domicile

In the garden June 08

In the garden June 08
Originally uploaded by emira

Summer has finally arrived this weekend and after a morning spent at the Farmer's Market, I came home to take stock of what's going on in the garden. Everything from my tomato plants to little bean seedlings are finally taking off and the flowers are plentiful. Most exciting for me? My new white lavender, acquired at this year's UBC Perennial sale, is in bloom. I'm a total sucker for lavender and have several plants tucked around the front, back and side gardens. This new white lavender is by far my new favourite, so delicate and lovely and it seems the bees agree.

The Postmarks

Happy Friday!

Shopping in Brooklyn

Kiwi
Originally uploaded by emira

I've been meaning to write this post for a good two (going on three) weeks now, but since we returned from our New York/DC trip things have been, well a little busy at work and on the book front. That said, I had such a fantastic time blowing my clothing budget in Brooklyn that I wanted to share. So better late than never yes?

I have to say, aside from a truly awesome pair of cherry red flamenco shoes, I didn't find much in New York that I was aching to buy. And while that probably sounds entirely ridiculous, let me qualify that by saying I saw plenty that I would love to buy in Soho, I can't really afford the prices shall we say. And while the discount shopping at Century 21 and the like was definitely something to experience, I can't say it was really my bag. This shouldn't be too surprising really, as my shopping tends to be at small boutiques here at home with a pretty strong bias towards locally made clothing and artisan bits and bobs. So it was that on our last day in NY we took the subway over to Brooklyn to check out the Botanical Gardens and avoid the mayhem that was Manhattan on a long weekend.

Now, I like to think of myself as a bit of a counter culture, consumption wary gal, but when it comes down to it: I can shop. And, to be totally honest with you, as we took that subway over, I was looking forward to the Botanical Gardens but feeling just a little wistful that I'd be returning home from NY with not much more than a pair of flamenco shoes to add to my closet. We had mapped out a few boutiques we wanted to check out in Brooklyn, and as we emerged from the Subway we decided to check those out before heading to the Gardens. Long story short: we never made it to the Botanical Gardens and I completely blew my budget inside of about 4 hours of what can only be described as a hardcore rush of giddy consumer insanity. We did not come anywhere close to taking stock of all that Park Slope had to offer in the way of boutiques and delights, so this is by no means a definitive guide. But, if you find yourself in Brooklyn (or near it) and you, like me, love boutique shopping let this guide be your starting point.

Loom: There are two Looms on 7th Ave. One is stocked to the rafters with knitwear -- James Perse, Splendid, Ella Moss, etc. -- the other, just a few doors down is full of accessories (purses, earings, necklaces, wallets, rings), stationary and other general cuteness. I picked up an Orla Kiely wallet and a very lovely little black clutch here, both of which I'm adoring.

Kiwi: Usually I'm not a pushy salesperson type at all, and don't get me wrong, Kiwi does not have pushy sales people. What it does have is really knowledgeable, helpful staff who know the store's stock like the back of their hands. We spent hours (no word of an exaggeration) in here being waited on by the staff, an experience I've never really  had save shopping at Anthropologie with Alex and which I wouldn't have thought I'd love so much. Our experience at Kiwi began when I told the sales girl I was looking for pants in my size. She suggested I try on a pair that I liked so she could see how pants fit me and then from there just began bringing me things that I never would have tried on my own either because I would have assumed they would look bad on me (wrong!) or due to sizing (women's clothes are so messed up sizing wise and in one brand I can be a XS and a M in another). By the time we were done Lauren and I had tried on dozens of beautiful things: jeans, dresses, silk tops, tanks, tshirts, pants, capris, shoes, and on and on. We were honestly a bit stressed out by the time we had to make a final choice and if money were no object I could have easily decided to discard my entire wardrobe at home and started over. For real.

The clothes at Kiwi are pretty Anthropologie-ish I would say (if that's a thing, but I think you all know what I mean) and they also carry some house-line pieces designed by one of the owners.

