A Glimpse at a Ballerina

11 June 20149 May 2015

Besides the Eiffel Tower, the one thing that everyone thinks of when they think of Paris are the museums and the artwork. The Louvre houses Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest work La Jaconde, or simply, the Mona Lisa. Musée d’Orsay houses many of the French art pieces from 1848 to 1915. For those who love impressionism, you’ll find many impressionist artists’ works at this museum. Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Manet and Degas all find a home for their masterpieces within the walls of this old train station.

The first time I ever laid eyes upon a Degas original was in the d’Orsay when I was 16 years old. At the time, the Degas exhibit was under renovation so there were only a few paintings on the walls. Sheets of plastic from the floor to the ceiling covered the entire area to be renovated.

As I was walking by, totally bummed that I only got to see a few Degas paintings and not the ones I was hoping to see…it was then that I saw her.

via Tumblr (original photographer unknown)

She was inside the walls of plastic standing so majestically and untouched by the drama of construction around her. Her stance was so tall. So confident. She was literally the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She took my breath away. This was Degas’ statue of the Little Dancer at 14 years old.

I walked around the plastic walls, hoping to find an opening so I could see her more clearly. I had walked to the far end of the room and couldn’t find an opening. Just as I gave up and was starting to walk out a different exit, I found an opening and stopped.

There she was. No plastic to skew my view. Her skirt, made of fabric. Degas made her skirt out of fabric! I was so amazed that he had put a real skirt and a bow on a statue. It left this young teenager in awe. Degas was something else.

The artists that left a great impression on me were the impressionists. They saw beauty the way people sometimes stop and look at the world in wonder and amazement. They were able to capture those moments of wonder and incorporate it into art.

In a way, impressionism is like seeing beauty skewed…like there’s something separating you from the true beauty. It’s like seeing Degas’ Little Dancer through a sheet of plastic. You know that moment of wonder is there, but our vision is skewed from seeing the true beauty behind that wall. We can’t see it clearly. Instead, the entire moment of beauty is in seeing it skewed by seeing the message in a much bigger picture.

There is always something that separates us from seeing the raw, nakedness of beauty. Even in this day and age, we can’t get to the true beauty. On women, there’s layers of makeup, clothes and products galore. For painters, they have to use layers upon layers of paint to create their design. Most of us spend so much time looking at our devices for beauty in a picture that is manipulated through Photoshop or the color doesn’t come out clearly through the screen. Sometimes the lens doesn’t pick up the true colors when the photograph is taken.

We’re not seeing that true moment of raw beauty in front of us; not in the way the naked eye sees it in the moment’s rawest form. We are seeing the beauty skewed.

This is the way mankind has been looking at beauty for a long time. If anything, impressionism is proof of that.

Maybe next time when you see a flower blooming, you’ll stop to admire it in ways that will make you appreciate beauty in its rawest forms. In this day and age, looking up from our devices and appreciating the beauty around us is a rarity. The world chooses to not stop and smell the roses. But trust me, you do want to stop in your tracks every once in a while and take in that raw beauty.

Acquiring and Buying Art

10 June 20149 May 2015

Since I started this week off discussing art, we’re going to continue this week’s worth of posts on artwork. Today, we’re going to discuss acquiring and buying art.

I love art. I think one of the first paintings I ever fell in love with was Young Girl Reading by Jean Honore Fragonard. My great uncle had given me a print of it when I was young. It was the first piece of art (even though a print) I ever owned.

In my adult years, I started looking to buy my own original art. There were the Goodwill purchases at the start or those street vendors selling their wares in cities around the world. {My favorite was an artist selling his work on the sidewalk in Venice Beach.} Later, came artist friends. One friend was the sister of an NHL player who was heading back to her home country and needed to unload her paintings. She sold two paintings to me for $400.

Later came a painting I found at my grandfather’s home. It was painted by an elephant in Thailand. Since my grandfather and I have a connection when it comes to travel, I took it home and had it framed. It’s one of my favorite paintings.

I started painting on my own, but it had more to do with color than subject matter. Why shop for artwork to match my room when I already have enough paint leftover from my DIY project? Granted, my artwork wouldn’t sell for pennies. It’s just for my own convenience.

Today when I shop for art, it’s a mixture of a lot of things: old 18th and 19th century drawings picked up at yard sales and antique fairs, my own photography, and now I’ve commissioned a Borbay painting I can call my own.

Antihero #4 - Tony Soprano by Borbay — Antihero #4 – Tony Soprano by Borbay

Jason caught me on a day I was on a Hannibal shopping spree. I was buying new home decor items that were Hannibal themed fan artwork. He approached me about doing a Hannibal painting similar to his most recently finished Tony Soprano painting.

Hannibal (the Mads Mikkelsen version) was on his list of Antiheroes he was going to paint. Now, he has a buyer, so we treated this as a commission so that I could get my hands on it first (and it be in a size that I could live with since I am lacking wall space these days).

Jason is a friend, so owning one of his pieces, while I can still afford it, is going to be a huge investment for my art collection, because my favorite artwork that I will enjoy for the rest of my life always comes from a friend. Now that his painting of Michael Jackson is on the cover of Michael Jackson, Inc.: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of a Billion-Dollar Empire
by Forbes Senior Editor Zack O. Greenburg, his work may be more expensive in the months and years to come. In other words, invest in the artist now before his work skyrockets and you can’t afford it.

He wrote this interesting piece on his blog about buying art over time. For those wanting to commission a piece of artwork, his post discusses the importance of locking in the price now and paying over time. If say in 5 years a base commission is $50,000 for a small Borbay painting, you’re going to wish you were able to lock him into that $4,000 price, paying over time, before he became uber-famous.

Just take a look around his website and you’ll see that there is great promise and his work will only be more in demand as the years progress. {He’s got the credentials is all I’m saying. Just look at what major news outlets have featured his work, including Forbes.}

I decided to take him up on his suggestion and we worked out a canvas size, price, and the payment plan. Over the next six months, he’ll be creating a painting using this photo of Mads Mikkelsen.

What I’ve noticed is that with each new collage painting he creates, it’s better than the last one. Considering the last collage of Tony Soprano looked amazing, I am confident in knowing that Hannibal will look even more amazing than Tony Soprano.

Jason always shares the process of creating each of his masterpieces. Here’s the latest post on the process for creating Tony Soprano.

How to Begin

Buying art is a gradual thing. Start at places like Goodwill or The Salvation Army. Stop by artist tables when you see them out on the street trying to sell their work (especially when you are on vacation). Find young artists that are still fresh and new to the scene. They do need to eat.

Find art that speaks to you and you don’t mind looking at it for the rest of your life. If you know an artist and love their work, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for a commissioned piece on a subject matter you love or want to cherish for the rest of your life. Ask if they can set up a payment structure like some artists offer.

If you have a friend that’s an artist and you love their work, invest in them and their talent. Sometimes you can work a deal with them, especially when they are making a life change (like moving to another country or across town).

: From Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

I have another friend that is amazing at knitting. I fell in love with the Katniss scarf (which is not available for sale anywhere). She found the pattern online, I bought the yarn and she’s now making this scarf for me…and she’s enjoying this challenge immensely. Not only am I getting this awesome scarf that is not available for sale anywhere, but I’m able to recycle a few t-shirts I’m not using anymore (who knew that to make the coils, they needed to use a shredded t-shirt!?). So now those NHL t-shirts are being recycled into something new and better.

When you know someone (a friend or a family member) that has an amazing passion, hobby or talent (or that talent is their profession), invest in them. Some of the most amazing things you will ever own come from those you know, because what they are creating for you will have a story and you are connected to the story, making it more personal for you.

