine business and culture. He took us on a tour of the cellar and it was fascinating.

the "pipette" to extract wine for the barrels. its a barrel of white wine so you need to look closely to see the wine in the tube.

filling the glasses with the pipette. red wine this time so u can see it better!

looking in the barrel of red wine.

bottles and bottles of wine waiting to be packaged and shipped off.

all in all, after our little trip we had 16 cases of wine. hopefully theyll stay in our cellar a little longer than last time i brought back wine from sancerre...

our trunk jam packed with cartons of wine.

in the garage....

my uncle putting his bottles away in his "bomb shelter" wine cellar. (yes he did break one in the process, but shhhhh!)

V - 9 days

2010-02-05T11:38:00.001+01:00

well, only 9 more days left until valentine's day!

and since im so far from home, im trying to find some cool card ideas to send to my loved ones in the states. =) so i thought id share some of the things i found online. heres a list of cool, easy, free printables to use for valentines day:

do you love me card

fun fungi cardlettes

Tricia-Rennea, illustrator: Love Notes-Pink and Chocolate

handmade and homebaked: FREE download and print: Valentines

cute robot love

be my valentine

owl valentines and bookmarks

heartsy to and from tags

you rock cards

teeny envelope template

cute turtle and bee cards

hope these are useful to you! if not for this year, maybe for next year? and if you have any links, feel free to let me in on them. =) have fun preparing something special! <3

Waitrose Food Illustrated

2010-02-04T09:13:00.001+01:00

i love my magazine subscription.... it absolutely deserves the title "magazine of the year."

Waitrose Food Illustrated

a dear friend gave me a subscription to this magazine. and i just loooooove it. its a british cooking magazine and get a load of some of the recipes:

*orange creme caramel

*herb lamb shanks with lemon risotto

*sugar-cured prawn omelet

*orange blossom rice pudding with forced rhubarb compote

*mushroom and goat's cheese pancakes

*spiced lentil and butternut squash soup

and the list goes on and on with each issue i receive..

this month there is even a whole section dedicated to paprika.

"the smoky spice brings sweetness and fire to many european cusines, but it has a special place in the hungarian kitchen." (who woulda known?) "no spice is more enigmatic than paprika. some people swear it is fiery, they are correct. others say it is sweet, and they are right, too..."

how i adore paprika.

*transylvanian bean soup

*lecso

*gulyas

*paprika chicken

if you visit the website, you can find loads of recipes, and lots of other useful information. but i highly recommend subscribing. just remember, because its british, some of the terminology is a bit, well... interesting, to say the least.

a photo tutorial: shortbread buttons.

2010-02-03T11:56:00.003+01:00

a photo tutorial: shortbread buttons.
thanks to nikole over at forty-sixth at grace for this wonderful tutorial and very cute printable recipe. these cookies are just so cute and sweet!!

a few weeks ago i tried to make sugar cookie buttons and it was a total disaster. i dont know what i did wrong. i followed the recipe exactly and the dough just stuck everywhere and i ended up making one big sugar "quiche." just terrible. so now i will definitely have to try this recipe and hopefully i will be successful. if i am, ill post up some pictures. =)

back at home

2010-02-02T13:10:00.001+01:00

so we came back home a few days ago and ive been very busy since! yesterday i spent a good part of the morning hemming curtains for a friend. (for the past year shes had her curtain hems held up with tape, dont get me started...) i havent really had the chance to craft anything for myself as i dont want to whip out my panoply of supplies. we leave for paris tomorrow so i probably wouldnt even have enough time to set everything up before i would need to put everything away again. alas... i spent the better half of the afternoon preparing dinner. we invited some friends over and i decided to make:

*ham and red pepper mini muffins for hors d'oeuvres
*vegetable medley to go along with the steak and potatoes
*chocolate mousse
*a raspberry coulis
*homemade whipped cream

so yes, the mini muffins came out gorgeous, of course i didnt have a chance to snap any pictures before they were all gone. however, i did snap a picture of the chocolate mousse which was oooooh so good, but i didnt get the raspberry coulis or the whipped cream in the shot. =( oh well. just too good to be true.

it's a shame too, because i used shot glasses and put the raspberry coulis at the bottom and filled them to almost overflowing with whipped cream. it was pretty wonderful, trust me. in my chocolate mousse i used dark chocolate. next time im going to try using milk chocolate... im a big fan of milk chocolate. well anyways, here's the recipe for a wonderful chocolate mousse!

