belle epoque

Meet Francoise (please imagine the proper accent on the c, as I don’t know the code for putting it in there).

She is a rabbit of the world, chic and mysterious, visiting here from her summer home in St. Tropez. She enjoys boules, sailing and antique speedboat racing. Her favorite novelist is Colette, and she admires Audrey Hepburn’s chic and Marlene Deitrich’s smoulder.

I must admit to being a bit obsessed with her– I even tucked her in for the night under one of my sweaters (I hadn’t made her clothes yet). Don’t worry, I do know that she is a softie and unlikely to be either embarassed or chilly. I wasn’t much of a doll person as a child– I preferred playing with stuffed animals and pretending that I was a veterinarian. But it must be coming to me late (as in 20 years late), because I’m having an urge to make Francoise a little bed, and a quilt, and a wardrobe for her various social functions. I think she needs a pair of espadrilles for this outfit, for example. Must look for some wine corks…

Hope you have a wonderful long weekend (in the U.S. anyway!). Francoise and I are off to have a cafe au lait and read the September Vogue.

p.s. Francoise was made using the purl rabbit and purl rabbit clothing patterns at the purl bee.

I realise that in many places in the northern hemisphere, the air is crisp, cool and smelling of apples. Maybe it is raining and leaves are already changing colors. Here in San Francisco? We’re just starting to get some summery weather! I’ve been taking advantage of it by having my coffee and breakfast in the park nearby early in the morning. When I get there, the moon is still in the sky

but rosy sunlight is making its way across the city

and the fog is curling out of the bay to make way for a warm, sunny day

I sit on a little bench in the sunlight, sipping, munching, reading and visiting with all the dogs who wander by on their morning constitutionals. It gives me just the right boost to go home and wrap up dishes, plates and vases and pack them away in boxes for our move next week!

I did get a chance to start on my purl rabbit too! Because tiny seam allowances stress me out (I know, 1/4 inch isn’t tiny to most people, but it is to me!), I followed the advice in the purl frog instructions and traced the pieces, then stitched around them while they were still part of a larger piece of fabric and cut them out once stitched.

I’ve got the little legs all stuffed and hopefully will finish the rest of the rabbit sometime tomorrow!

I also wanted to say thank you for your nice comments on my Monday post– every single one made me smile.

There’s a lot to like, so I’ll get right to it.

*The CRAFT magazine blog! Joining the amazing Natalie and CRAFT blogging team is the outrageously cool Jenny (and I’m sure equally neat Becky Stern, who I haven’t had the good fortune to meet personally but whose posts I’m enjoying)! I can hardly keep up with the awesomeness over there. And I’m ridiculously honored that the tie top tank tutorial was their pattern pdfcast on Friday. Thanks guys!
*Wilhelmina, the sleepy snail

from the Wee Wonderfuls hand sewing for fun pattern card. I accidentally sewed on her little mask upside down, but I still like her.
*Linda’s beautiful crocheted earrings.
*Flight of the Conchords- Thanks to HBO on demand I was able to have a little marathon last night. The show is quirky and hilarious, but it is really the silly songs that kept me coming back for more. My favorites being the Rhymenocerous vs Hiphopopotamus, Inner City Pressure, Robot, foux de fa fa and…oh, I’ll stop listing them now. Anyway, it is very funny if you like that sort of thing (think The Vacant Lot, the State, and maybe The Kids in the Hall, but not sketch comedy), which of course I do. If you don’t have HBO, you can watch videos of all the songs on the site and surely it will come out on DVD once the season is over.
*Time on an airplane for more tiny onesie projects for friends:

A guitar from The Stitch-it Kit, ’cause babies rock.
*Spending the weekend in Madison, WI! We had some good advice about what to do in our brief hours there (for a wedding, which was also lovely), and we packed it all in:
The Dane County Farmer’s Market (yay! local apples!)

A walk by the lake

A brat(wurst) at the Union

A little walk in the woods- there had been a lot of rain before we arrived, so there was magic everywhere

After stitching up that little snail, I’m more confident of my hand sewing abilities, and have a hankering to try another handmade softie. There are still some muslin bits in the studio that remain unpacked, so if I have time I may start on a Purl Rabbit soon.

