First Stitch

It’s been three months since we’ve been in our house. I’ve sewn curtains, made cushions, hung paintings; my husband has painted walls, assembled and fixed things; the boys have claimed their spaces and left toys and books lying around – all of us contributing to making ourselves feel truely at home. But there are still dozens and dozens of boxes in the basement to unpack…

A few days ago, I came accross a very lovely treasure in one of the boxes. This little red gingham bag, with a teddy bear cross-stitched on the front. It was the very first counted cross-stitch project I ever did!

I was nine or ten years old, living in Tokyo at the time. I must have received this as a birthday gift from my parents, who have always supported and encouraged my passion for sewing and crafts. I vividly recall going to Tokyu Hands with my mother to pick out the kit and remember sitting at our kitchen table, counting the ‘X”s on the chart and then counting the squares of the aida cloth and stitching the ‘X”s while my mother cooked. As with most imposed, first-time projects, I was reluctant to learn this new craft. As my mother explained to me how to read the chart, start in the middle and count out, how to seperate the six strands of thread to use only two, I remember thinking this is going to be more tedious than fun… I was gladly mistaken! After working on this little teddy bear, a new passion was born and I haven’t stopped counting stitches since then (though I have been on hiatus from my other three current, on-going, never ending cross-stitch projects…)

It is always a treat to come accross a piece of our childhood, items filled with precious memories and happy souvenirs. It is not often that we hold on to these details of our past, first accomplishments of things made or done. You can see that this was a first time project for me because I didn’t cross all my ‘X”s in the same direction, the tension of the stitches are irregular, and I remember miss counting and making mistakes around the ears… I suppose these irregularities are what give this little bear its character!

I used this bag on train trips and family vacations, tucking in the handmade project I was working on at that moment and a book to read if I needed a break from counting stitches. I think that I will use the bag today in the same way – for my stitching projects on car rides, instead of trying to cram everything into my purse. It is a fabulous reminder of my begining and the progress I have made over the last twenty years as my passion has grown, a wonderful souvenir of my creative, happy childhood and how these elements of my past have carried over into my present…

Wordless Wednesday

there is actually a street named “Memory Lane” in our neighborhood!

Decorating Memories with Easter Traditions

When I was a little girl living in Japan, I made Easter eggs every year. I’d spend a whole morning blowing out eggs so that I could decorate them with washi paper. When I returned to Tokyo as a college student, I taught craft classes to children at my alma mater, where I had originally learned the craft myself. One of the classes I taught was how to make washi eggs!

This year for Easter, I had the urge to make some washi eggs, just like when I was younger. Only, as I was going through my craft supplies, I realized that I didn’t quite have all the necessary materials : washi paper and Nori paste… But, I had eggs, I had patterned origami paper, and I had spray adhesive. Almost perfect! As I was making the first couple of eggs, having a bit of trouble manipulating the (dry as opposed to wet from paste) paper around the egg, I realized it’s been about 15 years since I made these – the last time I made washi eggs for Easter I was in Junior High! What a lovely stroll down Memory Lane it was making these eggs this afternoon!

Given that I am really out of practice and was using materials I had on hand as oppose to the proper materials, I think they came out all right. The orange egg looks the worst, I broke one egg while working on it so ended up with only five eggs…. and I didn’t even lacquer them! Next year I’ll do better…

One of my favourite things as a mother is to share holiday traditions and the things I love with my children. At 2 1/2 years and 1 year old, my boys are still too young to make washi eggs, but they are the perfect age to do simple egg decorating for Easter. I hard-boiled their eggs for them, as blown out eggs would have been too fragile for their little hands… We did simple decorating – they rolled the eggs in bowls I prepared of various colored food dye, swishing them back and forth with a spoon. Thibault made two blue ones and Damien made a green one… They were beaming this evening as they peeled their eggs for dinner!

