Ice Ice baby

Hope you are managing to stay warm during the icy weather

7 days and counting

trying not to panic

the panic of a working mother to 3 boys

who hasn't purchased a single Christmas gift yet

...........breathe...

image source A Well Travelled Woman

christmas Wishlist

The first of my wishlists

for Christmas 2012

Stackable Rings from 

Odette NY

Mugs 

John Derian for Astier de Vilatte

 An Hermes
Enamel Bracelet

A Ring from 

Satomi Kawakita

 This book 

by 

Deborah Needleman

Beautifully Illustrated by 

Virginia Johnson

or one of her beautiful shawls

Shawl by Virgina Johnson

These Arm warmers 

by

Eilis Boyle at Bow

More wishlists coming soon

xx

random cakes and jobs

Oh I had every intention of writing beautiful individual posts for each one of these lovely items 

 ................. but I just am not going to be able so here in a brief but enthusiastic manner

Made Crab apple chutney- the tree was laden 

Spiced Pear cake

Made with my own Pears

Picking flowers
there were still quite a few blossoms in the garden in late Sept

Roses, Michelmas daisies, Japanese anemone's, lady's mantle
I missed picking flowers from my garden so so much while I was in NY

There are many jobs that need doing around the house

 getting the goose neck gate hung

organising winter fuel

Tying up the wisteria.......
3 years and am hoping, fingers crossed that next year it will flower!

oh and last week I was in Hong Kong

x

Tim Ryan

Irish designer Tim Ryan's latest collection is his best yet 

ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING

Currently stocked in Browns London

This collection should take him on to new and dizzying heights

If buyers don't sit up and take notice ............. well I believe they will

Such a talent 

Congratulations Tim

images by Felipe Pagani

Apple & Apple Mint Jelly

This is not a typo

As

Apple & Apple Mint Jelly

is a mint jelly made with Apples, 

for their natural pectin and flavour 

and using Apple Mint 

(sometimes called wooly mint)

Apple mint is, 

in my opinion, by the far the most superior of mints

The flavour is flatter than regular mint

Oh and don't tell me you use spearmint to cook with?

everything ends up tasting like chewing gum!

No, Apple mint is what you need

Fantastic chopped with a little ginger and sprinkled over a fruit salad

Adds the perfect flavour to cous cous

and Lamb...... 

well of course with Lamb it is king.

As we have had a couple of mornings of frost recently here in Ireland 

I decided it was time to stock up on my mint fix for winter

And as my garden has been untended for a year

and the mint has gone a little wild

(taken over)

I made mint oil, by blanching about 

4 cups of mint leaves

chopping finely

and covering with good olive oil in a sealed and sterilised jar

I also did the same but covered the mint with vinegar

for a more traditional mint sauce 

and then decided to raise the bar, go all out and make a mint jelly

This was my first attempt at a jelly

(I mean a real jelly made with natural pectin not a chivers pack)

RECIPE

APPLE & APPLE MINT JELLY

4lbs Cooking Apples (or granny Smith )

4 cups water

2 cups vinegar

2 cups Apple Mint leaves whole

2 cups Apple Mint Leaves finely chopped

5 cups sugar (approx)

METHOD

Roughly chop the apples and add to large pan 

keep all of the core and seeds as these have the most pectin in them

add 2 cups whole mint leaves

bring to boil and boil for 20 mins

add vinegar

boil 5 more mins

Strain Apple pulp 

in a jelly bag if you have it

otherwise use an old pillow case

you should have 4-5 cups of clear amber coloured juice

Add this to clean pan and add 7/8 cup of sugar to every cup of juice

so for 5 cups of juice you will add approx 4 1/2 cups sugar

bring to the boil

add finely chopped mint

boil for 30 mins- 1 hour 

this will depend on how much pectin was released 

and how strong your mixture is

You want to reach the setting stage

You can test it using the cold saucer method 

or with a candy thermometer

you should get 4 x 8ozs jars of jelly

The frost is coming

The last 2 mornings we have had a thick frost on the ground

they say this winter is going to be a deep freeze

My back yard at 7am

BREAD

Who can deny there is something about making your own bread

Something primal

a deep sense of... I am in control of my life....

