domicile

Time for a party?

The disclaimer:  Ok so I'm ethically pretty against (by which I mean very against)  the unnecessary use of petroleum derived plastics. And really old yogurt containers work just fine and dandy for storing all manners of things. But a browse around the Tupperware website had my online shopping gremlin itching for a purchase.

I was suckered in by that there toy, the red and blue one with the shapes. Oh the hours of playing with that that I recall. And then the more hours of playing with it with my sister. At grandma's house. Oh the happy memories. And then you get suckered into the spell that is Tupperware. The belief that maybe your pickles do need their own container. And a special structure that will hold all those lids? Brilliant! And is collapsible, adjustable, rainbow hued tupperware the most brilliant thing ever? Or totally utterly unnecessary? Plus, I've honestly needed one of these more than a few times in my cake transporting life to date and have always secretly (not so secret now!) covetted my mom's trusty Tupperware version because darn it, there are few things around the house that can be used to transport cake across distances...

Hello Mr. Bunny!

  Wee Bunny! 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

We have our first rabbit! Or Bunny. Whichever you prefer. This little critter will soon find himself in the hands of another adorable little critter on his first birthday this weekend (Tracey if you're reading this, don't tell!). And I'm pretty darned pleased with how he turned out (though not as happy with the photo but we had some less than ideal light conditions this morning). The embroidery part was what I was dreading the most, as I'm not afraid of the sewing machine, but his face didn't turn out too bad. I was worried that he'd be a bit lopsided and freaky faced rather than the cute and cuddly look I was going for, what with the 1 year old audience, but I think we achieved cute over scarey.

I think I'll adjust the shape of the pattern a bit for my subsequent rabbits to suit my own preferences (not due to any flaw in the pattern). But all in all I'd give this pattern, and my first foray into making little dolls, a rave review as an easy, creative and highly adorable new hobby. If you'd like to see some examples of what other folks have done with the same pattern, check out the Wee Bunny Pool at Flickr.

Look at that tail!

101 Cookbooks

Does this sound familiar to you?

101 Cookbooks started in early 2003 when I looked up  at my huge cookbook collection one afternoon and realized that instead of exploring the different books in my collection - I was cooking the same recipes over and over. I seemed to buy a new cookbook every time I stepped out the front door - always with good intentions. I would regularly go through my collection of books and magazines and carefully tag each recipe that piqued my interest. I ended up with shelves full of books brimming with Post-it notes and drawers full of recipes clipped from my favorite magazines - neatly organized by course, flavor, region, or ingredient.

If so, then  you, like me, will probably love 101 Cookbooks. I can't for the life of me figure out why I haven't found this site sooner...To get a sense of the recipes and foodstuffs that Heidi covers, meander through the archive listing, which you will notice predominantly vegetarian. Yum.

Brushes with fame...

  Almost famous dress 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

Typically this here blog gets what I would describe as a modest handfull of visitors a day. Those visitors are likely all close friends and family who otherwise could find out what is up in my life by picking up the phone and I so appreciate their willingness to indulge my ego by reading my self-involved web missives.

However, just this week the visitor stats for Domicile here took a significant jump into realms that can not be accounted for in my circle of family and friends, thanks to a link from the fabulous Megan at Not Martha. To those many Not Martha-ites, welcome! There are so many of you! I do hope you come back again.

And now we find that our brush with internet fame is hitting even closer to home. And this is the reason for the photo on your right. You see that photo there don't you? It doesn't exactly give you a great view of the dress I'm wearing, but that's all I've got on file. Here's a better look at it (made by talented local designer Allison Wonderland). Well how cool was it to see that that very same dress (though in a different colour) is on this week's cover of Newsweek magazine on the loverly Caterina Fake of Flickr fame. I am just so darned excited to see Allison's dress getting that kind of magazine cover exposure, even if it isn't Vogue magazine and the article isn't exactly about the fashion. It's still great to see.

To summarize: Welcome Not Martha readers! Glad you came by. And. Be pretty and smart like Caterina and get your own threads from the ever-talented Allison here or here. You just might end up famous! Or something.

In this small way I am lacking

   
  Originally uploaded by emira.

This week I am quite determined to embark on the Wee Rabbit project. I have acquired some gorgeous lovely soft and cuddly cotton fleece from my dear fabric friend Madeleine, and I have uncovered oodles of lovely scraps of much cherished printed fabrics that will make for good bunnies. But here's the thing: I can't really embroider. I've never had much occassion to, and when I've tried I've not really wowed myself with my skills so I've never really bothered with it much. I put a few books on request at the library for basic embroidery tutorials, but they're not yet in and I have a deadline of a special little someone's birthday coming up this weekend that I'd like to produce a rabbit for. And so, I will have to do some web research I think to find a good basic "how-to" this week. Perhaps Whip Up will take on a basic "eyes and nose" embroidery how-to this week to save me the trouble? Or perhaps I'm really making too much of this. We'll find out.

Proto-Grup?