Believe it or not, over Christmas I received a bunch of children’s drawings from Jersey Cares. Kids drew what they wanted for Christmas and it was my mission to go out and create a Christmas for these kids who wouldn’t have a Christmas. Those drawings from the kids were probably the best Christmas present I’ve received in a long time. I gave them Christmas, they gave me art. In that little piece of paper, they drew their dreams, hopes and wishes for a simple toy that Frosty would give to them. To a child, that wish means more to them than an adult wish. We’re used to disappointments by now. For a child, though, one who has faced enough disappointments, failures and neglect at such a young age, just being able to put a dream down on a piece of paper of what would make them happy and for me to be able to provide them with that little piece of happiness…that’s why that piece of art means so much to me.

Parents and grandparents know what I’m talking about. Sometimes the best artists in the world are the little ones right under our noses.

French Cooking: Week Two

9 June 2014

After week one of figuring out the French method for cooking, I decided to do things a little differently by not sticking to the recipe 100%. I decided to make life just a little bit easier.

Saturday’s Dinner: Dijon Pork Chops

Dijon appears in a lot of French recipes. Since I had made two chicken dishes last weekend, I decided to modify this Chicken Dijon recipe and use pork chops instead.

As you read through the recipe, I’m just going to let you know that I really simplified it so that anyone could make it without the extra grunt work (like the first step of toasting the coriander seeds…I took that out completely). Here is my revised recipe.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons butter
4 pork chops
Sea salt and freshly ground peper
2 finely chopped shallots
4 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth (made from scratch)
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons crème fraîche

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat the butter. Season the pork chops with sea salt and ground pepper (go light on the sea salt). Cook the pork chops over moderately high heat, turning until golden brown on both sides. Add the scallions and garlic, cooking for a couple of minutes. Add broth.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the dijon mustard, whole grain-mustard, honey and crème fraîche. Poor mixture over the pork chops and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Serve with buttery noodles. [For a little extra flavor, add parsley, or Italian seasoning to the noodles.]

I also had some of the green beans with shallots and almonds leftover from last weekend’s meal, so I added that as a side dish.

Sunday’s Dinner: CrockPot Pork in Red Wine Vinegar

This is another adaptation from a Food & Wine recipe. Instead of Chicken in Red Wine Vinegar, I used sliced pork. Instead of all the cooking on the stove, I used a crock pot. Just add all of the ingredients to a crock pot, minus the crème fraîche.

I put the ingredients together and then set the temperature on high. 3 hours later, the pork was cooked through. I added the crème fraîche and let cook for another half an hour before turning off the crock pot.

As a side dish, I made brussel sprouts with peas (I was craving peas, but this recipe I found for brussel sprouts sounded good, so I added the peas as a filler).

It’s very simple to make if you’ve figured out the French method.

{RECIPE} Heat 2 Tablespoons of butter in a skillet, fry 8 slices of bacon in it (I used turkey bacon), after the bacon is cooked, add 3 shallots (thinly sliced), after the shallots brown (takes about 20 seconds), add the brussel sprouts and peas (I used frozen). Cook for 4-5 minutes (or until the sprouts are hot, i.e. not frozen).

I still had some herbed rice leftover from last weekend, so I used that as the bottom layer to my dish, poured the sauce from the red wine vinegar over it and reheated it. Next, I put the brussel sprouts, bacon and peas mixture in the center and then topped it with a few slices of pork.

All I’m going to say was that this meal was so delish! The second day (for lunch), it was even better as the juices soaked into the dish even more.

Extra

The key thing to this past weekend was creating French meals without all of the heavy-laden work. Could a French meal be cooked up in a crock pot (that isn’t the regular French dip sandwiches)? Yes, it can. A busy person could put all of the ingredients in a crock pot, walk away for a few hours and come back to a succulent main dish.

And yes, some of these recipes in Food & Wine can be less of a hassle. Also, the key thing with taking out ingredients and adding new ones lies more in…using what you have already. I didn’t have coriander seeds, but I did have whole-grain mustard with a seedlike texture that I picked up in Ireland (so it is soaked in Guinness…big deal). Either way, it went perfectly with the dijon sauce. I added honey because I liked the thought of having a little bit of honey dijon on my pork chops {note: depending on how sweet you like your honey dijon, just add more honey or use honey dijon mustard instead}.

In other words, I modified these dishes to incorporate the ingredients I had on hand. If you have the basic French meal down, you could do the exact same with other recipes by modifying them to fit what you have at home already.

The Monuments Men

9 June 2014

Over the weekend, I got to take a look at this film, “The Monuments Men,” that someone from my book club suggested…well technically, she recommended the book (on my list of books to read). The Monuments Men is a story of how a group of men banded together towards the end of WWII to save and reclaim artwork and many items of historical significance that were stolen by Hitler’s army. In some cases, they were racing to save these artifacts before they were completely destroyed as Hitler’s army retreated.

While some aspects of the movie are accurate, like all films, it was somewhat fictionalized. It wasn’t seven men looking for the artifacts. There were some 400 people looking for over five million pieces of cultural items that were stolen from the Jews, museums, churches, etc. Their mission was to find the pieces and return them to where they belonged.

It was thanks to these men and women that we still can view many of these pieces today.

They couldn’t save them all, because unfortunately the Nazis destroyed many priceless pieces as they retreated. These are items that are gone forever. {Imagine the Van Goghs, Klimts and Picassos destroyed.} For more, see 10 of the Most Infamous Art Destructions of World War II.

Thanks to these men and women, they were able to save our culture for after the war. The world owes their thanks to them that we are still able to view the Cezannes, Renoirs, da Vincis and even Michelangelo’s only statue he ever created (Madonna of Bruges). Imagine a world where the Mona Lisa was destroyed by the hands of the Nazis.

We are all fortunate that over 500 years after da Vinci created this masterpiece, she still hangs in the Louvre in Paris. Imagine if Leonardo’s wonder was destroyed by the army of a failed art student (Hitler) just because he sucked at art and wanted to own it all in his new world order. Instead, she survives.

Watching The Monuments Men, I cringed in disbelief as Hitler’s men destroyed our history…our culture. It even added to the disbelief when the men discovered a barrel of gold teeth. Seeing the atrocity done to man and culture at the same time…I’m just thankful the Allies won.

If it wasn’t for the Monuments Men, what would our culture be? Many thanks to those brave men and women for saving the culture of humanity. It was prolific how they were thinking of our world after the war and where we would be if we didn’t have culture. Without our culture, who would we be?

The Beauty of Notre Dame

9 June 2014

I have many favorite places in Paris. I think the place that is my favorite of all of them is none other than Notre Dame cathedral. I think over the last seven years, the place has become very special to me. It reminds me of my grandfather when he was on one of his adventures.

He used to foot the bill for me to travel all over the world. When I got back from Paris, I told him all about my adventures. The last time he had been in Paris was during World War II. He told me he had always wanted to go back, but for whatever reason, he never did.

I remember pausing when he said this and looking at him strangely. I was only 16 years old and I told him he needed to see the world. He needed to get out there and live the best life he could doing anything and everything he ever dreamed of doing just in case this was his only (or last) lifetime. He spent the last 15 years of his life doing just that.

This also started a new tradition after he died.

As my father went through some old photos, he found one of my grandfather wearing a beret in front of Notre Dame. It’s funny how he wore those berets until he died. It was in Paris when that fashion trend of his began.

I framed that photo and put it up in my home. I look at it every single day.

When I went to Paris a couple of years ago, I sat outside of Notre Dame watching tourists come through…trying to figure out the places where my grandfather had been. I sat out there for two hours…just taking in the atmosphere of the place, trying to see if I could feel my grandfather’s presence there from long ago, hear his voice on the wind. Trust me, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him. Traveling is my way of connecting to him, because I’m continuing our adventures around the world.

