Très Ashley

Mary Cassatt: 5 things you might not know

My friend Leslee came into my classroom last week and told me, "Great news! The Traveling Art Exhibit has arrived!" I spent most of that week running around like a crazy person getting my classroom ready for Open House (which is always right before Spring Break). When Leslee said, "I've already put it up." I breathed a huge sigh of relief, told my friend thank you and made sure the children in my classroom enjoyed the exhibit every day. Our PTA was kind enough to purchase the Traveling Art Exhibit and introduce Mary Cassatt and Frederic Remington to our students.

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) has always been one of my favorite artists and I was thrilled that I was not only a classroom teacher but also an art teacher for one week.

Mary Cassatt was one of the leading American Impressionist artists. Born in Pittsburgh and influenced in France by Degas. She is famous for capturing women in everyday, honest and domestic settings...the emotion felt when looking at her paintings (specifically the mothers with their children) still resonates today...it is timeless. She was strong and independent, yet with an amazing talent to capture both the strength and gentleness of mothers.

You might not know...

In Pittsburgh, Mary Cassatt grew up with high social standing. Her father was a well-to-do real estate and investment broker. She was being schooled to be a proper wife and mother taking classes like homemaking, embroidery, music, sketching and painting. During the 1850's, the Cassatt family took their children abroad to live in Europe for several years. In regards to her making a living as an artist, her father had strong objections and said, "I would almost rather see you dead than living abroad as a bohemian."

1. Mary Cassatt referred to Edgar Degas as "my best, my only, friend." She also said of Degas, "I used to go and flatten my nose against that window and absorb all I could of his art."

2. She was known for her large and elaborate hats. Degas said of Cassatt, "Most women paint as though they are trimming hats. Not you."

3. Mary Cassatt was the only American to exhibit with the French Impressionists. She said, "I hated conventional art. I began to live."

4. She was diagnosed with diabetes, rheumatism, neuralgia and cataracts in 1911. By 1914 she was almost blind when she took up the cause of women's suffrage, and showed eighteen works in an exhibition supporting the movement.

5. Cassatt's red brick house, Chateau de Beaufresne, was turned into a home for abandoned children after she died.

Five more for children...

Questions and mini-lessons that teachers asked and told their classes:

1. Do you think Mary Cassatt was a mother? No, she wasn't. Her whole life prepared her for it...homemaking, embroidery, music and painting but she never married. She said, "I am independent! I can live alone and I love to work."

2. Do you think most women during the 1800's were like Mary Cassatt? Did most women have careers like she did? What do you think they did?

3. Mary Cassatt was a huge fan of hats. What does her hat remind you of?

4. Mary Cassatt's father was strongly against Mary becoming an artist. How do you think her father felt when he looked at her paintings?

5. Mary Cassatt had poor eyesight. When she died at 82, she was blind. How do you think she felt about not being able to see her paintings?

My second grade class enjoying Mary Cassatt's work.

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Aim True with Kathryn Budig

Photo by Jasper Johal

My husband asked me the day before my workshop with Kathryn Budig, “Are you excited?” “Yes, super excited!” Everyone has a secret pleasure. Mine involves running off to my favorite yoga studio to recharge my batteries and find my happy place.

Kathryn Budig is well known yoga teacher and writer. She has a playful approach that makes the whole room smile. The yoga expert for Women's Health Magazine, she's also a philanthropist and a foodie. She co-founded Poses for Paws, an organization that raises money for animal shelters. She's also partnered with ToeSox, who donates 10% of proceeds to her Poses for Paws organization. It's fun for me to know that she works with one of my favorite chefs, Giada de Laurentiis.

Kathryn Budig and Giada de Laurentiis. Photo by Ture Lillegraven

I'm a big fan of Women's Health Magazine. I recently bought Kathryn Budig's The Women's Health Big Book of Yoga. I love how I can customize my practice to whatever I need for the day. I also have the Big Book of Pilates...I'm a Pilates instructor! Both books are loaded with pictures. If you follow Kathryn's writing, you'll read that she loves Pilates too! She's also enjoys rock climbing, hiking and sky diving. Yep, she's amazing!

Kathryn studied musical theatre and English in college at the University of Virginia. She moved to LA to become an actress and teach yoga on the side. She realized that she didn't care for Hollywood but had a talent for teaching yoga.

I found it interesting that someone with a musical theatre background didn't play music in her classes. I actually really like that she didn't. My most memorable yoga and Pilates classes are those where you can just hear the music of the breath. I think without the music, you're able to go a little deeper within yourself and hearing others breath around you is like a sea of motivation.

