The Girl with...No Time on Her Hands

Let's hope, in the New Year, I manage to write a heck of a lot more than 2012. I also hope that I can manage to finish my penguin challenge of which I only finished one book (pathetic).

And of all things, my procrastination is purely caused by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Somehow in July I started to read this series (you've probably read it, so sorry to bore you) and it somehow absorbed all my free time into the Fall. The first book went rather well, the second was a tad slower and the third (!) I suffered through. Don't get me wrong, these are all excellent books but I was not in the right head space to get through the Swedish names and levels of Sweden's police departments!

I apologize for not photographing my Christmas crafts, my leg lamp cookies, my knitting...perhaps with the winter sunlight I will wake up a little and write a tad more in the New Year.

Versailles and Fabric Fusion!

I stumbled upon the current summer contemporary art installation at Versailles whilst purging my old bookmarks on the computer. How fabulous! These crazy quilted octopus' are invading the palace of Versailles for the summer and brings a whole "high-art" twist to yarn bombing, or quilt bombing as the case may be.

Royal Valkyrie by Joana Vasconcelos, at the Palace of Versailles

In case you don't know, the famous pop artist Takashi Murakami (most recognized by his Louis Vuttion multi-coloured purses) did an art installation at Versailles that raised a lot of controversy. I believe it was the first of such art installations in the palace.

Do you want to know how to say that in art speak - you say "art interventions." Yes, I work in the art world and hear this lingo bullshit all the time.

The controversy was quite extensive, merely because there are traditionalists who want historic buildings to remain historic without any change or influence from present day. From a museum stand-point, this is suicide. How often have you caught yourself saying, "Been there, seen that." This is one way museums are trying to bring people in, with art installations, performance, theatre, festivals etc. And what what's wrong with that? It's fun. You may not like it but it's only temporary. Maybe next time you'll like it.

Royal Valkyrie by Joana Vasconcelos

I have never heard of this artist, Joana Vasconcelos. The sculptures are pretty wacky. I can't say I like them all either. But I really like the bright colours against the rococo pastel paintings. Pretty wicked! If you would like to see all the installations, there is a special website here. Or visit Versailles. The Hall of Mirrors  and Marie Antionette's bedroom are amazing!

Stitch and Bitch Baby Blanket

Even though I am currently complaining about crochet, I did manage to knit a baby blanket for my pen pal in Taiwan. This was my first knitted baby blanket (!) and the pattern was from the first Stitch and Bitch book by Debbie Stoller. You can also get the pattern here on Ravelry.

This was a fantastic easy project. Excellent if you are a beginner (which I am not - but sometimes I act like one.)

Attempting: Flowers in the Snow

The scissors come in handy once there is far too many knots.

Ugh! Why do I torture myself?

While I knit, I admit I am not really good at it. No, I do not check my gauge and when I do I don't really understand what I am doing. And even though I can finish a project, I feel like I was in art school - never completely satisfied - knowing I could have done better.

So why do I torture myself? I think I am addicted to it.

Now I am re-teaching myself crochet. I was rather good at it as a child and sadly, picking up the hook again is not anywhere similar to always remembering how to ride a bike.

Bad Point: I don't remember a thing about crochet.

Bad Point: I do remember that I always made my stitches too tight.

Good Point: Crochet is faster and more fulfilling is tempting for the making of Christmas presents.

Good Point: I came across this pattern and loved it sooo much.

Good Point: 'Tis perfect for using up your yarn stash.

Good Point: You only have to pay between $2 - $3 for a hook.

Flowers in the Snow by Solveig Grimstad

Very nordic isn't it? I love the variety of colour and it doesn't look old (which is the problem with many granny square patterns). Fresh! Colour! Hip! Yes, it is all good.

This awesome and free pattern can be found on Ravelry under Solveig, here or you can check out her amazing site here. Trust me you'll want to pick up a hook once you visit.

For now I will be trying to make my circles look like her's. Hmmmm...not happening.....(enter any swear word here).

And another tip: this is the best link I have found for learning how to crochet (so far (-:). Good luck!

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Working and commuting so much has made me embrace my slow cooker. A familiar fav is my Chicken Cacciatore which I continue to adapt and work on. I don't know what it is but I am not impressed with most C.C. recipe's. They are lacking in flavour and are too simple.

That's right Delia Smith and America's Test Kitchen: your recipes are boring.

