The Sea of Tea

2012-01-27T13:48:00.000-08:00

36 x 36" 12mm silk charmeuse scarf made in Brooklyn by Leah Goren

.

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 12

2012-01-27T06:28:00.000-08:00

lots of little things:

jewellery
eyeglass cases
dolls
dishware
trivets
flasks
frames
prints
cards
antique photographs
bread boxes
picnic baskets
pin cushions
sewing and knitting patterns
notions
...
shoes
accessories
and lots + lots of clothing (women's, men's, children's)
...

2012-01-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

1. Printed floral with stripes, circa 1890
2. Polka dot print on silk in 5 colorways. Unknown manufacturer. 1930s-1940s
3. Leaf print on textured cotton. France. Sept. 9, 1886-97
4. Leaf print on silk. France. 1891.

From The Design Center at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science.

.

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 11

2012-01-26T07:34:00.001-08:00

set of 1 dozen hand-embroidered linen napkins
set of 1 dozen hand-embroidered linen egg envelopes

2$ each
30$ both sets (24 pieces)

.

evergreen, ever delicious

2012-01-25T07:02:00.000-08:00

A few recipes from René Redzepi.

.

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 10

2012-01-25T06:56:00.000-08:00

silk scarves

10 - 30 $

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 9

2012-01-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

cotton and linen handkerchiefs (men's and women's)
50 ¢ - 5 $

'handkes' box: embossed plastic top, cloth-lined, metal clasp.
in good, vintage condition
18 $

The January Collection

2012-01-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

" We believe that books made with care, that were the best of their kind upon publication, will only beautify with time and never become obsolete. ...We believe that a well-made reading environment encourages us to take our time, to have those experiences with books that modern life tries to replace with a rush of empty conveniences.

We love good books and everything that goes with them. "

- BOOK/SHOP

French Apple Tart

2012-01-23T10:35:00.001-08:00

A super simple tart from the great Ina Garten. Perfect for breakfast, tea, and dessert.

When I made it the first time I had no apricot jelly or jam in the cupboard and didn't want to leave the house to go shopping, so I used what was around: a jar of sugarless pineapple, rhubarb, strawberry jam (warmed and sieved). It was so good -far better than the second one I made with apricot jam (again, warmed and sieved). Less sugar gave the apples more clarity.

French Apple Tart

Pastry:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, diced
1/2 cup ice water

Apples:
4 apples (Granny Smith, Cortland, Macintosh or another firm, tart apple)
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoon (1/2 stick) cold butter, diced small
1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm, sieved apricot jam
1 Tablespoons Calvados, rum, or water

For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Roll the dough slightly larger than 10 by 14-inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.

Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baler. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. (I tend not to use the apple ends in order to make the arrangement beautiful.) Sprinkle with the full 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter.

Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don't worry! The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the Calvados and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

2012-01-23T09:22:00.000-08:00

2012-01-22T07:31:00.000-08:00

Dustball. A robot vacuum designed for public spaces, by Dave Hakkens.

.

2012-01-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

Book covers based on Italian cinema, by Olympia Le-Tan for Pitti W. Photographed by Max Fargo. Presented January 12, 2012 at Museo Bellini in Florence.

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 8

2012-01-21T05:55:00.000-08:00

textiles and containers:

wool blankets, vintage quilt tops, cotton coverlets, pillow cases, drapery, sheets, bed skirts, table cloths, runners, linen napkins.

bread boxes, picnic baskets, lidded boxes, tins.

2 - 110 $

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 7

2012-01-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

Woolen berets

2 - 12 $

2012-01-20T07:59:00.000-08:00

collected by tas-ka.

2012-01-19T08:04:00.000-08:00

William Kurelek at Wynick/Tuck.

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 6

2012-01-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

jadeite lamp.

mint condition. Lovely with one of the silk shades.
height: 30 cm

20 $

2012-01-18T12:33:00.000-08:00

My rosemary is flowering. And the sage and lavender are shooting up tender leaves. It's so good to see these fellows in the depth of winter.

.

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 5

2012-01-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

two taupe silk lampshades with braided cotton trim.
beautiful condition. No discolouration.

top diameter: 14 cm
bottom diamieter: 25.5 cm

20 $ each

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 4

2012-01-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

women's leather slippers.
Size 8
15 $

2012-01-16T17:04:00.001-08:00

The elegant Ms. Tilda Swinton, last night.

