Seherezade meets Signore Bialetti

We brought home this kavefozo from Budapest. The box says her name is Seherezade. She is pictured here with Signore Bialetti our other stove-top espresso maker. I am wondering if she noticed the Dali-esque knob on Signore's head - the result of an oven-cleaning oversight. What she doesn't know is that this is the second Signore. His predecesor behind the panetonne pans suffered a fatal accident by fire. We are keeping him in case we should need parts for the current Signore. I have to come up with a potholder/cozy for her ceramic pot so we can bring her to the table in style, something that won't slip. Her handle gets very hot. I must haul out the Marie Claire Idees for this!

Budapest Cardigan Arrives

I did finish the baby sweater finally. Here it is riding first class from Salzburg to Vienna. I ended up using Louisa Harding's Jasmine Lace Edge from Natural Knits. Somewhere in the "luggages" is half a shrug made of the same color of Hempathy. I like the look of this with light denim.

Budapest to Salzburg

The train from Budapest to Vienna was very nice, some cards, some knitting, some Kit Kats. The train from Vienna to Salzburg was very quiet. It rained. This is what the Austrian business traveler and I saw.

Doorways

Early in the morning we set out to find some breakfast before the day became too hot. I wish I had a picture of the bakery we found. We ate knots of pastry dough filled with farmers' cheese and raisins and crescents filled with poppy seeds and swirls of hazelnut and cinnemon and we saved the long twists covered in pumpkin seeds and cheese and salt for later. As we made our way back home we passed a doorway that was open and filled with puppets hung up like rows of drycleaning waiting for the woman at the sewing machine to attend them. When she saw us, she pulled open the gate and let the marionettes down from their hangers. I know she wanted to make the children smile, but it was so overwhelming to suddenly have a small geisha flirting with you in Hungarian and a small turn of the century gentleman growing bored of you, crossing his legs and sitting on the puppeteer's bare foot. It was just one of those moments when your mind is trying to tread water but you are floating away. It is one of my favorite moments from the trip. We walked home and went to bed.

Vampires in Budapest

The record-breaking weather in Budapest as well as our jet lag led us into a kind of vampire existence - we roamed the city at night and then tucked ourselves into darkness during the harsh hours of daylight. Our first night out we met up with friends at the Szechenyi Baths. We enjoyed the waterfall, the whirlpool, the bubbly springs and the jacuzzi centerpiece. When they closed at 10pm they played a Hungarian song from the 1950s that sounds just like the Chipmunks. It is a nice way to let everyone know it is time to withdraw! We pulled on our clothes and soggily went out into the night making our way down Andrassy utca, past bench after bench of locals out catching the slight breeze while their apartments cooled. We enjoyed a round of citrom Fantas and a package of sandwich cookies. I don't know the last time I walked home from the pool with wet hair drinking soda and eating snacks!

Pozsony Kipfli

I broke down last night and decided I had to have the walnut crescent cookies from Kaffeehaus. I have never made cookies that needed yeast before - I murdered the first teaspoon. If your household likes to eat dough, they will be put off by this one - the sweetness is all in the filling and the powdered sugar sprinkled on afterwards. If you have helpers, make a little extra walnut filling. These were still quite good this morning for breakfast!

Budapest research

I've been reading up on the Dobos Torte in Rick Rodgers' Kaffeehaus and now I am starving. I've also been reading about miniature eye portraits. Mr Lear and the children enjoy geocaching, especially on trips, so we've decided to place these small portraits of our eyes in a cache in Budapest or Vienna and see if they make their way home. I need to track down some pearls and gilt to make proper eighteenth century frames. I'm also knitting the Budapest cardigan in between loads of laundry using Barbara Walker's "Knitting from the Top" directions for a one piece cardigan with little set-in sleeves - as she says, "it is only a small crescent on the needles." And all I can think is crescent rolls and crescent cookies, and I must have some.

Budapest Cardigan

I have a baby sweater due in Budapest next week. I've been looking through all my baby books and can't find just the one I want. I'm using Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in deep red, and I want there to be some lace - very close to Louisa Harding's Jasmine Lace Edge Cardigan in "Natural Knits" but maybe with a crochet border? I have to get this going.