When I came back later in the afternoon to photograph the cathedral, I hadn’t realized that the guards had taken notice of me. I was looking for certain things there…Point Zero, the saints on the roof, the different stories the building was telling us…

It was like a treasure hunt. I was looking for things most tourists do not look for…and that’s what caught the attention of the guards. It was Point Zero that started it. No one really goes looking for Point Zero. Most tourists walk right over it, very few know about it. While it is considered the “Center of the French Universe,” it is the exact point where all distances in Paris are measured.

In mythical lore, it is one of the ley line points.

After I found Point Zero and started walking towards the cathedral, I saw three of the guards walking towards me. They didn’t say anything at the time. They started to follow me around, very closely, looking to see what I was seeing through the screen on my camera. I was so immersed in what I was doing, I never took notice of them until after I was inside and one of the guards said that all tourists needed to leave because it was time for mass.

I turned around to see the three guards behind me. One of them said I was okay. I could continue. So I continued. As they kept shuttling tourists out of the cathedral, one of them said to me, “We see what you are taking photos of. You see the beauty of this place the way we do. You can stay.”

I was so honored, but I didn’t want them to get into trouble, so I snapped a few more photos and as I walked out the gate one of the guards asked me if I got everything I needed. I told him, “How could I? There’s so much!”

The sun was starting to set, so I headed across the bridge and sat across from the cathedral along the river so I could take photos of the church at sunset.

When you really want to cherish a memory, especially one that is shared between generations, you spend the time reveling each and every crook and cranny. You try to see the beauty in every rock, cobblestone and rain drop. You try to memorize the way the light fell, or the man walking across the courtyard holding his son’s hand. This is the way I remember Notre Dame.

Weekend Reading: Normandy, France & D-Day

6 June 201416 August 2023

Today we remember D-Day. June 6, 1944. Seventy years ago today, the end of World War II began in the Battle of Normandy. By late August 1944, the Allies were able to liberate Western Europe from the control of Nazi Germany.

My grandfather used to tell me stories of D-Day. He was in France at the time (as a soldier), but did not participate in the raid. What he brought back from that moment were French stamps and coins, including Nazi money.

These were items that were passed down to me. Each time I touch these relics, I think of what my family was feeling during that time period. I think about that moment in time and how many lives were lost. I think of the state of the world during that time.

For those who don’t know the story of D-Day, go down memory lane with The History Channel as they tell the story of long ago.

Also of Interest

I just came across this beautiful blog today written by a woman in Normandy, France. The pictures and stories are of a life lived. Very beautifully done: My French Country Home.

French Bistro Fare in NYC

6 June 2014

One great thing about going to a French restaurant is that you can sample the various dishes out there that you have never tried before. For this week’s post, I stopped in to Pigalle at 790 8th Avenue in New York City. It’s just a block away from Times Square, but filled to the max with tourists from different countries. There was definitely a flood of different languages around me.

For starters, I decided to get the Pigalle Country Pâté. The service was so quick, I had my first course in less than a few minutes. The hefty slice of cold pâté came with cornichons, dijon mustard and vinegar infused onions. All in all, it reminded me of liverwurst. In other words…I’ve had better pâté.

For the main entrée, I ordered the seared cod which sat on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes, mushrooms (I believe they were porcini, I could be wrong)and artichokes. The artichokes could have been put to the side, but the mushrooms with the mashed sweet potatoes was divine! I never thought of eating the two together. It was so tasty!

The seared cod was very good on its own dipped into the olive oil and seasonings.

Now, the best thing about this meal? What else? The dessert.

What made Pigalle worthwhile was the Profiteroles Sauce au Chocolat. Basically, this dessert features 3 miniature cream puffs filled with vanilla ice cream, covered in chocolate sauce and almonds. It was so delightful, I was licking my chocolate covered fingers in happiness.

Would I recommend Pigalle? If you’re looking for a Parisian Bistro type of place with a ‘NY diner’ like atmosphere, but with better food, sure. Will I go back again? Probably not, because there is one French restaurant in NYC that has spoiled me, my taste buds and my tummy. You’ll read about them next week.

I will say this…kudos to Pigalle for the speedy service. I’ve never seen food service that quick anywhere in Manhattan…not even at McDonalds.

Cinema and Language

4 June 2014

When I want to learn or brush up on a language, I immerse myself in foreign language films. When I was studying Russian, I was always watching the Day Watch films (a vampire gore film). I picked up on Russian very quickly, especially hearing the repetitiveness of certain words.

I didn’t realize how out of practice my French has been until I started watching Amélie last night. I had a feeling the last time I was in Paris, my French had become Americanized (i.e. it means I’ve been speaking French horribly).

I speak three languages at home: English, French and Italian. My Italian is far better than my French these days. That was evidenced while I was in Italy a couple of years ago, speaking as fluently as an Italian. French is my second language, English is my first. I’ve been speaking French since I was a teenager. Italian…I took one semester of it in college, got yelled at by the professor because she swore I was a native speaker and took the class for an easy-A. My Russian professor said the same thing. Go figure.

Last night, watching Amélie, I started repeating a lot of the lines, listening to my pronounciation and noticed how ‘Americanized’ my French was. Talk about atrocious! So I’m set on fixing that problem by watching more French films.

One thing I hate about foreign language films are the subtitles. The way I understand French is not the same when I read the English translation. I get caught reading the subtitles and thinking…that’s not what she said! I have to keep reminding myself to stop reading the subtitles and focus on listening to the language and learning to speak it that way. If there’s a word I don’t recognize, I’ll read the subtitles.

When you’re trying to learn any language, or want to brush up on the language, films are a great way to practice listening to the words and understanding the context of the conversations. If you’re watching at home, you can even practice sounding out the words the way the actor/actress sounds out the words.

Being that I read a lot about hockey and fashion in French (merci, Montreal et Vogue France), I keep up with reading French via Twitter and news articles I find there. [It also helps those hockey writers who know French to keep ahead of the other reporters that don’t.]

If you’re looking to speak better French, I highly recommend going to the cinema and watching French films. You can watch French films online, on DVD and even on cable.

Amélie is one of my favorite French films. I love Audrey Tautou! I also loved her in Coco Before Chanel (also in French).

Danish star Mads Mikkelsen has also appeared in a lot of French films. One of my favorites is Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky. If you’re a Hannibal fan, you’ll find that there is always some sort of mention to Stravinsky every season. In the first season, Hannibal played four notes on the piano…I knew immediately it was Sacre du Printemps by Stravinsky he was playing. In the second season, he mentions Stravinsky’s theory at the start of an episode about music. Coco & Igor is very important in the Hannibal world, because references are made every single season…all the way down to Hannibal/Stravinsky’s weird perfectionist thing with straightening their pens.

Mads has a new French/German film out now in select theatres called Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas. It’s definitely on my list of movies to see.

As for watching Amélie last night…it was a little bit ironic. Most of the movie is based in Montmartre and around Sacre Coeur. The irony in this is that last Saturday, I posted up my photos from Sacre Coeur only to watch a movie based in Montmartre a few days later. It was interesting seeing how much that area has not changed since the movie was filmed (2001). Then again, why would we ever want Paris to change? It’s perfect just the way it is.

Creating Your Own French Pantry

3 June 2014

As I’ve been reading through cookbooks and ‘French Entertaining’ books, I’ve had to make a list of items I needed to purchase for this month’s recipes. For those looking to start French cooking, here’s how to build up your pantry.

1. Wine. The number one thing I did not have in my arsenal was wine. I haven’t had alcohol in five years, so bringing alcohol back into my life has been an interesting endeavour. When it comes to cooking, you want to pick up a basic white wine and a red wine. Don’t worry about spending a lot in this department. This is for cooking. For drinking…that will be a post for next week.

