A food based book club with the beloved Katherine Sacks of La Vita Cucinare will commence in the coming months.
For now take a step back into the psyche of Amory Blaine in
This Side of Paradise
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first published Novel.
A troubled soul.
0Obsessed.
I am absolutely smitten.
THIS to me is comfortable luxury. Just fancy enough to not be kitchy.
Luxurious chocolate souffles in this -real gold- porcelain “crumpled” cup.
Thank you Revol
Fun Fancy and I wish it were Free
11Sexy Bread
Desserts over a candlelit dinner at the sexiest place in town versus dessert over your Le Labo scented candles in your own abode, these I would say are two different ballgames. Bridging the gap is this slightly messy and indulgent treat known as sexy bread. A tongue in cheek creation that I found amusing, so it stuck. Sexy bread is something that I love to whip up for V.I.P.’s at work. Consider your lady of the evening the ultimate V.I.P.
This treat couldn’t get any easier. A little messy, crunchy, warm, chocolate-y and salty. Find your favorite baguette at a local bakery (women LOVE seeing men walk around with a baguette) and make this simple chocolate dip. The secret to the sexy bread is that it is all in the rustic tearing of the toasted baguette and of course the sea salt. Basic Instinct anyone?
Sexy Bread
The most important thing is using a great bittersweet chocolate.
12 ounces heavy cream
6 ounces bittersweet 64% chocolate*
2 ounces milk chocolate*
1 ounce Disarrono
2 T butter
1 tsp salt
1. Bring cream to a boil.
2. Immediately pour over chopped chocolates. Let sit for 3 minutes.
3. Using a stick blender, blend the chocolate and cream together keeping the stick completely submerged.
4. Add the disarrono, butter and salt and continue blending until emulsified, and glossy.
5. This is basic soft ganache. Keeping the stick submerged ensures that there is no air being incorporated into your velvety chocolate mixture. Chocolate is a emulsified mass on its own, so being sure to properly emulsify the other ingredients being introduced ensures a great mouth feel.
To Assemble:
Fresh artisan baguette
Maldon Sea Salt**
Extra Virgin olive oil
1. Toast a baguette brushed with a little bit of melted butter in a 450 degree oven until crispy.
2. Tear pieces of baguette (use a kitchen towel so you don’t burn your hand) and half dip into the chocolate ganache.
3. Pile on a platter or cutting board.
4. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle generously with Maldon salt.
*great chocolate is not hard to find, Whole Foods carries chunks and feves of Valrhona chocolate. Check the cheese section.
**Maldon Salt is a large flake sea salt. Find it at Whole Foods.
0confusion regarding this falls approach to draping oneself in insulating yet chic garmets?
In this bevy of words I hope one finds the light..
Fill in your details to this Fall Cheat Sheet:
darker colors
richer fabrics (splurge.) …silk tops….wool… a nod to luxury
nice jeans
nice boots/ shoes #nopatent
slouchy sweaters
a nice bag (solid investment)
monotone with different textures
understated…but impeccably put together.
From Morning Until Night Confidence.
This is Fall.
Soft Hands Get You Further
Feel free to contradict my statement, but it is true. Being a Pastry Chef, I have spent many days burning, washing, kneading and frankly downright beating up my paws. This has resulted in some lovely worker’s hands that are not silky smooth like a delicate flower perched atop her chair in court heels and the perfect blowout. Years of hand holding with boys that make me bat my lashes has revealed the ugly side of over using your hands while toiling away at your craft. Not that I don’t hold my best girlfriends hand from time to time, but it is always the hommes that notice. How to fight it? Well my go-to, that is always in the bottom of my trusty Klein bag, is the little silver tube of saving grace, L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream. Go the extra mile and participate in some SSB -secret-single-behavior-(thanks Ms. Bradshaw) by lather your lovelies and slipping on a pair of hand softening gloves while you get your beauty rest.
Buy the cream direct. Or if you happen to be perusing the latest embellished finds at J.Crew, I am pretty sure that this hand salve is a favorite pick of Jenna.
A soft handshake does wonders in business and pleasure.
Be a lady.
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Concrete trajectorys will not necessarily get you where you want to be. Where does one want to be? Well that is ever changing as well. Every conversation and situation slightly (or greatly) alters one’s path to fufillment. And while we are on the topic isn’t the only goal happiness. The recipe for happiness is quite different for everyone creating varied trajectories, and a ingredients for fulfillment.
Think of how an architect building a foundation when it is on a fault line. A lot of shocks need to be put in place for the constant change in play with the end goal of keeping a beautiful structure intact.
Be flexible with the ebb and flow.
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