Italian Laundry

One might not consider writing a blog a guilty pleasure, but I certainly do, and I can't believe it's been so long since I've indulged myself! This has truly been a busy and exciting year and now I'm playing catch up on life. So when I finally have a few minutes to myself, and I feel like I should be working on this or that, I also need to do something that is not for anyone but me (and my few faithful readers).

I'd love to share with you a little snippet of a recent holiday I took in Italy. The inspiration for me was oozing through everything, from the delicious food, tasty wine, beautiful country side, architectural splendour and the laundry. Yes, I said laundry.

It started with our arrival in Venice. People either love it or hate it there. I fell madly in love. It's a city unlike any other I've seen before. It was surreal, almost like being on a movie set. There are no cars that travel through town, no scooters, not even a bike. With that being said, imagine the silence that comes with that. Not to mention the beautiful colours!! With the peeling paint from the old stone buildings, so many in disrepair yet so incredibly beautiful and alive.
I first noticed the laundry in Venice. I have most definitely seen laundry hung from balcony railing's before, it's a normal site in Europe. I myself have hung my laundry outside to dry in the hot summer sun. But for some reason, on this first day in Venice, the laundry caught my eye and I began to notice it everywhere. Maybe it was the colourful walls, the silence in the streets or the shabbiness of the buildings that the clean fresh laundry was hanging from. As I noticed the laundry, put my lens to it and focused, it almost begun to take on a whole other form. I was reminded of the movie American Beauty, and the scene with the Flying Plastic Bag.

Anyway, I don't know that these photo's can or will express everything I saw or felt on that journey, but I wanted to share them with you anyway.

So, not everyone can hang their laundry from their balcony, but this last shot was still just as beautiful to me. I would gladly hang anything out of this building!

Hope you enjoyed my stroll through the streets of Italy! There's so much more to share with you and I plan on doing that really soon!

Vintage Aprons

I've been told that I'm a bit of a "pack rat". What can I say, I'm an avid hobbyist. Although my collection of stuff does not include clutter and nik naks, and it's all very organized, the label sticks. Being a photographer by profession, I collect anything that could be a really great prop to use on set. I also sew, and I like interesting fabrics. I like to renovate my home or refinish old furniture which requires a collection of power and hand tools. I like to decorate my home with really great pieces that I find at antique markets, garage sales, and even with a few fantastic pieces found in the trash. I'm fascinated by the little unique details in things. I think it all started with my parents. When they came to Canada all those years ago empty handed, they begun to keep whatever they would need 'just-in-case'. My dad was the 'handyman' around the house, so he collected lots of tools, while my mom sewed, cooked and was the best homemaker ever. I've kept some of her old fabrics, vintage now since the colours and patterns are not like anything you can buy today. I've also held onto her old rickety sewing Judy. I haven't used it much, but I don't have the heart to throw it away.

While I'm trying to shed the "pack rat" title, I still understand the value of a great find. My father invited me over one day to sort through some things he was going to throw away. Looking through an old trunk in his basement, I found an exciting pile of textiles. Vintage bedsheets (still in their package), towels, napkins and table cloths and a huge collection of aprons were discovered. Although I tried to be strong and pass on most things, I couldn't resist the stack of aprons. I remember my mother using aprons while she cooked, but these ones were unused. I guess I know where my fascination with textiles came from!

Out of the whole bunch, I'm not sure which apron is my favourite as they're all so different. The orange apron in the middle is a pretty close 1st. I love the detail, the beautiful stitching and embroidery, but my favourite part are the pockets. They are very unassuming from the outside, but when you put your hands in, the pockets take over the whole inside of the apron. Lots of room to put stuff...like a whisk, a recipe card? or a umm, a baby kangaroo? Whatever it may be, the pockets are pretty cool.

Another thing I like is the word 'Portugal' stitched onto the top band. My parents never travelled much, just within their home country of Greece and a few North American cities, so I'm not quite sure whether this apron was a gift or a really neat find that my mother couldn't resist either.

The first blue apron on the left of this bunch (above) is a top favourite of mine as well. It's so clean and simple yet so feminine. The band around the neck simply slips over your head leaving only a string around the waist to tie, and the excess fabric around the bottom giving the skirt an extra flare adds to the feminine touch.

Although the first apron on this bunch (below) has some pretty feminine detail, I can't help but think of wearing it making candy canes in Santa's village. The fuchsia & white stripe with the scalloped edge & white eyelet fabric under the scallops make for a very "girly" apron. Don't get me wrong, I do really like it, it just reminds me of something you'd wear in a candyshop!