Kathryn's cues match her playful style. She helped me find my "Jackie Chan muscles." She says to get into your Jackie Chan kung-fu stance..."elbows bent, biceps tight to the body, and forearms out will help you feel strong and safe."

The second favorite thing that I took away from Kathryn's workshop (Jackie Chan being the first) was her standing splits series. I love, love this pose...I"m a ballet dancer and splits just feel good (especially against the wall).

Instagram photo kathrynbudig

1. "Ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed and allow a bad mood to spoil your day? If you’re nodding yes as you read this, you’re probably not doing enough yoga. Or maybe you’re not having enough sex…"

2. " The only way to experience happiness is by taking chances and following what makes my heart beat."

3. "I believe food is meant to be enjoyed, so if you find yourself out to dinner at a fantastic restaurant—enjoy it! You can go back to kale and quinoa tomorrow, but life is meant to be tasted and enjoyed."

4. "A big part of what I teach is the ability to move through and past fear. Fear is a huge issue in our society that keeps people locked in habits and inhibits the ability for growth."

5. "I have the best job in the world. I've been blessed with traveling the world in order to teach people yoga. I realize yoga still carries stereotypes such as granola-loving, uber flexible chant-till-you-drop fanatics, but I'm here to prove those people wrong. Yoga will change your life."

Thank you Kathryn Budig! You are an inspiration! xx

Romy Schneider: Greatest actress of all time

Romy Schneider was only introduced to me within the last couple of years by my Austrian friend. Romy is not as well known in America but she is unforgettable in Europe. She was known as the "German Shirley Temple" in her early age. Romy Schneider was an Austrian-born actress who starred in German, French and American films from 1950's through the early 1980's (making over fifty films).

Although she played the Empress of Austria in Sissi, her life was far from a fairy-tale. Her father left Romy's mother (actress, Magda Schneider) when she and her brother were young. Magda's new husband (Romy's stepfather) embezzled her acting money. On romance...her heart was broken several times (first by Alain Delon who left her for another woman and then the suicide of her first husband). The worst was when she lost her son when he was only fourteen in a tragic accident.

Romy Schneider was voted "Greatest actress of all time" by the readers of French newspaper "Le Parisien" and voted the premiere star of the 20th century in 2006.

Romy didn't want to play princess roles or be known as a movie star. She said this about her role as a princess..."Sissi sticks to me just like oatmeal." She refused to make a fourth Sissi movie. She wanted to be taken seriously as an actress. She moved to France and escaped her stepfather and was also challenged more as an actress.

She was stunning and a true talent. She died of natural causes when she was only forty-three. Her friends and family have complete conviction that she died of a broken heart.

1. "The moment I put on that first Chanel suit I knew I'd never wear anything else. Fashion is unimportant - elegance is all important."

2. "If you get a great opportunity you have to grab it and don't let go, then extend it with a lot of effort...talent is nothing more than love for the cause."

3. "To get everything, one has to give everything. Which is quite a discovery for me. I know I am not easy to live with. I am hot tempered. I ask too much of friends. One should ask the maximum of oneself. But not of others."

4. "Work, work and more work is my only true life. Life must go on. My work gives me strength."

5. "The most important thing about me is that I am an actress. It would be a lie to say that acting was just my job or something I did for fun. It is my life. I have my home, my husband, my son. I have to be a little schizophrenic to cope with it all. But I am basically an actress who has a family; not a wife and mother who also acts. I prefer to work in films but if I was unable to then I would work on the stage. I couldn't just stop and not be an actress any more."

*This post is dedicated to my Austrian friend, Margot. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag und danke for introducing me to Romy Schneider. xx

Anne Burrell: Valentine's Day recipe and upcoming premier

I've been a fan of Anne Burrell ever sense I watched her as Mario Batali's sous chef cracking eggs one-handed at lightening speed on Iron Chef. I can relate to her love of Italian food (especially pasta)! I love her simple approach to pure and rustic food.

Just in time for Valentine's Day! Enjoy this Cappuccino Panna Cotta recipe, courtesy of Anne Burrell on behalf of Food Network’s series, Worst Cooks in America.

Anne Burrell and Bobby Flay are back to transform kitchen disasters into skilled cooks in the fifth season of Worst Cooks in America. Premiering on Monday, February 17^th at 9pm ET/PT, the seven-episode season pits formerly undefeated series champ Anne against last season’s winner Bobby, each leading a team of disastrous cooks in an intense culinary boot camp designed to turn them into confident kitchen heroes.

Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Cooking! Happy Premier for two of my favorite chefs, Anne and Bobby! xx

cappuccino panna cotta with chocolate sauce

Serves 4

Time: About 30 minutes active and at least 2 hours to chill

Mise en Place

For the panna cotta

4 sheets of gelatin

3 cups heavy cream

3⁄4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

1⁄2 vanilla bean

1⁄2 cup chocolate-covered espresso beans, for garnish

For the chocolate sauce

4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1⁄4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

For the panna cotta:

1 In a small bowl of cool water, submerge the gelatin sheets to soften. They will go from stiff to soft, kind of like the texture of a giant contact lens. Feel one—it’s SO cool!

2 In a small saucepan, combine the cream, sugar, and espresso powder. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise down one side, open it up, and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife. Add the seeds and the hull to the pan. Whisk to combine everything.

3 Bring the cream mixture to a boil and then immediately turn off the heat. Remove the softened gelatin sheets from the water and squeeze out the excess water. Add the gelatin sheets to the pan and whisk to combine.

4 Immediately ladle the cream mixture into four 6-ounce ramekins and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

For the chocolate sauce:

1 Fill a small saucepan with 1 inch of water and bring it to a boil (BTB).

2 In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate chips, heavy cream, butter, and corn syrup. Place the bowl on top of the pan of water (this is a double-boiler setup). Reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir until the chocolate has melted and all the ingredients are combined. Remove and use immediately or store in a warm place until ready to use.

To unmold the panna cotta:

1 Fill a small saucepan with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil, then turn off the heat. Run a paring knife around the outside edge of the panna cotta to loosen it. Set each ramekin in the saucepan for 10 seconds. Place a small serving plate on top of each ramekin and flip it over to unmold the panna cotta. If it doesn’t release, put the ramekin in the water for a few seconds more and try again.

2 To serve, ladle a couple tablespoons of the chocolate sauce around the panna cotta and sprinkle with a few chocolate-covered espresso beans.

Note: If you can’t find gelatin sheets, you can substitute powdered gelatin, but first you need to “bloom” it in water—which just means dissolving it in a little bit of water until it looks sort of like jelly. It takes only a few minutes. Then you need to dissolve it with your hot liquid—it’s easy, but sheets are a lot more fun. To use powdered gelatin in this recipe, first bloom one 1⁄4- ounce envelope in 2 tablespoons water, then add it to the mix, and you’re back to business as usual.

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BEET RAVIOLI FOR VALENTINE'S DAY

For Valentine's Day dinner, we almost always eat pasta. Usually, we make our Italian favorite, spaghetti and clams. This year we're experimenting with beet ravioli. It's a Valentine's color, delicious and the ultimate interactive fun to have with your kids. Food tastes better when you've made it together.

Pasta is a food that makes everybody happy. It's perfect for kids because kids love to make a mess and they can get really creative in the kitchen.

For Valentine's Day Beet Ravioli:

basic pasta dough:

3 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup semolina flour
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons water, if needed

2-3 small beets

for the filling:

11 oz of goat cheese

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1 T chopped chives

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Roast beets at 400 for about an hour. Let them cool then quarter the beets and place in a food processor. Add the eggs and flours. Pulse until a ball of dough forms. Add a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time, until a dough forms that is not dry, but still a little bit sticky. Take the dough out, knead a little on the counter and place on a sheet of floured plastic wrap and wrap. Let rest on the counter for at least 20 minutes. Cut the dough in quarters and roll out for ravioli. Follow pasta machine instructions for rolling out the dough. We started on a number one and gradually went to a number five which was perfect for our ravioli.

Flour the ravioli mold. Lay a sheet of pasta over the mold and scoop a small spoonful in each little groove. Cover the ravioli with the remaining overlapping sheet. Run a little rolling pin over the top and gently press down. This allows for the ravioli to come out clean. Repeat with the other three quarters.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook half the raviolis (we froze the other half) and cook for about four minutes. Scoop raviolis out of the boiling water and place into a pan of butter and olive oil. Toss gently and serve with a Parmesan (you can also top with hazelnuts, pinenuts, chives, raisins...)

We also made some fettuccine (same recipe without the beets).

This Valentine's Day, stay home and make pasta.

Also see this pasta inspired post:

Our Daily Pasta

Love, Love Me Do (deux)

Valentine’s Day will be here soon! Have you shopped for your loved ones yet? Here are a few ideas and inspirational poems that I think would add extra happiness to your Valentine's Day.

