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

great package in the mail

nothing like a great package in the mail to brighten my day. these are some swedish linen dishtowels i ordered from manos. they are even better than they look in photos, more gorgeous, the weave is awesome and perfect in an indescribable way.  and the packaging with that adorable stick covered with lichen. love everything about it. manos is the shop of the fabulous karin eriksson. i also love her blog. 

organic kumquats and reusable shopping bags

so today is earth day here in the u.s. do you have earth day elsewhere? i wonder. anyway, since i am still going on and on about london and waitrose, and it is a day to honor a cleaner earth, i thought i would feature these fabulous reusable grocery bags from waitrose, made of lovely natural burlap or something with a fabulous soft grippable, ergonomic even, handle, for only 99 pence. love them. bought one last year while overloaded with shopping bags on way to hotel hoping to make a more elegant entrance. loved the bag so much and it has held up so well after much uses, this time, had to buy four more. the bright blue are from whole foods, which they gave me for free two years ago and i bought another one to match. add that to my handsome canvas bag from the botanical garden membership drive, and now, i have what amounts to a whole wardrobe of reusable bags.

whole foods gives me 10 cents off per bag that i bring in, whether it is their bag or any other brand. i usually bring 7 even if i don't think i will need so many. as i always without fail buy more than i plan on buying, as i have a weakness for any fresh and delicious looking produce. that is when i remember to bring the bags at all, of course. this earth day is different in that everyone is using reusable grocery bags now. by my rather unscientific survey, i'd say 60% of shoppers are bringing their own bags, last year it was only about 3% i think. that means we are collectively saving tons of landfill and creating less pollution from manufacturing each week. wonderful progress. it is a small thing, but an important thing none the less. oh yes and these organic kumquats are fantastic this week, haven't seen them in ages, tart, sweet, juicy, delicious. highly addictive.