I love the joy on their faces – so delighted and proud of their work. I hope they will carry these memories with them for a long time…

Butterflies & Flowers for Easter

I’ve taken a few days off from blogging, doing other things for a change – decorating the house, reading, and trying out new recipes. My eldest son has been asking me for chocolate cupcakes for over a week. I decided that Easter would be a perfect excuse to make not only chocolate, but also carrot cake cupcakes, because that’s the kind I’ve been craving for over a week! So, this afternoon, I made both kinds, one using a new recipe which I tweeked, the other kind with an old tried & true recipe… The cupcakes were lots of fun to make, especially pipping the flowers on the carrot cupcakes and the butterflies on the chocolate cupcakes. Both kinds were a huge success with my family – we’ll be munching on these all weekend long, or rather until they run out as they may not last all weekend long!

CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES – Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1-1/2 sticks (180g) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups grated carrots (from about 4 medium carrots)

METHOD:
— Preheat oven to 375°F (200°C) degrees. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.
— In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside.
— In another large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, egg, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir in carrots. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture mixing until well combined. Divide among muffin tin. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
— Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES – Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
4 ounces (100g) baking chocolate
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 sticks (180g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (100g) sour cream

METHOD:
— Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) degrees. Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.
— Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Melt butter and chocolate about 1 minute in microwave. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, chocolate and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs then beat in vanilla. Add sour cream then flour mixture.
— Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
— Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING (This makes exactly enough icing for pipping the frosting on 24 cupcakes. If you rather spread the frosting use 8 ounces (230g) of cream cheese to frost 12 cupcakes...)
6 ounces (160g) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 60g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, mix cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla. Seperate mixture according to the number of colors you will use and the amount you’ll need for each. (I used equal parts for the pink and the orange, and about 2 tablespoons for the blue…). Color each part with the desired color then transfer each mixture to heavy-duty zip-lock bags; cut off one corner of the bag and insert the desired pipping tip and coupler (I used size 24 star-shape tip), then seal the bag and start decorating!

Resources : I’ve adapted both recipes from ones found in MS Everyday Food Magazine.

Wordless Wednesday

our lil’ gardeners (photos taken Sunday…)

“A picture should be looked at – not talked about” ~Elliott Erwitt

Friday, the boys and I went to see the Elliott Erwitt Expo at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in the Marais.

This exhibit, called “Personal Best” is a sort of retrospective of Erwitt’s 60-year career and features a selection of 130 of the photographer’s favourite photos. Elliott Erwitt’s work is fresh, fun and spontaneous. He is known for his black and white candid shots of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings. Whether it be to photograph dogs, children, celebrities or politics, I feel like he his lurking, hiding, playing a trick on his subjects, mischievously when they least expect it.

Felix, Gladys, and Rover, 1974

The exhibit was really beautiful. Several of the photos made me laugh, some made me ponder the situation of the moment in which they were taken and wonder if things have changed at all. I was familiar with a few of Erwitt’s more famous photographs but had never seen them all together in one exhibit. I walked through the exhibit once quickly because I just couldn’t wait to see all the photos and then I went back and took more time to look at each one.

Thibault seemed to enjoy the exhibit too. He first started looking for trucks, trains and cars, then started looking at the dog and baby photos and eventually looked at all the photos in the exhibit. I think a lot of people were suprised to see that I had brought my young children along with me to the exhibit and the stroller. I caught several people taking pictures of Thibault as he contemplated the photographs. (F.Y.I the museum has an elevator and lets you keep your stroller throughout the exhibits which is so not common in most Parisian museums!) Damien was less enthusiastic about being present and would have prefered to walk run through the exhibit hall, so we settled on the next best thing, being in my arms.

Segregated Water Fountains, 1950

Conforming to Porcelain

While my youngest son and I were in Paris a few of weekends ago, we went to two exhibits. You can read about our first exhibit here. The second exhibit we went to is called Made in France, by Americans. The exhibit, on till April 17 at the Mona Bismarck Foundation pushes the boundaries of porcelain.

The Mona Bismarck Foundation was created in the 1980s by the late American philanthropist, Countess Mona Bismarck and presents exhibits focusing on Franco-American culture or reflecting the late Countess’ tastes and interests. This Paris Cultural Center, open free to the public is in the Countess’ former townhouse which faces the Eiffel Tower across the river Seine. I’ve been to several of the exhibits at the foundation in the past – the building is beautiful, the view exquisite.