The Eskimo has fifty-two names for snow because it is important to them; there ought to be as many for love. ~Margaret Atwood

Valentine's for Her:

Golden sparkler heart wand I plan to add mine to a chocolate cake...and maybe let my kids have some fun outside.

PARIS : An Inspiring Tour of the City's Creative Heart Take a dip into the most romantic city in the world.

Valentine Heart bra and panty set Inspired by Josephine Baker who worked her magic on Parisian high society.

Alice + Olivia Heart d'Orsay flats comfortable and sweet.

Bando hearts You can never have too many sparkly hearts!

The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away.
~Barbara Kingsolver

Valentine's for friends:

LOVE necklace "L" is for the way you look at me...
Heart Pasta I can't wait to see my children's faces when I serve them heart pasta for Valentine's Day.
Send your love with these beautiful assorted Valentine's Day cards

Heart apron Lucille Ball would approve.

Raspberry Basil Lemoncello Cocktail Three of my favorite bar ingredients: raspberries, lemoncello and rose sparkling wine...the perfect Valentine's Day cocktail to share with your best friend.

Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.
~Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

Valentine's for Children:

Rock Monkey...that funky monkey might become my son's favorite animal to sleep with!
Thames & Kosmos Perfume Science Kit I would have loved it if someone gave this to me when I was a teenager. This is my kind of science.
Apple Cake: A Recipe for Love A beautiful children's Valentine story about the world that can be hidden in the simpliest of things. Also, it has a recipe for apple cake.
Heart Pajamas A little baby would be wrapped in your love.
Girls' Striped heart sweater Perfect for Valentine's Day and also very French!

Westley: "I told you I would always come for you. Why didn't you wait for me?"
Buttercup: "Well...you were dead."
Westley: "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."
~William Goldman, The Princess Bride

Valentine's for Him:

Leather card wallet rustic...just like him!

Manicure set with everything your man needs.

Fifty Places to Bike Before You Die stunning photographs for your adventurous cyclist.

Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties fascinating facts about the Beatles’ music, their lives and the sixties.

More love inspired posts:

Love, Love Me Do

And Then He Kissed Me

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Mastering the Art of French Eating: love, food and France

You know those books that grab hold of you from the moment you start reading the first few pages? Mastering the Art of French Eating is one of those treasures.

Ann Mah’s book will make you hungry for a crusty baguette and thirsty for a good rosé. Her book is about love, food and France. The life-lessons she learns in France truly give her food for thought and make memories you can taste.

Mah’s diplomat husband was assigned to Paris for a three-year posting. They were living the “American in Paris” dream together until her husband was transferred to Iraq for a year.

Mah’s situation was similar to Julia Child’s…both diplomatic spouses spending their days in Paris learning about French cooking. She even bought a house on the same rue de l’Universite that Julia lived on.

At first, the Skype chats she schedules with her husband are all she’s looking forward to until she gets a part-time job working at the American library and starts exploring France.

Reading her book, we can travel with Ann as she meets fellow food enthusiasts...a farmer’s wife who offered to give Ann the details and secrets of her cultured butter, a fellow food writer that she invites over for dinner to make soup dumplings and a wine adviser who leads Ann through her wine cave in Pommard.

Using Thomas Jefferson and Julia Child as tour guides she journeys through France, searching for the country’s most famous provincial and iconic dishes. Traveling to Alsace for choucroute, Brittany for butter and crepes, Lyon to experience a Salade Lyonnaise, Languedoc to taste cassoulet and Provence for soup au pistou. As she travels, Mah includes recipes for these regional recipes from her journeys.

Ann writes, “There is no croissant as crisp and flaky or as sweetly buttery as the one you eat, still warm from the oven, on your first morning in Paris after a long absence.”

Ann Mah is easy for me to relate to…she’s shy, has had a love for France since she was a child, is a tea drinker and loves Julia Child. I want to be her friend and make a pumpkin pie with her…a fellow Francophile.

Reading Mastering the Art of French Eating will make you want to be in Paris…preferably with your husband because as she writes,“If you want to go fast, eat alone. If you want to go far, eat together.” And “Somehow everything tastes better eaten with your favorite dining companion.”

Merci Ann! I so look forward to reading your next book.

Other books you might enjoy that take you on a journey through France: Eight Days in Provence, Paris to the Moon, Almost French, Chasing Matisse, A Year in the Merde, and My Life in France.

