Saturday, July 31, 2010

Pink radishes the inside-looks like a watermelon!


Happy Pink Saturday. Please click on the link How Sweet the Sound to visit other pink themed blogs today. Leave a comment if you can we all love comments. I am featuring the blog Glitter and Roses today here is the link : http://glitterandroses.blogspot.com/ please take a look at Ginger's blog.
I mentioned watermelon radishes in last post I think and here they are!! I saw them in a magazine a few years ago in a salad served at the restaurant at The Cloister at Sea Island, Ga. I tracked down some seeds. They are really easy to grow and very spicy!!

I love cute food and I love when it is also PINK cute food!!
Today is Pink Boy's birthday! Pink kisses to him he cheerfully puts up with all my pinkness.

Have a PINK day!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Apple harvest




We have a few apples trees on our tiny little lot. We get enough apples each year to make a large pie! It is so fun to pick them and then make a pie and I tell everyone it is made with apples from our trees!! I am the same way with our tomatoes and herbs and peppers and radishes from the potager garden.

I learned this year about making a potager --I over planted in my excitement of having a vegetable garden. Next spring only yellow and a few red tomatoes six sounds right and then my other veggies will grow better.

I am happy with the radishes I planted. My favorite is the watermelon radishes very spicy Asian radish that looks like a watermelon. So cute and PINK.


Maybe next year I can find a source for pink tomatoes Burpee had them but wouldn't sell them to me for some reason--maybe too hot here in the South.
I had to use last year's pie photo as we ate the pie before we remembered to take a picture! Are we piggies or what?
I use a short dough recipe for pie crust from Jim Dodge's The American Baker cookbook or any good pie crust will work.
Here is the pie recipe it is from pastry chef Bill Yosses at the White House :
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 lbs apples- Gala Granny Smith, McIntosh are all good ones peeled and cored into wedges
1/2 cup honey ( your area's local honey is best)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
grated zest and juice of one lemon
1 egg white
Sift all dry stuff together in a large saucepan -mix with apples and let sit 20 minutes
bring mixture to a boil over medium heat stirring occasionally till it thickens, remove from heat and let it cool
Pour into pre-baked bottom pie shell then seal top of unbaked top dough to bottom shell with egg whites
Pierce top shell or make a pretty shape - hearts maybe? Brush top of pie with egg and water mixture I also sprinkle a bit of sugar on top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes

Have a PINK day!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Pearl dreams


Pearls are a favorite fake or real, white, black, pink, or gold I love them all. I saw this Chanel cuff on line--isn't it lovely? I will dream about that for a long time. I love colored gemstones too but something about pearls is just so classic and clean.

My birthday and anniversary are coming up maybe Pink Boy will surprise me with pearls?

What do you dream about?

Have a PINK day!


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Too hot... sweet peas to the rescue!



The weather here in Georgia has been very, very hot. Summers seem hotter than they were years ago. I like warm weather but once it hits 90 I sort of melt. I stay in.

I miss sitting in garden so at night I go out before dark and just relax a bit under arbor on the patio.

It is amazing that I still have so many sweet peas blooming in this heat!! I cut some for my night table- nothing like sweet peas to perk a person up! I got the MA Petit Trianon mug at Versailles.


Have a PINK day!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Another treasure




I love pretty cookbooks and one of my treasures from our trip is this Laduree cookbook! If one can call it a cookbook- it is but it is so pretty and so beautifully photographed I hesitate to call it a mere cookbook. It even came in a pretty box that I will save.

I will make some of the pink desserts for sure. Those dreamy marshmallows in the jar look rather nice. I just have to convert the measurements for non metric . I wish we were all on the same measuring system. The company also has another cookbook, in English, but this one had more recipes and I thought was special.

Have a PINK day!

Monday, July 26, 2010

China obsession




My post of the other day made me think of some of the china patterns I love and want to begin collecting. the photos are of a French line called Marie Daage and I cant find it in USA. Does anyone know who sells it here? I love the Asian feel to the art on them and of course j'adore the colors!!

I have emailed the company many times no response. If you know a retailer please let me know via the comment section. Merci

Have a PINK day!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Visit this dreamy white shabby studio












One great thing about being a blogger- you "meet"so many creative and interesting people. I have been following Sandy's blog for awhile now. We have some common interests-she also has Maltese and loves flowers, loves pink. One thing we don't share is she is HANDY she can use tools and build stuff. I have pink tools and I can pound a nail in and use a screwdriver. I love to drill drainage holes in my flower pots- but that is the extent of my skill level.

