Barbara Pagani's Tresor Cache 101

Mike Forgione and Stefano Faita ( a local chef, TV host, and cookbook star ) are the guys to go to if you need to learn about pasta. They know their stuff. Fresh pasta prepared the night before in the basement of this unbelievable Little Italy restaurant.  Redefining the “fresh” in “fresh pasta” Fresh = same day (or in the last 24 hours). Not only is it so fresh, but it’s artisanal and the only ingredients are semolina (wheat flour) and Little Italy water. In this case, simplicity is perfection. Ingredients are put in the extractor and, depending on the bronze die (directly imported from Italy) used, you'll get a different kind of pasta. The pasta dries for a couple hours and that’s it. Know your pasta Because Impasto is doing small-scale artisanal production, only 80 portions of pasta (40 Gramigna and 40 Elicodiali) will be available on the Marketplace every day to start out. Gramigna (photo below) is a unique twisted pasta while Elicoidali (in the video) is bigger and si

Now I am waiting to put a couple of mini's together to set them up for the resin finish in the basement. This one I started up north at the cottage and then I looked at it one day and thought this is a perfect candidate for a resin finish. 

finally....my sister in law got a hold of my painting MOJO and I came back from Texas with her cleaning MOJO.....but she's back to cleaning and she doesn't like it. Playing around preparing new little mini paintings and loving playing with the Pebeo glitter puffy paint.

Since his room is themed Winnie the Pooh,  I made him another painting. I just love Winnie the Pooh and all the characters. They are fun to paint and I am sure he will love looking at all the colours.

Remember that painting that I made way too dark? Well it has taken a complete transformation. It still needs a little more grey to balance out the top part but I will work on that today. I am liking the romantic feel I get from it. here are some close up shots of the details

I came across this Natural Cold and Flu busting juice on Rambling Renovators blog and thought I would share it

I got a Blue oyster mushroom kit with my order a few weeks ago from Lufa Farms that grow on rooftops in Montreal and they also bundle up with local businesses for delivering other products such as coffee, teas, condiments, bakery goods and very unique products. I bought a mushroom kit quite a few years ago which I had bought on line and they were delicious so I thought I would give this one a try. Remember though this needs daily attention so don't plan a vacation after starting your kit. I got maybe 3 or 4 crops from the last one I had and there is nothing like a fresh mushrooms. My brother in law who is a mushroom picker but he is only able to do it while visiting in the Laurentiens as he lives in Texas. When he is here, we usually have some very special mushrooms as he knows which one's to pick. Anyhow I am only going to start mine in the next couple of weeks because I am just too busy doing other things. I will post the progress from start to finish....yum, I can't wai

As a bonus with my order from Lufa Farms today, I got a small package of Chickpea sprouts. I went to the website where they come from (degermeenpousse.com ) and was unable to find what to do with them. I did find this information at food.com so I will give it a try and post my results http://www.food.com/recipe/how-to-sprout-chickpeas-496814 http://montreal.lufa.com/en/blog

I purchased a sheet of TerraSkin to make some stencils only to discover that it is a very interesting medium to paint on with inks. And apparently you can  use acrylics with a Liquitex medium & there was no buckling at all.   TerraSkin paper is a great material to draw and sketch on. One of our employees in our office quickly drew up this Porsche with a regular #2 pencil. Derek loves to draw on TerraSkin because it has a smooth surface and it is easy to blend shades. Many artists enjoy working on TerraSkin, it works with a wide variety of mediums from oil paints to water colors. On Youtube:  Uploaded on  Oct 28, 2011 D.D. Gadjanski explains the special properties of TerraSkin paper and gives a short demonstration using mixed media. Link to Part 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWVPtj... This is some info about TerraSkin: It features a subtle tooth that holds paint well without any slickness. No priming needed as this water resistant paper doesn't buckle, &

Source: http://montreal.lufa.com/en/blog I have been getting food from Lufa Farms since the beginning of Dec 2013 and here are some of the products that our family loves the most. Giant Brandywine Heirloom tomatoes. I got the biggest tomato I have ever seen last week, it was bigger than my hand and was it ever delicious on my sandwich Giant Cherokee purple heirloom tomatoes  The Dodue loaf. We all like this one but found the last one a little dry. dried cranberries ....Sam and I love them  Balsamic vinegar Honey Dijon....my favourite on anything  I haven't opened up my mushroom kit yet because I want to make sure that once it's open and starting that I am here to make sure to enjoy it. I will probably do this in a couple of weeks. My hubby and I will be the only ones eating this. The kids are not big on mushrooms or at least this type. Maple sugar....Sam's is crazy about this and finds she doesn't need as much as regular whit

This painting was done for Justin Finney, from a picture that was taken of Victor Davis.

source: http://www.starlightstamper.com/search/label/Recipes Blender Pen Refill Recipe I'm adding my Blender Pen Refill Recipe to my blog so I will always know where it is!!! I can't believe I didn't think of this before! I keep losing things and I'd hate to lose this. I really like how this recipe works with my pens, markers and crayons. Yes, this is the recipe I gave to all my Watercolor Crayon Club members and now it's here for you too!! You will need a one ounce bottle. 2 teaspoons Glycerin 4 teaspoons Distilled* Water 1/4 teaspoon Rubbing Alcohol Mix all ingredients together. *Note: You MUST use distilled water. Tap water has minerals, Chlorine and other impurities in it. These will cause your pen to smell and/or get moldy. I keep misting bottles on my worktable and they are ALWAYS filled with Distilled Water. It's not worth the stink, mold or scum that could form inside the bottles. A gallon is under $1 and it lasts a LONG time. I highly rec

While visiting in Texas with my brother in law & sister in law, we went to this Mediaeval Festival and it was so real. Here are some of the photos that we took that day.