*

“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” - George Bernard Shaw

Sunday, December 19, 2010

A Snow Filled weekend in London






Olympia Horse Show 2010



The Queens Guards-Household Calvary and the Captain in the front, is the husband of Sophia's teacher at school!
                  Captain Howland- Jackson in the lead.

                FIE Dressage.....World Cup of Dressage.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Gingerbread Houses




 The four houses (Tower Bridge, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Camper and bit sized) above are inspirations found on google images.  The house below was created by my 11 year old daughter with just a tiny bit of help from me.





Monday, December 13, 2010

Snow Globes




These are quite humorous! It is a project by JAJA Architects exhibiting at DAC that explores fourteen architectural based scenarios of how people and pixies aka 'Nisse' (Scandinavian elfs) co-exist. All in the form of snow globes. You can veiw all at http://www.ja-ja.dk/ 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Favourite Alternative Christmas Ablum

                              ww.hotelcafe.com/wintersongs/ 
Slightly related..... My daughter and I went to see the quirky but sweet French musical collective Nouvell Vague www.nouvellesvagues.com  a few weeks ago at the beautiful Royal Albert Hall www.royalalberthall.com  Melanie Pain is the real star of this group! 

Monday, December 6, 2010

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

                                          Sophia was a very good girl this year!

 The birth place of Saint Nicholas, Patara, Turkey.  Patara also has one of the best beaches in the world, 17 km of gorgeous sand dunes.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Lovely vintage Etsy shop


                                             Two old paint-by-number pictures.
Available through Sadie Olive ~ Antiques, collectibles, and all things inspiring.

London Thanksgiving




I used Herta pastry crust for my pies this Thanksgiving.  I stock up on Herta pastry every time I get to Paris.  It is delicious, easy to use and very cheap(around a Euro) and is sold in everywhere even small groceries.

The cornmeal Madeline's I made,  seemed to be a hit, the girls especially loved them.  The recipe I found in an old edition of Victoria magazine 2002 which called for rosemary.  I decided to make them the night before Thanksgiving since I don't have a very large oven but I had forgotten to buy rosemary.  I took a chance and substituted Za'atar (an Israeli/Lebanese thyme & herb mixture with seseame seeds and spices).  I think it worked better since rosemary can be quite over powering because it is tricky to mix evenly.  Well here is the recipe if your interested.


Cornmeal (Cornbread) Madeline’s

6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon za’atar (if you can’t find za’atar add 1 TBS finely chopped rosemary
1 cup buttermilk

1.    Preheat oven to 350*F
2.    Spray two Madeline tins with non-stick veg spray
3.    In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined.
4.    In another bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, garlic and za’atar .
·      za’atar is an Israeli/ Lebanese mix or thyme, marjoram, oregano, sesame seeds, salt and  spices. It’s  sold in Middle Eastern shops
5.    Alternatively add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the butter mixture, scraping the sides and bottom of the  bowl occasionally.
6.    Fill the Madeline molds halfway with the batter.
7.    Bake for  5 to 7 minutes or until golden.  Let cool for 5 minutes and invert onto racks.  Continue making Madeline's using up the batter.  Makes 48
I also used quite a few recipes from one of my all time favourite cookbooks, Ottolenghi The Cookbook.  Ottolenghi is a fabulous food emporium, specializing in a fusion of Israeli/Middle Eastern/ Western flavours.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

I Give Thanks....

Have a lovely long weekend all my American friends and family!  We are having 11 friends coming round this evening after school and work.  I do wish I could spend a Thanksgiving in the States one of these years.... :)

Thansgiving Table Floral Inspiration