Maybe my adaptation is not traditionally Italian. Who cares? It's good.

Miss Loverly's Chicken Cacciatore
4 large chicken breasts, skin on, with bone
A can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of dried mushrooms (assorted is good)
1/4 cup of Kalamata Black Olives (remove the pits yourself)
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 large garlic cloves, diced
white wine
1 bay leaf
1 heaping tablespoon of dried Italian herbs
salt
pepper
fresh basil if you have it (not necessary)
pasta or rice to serve with

While this recipe may be made in a crock pot, you can as easily make this in a large cast iron pot to cook away slowly on the stove or in the oven.

1. Boil your kettle and let your dried mushrooms seep in half a cup of the hot water. After fifteen minutes, take your mushrooms and dice them. Save the water.

2. Place your chicken in the crock pot. If you are diet conscious, remove the skin. Sometimes I like to do half with skin on and half without. This time it's sans skin. Bone in is ideal for flavour. Salt and pepper your chicken. Add your onions and Italian herbs.

3. Add your garlic, onions and olives. Add the chopped dried mushrooms and it's seeped liquid. Add your can of diced tomatoes, a bay leaf and one cup or more of white wine (just ensure that the chicken is submerged). Make sure your ingredients are well distributed and stir if they are not. Set your crock pot on for 6 hours. If you are to make this on the stove, a slow two hours is good.

4. As there is quite a bit of liquid, you may add rice directly to the crock pot and wait for it to cook, testing it ever so often to see if it is ready. Remember brown rice takes longer! If you are adding to pasta, you may like to take the top off of the crock pot and let some of the liquid simmer off. You may also add a tablespoon of cornstarch and hot water (well mixed) to the sauce to thicken as well.

5. Adding some fresh torn basil is completely optional though it is a great addition.

Why this recipe works:
The dried mushrooms add an earthy-ness to the dish and don't water down the sauce.
The olives add saltiness.
The basil is just darn good and extremely Italian.
It is so easy!

A Visit to Aberfoyle

If you are in the Southern Ontario area, you probably know of Aberfoyle, Ontario. If not, let me fill you in. Aberfoyle is located just outside of Guelph and is home to one of the largest and oldest antique markets. The market is held every Sunday (yes, that's right, only Sunday). And what better way to spend the day then to jumble sail! or is it jumble sale? That's what the Brits call it anyway.

This is one of the "streets" at Aberfoyle, named so you don't get lost.

The market sprawls in and out of trees and into gravel clearings.
Some sellers have little booths, while others are literally set up out of their car!

I feel for the sellers in this area: poor suckers have no shade.

So what can you find at Aberfoyle? Really anything. I went with four items in mind: stereoscope cards (which I used to collect, but have neglected), coins for my friend at Coin Coin Designs & Co. , pie birds, and those Mario Batali antique string holder heads that I desperately want for my kitchen!!! (and which I have previously blogged about here).

I managed to actually find a String Head (is that what you would call them?!) But I didn't like it at all.

Is it a dog or a cat? It's $45, that's all I know.

I noticed some really obvious collecting trends. First: old Crown mason jars were everywhere and ranged in price from $3 to over $12. Another was old carved duck decoys! You should have heard this fellow give the history of this duck from the 1920's. The fact that you can even tell the date of when something like that is carved is amazing. Typewriters and rotary phones were everywhere. The average price for a rotary phone was about $45! Wild!

There were excellent prices on old cameras. Lots of paint by number (ever see Drew Barrymore's collection? It rocks). And all the toys that boys played with in the 80's are suddenly worth something.

Some really neat costume jewelry, military pins and watches...

Where I could have gone crazy but didn't was here: (I am so proud of my restraint!)

WHOA! This is the best selection of antique typefaces yet!!!

Need more information on Aberfoyle? Check out their website.

Canvas Rug Project

I did a little (i.e. big project) over at my friend's blog, Hobby Junkies. It is a Canvas Floor Rug, which is a great craft for the painter and decorator in you.

Check it out, here.

Colour Graffitti

I saw this pic in today's Telegraph and had to post it. Imagine tricking out your house like this! Would the neighbours mind?

Beats Christmas lights in my book!

The Churchill Arms in London, courtesy of the Telegraph.