2. Unsalted Butter. While you can get unsalted butter anywhere, I usually have the stuff I can find at the deli, and then I have French butter. Generally speaking, I prefer the French butter, especially on baguettes. Cooking, you can use the regular (or the French). If you can find French butter at your grocery store (which is generally a little more expensive), pick up a block. You won’t regret it.

3. Heavy Cream. Not too many people keep this in their refrigerator, especially in this day and age of Almond Milk, Soy Milk and Greek yogurt. Many French dishes call for Heavy Cream or even Créme Fraîche. If you can’t find Créme Fraîche, you can easily make it with some heavy cream and buttermilk (see previous post).

4. Fleur de Sel and Herbes de Provence. While both of these ingredients are called for in a lot of recipes, I have yet to use them (perhaps later this month).

5. Egg Noodles. When you need something quick for dinner, egg noodles with heavy cream, lemons and some cheese is your answer (see Sunday’s Dinner in last post).

6. Lemons. I was a little surprised by how many recipes call for lemon zest or lemon juice (fresh from the lemon, not the bottle). I’ve gone through so many lemons since I started cooking French food.

7. Red Wine Vinegar. Saturday’s dinner of Lyon-Style Chicken in Vinegar Sauce required a vinegar. Since I had no idea where I was going to find the French vinegar it asked for, it said ‘or red wine vinegar’ which I had. If you’re like me and have no idea how to find French vinegars unless you stumble upon it in a random store only to pay $18 a bottle…stock up on the red wine vinegar. It serves the same purpose.

8. Cheese. If you think I’m going to say stock up on camembert or brie…you’re not going to read that. Sure, buy it for your aperitif or that time you, the cook, are sitting down to relax with a glass of wine while the food is baking in the oven. For cooking, though, I found that having plenty of Parmigiano-Reggiano on hand will suit what you are cooking very well. And woo hoo…it doubles for the Italian food you may make the next night.

9. Dijon Mustard. Dijon mustard comes from Dijon, France. It also appears in a lot of recipes.

10. Paté/Caviar. When all I want is a snack, I have a box of specialty crackers on hand and put some caviar or paté on them. It’s definitely something I really enjoy and serves as a bit of a filling treat.

11. French Jam. Almost every grocer has Bonne Maman. You’ll find it next to the Smuckers and all of the other jams out there. I love the strawberry jam. I’m addicted to the apricot jam. There’s a wide assortment you should be able to find. Just look for a label that looks French. You can’t miss it.

Additional Reading

While I could go on and on, there are others that have created their own pantry lists that you may want to review and add to your pantry accordingly.

You don’t have to go out and buy everything on the lists all at once. Take it recipe by recipe.

The best way to start building up your French pantry is to take a look at the recipes you want to make, and then buy accordingly. Usually, when I start reviewing recipes, I look at all of the ingredients to make sure I have the majority of the items on hand already. I also look for common ingredients in the majority of the recipes I’ll be cooking up (like Créme Fraîche, heavy cream, red wine or lemons) so that I can use all of the ingredients up so they won’t spoil or go wasted.

Also for fresher perishable ingredients (dairy, meats, fruits and vegetables) try to only purchase the amount you need.

Here are some suggestions from a few other sites:

PopSugar.
What’s in a French Girl’s Kitchen from Bistro Chic.
From the Food Network “The French Pantry.”

French Cooking: Week One

2 June 2014

Over the weekend, I learned two things: 1) French cooking can be very difficult or it can be relatively simple; and 2) my cat loves French food.

The latter part was a bit of a surprise.

Over the weekend, I made two French meals. The first menu was rather tedious, long and difficult: Lyon-style chicken with vinegar sauce, herbed rice and green beans with shallots and almonds. The second menu was simpler: a quick egg pasta with lemon sauce.

Let’s start from the beginning…

1. Crème Fraîche: Many French recipes require crème fraîche (i.e. fresh cream that has a consistency similar to sour cream). In the US, crème fraîche is not so easy to come by. But luckily, it’s not difficult to make. It just takes several hours to make.

Before beginning any recipe that requires crème fraîche, I recommend starting 12-16 hours prior to the meal to make your crème fraîche (i.e. start the day before). Don’t worry…the recipe is very simple. From Emeril Lagasse (Food Network):

1 cup of heavy cream
2 Tablespoons of buttermilk

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, combine the cream and buttermilk. Cover with a clean kitchen cloth in a warm, draft-free place and let sit until thickened, but still a pourable consistency, 12 to 16 hours. Stir and refrigerate until ready to use. (Can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)

After you’ve made your crème fraîche, refrigerate it so you’re ready for the upcoming meals ahead.

Saturday’s Dinner: Chicken with Vinegar Sauce

1. Lyon-Style Chicken with Vinegar Sauce: I found this recipe from Food & Wine: RECIPE.

Most of the ingredients on this menu should already be in your pantry (including the freshly made crème fraîche if you made the recipe above).

If you’re like me and can’t fit the saucepan into your oven, have a casserole dish handy to transfer the chicken into for the baking portion of the recipe.

While the recipe says the total time was only an hour, this took at least an hour and a half for me to make. It proved to be a lot of work.

2. Herbed Steamed Rice. I had to look up this recipe before I started on the chicken. Herbed Steamed Rice is very simple. For those who have a rice cooker (which I highly recommend having in your cooking arsenal…you can get small ones for about $20), just add the rice to the pot, add water (for me, I measure the water by placing my hand flat on top of the rice and stopping when the water reaches my knuckles), put in fresh herbs (I used fresh mint, dried cilantro and dried basil), and salt to taste.

I recommend using a rice cooker because it makes your job easier in the kitchen. While the rice cooks, you can focus on other parts of the meal without worrying that you may burn the rice.

There are many variations of herbed steamed rice, this version is basic, no real overpowering flavors, just basic so that the flavors from the chicken with vinegar sauce takes center stage.

3. Green Beans with Shallots and Toasted Almonds. This recipe from Williams-Sonoma is very simple and only takes a few minutes to make after you get the water boiling. It’s a nice, light side to add to this meal.

I also used dried, pre-sliced shallots instead of fresh shallots.

Wine Pairing: Red Burgundy (I just had a simple Red Wine)

The Result

A little something I picked up about French cooking…the cook needs a moment to take a step back and enjoy the process of making the meal. After I put the chicken in the oven, I poured a glass of red wine, tore off a piece of baguette, put it on a plate along with a slice of butter and some apricot jam, sat down next to the peonies I had bought earlier in the day and rested for a little bit, absorbing the process of making a good French meal.

After the chicken was done, arranged on a plate with the herbed rice and green beans, I sat down to enjoy my meal.

I had ma petite chat making a huge fuss over what I was eating so I gave her some of the chicken. Generally, she doesn’t like tart flavors, but she couldn’t get enough. Ends up her introduction to French food may be a bit of a problem…

Sunday’s Dinner: Pasta in Lemon Sauce

Sunday’s Dinner was a little simpler than the evening before. This recipe is adapted from Laura Calder’s “French Food at Home.”

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Grated zest of 4 to 5 lemons*
1 cup heavy cream
1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
Salt and Pepper
Lemon Juice to taste
1/2 pound fresh egg pasta

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. While you wait, melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the lemon zest. Pour over the cream and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the cheese, stirring to melt. Season with salt and pepper. Add lemon juice to taste.

Cook the pasta. Drain, return to the pot, and toss with the sauce. Divide among four serving plates, garnish as you like,** and serve immediately.

