Dog Beds

The first pet fashion show at the Fashion Institute of Technology was held last week.  I made two dog beds for the event from my new Sam & Tasha line of pet products.  The whole thing was really fun.  The dogs were great, the outfits ranged from "too cute" to sporty to over the top, and the accessories looked amazing!

Making a Light Fixture

my light fixture

PH Artichoke Lamp

I love light fixtures.  I want to design and make them.  So far I've come up with one, but to be honest I didn't really do the hard part here.  I found this metal object (above) on the floor in the back of a great store in western New York called Antiques and Interiors. Who knows what it had been used for; it was dusty and dirty but the shape reminded me vaguely of the Artichoke Lamp, designed by Poul Henningsen in 1958.

My dad did the hard part - he painted it and attached all the bits to make it actually function as a ceiling mounted light fixture.  I did help install it.

Next up will be a lamp made out of an old metal funnel.  Kind of an obvious shape, I guess, but the funnel has developed a really beautiful patina over time and it will look really kick-ass when it's done.  

Lola Bistro

Duck
Arctic char
Lola fries!

Citrus merengue with black olive honey and lemon curd

Modern tiramisu

Last friday I had a real treat - I was visiting friends and family in Cleveland and got to dine at chef Michael Symon's restaurant, Lola Bistro.  It was fantastic. I snapped a lot of pictures, but forgot to take one of the charcuterie plate.  It was gone so fast...but was really the highlight of the meal.  The debate over whether to order that or the beef cheek pierogi for the appetizer went on for some time.  I could have (but shouldn't have) eaten both, but charcuterie won, which gives me an excellent reason to go back.

Laura Zindel Ceramics

I am a big fan of this artist's work, and was lucky enough to get this dragonfly platter for a Christmas gift.  I love the fact that they are made by hand, and that they feature cool skeletal bugs and insects.  That tarantula spider pattern is pretty fantastic, too.

Cheese, how I love you.

Two of my favorite cheeses of the moment have something in common: they both get a lot of flavor from the treatment of the rind.

I'm talking about the fabulous Sottocenere and a goat's milk Manchego with a rosemary crusted rind.  The latter I found at the Garden of Eden grocery store in my neighborhood.

I've eaten Sottocenere a bunch of times, but don't really know a lot of the "facts" behind it, other than that the rind is somehow truffle-dusted.  A quick look at the Murray's Cheese website revealed that Sottocenere should be made from raw cow's milk and aged for three months.  It is speckled with black truffle bits, and the rind is treated with truffle oil and spices such as fennel, nutmeg, and cloves.  It smells earthy and has a deliciously creamy texture. 

Manchego is typically a sheep's milk cheese, or sometimes a sheep and cow blend, which is inferior!  I don't know what makes this goat's milk manchego a manchego - maybe it's from the same region in Spain?  Or maybe it's a "made up" name for a random goat's milk cheese...so I'll investigate.  All I know it that the rosemary coated rind gives it a delicate floral taste that is really, really good.  

So good I ate almost an entire quarter pound of it in one sitting.  Oops.

Weaving Class

I'm taking a weaving design class at FIT this spring.  We use a basic four-harness loom, and the first project was a sampler of the many basic weave styles - plain weave, twill, broken twill, etc. Not really a chance to go to town creatively, but essential background knowledge, I guess.

Anyway, it's neat.  I took a picture of it before I cut it up and mounted them all individually.

Sewing Project

Lookit this potholder!  This was an exciting project.  For me.  The pattern is from Lotta Jansdotter's book "Simple Sewing", and the fabric is by a Japanese designer.  I got it at Purl SoHo, a great fabric & yarn shop here in NYC.  I think I'll make more, because I have a ton of wool batting left over.