New Foodie Crush: The Little Paris Kitchen

I stumbled on The Little Paris Kitchen quite by accident. I love Paris. I love Amelie. I love food. Well, The Little Paris Kitchen is just all three things together. The program features Rachel Khoo, who is amazingly beautiful in her Amelie dark brown hair and red lipstick. She wears cute little sun dresses with polka dots. She cooks with large sticks of butter.

Moroccan tiles in her kitchen....the jealousy continues....

You can catch some episodes on YouTube and probably find some cute dresses like hers on ModCloth.com. The food is classic french cuisine. No big surprises but little twists. I think I like the show to reminisce about gay Paris.....oh, I must go back!

Little Paris Kitchen is relatively new and a cookbook probably is not in the forseeable future. As usual, it will be published in the UK (with those damned english weights - I don't own a scale!) and we Canadians will have to wait a year or two to have her cookbook in our hands.

It will probably take a year for Food Network Canada to pick it up too. As I do not have cable, that is no great loss. I just hope I can find all the episodes on youtube!

Car Commuter Tips (or how to live in front of a steering wheel)

Tending to work from contract to contract, I never seem to know where I will end up next. Sadly, I have to commute and while I do prefer public transportation (yay environment!) sometimes I don't have much of a choice. My current employment location is in a town that has a public bus come twice a day. That's right. Twice a day.
I have no choice but to drive.

Yah, I definitely do not drive a Peugeot. But this blog needed a pic.

Here are my suggestions to make your travel a little bit easier.

1. Always have Water in the Car
While I detest anyone even thinking of buying bottled water (seriously, buy a Britta and metal can it), you really should have a bottle within your driving reach just in case you are stuck in traffic congestion.
And if you are lucky to have that bottle of water in your car during the winter, you will be able to do this neat trick.

2. Emergency Car Snacks
I believe this is why your car has a glove compartment. It ain't for gloves. It's for snacks. I recommend choosing something that can last several months, something that can't melt and something that you will actually eat in an emergency. Granola bars? Seriously. They can turn into bricks. Try a soft baked cookie.

Emergency car food of choice: a soft baked cookie.

3. Car Shoes
Wha? you say. Something comfy on your feet works wonders. My shoes currently are sandals. I am not wearing my work boots in my car (that doesn't have air conditioning) during my commute. That is not going to happen. Tight work shoes or heels. Say no. Your feet will thank you and your drive will be much more pleasant. Where you stick your stinky socks when you are driving home is completely your choice.

4. & 5.  An Emergency Car Kit and CAA/AAA
If you don't have an Emergency Car Kit you shouldn't be on the road. Add mittens to your kit, you'll use them. CAA is a godsend too. They rock. And if you use particular gas stations, they can swipe your CAA card to save yourself membership fees next time it needs to be renewed.

6. & 7. Properly Filled Tires with Tire Gauge (and an aside on Winter Tires)
If I hear you whine about gas prices and you don't own a tire gadge, you deserve it. Properly inflated tires save you money on your car's gas usage. The pressure of your tires is listed in your car manual or on a sticker in the inside of your drivers door. If you don't know how to use a tire gauge or an air pressure pump, ask your mechanic. They will probably show you this info for free and this will definitely save you money. I am overly diligent about the air in my tires and criticize my neighbour's tires too.

You should have Winter Tires if you live in Canada. Don't give me that global warming excuse. It should be law and yes, I know they are expensive. But trust me, the first time you try them you will be shocked at the difference. Your car will drive through snow like a hot knife through butter. They are wonderful.

8. Pre-programmed Radio Stations
While radio is not what it used to me, you'll need it to combat your sanity. If you actually have the income to buy satellite radio, go ahead.

Additional Must Haves: Air conditioning in 40 degree weather would be nice (I can dream). Washer Fluid. Good wipers. Clean windows. A cellphone (turned off!!!).

Fishtail Braid

ooooh! I would love to try this fishtail braid. I don't know if my hair is long enough though. Hopefully, you won't have this problem!

Check out the video from the Globe and Mail here.

Japanese Trinket Love

There is something about how incredibly cute Japanese or Chinese stationary is. All the cute pens and paper with funny anime characters on it. I am such a sucker!

Heaven forbid if I come across a store that sells the stuff. I should just hand over my wallet.

Trust me, it is so difficult working in Chinatown. It is good I got contract in another location for awhile. I don't need anymore stuff. I don't need to spend anymore money.