In order to make bread you need
 1 main ingredient

time

yes I know there are quick recipes

and you can knock out a loaf of brown soda bread pretty sharpish

but for a yeasted loaf you need to be in the moment

while the physical acts of kneading, proofing, rising,

may actually take 20 mins of work

the timing and co-ordinating means you must be able to pay attention

The act of making bread was something I really missed while living in NYC

as I never seemed to have the expanse of unfilled hours it takes
to occupy yourself with yeast and dough

So it is with GREAT pleasure that I return to the pasttime

I am a huge fan of the

No knead method of bread making

But the above baguettes were made using the Poolish method

from this Bread book

Bread is food for my soul

photograph by HELEN JAMES

August Sander and life

I have not yet been hooked up to the 21st century again.

I am thinking internet will be up and running in about a week

so please excuse the lack of posts

I will be back with gusto and have many photos and thoughts on the change

from Brooklyn NY to Rural Ireland

Lots of exciting things going on and I am sure that the move back was the right thing to do 

In moments my life went from Subway commute to a walk in the woods

Lots of baking and chutney making 

Ordering chickens for the garden

...but don't worry I haven't put down the design brush 

I have been busy working on a very exciting new project 

In the process of doing some research for this exciting new project I came across

the beautiful works of 

August Sander

and had to post them 

please bear with me until regular posting is back up and running

x

pause

There will be a small delay while I get Internet connection
I expect to be back with all the news about Oct 10th
xx

Alex Vervoodt, Wabi Sabi and the little woodwormed table

The movers have been and gone

My treasured possesions are now on the high seas

slowly making ther way across the ocean again.

We are living a spartan/glamping existence

for our final days in the city of New York

and you know what,

 I like it

Less stuff means less tidying up

Less noise

This also coincides with my recent purchase of

 this beautiful book

and some further research into the japanese philosophy of

Wabi Sabi

(this is a great piece about it)

I feel like I found my soul

 I cannot get enough of the scrubbed wooden floors, Does anyone have floors like this in their home?

Some years ago a little house in the local village was being demolished

I looked in through the windows and saw an old cracked belfast sink

after a little detective work I got in touch with the owner who told me to go in and take anything I like

I recovered a little desk, some old iron hooks

a mirror, the beflast sink

and a small woodwormed table.

I treated the table, to halt its destruction and set it in my kitchen

I texted Mr HJD who was away travelling:

Is there something wrong with loving a little woodwormed table THIS much

I sat and stared at it for days

I rubbed the worn patina on its face and traced the woodwormed furrows with my fingers

So now, in one week,

I return to my little woodwormed table

and the old familiar patina of my life in a little village in the middle of Ireland

and while the hottest new restaurant will not be opening
their next outpost there, any time soon........

I can't wait.

x

H

All Images from Alex Vervoodt Wabi Interiors

J Crew at Fashion week

Love these mood boards from

J CREW

who showed for the first time on the official

New York Fashion week

 schedule this morning



Topshop in london

also now have a place on the official

 London Fashion Week schedule

How do we feel about this ?

High street was the follower

Now they are being given a place at the table with the leaders

Have they become leaders?

Do they set trends.......

Well in my opinion

in these 2 cases, then Yes they do

The influence of J Crew on how

 America dresses is not to be underestimated

Certainly from what I see on the streets of NY

J Crew is definitely influencing and not just being influenced

They do have a point of view

a unique point of view

and it is very apparent in the way

women and men are dressing.

Also people are styling themselves to look like J Crew

without necessarily wearing J Crew

Which surely is a sign of a reach that is beyond what one might have traditionally

expected from the high street

Packing

image oscarscharwzvald via Bodie &Fou

So in the funny twists and turns of life

I am packing up boxes again

This time to return to Ireland

I can't wait to sink my hands in the dirt of the garden

bake

get back to my studio

walk in the woods

see friends

While the time here in NYC has been AMAZING

I am looking forward to slightly slower pace for a while

There are so many exciting things on the horizon though

not sure if it is going to be exactly quiet!

Stay tuned as I have many NYC posts coming up of things that

I have done here but haven't had time to post about

and will be keeping you up to date on all the exciting changes

x

japanese ceramics

I have always been drawn to the Japanese aesthetic

but I think being back in New York and bombarded with stimuli 

makes me yearn for the simplicity and rawness of this even more

and these Japanese ceramics from 

Savoir Vivre

are making me rethink my career path

Day Birger Mikkelsen

Beautiful images of the Fall 2011 

Day Birger Mikkelsen Catalogue

from

Ditte Isager

I have been feeling very Black and White recently
but this palette is exquisite

In other news......

Fall 2011 is bringing big changes to the HJD household

All exciting stuff

I will keep you posted