Today was a banner day for mail chez belleepoque! Inside the first thrilling envelope:

The super exciting Hilary Lang/Wee Wonderfuls hand sewing for fun pattern cards! I knew these would be coming, so I kept some felt in my little bag of crafty tricks. I can’t wait to get started on one of them, I just have to decide which!

In the second package? The amazing treats from Bethany’s handprinted fabric swap.

Isn’t it all amazing? The sweet hedgehogs come from Wilson Watercolors, the lovely, bright frogs from Pasha Plum, the pears from Mimi Kirchner, cool potato masher/jar lid print on gorgeous green cotton from Dancing Crow Designs, beautiful faces and words on rich red from Fairbanks Fancy Goods, a lily screen print from Bee Creative, deep red with carved wooden stamps from Linda, and a special treat of art nouveau wisteria printed red from Bethany herself, the swap genie! Thank you so much, Bethany, for planning this swap. And thank you also to the makers of the wonderful fabric I received! It is all so beautiful, I can’t wait for the perfect project for each piece.

With nearly everything in the craft corner packed away, I only have supplies and energy left for small projects. Thankfully there has been a corresponding upswing in the number of small people in my immediate circle (and they’re still coming!). While Moondoggie watched football, I happily stitched away on these little guys for two wee ones belonging to lovely friends of mine:

The strawberry and anchor come from Jenny Hart’s wonderful Stitch-It Kit (which fit neatly into my single bag of craft supplies), and I wrote the words free-hand on the onesies in regular pencil. The stitching was soothing and, as I’ve mentioned before, I find the sheer tinyness of onesies so cute that I’m happy with basically anything I’ve done to them. Very satisfying.

These, also, were very satisfying

Have I gone on and on about Fannie Farmer yet? I have a hard time imagining I haven’t, but just in case, do get yourself a copy of it if you are at all interested in cooking. It was the first cookbook I ever owned (the paperback is very inexpensive). It boasts a wealth of non-intimidating, practical information and at least one good permutation of almost any basic recipe you could want (mostly for U.S. cuisine but they’ve branched out a bit in recent editions). The FF chocolate chip cookie recipe is my favorite because unlike the one on the chip package, it makes a reasonable number of cookies. Sometimes you are not trying to feed an entire third grade class and you don’t really need four trays of them. Ditto the muffin recipes– I usually don’t need 50 muffins, and these recipes make about 12. There is also information about how to outfit a kitchen, and even calorie counts for common foods in common measures (in case you like to cook and are also counting calories). It may not be glossy with pretty pictures, but it is definitely the book I turn to the most when I’m in the kitchen.

On that note, I’ll remind you to take a look at the contributions of the lovely bloggers who participated in the Recipe Swap! There is truly something delectable for every taste in the list, and I’ve added a few more since first posting it up!

Yesterday’s crafty outing was ridiculously fun. Christina, Natalie, Tricia, Susan and I hopped into my car and went here

Which was a treasure trove of vintage buttons, many from the early part of the 20th century, and a lot of mid-century wonders as well. The woman who runs it is a treasure herself. She knows every piece of stock, down to the pull-drawer where it lives, and what colors it might look best with. It was probably for the best that they only took cash and I had to be on a button budget. I ended up with

Which I plan to frame or make shadow boxes with.

Which would each make fabulous, single, banana-colored bakelite closures for sassy swing coats

Which, being crystal and older than most of the other buttons I got, broke the bank a bit, but will make a lovely pendant or button ring if I can bring myself to snip off the shank.

Since it seems to be an unspoken rule in the Bay Area crafty community, I cannot disclose the location of these wonders. But if you are really button-hungry, you can probably find it with a little internet search.

And if that wasn’t enough fun? We crashed The Sampler headquarters to visit with Marie and the gang. Man, it seems like that would be a fun place to work. I was so inspired by spending time with these awesome, creative women that I even broke my craft hiatus and started a little project when I got home (though the craft room is packed up, I allowed myself to keep out one tote bag of supplies and projects in case I got the urge). If I’m done, I’ll show you that tomorrow.

