Friday, September 30, 2011

Banana Pudding



Banana Pudding

(makes 6 servings)
1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 extra large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup heavy cream, whipped until stiff
2 ripe bananas
frozen pound cake, cut into 1/4″ slices



Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and use the back of your knife or a spoon to scrape the seeds out of the pod (save the pod to make vanilla sugar). Add the vanilla seeds, milk, eggs yolks, sugar, and corn starch to a blender, and blend until smooth.
Pass the mixture through a fine mesh tea strainer and into a saucepan. Heat the saucepan over medium-low heat and use a silicone spatula to continuously scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to keep the pudding from scorching.
Continue heating and stirring until the mixture thickens, but do not allow it to boil. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. You can speed this up, but submerging the bottom of the pot in a bowl of ice water while stirring. When the pudding has cooled, fold in the whipped cream.
Peel and slice the bananas into thin rounds and line the bottoms of 6 small glasses or ramekins with bananas. Spoon a layer of vanilla pudding on top, then add a layer of pound cake. If you still have room, add some more bananas, then top with a layer of pudding. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

via here

Prada Spring 2012

How does Miuccia Prada make the old look new, make everything she touches cool, create collections that turn the most blasé of the fashionistas into ecstatic, and above all come up with cult accessories each season ? Love it!
via style.com ,Garancedore

Colorful Towels

Fresco Towels, is a luxury artisan brand of hi-end towels,  bath +  beach accessories made of 100% Turkish Cotton manufactured in Los Angeles. Their site caught my eye because of their unique patterns. I think the beach towels are incredibly beautiful. 

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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Shiitake & Arugula Ravioli



Shiitake and Arugula Ravioli

makes 18 raviolis
for the dough
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil

for the filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 clove garlic minced
50 grams fresh shiitake mushrooms, caps cleaned and roughly chopped
3 packed cups arugula
3 tablespoons marscapone
3 tablespoons ricotta
2 teaspoons tahini
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
100 grams water chestnuts, rinsed and thoroughly dried

for the raviolis
1 egg
1 tablespoon of water

for the balsamic reduction
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon demi-glace

to serve
sesame oil
arugula
salt and pepper to taste
toasted sesame seeds and chives for garnish


Put the flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk together. Add the olive oil and eggs and mix together until it comes together into a ball. Attach the bowl to a mixer fitted with a dough hook and knead until the dough is smooth and satiny. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest while you make the filling.
Blanch the arugula by putting it in a glass container, adding about a tablespoon of water, covering with another glass plate, and microwaving for 1 minute. Remove the lid, let it cool enough to handle, then squeeze as much moisture out of it as you can.
Heat a small saute pan and add the olive oil. Saute the shallots, garlic and shiitake mushrooms until the mushrooms have given up most of their moisture (about 10-15 minutes). Let this mixture cool down to room temperature.
Add the arugula, onion mixture, marscapone, ricotta, tahini, soy sauce and salt to a food processor and process until smooth. Add the water chestnuts and pulse a few times to roughly chop them up (there should still be chunks). Prepare an egg wash by whisking together an egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
Heat the balsamic vinegar, honey and demi-glace in your smallest sauce pan. Once the demi-glace has disolved and the mixture is thick and bubbly, it’s ready (this shouldn’t take long). I poured the mixture into a mini squeeze bottle to make the dots, but you can also just pour a bit on the plate and smear it with a spoon, or just drizzle it on top of the raviolis.
Cut off a quarter of the dough and flatten it out on a floured surface using your hands or a rolling pin, then pass it through the rollers of a pasta maker starting from the thickest setting and working your way down to a thinnest, passing the dough through at least 2 times per setting. If the dough starts to stick, just dust some flour on it. Lay the dough out on a long flat floured surface then repeat with another quarter of dough.
When your second sheet is done, line the sheets up and trim off the ends so they are exactly the same length. Place 1 tablespoon of filling a few inches apart, leaving room around the edges of the dough so you can seal the raviolis. Be careful not to overcrowd the dough or you’ll have a hard time sealing the raviolis properly. Use a pastry brush to paint the egg wash all around the filling. Drape the other piece of dough over the first piece and use your fingers to start sealing each ravioli starting from one end. It’s crucial that there aren’t any air pockets with the filling as the air will expand while cooking and your ravioli will burst. The best way to do this is to seal one side, then use two fingers to trace the outline of the filling starting fromt he side that’s sealed, then seal off the other side, and you should be good.