Other French inspired posts you might enjoy:

JE VOIS LA VIE EN ROSE: I SEE LIFE IN ROSY HUES

FAREWELL, MY QUEEN (LES ADIEUX A LA REINE)

HAPPY 100 JULIA CHILD: OUR LADY OF BUTTER

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Five things you might not know about dance

Dancers have a wonderful reputation of being overachievers, super hard-workers and multitaskers who can focus on many things at once. This is why they make the best employees! I think of ballerinas as super heros. There's a deep history to making these super hero dancers...

Here are five things you might not know about dance.

1. Ballet originated in Italy. We can thank Catherine de Medici who was a huge patron of the arts and brought ballet to France when she married King Henry II in the sixteenth century. The Ballet Comique de la Reine was the first ballet performance and Catherine was the instigator bringing over Italian masters to choreograph the dance. The court was so impressed with the ballet that they tried to copy similar dances then eventually replaced Italian ballet masters with French, and that’s why the language of ballet became French.

2. Before a dancers goes on stage, they say "merde" to their fellow dancers backstage as a way of wishing each other good luck. It seems quite funny if you speak French. Back in the Catherine de Medici days, people would take their horse and carriage to the performances...merde would pile up! Backstage helpers would let the dancers know there was merde...which later meant a simple "good luck " (just a more fun way of saying it remembering dance history).

3. For the first one hundred years of ballet, only the men danced. King Louis XIV loved to dance and star in Versailles court performances.

4. One tutu can cost up to $2000 and require up to 60-90 hours of labor and several months. It's a labor of love! You can see how much love goes into making a tutu here.

5. Most ballerinas wear out two or three pairs of pointe shoes per week. Dancers may carry a wide variety of supplies to break in their pointe shoes: tape, toe pads, scissors, sewing kits, mallet, cheese grater (to rough up the soles of the shoe), pliers, lighters (to singe the ends of the ribbons). Ballerinas use rosin on their pointe shoes to keep from slipping. Rosin is made from pine tree sap.

I believe with all my heart what Martha Graham said was true..."Dance is the hidden language of the soul."

MERDE!!

New Year Traditions from around the world

Welcome the New Year with traditions from around the world. This New Year, my neighbor's might find me circling my house with my suitcase. Happy New Year! xx

Cuba: circle your house with a suitcase at midnight to bring travel opportunities for the year.

Brazil: wear white to ward off evil spirits and jump seven ocean waves for each day of the week.

Chili: drop a gold ring in your champagne glass for a prosperous year. Also, eat a spoonful of lentils at midnight.

France: enjoy a family dinner with foie gras and champagne and a galette des rois.

Italy: wear red underwear for good luck and enjoy a special family meal.

Austria: eat suckling pig, marzipan and maybe enjoy a Strauss concert.

Scotland: people sing the Scottish song, 'Auld Lang Syne' at midnight. It's played around the world, but it started here with Robert Burns.

England: The first footing...the first person to enter a house on January 1st should be a male with dark hair bringing coal, bread or salt.

Spain: eat twelve grapes...one with each ring of the bell when the clock strikes midnight.

Ireland: a single woman might put mistletoe under her pillow before she goes to sleep on New Year's Eve to dream of her future love.

Philippines: wear polka dots and eat oranges to ensure a prosperous year.

Columbia: sweep your house to get rid of the bad energy.

Denmark: stand on top of a chair and leap off at midnight.

Russia: write down a wish on a piece of paper, burn the paper and put the ashes in flute and drink your wish.

America: eat black eyed peas for good luck and ham and cabbage for prosperity.

Wishing you the happiest 2014!

Skaal! Prost! Na Zdorovje! Saude! Salud! A Votre Sante, Slainte! Cin Cin! Mabuhay! Cheers!

Happy Birthday Little Sister!!

Happy Birthday Paige!!

ma petite soeur, music maker in the city of Angels, expert taxi hailer

My sister is full of energy. I don't think she sleeps! She stayed over for Christmas and would have been game for staying up until the kids came downstairs in the early morning if I would have been up for it.

Paige said to me yesterday, "I am liking my thirties more and more!" Amen sista! I'm five-and-a-half-years older than my sister so those words are music to my ears...she's growing up! I think one of Paige's charming qualities is that she will forever be a kid at heart (she's a lot like our Dad).

When I think of Paige, I'm reminded of the Cheers show...everybody knows her name and they're always glad she came!

Many happy returns little sister! I'm glad you came for Christmas. I love you! xx

Read more about my beautiful sister here.