*(I had 1 lemon and a bunch of limes, so I used the zest of the one lemon with 3 limes)

**(she uses shredded smoked salmon, poppy seeds, shredded basil leaves, chopped dill, to name a few options. I didn’t use any extras.).

Wine pairing: Riesling (Note: I had an Italian Riesling, which I do not recommend, stick to the German Riesling.)

The Result

This recipe was so much simpler than the dinner before. It’s also great if you want a very quick, French dinner (yes, this apparently is possible).

I used regular egg noodles for the pasta, substituted in grated limes to make up for the lemons I was missing. I also sprinkled some cayenne on top of the noodles (on my plate) to give it a little extra kick. All in all, the meal was fabulous.

During my meal, the cat sat down next to me and was begging for some of the food. Despite my telling her that I did not have any meat, a few paw swipes into my plate and I decided to just give her a couple pieces of the pasta…which to my astonishment she gobbled up!

The irony to both dinners is this…she doesn’t like vinegar or lemon, yet she would not leave me alone when it came to both dishes. I guess I have a French loving feline foodie on my hands.

A Walk Inside Monet’s Paintings

2 June 2014

One of the greatest things I’ve ever done in this lifetime was take a walk through the world of Monet. It started at Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. As you walk through and marvel at the great works of Renoir, Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne and many other famous painters, the part of the museum that will take your breath away is below in an oval room.

On the walls surrounding this oval room is the world famous Les Nymphéas (Waterlilies) by Claude Monet. What makes this room so unique is that the painting is curved and goes around this entire oval shaped room.

There is not a single photograph that can accurately capture the awesomeness of walking into this room and taking in the Waterlilies for the first time. This is the type of room you just want to sit in for hours staring at the beauty that graces these walls.

While Musée de l’Orangerie is an amazing place to take in, consider it the introductory course into walking into a Monet painting.

About an hour and fifteen minutes away from Paris is a small town called Giverny, home of Claude Monet and his gardens. Monet’s home is open to tourists. There are many tour companies that offer excursions to Giverny. If you are in France and love Monet’s work, I highly suggest going, because you will never experience anything like this.

They keep the grounds as close to the way Monet kept them, especially in his artwork. From the sunflowers to Le Pont Japonais, everything remains as true to the original as it can be.

Taking a walk inside of Monet’s gardens is like taking a walk inside the paintings of Monet. The beauty and splendor is remarkable.

The best time to go is, of course, in the summer months when the flowers are in full bloom.

You will never truly appreciate the work of Monet until you’ve experienced his world. Over 100 years later and it is still as pristine and beautiful as the day he put paint to canvas.

If you’re planning a trip to France, I highly recommend making a stop at Musée de l’Orangerie and then spending the day in Giverny. On the way there, try and stop at Fontainebleau, France, home of Napoleon. The story of Napoleon’s home (and why he refused to live at Versailles) is an interesting tale. The story of the horseshoe staircase and the things that happened there was one of my all-time favorite history lessons. It was the story of Napoleon slipping on the staircase…it’s what he did afterward that made me respect him.

Montmartre Through My Eyes

31 May 2014

One of my favorite places in Paris is Montmartre. Some of the most amazing food I’ve ever had in Paris, I found in Montmartre. I loved the little markets and artists selling their paintings. More importantly, there’s Sacré Cœur at the top of the hill. When you start at the bottom and climb your way up to the top, your reward isn’t just the cathedral. When you turn around, you can see all of Paris behind you.

Here is my collection of photographs I took a few years ago when I made the big climb up the hill to Sacré Cœur. What I look for are the unique details that make everything so special. It’s finding these unique details that allows me to sneak by and get away with stuff while I’m photographing…especially in Paris.

One evening when I was photographing Notre Dame, the guards were closing up the church telling tourists to leave. I turned around and a couple of guards told me it was okay. I could stay. They had been standing behind me for several minutes watching what I was doing without my knowledge. They saw on the screen what I was taking photos of and said that I was looking at the cathedral the way they saw the cathedral. It was because of that, they wanted me to continue. I saw the beauty in the littlest detail and I was capturing each moment.

What you’ll see here are the moments I found beautiful while visiting Sacré Cœur. What’s funny is that during this climb up the hill, I was followed by a group of photographers who were watching me set up shop and photograph along the way. They followed me and tried to duplicate each shot. I felt like I was their teacher and they were my students.

A French Palate

29 May 2014

Macarons from La Maison du Chocolat in New York City (c) 2014 Michelle Kenneth

Starting now through the end of June, we’re going to explore the French culture and the amazing things the French have had to offer to the world.

I started this mission yesterday when I picked up a dozen macarons from La Maison du Chocolat in Rockefeller Center. I was greeted by a French woman who paused before saying “Hello” rather than “Bonjour.” Truthfully, I walked in and started thinking in French, so I had to take a step back and remind myself I was still in New York City. She was very friendly and helpful as she described each macaron to me before I told her to give me one of each.

I took the box back to the office where I shared the delectable little macarons with a couple of coworkers who had never had a macaron. Honestly, we were all newbies. We were all in for a treat.

With a crisp cookie-like outer shell, you bite in to a surprise of the ganache (meringue-like filling or chocolate filling). It’s not even a cookie per se. It’s just an experience.

For a limited time, La Maison du Chocolat has a raspberry/basil macaron. I never thought basil would make a good dessert, but this mixture of flavors was so delicious.

I had the lemon macaron filled with chocolate ganache this morning and was on Cloud 9. All breakfasts should be this delectable.

So why French food this month? After trying out several Pinterest recipes these past few weeks, I came across this feeling like there was no recipe I was trying that was soothing my palate. I was not satiated. What I was looking for was qualitative food and many of these recipes from bloggers I was trying were from basically…amateurs.

I needed better sustenance. This made me realize that for the first time since my surgery last October, my palate for exquisite food has returned. I am no longer craving basic children’s food. I want real food.

As I was going through my calendar, entering in all of the upcoming events I have planned, I noticed that for June 1st I wrote down “Try Something New Challenge.” I must have gotten that from another blogger and decided it was a good idea. In fact, it is…and what perfect timing. As we go through this month of June, I’ll be trying something new every single day. Although, I’m starting the challenge off a little earlier.

Financier Patisserie (c) 2014 Michelle Kenneth

Today’s something new is a couple of new French restaurants. For lunch, I stopped into Financier Patisserie. I picked up a hot pressed Le Parisien sandwich (ham/brie/dijon) and a Fraise Meringue (because really, you can’t eat French food without a proper dessert to finish off the meal).

When I bit into Le Parisien, my taste buds starting singing. It was so delicious! Ironically, it was much better than the one I had in Paris! The flavors just melded together harmoniously with that little extra bite from the dijon mustard. Just a great sandwich when you’re on the go.

Fraise Meringue from Financier Patisserie (c) 2014 Michelle Kenneth

I took the Fraise Meringue around the office and shared it with my colleagues…all I’m going to say is everybody around me is loving the ‘research’ I’m doing right now. The ingredients were all fresh and the fraise (strawberries) were perfect.

That’s the thing about amazing food…when it’s fresh, the flavors are more intense and satiating.

As for pricing, the food was adequately priced. The sandwich was $7.50 and the meringue was $3.95.

They also sell macarons. I plan on picking up half a dozen after I finish the ones from La Maison du Chocolat. The macarons are cheaper at Financier, but are they just as good? That is the question.

Tonight, I have reservations for Pigalle, a French restaurant in Midtown on 48th and 8th Avenue. Next week, I’ll be hitting up my favorite haunt in Manhattan: Todd English’s Ça Va Brasserie, trying out a new item I haven’t tried before at their restaurant.