Take a look at her blog to see the most amazing little studio she made for herself out of an old fishing shack. http://myshabbystreamsidestudio.blogspot.com/ She was recently featured in the NY Times magazine there is a link to that article. All the photos are from her blog.


There is just something so dreamy and peaceful about this little structure-maybe the area is magical like in Rip Van Winkle--or maybe (I am sure this is it) Sandy is just so creative and clever she infused the cabin with her own magic!! Enjoy


Have a PINK day!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Happy Pink Saturday!




I hope you have a very pink day full of pink fun and beauty. Visit some other pink themed blogs at How Sweet the Sound--link to the right. Please visit The Tablescaper for some lovely pink ideas and tables to die for!! Oh how I wish I had more storage for china!! Here is the link:

The photos above are a few from the Paris trip just pinkness I stumbled upon and still goes to my theory that Paris is getting Pinker all the time!! I think whole world loves pink. I just liked the frame around the shop in pink!

Diana Vreeland said pink was the navy blue of India and I believe that too.
Have a PINK day!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Last of Marie Antoinette









This is my new treasure from Amada at Over the Top Studios ( link to right) a Marie Antoinette figure sans head with a mini theatre inside. I love all the details.


She sits on my nightstand but I photographed her outside for better lighting.


Have a PINK day!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

More of the little fantasy farm of Marie Antoinette









Just a few more photos of this lovely environment. I must go back and spend more time there. It is just magical. Enjoy!!


Marie Antoinette loved pink and blue and white I read. How I wish I could see some of her clothing and folding fans. Wouldn't that be fun?


Have a PINK day!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Petit Hameau de la Reine
















This was my favorite part of the entire trip. I had not been to the restore little farm by the Petit Trianon. The Queen's architect Mique finished it in 1787. It had a farmhouse, dairy and mill. It was a working farm in the sense that the main work was done by staff and the Queen and her ladies milked cows and gathered eggs and enjoyed picnics.





The milk pails were made of Sevres porcelain and the pails and churns had the Queen's monogram on them (as did the stairways in Petit Trianon) and the Queen and her attendants would dress as shepherdesses and milkmaids. This was fashionable among the aristocracy at the time.





The more natural landscape here was also a part of the ideology of Rousseau's cult of nature. The farm also gave the sense that the Petit Trianon was really in the country.










The farm was built to resemble a Normandy town and it is charming to this day. Again, untouched by the Revolution it fell into disrepair for many years. I was so happy to see it restored and quiet and it felt like we were alone in the country. I could have stayed out there for hours. It really is quite bucolic and almost dreamlike. But alas, we had to catch a RER train back to reality.





Have a PINK day!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The back garden of Petit Trianon




Let's leave the Petit Trianon and enjoy the small garden a bit then we will walk over to the Petit Hameau.

The roses were almost finished in June when we walked the garden and the paths to the farm.
You can see the Belvedere in the distance beyond the roses.

Everything was so pretty and on a smaller scale. I could see people really living in the Petit Trianon. The gardens had some of the same plants that many of us have in our gardens.

I had to watch Marie Antoinette ( 2006 movie version) again to see the little farm and snatches of area.

Dreaming of my own little farm with cute sheep and pygmy goats I could be mistress of my own little farm world!


Have a PINK day!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Petit Trianon- a private retreat for a Queen









The Petit Trianon was built originally for Louis XIV's mistress Madame de Pompadour ( an interesting, intelligent patron of the arts and wonderful woman) he gave it to her as a gift.


When Louis VI took the throne he gave it to Marie Antoinette as her private refuge- one had to be invited to visit and she had to do the inviting. The building was redone to suit her tastes and the gardens were redone in the very popular (at the time) English style. Marie Antoinette was very much influenced by the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and wanted a more "natural" style. The small wood and papier mache mini theatre where she played shepherdesses and chambermaids survived the Revolution --the perception at the time was it had no value!
You now take a tram ride to reach this area-- this should increase visitors to this pretty house and garden.
When you leave the Petit Trianon you see a path and rolling walkways, a folly, and grotto and finally come upon her farm area-- Le Petit Hameau. More on that soon.

She was criticized for having this private sanctuary and gossips made up many stories about what happen in her private world. This was her escape from all the rigid formality of court life.

Even though it is less formal than Versailles there is still such beauty and attention to detailin the house. Enjoy the little tour of the Petit Trianon a tour of her farm area and gardens to come.

