For Junko, Natsumi, and Aki

As I steep the tea leaves, the aroma takes me back to that blistering hot summer when three Japanese girls came to stay with us. I take a cup in both hands and quietly say a prayer that they are all safe.

For sale

The inside of this button-encrusted wooden jewelry box was originally painted a very bright pink. But when I found the antique butter pat at the Sale last week I used that as my inspiration for the colour scheme.The tiny plate makes a great ring bowl.

I could not resist attaching the amethyst crystal to the royal purple jewelry box. Both of these are on sale at The Art We Are.

Spring coffee cake

This is one of those recipes that is a little convoluted but I made it anyways and was glad I did. It's from Martha Stewart. It's called yeasted chocolate coffee cake and it is great served warm. Instead of putting chocolate on the inside, I used cocoa for the topping. Won't do that the next time I make this.

No, these are not from my garden.

The Art We Are

I'm selling again like I used to years ago. So far it's button boxes and cards but also have a baby quilt on the go. I really like the atmosphere of the tea joint; you can enjoy a great lunch and shop for unique handmade items.

Windy lunch

Very windy yesterday but after a quick stop at the Antiques and Collectibles sale, we had a Cowboy lunch up the hill.

The 'F' word

This is one of my favourite foods - pickled eggplant.
Then you've got your absolutely wonderful chick peas and homemade sausages.
Add the aforementioned absolutely wonderful chick peas to homemade tomato sauce with fresh spaghetti and Bob's your Zio.
Fluffy pancakes are a great way to start the morning when you are snowed in.
The famous Deruta egg salad sans mayo or oil - great stuff.
Risotto naturally follows a roast turkey dinner, every time.
A little colour to minimize the glare from all that snow.
And what nugget of truth did I glean from this latest trip to the centre of the province? There is always room for Jello!

The 'S' word

Had to use special mitts as I attempted to shovel some of the million cubic metres of SNOW off the driveway. I have never seen so much SNOW. The roads were awful, SNOW on top of ice and ruts everywhere and to make matters worse the sidewalks had not been cleared. Real fun going for a walk.