Chocolate Mousse

this recipe will feed 6 people. the portions won't be large, but it's so rich, it should be enough.
ingredients:
*1 tablet of chocolate (200 or 250g)
(the better quality the chocolate, the better the mousse) you can use dark chocolate or milk chocolate. its recommended to use chocolate that is made especially for baking (70% cocoa or more), but i dont think it makes a difference.
*10 cl of heavy cream (a little less than 1/2 cup) or 20g of butter (i used heavy cream bc i hate measuring out butter)
*4 eggs

directions:
*prepare a bain marie: fill a big sauce pan with water and place a smaller sauce pan in the bigger one. *break the chocolate into little pieces and put them in the smaller pot. melt on low heat, stirring occassionally.

*in the mean time, while waiting for the chocolate to melt, separate your egg whites (big bowl) and yolks (little bowl).
*beat your egg whites into snow. (add a pinch of salt first, it helps to make the snow extra fluffy)
*once the chocolate has melted, take the small sauce pan and place it on your countertop. add the cream (or butter) and mix together. no lumps. add the egg yolks and mix. no lumps.
*gently fold the chocolate into the snow. be delicate. this is the crucial step to make your mousse light and fluffy.
*put the mousse in whatever container youd like and refrigerate for a few hours before eating. you could also add some fruit on top, shaved chocolate, crushed candy canes, mint leaves, cinnamon sticks, or some powdered sugar...

and for the whipped cream... you take a cup of heavy cream, add 1/4 cup of sugar and beat on high until you have the consistency you want! then you could layer it on top of the mousse or serve it in a cute shot glass on the side... the whipped cream, however, needs to be made at the last minute. but dont worry, it only takes a few minutes, really.

so yes, in the pictures above, i loooove the cupcake idea. i have red silicon cupcake cups, i think next time i will try that! i love cupcakes and muffins. i have lots of different molds:

these all came from Wilton's. if you visit their site, you can buy lots of cool molds, they also have recipes, and decorating tips and tricks. i also have these (in red):

i bought these cupcake molds from williams-sonoma, but Wilton's sells them too (and a lot cheaper). that's what ill use next time i make chocolate mousse. =)

blueberry muffins mmm mmm!!

2010-01-29T12:35:00.003+01:00

so yesterday i made the best blueberry muffins ever. i found this awesome recipe, tweaked it a bit, and had a great snack. so this is a recipe for blueberry muffins with an amazing cinnamon crumble on top. if you follow the recipe, you will have 12 biiiiig big muffins. i made smaller muffins (hence the pictures) because i knew the kids wouldn't finish a whole big bakery style muffin.

so heres the recipe!

ingredients for the muffins

    •    3 cups all-purpose flour
    •    1 1/2 cup white sugar
    •    1 teaspoon salt
    •    4 teaspoons baking powder
    •    2/3 cup vegetable oil
    •    1 tsp vanilla
    •    2 egg
    •    2/3 cup milk
    •    2 cups fresh blueberries

ingredients for the crumble
    •    1/2 cup brown sugar
    •    1/3 cup all-purpose flour
    •    1/4 cup butter, cubed
    •    1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Prepare crumble: in a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the crumble. Use your fingers to smush and make a nice crumble topping. Set aside.
Butter muffin cups (even if they're silicon, bc theyll come out a lot easier, and u wont break the muffins trying to squeeze them out)
Combine dry ingredients for the muffins: flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
In a measuring cup, combine: vegetable oil, milk, vanilla, and eggs.
Mix the liquid with the flour. Stir as little as possible. (the more you stir, the less the muffins will rise)
Fold in blueberries.
Fill muffin cups about 3/4.
Sprinkle with crumble topping. Don't go overboard, otherwise the muffins will cave in.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

yesterday, i also used the same recipe, but substituted chocolate chips and a dollop of nutella for the blueberries and it was delicious as well. so get created and make strawberry rhubarb muffins, or pineapple muffins, or dried apricot and peach muffins... once again, the possibilities are endless. =)

Deauville - Trouville

2010-01-28T14:32:00.007+01:00

so yesterday we went to Deauville and Trouville, to beach towns in Normandy that are very chic. think of them as the french newport. newport, RI, not newport beach in CA. From wikipedia, here's some history:

Deauville is a town and a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region of France. With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and one of the most prestigious balneary station of all France. Since the 19th-century, the town of Deauville has been a fashionable holiday resort for the international upper class.

