Mishutka Design Studio

Chocolate Cupcakes with Ricotta Frosting for Halloween

I've been wanting to bake something special for Halloween, and I came across the most adorable cupcake wrappers at Joanne's. They are black with orange bats and say "Bite me" in an indearing vampirish script. I couldn't pass the black spiderweb wrappers, either. Clearly, cupcakes were the way to go! And here they are, in their spooky beauty, ready for Halloween!

If you are inspired to make these, below is the recipe for you to enjoy. The recipe is for low-glycemic cupcakes; regular substitutes are indicated in parenthesis. Happy Halloween!

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup        palm sugar  (or regular sugar)
1 cup        wholewheat pastry flower (or regular white flower)
Pinch        salt
1 cup        Pensey's Dutch process unsweetened cocoa powder (or any other unsweetened cocoa)
1/3 tsp     baking soda
1/3 tsp     baking powder
1 cup        buttermilk
1 egg        whole egg
3 tbsp       butter (melted)

Ricotta Cheese Frosting

Drain ricotta for several hours before making the frosting. Squeeze it with a paper towel before mixing it with other ingredients.

1 stick of butter
1 cup of part-skim ricotta
2 tsp vanilla
2/3 of a cup of powedered palm sugar (or regular sugar)

Steve Jobs: "Follow Your Heart and Intuition"

The world has lost a great visionary, but he continues to be an inspiration to all of us that seek innovation, perfection and success. In his own words, Steve Jobs expressed his philosophy of death elegantly:

 “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

Spring Melodies Are In the Air

Harshness vanished. A sudden softness
has replaced the meadows' wintry grey.
Little rivulets of water changed
their singing accents. Tendernesses,

hesitantly, reach toward the earth
from space, and country lanes are showing
these unexpected subtle risings
that find expression in the empty trees.

— Rainer Maria Rilke

 

Cold winter storms are now a fading  memory
Of frozen patterns on a crystal window
Breaking in the colors of blooms...

 

Crocuses, forsythia and helleborus in my garden.

And a little bunny on the lawn!

Celtic Inspirations

I was in Ireland for the first time in my life this summer, and it was an amazing trip. I found Ireland to be peaceful and laid back, beautiful with a quiet northern beauty, and full of fascinating places and landscapes to discover.

There was one big disappointment that made me really sad. Finding traditional Irish crafts proved to be elusive. Many of the stores listed in our guidebook went out of business, likely because of the economy. But I was on a mission, and so I found a few truly unique things. I want to share the work of these amazing artisans with you.

Kinsale Celtic Silver Workshop

On a gray, chilly, and rainy day in Kinsale, County Cork, and after a brief stroll around town, we were on a lookout for crafts. We stumbled on Kinsale Celtic Silver Workshop on Pearse Street, a tiny shop where Dominic Dolan creates his one-of-a-kind sterling silver jewelry by hand, using traditional tools. The Dolan family keeps up the silversmithing tradition of their ancestors. It was fascinating to watch Dominic at work; and I love wearing the two pieces I bought — a Newgrange pattern pendant and a Celtic knot ring. People comment on them (and Dominic's workmanship) all the time. His jewelry is truly exceptional!

Visit Dominic's website at: www.kinsalesilver.com

Louis Mulcahy Pottery Workshop and Showroom

Louis Mulcahy doesn't really need an introduction in Ireland; he has a store in Dingle, County Kerry, and was profiled in the media. I visited Louis' workshop outside of Dingle, on a breathtaking coastline with steep black cliffs and endless waves. Louis works in stoneware and porcelain; I especially liked his navy blue and russet glazes.

Take a look at his work at: www.louismulcahy.com.

Lisbeth Mulcahy The Weavers Shop

Lisbeth Mulcahy (wife of Loius Mulcahy, above) is one of Ireland's best known designer weavers. Originally from Denmark, Lisbeth opened her workshop and store in Dingle, County Kerry, in 1986. I went to her store in Dingle, and if I could I would have bought as many of her scarves as I could carry ;-) They are made from natural fibers, like alpaca, merino wool, and linen, and the colors range from muted to vibrant. I chose the Alpaca Waves scarf in lavender and gray; it's soft and pretty. I think Lisbeth's designs shows strong Scandinavian influences, but the workmanship is impeccable.

Lisbeth Mulcahy's website is: www.lisbethmulcahy.com.

Terry Dear Celtic Leathercrafts

Terry Dear lives in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, Great Britain. He works with vegetable tanned leather and uses traditional leather tooling tools. His hand-tooled and hand-polished belts are superb; the pictures don't do them enough justice. Terry's belts are not straight-sided, but gently curved — which makes perfect sense to me! This is how the belts were probably made in the Middle Ages ;-) I bought Terry's bridle leather belt; it's absolutely the best belt I've ever owned. I just love the beautiful, smooth, lustrous leather and the heavy, highly pilished traditional brass buckle, and wear it all the time.

Take a look at Terry's website at: www.celticleather.co.uk.

"The Angel" Book Showcases Victorian Scraps in Collages

A delightful new book published last November in Hamburg, Germany, showcases Victorian angel scraps in artistic collages.  Antique scraps used in these collages are part of a well-known collection in Denmark. Werner Bokelberg, a prominent German photographer whose work includes numerous celebrity photos and covers for Stern magazine, is the driving force behind this creative adventure.

