GF Pie Take Two

It's June 20th?  My last post was almost a month ago..where does the time go?  I guess I got a bit carried away with summer and all of its projects and activities.  And while we're on the subject of neglected hobbies, since the very sad realization of a gluten allergy my kitchen-aid mixer, cake pans and rubber spatuals have all been collecting dust. But like I said, it's June, and the bounty of the Farmers Market's strawberries and rhubarb gave me that little nudge I needed.  So here we go, GF pie take two. 

For my first flour-free pie attempt I used Bob's Red Mill 

all-purpose gluten free flour mix.  Some people like it, but 

I found its consistency a bit sandy.. this time I used a pie crust 

specific mix given to me by my mother-in-law, purchased 

from the SillyYak Bakery in Madison Wisconsin.

 The weird thing about the recipe printed on the bag
was the 1/2 cup of shortening it called for.
I'd never used the stuff before.

But I'm certainly open to trying new things these days, so I
threw it in the cuisinart along with two tablespoons of
butter and a 1/4 cup of milk. 

The dough seemed dry so I doubled the milk but it was still nothing 

I could have rolled out, so I just pressed it into the bottom of the pan.  Boo.

Though a bit discouraged, I spooned in the filling:

Strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice and zest, sugar, 

cornstarch and a pinch of salt.

And opted for a sprinkling of oats, brown sugar and dollops of butter
as a topping. I guess it was sort of a hybrid pie/crisp.  

After about 30 minutes a familiar sweet fruity smell 

filled my kitchen.  I felt hopeful.

And in the end, the GF pie wasn't bad, it was almost good actually.  

But I still have a lot of learning and experimenting to do... 

And in the End..

I tired my best to be prepared for the madness I know was coming in April and May, but alas, I was not.  The inevitable last minute scramble happened, things didn't fit or work (or both) I almost broke a toe and I didn't sleep for about a week.. but in the end I finished setting up my room and the Show House opened its doors.  Now, for the entire month of May, my space will be toured by visitors from all over Western New York, so exciting and so surreal.  As is this.   

I had photographers take some shots with their 

fancy wide angle lens, but just to give you all an idea 

I took these quick pics on my phone.

Here's my goofy rendering.

And the map! 

(or source of sleepless nights)

So worth the insomnia..

Really ties the room together, don't ya think :)

Flags!

The West Side Bazaar, a project my mom's been passionately involved with for a couple years now, finally opens its doors tomorrow.  The vendors at this small indoor outdoor-style market are selling goods and cooking delicious food from countries all over the world.

To help with the window display I printed out  

 all 21 flags of the countries represented, and laminated them.  

Never thought I'd ever laminate anything, funny.  

 Then I strung them together with some twine

 And there you have it.

 

Love the woven basket bowls.

 If you're in the area go check it out this weekend! 

Congrats to everyone that worked so hard putting the bazaar together, 

Buffalo's very lucky to have you.

Paint on!

Getting closer at the Show House.  Might start moving furniture in tomorrow.  More photos to come!

Who's Cooler Than..

Bill Cunningham.  I've been a fan of his charming videos on nytimes.com for years.  Mr. Cunningham bikes around Manhattan and takes wonderfully candid street fashion photos, then edits them into short themed videos with the most passionate and whimsical narration you've ever heard.  It's hard not to adore this man.

Image from the nytimes.com

When we first moved to San Francisco I wouldn't let myself watch his videos because they made me too home sick!!  While I still don't live in New York, they're the perfect touch of the streets of a city near to my heart.  If you've never watched his stuff, check some of them out.

 Image from Peachy Cool Wow

I'm clearly a fan, though I really don't know much about Bill Cunningham's story, so I was very excited to hear there's been a documentary made about his life.  Can't wait to see it!  Fashion is aarmor.  Love it.

Rogues Gallery, Portland ME

Of course the one day John and I had to walk around in Portland it poured the entire time. Bah!  So we didn't get to do too much exploring, but we did make it to the very awesome Rogues Gallery on Warf Street (the most adorable street in all of Portland)

I first saw Rogue's cool vintage print tees, sweat shirts 

and belts at John Derian's store in New York.  

And it's been love ever since.      

There is nothing but brick in Portland, and I looved it.

Such a perfect store front don't you think?  

And the merchandising on the inside is pretty spot on as well.  

The entire store is flawlessly "thrown together" giving 

a perfect casual, rugged masculine vibe.

Lots of flannel.

I wanted to take all these pillows home with me.

They're upholstered in vintage wool blankets, a-mazing.  

John and I poked around the store for quite some time, 

a little to do with the torrential down pour happening outside 

and a lot to do with all the interesting things to look at. 

I also loved the Inn on Carelton our very cute
B&B in Portland's West End neighborhood.

And we had one of the best dinners ever at Hugo's, delish.

Brooklyn Cuteness

John says I over use the word cute.  When in cities like Brooklyn, I guess I do.  I walk down the street and almost involuntarily murmur cute at pretty much everything I see.  You should have seen me in the Old Port section of Portland Maine, it was a gluttonous cute fest.  

  

On a brisk but sunny day, after too many lattes,
I made my way to an old Williamsburg
favorite Scandinavian Design House.

Which was just as cute as I had remembered.  

Love the Royal Copenhagen dishes.

Trying to find an excuse to buy this adorable textile inspired carafe.  

Would look great on the table for water, or coffee. (or wine)

Cuute.

Love the candlesticks.  And snagged the two cleverly packaged 

tea towels in the back for little gifts for the friends we stayed 

with on our trip.  

Sadly, my highly anticipated pilgrimage to 

Brook Farm General Store was unsuccessful.

  

Ohh Brook Farm, this inconvenience only makes me want you more..