I am fascinated by color theory, an area which I have always considered my one strength as an artist and a crafty person. Blue is my favorite color, and this book by Michel Pastoureau is not only amazing to look at but great fun to read. If you’re like me and have any interest in the social and physical histories of everyday things, you might like this one.
Archive: April 2008
PBS created The Men of Austen website with “online dating profiles” of all the Jane Austen heroes. I don’t know why it amuses me so much, but it does. I love Austen’s novels and the movies. I think I’d have to say I’m in the Frederick Wentworth camp.
About a month ago, a much beloved children’s librarian left our staff to move to D.C. I took over a few of her regular programs, including the monthly Girl’s Club for girls ages 8-12. One Monday a month the girls gather to watch a movie, have a snack, and make a craft. This beloved librarian had also thrown the girls a Saturday pajama party twice a year.
Making these colorful pens is pretty easy, and I’ve done this craft with groups of various ages. I first made these pens as an RA in college when my boss had us make them in a staff meeting. I’ve been stealing this super fun idea ever since. You’ll need pens, various colors of Sculpey clay, pliers, baking sheets, something to cut the clay, and an oven.
There is no more delicious a combination on earth than the trifecta of pasta, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. This recipe, from Giada de Laurentiis’s Giada’s Family Dinners, is just awesome. I love to cook and I love lasagne, but I often find it a little overwhelming. So many different recipes to choose from, the choice of straight ricotta and tomato sauce (southern Italian) or bechamel and bolognese (northern Italian), the messiness of trying to serve it.
As a Brit, Adam grew up on the northern Italian variety. As an American, I grew up on the southern Italian variety. This recipe combines the best of both, throws in prosciutto, and makes the whole thing easier to cut and serve. I love it, but like with any lasagna be prepared to spend quite a while making it. Once or twice a month I make my own tomato sauce and freeze it. As it happened, today I had to make more sauce. Plus I made bechamel. It took almost 3 hours to put this dish together, including tomato sauce time. I wouldn’t normally make this on a weeknight, but I was home sick today and completely bored by late afternoon. And now we have lunches for the rest of the week.
UPDATE 6/8/08: Here is the actual recipe for these lasagna rolls: