Official Bottega Veneta Chat Thread - Lets Chat!!!

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by alexis77

Doreenjoy--love the avatar! Nonni is a term I haven't found many people use. My mother is known as "Nonni" to her grandchildren, and I called my grandmother Nonni. It brings back great memories to hear it now. Do you know who the artist is? It reminds me of Vermeer for some reason, but I am most likely wrong.

Hi Alexis77,

The painting is by Sebastiano del Piombo, also known as Sebastiano Luciano. It's circa 1517 and the subject is known as "Dorohea" [sic - I believe it should be Dorothea]. Del Piombo is best known for religious subjects like the cheerful "Martyrdom of St. Agatha." He was a contemporary and friend of Michelangelo.

I'm glad to hear there are other families using nonni. It's the word for grandmother in the Piemontese dialect. Not that many people speak Piemontese outside of the Piedmont region where my grandmother was from.

[jane]

I just totally impulsively bought a couple nail polishes from Chanel.com.... got free ship and no tax though! They just released three new Limited Edition colors today, they look divine and I Chanel polish (not so much their handbags tho).

[alexis77]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

Hi Alexis77, The painting is by Sebastiano del Piombo, also known as Sebastiano Luciano. It's circa 1517 and the subject is known as "Dorohea" [sic - I believe it should be Dorothea]. Del Piombo is best known for religious subjects like the cheerful "Martyrdom of St. Agatha." He was a contemporary and friend of Michelangelo. I'm glad to hear there are other families using nonni. It's the word for grandmother in the Piemontese dialect. Not that many people speak Piemontese outside of the Piedmont region where my grandmother was from.

Thanks for the mini art history lesson. Although Piombo was painting over a century before Vermeer, "Dorohea" and Vermeer's "Girl With a Pearl Earring" are similar in style, use of color, and shading.

[alexis77]

Tonight I made some cookies; I am not a very good baker, so I avoid difficult baking recipes. I made the traditional peanut butter blossoms with the hershey kiss, plain peanut butter cookies, and peanut butter balls rolled in crushed almonds. I didin't burn any, and my husband was very happy to have fresh homemade cookies. I'm planning to take some into work tomorrow for everyone to enjoy.

[Sum]

^^the homemade cookies sound so good, especially peanut butter balls rolled in crushed almonds..i'm gonna go get me some cookies right now with some tea

there's a day in December when you really know that it's Christmas -- for me, that day was yesterday. while there's no snow in the tropics, the air was a lot colder than usual, and the Christmas carolers came by, singing the songs we already know by heart, filling the air with warm anticipation of the coming holidays. I can't wait for my holiday break to start!

[goldenflower]

Yum. I love peanut butter blossoms. The first time I had them I was around 13 and baby-sitting at a neighbor's house. She always told me to "help myself" to any food/drink I wanted, but I never did. Until the day I discovered she had made peanut butter blossoms. I'm glad there weren't "nanny cams" in those days, because I'm sure she would have thought I was quite greedy!

I won't start my holiday baking until next week. I'm the only one in my extended family who bakes, so I do all of it. Usually I make about ten dozen decorated sugar cookies, plus fudge and four batches of pecan pralines, and two orange-flavored cakes made in special Christmas tree molds. I do most of the work preparing Christmas dinner, too. I love Christmas but I'm always so tired when it's finally here!

We got about six inches of snow yesterday, with more expected tomorrow and Friday, and more AGAIN on Tuesday. I think it's safe to say that we'll be having a white Christmas.

[jane]

My husband is allergic to garlic, so I don't get to cook with it anymore. But he's out of town this week, so garlic ahoy!

I worked from home today, as we were promised lots of snow. Which never came. Whatever it was nice to be home with the dog and be able to slack a bit. Allegedly the snow is coming tonight. Yeah, we'll see about that.

[jane]

Also my Chanel nail polishes have supposedly shipped, according to their site, but the UPS tracking # is still showing as invalid, and my account has not been charged. Get your act together, Chanel. I want my pretty black and gold polish!