Oh! Today, two of my favorite designers will be selling their wares in the city, so be sure to visit:
Christina at Secession Art and Design
3361 Mission St at 30th, San Francisco
11-5
and
Ali at Mission Indie Mart
25th and Guerrero, San Francisco
11-6

The moving frenzy continues chez belleepoque, so I might not be able to make it myself (I’ll try to sneak out). If you go and get great stuff, I want to know about it!

Thank you all so much for joining in on the recipe exchange! I’m super excited to try all of them. To give you all your due, and so you don’t have to comb through the comments of the last post, here are all of the contributors, links to their blogs and the posts where they talk about the recipe (in alphabetical order by first name, of course).
*Anna fulfills my longtime desire for a delicious recipe for Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
*Camilla shares a link her favorite farro salad, which is perfect for entertaining.
*Mary points us to a post including a plethora of favorites, including lasangne and fajitas!
*Natalie shares a neat site and gives us a recipe for the perfect, easy dish that will impress family and friends (but not stress you out).
*Raquel links us a to a super yummy vegan soup recipe.
*Sara gives us a link to what looks like a crazy delicious Italian Sausage and Pasta Soup
*Shawnee gives us a super-yummy vegetarian recipe for Mozzerella Stuffed Arancini.
*Tricia shares a link to a fat free butternut squash soup on Nigella.com.
Thank you all for playing! You rock. Now I can pack all of my cookbooks without a worry that I won’t be able to come up with something to make for dinner. I’ll announce the winner of the totally randomly selected prize shortly.

I promised you some recipes too, right? They share a roasted summer vegetable theme. Here goes:
Whole Grain Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Feta
1.5 cups Trader Joe’s whole grain mix (if you can’t find this, substitute 1 cup quinoa, lentils, barley, wheatberries or whatever your favorite whole grain is, and if you can’t find/don’t like those, try whole wheat couscous or orzo)
1 large eggplant, cut into bite size chunks
2 medium zucchini, cut into bite size chunks
1 large red bell pepper, cut into bite size chunks
1 yellow summer squash cut into bite size chunks
1 onion, sliced into half-rings
2T olive oil
3T crumbled feta cheese (you can omit if you don’t like it, or substitute diced mozzerella)
1/2 t salt
ground pepper
Pre-heat oven to 400.
Throw all of your vegetables into a large bowl, and drizzle with olive oil. Toss so that they are all nice and coated with oil. Sprinkle over salt and a few generous grinds of pepper and then toss again so they’re evenly coated. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, then spread the vegetables in a relatively even layer on the baking sheet. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, stirring after 10.
Prepare your starch/grains according to the package directions. When they are done, put them in a large serving bowl, then add the roasted vegetables and toss so that they are all mixed up together. Add the crumbled feta and toss again. Taste to be sure there is enough oil, salt, and pepper to suit you. If you are not using feta, you will likely want to add more salt. That’s it! Easy, healthy, delicious and satisfying, especially if you’ve got good vegetables.

Buttermilk Cornbread Soup
*a less caloric version of my favorite buttermilk cornbread
1 lb package frozen sweet corn kernels
2 cups chicken stock (or veggie stock if you prefer)
1 cup buttermilk
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
2 T olive oil, divided
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (this really is important, as corn kernels are tricky little guys and very difficult to get off the baking sheet and into the soup pot without the help of the foil).
Toss corn kernels, 1T olive oil, a few generous grinds of pepper and salt in a large bowl. Spread in an even layer on the baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, stirring after 10.
Heat remaining 1T oil in your soup pot over medium heat and sautee the onion until it is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and sautee for another minute. Add your nicely roasted corn kernels and stir to combine, then pour in the stock. Bring the whole thing to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 10 minutes. Using an immersion blender, a food mill, or a regular blender in batches, puree the soup until it is smooth. If you want it *really* smooth you can pour it through a seive back into the soup pot. Add the buttermilk, stir to combine, and simmer until heated through. Then eat! It is a very sweet, mild soup with a great corn flavor. It can definitely stand a little bit of extra salt, or mix-ins like sour cream, cheese, corn chips, crackers or whatever you like.

Yay for cooking!