Lisa Polanski's: I poked my head into Lisa Polanski's store while waiting for Lauren to finish up at Kiwi. Honestly, given the exterior I did not expect what I found. The shop feeling a bit like going into the backroom of a store, overflowing with shoes, clothes and boxes and despite being a pretty long and narrow store you can only fit about 4 people in it at a time (if you're willing to be very friendly). Lisa however has an incredible selection of what I'll call fashion comfort shoes -- Joseph Seibels, clogs, Terra Plana, Clarks, Privos, etc -- at crazy discounts. And she's got a pretty decent stock collection too. Lisa is also a treat to talk to -- definitely not a part of the gentrification of Park Slope.

Hopping from 7th Ave to 5th:

Eidolon: Eidolon is owned and staffed by women who design and make most of the wares it sells. I picked up a great pair of shoes here (not made by the owners) and Lauren tried on some gorgeous dresses here. By this point I was getting a bit freaked out by the fact that I had bought so much stuff my bag was becoming too heavy to carry, so I cooled it a bit on the browsing.

Flirt: Flirt is also an owner/designer coop kind of a place, though they also sell things not made in-house. We ended up at Flirt after asking a woman in Kiwi where she got the awesome skirt she was wearing. Their website describes the philosophy of the business thusly: "As artists ourselves we always wanted Flirt to be a place for women like us: creative, individualistic, unpredictable, and up for anything!" I'd say that definitely comes through, and we had a great time chatting with one of the owners about the struggles and rewards of running your own show. Flirt has also started up Home Ec classes where they teach basic sewing techniques that look like tonnes of fun.

Cog & Pearl: Ok, by the time we hit Cog and Pearl I was nearly done for. For real. Take a quick look at their website and you'll see what I mean. Cog and Pearl is like an artisan art gallery filled with gorgeous handmade jewelry, pieces of art, books, ceramics and more all which are for sale. That's right: you can take them home with you. If we had started here I would surely have spent hundreds of dollars here. As it was I was freaking out that soon VISA may give me a call out of suspicion of a stolen card on the loose at wee little shops in Brooklyn. I did pick up a ring and a pair of awesome earrings which deserve their own post.

Thoughts on the Pax Wardrobes Anyone?

I'm not sure if it's quite as simple as the influence of that unreasonably dreamy walk-in closet in the Sex and the City Movie, or if it's just that we've finally reached our cumulative breaking point in trying to live with 1940s closets in 2008 (as a pair of clothes horses), but this morning Martin and I reached the closet breaking point and decided it was time to do something.

Since we moved in here three years ago, Martin has actually kept his clothes in Miss P's room closet across the hall from our bedroom, while I have occupied the main bedroom closet. Both closets are small, typical of this era of home, and not particularly awesome uses of space. My closet has a fair bit of room, but a very tiny door, so little of the room is actually usable and well Martin's is in a whole other room, making it not so useful. Plus, as Miss P gets older, she actually wants to use that closet for her own budding clothes horse lifestyle.

So, this morning, we stood in front of the wall where the closet currently exists and began positing how we could rework it. We both agree that ripping out the whole wall and making it into one large and more efficient closet in the way to go. We got out scraps of paper, measuring tapes and past issues of Dwell magazine to figure out how we'd go about making things work. The basic reno problems to solve:

• Once we rip out the full wall to open things up, we'll have a gap of wood (where thh wall once existed) on the floor in need of patching. As long as this is on the inside of the closet, that's not such a problem as it won't be too visible, but still we want it to look decent.
• Because the room is pretty small, and we want to maximize our closet space, we're best to do large sliding doors so we don't have to worry about space for doors to open. Alternatively, we can put a series of small doors in, but hanging a series of small doors in what we want to be a fairly open closet area is not a reno project that Martin's too thrilled about getting involved in.
• And, as usual, it needs to be reasonably priced, but still look good.