[Sum]

may I say that i'm a little envious of those who can apply nail polish perfectly?

I tried doing it for the first time last Sunday and made so many mistakes. Noticing my extreme frustration, DH finally said, no one is going to scrutinize your toes anyway, so long as your polish looks neat from at least three feet away..

[jburgh]

I have to make the granola and shepherd's pie! Here are the holiday nuts I make every year at this time .... Cut the recipe if you are not making for gifts.

HOLIDAY NUTS
Ingredients:
4 Cups of shelled pecan halves
4 Cups of shelled walnut halves
4 Cups of shelled almonds
2 Tablespoons of cinnamon
2 Teaspoons of fresh nutmeg
½ Cup (8 Tablespoons) of water
2 Tablespoons of pure vanilla extract (Mexican is the most flavorful)
2 Cups of white refined sugar
1 Cup of packed light brown sugar
½ Cup of pure maple syrup
1 Pinch of salt
1 Stick (¼ pound) of unsalted butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 275-300 degrees F (or 135-145 degrees C )
Melt butter in a large non-stick frying pan
Add nuts and half of the water
Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring continually; you are not trying to brown them, just to heat them well
Add vanilla and stir well
Mix the sugars and spices in a bowl with a whisk to break up any lumps
Add maple syrup and rest of the water to nuts, stir well to coat
Add sugar/spice mixture to nuts, stir on medium heat for 10 minutes
Spread nuts out on 3 cookie sheets, bake 20 minutes – check so they don’t burn, and adjust oven temp if needed

Cool and ENJOY!

[jburgh]

Originally Posted by jane

I just totally impulsively bought a couple nail polishes from Chanel.com.... got free ship and no tax though! They just released three new Limited Edition colors today, they look divine and I Chanel polish (not so much their handbags tho).

jane - which ones did you get?

[Bichon Lover]

jburgh I CAN"T LIVE without Mexican vanilla. Everytime anybody I know goes to Mexico I have them bring me back vanilla. Once you have it you can't stand any other. I recently had my sisters brownies which are the same recipe as mine and I thought, hmmmm, there's something different about them. I finally realized it was the vanilla. Around here we can have Hispanic grocery stores, but they all carry imitation . Thank god I know lots of peeps that go to Mexico It smells sooo amazing too. You smell any of the main brands and they don't even smell like vanilla at all. They just smell like alcohol

[jane]

jburgh I got blue and gold -- I have enough red polish!

Snapped these pics of my dog & cat tonight -- trying to be friends...

[jburgh]

Originally Posted by Bichon Lover

jburgh I CAN"T LIVE without Mexican vanilla. Everytime anybody I know goes to Mexico I have them bring me back vanilla. Once you have it you can't stand any other. I recently had my sisters brownies which are the same recipe as mine and I thought, hmmmm, there's something different about them. I finally realized it was the vanilla. Around here we can have Hispanic grocery stores, but they all carry imitation . Thank god I know lots of peeps that go to Mexico It smells sooo amazing too. You smell any of the main brands and they don't even smell like vanilla at all. They just smell like alcohol

BL - are you a vanilla aficionado? I have a great source for Mexican vanilla...believe it or not, Marshall's. I love to put some in pancakes. What do you think of Tahitian vanilla? Pretty good, too, especially the smell, but not as complex in flavor as the Mexican. Most people have only had the Madagascar Bourbon type. Mexican vanilla is actually Madagascar seed, but grown in Mexico. Now I have a hankering for some hot chocolate with a little Mexican vanilla and cinnamon.

jane - did you get the russian series polishes? I love Kona's ears.

[doreenjoy]

I'm a vanilla fan, too, and often drink steamed milk with a shot of vanilla in it. I live near a predominantly Hispanic area of San Francisco (The Mission District) and there's a store called "Vanilla & Saffron Imports" that has outrageously good vanilla and saffron products. Love both of those items. Risotto with saffron is a specialty of mine.