Apr
30
I am a magazine junkie – let me clarify….food mag junkie. I subscribe to most of them and shamelessly read those I don’t at Indigo. I’m also a ripper. I keep my mags for a year or 2 …..they are good visual inspiration, plus, it just seems a shame to read, then callously toss them out. I know I can share, but there’s some rat-packing need in me that I always “lend” so I can stash. They look pretty. I swear to myself I’ll take them down and flip through the glossy photos at least one more time…..
Anyways, big digression there. I rip out photos from magazines. Then, like a teenager fawning over movie stars, I plaster my office with them. The one I can’t take my eyes off right now is all about spring veggies. It’s an old photo, but one I keep coming back to. There’s something about that green colour – it’s the light, bright fresh green of first leaves – and I guess first vegetables too. It makes me hopeful and anticipate farmer’s markets and fresh produce to come. The weather is such a tease right now – sunny, warm, grass and earth smells everywhere……feels like it should be summer….. plus the garden is bursting. My rhubarb wants picking. The chives are flowering faster than I can use them. I’ve also given away all my preserved cherries, jams, pickled beets and chutney from last year because I feel like I should be making room on the shelves for the new crop, that by all rights should be here tomorrow at the latest. But I’m a little hasty and early….there’s still the full month of May and some of June before any berries are ready! What am I thinking? That spring green has got me all worked up. 
Apr
30
“I don’t want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I’m not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It’s like Tiffany’s.” –Holly Golightly on why her cat is named Cat, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Tiffany & Co. has opened a brand new store in Yorkdale Shopping Centre. At their grand opening breakfast April 17th, we got a chance to peruse their second location in Toronto. I loved the deco-inspired metallic doors when you first walk in. It made me feel like I was walking on the street, not in a big mall.
The store was surprisingly large and filled with gleaming stainless steel showcases that contained everything from the popular charm bracelet to their newest Tiffany’s Keys additions. The models wandering around (wearing Tiffany’s blue signature colour dresses) were draped in the newest styles. Plus, we had to stop one as we were blinded by her platinum classic cut ring. (Sigh!)
Made famous not only for their iconic engagement rings and amazing jewellery designed by Paloma Picasso, Elsa Peretti, Frank Gehry and the like, but also from the Breakfast at Tiffany’s movie that has been the style inspiration for many little girls (myself included). I even dressed up as Holly Golightly once for Hallowe’en, though my gems were far from Tiffany’s!
So when I received the blue Tiffany invite in the mail, I couldn’t wait to check out their new digs. And I wasn’t disappointed.
Tiffany & Co. new store in Yorkdale
Check out the bling in those displays!
Jen O’Brien from Chatelaine.com (left) and myself (right) ogling over all the sparkly things.
Their other location is 85 Bloor Street West but now that they have both I have even more of an excuse to go and take a look. Keep an eye out for their new Tiffany Bezet Collection of engagement rings coming out in May.
Check out the Inside Chatelaine blog for more info on the delicious treats they had in store for us. Not a bad way to spend a morning.
-Kate Daley
Apr
29
At 5 feet 11 and 108 pounds, 19-year-old Stephanie Naumoska, the painfully thin Australian beauty-pageant contestant, says that she lives a “healthy” life — that she has “never been anorexic or bulimic” and has “never been malnourished or underfed.” I highly doubt that is true.
But I have to agree (for once) with The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselback who said the other day on her show that we must stop attacking women like Naumoska with taunts and insults.
Too many people reacted to Naumoska’s appearance in the media by saying, in effect, that she should “eat a cookie!” As if it’s that easy.
The problem of body-image distortion, the sickness of eating disorders — these must be addressed without assaulting the victims.
Apr
29
I am loving the Girl Guides of Canada’s new Love Yourself Challenge badge, which the century-old (yet progressive!) organization will launch on May 11.
Developed with the help of the National Eating Disorder Information Centre, the badge features three figures of various sizes and shapes. Girls can earn one through a variety of tasks, for example by crafting a thing called an Awesome Alien.
“They create a funky alien that may have three eye balls or two right hands,” says a Guides spokesperson. “It’s about celebrating differences.”
Apr
29
One of the joyful parts of working at Ottavio is the staff and customer passion for food – how it’s made, where it’s from, what it tastes like, what do do with it – basically, what’s the whole story. And that goes for anything from a loaf of bread to an organic olive oil from some hidden corner of dusty castle in Spain. Last Saturday was the yearly Big Cheese Cut, where Andrew and few muscle men roll out all the huge wheels of cheese and put on a show.
First off the block was a whole wheel of Le 1608 from Quebec. This has been one of our top sellers lately – especially since it was written up in the G&M a few weeks ago (too read more check out Le 1608)
They also battled a 35kg wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano Vacca Rossa – a rare Parm indeed. It’s made from a specific breed- the red cow- that produces superior quality milk compared to regular breeds. Vacca Rosa milk has a much higher butterfat content and protein level and is a heritage breed making it the darling of Slow Food. Taste and texture-wise…… it’s extreme Parmesan!
Also on the chopping block…… a 38kg Swiss Cave Aged Gruyere and it’s cousin the 100kg Swiss Organic Emmenthal plus a long tubular Provolone Picante. No one went home hungry that day but I’m sure there were some very sore muscles.
