Walrus Books

There is a quaint second-hand English bookstore in San Telmo called Walrus Books. It was such a treat to find this store when I most needed a source for non-import priced books.

Wandering through the open-air market and antique stores of San Telmo before stopping by Walrus Books is a wonderful way to spend a Sunday!

• Estados Unidos 617
• Phone: +54 (11) 43007135
• Website: www.walrus-books.com.ar

Super Easy Fudge

Ingredients

• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 can (14 oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

LINE 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with foil.

COMBINE morsels and sweetened condensed milk in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Warm over lowest possible heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat; stir in nuts and vanilla extract.

SPREAD evenly into prepared baking pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces.

Wreathes

It is getting closer to Christmas, but I haven't felt in the spirit of the holidays. Living in the Southern hemisphere, the weather is growing warmer instead of colder. Days are getting longer and apparently we will not be adjusting for daylight savings this year in Argentina. I haven't heard any Christmas music on the radio, none of the normal movies have been playing on tv. Last night however, we went for a Christmannukah potluck dinner and our hosts had a wreath on their door. This reminded me of how much I love seeing houses decorated for the holidays, especially how much I love pretty wreathes.

Traditional

Modern

Fun!

1930's Style

I had a dream the other night that my friend's wedding dress was from the 1930's. The color scheme was cream, mauve and a plummy purple. It got me thinking about fashion in the '30's, celebrities and scandals.

Wallis Simpson, a style icon of that era, caused the course of British monarchy to change dramatically. Clark Gable ran away with Claudette Colbert in the Frank Capra film It Happened One Night (1934). Her wedding dress is absolutely gorgeous. The long, slinky silk dress is a perfect example of the style of the day.

Claudette Colbert

It seemed to be a more elegant time, yet America was suffering from the Great Depression. Hollywood produced some of its finest films during an epoch of great poverty and uncertainty. Escapism, in the form of the picture house, has left a lasting legacy.

Hitching a Ride

Patagonia finds

The restaurant/bar in our neighborhood serves water in these great bottles with Patagonia written in a pretty pattern on the side. We have only managed to abscond with one so far, but hope to build a little collection. It works very well as a single flower holder!

Bright yellow Patagonian flower!

Here is a cheerful oddball collection of treats, toys and roses on display at a little French bistrot. I love the flowery plates!


More painted tables! This was in a cool restaurant, La Estacion, in Puerto Piramides, Patagonia. It was very Caribbean/hippy in atmosphere - bright colors, reggae playing and a cool collection of eclectic LP's on the walls. The menus had individually decorated covers.

They also sold homemade chocolates, jams and honey. Everything was arranged in a warm, welcoming manner - perfect for the tired backpackers who were their primary clientele.

Rue Online Magazine

Fabulous online interior design and fashion magazine - environmentally friendly and wonderful content. Love it!

Clover

I was very happy to find the two final volumes in Susan Coolidge's series 'What Katy Did,' on Barnes and Noble.com. The first three books ('What Katy Did,' 'What Katy Did at School,' and 'What Katy Did Next'), were greatly enjoyed when I was much younger. I never realized there were more in the trilogy until recently, when I discovered 'Clover' and 'In the High Valley.'

The books are charming stories about the Carr family, specifically the eldest daughter, Katy, and her younger sister, Clover. In the first book (What Katy Did), Katy suffers an accident and learns to overcome her impatient and high-spirited ways during a lengthy recovery period. She becomes a loving, kind girl whom everyone wants to spend time with. In the second book (What Katy Did at School), Katy and Clover are sent by their father to boarding school. There they make some dear friends, including the fun-loving, adventurous Rosamund Redding (Rose Red). In the third book (What Katy Did Next), Katy accompanies family friends on a lengthy trip to Europe. The fourth book (Clover), follows Clover and Phil (a younger brother), to the healthy, high altitude of Colorado. Faced with the responsibility of caring for her brother, Clover matures into a popular, generous woman. I have yet to read 'In the High Valley,' but am looking forward to it!

Susan Coolidge was the pen name for Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (January 29, 1835 – April 9, 1905), an American children's author. The fictional characters in the 'Katy' series were modeled after the author's own family.

Sarah Chauncey Woolsey

Yummy Submarino!

Typical example of a Submarino

A 'submarino' is a traditional Argentine/Uruguayan hot chocolate drink. A small bar of chocolate is dropped into a glass of very hot milk and stirred until it dissolves. All the stirring and real preparation is done by the consumer. Different cafes provide different types of chocolate, from sweet milk chocolate to dark bitter chocolate to which you have to add sugar if you like your cocoa sweet!

Step 1: Chocolate on a stick and hot milk

Step 2: Combine and stir

Ikea Chaise Longue

Mike and I were in Ikea about a year ago and I saw this fabulous chaise longue. It was perfect! A little shabby chic and a little British country B&B. I wasn't allowed to get it as it was too flowery and we have nowhere for it to go. But someday when I have my own little room to decorate as I will....

I can imagine lounging in it reading a good book with the shadow of a lamp just overhead, relaxed and peaceful.

Pink Bathroom

Fun and very pink bathroom in Puerto Madero restaurant i Central.

Painted Tables

Palermo Hollywood is replete with cute little restaurants, usually on the corner of the block. Here are photos of one place which had basic tables, painted in bright colors and patterns.

Here is a yummy sounding French toast recipe that I just stumbled on:

Amaretto-baked French Toast

3 eggs
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons amaretto
1 loaf brioche bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon butter (for greasing your baking dish)
1/2 cup pecans
maple syrup for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla & amaretto. Add brioche cubes and let mixture soak for 5 minutes. Spoon into a 9” x 12” well greased baking dish; sprinkle with pecans. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Pour maple syrup over & serve.

Flower Vendors

There are flower vendors on every other corner in BA. They open early and stay open late. It is a pleasure to see so much natural (and unnatural - blue gerber daisies?), color all together. We get fresh flowers every week and I cannot wait for all our vases to arrive so I can spread them about in each room of our apartment.

Chocolate Shop

We went into this chocolate shop yesterday. It was divine. Handmade chocolates in unusual flavors, shapes, and colors everywhere.

This beautiful chair was part of their decor. The fabric pattern matched the chocolate wrappings!

Pretty Green Wallpaper

Tea Connection, our favorite local cafe, has this great, green wallpaper. It would almost be hideous if it wasn't used in just the right way. I'd love to have a couple of throw pillows in this pattern.

Wedding Booties

My dearest friend is getting married next June. She lives in Brooklyn Heights, my new favorite neighborhood in NY, with her lovely fiancee. Her style is avant-garde chic and it was such fun to go wedding dress shopping with her earlier this year. Everything looked fabulous on her!

Amsale 'Nadine' dress that she tried on...

No decision has been made yet, but I cannot wait to see her final choice!

Alaia lace booties that I can imagine her wearing.

Muma's Cupcakes

When wandering through Palermo one Saturday afternoon, moving slowly amongst little boutiques and clothing stores, we stumbled upon a cupcake parlor. It was charming! Everything was painted white. The counters were grey marble in the French style and covered with trays of cupcakes.

There was a wall of bookcases behind the cashier with cookbooks, pretty candies in jars, and cupcake related knick-knacks.

At the back of the store was a small kitchen area with just enough room for two bakers and their oven. We enjoyed an orange chocolate cupcake with decoratively hardened sugar on top and several handmade truffles.

Malabia 1680
(El Salvador and Honduras)
mumascupcakes.com

Möoi, cocina y buen gusto.

A couple of blocks from our new home is a quaint and quirky little restaurant called Möoi. Located in a renovated old Belgrano house, Möoi, serves fresh food in a bright, modern atmosphere. The decor was shabby chic meets hand-knit colorful charm.

The specials of the day were written on chalkboards and leaned against the whitewashed dining room wall. Fresh flowers in bottles wrapped in bright yarn were on each table. Well-dressed housewives gossiped together over coffee and cookies and a couple of singles browsed the internet on their laptops. The atmosphere was relaxed, charming and definitely a spot I plan to return to soon.