Have a PINK day!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Changes




Nothing remains the same and this is even true of Versailles. We saw the new gate yesterday and what I noticed right away (besides the bright gate) was the new gold edging along the buildings. It is not all completed yet and I am not sure I like it but I gather they found it was missing. I wonder if it was ripped off during the revolution as was the gate and many solid silver chairs inside the palace? Does anyone know more about this feature?

What do you think- pretty or too gaudy? Either way

Have a PINK day!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Every Palace needs a grand gate....right?



Versailles is going through a 20 year restoration project begun in 2005. The "new gates" were installed in 2008 at a cost of about $5 million. The other renovations that are on going include: steps to make the palace safer, warmer, and streamline guest entrances, repair large areas of roof and replace around 500 window frames.

The new/old gate was touted as an exact replica of the gate constructed in the 1680's under the reign of Louis XIV. This wording has irked many in the art and architecture worlds. "How do they know it is exact?" came the cries from The Art Tribune and other scholarly sources? It certainly is bright and some would even say gaudy.
Voltaire described Versailles "as a masterpiece of bad taste and magnificence" so the bright gate seems to fit into this way of thinking.
Sooner than later we will see these shiny gates dull with pollution and our eyes will adjust (just like they did with the pyramid at the Louvre) and we will wonder what all the fuss was about.
Have a PINK day!

Happy Pink Saturday!



Please join in PINK Saturday and click on Beverly's link -- How Sweet the Sound to visit some more Pink Saturday blogs.
This is the link:
http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

This is one of my desserts in Paris. I enjoyed it very much and I still came home 5 pounds lighter--all the walking!! I always have desserts in Paris it is a fun bonus to traveling. I love PINK food!!
I have enjoyed visiting Grace at Pink in the City http://graceinthepinkcity.blogspot.com/
Please stop by and leave her a comment. Her blog makes me want to go to New York!
Have a PINK day!




Friday, July 16, 2010

I think of this as the embroidered room of Marie Antoinette






I loved this space-- loved the fabric on the walls and furniture. While it was busy it didn't seem to be too much. I loved the clock on the mantel. Everything is covered in plastic and the room is semi dark to preserve the expensive recreated silk fabrics. It was a billiard room in her time!

This was part of the private apartment tour, and I loved the bisque figurines also.

Have a PINK day!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Gilded Study--was it really a gilded life?


Today we see the Gilded Study or Le Cabinet Dore which is Marie Antoinette's largest private room in Versailles. She played with her children here and posed for paintings and practised her music. It was redecorated in 1783 by Richard Mique her architect.


No creepy feelings in this bright room just a cleaner style due to the homage paid to the discovery of Pompeii . Most of the pieces in the room did belong to Marie Antoinette.

Marie Antoinette used these rooms to escape the never ending company of the royal court and servants -- we think of movie stars with entourages --she had an even bigger one all the time. I always feel sorry for her when I think of her giving birth in front of so many people-- such a private moment made so public. The Royal couple were the stars of their own reality show just minus the TV cameras--they had live people watching everything.

Have a PINK day!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Meridian apartment of Marie Antoinette










Continuing with our private tour this blue boudoir known as the Meridian (since the Queen rested there mid day) is a hauntlingly beautiful room. You can only lean in and look not walk into it.

It was decorated in 1781 for her after she had a child. The mirror is old and sort of ghostly looking and this is the room where she supposedly arose from a nap and looked at herself in the mirror on the wall by the bed and didn't see her head!! I always doubted that story but after seeing the room and leaning into it for a bit it is a very odd place. None of the other private rooms evoke this feeling in me. I would not like to be in this room at night alone.

It is a beautiful space with exquisite boiserie and the shade of blue reminds me of the blue gown in recent Marie Antoinette movie that the young Queen wears above.

Some odd thoughts with this room, and for me, the feeling of strange energy in the space. But please don't let that stop you from visiting it--your take may be different than mine.

Have a PINK day!




Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Private apartments of Marie Antoinette




I was so eager to see these rooms. It is an extra tour that is offered. Taking you into the rooms Marie Antoinette really used. They use the original keys ( very long and heavy) to open the doors and another guide stays at end of the small group and locks you in each room.


One of the coolest parts, for me, was peeking out from the side doors next to the Queens state bedroom. We could see the people passing in front of the ceremonial bed and I was able to get a good photo of the tassels that hang in the state/public bedroom. Posted to your right.

Unfortunately, on the day we took the tour they only had it in French so we went but didn't understand much! Story of my life ha

These rooms are somewhat furnished one bedroom even showed some clothing and had a bed.
More to come tomorrow
Have a PINK day!
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