Naomi Campbell et al. for Robert Cavalli S/S 2012

They all rock...but who's your favorite? Leave me a comment and I'll post more on your model of choice!

Naomi Campbell...Spring/Summer 2012 MILAN, Robert Cavalli. 

Daphne Groeneveld...Spring/Summer 2012 MILAN, Robert Cavalli. 

Karen Elson...Spring/Summer 2012 MILAN, Robert Cavalli. 

Kristen McMenamy...Spring/Summer 2012 MILAN, Robert Cavalli. 

 Starring: NAOMI CAMPBELL, KRISTEN MCMENAMY, KAREN ELSON, DAPHNE GROENEVELD

Steak Topper: Red Wine Butter Sauce

Prepare this flavorful butter sauce in advance and use when needed. Pile on top of a sizzling steak and watch it drip its goodness over the sides...yummm! This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs, Cooking For Friends with Joel Mielle. Joel does a fantastic job with his invaluable step-by-step photos. Check out the link for detailed directions on whipping together this amazing sauce! Let me know how it turned out, I want to hear your experiences!

Red Wine Butter Sauce, by Joel Mielle

Preparation time: 20 minutes, cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 x Bottle of a good strong red wine

250 gm of salted butter (1 block)

4 or 5 Echalotes (shallots)

Half red onion

1 x small clove of garlic

1 x Sprig Thyme

1 x Sprig Oregano

1 x Bay leaf

Cracked black pepper

Directions:

A) Chop up very finely your Echalotes, your half red onion and garlic clove. Chop up finely your Thyme and Oregano. Add all ingredients to a large pot with bay leaf and one whole bottle of Red Wine. Put on full heat for all wine to evaporate. Add black cracked Pepper. Keep boiling until mixture is almost dry. It's advisable to stand and watch it towards the end as once dry, it can burn very quickly.  

Once dry, Let cool or refrigerate.

B) Whisk at high speed, room temperature butter (Microwave a little if too hard) in mixer until butter becomes  lighter cream in colour.  It should be fluffy in texture. Add the cooled reduction mixture to the butter. Whisk until mixture is all mixed up properly, this should be quick. Tear up some aluminium foil and scoop out half the mixture into long shape. Fold over and roll into sausage shape. Twist ends until mixture is packed nicely inside. You should end up with two rolls.  A good idea is to refrigerate one and freeze the other. 

Slice and leave out at room temperature before serving. 

Dip in chopped parsley and place on top of steak.

Around Town: White Blossoms Cover Las Vegas

Spring in Las Vegas is pretty. In this photo, we are in the Town Center Shopping Mall off 

of Las Vegas Boulevard. The white blossoms are awesome against a cloudy sky!

Josephine et Napoleon

Paris Fashion Week can very well end with a nice reference to the empire dress. Timeless style that shows up everywhere, as in this shop named Meluseena which features the art of Lisa Falzon. Ms Falzon is  amazing, not only in artistic skill but in interpretation and original ideas. Ooohh, Monsieur Bonaparte, are you worried? Hint: I would love to receive this print for Mother's Day. 

Why I Make Rose Wreaths

Roses are planted around this time of the year while the weather is above freezing but not yet too hot. Thinking about flowering plants is an everyday past time for me. I grew up surrounded by flowers, everywhere I went, on the way to the bus stop, at the office, on school grounds, everywhere...fresh, flowering, fresh-cut, fragrant. Flowers has become an obsession with me, and, I'm guessing, with millions of people around the world. Who can resist, anyway? Below are three wreaths featuring pink flowers that are currently for sale in my shop. They would make quite an impression for Mothers Day, birthdays, housewarmings, and specialty room makeovers. 

This wreath features cool pink roses on a gray background with coordinating pink string and sheer ribbon laced neatly and tied tight into a bow. Very sweet for Mother's Day, which, I think we all know, is Every Day. Click photo for details.

An extremely popular wreath, I just finished this a few days ago. It takes about 24 full hours to get it made. The availability of quality berries is a problem, so I've had to improvise by sourcing and then painting my own colors. It is really lovely. Click photo for details.

The sandy tone of the yarn brings a vision of a camel trekking across an exotic desert made pink by the setting sun. The pink and mauve roses compliment the neutral hue, even the tiny turquoise, lavender and green rosebuds combine to make this a sweet symphony. Make mother happy on her Day. Click photo for details.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

Simply Recipes

I used to bake three times a week when my family was young and growing. I ate the fruits of my labor, cake, pie, cobbler, cookie, pudding, cream puffs. I was also into nutrition and added powdered "vitamins". The recipe for this cake caught my eye because the ingredients call for unsweetened cocoa powder, brown sugar, and sour cream. These three basic kitchen staples are capable of turning out a rich, deeply satisfying, moist cake. I'm a softie for cream cheese, too, and cream cheese is what tops this cake. I can already tell this is a winner!

Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup stout or porter beer, such as Guinness
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
• 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cream cheese frosting recipe

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 8 or 9-inch springform pan with butter and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.

2 In a large saucepan place the beer and butter. Cook over medium-high heat until the butter has melted. Add the cocoa powder and sugars and whisk together. Take off heat and allow to come to room temperature.

3 In another bowl beat together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract until very, very well combined. Add to the butter-beer mixture and whisk together.

4 In another bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the beer-butter mixture and whisk together until it just comes together. Pour into the prepared pan and give the pan a few short drops onto the countertop to shake the air pockets in the batter to the surface and out of the cake. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edge to separate the cake from the pan and pop the ring off the springform.

5 Spread frosting on the cooled cake and serve.

Yield: Makes one 8 or 9-inch cake

Posted by Garrett McCloud of Vanilla Garlic

Masha Ma Shows at Paris Fashion Week

I happened come across a story about an up-and-coming designer from London who made a career move, literally by moving to Paris. Her nane is Masha Ma, and the image is from her latest collection. What I love about his Winter 2011 Collection of pencil thin skirts is the designer's control over shape, texture, and line. Her color palette is subdued and I love that she used shiny red boots to show that off. My question is, where did she get those boots? I think they're adorable, nooo, I mean hot! 

The silhouette here is amazing. Is it a three-piece? I can't tell, but I can definitely say I love it from this perspective.

This is from the Winter 2012 Collection showing the designer's eye for deconstruction, cut, line, contrast texture-wise, and accessorizing.

And this is from Masha Ma's Spring Summer 2012. All photos are borrowed
from the designer's web site, http://www.mashamastudio.com.