Napkin folding!

This past Sunday, we had family over for brunch. Lots of conversation, lots of french toast, lots of smiling at the baby, and a demonstration by Sara of how to fold a napkin into an artichoke. Wow, this is pretty cool!

Elflog

Some one left a small Winsor & Newton Ink box with a black rock in it to weight it down. It stayed 0n the shelf for two days in the rain. I took it home because it was all soggy and not box-like anymore. Here's what it looked like flattened out.

My Blythe - Zelda!

I've chosen Zelda as the name for my Blythe doll. Thanks for suggestions, they were all appealing. Today, I took Zelda to visit Ever. We did a clothing exchange and here are the dolls in lovely outfits made by Silkenstone. Check out her Etsy shop. Isn't the living room darling. I love the dog and fox pets, too. For scale, Tee put her foot into the picture. Suddenly, it all changes, yes? I'm having such fun with this new "hobby"- "project"- indulgence? I'm doing more knitting for Blythe. I made a jacket and leg warmers, which I'll post here or in Fritzi, my etsy shop. Stay tuned.

Potato Soup

Potato Soup
(Potage des Vendanges)
with my variations.

from Vegetables the French Way
by Jack Santa Maria 1989

Les vendanges is the grape harvest. This nourishing soup is typical of those served to grape pickers during this season of hard work.

3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 leeks, trimmed washed, chopped
1 pound potatoes, peeled, cut in pieces
black pepper & salt
6 cups vegetable stock
1 cup crème fraîche or cottage cheese
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon

Heat the butter in a heavy pan and cook the leeks until they soften. Add the potatoes and turn in the butter for 3 minutes. Add the stock, herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over low heat until the potatoes are tender. Purée in a blender or food processor. Return to the pan and stir in the cottage cheese or crème fraîche. Serve garnished with tarragon.

ADAPTATIONS: I use olive oil in place of butter or olive oil with a bit of butter. I use onions in place of leeks. I add a minced garlic to the onions. I use water with vegetarian bouillon. If I don’t have cottage cheese and have sour cream, I use that with a bit of sugar. If you leave out any dairy, this is, of course, perfect for a vegan meal. Feel free to make substitutions that will make this your very own potato soup. When you reheat this soup do it on a low heat.

French Film Festival, whew!

Last weekend, we attended the 16th annual VCU French Film Festival, the biggest one of it's kind in the U.S. We were so tired at the end of the weekend. Amazing how tiring it is to watch movies. (smile) We started at 3 p.m. on Friday and ended at 8h30 p.m. on Sunday. We saw 9 of the 11 feature films and 12 out of 13 shorts. Amazing! We recommend "Ensemble, C'est toute" and "Un Secret," top of our list, but many other films were enjoyable, too. Lots of the films were based on books this year. I'd read Ensemble as Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda. The film turned out to be a good adaptation. The festival is held in the historic Byrd Theater, which is one of those old movie palaces. It's really a great looking theater with a Dolby sound system that's top notch, but the seats are horrible. Break your bottom and back awful. Some day it'll be changed; but' we just hope that by next year we forget that part and return for the films.

My studio, mi taller!

I thought I'd put a little español into my blog title. Here are some views of my studio as it looks right now. Space for making collages, mail art, and artist trading cards in one area and


my sewing machine set up in another for making my totes.



My knitting supplies aren't in view because I work on those projects in the adjacent tiny TV room, while watching episodes of the new Doctor Who.
I love having this studio space and feel grateful and lucky!

Knitting for a Blythe Doll

What craziness! I'm knitting for a doll, and a small doll, at that. I can't believe that I made this coat. Chuck suggested that I make the head wrap and it turned out really cute. I haven't named this doll, yet; but, I'm leaning towards "Zelda" as kind of a 1920's name. If you have any thoughts on doll naming, chime in with a suggestion. I'm working on a second coat to see if I can "perfect" the pattern. Maybe I'll get adept at this and even offer one for sale on Fritzi. Who knows. All I know is that I'm having a lot of fun with this. Thank you, Tracy!