I took a walk on the boardwalk and came across some fun posters... my favorite poster is the last one. =)

who would have thought that there would be such a classy poster on the boardwalk of this chic beach town? but i guess it does get the point across =)

i also saw some of the gorgeous houses along the beach... one of the typical architectural aspects are the "half timbers" and also double gables. lucky for you, i also took pictures of those!!

so there you have it. some of the gorgeous beach houses that ornament the normandy beachfront. i noticed some details while browsing that really surprised me:

here below is a picture of one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels ind deauville:

The Normandy Barriere Hotel

in the summer, rates go for 500-1000 euros a night. there are Barriere hotels all throughout france and they are all very luxurious and quite exclusive. two years ago, pan brought me to the Hotel du Golf Barriere Hotel for our one year anniversary, which is owned by the same group: Lucien Barriere Hotels & Casinos. it's Barriere's golf resort.

the hotel is on the hills above deauville. you can see in the background deauville and the beach. which brings me to the next series of pictures... the beach!! last but not least, here are some pics of the beach. when we arrived, it was very sunny, but it became quite cloudy and gray as the day wore on, not making for the best photos, i do apologize!

feeling lucky

2010-01-26T17:52:00.002+01:00

so after posting yesterday about the giveaway i won, i received another email... and i won another giveaway!!! this time i won:
inkbloom giveaway : DIY sci-fi

so it's a pretty cool kit that will let me print cool pictures and designs on fabrics, so i'll be able to personalize lots of cool stuff. =) yay!!! the giveaway was hosted by Anna at misosouper, a shopping blog. and the cool fabric printing kit is made by : Inkbloom

Inkbloom is a company that sells tools and supplies to help you print on vinyl, and fabric. They provide DIY advice, downloadable designs, and they sell cool supplies. i can't wait to receive the kit so that i can personalize some of my creations!!! once i have a lucky chance to use the kit ill post about it and let you know what i think!

while surfing the net and looking through different blogs, i've stumbled upon some other DIY projects that i think could be very cool to do (if i had the time and the supplies =)

DIY marble magnets
modern paper ornaments : not just for christmas
patchwork memo board
cutesy barrettes
cashmere cowl
the original sock monkey
Girly Pencil Roll Tutorial

take a minute to check them out and let me know if you have any good projects/crafts/DIYs that i can add to my list!

14 days

2010-01-25T11:39:00.002+01:00

so i've been in normandy for 14 days now, and i haven't crafted since. =( i feel like im going through withdrawal! with pan working everyday from 8am to 9pm i need to find ways to keep myself busy.

i stay in bed until noon (unless i have classes)
i log on to facebook's farmville at least once a day (pathetic, i know... but hey im a very experienced farmer now!)
i finished watching seasons 1 and 2 of the new 90210 (next is dexter season 4)
i read all the blogs i follow
i enter free giveaways
i "imaginary" shop on etsy
i cook (yesterday i made carrot cake and creamed corn)
i do the laundry
i day dream

yay. so speaking of the free giveaways. last week i entered like a gazillion and i won one of them! i got an email the other day from the green bag lady saying that i won 3 produce bags. she has a wonderful site, you should check it out. she's an artist who uses fabric scraps to create reusable shopping bags. she hosts freebie giveaways on her site in exchange for promises to use the fabric bags instead of paper or plastic bags. she even lists every person who has a bag with a special ID number. the list is posted on her site (on the left sidebar), it's quite impressive. her bags are floating out there all over the world! and soon, lil ole me in Madriat will have one too. =) i'm very excited because we try very hard to use reusable bags out here. i hope you do too!!

