Garden Fix: Sources of inspiration found (Isola Bella on Lago Maggiore in Italy)

Once upon a time there was a girl that traveled to to lake that divided Italy from Switzerland.

On that lake was an island that was once ruled by a noble family for many years.

On that island was a house (hmph) that the noble family lived in for many centuries.

Surrounding that house were extensive beautiful gardens.

Beautiful gardens that housed such exotic creatures as albino peacocks...

and enchanting statues...

and don't forget captivating views.

And then that girl came back home & used everything that she saw to use as inspiration in her art and jewelry.

So my gradmother's garden & greenhouse were nowhere near this grand, but all that time I spent with her either working on her flowers or crafts definately rubbed off on me. Oh, and if you're wondering where the pictures were taken - here you go: Isola Bella (fitting, "Beautiful Island") on Lago Maggiore in northern Italy bordering Switzerland. Links to more history & travel specific info here.

Hope you're inspired!

♥ -Kat.

Because you'd rather be... shopping: hats

Here are some great hats from katarinacouture on Etsy.

Very fun.....my hair's too long again to pull off hats. Winter waves be damned because I'm ready to be done with long hair for the time!

-Kat

www.cardinalhouse.etsy.com

Sunday Treats: No fuss, free-form fruit pie recipe

 Easiest pie you'll ever make - rustic & casual, yet inviting (think La Madeleine country french café)! I dug this from my stash of collected recipes of the years - this one is from Glamour magazine July 1996.

The picture is mine using very ripe plums, raspberries, blackberries, & peaches...this recipe is great for finishing off the fruit bowl. Still ripening fruit will produce a firmer & slightly more tart pie.

Fruit Pie

Refrigerated (not frozen) piecrust

Flour for dusting

Fruit filling (recipes follow)

1/2 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces

Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Let dough sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a circle about 13" in diameter. Fold dough into quarters, then unfold it onto baking sheet or a 10" pie plate. Refrigerate fough while you prepare fruit filling.

Heat oven to 400°F. Remove dough from fridge. Arrange fruit filling evenly in the center of dough, leaving a 2" border fruit-free. Fold edges of dough up around fruit to form sides of pie. Pinch folds of dough to secure sides. Dot fruit in the center with butter.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until crust is lightly golden and fruit filling is bubbling. Cool pie 10 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Makes 8 servings. Calories per serving: about 270; Fat per serving: 13 grams

Plum-Berry Pie Filling

1-1/2 lbs ripe plums (or nectarines or peeled peaches)

1 cup mixed berries, such as blackberries, blueberries or raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

Pit plums, nectarines or peaches and cut into 1/4"-thick slices. Place in a bowl with other ingredients and lightly toss.

Apple Pie Filling

1-1/2 lbs apples, such as Golden Delicious or Granny Smith

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

Peel and core apples and cut into 1/4"-thick slices. Place into a bowl with other ingredients and toss.

***For my fillings I generally decrease the amount of sugar I use & add a tbsp or 2 of honey.

-Kat

www.cardinalhouse.etsy.com

Book Nook: Dead And Gone by Charlaine Harris

Book #9 of 9 (to date) Sookie Stackhouse Novels, Southern Vampire Series


Background: Overall set in Bon Temps, LA in parallel universe where vampires and humans coexist (& others - werewolves, fairies, etc - remain secret to most humans).
Rundown: The latest Sookie Stackhouse book doesn't dissappoint. All hell breaks loose with the the Fairies. Be prepared - we lose a were, a vamp, two were-panthers, and a fairy.
•Shifters come out of the closet in this book to announce their existance to the world. •Sookie is betrayed & set up for a trap by a co-worker. •Someone might be pregnant. •Remy needs Sookie's help with Hadley's son, Hunter. •Another employer seeks Sookie for her "abilities". •Sookie and Jason's parents were murdered. Flash flood is still technically how they were killed, but not everything is as it appears when dealing with the fey.
Team Eric: •We learn about Eric's maker. •Yes, Eric maneuvers Sookie into a "marriage". They are reacquainted after a brief brawl between Bill and Quinn and have some interesting revelations (...what the witches' curse entailed back in book #4).
Team Bill: •Bill and Niall rescue Sookie from torture by two enemy fairies. Bill poisoned. Sookie reveals that she forgives him & part of her still loves him.
Thoughts: Things that might be cleared up in next book? •Sook/ Eric's sex scene: What's the deal with Eric commenting "this is best" & "this is right"? •Is Dermot still in the human world, or did he cross back into the fae world before "doors" closed? Will he still favor Jason, or try to kill Sook and him? •Where was Eric while Sook was being tortured? Protecting Remy from other enemy fairies (pure theory...no clue)? •What's the meaning behind Eric living "on in Sookie"? •Which flipplin' vamp is Niall referring to, Bill or Eric? "The vampire is not a bad man, and he loves you." It would seem Eric as he and Niall have worked together in the past per book #8, but it was Bill that Niall was with when they rescued Sook....