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 3

2012-01-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

children's shoes. Over a dozen pairs, in white and in black.
5 - 25 $

Two selections here:

1. Stride Rite white baby shoes (leather upper, brown sole)
Size 4 1/2 C
L: 15.5cm W: 7cm

2. White kid leather baby shoes with pierced toes.
No size mark
L: 11.5cm W: 5cm

.

2012-01-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

The Accidental Music of Imperfect Escalators from Roman Mars ' 99% Invisible

Since the industrial revolution, when it became possible for products to be designed just once and then mass produced, it has been the slight imperfections and wear introduced by human use that has transformed a quality mass produced product into a thing we love. Your worn blue jeans, your grandmothers iron skillet, the initial design determined their quality, but it’s their imperfections that make them comfortable, that make them lovable, that make them yours.

Chris Richards is a music critic for the Washington Post, and after years of ignoring the wailing and screeching of the much maligned, often broken escalators in the DC Metro, he began to hear them in a new way.

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 2

2012-01-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

little blue glass pitcher.

H: 7 cm
W: 6 cm
D: 4 cm

12 $

Moonrise Kingdom

2012-01-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

the new Wes Anderson film.

Stable Sale - PREVIEW 1

2012-01-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be posting previews of items in the Stable Sale which will be on Saturday the 28th of January. Please email me for more information.
. . .

Women's gloves:

1. chocolate brown leather gloves with white stitching.
beautiful condition.
Size 7.
25$

2. white kid leather gloves.
supple leather but some damage: seams are opening at base of fingers, torn.
Size 6.
5$

3. navy blue leather and navy blue/white woven wool gloves with velcro tab closure.
very good condition. no damage and little wear.
Size 6.
11$

art and agriculture

2012-01-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

"Our goal is not to maximize production of a given product but to establish an equilibrium between many varied species and to focus on the contribution they make to each other and thus to overall productivity and health of the farm. Once sustainable balance is achieved the surplus is sold. This means that there are many products but in very limited quantities. We feel that this ensures the highest quality of products and the best practice of farming."

- Old Field Farm

Photographs by Victor Schrager

mufflers

2012-01-11T08:05:00.001-08:00

now for sale in the shop.

.

2012-01-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

from grijs.

making pierogi

2012-01-09T15:41:00.000-08:00

One of my 2012 resolutions is to make pierogi once a year. So on January 1st I made 2 kinds: sauerkraut and mushroom with onion, and cottage cheese and potato.

.

2012-01-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

Alberta. It's been wierdly warm and windy here the last 3 weeks. A.'s enjoyed not wearing an overcoat and footwear. I can't say I'm not liking the warmth but sleeping with the window wide open and waking up to birds singing springtime songs is unsettling.

2012-01-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

Joe Satore's Biodiversity Project.

2012-01-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

Wild Life, a new animated film by Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby. Gifted animator (and friend) Brandon Blommaert worked on this film.

For a limited time you can view the full version of Wild Life here.

.

happy new year

2012-01-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

to project us into this thick cloud of unknowing

2011-12-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

Guy Laramee's book carvings.

.

2011-12-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

Rockid, rocking chair and cradle by Dutch design duo Ontwerpduo.

2011-12-29T21:03:00.000-08:00

Mobilier design pour enfants by Carole Daprey.

2011-12-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

school chaise by Guy Brown. Perfect for school libraries.

2011-12-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo
by Nicholas de Monchaux
(MIT Press)

A story about the triumph of Oldenburg-like soft objects over phallic, rigid ones, and of hard-working seamstresses over hard-nosed engineers.

“Sewing a spacesuit was in many ways similar to sewing a bra or girdle—the Singer machines and pattern templates were identical.” - N. de Monchaux

One if Five Good Books by Adam Gopnik.

.

2011-12-27T10:08:00.001-08:00

Writers and their typewriters.

2011-12-26T22:00:00.001-08:00

Haraboro Cap Toe Apple Calf from Barker Black, "the epitome of modern English refinement", established in the village Earls Bartin in 1880 by Arthur Barker.

2011-12-25T07:47:00.000-08:00

Today would have been Louise Bourgeois' 100th birthday.

2011-12-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

Ансамбль "Берёзка" - "Прялица"
The ensemble "Birch" - "Pryalitsa"

Thanks D.

2011-12-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

These American Lives by Ira Glass, Julie Snyder, and Lisa Pollak, producers of This American Life.