welcome to etsy

2010-01-20T20:57:00.002+01:00

with everything going on in haiti, it's hard for me to put my life into perspective. im worrying about what to make for dinner, while there are people worrying about their loved ones. watching the news is quite sad, and the images they show are very touching. im happy to see that people are still being rescued and that lots of people are helping. yes, lots of people are helping!

etsy :: Your place to buy all and sell all things handmade, is an online community of "boutiques" where people like you and me sell only handmade or homemade goods. it's a wonderful concept and has been quite a success since its creation! there are some amazing boutiques out there. the designers and crafters are so talented, i have no idea where they get all their wonderful ideas!!

some good folks over at craft hope decided to start Craft Hope for Haiti, which is an etsy "boutique" where you can donate things you've made to be sold. all the proceeds will benefit doctors without borders in haiti. you can read more information about craft hope for haiti on the crafthope website.

it just makes me feel all happy inside to know that so many people are doing goods things for the community in haiti. so if you have a moment hope over to the craft hope shop on etsy and buy something. not only will you be donating your cash to a good cause, but youll get to chose a cool, unique gift for yourself or a loved one!

some of the etsy shops i love... you just GOTTA check 'em out!! enjoy!

Christina P Designs : gorgeous jewelry
Coco's Greenhouse : handmade jewelry inspired by a love of nature
paper in style : personalized, stationary, notecards, and more
Resign : colorful jewelry made from resin
Ouma Clothing : glamarous twirling princess tulle dresses
IKA bags : unique and handmade bags from paris
labokoff : inspiring and original prints of original photographs digitally mixed with painting
tortillagirl : trendy and modern knit scarves and hats, designed and hand made in france

The Clack House Candle Giveaway

2010-01-19T15:56:00.003+01:00

So I just love giveaways. I already linked to a giveaway in a previous post today and here is another giveaway! (yes, i have a lot of free time on my hands...)

Click here to enter the cute handmade candle giveaway

i entered, you should too!

Covet Antiqued Copper Charm Necklace GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-01-19T15:27:00.003+01:00

Covet Antiqued Copper Charm Necklace GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

click on the link above to find out about the designer behind the jewelry and to enter the giveaway. very cool necklace!

impatient

2010-01-19T13:17:00.001+01:00

So today im thinking about my mom. shes coming to visit in a few weeks. and im very excited to see her and for us to spend some time together. not only is she coming for almost two weeks, but shes also coming with fun filled bags of craft supplies for me! one of the pojects shes bringing with her is...
Grandmother's Flower Garden!

So what is that, you ask? it's a quilt made using the english paper piecing method with hexagon shapes. you can buy the hexagon shapes here at paperpieces.com. the pattern looks something like this. but obviously you need to use your imagination and replace the colors with gorgeous, girly fabrics.

i got this pattern pic here. it's a quilting site that will give u some information about the history of quilts and their patterns!

Here are some pics from heather bailey's blog about her quilt. they inspire me so much! and make me want to start my flower garden.

the fabric below is what i have chosen for my flower garden, with my moms help. Eden by Lila Tueller. i love the pinks and greens and cant wait to start on my project! i wasnt crazy about the fabrics at first. it took me days to choose a fabric palette... so many choices, so many options, so many colors. but i eventually settled on this one.

im especially excited about this project because its a portable project and for the next few months i will be traveling all around france... with nothing but some fabric, threads, and needles. so this will keep me busy! (im also hoping mom will teach me how to knit =)

and the possibilities are endless...

2010-01-18T18:29:00.003+01:00

over the weekend i went to an arts & craft fair with my new friend. i was very excited to go because i left all my craft supplies in auvergne, since we didnt have any room in the car to bring my sewing machine and all my fabrics! i was hoping to find cool craft ideas and projects. i wasnt completely disappointed... were not in the city so the fair was small, but i did make some good finds...

buttons!!!

i love buttons.

especially the palm trees

and the leaves

and the mushrooms

and the pine cones

and the polka dots

so yes, i cant wait to put the buttons on my next projects. on a little zippered pouch, or barrettes and hairclips, or on a purse, bobbypins, paperclips, pencil cases... the possibilities are endless...
the website for the button stand is: http://auchtibouton.com/ the site is great. they have a huge selection of buttons (HUGE) and you can order buttons one by one (u don't need to buy 50 of the same button =) the buttons begin at 20 centimes. (sorry it's a french site!!) minimum order is 5 euros.

and... i also bought....

calzone molds!

yes,

calzone molds.

but not to make calzones...

but.... desserts!

with pie crust dough, or puff pastry, oven baked.

imagine...