The exhibit we saw that Saturday was put together by BERNARDAUD a leading name in French porcelain. The exhibit poses a question in regards to the art training received by those who design porcelain – a too classical instruction in France versus a not enough classical training elsewhere and the resulting works that are created. The exhibit put forth the idea of thinking outside the box – of using porcelain for making art and not just refined tableware.

examples of the process of creating a handpainted porcelaine piece of tableware

In America, Art Education is common in most public and private schools (though there remains an ongoing battle to maintain its presence in the curriculum) where as in France, most art classes are given outside of school in museums and other ‘official art’ institutions. Therefore, art education in France continues to be taught in a classical, master/ apprentice manner. Of course, France is renowned for their art museums, culinary schools and their fashion shows, masters of style, refinement and quality, but how much innovation is limited and pushed aside because it does not conform?

The exhibit was eye opening. As an art educator myself, I find this debate relevant. How much of the classical do we impose before letting the art student take off with his own ideas while still maintaining an aesthetic creation which follows the rules of design. It is for this reason that BERNARDAUD decided to showcase some of their designers, all from America with an Amercain art education in their background. Interesting that this world renowned designer of French porcelain employs Americans to make their famous French tableware. What have the French lost in remaining closed classical that the Americans seem to have with their lack of centuries old training? The pieces exhibited, though made of porcelain where not your usual tableware items, but rather the medium was challenged and used for sculptures. Some of the work shown at the exhibit was far from refined, but was creative.

The following photos are of work by three designers whose pieces I preferred : Their pieces were creative as well as polished, fun, yet sophisticated. I especially liked the clowns that teeter-totter back and forth. They’d look great in a child’s bedroom or in a playroom, a great baby or first birthday gift…

Jonathan Hammer

Daphne Corregan

Kristin McKirdy

There were two designers out of the eight being exhibited, P. Loughran and L. Maisel whose work looked as though done by an amateur – pieces I found unrefined, giving porcelaine a silly putty-like consistency, creations not unlike what my two and a half year old son does with playdough. My thought is that if you are looking for a silly-putty effect, choose a medium that better suits that style…

It is true that when we think of porcelain we think fine-china and reserve terra cotta clay, bronze and marble for sculpture and pottery. But who are we to define the limits of the medium? Overall it was a lovely thought-provoking art exhibit in a beautiful structure. We walked to the museum along the right banks of the river Seine with the sun in our faces and a beautiful view of the Tower. It was a short exhibit, a quick escape from the daily routine of an afternoon.

Wordless Wednesday

A New Something Old

The boys have been a handful this AM acting rambunctious. The usual, bike rides and running/ jumping/ collecting bugs in the front yard don’t appeal to them like they usually do. Maybe it’s because we feel stuck at home having workers here putting in new windows upstairs…

So, I felt like making Mac & Cheese for lunch. Extra creamy. Extra cheesy. Where we live, boxed mixes of this classic comfort food don’t exist so I improvised a little to make something delicious.

When I called the boys for lunch there was no repeating on my part and on their part, no hesitation to leave toys behind. They each ate a bowl full, me too. It was the ultimate comfort lunch, all that melted cheese, it tasted So Good! 

Ingredients & Method:
Pasta for four, cooked al dente
Four small carrots, puréed
Two cups milk with two tbsp of flour, heated over medium heat, mixing constantly, salt & pepper to taste. When the sauce thickens, add shredded gruyère cheese, three big handfulls. Continue de stir till all the cheese is melted. Then mix in the carrot purée. Place cooked pasta in a casserole dish, pour milk/ cheese/ purée sauce over the noodles. Sprinkle top with more shredded gruyère cheese and bake in the oven about 10 to 12 minutes.

Monday Morning Shadows

Here are just a few things that make my Mondays a little easier to contemplate ~

My husband, the little bread chef makes fresh bread for breakfast. This morning we had a multi-grain loaf.

Both boys slept in, almost till 8AM – always a bonus!

Laundry loads are always sheets and towels this first day of the week, meaning quick & easy folding and no adding to the ironing pile; hopefully I can get to that ironing pile in front of a movie while the boys are napping

The boys and I can go outside to play in the yard with this gorgeous spring weather

I took time to observe some lovely morning shadows…

Take the time…