2011-12-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

It's coming.

2011-12-19T19:37:00.000-08:00

Whippet/Dutch Greyhound
Borzoi/Russian Wolfhound

Poring over the beauties at Freckashpeng Hounds.

.

she makes you feel thrilled to be a human being

2011-12-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

Pina.

2011-12-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

minä perhonen:
clothes which do not lose their allure through lapse of time.

2011-12-02T07:23:00.000-08:00

Not only was she a skilled and published cartoonist, but Flannery O'Connor loved birds. She made suits of clothes for her chickens as a child, kept over 40 peacocks at a time, and raised over 100 ducks, hens, and geese at her family’s ancestral farm in Andalusia, Georgia. Her peacocks popped up more than once in her work, as in The Displaced Person:

“What a beauti-ful birrrrd!” the priest murmured.
“Another mouth to feed,” Mrs. McIntyre said, glancing in the peafowl’s direction.
“And when does he raise his splendid tail?” asked the priest.
“Just when it suits him,” she said. “There used to be twenty or thirty of those things on the place but I’ve let them die off. I don’t like to hear them scream in the middle of the night.”
“So beauti-ful,” the priest said. “A tail full of suns,” and he crept forward on tiptoe and looked down on the bird’s back where the polished gold and green design began. The peacock stood still as if he had just come down from some sun-drenched height to be a vision for them all ...

2011-12-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

“The pleasures and rewards of literary inspiration are nothing beside the rapture of discovering a new organ under the microscope or an undescribed species on a mountainside in Iran or Peru. It is not improbable that had there been no revolution in Russia, I would have devoted myself entirely to lepidopterology and never written any novels at all.”

-Vladimir Nabokov

.

i like his socks.

.

2011-12-01T06:24:00.000-08:00

A rendering of the new SFMOMA expansion, by starchitects Snohetta.

"...the final design, to be announced today, devotes considerable space (40,000 square feet) to free public areas, as if to say that the museum is as much a place to gather as it is a place to view art."

- The New York Times

2011-11-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

velvety photos from here.

2011-11-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Another Earth may be the best film I've seen this year.
Written by Brit Marling and Mike Cahill and starring Brit Marling and William Mapother.

.

2011-11-27T06:57:00.000-08:00

a stick
a box
string
cardboard tubing
dirt

The 5 Best Toys of All Time by Jonathan Liu.

2011-11-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

The lighting of LAMBERT et FILS

.

2011-11-24T09:28:00.000-08:00

a tunic, from here.

2011-11-23T00:02:00.001-08:00

Typography Sketchbooks, from Thames & Hudson.
120 leading typographers and graphic designers open up their private sketchbooks to reveal their creative processes.

Also on typography: this.

2011-11-22T05:54:00.000-08:00

Sea floor flowers and rosy acorn worms. So penile and vaginal at once.
3 of 12 new species and at least 4 new genera of worms recently discovered 2,700 meters under the sea near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

RCA Secret

2011-11-20T07:48:00.001-08:00

1000 postcards for RCA Secret : November 18 - 25 at the Royal College of Art, London.

.

clouds

2011-11-19T07:54:00.000-08:00

Rüdiger Nehmzow photographs clouds form 4 miles up in the air. Here is a video of the process.

2011-11-17T07:52:00.000-08:00

Barbara Lynn Cumby, 1962.
During high school in Beaumont, Texas, Barbara formed the all-girl pants-wearing band Bobbie Lynn and Her Idols. She was known around those parts as 'The Black Elvis'.

.

2011-11-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

I'm so into Tales From The Green Valley, a 2005 BBC documentary television series that filmed five expert historians and archeologists (including Ruth Goodman) operating a typical 1620 English farm over a one-year period.

Watch episodes here and here.

kaffeslabberas

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

"Kaffeslabberas is a knitting club in the Copenhagen neighborhood of Amager. It's members are female pensioners whose rich history and zest for life overshadow their advanced age. The project partners these ladies with Danish artists and designers, with the intent to create a connection across generations through the strengths of craftmanship, diversity and experience.

via ancient industries.

2011-11-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

a new book on LB from Germano Celant.

2011-11-13T12:47:00.001-08:00

Modern Burl pop-up shop opens Nov. 17th !