"An angel walks through the room. No-one saw it. And yet we have all been seeing them ever since they left Heaven and came down to earth — the angels of our imagination shaped by tradition over millennia, clothed in our desires and longings. Why are they so much alike? Angels go by fashion. And so the Sons of Heaven, severe travelers between heaven and earth, turned into prancing boy and girl musicians, charming putti who resemble their antique ancestors — Cupids and Amorettos — earthly children wearing colorful little wings. In enlightened times, these metaphysical bats were nearly banished to the esoteric junk pile. But they owe their enormous distribution to technical progress. In the late 19th century millions of them reign supreme in the scrapbooks of adults and the albums of children. Only very few companies still manufacture the colorful "scraps". But the precious antique images, with subtle coloring and elaborate embossing, are cherished by collectors." (from the Introductory Section of the book)

"The Angel" was published as a limited edition of 1,000 numbered copies; illustrator Angela Giorgi created the artwork, and a former editor of Spiegel Annette Meyhöfer wrote the story.

If you would like to order this beatiful, rare edition, please e-mail The Bokelberg Studio directly: bokel@bokelberg.com. "The Angel" will be available in the US  shortly, and I'll add more information as soon as I have it. What a lovely book, and a wonderful present to someone!

On another note, Mr. Bokelberg has an amazing collection of antique images of Berlin on his website. I truly enjoyed looking through them, and highly recommend visiting his website: http://www.bokelberg.com.

Chocolate Lovers, Rejoice!

Chocolate and cocoa have been around for a long time, but cocoa powder as we know it appeared only in the early 1800s. Dutch chocolate makers Casparus and C.J. van Houten (father and son) developed a process for separating cocoa butter from cocoa powder. C.J. van Houten then found a way to neutralize cocoa’s high acidity by bathing cocoa beans in an alkaline solution. This resulting cocoa, now called Dutch-process cocoa, is mild in taste and more chocolate-brown in color than lighter, red-hued natural cocoa.

King Arthur Flour, one of my favorite companies for baking goodies, now has four different varieties of cocoa: midnight black, rouge, double-Dutch dark, and light.

Midnight Black is a super-dark, heavily Dutched cocoa with extra-strong flavor. It makes baked goods that are nearly black in color. Used with a milder Dutch-process cocoa, it adds rich color and deep flavor.

Cocoa Rouge is a milder Dutch-process cocoa with bittersweet flavor and distinct mahogany color. It’s great for cakes and pastries, where its intense yet subtle taste complements other ingredients.

Can't wait to try these special cocoas for baking — and for my hot chocolate!

King Arthur Flour's website is: www.kingarthurflour.com.

Better Later Than Never

Yep, I noticed today is February 1st... but I never promised to post my Christmas pictures on time ;-) We has a gorgeous, shapely blue spruce this year, and we covered it with pretty much every ornament we had in the box! Some cherished mercury glass antiques from the 1930s were prominently displayed next to cute bears... Better later than never!

Have You Ever Heard of an Orchestrion?

Have you ever heard of an orchestrion? Probably not. Neither did I, until I had a chance to listen to Pat Metheny, a renowned jazz guitarist, perform at the Baltimore's Hippodrome Theater with his Orchestrion project. 

Pat's concept of what he calls "orchestrionics" has its roots in Victorian times. In the late 1800s and early 1900s the so-called "player pianos" (pianos that played mechanically by moving perforated rolls of paper through a mechanism that moved the piano keys) were at the height of their popularity. The same mechanical principles were later applied to a whole range of orchestral instruments, and these instrument arrays were called "orchestrions". 

Pat's modern interpretation of an orchestrion is an impressive improvisation performance during which he controls his extensive mechanical orchestra with digital commands from his guitar.

You can find out more about the Orchestrion Project, and listen to some music samples on Pat Metheny's website, www.patmetheny.com.

Cool Pens from Japan

I love pens. I have more pens than I can possibly ever need need, but I just can't resist playing with the shapes, colors, and scents — they make writing so much fun!

So, not surprisingly, when I was on vacation in Japan about a year ago, I was lost for hours at the stationery store. They had more cool pens, fabulous color pencils, amazing handmade paper, decorative tape, notebooks, and other "stuff" than I could ever imagine. I wanted to get it all... and had to restrain myself to buying only some. Ever since I wished there was a store here in the US that would carry some of those really cool and unusual products. But I could never seem to find them either in the stores or on the Internet — until today!

Enters Tokyo Pen Shop (www.tokyopenshop.com), with a great variety of pens and other small stationery items. Here are some of my favorites:

Uni Style Fit — an extremely thin, streamlined pen which comes with a variety of bright ink colors (my personal favorites are pink and purple)

Kuru Toga mechanical pencils rotate and sharpen the lead as you write, using the kinetic energy created by your pencil strokes.

Absolutely adorable animal D-clips by Midori; a box of squirrels is on my desk!

Beautifully made Apica notebooks

Take a look at Tokyo Pen Shop; you'll find some other fun items from Japan there!

Rothenburg ob der Tauber: Antique Dolls Museum

I am fascinated by antique dolls. It all started when I saw them on eBay and on Antiques Road Show. Antique bisque dolls were works of art, even though they were created to be toys. The painstaking work that went into every one of them is evident today in many doll museums.

I didn't know that Rothenburg ob der Tauber had a doll museum. I noticed the sign when we were walking around, and, well, I simply had to come back in the morning to see its treasures.

This private museum was founded by Katharina Engels in 1984, and features not only dolls but doll houses and miniature doll rooms and scenes.

I love this paper doll with her elaborate paper dresses!

And this little girl looks like she is ready to start her sewing

This amazing "tunnel" merry-go-round was made in 1895

You can find plenty of handmade toys in Rothenburg's shops

One of the shops featured a whole window of Steiff bears!

If you happen to be in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, The Doll & Toy Museum is located on 11-13 Hofbronnengasse, just off the Old Market Square. Visit their website at: www.spielzeugmuseum.rothenburg.de for more information.

I will be creating a photo album with more photos from the museum next week. Look for it under Photo Albums in the left column of this blog.