History Love: Textiles at the ROM

I took these photos about a year ago at the Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles and Costume in Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum. I'm usually not one of those people who takes pictures in museums. On this day, however, the gallery was really quiet--often empty except for me--and I fell in love with some of the pieces. I figured I might be able to share the pics or, at least, be re-inspired by them one day. So today's the day I share!

Before I continue, I'll be totally honest and say I don't remember the specifics of these pieces anymore. I know, I know. Bad history lover, bad! I still think they're enjoyable as pieces of art.

I remember being struck by the craftsmanship of the textiles I saw that day. Just look at the close-up of the lacework I posted before the jump:

I've seen women making Belgian lace on TV and it blew my mind, it's hard for me to grasp the kind of skill that went into adding a pastoral scene to the mix.

The same goes for the embroidery I saw:

It was two dresses that really won me over, though.

Anyone really close to me probably knows how much I love early modern European clothing, from the everyday to the luxurious. I'm especially fond of 18th century French clothing thanks to one of my history professors and his amazing French culture class. You thought the 1980s were bold? Try hair so high it threatened to catch on fire when it brushed chandeliers. Then put some birds and/or model ships in that hair. Try dresses so wide that women could not fit through the doorways. Imagine being poor and knowing that nonsense was en vogue.

I have daydreams about what it would be like to dress in something authentic from that period just once in my life--maybe without ships battling in my hair. No, scratch that. Ships battling in my hair sounds fantastic.

I imagine myself at Marie-Antoinette's place. We're kicking back chatting. I'm winking at Count Fersen. He's winking back.

Marie-Antoinette: Is that The Battle of the Chesapeake in your hair?

Me: Why yes, it is madame.

M-A: Cool. Tomorrow you should dress peasant-chic and you can help me milk cows with my posse and me.

Me: Sweet!

Ahem. End scene.

Irreverent and ridiculous historical daydreams aside, the fashions fascinate me. Apparently the ROM has one of Marie-Antoinette's dresses that someone later altered. I hoped I would get to see it, but I had to settle for these stunning creations instead.

This green and white dress is from a later date. If I remember correctly, it is English and from the 19th century.

There are a total of 50,000 pieces from all over the world in the ROM's textiles collection with about 200 articles in rotation. I'm sure the next time I go I will see something different and have another ridiculous daydream.

If you are ever in Toronto, I highly recommend a visit to the ROM. The museum itself is beautiful (heck, even the subway stop is cool) and full of incredible artifacts and exhibitions ranging from the scientific to the historical--there's definitely something for everyone.

Adventures with Pizza

My last post on Portofino made me crave pizza, so on Friday I decided I wanted to make homemade pizza for Superbowl Sunday. There's a great market nearby that caters to the Italian population in the area so I knew they would have the best ingredients. We also have a pizza stone I have yet to use. Perfect! It will be easy and fun, I thought to myself.

Famous last words.

Everything started out great. I was going to make two pizzas: one with sausage, mushroom, and sun-dried tomatoes and the other with pancetta and pineapple. I pulled the sausages out of their casing, broke them up, and then pre-cooked them a bit. I did the same with the pancetta and set them both aside in the fridge.

After that, I pre-heated the oven to 450°F and, when it was up to temperature, threw the stone in for about an hour to heat up. While the stone got nice and hot, I got down to business with the dough.

The market has local, pre-made dough so it seemed like a good time to test it out. I have successfully made homemade dough before but I don't have a tried and true recipe, yet.

Both of the doughs were easy to roll out onto some cornmeal-covered parchment paper. I even did the whole hand stretching thing and felt like such a pizza-making champ. I had to eyeball the size because the stone was still heating up at this point, but I was feeling confident and figured I got it right.

Meanwhile, I started making my kale chips. I originally found the recipe at Kath Eats when I first tried them a few months ago. I definitely encourage you to check out her post for the original, simple, and delicious recipe.

Just wash and dry some kale in a salad spinner. Tear them into smaller, chip-like sizes. Toss in 2 tsp. of olive oil per salad spinner worth of kale (they really don't need much oil so if you think that's not enough, it really is, I promise). Toss with salt or other seasonings (I've only ever used salt). Put them on a baking sheet in a single layer. Finally, pop them into a 350° F oven for about 15 minutes.

It starts out looking like this:

And you end up with delicately crispy, salty, flavorful kale chips--a great, healthier alternative to potato chips:

I highly recommend them, even for those that don't really like kale. I made three batches last night and there were no leftovers.

Back to the pizza. So now I was bolstered not only by my taming of the dough, but also by the reception of my kale chips. I started dressing both pies up and they looked great.