This weekend, I’ll be heading into the kitchen to create a few signature French dishes. While I’m not keen on repeating Julia Child’s recipes she made famous like everyone else has done, one person said to me to just go ahead and make it, because she knows I’ll end up putting my own spin to it to make it even better.

So for this site, the weekly post schedule is as follows:

Mondays: Food Recipes [What recipes did I cook up over the weekend? Detailed Posts including recipes.]

Tuesdays: Shopping Posts [From Fashion, Home, to the best of…this will give you a look at the items you may want to incorporate into your life.]

Wednesdays: Cultural Wednesdays [Art? Cinematic wonders? Theatrical productions? We’ll be looking at all of them to enrich your soul.]

Thursdays: Restaurant/Food Reviews [We’ll take a look at restaurants that please the palate, ingredients you need to own, and foods you have to try.]

Fridays: Reading Material [From around the web to your library, we’ll take a look at the things you should be reading, especially if you enjoyed the week’s selections of posts. Fridays will serve as an additional reading guide to further your knowledge on the week’s topics.]

Saturdays: Picture This [I’m a world traveler and a photographer. I’ll be sharing my collection of photos.]

Sundays: Did You Know? [There are always other stories that circle around the main topic of choice. On Sundays, we’ll dive into a hodge podge of other stories that will enrich your life…maybe even give you a new hobby, like how to choose the right wine.]

So for June, the topic is FRANCE and all things FRENCH. So bring your thirst for a more enriching life to the screen. By the time we’re done with June, you’ll be wondering what’s next to drool over. 🙂

xxoo,

Michelle

Hello and Welcome!

28 May 2014

Santorini, Greece (c) 2009 Michelle Kenneth

Generally, a person starting off their first post would do the whole blubbering mess of why they started this blog…blah blah blah.

Instead, I’m just going to welcome you and explain what this site is. This site is designed to explore the great things life has to offer from food, travel, fashion, music, art, and so on. I called this “The Diary of a Perfectionist Wannabe” as a bit of a reminder of what the TV show Hannibal makes me want to be…a perfectionist.

But since I’m not a psychopathic cannibal, and it’s not truly healthy to work towards being a complete perfectionist, I’m just going to share the things in life I discover that’s worth sharing.

One month, I could be covering the whole French lifestyle. Another month, it could be completely about art. Another month, I could write about the best literature pieces that we should all be reading. All in all, I’m sharing with you a topic that I’ve decided to delve into in order to enrich my life. In turn, you may find a picture you love, or a story you admire, or a recipe or restaurant you want to try out. Whatever you find here, it’s designed to also enrich your life.

The whole reason for calling this the Diary of a Perfectionist Wannabe…it’s because I do want to be a perfectionist…it will just never happen, but I’m at least going to try to live a qualitative life: one that is always learning and enriching life for the better.

I hope you’ll enjoy this site. I look forward to sharing with all of you the things I’ve learned along this journey.

xxoo,
Michelle

A DIY Weekend

13 August 2012

In the past, I’ve said that I only like DIY projects that are simple…we’re talking just 3 steps or less.

So this weekend, I decided to do two projects: make a chalkboard and create lace tiles.

There are probably about a zillion ways to create a chalkboard. I could have just painted it on the wall, or finished taking all of the broken mirrored glass off of the mirror (process was taking longer than I thought it would. The complication was the glue holding the mirror to the frame).

I decided to give up on the broken mirror. I had enough mirror pieces for my upcoming Hermes table project.

Instead, I saw an old dining room table top waiting to become the baseboard for the twin bed in my office (to make it into a daybed). Since it’s been a few years since I decided to do that and now I’m thinking of doing something else instead…I decided to turn that tabletop into the chalkboard…and put it next to the front door so that I could see it all of the time, especially when I leave.

At first, I looked around for a container to mix the paint into. It called for 2 tablespoons of non-sanded grout mixed into a cup of paint. After I put the grout into a glass cup, I then looked at the Martha Stewart sample sized container and thought…why not just put the grout in the sample container?

Gotta tell you…it turned out PERFECTLY!

For that large area (dining room table sized), I only used about 1/4 of the sample paint container. I still have 3/4 of the jar left.

You can get samples of paint for around $2.50 (or less) at Home Depot and just about anywhere that sells paint. I used Martha Stewart’s zinc for this project. For a box of non-sanded grout, that will cost you between $5-$7. All you need is 2 tablespoons from it.

I have a few other projects coming up, so I’ll definitely be using the grout for other projects.

Now, I know some of you may ask technical questions, so I’ll try to answer them as such…

1. I did not sand the furniture or do anything special to it. I just painted the chalkboard paint directly onto the tabletop without prepping the wood.

2. I didn’t use any sort of semi-gloss paint. Just regular base paint (with no sheen).

3. ONE COAT. I didn’t paint more than one coat, because it didn’t need it.

I guess I should just say…trust me, it was as simple as simple can be. I put the grout in the paint jar, stirred, then painted it onto the table top. It dried within the hour, but I waited until the next day to write on it with chalk. See…it was easy.

If it had too many steps, do you think I would have done this project?

Now to pick up some colored chalk.

Next project was creating lace tiles.

All you need are tiles, spray paint and doilies (or lace). The Martha Stewart project advised to use spray adhesive. I didn’t use it, but you can if you want. I didn’t see the need for it since the spray paint makes it sticky after the first use.

This is Step One. Wrap the lace around the tile, then spray paint.

I finally got it right on the fourth try. I had to go back to the tutorial to figure out what I was doing wrong. Here are some pointers that mean everything…

1. Make sure that you ‘mist’ the paint on lightly at least 6 inches away from the tile (this is very important…if you don’t spray 6 inches away, it ends up looking like the tiles on the left).

2. Make sure to count to 60 after spraying the paint on. After 60 seconds (i.e. 1 minute), remove the lace/doilie. I left it on for too long. What happens? See top tiles. The one on the top right was almost right…but smudged.

Make sure to have plenty of lace/doilies for this project. I reused each piece of lace 4-5 times.

Also, it helps to let the lace/doilies dry for a few minutes before reapplying to the next tile.

As for the tiles I messed up…I spray painted them entirely and redid the application in a different color (after the tile dried)…worked out perfectly fine.

While the project is designed for these lace tiles to serve as coasters…I plan to do some interesting things with them.

to be continued…

Friday Loves New Finds

10 August 2012

1. Global Festival. Time Out New York just emailed me about the Global Festival. The Headliners: Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Foo Fighters and The Black Keys…and it’s FOR FREE (if you have a ticket). Holy crap, right? What a way to end the summer and start the fall. The Global Festival takes place in Central Park on September 29th.

What’s great about it is that you can win up to two tickets to the event just by learning more about the program, signing petitions and sharing it with your friends on Facebook (and Twitter).

Their issues are all important, especially when it comes to stamping out world hunger, poverty, developing more schools (100 is their goal) in the next year, and stamping out malaria by giving children a fighting chance at survival from a mosquito bite.

These are basic issues. In first world countries, it’s hard to imagine our kids not going to school. It’s the law! They have to go! It’s hard to imagine our kids dying from a mosquito bite. It’s also hard to imagine that any child in our country is dying from hunger or living in extreme poverty that they have to eat rotten food out of landfills. Yet, there are children around the world that won’t survive because of these basic issues.

Throw in war, scarcity of access to clean water, etc. and you’ll find what the rest of the world is really like. Imagine if the first world countries faced this kind of dilemma. It’s hard to imagine these basic things we take for granted are not available to the entire world.

The Global Citizen campaign is a network that is aiming to bring the world together to help each other. It doesn’t make sense how we have so much abundance in first world countries, yet there are children starving to death in third world countries. They are dying from hunger. Why can’t those who have abundance share their wealth with those who have nothing? Why are we hording it all?