Just as we were about to get in the car to head to the hardware store to start figuring out our options for sliding door hardware and such, we decided to check the Ikea catalogue for ideas. We soon decided that we might be best off actually ripping out the walls and setting a Pax wardrobe system right into the removed space and basically drywalling it into place. So, instead of going to the hardware store we darted out to Ikea to take a look and at this point we're pretty sure that's what we're going to do. We can get one of the taller units at 200cm wide and it will basically fill our entire wall. That give us each 100cm of storage (roughly what we each have currently), but hopefully it will give us more usable height storage with the opening up of the closet wall (about an extra 60-70cm of usable height). Now we just need to figure out how to configure the inside, and what kind of doors we want, so if any of you are Pax users, I'd love reviews/thoughts. My questions are:

1. What are your favourite/least favourite inserts/drawers and configurations?
2. Have you tried using sliding doors with a partner? The way this would work, is that Martin and I would each have half of the system and so, if we're both using it at the same time, with the sliding doors we'd not be able to access our full closet (as the doors overlap). In order to access the full closet, the other person's door would need to be fully closed. We're leaning towards the sliding doors for space (though the four small doors would have enough room to open in our small bedroom), but I'm worried we'll end up on each other's nerves.

All thoughts and input are more than welcome. I must have renovator's amnesia, because I'm so excited about hte idea of ripping out that wall right now, I'm tempted to order pizza instead of making dinner and get out the sledge hammer...

Chard, Ricotta and Hazelnut Pasta Sauce

About a year or so ago now an ex emailed me to ask if I still had the recipe for a ricotta/chard pasta sauce we used to make. When I got her email I realized that it was one of those receipes that had completely fallen out of my kitchen repertoire, though I'm not certain why as I absolutely adore it. It was on of those recipes that is so much more than the sum of its parts, the ingredients all coming together in a creamy and decadent coating just perfect for al dente penne rigate or a nice thin fresh papardelle. I'm not usually a fan of creamy sauces, but this one manages to balance decadent with a light fresh taste and to not be too heavy in the belly.

I scoured my cookbooks to no avail, and even asked Lauren (whose cookbook collection I have often familiarized myself with) if she had it. Nothing turned up. After a particularly long day of weeding and trying to get on top of the back garden and veggie squares yesterday, I found myself with a whole heck of a lot of fresh swiss chard in need of harvesting and eating, and my determination to resurrect that recipe was renewed. I tried a search of the web, but mostly came up with ricotta filled pastas, until I happened upon Whipped and there it was (with some slight variations). And so I set to work washing chard, and made a double batch (we still have plenty of fresh and lovely chard in the yard if anyone in the neighbourhood is interested). I brought some of the very large batch over to our new neighbours  with a box of penne, some mineral water and a bottle of organic french wine. They just moved in this weekend, and we're so excited that someone has moved onto the block who doesn't plan to knock the house down and build a monster  house instead. (We're also excited because they seem like really awesome folks and they have what is certainly the coolest and biggest deck on the block and they seem keen to have company for deck parties).

So, after all those tangents here's the recipe for chard, ricotta and hazelnut pasta sauce. (This sauce makes great substitute for basil pesto in the winter months when basil is scarce and pricey, but it's also a perfect way to use up a bunch of spring chard).

Serves 4
1 bunch Swiss chard, stalks removed (about 4 cups chopped)
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I use fresh grated nutmeg, so use a bit less)
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts (plus a bit more for finely chopped for on top)

Your favourite pasta shape, I like penne rigate as it clings to the ridges and gets stuck in the tubes. Yum.

Bring water to a boil. While water is getting hot, wash and rinse the swiss chard. Chop in shreds. Saute the garlic in the olive oil for a minute. Add the damp greens and stir until just wilted but still bright green. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. In a blender or food processor, puree with cooked greens with the ricotta until smooth. Add a few extra teaspoons of olive oil if needed to smooth out the sauce. Add more salt if needed to bring out the flavors of the greens.

Cook pasta according to directions for al dente (you don't want it too mushy with a creamy sauce). Toss drained pasta with the sauce. Serve with chopped roasted hazelnuts and plenty of fresh cracked pepper.