>>>US Residents, follow this link to find your local public library: http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/Public_main.html
>>>True Blood on HBO. Only 3 more episodes left of Season 2. Yea, True Blood is going on to Season 3!

Design Fix: Fiesta-like bowls from Anthropologie

I love Fiesta-type wares .... makes great everyday settings! Check out these great colors at Anthropologie. $30 for a set of 6 bowls!

-Kat

http://www.cardinalhouse.etsy.com/

Because you'd rather be... shopping: vintage costume jewelry

I used to plunder my grandmother's mound of jewelry boxes & drawers when I was a little girl. Very good times!

Vintage costume jewelry can add extra oomph to an outfit & the fun kitschy pieces are great for conversations! Here's some that I found on Etsy.

from onevintagelife

Sarah Coventry piece from Addicted2Vintage

Trifari necklace from Wysiwigs

very cool owl ring from PattycakesPlunder

atomic design brooch from Nonnie60

If no longer available, search for more pieces here.

Book Nook: Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton

ISBN: 978-0-425-22772-5
Book #17 of 17 (to date) Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series

Background:
• Overall set in Las Vegas, NV in parallel universe where vampires & were-animals coexist with normal humans

Rundown:
•Closes the storyline of master vampire Vittorio introduced back in Incubus Dreams (Anita Blake book #12) –We find out in Skin Trade that Vittorio is much more than he seems
•Is this the end of the Mother of All Darkness? –We read that her resting place is bombed, but not very much detail is given. While Vittorio turns out to be comparable in powers to MoAD, I don’t think that LKH will end her here like that since she’s been wreaking havoc on Anita for quite some number of books now & Vittorio only had a part in the one previous book.
•Olaf (aka Federal Marshall Otto Jeffries/ assassin/ serial killer with Anita’s description fitting victim profile) is even creepier this book (morgue scenes) –We find that Olaf might even be interested in dating Anita (as in date, date…no knives & butchering). Anita & Edward are positive that they will be forced to kill Olaf one day (future book?).
•Anita is seriously thinking over her life & feels that she is losing out to all of the supernatural demands on her. –We continue to see that it’s increasingly more difficult for her to fit in with non-sups (may be forced to quit police work/ Federal Marshall’s program after almost shifting to tiger form in public). On a personal note, Anita feels that she’s never alone anymore & is constantly catering to all of the men in her life.
•More info is shared about the were-tigers –Some light is shed as to why Anita’s tiger calls to the various tiger clans.
•Richard not even mentioned in book –Personally, I’m thrilled to have a break from the back & forth arguing, but LKH will have to shed more light on Richard’s form of the ardeur that’s solely focused on Anita (introduced in Blood Noir).
•Very little sex in this book (for recent LKH) –Wicked & Truth promise Anita that they will stop her ever how if she abuses her growing powers as Belle Morte/ MoAD do. Truth gains a power up after drinking Anita’s blood again. Anita’s personal blood was used to bind Truth to Jean Claude, but not for Wicked. There have been references since Incubus Dreams that the two brothers are supposed to do everything the same. I just get the feeling that this will come into play in a future AB book.
•Anita saves Requiem’s life (& Vegas’s Master Vamp/ Wife, aka Queen of the White Tiger clan), however Requiem stays in Las Vegas for now & doesn’t return to St Louis (perhaps Truth will now become Jean-Claude’s third).
•Crispin & a new tiger return with Anita to St Louis.

Thoughts:
I’ve found that most readers tend to either love or hate the Anita Blake series. If you’re not familiar with the Laurell K. Hamilton books, here’s a quick insight: on the surface, each of the AB books primarily focuses on either her professional life or love life (with the other as a backdrop). The early books tend to focus more on AB’s professional life (necromancer/ Vampire Executioner/ police work) & later books on more of her love life (READ: Ardeur =’s sex, sex, sex, vanilla-ish dom/sub, erotica). Skin Trade is the first book in a while to really focus on Anita’s work again. If you liked the earlier books but lost interest with the most recent ardeur-focused books, then give this latest one a try.

If you’re new to the series, you can read each book alone, but you may miss out on some of the references. LKH does re-explain a number of the references, but not all & especially not enough to grasp the character developments. Parts of Anita’s personality & powers have changed tremendously over the course of the 17 books in the series. Each new book in the series builds upon a previous book (for example, this book closes a plot line introduced about 5 books ago).

So if this is your first Anita Blake book, borrow from a library 1st & if you like this one – check out the earlier books in the series. If you love the series (especially the earlier ones through Obsidian Butterfly), add this to your personal library.

•US Residents, follow this link to find your local public library: http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/Public_main.html

-Kat