I used a round cookie cutter that’s 1/4″ bigger than the filling mound on both sides, but you can also cut your ravioli with a knife. If you are freezing the ravioli, place them on a floured cookie sheet and freeze them. Once they are frozen you can put them in a ziplock bag, but they will stick together if you don’t freeze them separately first.
To cook the ravioli, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, then turn down the heat to maintain a gentle boil. If you have a very large pot you can cook all 18 at the same time, but I just cooked them in two batches. Drop the raviolis in and then they float to the surface they are done (this won’t take very long). Drain the ravioli and transfer them to a bowl. Drizzle with sesame oil, add a handful of arugula, and sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Serve the ravioli with the balsamic vinegar reduction. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and chives on top to garnish.
via here

Burberry Brorsum Spring 2012

Burberry is famously known for the coats, the incredibly luxurious and chic coats that were as exquisite and desirable as usual, but for this Spring/Summer 2012, Christopher Bailey amazed us with an interesting twist, he decided to get back in time and dig deep through the history books, get back to the present and then create incredibly modern clothes, with old-fashioned hand craftsmanship and the most modern technology we could possibly think of for this magnificent collection: Beautifully treated hand beading, crocheting, wood, raffia and leather. The richness of fabrics was something else, it was classic and modern luxury-divine.
via style.com ,Garancedore

Cathy Waterman

Cathy Waterman is a California based designer of handmade jewelry. Her collections of necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets are some of the most sought after jewelry in the country and offer a feminine and understated combination of platinum, 22K gold, diamonds and other hand selected stones.
Cathy Waterman at YLANG23 and Barneys... and more of my favorites at her website.

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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Makeup Inspiration


Every time I see this look on someone I love it. 
Base blush- Nars in Douceur, 2nd blush- Dolce and Gabbana in Apricot,
(also try Jouer in Glisten)

Delicious Tiramisu


Simple Tiramisu


Note: Leave out the raw eggs if you are uncomfortable using them or use pasteurized eggs.

4 large eggs, separated
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
16 ounces mascarpone cheese
1-1/2 cups brewed coffee
1/2 cup coffee liqueur
40 store-bought ladyfingers
1 cup heavy cream
cocoa powder
bittersweet chocolate

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in mascarpone until incorporated.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold in beaten egg whites into mascarpone mixture.

In a small bowl combine coffee and coffee liqueur. Dip ladyfingers into coffee-liqueur mixture and lay in rows in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch dish. Spread half of the mascarpone cream on top. Make one more layer of ladyfingers and the remaining mascarpone cream.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream and tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped cream on top.

Dust with cocoa powder and garnish with grated and/or shaved bittersweet chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. Yield: 10 to 12 slices.

via here

Do You Know Miranda Skoczek ?




Australian artist Miranda Skoczek investigates the history of visual culture and image making with her canvasses that feature a 'remix' and sampling of traditional decorative iconography that has existed throughout the ages. Skoczek creates artworks of luxury and ornamentation with fantastical flora and fauna motifs. The codes and symbols the artist employs are highly personal but yet remain an accessible language to others. Her opulent works celebrate an eternal beauty and goodness in image making.

The multiplicity of elements are harmonized in the built up canvasses, giving them a sense of history - in a sense they record the journey of the artist searching for beauty. Miranda's work is colorful, complex, imaginative and an utterly delightful play on global influences.

Skoczek has exhibited widely in Australia since graduating from her Fine Arts degree in 2004. Her latest collection is at the Edwina Corlette Gallery.

Peter Pilloto Spring 2012


Christopher de Pos and Peter Pilotto’s latest collection was a nod to Indonesia, full of tropical prints, scuba silhouettes, and wild colorful florals. As always, there was an emphasis on prints, and de Pos and Pilotto elaborated on their aquatic and floral ones in a range of appropriately bright colors. Each piece was sharply cut and immaculately tailored, incredibly feminine with a sense of athletic ease and modernity-the perennial spring scuba trend was seen in the way the dresses and skirts were sculpted, and yet clung to the body.
via style.com ,Garancedore



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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Decorating With Gold

It's common knowledge that Jonathan Adler has a very unique eye for design. He's not afraid to take risks and show his personality no matter who the client. He's most known for his bright colors but I'm intrigued by his never ending use of gold.
Hand chairs are self explanatory and it typically takes a pretty bold individual to have them in their home, even in the most subdued color. Gold hand chairs take the look to the ultimate level — it's so funky that it just works. Of course, Jonathan can do gold subdued as well. Maybe adding a gold mirror to an all pink room could be considered subdued for Adler — you're certainly not going to find too many all white rooms.
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