Why are there children in the world who can’t read or write their own names?

Why are people not given access to medical care for something to prevent a simple bug bite from killing them?

Some people will say it’s the difference in classes. The differences in the haves and the have nots. Why are we punishing them just because they were born in that part of the world? Then again…you call yourself a religious person. Not sure who you’re religious about if you can’t take care of your brothers and sisters around the world.

This world is a sad place when someone with wealth refuses to share their wealth with those that have nothing. The way I was taught…when you have wealth, your wealth is a gift from God. It is your duty to share what God has given to you with your brothers and sisters…within meaning. You have to share the wealth in order for your wealth to grow. Giving it all away is not the same as sharing. Sharing is about helping to lift each other up. Give people access to the things they cannot access because of their conditions…open doors for them. Help give them the tools they need so that they can spread the wealth even further.

When you give…you give knowing that the good deed will keep going. It doesn’t end in that one act. Look beyond the initial act. Only give if you know that by giving, that good karmic action will continue flowing from one person to the next. This is how you build up wealth.

There’s a story from Fez, Morocco about a British woman who loved Morocco so much that she decided to help the people there by building an animal hospital. How does an animal hospital help the people of Morocco?

Simple. The people of Morocco rarely have pets. Their animals are their livelihood. Donkeys and camels work. Sheep provide wool. Cows provide milk. They need their animals in order to work and survive. So if an animal is injured, they can take them to the animal hospital where they are treated…FOR FREE.

This not only helps the animal, it helps the people of Morocco and their commerce. It gives them an opportunity to continue working, because these animals are part of their jobs and getting from one place to the next.

By helping the animals, she in turn helps the people of Morocco. Even after her death, that animal hospital still provides free veterinary care to the animals of Morocco. It’s a good karmic action that continues long after her death. That is thinking beyond the initial action and a perfect example of how to create good karma that lasts even after your death. That is what it means to be a Global Citizen.

You can read up on Global Citizen here and find out how you can get free tickets to the concert in September. I really can’t wait to go!

{Oh, and if I win tickets, I’m passing them along, because I’m buying a VIP experience. It did say Foo Fighters, right??? Backstage, please!}

2. Save On Crafts. Alright DIYers, home decor lovers and people prepping for their weddings…I’m going to let you in on a new find: SAVE ON CRAFTS.

I’m surprised Martha Stewart and Country Living haven’t found this place yet. It’s everything you would see from their sites and magazines for a fraction of the price (and saves all of that time scouring antique markets just to find these things).

Let’s take for instance this picture on the right. I used this photo in my post for how I’ll be displaying my couture shoes…like artwork. See that display on the left sitting on the table? Now, where does one find something like that? HERE. Did you see the price tag? For a set of 2 jars (in 2 sizes)…it’s $30. They have another one for $24.

In the Upcycle Crates post, I also mentioned they had crates on this site too. It was the cheapest place of all the ones I researched.

There are so many things on this site that are very budget friendly for those trying to decorate at home or for a wedding.

3. A Beautiful Mess. I came across this blog on Pinterest. I have to say…they talk about everything that I’m interested in. From photography to dress making to food to how to organize just about everything in life (including ideas), you’ll learn plenty.

Check out their site: A Beautiful Mess. You’ll be inspired and learn so much!

4. Cape Cod, Massachusetts. So I’ve been thinking about this for years…and then while I was in Sorrento, I thought…I have to do this. Maybe it was the sailboats. Maybe it was the marina, the seafood or the beach. I don’t know. But when I came back from Italy, I started to put my plan into action. I’m going to the Cape for Labor Day weekend…to look for a house.

No, not to rent. TO BUY.

A lot of my friends in NYC, while they rent here, they all have vacation homes they bought elsewhere. I talked it through with my boss’ wife the other day and it just made sense to buy in Cape Cod. I have a lot of friends in the Boston area. It would be a great way to just meet up on a long weekend. For me, it would just be nice to get away and write…especially during the winter months.

Ooh…I said winter months. I always said to myself that after the first book is published, I’ll get a little cottage in Cape Cod. Well…

5. Homemade Thin Mints. OMG! No way…there’s a recipe out there for HOMEMADE THIN MINTS!

While I could just tell you how to make it…that would be stealing. I’ll just let you find out for yourself, just because the pictures of the process are just incredible at The View from Great Island. They make you feel like running out to the grocery store to buy up all of the ingredients to make them at home. Hell, I plan to this fall. You can get the recipe here.

Actually…I just want you to go to that site because the blog is amazing. All of those recipes…and the pictures…so hungry now…

Discover Music: Bassnectar

10 August 2012

Another new find (for me) is a guy that is just as cool as Linkin Park (without Chester)…that guy is Bassnectar.

This guy is INCREDIBLE!

Just check out the track “UGLY”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOfEtjBjhdc]

You can find tour dates and plenty of free music on his site BASSNECTAR.NET.

He’ll be in NYC on November 17 & 18 at Terminal 5. November 17 is already SOLD OUT. Better get your tix for November 18 before they sell out.

A Glimpse Into My Domain

10 August 2012

Yesterday, I wrote about the crates I picked up at Daffy’s that created so much room underneath the windowsill. Here’s a look at what I did.

Inside the crate Surita is standing in front of, is her Le Creuset Tiffany Blue bowl that holds her water. That Tiffany Blue is actually an accent color in my living room. Next to her, are all of the art books I picked up for $5 (for all of them, plus more books). The candlestick was on sale in a local shop in my neighborhood for $11. In the crate above is a metal Venetian mask (in a lace pattern) that I picked up in Venice, Italy last month. That was about 30 Euros (around $37.50 USD).

On top of the box are votive glass candle holders I picked up from the Target dollar bins for…$1 for 3! The plant…I got that for free. Someone gave me a clipping from their office tree. I kept it in water until the roots were long enough and then planted it in soil. I’ve had that thing for 7 years. It takes a while for trees to grow!

When I came into the living room this morning, I found Surita exactly where I knew she would be hanging out…in that area in front of the crates where she now has six more inches of space to sprawl out.

Oh, and for the trained world traveler’s eye…you might see somethig in that crate from Morocco.

It’s the book on top of the art books. It’s a copy of the Koran in English. The book was beautifully crafted both on the outside and inside. There are similar patterns like the cover throughout the book on every single page. It’s probably one of the coolest (and most beautiful) books I’ve ever picked up in my travels around the world.

So that picture was me catching Surita at her water bowl this morning. I came into the office to find this on my desk:

I still have no idea who left that there.

So those are a couple of pictures from my morning. How is your morning going for you? Hopefully as pleasant as mine has been now that I have some coffee in my veins!

Have a great weekend!

Upcycle It! Featuring Wooden Crates

9 August 2012

Yesterday, I talked about jars. Today, I’m going to talk about wooden crates.

Now, I tried to find wooden crates for this project, but to no avail…I had to break down and buy them. None of the restaurants were throwing any out…just boxes. The wine shop never had any crates coming in with their wine shipments…just boxes.

So I decided to buy them. Luckily, I found a few wooden crates at Daffy’s in Times Square. With their current going out of business discount of 20% off the lowest price in the home department, the three wooden crates came to $32.

I contemplated buying all three sets I found, but decided to go with one set for now. Ends up, that’s all I needed for this project.

I’ve had this problem wall under the window sill in my living room that just wasn’t working for me at all. This area is where I keep plants and has become the cat’s little spot where she drinks water and eats her treats. She likes to lie around in that area because it keeps her out of the way from the foot traffic in the apartment. This is also her spot where she likes to look out the window, so she needs a little stool to get up to the window because she’s a big girl and getting along in her years.

This spot has become a problem because it makes the living room feel cluttered. The plants are on the floor or sitting on top of books. There’s just too much stuff going on in that corner…or is there?