Then, I realized that I had no good way of getting the pizzas onto the piping hot stone. The moisture from the dough weakened the parchment so it wasn't going to hold the weight. I ended up having to get my parents over to help me pick the sausage and mushroom one up while I put a fish-frying basket underneath it for support.

We got it on the stone. Hurray! But the pizza was too big and started drooping over the sides of the stone while simultaneously being cooked by it on the bottom. Eventually, we just shoved it into the oven and hoped for the best. I glared at it through the glass. It reminded me of the blob as it dripped mockingly between the oven grates.

Ultimately, it cooked into a flavorful, but completely deformed pizza. I lost my title of dough master. That's what you get for being cocky.

But you know what C.S. Lewis once said? He said, "Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement." And I don't give up so easily.

I was determined to save the next pizza and folded the ends over to make a semi-stuffed super-crust. I don't like thick crusts but thankfully this one was tasty and the result turned out to be a lot better looking.

So the moral of the story is: If you want an amazing, perfect-looking pizza and you're not a pizza master, go to your favorite pizza joint. If you want to have fun and have pizza, make it at home. Make mistakes; laugh and learn. I still have a long way to go before I can make that elusive, perfect thin-crust pizza, but at least I know a little more about what not to do.

Daydream Destination: Portofino

This week, a winter storm passed through most of the North American east coast and, like every winter for the past 8 years (conveniently the number of years I've lived in Canada), I employed my coping method of swearing followed by visualization. It goes something like this: "It is definitely not snowing outside. I am certainly sunbathing on my yacht in Portofino. There is chilled prosecco in a tiny Kleen Kanteen--you know, for portability and because the steel helps keep it cold. Later I will go shopping at Pucci and Missoni." See? It's easy. I find it keeps me from completely breaking with reality and trying to melt the snow with my hair dryer.

So if you're stuck in snow up to your eyeballs and don't like it, I dedicate this week's Daydream Destination to you. If you're not snowed in somewhere, you're still welcome to join me in Portofino, a sun-drenched Mediterranean port on the Italian Riviera.

It's hard not to just rave about Portofino with endless adjectives for "beautiful." I'm having trouble even writing about it because my mind keeps taking me there and I'd just like to stay. It is truly a stunning place. The only thing I can find "wrong" with it is that it caters to the wealthy, but that isn't actually a flaw. You don't have to shell out money to oogle people's yachts, or look around in the fancy stores, or stroll the paths that lead to a yellow church that watches over the port and the cliffs overlooking the shimmering azure sea.

It is the most glamorous sleepy fishing village. You're not going to find glittering casinos, pulsating clubs, or miles of sandy beaches here but that's what is so lovely about it. It feels like the place for people who aren't interested in partying in the other big name Riviera towns.

Hotel Splendido is the most famous and luxurious hotel in the area. It's also the place where the celebrities apparently stay when, presumably, they aren't on a yacht. There are a few other hotels in the area, but when my family and I visited in 2004 we stayed at a hotel just below Splendido, Domina Home Piccolo.

It is on a blind curve on the narrow main road to town. There was no sidewalk or shoulder so it felt treacherous trying to park and walk to the hotel, but it was worth it for the location. The hotel had a breathtaking private pebble beach in a little cove just across the main road.

Parking in town is very limited to a tiny and tight garage. This isn't a huge problem because it keeps traffic down and encourages people to use some of the other great ways to get to town. There are gorgeous, protected walking paths built into the cliffs from both the area we stayed in and the larger neighboring town, Santa Margherita Ligure, to Portofino. It was a very pleasant ten minute walk from our hotel to town. Imagine taking in the scented flowers cascading over the walls after you stroll back from a dinner of fresh seafood and wine.

Or take a hike up to Castello Brown or to the lighthouse at the point of the promontory. Be on the lookout for dolphins playing.

On our first night in Portofino, my dad walked back down after dinner for a night-cap. As he walked into the square, he saw all of these amazing classic cars, like Bugatti and Ferrari, parked there. Everyone was inside relaxing, so he sat down on the patio with a scotch to enjoy the breeze and the marvels of motoring. That experience sums up Portofino pretty nicely. You don't have to be rolling in dough to go there and experience the richness of the place.

If you're interested in going and don't necessarily want to stay in Portofino, a nice alternative is Santa Margherita Ligure. Walking from Santa Margherita along the paths is about 4 miles, but there are also a number of boats that go between the two towns for a reasonable price if you would prefer to kick back and enjoy the sea. There is also a better variety of options for food, shopping, and hotels.

That being said, I think I would personally rather stay in Portofino for a shorter period of time if I could afford it. It is a magical place that makes it easy to slow down, relax, and enjoy la dolce far niente--the sweetness of doing nothing.