  My dad's band, circa 1981 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

For the title of this post to make any sense at all, or this whole mental rambling I'm about to share with you for that matter, you'll really need to go read this article at New York Magazine [thanks Steve for the link]. I'll try to summarize for those of you who don't have the extra 25 minutes to read on the bus like I did today. The author, Adam Stenberg, is putting forward a new term to catch the rising demographic nicely summarized by the visual of this description:

He owns eleven pairs of sneakers, hasn’t worn anything but jeans in a year, and won’t shut up about the latest Death Cab for Cutie CD. But he is no kid. He is among the ascendant breed of grown-up who has redefined adulthood as we once knew it and killed off the generation gap.

Curiously, the article is not so much about these sneaker-wearing, indie-pop guys existing all on their own, but more about their social role as they are increasingly breeding (as evidenced by the photo of them all with snugglies on that heads the article). There are many places to poke holes in the article -- starting with the term Stenberg's trying to coin: grup? -- in particular I had issues with the strange way that gender was/wasn't really dealt with, and typicallly there is little that rubs my fur the wrong way more than being demographiced. But. As I flipped to page two (I had printed it out to read on the bus) I couldn't help but feel that minus the $600 jeans and loft in Tribeca this is in many ways Martin and I. And as the whole article was geared at the relationship of this demographic to their kids, some of it rang true to the stuff we think and talk about as we plan to have our own and Martin continues to raise his daughter. Then something else struck me: I am perhaps beyond a Grup (god help me, I can not identify as a Grup for crying out loud), I just might be among the small segment of folks that are Proto-Grup.

Click the more link for an explaination...

The Great Fruit Bread Divide

  Rosemary Raisin Hot Cross Bun. Yum! 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

Easter is coming, and while perhaps I should be thinking thoughts of resurection I am instead filled with anticipatory joy about the bounty of fruit bread opportunities that lie ahead in this the season fo the hot crossed bun. I can not remember a time that I have not been a fan of hot crossed buns and their other fruit bread-y kin: panettone with dried apricots and citrus rind; a good dark Christmas cake with nuts, brandy and dried fruits (but not the noxious red and green variety, ick); and any occasion that warrants a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread is just fine by me.

I adore fruit breads with such wiggly delight that I find it hard to believe that there are others out there who do not share my joy. And as it turns out, Martin (who is not so much "out there" as he is right here in the same house) is not a lover of the fruit bread. Over the years he has warmed up to the idea a bit and indulged  me in some warm panettone with butter on Christmas morning, and was found eating a hot crossed bun last week (though I noticed he didn't finish it!). And while his lackluster attitude towards the varied fruited breads I bring home means all the more for me (!), we tend to find ourselves marvelling over the other's preferences each and every time. For really, I just can't believe that he could pass up something so darned tasty, and well, I think he thinks I'm a bit nuts.

Wistful web wanderings

A meadering morning of surfing which began at Shelterrific brought me to places of such subtle, happy beauty like:

• Camilla Engman's site and blog with such beautiful photos, thoughts and illustrations. I may need to indulge in a 2006 calendar (pictured on the right there) they are afterall on sale. From there, to...
• Abigail Percy's gorgeous botanical jewelry at Etsy. These Horse Chestnut Earings are nearly too delightful to pass up (and for the record remind me very much of local artist Jacqui beautiful Refine work of which I am a lucky connosiuer). From here...
• Back to Camilla and on to Cally where life appears to be one gorgeous muted moment of delicate beauty after another. And then...
• A return to Shelterrific takes me to Clotilde's Strawberry Clafoutis Recipe which has me aching for the beginning of berry season.

And now I must venture out to the garden with thoughts of such beauty on my mind to get my new Winter Jasmine and Clematis nestled into their new homes.

Keep your fork!

  The infamous 6" pie! 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

I just know that all dozen of you have been waiting with breath that is baited, to hear about the eventual conclusion of the months long search for the 6" pie plate. Well apologies for the delay. I did in fact make two -- count them two! -- pies last Sunday out of one standard double crust apple pie recipe and divided that between two six inch pie plates. And I am pleased as, well pie, to report that my long held theory held up. Having two small pie plates meant I was able to make two pies at once, relatively easily, put one in the oven for Martin, his daughter and I to enjoy for desssert on Sunday night, and then later in the week in a fit of intense PMS was able to pull a lovely organic apple pie out of the freezer and pop it into a hot oven producing warm apple pie only 45 minutes later. Does life get much better than that?

So thanks Megan for helping to make the dream of the 6" pie come true. Now that the domicile is sufficiently kitted out with small pie plates there may soon be a freezer full of small pies just waiting to be baked. Huzzah!

So Much Internet, So Little Time

The kids who used to produce Budget Living Magazine in hard copy have started a blog. The About page says:

Shelterrific is…
About all things you do in your home, including decorating, eating, cooking, web shopping, crafting and fixer-upping.

Kinda like Domicile... Ergo, if you like Domicile you just might find yourself liking Shelterrific. Just remember to come back here to visit k?