What can I say about the white apron in the middle (below) other than it might somehow be a part of my Halloween costume next year ;) Really, what else do you think of when seeing a tiny structured crisp white apron like this, aside from "Maid's Uniform"? And reading the label from this one, it is actually part of a uniform! I think that's really the only time I would wear this one seeing how small the apron front is and how much of a messy cook I can be at times! The one next to it (yellow, green blue and red striped) is a knit apron. Not sure who thought up this one as I don't know how practical it could be, but it's definitely something I haven't seen before.

This collection of aprons certainly are all very unique and one of a kind and not something I would want to part with or maybe not even wear . I'm not sure what I'll do with them as it's a shame to have them hiding in a box. I'm hoping to transform the 'packrat' term to suggest "If I'm going to collect things, they have to either be a/ on display or b/ I have to actually use them." With the aprons, I think I might still prefer to wear my everyday clothes while I cook as I do while I paint, and clean with too! Maybe this is why I have paint, bleach and oil stains on my clothes! lol! So I'm not quite sure where they'll end up yet.

What's your favourite apron? Do you have a unique one of your own that you love? Do you have any collections that you secretly admire from the box they're kept in or do you display your collections in a unique way? I have a few more collections tucked away which I'm debating on their fate. Maybe you'll see them on here some other day!

Wintery Butternut Squash Soup

I'm sure most of you would attest that if you're living in a climate where your winter's are cold , you think cold, snowy, blistery, wet, dark, cold, dreary, depressing, did I mention cold? I admit, there are a few things I love about winter here in Toronto. I really don't mind the snow so much since with all the snow, there's usually lots of sunshine. After a big snowfall, there's peace and quiet in the air, except for the scraping of the shovels on the sidewalk. I love my street after a good snow dump as my neighbours finally emerge from their homes after seeing them last in late fall, to clean their walks and interact with the others while lending a hand if needed.
Other great things about winter, snuggling up by the fire, hot chocolate (with Bailey's of course), and soup. I love a yummy bowl of soup to warm me up from the inside out, but it's not something I think of making often. I have a few favourites and they each serve a purpose. One is a common Greek Chicken Soup (actually, it's called egg and lemon soup) which I swear, is the magic ticket to curing the common cold. I try and make this when I'm feeling run down and I can feel a cold coming on. Even works when I've past that point and in full on sick mode. Maybe I'll run that recipe the next time I get sick (I'm knocking on wood as we speak!)

The other soup is love is a Butternut Squash soup. You really can't go wrong with making this, I've tried so many variations and I'm sure there are many more for me to explore. This time I used a combination of a few recipes I had made in the past and a few that I hadn't, and then came up with my own idea of what I wanted. Recipes that inspired me were one from Martha Stewart (I love her!), one from LCBO, and one from Earthbound Farm Organic.

So this is how I did it....
1 medium Butternut Squash
1 medium Yam or Sweet Potato
2 Pears (you can use apples too)
2 cloves of Garlic
1 medium Onion
5 cups of Vegetable or Chicken Stock (you can also use water instead)
Seasonings like ground cloves, cinnamon &/or pumpkin spice 1 tsp Honey

Start by peeling your butternut squash. If you've never peeled one before, it's just like peeling a potato as the skin is not very tough and pretty easy to do.

After it's peeled, cut in half length wise and scoop out the seed and stringy bits using a spoon or fork.

You can always used the seeds as well by washing them free of the stringy bits and spicing them up in the oven. After the squash is clean, chop it up into 1" square bits.

Do the same steps above with the pears and the yam/sweet potato. When all are chopped, set aside and grab your onion and garlic. Get a large pot and melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Peel, and chop onion and garlic, turn up the temperature to high, and toss into pot sauté-ing (is that a word?) for about 3 minutes (until see through). Then you can add your squash, pears and yam/sweet potato. Stir them up and sauté for 3 more minutes.

Add 5 cups of either water/veg stock or chicken stock (I only had 2&1/2 cups of chicken stock on hand so I used that and the rest was 2&1/2 cups of water.

For some extra flavour, I added 1 teaspoon of honey, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (adjust to your taste).

Let it cook down for 20 minutes of so, while occasionally giving it a stir. Wondering if it's ready? Stick a fork in the squash or yams and when soft, it's ready!

Final step, put everything into your food processor and purée. My food processor is not working (sniff) so I let my pot cool a bit before putting the ingredients into my glass blender.

Once it's puréed, it's ready to serve! Garnish with a drizzle of plain yogurt (or sour cream). The sourness offsets the sweet soup so nicely! If you've made too much, you can always freeze the rest and save it for a really cold winter day.

Yogurt: A Healthy Snack

When I photographed this yogurt dessert for Clean Eating Magazine a few months back, I was thrilled to have some new inspiration to my favourite plain yogurt snack.

