Inspired

Posted on May 6, 2013 by augustinealexandra

I’ve registered for a class in computer-assisted textile design class that starts at the end of May, and I thought I should work on my very limited Photoshop skills to prepare. I’ve started by using photos that I took when Mark and I were in Los Angeles in February. My camera is full of the camellias that were in bloom at the Descanso Gardens when we were visiting. One day we’re in cold, grey, snowy New York and just a couple of days later I’m surrounded by amazing varieties of lush flowers in a large sunny garden. I loved being in Los Angeles in February, and I have hundred of photos to show it.

You may recognize the handsome orange cat in the image above. It’s Musico dreaming of camellias. He had to stay in New York during “Winterstorm Nemo” while Mark and I were enjoying the sunny California weather.

Lolita the Parrot perched on camellias was a birthday card for my friend Daniel.

Cooper the black cat was our housemate in LA and will forever live in infamy because of the part he played in hiding Mark’s wedding band under a speaker stand, not to be found for several days. His expression in the image was pretty much the one he had while watching me and Mark frantically search through the house. Completely unsympathetic and not helpful at all.

He is surrounded, not by camellias, but by the succulents that were growing in the house’s garden. Did I mention that I loved being in LA?

Popovers!

Posted on April 24, 2013 by augustinealexandra

A new restaurant opened near our cottage last year, Henning’s Local. The menu offers delicious dishes sourced from local farms, including the poultry and fish, and best of all, every meal is served with a plate of popovers. Popovers have been on my mental to-do list for awhile, and inspired by my first meal at Henning’s Local, I went out and bought a popover pan (as it turns out, a standard muffin pan works just fine, but I love to have an excuse to go to a kitchen supply store).

The challenge of finding a popover recipe is that they seem to vary – popovers must start in a cold oven, the oven must be at 450 exactly when the popovers go in, you must stir the batter till “frothy”, you should only stir the ingredients till blended, and etc. I tried a few recipes with varying degrees of success until I found the best results with King Arthur’s recipe - the popovers definitely had no trouble popping up.

Popovers are now my favorite bread-y accompaniment to meals, especially with a hot bowl of chicken soup after a three mile walk in brisk country air.

Special attire is suggested, but not required, when making popovers.

If Julia Child Can Drop a Chicken on Camera

Posted on April 17, 2013 by augustinealexandra

I woke up Sunday morning with this vision in my head for that day’s project – Mark’s birthday cake . A tradition in our household carried over from when Mark was growing up: angel food cake topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies.

As baked confections go, this is not a complicated pastry, no one is going to win the Meilleur Ouvrir de France competing with it. As long as you remember to buy enough eggs (12 egg whites!) and are ready to take out any aggression crushing hard peppermint candies on your kitchen counter (I used a rolling pin and contained the candies in ziplock bag), it’s a simple but delicious and festive cake. Easy! I’ve done this before many times and have dabbled with more ambitious cakes recipes. No problem! So, maybe I was feeling overly self-confident, or maybe our relaxing weekend had relaxed my brain a little too much, or maybe I shouldn’t have had that beer while mixing the batter, whatever the reason, this was the end result:

Apparently, Julia Child’s advice to have the “courage of you convictions!” whenever you flip something won’t help you if you don’t support the center of a tube pan when it’s upside down, balanced on four upturned glasses – especially if it has a removable bottom. None of your convictions will stop the piping hot center of the pan to slowly detach from the pan and slide downward, taking the cake along with it to land in a messing lump on the kitchen counter, as you watch in frozen horror.

After we had carefully scooped the cake back into the pan – at this point, having the cake cool upside down so that it didn’t lose its shape was moot – Mark assured me that it still looked delicious. I broke off a chunk, put a big dollop of whipped cream, garnished it with more crushed peppermint candies and wished him a very happy birthday.

It was delicious!

It’s at times like these when I console myself with the thought that kitchen disasters happen to the best of them: Cleanup in Aisle 4!.

A lesson learned… maybe

Posted on April 9, 2013 by augustinealexandra

That’s right folks, a mere 4 months from when I started my “Yellow Wall Cardigan”, I have finally bound off, blocked and sewn on the buttons – just in time for the 78 degree weather that is hitting New York. As my devoted readers may remember, this sweater caused me not a little bit of angst back in November. And, evidently, the trauma of unraveling over 2 skeins worth of sweater on my first attempt at knitting this design was not enough of a lesson in checking gauge. On Sunday I found myself unraveling another project for the very same reason. This time it was my lovely “Eggplant Lace Pullover”.

So, that is why I now present to you the gauge swatch for my next project. A nice sized 7″x 6.5″, carefully blocked swatch of Knit Picks’ Shine Sport Yarn in colors (from top down) White, Platinum, Robot, and Wallaby.

This will be for the “Gradient Pullover” that was featured in the Spring issue of knit.wear. Instead of the pinks that the designer used, I’m envisioning a cotton sweater in neutral tones, perfect as an extra layer on summer evenings. The swatch is serving the dual purpose of helping me decide what three colors I want to use.