Corduroy

2011-11-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

11 I 11 I 11
the day that most closely resembles corduroy. Corduroy Appreciation Clubs all over the world will be meeting for spectacular events today. All wales welcome.

fyi: horizontal corduroy.

.

me

2011-11-10T09:06:00.000-08:00

2011-11-09T12:17:00.000-08:00

5% Against The Odds: Canadian Women In Industrial Design
at Cambridge Galleries
Nov. 25 - Jan. 15, 2011

2011-11-09T11:55:00.000-08:00

katoen-cotton from the Fries Maritime Museum.

tourmaline

2011-11-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

1. 12.8 carat mint tourmaline. 4 carat yield, best cut shield or trillion
2. 8.45 carat mint tourmaline, best cut trillion or Portugese round.
3. 6.2 carat mint tourmaline, best cut hexagon or round brilliant.

from here via here.

A direct connector to the beautiful work of this artist.

.

and this too

2011-11-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

An apple galette.
Galettes are one of my favorite desserts to make because they're imprecise and easy on the eyes. If you're using frozen apples that you put up another day, they'll be super quick. I used a version of Irma Rombauer's Flaky Pastry Dough and made up the rest.

CT + IR Apple Galette
for the apples:
Thinly slice 5 firm cortland apples into a large bowl. Add 3/4 cup fresh-squeezed grape or lemon juice, 2/3 cup raw cane sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Stir to combine and let sit with a teatowel on top for about 30 minutes to allow the sugar and acidic juice to encourage the apples to make their lovely syrup.

Set the oven to 350 degrees F.

for the pastry:
In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour, 2 teaspoons raw cane sugar, and 1 teaspoon sea salt. In a small measuring cup, place 2 ice cubes and enough water to reach the 3/4 cup mark and leave this to sit while you proceed with the next step: Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add enough of the ice water to just bring the dough together into a ball.

to assemble the galette:
Lay a piece of parchment paper on a round or rectangular baking sheet, allowing the edges to come up the sides a little. Roll the dough out on a floured board to just under a 1/2 cm thickness. The shape needn't be uniform by any means. What you're looking for is the right thickness in proportion to your quantity of apples so the galette is balanced between the two textures and flavours -you don't want a heavy, doughy thing, nor do you want a too-thin pastry that can't hold its own.
Gently pick the dough up and lay it on the papered baking sheet, moving it into position so that the edges are more or less even as they extend beyond the sheet in some places. Spoon all the apples and syrup into the middle of the pastry and -working quickly, in a circular motion- fold the edges into the centre. It's fine if the syrup already starts seeping out of the folds at the edge of the galette. This is why you've placed the paper down.

In a small bowl, beat 1 egg with a fork. Brush the surface of the pastry with about 1/2 the beaten egg and sprinkle with raw cane sugar. Slide the pan into the hot oven and bake about 40 minutes, until the top is golden. Serve warm, with a really good vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche.

applesauce

2011-11-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

made with cortland and honey crisp apples. I quartered and blanched them in 6 quart batches to fit my biggest pot, then ground them. To each 4L bowl of sauce I added the juice of half a lemon and about 1/8 cup agave syrup. I didn't add cinnamon.

grape juice

2011-11-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

Grapes grow in our yard, and were finally juiced this weekend. The result is a sweet, green liquid that -when well strained- makes a lovely sipping juice and a perfect addition to apple pie and crisp filling. I bought the OMAC food mill for 30 $ at Quincaillerie Dante. It's a workhorse -ideal for making juice, tomato sauce, applesauce, etc.

Tomorrow I'll post applesauce photos.

2011-11-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

A new collection of photographs by Brian W. Ferry, who is also The Blue Hour.

.

2011-11-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

apak studio.

tomorrow

2011-11-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

20 new drawings and a window installation. If you're in Montréal tomorrow evening please come to the vernissage. If you don't care about drawing come for cheap, good wine -we're serving Les Jamelles SB and L'Orangarie de Pennautier 2009 by the glass (and by donation).
.

Magic Chicken

2011-11-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

Czarodziejska Kura (Magic Chicken) is a stunning new Polish children's magazine.
Purchase it here.

drawing

2011-10-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

Making new drawings for a small solo show that opens Friday 4th November, 2011. Details here.