With the three crates I purchased in varying sizes, I was able to create a look similar to the picture in the bottom left corner.

I was able to put the cat’s drinking bowl in one box, the big art books in another, the tree on top of one of the boxes, a Venetian mask in another (for display) and tea light votives on top.

The plant, dish and art books were already in that spot. After I put the items in the crates, it provided an extra 6 inches of foot traffic space to my living room! I couldn’t believe it!

The cat adapted well to her turquoise blue water dish being moved into the crate. There was extra storage open, so I put the Venetian mask I picked up in Venice in one box and put the votives on top. The key to the arrangement was seeing that LESS IS MORE!

There’s no more clutter in that space. All of the same items are still there, they are just arranged differently.

Since I’m really loving what wooden crates can do in the home, here are a few more ideas I plan on putting together…

You see…there are endless possibilities to create furniture and storage out of wooden crates.

Now…how to acquire wooden crates. I’ve been researching this for a couple of weeks before breaking down and buying the crates at Daffy’s. I’ve read tales of bloggers finding them at wine warehouse stores. {I don’t know of any where I live.} They were able to get the crates for nothing. All they had to do was ask.

I heard of one person getting the crates at Costco or BJ’s Wholesale by asking nicely (they were throwing them out). Once again, I don’t shop at these places. If I had a vehicle…I might consider becoming a member of one.

I researched online and found a distributor all the way in Idaho.

Some DIYers talked about getting them at JoAnn’s Fabric Stores or Michael’s for anywhere between $9-$15 per box.

So there are plenty of different places to pick these wooden crates up from. You can even find them in places like Home Goods, TJ Maxx and Marshalls…just like I found mine in the Daffy’s home department.

But of all places, even after I got my crates on clearance…I think Save On Crafts has the best deal to make any of the above projects. Just use the term “crate” in the search box on their site or click on the link on the left (on their site) for “Boxes, Trays, Crates, Luggage.” There’s a lot of really cute stuff on their site.

If anything, crates give you a new way to store items in your home. I’ve even seen crates nailed to walls like shelves and people have put their shoes in them…or towels and other toiletries in the bathroom. It’s a good way to help storage come off the floor and climb up the walls without being so bulky!

Like I said…I have 6 more inches of foot traffic space after moving the items that were in that same spot and putting them into the crates.

So if you see crates being thrown out…grab them! You may have just found an easy storage/furniture solution for your home!

{All photos found on Pinterest}

Upcycle It!

8 August 2012

If you’re a pinner on Pinterest, you may have a little bit of an obsession with the millions of ways to use Mason Jars. I’m sure there’s a whole slew of you that went out to pick up a case of them just to do all of these projects. WHY?

Why didn’t you just use the jars that were already in your pantry?

If the food in your pantry doesn’t come in a can or a plastic bottle, it most likely comes in a jar! If you look at some of those spagetti jars in your pantry…you might notice they’re already in MASON JARS!

While I could do a post about the millions of ways you can use mason jars, I’m not going to. I’m actually going to give you some second thoughts before tossing that jar out into the recycle bin.

1. USE THEM TO CARRY LUNCH. I have this thing about not storing my food in plastic containers. Plastic comes from oil…you know, the stuff you put in your cars. What if that oil seeps into my food in the microwave? I don’t want that. So instead, I use either ceramic or glass to tote my lunch to work.

A lot of glass containers you can buy these days use plastic lids. That means forget about bringing soup to work with you. It will leak all over the place. If you put it in a glass jar, you don’t have to worry about leaks.

I prefer the Target & Co. jars. If you buy Archer Farms or even Giada De Laurentiis’s pasta sauces from Target, they come in these jars. They’re nice and streamlined. But the part that I love most about these jars is that it is probably the easiest jar I’ve found that allows you to put food into it easily because of the wide opening.

I can actually fit my big soup spoon inside the jar while ladling up the soup to store. It makes for less mess. Oddly enough (I haven’t figured this out yet), when you store the soup in your fridge, the lid reseals itself so it ‘pops’ when you open it up again…as if the seal of freshness approval is reapplied.

Not only can you put your salads in there, but even putting your pasta and sauce in makes it easy to tote [Hint: keep the liquid on the bottom. If carrying salad, make sure the dressing is at the bottom and the lettuce/spinach is at the top. The lettuce and dressing cannot touch!].

Just make sure you keep a plate or bowl at the office to heat up the contents (I always keep a big coffee mug in my desk drawer that I can put food into to warmup for lunch). [WARNING: Do not heat cold glass in a microwave after taking it out of the refrigerator. It will break. Use a ceramic plate/bowl to re-heat items.]

By upcycling that jar you were going to throw out anyway, you don’t have to go out and buy a whole set of Mason Jars to carry your food in! You have the jars to do that, as well as all of those projects you’ve been wanting to do. The jars are just sitting in your pantry already.

You can even save money on buying those glass containers to take to work or to store food. I have 3 of those glass containers at home. All of the rest of the items in my fridge are stored in glass jars. Probably one of the easiest meals that you can grab and take to work are in these jars…just store the meals on Sunday and go.

Since I make two big pots of soup on Sunday, I put them in the Target & Co. jars. I take one jar into work…that’s two meals in itself. I’ll bring in 2 jars of soup that week, and one day with pasta and sauce or a rice dish.

When I can every summer, I reuse these same jars every single year. Why buy more jars when you have them already?!?!

HINT: If you can your summer bounty, make sure to start saving up the jars over the winter months and on through until the summer. You’ll have a whole stock of jars ready to use come summertime.

CLEANING HINT: For those darn labels that are stuck on there…soak the jar in vinegar. The label will come off.

2. STORAGE SOLUTION. So after the baking soda comes out of the fridge and you replace it with a new one…what do you do with the baking soda?

If you’re like me and can’t have any toxic cleaners in your home, re-use the baking soda for cleaning projects. Just store the baking soda in a glass jar and keep it with the rest of your cleaning supplies.

If you end up with a lot of those Target & Co. jars, start storing food in them. From dried beans, rice, nuts, flours, etc. you can put them all up for display in your pantry. Just put a label on it. You can find a tutorial on how to make dishwasher safe labels for the jars at The Painted Hive.

If you’re like me, you probably have a whole bunch of plastic spice jars, too. You can tranfer the spices into jars while they sit on the shelf waiting to be put into the glass jars by your stove (you do have glass spice jars, right??? If not, there are plenty of retailers selling sets for less than $20 with the spices in them already).

Also, for those ladies who make their own seasonings (taco seasoning, onion soup mix, ranch dressing, etc.), putting your mixes into an upcycled jar and slapping a pretty label on it will actually beautify your own mixes…and they are even good enough to hand out as gifts!

3. BATHROOM STORAGE. I like to take the fatter jars and put cotton swabs and cotton balls into them. It’s actually a nice and clean way to display the bathroom essentials.

4. THE ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES. Whether you need a cool way to display candles, plant an indoor garden, or whatever you need storage for…there are endless possibilities on how to upcycle your jars. In other words, don’t rush out to buy cases of jars when you probably already have a bunch in your pantry already.

{From House of Humble}

For more ideas on how to upcycle jars, just search for “jar” in Pinterest. You’ll find so many ideas. For those looking for gift ideas…upcycling your jars and using it to share sourdough bread starters, seasoning mixes (sans all the additives), or even just a new way to display a plant or knick knacks…upcycle what you already have in your pantry before you run out to buy a case of Mason jars! You’ll find that even using a little Tiffany blue spray paint on the outside of a Christmas cookie tin will give you a whole new look to upcycling something you were going to throw out.

Like a photo…you can turn just about anything into something better.