I think I’ve decided on my color combination, but the gauge is still a little big.

I don’t think I’ll bother with another swatch, I’ll just cast on for the sweater on a smaller needle and that should give me the right gauge.

I’m sure it will be fine.

And now back to you, Leeks…

Posted on April 1, 2013 by augustinealexandra

My leek seedlings are coming along nicely, I’ve transplanted them into their own little paper pots to give them more room to grow.
Between the expense of buying new seedling pots each year and the appeal of just not consuming so much, I’ve been making my own seedling pots with the very handy PotMaker. It does require that you have newspapers on hand, and since our household has gone almost completely digital with our news, I pick up a handful of the free Manhattan News from the corner. I have to cut down the paper into strips, but as I assemble each one, I catch up on local news, brush up on my little Spanish and then have the satisfaction of creating neat little pots for each seedling. The newspaper pots can go directly into the ground and breaks down into the soil, so waste is minimal.

I love repotting seedlings, it’s so satisfying to give each seedling its own space to grow.

We do have other seedlings starting in our little apartment nursery. Last year I had great luck with dahlias, but terrible luck in storing their tubers over the winter. So, I’ve started a new round of dahlia plants.

I’ve also started various other flower seedlings and this week I’m planning on starting my tomatoes. In addition, my garlic bulbs and potato tubers should be arriving soon.

Happy Spring!

No Collar Can Hold the Amazing Musico!

Posted on March 26, 2013 by augustinealexandra

Meet Musico, the Houdini of Cats!

Watch as he stands still as a collar is carefully buckled around his neck!

Marvel at his histrionics as he jerks around trying to get at the collar and then bolts under the bed or bookcase where he will disappear for hours undeterred by cooing noises, head scratchings and appeals to common sense!

Stand in awe as he reappears with a bare neck meowing for food!

Scratch your head in bewilderment as you search for the discarded collar only to find it among the dust bunnies in a far corner under the bed ….UNBUCKLED!

Musico, the handsome orange cat, has been living with me and Mark since late January. He is a foster cat from a wonderful local shelter that rescues abandoned and feral cats in Northern Manhattan, A Tail to Tell. This weekend we will be taking him up to my parents’ house in Connecticut, where he will find a home among their three other cats in my parents’ large victorian house. Because the other cats are indoor/outdoor cats, I thought I should prepare Musico for his new life by getting him a collar with a bell (judging by the way he plays with his toy mice, the birds will appreciate a little warning) and a name tag. After multiple attempts with a couple of different collar designs, and a few days of award winning performances by Musico, I’ve just about given up on the idea of a collar and am going to call the vet and inquire about an id chip. Let’s see if Musico the Amazing Escape Artist can wiggle out of that.

All Hail the Humble Leek

Posted on March 15, 2013 by augustinealexandra

Behold the beginnings of greatness:

This is my second year of growing leeks from seeds. Last year’s attempt resulted in rather puny specimens, but I’m determined that by the end of this summer I will have nice big fat leeks. In researching how to grow them successfully, I came across some interesting information, the humble leek has a rather distinguished history.

The leek appears on the Royal Badge of Wales and is worn proudly on the cap of The Welsh Guards

And, as a symbol of one of the countries of the British Commonwealth, leeks also appeared in embroidered and beaded form on the coronation gown of Elizabeth II, along with the thistle, shamrock and maple leaf – the thistle represented Scotland, I don’t think I need to explain the shamrock or maple leaf.

According to the gospel of Wikipedia, Norman Hartnell, the queen’s dress designer, asked if he could replace the leek with another symbol of Wales, the daffodil. He was denied. Maybe that’s why he placed the leeks right where it would be hidden in most pictures, behind the queen’s folded hands. He clearly never had the pleasure of a delicious and comforting bowl of vichyssoise.

It’s now been about two and half weeks since I sowed the seeds and my little leek seedlings are coming along beautifully. They are flourishing under flourescent lights that Mark and I set up on a shelving unit in the corner of our apartment’s living room. We had put up the removable shelves and lights last spring after the previous year’s debacle of attempting to start seeds on the very uncertain climate of my windowsill.

This year’s seeds are growing in my own seed mix combination of compost tea, vermiculite, perlite and coir – coconut husk fiber. (Note to self: Next time you order coir, do not order a giant brick of it. A coir brick has the consistency of a cement block and all attempts at “chipping” away at it with a knife or saw are nearly impossible and will only result in coir dust all over the kitchen and some very undignified swearing and sweating.)

By August, we should be sitting down to a nice leek tart, or potato and leek galette or a simple bowl of vichyssoise.

Take that Norman Hartnell.

California Dreamin’

Posted on March 4, 2013 by augustinealexandra

With Winter Storm Nemo practically chasing us down the runway of JFK, Mark and I flew off to Los Angeles just in time to miss the worst of the snow and cold. Although the weather in L.A. was hardly tropical, the sun was shining, trees were green and flowers were blooming. It was wonderful.