*bananas and chocolate... mmm

*apples, walnuts, cinammon (that would be an apple turnover...)

any other ideas?

gourds

2010-01-17T19:19:00.004+01:00

Here is my first official post. As the earlier post was just a hello.

So one thing I love about winter is pumpkins. this winter i have cooked just about every kind of gourd you can think of:

*butternut squash

*acorn squash

*winter squash

*pumpkins

*potiron

*zucchini (yes, it's a gourd)

etc etc.

and for the next few weeks i'm in normandy while pa is working on a job. im spending my time with a friends sister, who is now my friend too. she likes to cook. i like to cook. we've been cooking a lot. this week we made:

*good ole american stuffing (it's almost unknown here in france)

*foie gras (yes and i will post up the recipe)

*onion jam (to go with the foie gras)

*roast chicken

*pumpkin soup

*banana nut bread

*chocolate chip cookies (chocolate chips here are horribly expensive, like 5$ a bag...)

that is a picture of the color of the soup.

I got a pumpkin soup recipe a while ago from the Gracious Bowl blog.

the Gracious Bowl is an awesome blog all about soups

I use their recipes all the time. soooo goooood. mmm... so i linked below to the recipe, hope you enjoy. =)

Pumpkin Soup Recipe

if you aren't a fan of the "sucre salee"(sweet n salty) you can omit the cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, and brown sugar. with a good dose of salt, the recipe is delicious as well! and for a lighter version, (if you're calorie counting) don't add cream. i cant wait to dip into this soup for dinner tonight. =)

hello. my name is cass.

2010-01-17T17:23:00.000+01:00

new years resolution 2010:
do everything on my to-do list.

TO DO LIST:

keep myself on track
finish what i start
keep tabs on:

what i've done
what i'm doing
what i want to do
what i need to do...

motivate myself.
organize my:

thoughts
ideas
crafts
projects
hobbies
recipes...

so i started this blog. to help with my resolution. this blog will also enable me to:

to ramble.
to share my ideas with whoever cares. but mostly for myself.
to make lists.

ps. i l o v e l i s t s . =)

kasonad

need a gift idea?

I just looooove etsy. Here are a few reasons why...(click on the caption to visit the shop)

Great wedding favors

My New Workout Regime

The Ultimate Resistance Band Workout - Shape Magazine

mmm Mushrooms

less than a year to go!

Luneville

my favorite chocolate zucchini cake

Ingredients

abundance

my improv dress

I wish I was this talented...

playing

all organic. =)

pink paisley

it's ok to dream...

Vintage Vogue

The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Wanna Polka?

apricot clafoutis

and a year later...

from scratch...

officially a dressmaker.

are you inspired?

nature and nurture

who loves rhubarb?

Chateau de Val

wonderful cottons

My Flower Garden: step 2

who woulda thunk it

homemade beautiful

tea-licious

roasted red pepper soup

FREE fabric... what could be better? (ok, don't answer that...)

aren't you jealous?

love it

my favorite salad

spice it up

The countryside of Morocco

Some gardens of Marrakech

The streets of Marrakech

unexpected

marker roll

welcome s p r i n g =)

LanieFaye headbands

seersucker

my new skirt =)

lovely cake stands

grammar

Cabin + Cub

strawberry yogurt

Chateau de Villandry

our new car!

Chateau de St Germain

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Creme Brulee

Sancerre

V - 9 days

Waitrose Food Illustrated

a photo tutorial: shortbread buttons.

back at home

blueberry muffins mmm mmm!!

Deauville - Trouville

feeling lucky

14 days

welcome to etsy

The Clack House Candle Giveaway

Covet Antiqued Copper Charm Necklace GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

impatient

and the possibilities are endless...

gourds

hello. my name is cass.

I just looooove etsy. Here are a few reasons why...
(click on the caption to visit the shop)