In other news, I promise there will be a post with pictures very soon! It is a crafty friends jackpot week here in San Francisco. Yesterday I got to spend the afternoon with the lovely Susan, and today we’re going on a top secret crafty mission with Christina, Natalie and Tricia. Can’t wait!

Such fun e-mail recipe exchanges are going around, and I love them. However, having, ahem, less than 20 friends, I could really only do it once without bothering everyone I know with like 5 recipe exchanges. So I wondered if you lovely bloggers and readers out there might like to participate in a virtual recipe exchange. Here’s the scoop:
1. Pick your current favorite recipe.
2. Post it, or a link to it, on your blog by next Thursday.
3. Comment here with a link to the post where your recipe lives.
4. Voila, we all get new recipes and perhaps some new readers too!
5. As a special added bonus, I will put all of your names into a hat next Thursday night (Pacific) and pick one, then send that person a handmade treat! So be sure that the e-mail address you include with your comment can reach you so I can find out where to send your gifty.
*If you don’t have a blog or feel like it fits in with your blog to post a recipe, feel free to just post the recipe or a link to the recipe in the comments here.

Yay! I hope you all join me. I’ll be trying out some new recipes this week (it is cold here and I’m craving soup, so I have little bookmarks on every soup recipe in my arsenal), so I’ll play too.

In other news:
*I’m super excited about Marta’s Back2School Swap! I love school supplies now I have an excuse to browse the more fun aisles of Office Depot (though of course I’ll also be making at least one of my swap contributions! it will be hard to pick just 3 items).
*There was an extremely low tide at the beach this weekend that revealed all kinds of amazing things at the tideline

*The mystery fruit tree outside our house at the beach has revealed itself as a plum!

Sadly all of the fruit is totally out of reach, and most of it seems to be split while still on the branch. But at least the birds are happy.
*Packing up my craft area is making me a little bit batty. I’m thinking of starting a few small, portable embroidery or crochet projects so I don’t suffer from really awful craft withdrawl! The upside is that I will very likely have little bags of scraps and crafty things I do not want to pack when it comes down to the wire– if this is so, I’ll give you all a chance to claim them once the deed is done!

So, I’m thinking I should take an *official* blog break, instead of just slinking away and feeling guilty! I’m not big on cryptic so I’ll just tell you why– Moondoggie and I are moving house at the end of this month! Just down the block, actually, to what I’m sure will be a lovely new apartment, but that still means packing (and packing and packing) and moving, things that are right up there with oral surgery and spiders on my list of things to avoid at all costs.

Anyway, the past few weeks have been taken up with looking for apartments and feeling rather stressed, not so conducive to cheery crafting and posting! Regardless, there have been things to like, so I’ll leave you with a little “Things I Like Thursday” post and pop in when I can with news and chat before we move. Hopefully come September I’ll be able to get back to a more regular crafting and blogging schedule (there appears to be room in the new place for a little sewing nook for me, hurrah!).

So, things that have been making me happy lately:
*Cooking! Namely Ina recipes like vegetarianeggplant gratin and not at all vegetariansteak sandwiches (snap up those recipes now as they last for a limited time on the food network site!). I cooked the eggplant gratin for a girls’ lunch last week with dear Nancy and we both deemed it delicious

Also this pork schnitzel recipe too– extremely easy, yummy and inexpensive way to cook protein for dinner.
*Seeing my book in an actual bookstore (Books Inc. at the Stanford Shopping Center to be precise)! And in very illustrious company.

*Spending Saturday afternoon at the SF Gift Show with the divine Bethany and her charming son J. She is incredibly thoughtful and brought me a beautiful piece of shibori from the Addison Endpapers sale:

*Finding that despite neglect, my little garden (oh! how I will miss it) continues producing wonders, like this almost-black sweet pea

I’m sure there is more I could and should be showing and telling you, but I’m hearing all of my unculled and unpacked stuff whispering my name and telling me to go buy dish packers right now. If you have suggestions for where to get inexpensive moving boxes, do share (I am comfortable asking the liquor store etc for cartons, but I do want to buy some new and specialized moving supplies, so if you’ve found a good place that doesn’t charge absurd amounts, do tell).