Despite the incident involving a rambunctious cat and Mark’s wedding ring, we had a lot of fun exploring the city and seeing old friends. The highlights of our trip were the Getty Museum and its amazing gardens, the Descanso Gardens and the Watts Towers. We also had a fun day at Universal Studios, thanks to Hannes Phinney, but I was screaming too much at the 3-D King Kong vs Dinosaur battle to take any pictures.

Our week long trip was exactly what I needed. I returned to New York refreshed and inspired to start new projects.

BEFORE

AFTER

A Marks the Spot

Posted on January 16, 2013 by augustinealexandra

I’ll admit it – I was seduced by Martha Stewart. It all started out very innocently back in November. I had bought too much swiss chard and was on the hunt for a way to use up the hearty greens. I was doing my usual round of recipe searching – How to Cook Everything, Epicurious, Martha Stewart (usually in that order) and when I got to marthastewart.com, there it was… Where the Wild Wreaths Are. Now, you have to understand, it was early November. Christmas was close enough to dream about all the projects I wanted to do to celebrate the season, and far enough away that I was still under the delusion that I could do them all – or any of them. I thought about the giant fir tree that had fallen on our property upstate during Sandy, with all those pine branches just lying there in a heap, and those fatal words popped into my head “I can make one myself!”. Needless to say, the wreath experiment was a disaster. I probably should not have let the bag of cut pine branches sit in the arid, New York apartment heat of my living room for three weeks. (On the upside, I did find a great new recipe for swiss chard: Barley and Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard.)

Feeling disheartened by the experience, and with Christmas looming, I dug through our box of Christmas ornaments and came up with a red amaryllis fabric flower and some holly leaves and berries that I had bought a couple of years ago to decorate a wreath. I dug around a little more to find the perfect finishing touch.

Now the question you might ask yourself when seeing this image – after “Is this the Prynnes’ residence?” - is “Why does that paint color exist… in glossy?! And, why would anyone choose it for their front door?!” . I know. These are questions I ask myself every day as I’m climbing up the five flights of stairs to our home. The door color is actually the “accent color” of our building hall and stairwell. The main color that it’s “accenting” is closer to Yarn Harlot’s Saddle Tan. You can see now why I like to liven things up a bit for Christmas.

In fact, why should our door should be welcoming and cheerful only at Christmas? So off I went this week to my favorite fabric flower store on 28th Street, Pany Silk, and found a nice combination of flowers and leaves that I wired together to replace the holiday flowers and bring in the new year.

I haven’t decided yet if it’s a little much for our apartment, it might be better on the front door of the cottage. But, I do like how it’s a nice relief to the dreaded “color” and strangely enough, the berries seem to work well with it. I’m inspired now to work with the ugly door, instead of ignoring it most of the year. Maybe I’ll do different wreaths for each season. We do have masses of pine cones in our yard…

A Yule to Remember

Posted on December 31, 2012 by augustinealexandra

Eldred

Introducing Bûche de Noël 2012

I’m kind of old school when it comes to my yearly bûche de Noël, I follow Julia Child’s recipe from “The Way to Cook”. The recipe is a little fussy, but it’s worth it. The cake is an orange almond spongecake baked on a flat sheet so that you can roll it up, and it’s filled with and frosted with a chocolate frosting that involves mixing melted chocolate into an Italian meringue and then adding whipped cream. Not for the faint of heart. Her recipe also includes making a nut brittle and crushing it to include in the frosting, I leave that out along with the spun sugar she decorates the finished log with. I have a limit of carmelizing only once per recipe, hanging over a pan gently swirling the sugar water in deadly fear that it will crystalize is too nerve racking for me to do multiple times for one cake. Also, I usually end up making it at my parents’ house in Connecticut, which is challenging in itself.

I actually did the same thing this year that I do every year that I’ve been making the bûche de Noël, the difference this Christmas was almost purely aesthetic. I finally made the meringue mushrooms that traditionally decorate a yule log. Every year I plan on making them, but I either run out of time or interest. This year, after I made the Italian meringue – which turned out perfectly, I may have brought family members over to the Kitchenaid to admire it – I still had another hour that the oven was free and I was still feeling pretty energetic. So, I pulled out my pastry bag and went to work. Fortunately, when I was still at home I had looked up the recipe for meringue mushrooms in my copy of Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts for tips on how to pipe out the meringue fungi. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the right pastry tip, so I just used the bag without a tip, which worked well for mushrooms that are supposed to look like they’ve just been plucked from a woodland scene. I also sprinkled a little cocoa on them to give them a more woodsy look. Once they had baked, I then used a little frosting to stick the stems to the tops and spread it a bit on the bottom of the cap to replicate the gills. I then tucked the squat little guys around the sugar leaves I picked up at the last minute at N.Y. Cake and Baking Distributor on 22nd Street. Sprinkled a little powdered sugar over it, and… Voila!

Not only does it look great and festive, but it’s also a really tasty combination of flavors, the orange almond cake complements the chocolate really well.

Have a wonderful new year!!

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