bird etching

we had some visitors in our backyard this morning and had to capture their arrival. this will be my last post of 2007 and i would like to thank all of you who check in and support this wee blog. i wish you all a happy and safe holiday and look forward to coming back with fresh ideas in the new year!

biscotti

i made these biscotti yesterday to include in my ususal cookie gift packages. while i usually make some sort of italian biscotti (a word used by italians to refer to all cookies, much like the english word biscuit) this is the first time i have made what the italians refer to as cantucci - the traditional long, dry, twice-baked biscuit. this recipe courtesy of mario batali is delicious and rather simple. remember not to fiddle too much with cooking times as cantucci become harder as they cool. happy holidays!

Ingredients
3-½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 large eggs
2 egg yolks plus one egg white, reserved
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons anisette or amaretto
1 tablespoon anise seed
6 cups coarsely chopped whole
almonds
1 tablespoon granulated sugar for glaze
Biscotti Pan. From Chicago Metallic’s commercial line of bakeware, designed specifically for biscotti baking.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease two heavy cookie sheets, or line with parchment paper.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until light, about 2 minutes; the mixture will look somewhat curdled. Beat in the vanilla, anisette or amaretto, and anise seed. Beat in the dry ingredients, then the chopped nuts.
Divide the dough into four portions. On a lightly floured board, shape each portion into a flat log, just about the length the cookie sheet. Place two rolls on each cookie sheet.
In a small bowl, beat the egg white with a fork until frothy. With a pastry brush, glaze each log with some egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the logs are lightly golden brown, firm to the touch and just beginning to crack slightly.
Allow the logs to cool on the cookie sheet until cool to the touch, about 40 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°. With a serrated knife, slice the biscotti, slightly on the bias, into ½-inch slices. Lay the slices on the cookie sheets in single layer; Return the biscotti to the oven and cook for 20 more minutes, or until the biscotti are toasted and crisp
Store the biscotti in an airtight container. They will keep up to about 2 weeks.

all in the family

my sister, angela is an amateur artist. i have begged her to create several pieces for my home (since i can afford her fee of supplies only and love her work). this work featured here is by far my favourite - love the vibrant colour and dizzying effect of the lines.

city shots

some shots taken while zipping around the city after the snow storm

ed emberley

ed emberley's make a world drawing book is possibly the best craft book i have ever purchased for olivia. we spent yesterday afternoon creating minature animals, buildings and people - hours of fun. check out the cover image for a glimpse of the objects you can learn to draw. emberley uses simple shapes (rectangles, circles, dots) as the building blocks for each drawing, so kids can easily follow each step. a fantastic gift idea!

(instantly addictive - if i can draw these anyone can!)

clare grill

images courtesy of claregrill.com

i spotted artist clare grill on design*sponge and was immediately taken by her stunning work. her intense use of colour- hot pinks, vibrant blues, reds and yellows, is right up my alley. grill is a brooklyn based artist who uses gauche and oil to create her gorgeous paintings. you can check her out online @ claregrill.com.

girl power

courtesy of goawayparis.com
in a world of britney spears' and paris hilton's, it appears that young girls aspire for sexual provocativeness, rather than the intellectual kind. amelia hill of the observer, writes that "today's girls prefer to look sexy rather than be clever". citing numerous examples within popular culture, hill's argument rests upon the findings from a new book by carol platt liebau, prude: how the sex-obsessed culture damages girls, in which liebau says that " 'popular culture is undermining girls' sense of worth in their most vulnerable, formative years'" thereby destroying any remnants of a feminism. from scant pieces of clothing to audacious music videos, female sexuality is glorified and sensationalized. liebau's book attempts to put into perspective this hyper-sexualization of young girls, where she explains that " 'today there exists a status quo in which almost everything seems focused on what's going on 'below the waist'." this concept of exploiting female sexuality is not a new one, but perhaps this is the first time that girls themselves are willing participants. because of the glorification of female sexuality, young girls feel a sense of empowerment when they respond to and in turn become sex icons. in light of the alarming issues delineated in both hill's article and liebau's book, it appears that it is now paramount that we redirect young girls’ misguided concepts about sexuality and refocus their aspirations to become realized rather than sexualized.

bathsheba

here are some pics of the impressive bathsheba located on the east coast of barbados. known for its rugged landscape and soup bowl waves, this beach attracts tourists who love to surf and enjoy a more untamed environment.

sweet escape

on days when i want to be somewhere else -
barbados is my dream destination.
gorgeous st.joseph parish rebuilt in 1839 at the foot of hackleton's cliff on the east coast

more pics of this lovely island to follow

northern white

some shots taken this past weekend at the cottage in minden, ontario.

olive

some colour and sunshine on this bleak december day. love the eyelashes and poppies!

cut-out cookies

i'm not much of a baker (precision is not my thing), but i love making cut-out cookies; they are easy baking and remind me of my mother. olivia loves pressing the shapes, mixing colours and spreading the goo on each cookie. all of these are her creation - not too shabby!

Here's the recipe courtesy of Nigella Feast.

Cookies: 6 tablespoons soft unsalted butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 large egg 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt
Icing: 2 to 3 tablespoons just-boiled water 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted Food coloring, preferably pastes
Special equipment: cookie cutters
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and moving towards moussiness, then beat in the egg and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix gently but surely. If you think the finished mixture is too sticky to be rolled out, add more flour, but do so sparingly as too much will make the dough tough. Form into a fat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place disk of dough on it, and sprinkle a little more flour on top of that. Then roll it out to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the cookies a little apart on 2 parchment or silpat lined baking sheets.
Bake for 8 to 12 minutes; obviously it depends on the shape you're using and whether they are on the upper or lower shelf, though you can swap them around after about 5 minutes. When they're ready expect them to be tinged a pronounced gold around the edges; they'll be softish still in the middle, but set while they cool.
Remove the cookies with a flat, preferably flexible, spatula to a wire rack. When they are fully cooled, you can get on with the icing. Put a couple of tablespoons of not-quite-boiling water into a large bowl, add the sieved confectioners sugar and mix together, adding more water as you need to form a thick paste. Color,as desired. I think pastes are much better than liquid, not just because the range of colors is better but because they don't dilute the icing as they tint. Ice cooled cookies, as desired.

let it snow

some shots of my garden entombed in white.

joy of the mountains

there are several spices that are in my usual culinary repertoire - basil, thyme, rosemary, cumin and garam masala, but none can surpass the nostalgic pleasure of oregano. perhaps this is because of its intrinsic link to tomato sauce, but more likely it is due to the simple fact that it is grown, cultivated, dried and given to me by my father. his garden is a testament to old world charm; grapes hang on trellises, tomatoes droop heavy on plants and tufts of oregano are strewn about in pots and beds. this is why it is with humble pride every year that i take a container of oregano that my father has painstakingly destalked for his family and adorn fish, roasts, kabobs, tomatoes and soups with what is often a most overlooked herb. this "joy of the mountains" (derived from the greek rigani) is indeed a joy in my home and in my heart.

holiday gift

image courtesy of worldvision
with holiday season in full swing, people are beginning to crowd malls and high streets lined with shops. while i stand behind the very notion of gift giving, perhaps this year i may chose to give in an all together different way. world vision canada offers an array of donation options - from sponsoring a child to purchasing a goat for a village. such gifts may not come with pretty bows, but certainly are worthy of one.

olde boston bulldogge

wayne is desperate for a dog: a particular sort of dog that is neither small, nor large, is short-haired, energetic, jovial, kind, kid-friendly and adaptable (apparently my choice of a coton de tulear will not cut it) and with his ever roving canine eye, he spotted a dog at an antique market yesterday that just might fit his rigid standards. the breed (olde boston bulldogge) shown here, is part boston terrier, part bulldogge and i must admit while certainly not being a "dog person" the little fella we met was a charmer. wayne spent the evening researching the breed, after hours of burrowing himself away in the basement, upon his ascension – i could smell love in the air.

snow etching

olivia etched this girl in a whisp of snow yesterday. her signature art piece looks quite ethereal in white.

departure

january 27, 1968 - the beginning of an odyssey. on a crisp winter morning my parents and siblings left the safe-haven of their italian home and travelled 4000 miles cross-atlantic to toronto. the airline, canadian pacific knew an immigrant story when they saw one and snapped this photo at fiumicino before departure. the expressions are telling - anticipation, expectation and fear. my father waves to parents he will leave behind and staves off any feeling of weakness. they stand tall, eyes squinting - peering into a future they can barely see.

the art book for children

the art book for children is a beautifully produced work featuring 3o notable artists.
in this engaging and fun text, renowned visual art publishers phaidon press, foster an appreciation for the artistic process and help children understand why and how artists create the work they do.
with chapters ranging from moore to dali,
even the most indifferent child is sure to be inspired.