Author: Marina

Hazelnut and raisin bread

Lately, I have been looking for recipes to use all those Christmas leftover nuts that have been lingering around my kitchen for too long now.
There are plenty of appetizing dishes over the internet and I couldn’t really decide if I wanted to use them to add flavor and texture to a main course or add some protein in a dessert type of dish.
I came across an interesting recipeto make bread packed with raisins and hazelnut. The ingredients were readily available (apart from the walnut oil, which I replaced with extra virgin olive oil), but the instructions were a bit fiddly, so I made some changes to make the recipe quick and easy to do, which is more to my taste. That’s what you need.
 
 
 
 

 The bread turned out to be great for our morning breakfast. Mr G is not a big fan of raisins and wasn’t overly excited about it, but Olivia and I loved it. We ate it as it is, but it should be delicious toasted and very lightly buttered, that’s for tomorrow to try!

Today

Today my thoughts are written down on paper, as a reminder. Have a nice and productive day!

The 52 project: week 7

We spent the week in Italy, visiting my in-laws. It was cold and snowy for most part, but we had some sunshine and a clear sky towards the end. Little Miss O had a great time playing with her grandparents, the dog and her little cousin. As we spent a lot of time together, we took lots of pictures, both with the camera and the phones, and it was difficult to choose just one that would represent the week. Here is a bunch of  this week photos.

Reading time

Out for a walk

Painting with mama

On the snow with papa
This week you:

Insisted on brushing your teeth every time we went in the bathroom.
Refused to dress up for the Carnival parade. And fell asleep as soon as the parade started.
Had a temperature one night and made us watch two episodes of ‘In the night garden’ at 1am.
Asked to go and play with the dog, hundreds of times during the day.
Note: I’m publishing this post on Monday this week as we flew back to England on Sunday.

Improving my handwriting

Handwriting: the way a person writes

When I was little, probably around 10 years old, I was obsessed with handwriting. I remember filling pages over pages during the summer break, practicing the alphabet. If I look back at my school notebooks, sometimes I can’t recognise my own handwriting…..I had so many different styles, and I would change it at the start of each school year. Even my signature has changed considerably over the years. I remember once, the clerk at the bank ask me to ‘copy’ one of my old signatures, because the way I was signing now was different from the way I had signed only few months back. My handwriting kept changing over the years, and despite the obsession, I couldn’t find a nice set of letters to stick to that would satisfy me entirely.
I stopped caring about my handwriting up until last year, before I started writing down my daughter’s record book. I wanted it to be perfectly written, so I started practising a bit again!
First thing I did, was to have a look at other people’s handwriting. I always admire people who can write neatly and elegantly even if they are compiling a shopping list. One of these person is my mum; she was a primary school teacher so she had a lot of practice! 
I also love people who can complement their drawings with nice handwritten notes. Love Cathy Johnson sketches and the way she collects info and thoughts about the subject. 
And what about the botanical sketchbooks of Mary Ann Scott…it’s my dream to create one of those! 
Or Kal Bartesky writing art 
And while browsing to find some inspiration I came across Austin Kleon’s blog and his article on how to improve your handwriting! 
What a relief knowing that I’m not the only one obsessed with handwriting.
So pen in hand I started practicing….
And practicing…
I tried different pens, different papers, different ways of holding a pen and different ways of holding the paper (try writing on a vertical board using your arm and shoulder rather than your fingers or wrist, you’ll be amazed at how the strokes can become smoother)…
And I began writing down the alphabet again…

The picture above was my first attempt to make my own font using this online tool…it was kinda cool to have a preview of how my own handwriting would look like in the digital world.

I’m still not 100% happy with my writing, but it’s getting better and, most of all, I’m enjoying the overall process. It brings back some happy memories and it helps me to release the tension.

I’m always on the lookout for pretty handwriting and thinking of taking a calligraphy course and maybe this BRUSH SCRIPT workshop.

Note: All the pictures above were taken with my phone, with the exclusion of those linked to the web.

The 52 project: week 6

It’s week 6 and I’m still enjoying this project. This week was a quiet one, little Miss O well had fun with her papa during the day, skyped with her grandparents and uncles during the evening, slept through every night. This week I’m including some pictures of little Miss O with us, as well as a proper portrait of her. I know the host of this project is doing “A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013”, but I’d like to think of it as “A portrait of my child’s life, once a week, every week, in 2013”. It seems more complete to me capture not only my daughter’s face, but also her surroundings, what she’s up to, what she enjoys or not.
This is her (and us!) this week.
 Playtime

 With mama

With papa
This week you:

Turned 14 months (already baby girls..stop growing so fast!!).

Made us clink our glasses together everytime you had a sip from your water cup.

Welcomed a penguin into your close circle of puppets friends.

Took ownership of papa’s Ipad (and it looks like there is no going back).

Enjoyed riding the escalator.

Shook your head to say no!

Note: I’ve been trying to be consistent with the formatting of these posts. These are my simple rules: some generic text about the week to begin with, some photos (not necessarily portraits) with a brief description, a list of the main events of the week. I’m currently publishing the post on Sunday morning each week, so that I can inlcude some Saturdays’ me and her time. 
I’m also trying to use my camera rather than my phone; it won’t always be possible, but I’ll do my best.