But then I just happened to stumble upon a new store called Ka Ka Fa Fa. Looooove it. Cute overload!

Uh oh. I need therapy. This is what I bought: (this time, anyways)

Recycled post-it notes for my friend in Halifax with a little note saying "no matter how far apart we are, my thoughts always find their way back to you. missing"

I think the worm covers up the you in that sentence. As in all stationary purchases, if the English is bad, I love it even more.

This is for my pen pal in Taiwan who loves cats. I'm sending her a package soon containing a baby blanket I am knitting. This will match it purrrrfectly.

Two super pretty envelopes that can also serve as a single page letter note, depending if you write on the inside.

Yup that is teddy bear mushroom tape. Funky tape rocks and always impresses the mail clerk at Canada Post, let me tell you. I have a reputation I need to keep up you know.

Alice Adventures in Wonderland postcard....there were a few to chose from.

For two of my pen pals that love cats - keychains! OMG - while I'm allergic to cats, you gotta love these "cheese cats," so they are named. Soooooo cute!

OMG they have little paws! EEEEEEK!!!

Favourite Online Magazines

There are so many terrific online magazines now. Sadly, it makes you wonder how paper magazines exist.

Here are some fabulous craft, design, food and lifestyle mags and here are my top choices. All of these magazines have supporting blogs that are good to read too. Check them out and support them!

Covet Garden is a Canadian Magazine and blog that features a home of an artist/artisan/arts worker/designer every issue. It includes projects and recipes, really great finds and I especially like the pages about where the artist tells about their current reads, tunes and inspirations. Plus it is Canadian!

Sweet Paul is based out of New York. It is food based but has some crafty projects. It seemed for a while they had many activities based on children. The photography is terrific. Great party ideas. Very party centric actually. They also sell this magazine in paper at Anthropologie for $20 if you want to pay for it.

rue is a fashion/interior design/travel magazine. They have the biggest budget of all the magazines I read because they often travel to different locations to view homes. rue is not as hipster as my other reads but they do have neat finds. This mag also has d.i.y. projects and recipes, a necessity to all my online reading.

Leaf is a terrific gardening/design magazine from the States. While I haven't gone through all the back issues they have terrific outdoor projects. If you have a yard, or like to entertain, this is a must read. Or if you are like me and live in an apartment, it is nice to dream.

91 Magazine is based out of the U.K. and is full of retro, vintage. crafty, magazine with some food. It is a rather new publication and is pretty girlie. Actually that is the best word to describe this mag: pretty. Fun to browse through and has a good blog.

NEET is also a new find to me. Indie, hipster fashion and handmade crafts along with some music reviews and interviews. If you read Bust or Nylon and shop at etsy, you'll like NEET. Plus there are tons of back issues (all the way to 2009!) so you are bound to find something you'll like.

Samples: P&G BrandSampler

I like freebies and who doesn't? For a few years now I have been subscribed to P&G BrandSaver which is a fabulous way to get new products in your mailbox about every season/3 months. Sometimes they have special "male" samplers which are equally impressive (I have signed Mr. B on) so it is worth keeping abreast with their emails.

I was really impressed with my last box. Here is a pic of it:

Inside was a Febreze Car deodorizer, a Scope pack with a floss/mouthwash/toothpaste sample, Downey Un-Stopables and a man's Fusion Proglide Five Blade Razor along with coupons for more products.

I don't use Febreze because I can't stand the underlying smell it has that reminds me of a candy I ate as a kid ----yah, that concept is scary---- my Mom uses it. I was intrigued by the new Febreze Car fresheners though and I am excited to try it out in my car once the heat dies down a bit.

The Scope pack I have received before and they are super handy to carry with you if you are traveling.

The Downey is a bit scary. It is really, really scented. I can smell it even though it is vacuumed packed. I am going to try it out with my towels or my sock wash, in little bits though.

The razor is fab. Any free razor is fab. At $10 a pop, I hate buying razors. I have gotten more than one Venus razors (!!!) in the past and love the fact I don't have to buy them. Personally, I find it a good product, but find the razor overpriced and containing too much plastic that will later get tossed into a landfill.

What have I gotten in the past? I have received shampoo and detergent samples, teeth whiteners, food samples and great coupons. Pretty awesome guys! Definitely you should check it out!

