Le Weekend: No. 392

One of the things about working five days a week, after working four-day weeks for the past few years, is that I have to cram a lot of things into a short period, but I usually manage.

We started off Friday with some cooking – me trying a recipe for Grapefruit Curd, and our friend Merryn making an amazing Indian meal. My attempt at the Grapefruit Curd wasn’t altogether successful. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t inedible, either.  I tried a new technique of starting everything in the pot at a cold temperature and gradually bringing it up to an almost boil. I thought the eggs wouldn’t set if I did it this way. There were still bits of scrambled egg in the curd, and it didn’t 1) have a strong grapefruit taste, or b) set up very well. It also had a slightly eggy after-taste, even though the recipe I used only called for four eggs instead of eight egg yolks.Even after adding a drop of red food colouring, it was still mostly yellow. No problem, I only made three small jars, so I can try other recipes.

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Our friend Merryn spent six months in India and brought back some great recipes. So she prepared an Indian dinner for six of us.

There’s tandoori-style chicken, lentils, yoghurt and cucumbers, jasmine rice, curried potatoes and roasted cauliflower. The cauliflower was really amazing and without the curry, would make a great side dish for the upcoming holidays.

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On Saturday, I went down to visit some friends who’ve just moved from their amazing house on Baltimore’s Inner Harbour, to a waterfront house just at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

You can just see Key Bridge to the right of the small boat house. We also saw great-black-backed gulls, mergansers, golden-eyes and much more bird-life. It’s just fun to sit on the deck and watch the water, or check out the commercial shipping traffic in real time, via here.

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Pal David was busy this weekend, too. He’s a total clothes horse, but generally can’t leave well-enough alone. So over the weekend, he made some alterations. This was originally a black and white shirt from Gap, but after David got through with the Sharpie marker, it was completely transformed. He took this look from the book, Piranesi's Prisons. It’s amazing in its detail.

Because that wasn’t enough, he also recreated a silk tie, and added steel caps to a pair of boots.He’s so amazingly creative!

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After an absence of months, I’ve finally added some things to my Etsy shop. I’ve neglected it horribly, but now I’ve got some holiday items up.

I found a cache of Royal Copenhagen Christmas Plates from the 1970’s and 80’s stuck under a table at a thrift shop. These are just the most beautiful plates and the designs are amazing.

I am also whipping up some of my patch-cashmere scarves and they should be on the site later this week. I also have some great equestrian china, some blue and white pieces and more. Let me know if there’s anything specific you’re searching for, and I will see what I can do.

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Finally, I will leave you with a picture of Connor being strange. Please don’t ask me why he sleeps with his nose in my shoe. It’s not the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last. This is a much better look, don’t you think?