Fresh Flowers

2011-10-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

David Hockney's iPad drawings are at the Royal Ontario Museum.

singin' hinnies

2011-10-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

The other morning I ruined what would have been a gorgeous loaf of Jim Leahy's no-knead bread. I had it set up for 19 hours, then didn't bake it long enough. I made the mistake of thinking it didn't need full time (30 min covered and 15 uncovered) since I used 1/2 buckwheat flour and added a little oat bran, and because I find my oven is on the very hot side. I baked it 35 minutes and it looked done, but it was most certainly not done.

I could have left it on the board to dry and made bread pudding with it the next morning, but I was crestfallen after 19 hours of anticipation and wanted it to just go away. C. kindly said he'd run down to get something from Bill Baker, the Baker in Dunham (yes, his given name is Bill Baker, and he's the town baker). I said I could make Singin' Hinnies in 5 minutes. He said, "let's race!" When he got home with brown bags full of croissants and raisin bread, we were sitting down to a plate of hot little Singin' Hinnies with butter, sharp cheddar, and jam -and to that we added Bill's delicious croissants.

(Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the finished hinnies, split, buttered, jammed. Next time.)

This recipe is a favorite oldie from the Sundays at Moosewood cookbook.

Singin' Hinnies
1 1/4 cups unbleached flour (part spelt or kamut works well)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoons cold butter
1/3 cup currants (optional)
1/3 - 1/2 cup milk
Butter for frying

Set a cast-iron pan on medium-low heat on the stove.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the currants if using. Add just enough milk to make a firm dough that's like a pie crust.
Roll out on a floured board to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into rounds about 1 1/2-inches in diameter.
Place a pat of butter in the hot frying pan and swirl to coat the bottom. Set the cakes in the butter and fry 4-5 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Serve hot.

.

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Mourir aprés de toi, a beautiful new animated film by Olympia Le-Tan and Spike Jonze.

via Julie. XO

Sophie Taeuber-Arp

2011-10-25T05:08:00.000-07:00

Sophie Henriette Gertrud Taeuber made magnificent stage sets, costumes, puppets, gouache paintings, oil paintings, weavings, and embroideries on cotton.

She:
- was one of very few Swiss participants in Zurich Dada activities

- was educated at the School of Applied Arts of Saint Gall, the textile workshop of the experimental studio (directed by Wilhelm von Debschitz), and the School of Applied Arts in Hamburg. Studied with Swiss modern dancer and choreographer Rudolf von Laban and performed with Mary Wigman at the Cabaret Voltaire dressed in costumes designed by fellow members of the Dada circle

- met Hans Arp in the fall of 1915 and later married him. Hans and Sophie worked extensively with abstract geometric forms and produced multiple collaborative collages, paintings, and textiles

- was professor of textile design and techniques at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich

- designed the stage sets and marionettes for a 1918 production of Carlo Gozzi's play Il re cervo (König Hirsch/King Stag), adapted by Werner Wolff and René Morax. This was the first performance of its kind to integrate Dada and psychoanalysis

- settled in Strasbourg

- received a commission to decorate The Aubette entertainment complex in the center of Strasbourg (and worked on the project with her husband and Theo van Doesburg)

- lived in Paris with Arp from 1928 - 1940.

- and Arp were forced to leave Paris for Southern France when World War II broke

- died of accidental gas poisoning in 1943 while she and Arp were in Zurich attempting to obtain passage to the United States.

.

2011-10-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

11. Historically, a story about people inside impressive buildings ignoring or even taunting people standing outside shouting at them turns out to be a story with an unhappy ending.

13 observations made by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance.

(thank-you, P.)

Nonna, Ti Spiego La Crisi Economica

2011-10-21T08:11:00.001-07:00

Nonna, You Explain The Economic Crisis.
From Infomare Per Resistere.

.

2011-10-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

The great Peter Berley is giving fall and winter cooking workshops at his home in NY state.

2011-10-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

PJ & JP

2011-10-20T06:34:00.000-07:00

2011-10-18T05:48:00.000-07:00

from here.
via my dear jake moore.

2011-10-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

Get out the cortlands. This is delicious on black magic cake (below) and on applesauce spice cake.

Brown Sugar Icing

This will cover a bundt, double layer, or 9x13-inch cake.

1 cup brown sugar
4 Tablespoons milk
6 Tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered (icing) sugar

Place the brown sugar, milk, and butter in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once they've melted, bring them to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool 5 minutes. Add icing sugar and beat to combine well.

Thanks, Mum.

