pretty enough to eat, but please wash hands

oh my what a week: science fair, orchestra field trip to massachusetts, baseball games, driving back and forth to the pharmacy to pick up new eye drop prescriptions as everyone in the household slowly came down with conjunctivitis, one by one, day after day. lovely. and so a gentle reminder, to myself, to please wash my hands 100 times a day. 

and aren't these gorgeous soaps from italy by nesti dante just the motivation i need? they look delicious. nesti dante soaps are available in florence, italy, where they are painstakingly produced by hand, in a giant stone cauldron or something and triple milled. they are sold at fine apothecaries all over the world, (as well as amazon and kew gardens' gift shop where i spied these). the flavors are wonderful (i guess that should be scents) and the florentine paper wrappers are beyond gorgeous. i want them all. all the ones that smell like food that is. tangerine and olive, fig and almond, pomegranate and black currant, tomato, cucumber, mmm.

i tell you, the upside of this pandemic flu business is the reminders for everyone to please wash their hands all over the place. even though it is a bit of a nuisance, i am a strong proponent of regular hand washing, especially before and during food preparation and dining. now if i could just get my children to do the same without my sounding like a broken record. actually they are good sports about it, but don't always remember. 

this week was a bit of a wash (irresistible pun, sorry). but lots and lots of cooking going on this weekend, much to share next week. anyway, a healthy, happy and safe weekend to you. xo, g