happy international women's day!

Happy International Women's Day!

I just love that video, starring the lovely Daniel Craig and narrated by wonderful Dame Judi Dench.

I consider myself very lucky to work in this industry of creativity & good things. I often ponder the fact that it's dominated by women, which is something I find very fun - I love meeting up with fellow designers for business chat, and also crafty gossip!

I think the craft & design industry can work really well for women - it's usually flexible, enjoyable & mostly very supportive. It can also be a tricky industry with super long hours, and it can be quite difficult to go from success on a hobby level to success on a larger more commercial level (don't I know it!). I think it's just nice though, on a day like this, to take a quick breath and reflect on the fact that all the lovely lasses around us (and the lads too) are doing some very amazing things.

So, a toast. Cheers!

patchwork on central park

I know I've blogged about it before, but I do love going to Patchwork on Central Park. I usually go with my mum - she loves patchwork (and buying fabric!) and I love looking at the fabric and getting inspiration.

Such nice colours! I love the way they display their fabric - it's so pretty.

I'm on a big yellow kick at the moment (I think I always am, really), and they have a great selection of yellow fabric. When I was there a few people were asking for yellow fabric for things they were making for babies - yellow's so bright & happy! So are babies!

Fat quarters! It took me SO LONG to figure out what a fat quarter was, and even now I think it's a bit of a rude name. But still. A great way to choose fabric for the indecisive person - just get one of each, right?

And, if you're hungry, you can pop in to Our Kitchen Table after. Such cute cakes, no?

Patchwork on Central Park Blog
Patchwork on Central Park Website

meat-free monday: tofu don

Something that I don't mention so often on the blog is how much I love cooking. I am also very passionate about vegetarianism and veganism. A vegan diet is way better for the environment - the production of meat/dairy consumes far more resources than the production of vegetables/grains.

Meat-free Mondays is a great idea, to encourage people who might ordinarily eat meat every day to go vego once per week. I thought I might make this into a fun weekly (or every few weeks) blog post and share some of my favourite meals! I always feel much better when I stick to a healthy, well balanced vegan diet (sorry cheese & icecream!) but we can all try going vegan once a week, it's fun!

Tofu-don is my standard, go to meal when I am in a rush. A donburi is a traditional Japanese meal of rice & either meat or tofu, which can be adapted in so many ways!

I always keep a pack or two of puffy fried tofu in the freezer (you know, from an Asian grocery) - it freezes really well, and defrosts quickly!

My simple Summer version of a tofu-don is: a layer of rice (brown rice if you have time!), a layer of tofu (I usually chop of puffy tofu, give it a quick fry with some onion, and whack on some plum sauce & soy sauce and any nuts or seeds I have lying around), and a layer of salad. And seaweed, for added health-food points.

The very first picture is white rice, corn, carrots & cucumber in a soy/sesame dressing & fried tofu.

Now that this first rather wordy post is out of the way, I'm looking forward to cooking some yummy things, brushing up on my food photography skillz, and sharing some yummy meals!