.

birthday

2011-10-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had some birthday festivities for a special little girl who turned 6 (and shares her birthday with this guy). I made a black magic cake with strawberry buttercream icing. The cake recipe is a super simple, quick one that I'd call a never-fail chocolate cake. I quite like the shape of a bundt pan and it bakes perfectly this way but a 9x13 rectangular or two 8-inch circular pans work well too. A favorite icing for this is my Grandma Hanson's brown sugar icing (which I'll post soon) but T. requested "chocolate cake with strawberry icing" so I improvised.

Black Magic Cake

6 ounces high quality dark chocolate
1 cup freshly brewed espresso
2 scant cups organic sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup good quality cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 organic eggs
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (1 tsp white vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour the pan or pans

Set the chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot coffee over it, stirring to melt the chocolate. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (the batter will be thin).

Stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the wet ingredients, beating at medium speed for a few minutes.

Pour batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes for round pans and 40-60 minutes for a 9x13-inch or bundt pan, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. If using the bundt pan, invert it to cool. If using other pans, cool the cake for 10 minutes; remove it from the pans to wire racks and cool completely.

Strawberry Buttercream Icing

1 cup soft butter
3 cups powdered (icing) sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
3 Tablespoons strawberry preserves (Bonne Maman or St. Dalfour work well)
6 fresh strawberries, diced or julienned
1 cup whipping cream
zest of 1/2 lemon

Beat the butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add the vanilla, preserves, and icing sugar and beat to thoroughly combine. Stir in the fresh strawberries. Whip the cream separately until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the sugar/butter mixture, being careful not to over mix as the dairy will break before you know it. Gently and quickly add the lemon zest and immediately spread the icing over the cake. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

.

grey ball

2011-10-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

cute overload.

the sweetest

2011-10-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Arbi Lynn.
This is older, and I'm not sure how I missed posting it earlier but here it is in all its glory. What a little lovebug.

.

a great loss

2011-10-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

Civil Rights leader Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth passed away yesterday at the age of 89. Martin Luther King called him "one of the nation's most courageous freedom fighters ... a wiry, energetic and indomitable man."

"When others did not have the courage to stand up, speak up and speak out, Fred Shuttlesworth put all he had on the line to end segregation in Birmingham and the state of Alabama. He was beaten with chains, his church was bombed, and he lived under constant threat of physical violence."
- John Lewis

Listen here.

photos:
1. in Montgomery, Alabama, 2007
2. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, and Rev. Ralph Abernathy at a news conference in Birmingham, Alabama, May 8, 1963

a thing

2011-10-05T06:19:00.001-07:00

a lovely gravy boat. (another object from Gay's collection).

walking on tiny treasures

2011-10-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

sand.

2011-10-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

Polly Jean performed on the Andrew Marr show last week.

a women's college

2011-10-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

The idea of establishing a denominational college for young women in the Anglican Deanery of Bedford was first submitted to the Montreal's Synod in 1873. Following a contest between local municipalities, the overwhelmingly Anglo-Protestant rural village of Dunham won the honors, and six years later the Dunham Ladies' College opened. The total cost of construction was 11,000$. Annual cost for a boarder was 150$. In 1913 a gymnasium and infirmary were added and the college was renamed St. Helen's School.

This was a time when religion held a primary role in the construction of women's social identities: education being a means borrowed by the local and diocesan Anglican elite (lay and ecclesiastical) to promote the new spiritual mandate of the Church and a conservative vision of social organization. This elite male population intended the college to be an oasis of peace and of purity, the ideal place for young ladies to become gentlewomen. They planned the education of young ladies so as to ensure their becoming conveyances of the values necessary for the implementation of a spiritual Anglican society.

Under the supervision of Ms. Wade from 1911 - 1947, St. Helen's had an exceptional reputation. During the second world war many young English girls were sent to the school to ensure their safety. One of these women was Ms. Grace Elliot, mother of former Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

The school is now occupied by Youth With A Mission. When I walked by the other day I noticed a lot of mops laid out on the porch to dry.
.

2011-10-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

Some photos from this week, at a new favorite place to walk.

.

Here is the incredible Molly O'Hare.

.

fall fair

2011-09-29T06:16:00.001-07:00

The Photographic Historical Society of Canada is holding its annual Fall Fair this Sunday, October 2nd.

2011-09-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

Sweet peaches and cream corn on the cob. Perhaps this is the last of it for the year.

I like how this red burner became purple through the camera.