.........................................,........................................Jan/Feb 2010 Clean Eating Magazine

My night time snack preference is a bowl of plain yogurt. It satisfies any cravings that I might have, plus, the calcium in the yogurt helps me sleep better at night, not to mention what it does for my body while I sleep!

Those television commercials weren't lying, there are so many benefits to eating yogurt! Well, they were sort of telling us the truth. See, most yogurts that are advertised are flavoured yogurts and they have way too many unnecessary ingredients such as sugars, (aspartame and sucralose found in sugar free choices) corn starch, dyes, preservatives, gelatin and cream (to name a few). Plain yogurt is your other option which should really only have 2 ingredients: live cultures and milk. Plain yogurt is really the healthiest option and you can always add to it.

If you like your fruit flavoured store-bought yogurts, here's a little eye-opener for you. Once fruit is cut up, it begins to ferment and so additives and/or preservatives are added to the flavoured yogurts to keep the fruit from rotting. Also, there can be anywhere from 5 or more teaspoons of sugar added to one of those little yogurt container (where fruit already contain natural sugars)! One of the great benefits to plain yogurt is all the healthy bacteria that it provides, however, in the flavoured yogurts, the good bacterial cultures are interfered with when yogurt is flavoured. So in the end, all the "good stuff" you get from plain yogurt is lost when eating those already flavoured yogurts.

If my little eye-opener has turned you off flavoured yogurts, let me share with you the benefits of the plain, natural yogurts.
Fewer calories (while flavoured yogurts have the added sugars, plain does not), lots of calcium, protein, and my favourite, the friendly bacteria which is so good for your digestive tract. We've been hearing a lot about "Probiotics" in tv commercials and on product labels, all with good reason. Foods containing probiotics (such as plain yogurts) contain (good) bacteria like those already found in your intestine. Choosing yogurts containing natural bacteria strains as Lactobacillus Acidophilus and Bifidobacterium Bifidus can provide the healthy bacteria to your digestive system which can help inhibit yeast infections, assist in digestive issues, promotes colon health and can boost your immunity.

I always prefer plain organic whole milk or low fat yogurt .

Although I find plain yogurt yummy on it's own, like the 6 packs of mini flavoured yogurts found in your grocery store, I like some variety. Adding chopped walnuts and honey is my fave, while chopping up strawberries, banana's or pineapple are up there as well. My favorite snack while visiting Greece is fresh yogurt topped with walnuts and honey. It's so popular there that most restaurants there will have this snack on their dessert menu's! The yogurt in Greece is unlike anything I've had here, and believe me, I've looked! The closest thing would be a balkan style yogurt. My favourite plain organic yogurt these days is from Stoneyfield Farm. It's comparably priced which is great as I go through the 32 oz tub's I buy, so quickly!

*A little tip if you normally pack yogurt for lunch, pack some plain yogurt in a container. Separately pack a whole banana, strawberry's or your fruit of choice, you can also include granola, nuts, dark chocolate, coconut (possibilities are endless!). When it's lunch time, chop up your fruit and mix in with yogurt.

You can also substitute yogurt for sour cream, top your butternut squash soup, or your baked potato, mix it in with your fruit smoothies! I've even found some people substitute yogurt in their baking! (I'll have to try that some day)

The new inspiration from my Clean Eating Magazine photoshoot, couldn't of come at a better time. We had shot the yogurt image this past summer, right about the time of a dinner party I was having which included 5 good friends and a great big bbq'd feast. When it came to dessert, I realized, I hadn't made any! We had just shot that Yogurt story for the magazine and since some of my refrigerator staples included yogurt and fruit, I used my new inspiration and mixed it with my old favourites to pull together an impromptu dessert for 6.

This mixture is per person, so 1 cup/1 person, 5 cups/5 people.

• In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of plain yogurt (per person) with 1/2 teaspoon of real vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed**.

• Then scoop out 1/2 cup yogurt mix into a dessert dish, layer some strawberries, then the other 1/2 cup of yogurt mix.

• Top with more strawberries, and then finish it off with chopped walnuts and honey.

**Flaxseed is high in fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and phytochemicals called lignans. You can grind whole flax seeds in your cleaned out coffee grinder!

Needless to say, the dessert went off without a hitch and was loved by all!


Thank You to my sister Lisa and her nutritional expertise found on Naturally Savvy. Here's some more great information she's written on the benefits of plain yogurt, along with the link above on probiotics.

Check it out!

Here's some of my latest photography work with Clean Eating Magazine.



Such a fun story to shoot, and so nice to go a little 'girly' with this one ;)


Thanks to Jennifer MacKenzie from Clean Eating who Art Directed this story, to Lindsay Evans who made all the yummy food and to Genevieve Wiseman who brought all the great props!