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| Tasty Tequila Temptations |
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Last night my beau & I went to a Herradura Tequila Mixology Master-class held by a local chain of boutique liquor stores. I was terribly excited & a little bit nervous, as I’ve always heard nasty things about drinking tequila. My experiences in the past have been the usual lip, sip & suck kind so I was interested in learning more about tequila, its origin & how to serve it. Plus, we were promised food & drink!
A friendly & experienced bar tender by the name of Shay led the presentation & told us all about Herradura tequila, where it is from & how it is made. He also told us what to look for on the label of the bottle when buying tequila & the differences in taste & quality between brands. We tried three types of tequila, Herradura Anejo, Herradura Reposado & Herradura Silver. My favourite is the Silver! At the end of the night we were given a little bottle of el Jimador tequila to take home with us as well. Awesome! We also tasted a new cocktail, created by Shay. It is a variation of The Bramble, which was created by Dick Brandsell in the eighties. The original bramble is made with Gin, lemon, sugar & double crème de mure garnished with berries. I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing the recipe!
Photo by nerdling
Shay’s Herradura Bramble
- 45ml Herradura Silver Tequila
- 20ml fresh lemon juice
- 20ml simple syrup
- dash of Chambord liqueur
Pour the tequila, lemon juice & sugar syrup into a cocktail shaker half filled with ice. Shake Shake Shake! Serve in a glass filled with ice & top with a dash of Chambord. Enjoy responsibly, & hopefully with friends!
In this cocktail the bitter cherry notes found in the Herradura Silver tequila apparently marry very nicely with the modest addition of Chambord. I think its rather tasty & has sparked my new-found appreciation for tequila.
| Tasty Afternoon Treats; Tea-sandwiches & Pink Lemonade |
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Amidst the lazy spring afternoons we’ve been enjoying, not much can beat deliciously light sandwiches and refreshing lemonade.
Cucumber Sandwiches
- Cucumbers
- Sliced sandwich bread
- Vinegar or lemon juice
- Butter or margarine
- Salt & pepper
Use a vegetable peeler, or a fork, to mark the sides of the cucumber. Finely slice & arrange in layer in a container. Sprinkle with white wine vinegar (or lemon juice if you prefer) & lightly season with salt & pepper. Let the container of cucumber slices sit in the fridge for several hours.
Remove the crusts from sliced sandwich bread. Purists argue that the bread must be white & must be sliced ever so thinly. I’m not that fussed, I like my sliced organic wholemeal thank you very much! Thinly butter the inward facing side of each slice of bread - this stops the bread from becoming soggy. Arrange the cucumber slices on one slice of bread, top with another & slice into tiny triangles or fingers. Enjoy immediately!
Watercress Sandwiches
- Fresh watercress
- Spreadable cheese (cream cheese, cottage cheese, neufchâtel etc)
- Sliced sandwich bread
When buying watercress, look for a healthy green plant. The roots should still be attached & submerged in cold water.
Remove the crusts from sliced sandwich bread & spread neufchâtel, cottage cheese, or cream cheese on the inward facing sides of each slice. Because of the peppery flavour if watercress, I like to spread one side with cream cheese & the other with a mild mustard. Roughly chop the watercress & arrange on one slice of bread & top with another slice of bread. Slice into dainty tea-triangles. Eat these as soon as possible!
Home Made Pink Lemonade
Mix the juice of one lemon (about 100ml) with 50ml of simple syrup. Add no more than a teaspoon of grenadine or raspberry cordial & top up with 400ml of soda water stirring gently. Serve in tall glasses with lots of ice & a paper umbrella!
What are your favourite afternoon treats?
| Pondering Pancakes |
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My brother & I had a hankering for pancakes, so I whipped some up & we devoured every single one. Just like the Walrus & the Carpenter in Alice in Wonderland! Those poor tasty pancakes! Would you like some of your own? I’m sure you do, so here’s the recipe.
Bella’s Tasty Pancakes
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
pinch of salt
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt into a large bowl. Crack the eggs & add to the bowl with the milk & whisk vigorously! Let the mixture sit for about half an hour to let the eggs & the baking powder react. Whisk again & then cook in a frying pan (or proper pancake pan if you can afford one!) over a medium heat. Serve with all things delicious & share with a good friend. Makes about eight pancakes.
