Recommended Reading

I finished reading Tracy Chevalier’s book “Falling Angels” today. I always have trouble explaining why I like a book so much without giving the wrong impression to the person I’m recommending it too. That's probably why I haven't recommended any books on this blog prior to today.

My mother is the only person to whom I’ll just say “I read a great book and I highly recommend it to you” and usually she’ll go and put it on her list, which is great because if she reads it, I’ll have someone to talk it over with. Usually, you have to describe a book in terms of “what it was about” and then you end up talking about it in stark terms that can just turn people off. I feel I’m doing the book, any book, a disservice by trying to describe it myself so if you’re interested, you can read the publisher’s description over at Amazon.com. I was going to do a link, but Blogger seems a bit testy today. Anyway, I couldn’t put this book down.

This was written before her book “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” which of course became a huge success as a result of the movie starring Scarlett Johansson. I’ve also read her book “The Lady and Unicorn” and really enjoyed it as a well. I’m going through a stage where I’m reading practically anything that has a storyline connected to artists, famous works of art and art history.

I finished “Girl in Hyacinth Blue” by Susan Vreeland also a novel based on the works of Johannes Vermeer. Also by Vreeland was “The Passion of Artemesia” (a fictional account of the life of the post-Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi), and “The Forest Lover” (a novel about Emily Carr), which despite its Canadian content, I enjoyed the least of all her books.

Then there was “A Birth of Venus: A Novel” by Sarah Dunant set in 15th-century Florence. I’m going to check out what else Dunant has done. “In the Company of a Courtesan” sure looks interesting.

Now, I know they’re only novels, but through reading them, I got a sense of why someone might want to study art history. I also think that novels like these make understanding art appreciation a little easier. There’s just so much to know about one single painting.

Planning

I ordered up a bunch of ocean-y coloured skeins from Elann recently – I’m in love with the colour blue and I like this Highland wool. I plan to use three colours to make a braided-scarf for next winter. I also got a groovy thrummed mitten kit in a Fleece Artist greeny-bluey-oceany colour that I’m totally excited about too.

In other knitterly news, I finished making the back of a wee cardigan I’m stitching for a coworker’s expected baby. So cute! Here’s a picture, but I’m doing mine in a denim-like colour.

While I know that winter is still here, as evidenced by the expected 14 degree drop we’re supposed to experience tomorrow, it just seems like Spring, and all of its possibilities, is upon us. I was out on the back deck on Saturday, peering over the railing at the tiny green shoots of new plants that have broken the surface of the soil (already!) and I want to dig out my planting flats and start some seeds so that they’ll be ready to plant at the end of May. Paul and I are also going to try some gourmet cooking experiments on our smoke grill once winter has passed and we’re saving up now to buy a screen door for our front porch! Why is a screen door so exciting? Currently, our livable space is pretty narrow, so the only north facing window we have is in the powder room at the front of the house, ergo no breeze from the front. A screen door will solve all of that.

Count 'em -- only eight days until the first of Spring!

Cupcake Capers – The Continuing Story

I tried out another set of vanilla and chocolate cupcake recipes, this time from Chatelaine’s online recipe archive. They were okay. Not exactly a ringing endorsement eh? The chocolate was better than the vanilla but again, I want deliciously delectable cupcakes. These are for a wedding after all. And really, should anyone settle for less then decadent when it comes to cupcakes? I think not. Which is why I’m very excited to try another two recipes from Cooks Illustrated magazine. Apparently these have been scientifically tested to be the yummiest cupcakes ever! Woo hoo!

The good news is that I now have the ability to create a pretty mean swirl with the icing. I don’t like Wilton’s icing though. Meh. I mean, the icing should be tasty enough that you want to glop it on to everything – cupcakes, toast, pork chops. It has to be that good. I’ll be trying out the Cooks recipes for buttercream too and I’ll report back in April.