The Sisters Brothers (and various thoughts about book critics and publishers)

Around Christmas 2011, there was a huge amount of hype about "The Sisters Brothers" by Patrick deWitt. The idea of reading a Western didn't really appeal to me and thankfully, my father was given the book by my aunt (saving me from buying it!)

While I thought I wouldn't enjoy it, I was pleasantly surprised and would recommend it! The book honestly reads like a short story and it is action packed, quick paced, and fun.

Maybe I associate Westerns with John Wayne and slow plotted movies that film dust storms and tumbleweeds. The basic plot is of Eli and Charlie Sisters traveling towards the west coast of California. They have been hired to kill a man (natch) and are notorious killers to most of the greater public. It really doesn't take much for them to pull a trigger, so expect a lot of blood.

I love the cover art on this book. The size is another story.

Charlie is a drunk. Eli is seeking a greater purpose in his life.  Together they get into strange situations (still trying to understand the witch thing), shoot a lot of people, drink and go to whore houses. It's really entertaining listening to Eli trying to make sense of it all.

Okay, now to a discussion on "funny":

All the critic quotes on and in the book talk about how hilarious the book is. This is not the first book I've read that has been deemed as hilarious where I don't laugh.

I have a sense of humour. This book was not funny. Whimsical, yes. Not, ha ha ha or LOL.

Who determines what is funny? Don't I have a sense of humour? David Sedaris is funny (I'm reading one of his works now). Why don't critics call "funny" works, "quirky"? Or "strange"? Or "weird"?

I think I am officially insulted.

And another thing: 

Is this why is the book is so friggin' big?!?!?!  The type is huge, .... , well, large. I threw this sucker in my purse one day and it practically took up the whole thing.

I am figuring the publisher probably thought that more men would read this book than woman. Do you think that they made the book bigger for "man hands"?

I'm insulted again!

The Sister Brothers is 9" in length and 6" wide.
(Stacked from bottom: The Sister Bros, Visit from the Goon Squad and Sons and Lovers)

Coming from a visual art background, I get the artsy-ness of a large paperback. It's cute. I get it. And I understand that sometimes a larger size lends it self to the story (I can't imagine D. Coupland's "Generation X" in a small format because it includes images, or any graphic book for that matter). And hardcover books tend to be bigger too.

But when novels are almost the size of a magazine, the publisher should consider that the reader may like to carry the book somewhere to read it.

Damn - I don't believe I actually measured it.

Dull to Shiny Rain Boots

Are your Wellies dull? Do they only look good in the rain? Here is a project you will be able to complete over the weekend.

The solution to make your booties shine is to use Armor All Vinyl Protectant wipes for your car. Easy Peasy!

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes (or Car Crash Cupcakes)

A kitchen decoration of my dog chows down on a cupcake!

I was sentimental and decided for a family gathering I would make Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes. If you never had these as a kid, you missed out! In making these, I discovered many pros and cons about making them - something I would have never known as a kid.

You need: cake mix, ice cream cones and icing. Candy is good too.

Take your batter and pour it into your cone below the lip. In fact, I would even pour it lower than the batter in this image.

I found that loaf pans work very well to hold the cones. Make sure the cones are level otherwise you will get this or this: (especially if you overfill your cones!)

Thankfully you can pick some of this cake residue off and eat it!

FIRST MESS UP: I made these ahead of time and put them into a plastic container. Overnight the cones became soft from the moisture of the cake. Not cool.

I also made the icing ahead of time (a simple buttercream) and put it into a large plastic bag to pipe onto the cupcakes.

Early morning sunlight casts it's rays onto my icing and cupcakes.

SECOND MESS UP: It was a hot morning and the buttercream quickly became soft. It was not cooperative and soon I had icing everywhere. (Is that really a bad thing?) Top your icing with some candy. I used sour atomic balls.

If you have empty space in your plastic traveling container, fill it out with a ball of wax paper.

Cupcake for breakfast? Okay!

THIRD MESS UP: (Probably the biggest one to avoid): On route to the gathering we got in a car crash by being rear ended by another car and pushing us into the one in front of us. This will topple your cupcakes and make a big mess. At this point, you are allowed to eat any or all of the cupcakes to feel better.

Now if you remember these from your childhood, you will remember that the cone part is not the yummiest from baking. My boyfriend called it "stringy." I would describe it more as stale. I actually like the combo of the cake and cone but it is up to you to decide.