This is in my opinion, the best pancake recipe I have come across. I don’t like recipes that make you add melted butter, because the whole thing separates and gets messy & I don’t like recipes that make you wait a whole hour while the batter sits! I like my pancakes with raspberries & maple syrup. How do you like yours?
| Invite Inspiration |
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Found: Love Letter
I recently sent out the invitations for my twenty-first birthday party. Designing, making & mailing them was an intensive process. I’d forgotten how difficult it can be. But my mission left me thinking about how average invitations today can be. So I thought I might try my hand at writing about them.
Invitations are wonderful inventions. I used to save every single paper invite ever given to me, but in a fit of spring cleaning binned them all a long time ago. An invitation has purpose, firstly to let the reader know that you’re having a celebration or event of some kind, secondly to remind them of the time, date, place, etiquette & dress of the event & thirdly, to invite them. This last bit is important. When you read an invitation it should inspire you, you should feel invited, excited to attend & somewhat thrilled. An invitation should not give away all the details, but should whet the appetites of your potential guests, ensuring that curiosity drives them to attend. Gone are the days of drab Microsoft Publisher-inspired invites full of tawdry clip art & overzealous fonts. While publisher can be an wonderful tool for those into desktop publishing; please, stay away from the templates! There’s no one-stop formula for creating a really sensational invite, its more of an intuitive thing. But do not despair! Here are some lovely ideas that will get your imagination racing & have you reaching for the craft glue & scissors in no time!
1. Birthday Invitation 2. First Birthday Zoo Themed Invitations 3. Egg Invitation 4. Cupcake invitations 5. Birthday Invitation 6. John twardrous’ birthday invitations
1. Personalise!
Chances are, when you’re the one creating the invite, you’re also the one throwing the party. So let people know that it’s your party! Incorporate a photograph, or your signature, or something you love. There are bound to be certain, specific, things that will prompt your guests to think of you. Do you have flaming red hair for example? Are you a tennis nut? Is your favourite perfume Beautiful? Do you happen to make the best bowl of nachos this side of the hemisphere? If so, let your guests know the invite is from you by incorporating these cues into your invite.
Alternatively, if your throwing a themed party, weave your theme into the invite. This is important for creating that sense of curiosity I mentioned earlier. Get your guests excited by using the invite to suggest your theme & subtlety is nice. You don’t need your invite to list the entire itinerary or what kind of food you’ve prepared. Is your party a tea party? Could you incorporate tea into your invite? Scent (or even stain!) the paper with tea, create the invites with a tea-cup shaped die-cut, send the invite written on a packet of tea (blooming tea would be especially nice!), or send along one of these cute tea infusers. A clip art picture of teapot is just too drab - you & your guests are so much better than that!
2. Individualise!
Making one hundred invites that are all exactly the same & sending them out can be somewhat boring. Take the time to make your potential guests feel wanted! You don’t have to hand write every single one, but you could include a small handwritten note card in the envelope for example. “I hope to see you there!” or “Maybe we’ll get a chance to finally have that talk about kite-making!” Or go a bit further than that. Print copies of your favourite photos of you and your guests (assuming you know them well enough to have amassed photographs of previous fun!) and send your invites written on the back.
3. Accessorise!
Think outside the box when it comes to the construction & decoration of your invites. They needn’t be written on a bit of paper and stuffed into an envelope. Most surfaces can be written upon. Grab a pen (or brush, or printer, or stamp, or sticker) liberate your sense of creativity & go nuts! Write on cutlery, crockery, napkins, clothing, plastic or vinyl. If using paper, you’re not just limited to normal card stock either. Write on newspapers, photos, handmade paper or pages from an old book. I used to write amorous notes on the back of cheap over-sized playing cards and give them to boys at school….OK, just one boy, but you get the point! Next, consider the delivery of the actual message. Occasion, time, date & place. These are the four key things your guests need to know. You could stitch the details onto fabric (computerised sewing machines make stitching out words in thread very easy), write it backwards, upside down, in another language or in shapely text. For a murder mystery party you could write the words onto individual pieces of paper & seal them in a zip-lock bag labelled “evidence.” Make your guests work for the information!
I guess what I’m trying to point out is that into today’s world of text messages & e-mail & general computer based chatter; we rarely take the effort to communicate with the written word in a tactile manner. Invitations are a wonderful opportunity to communicate with people in creative ways. Receiving invites in the mail inspires childlike excitement & curiosity in us & you can capitalise on this. You have all the inspiration & the creativity you need - now go!
| Black: is the new Black |
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One trend seen on the runway recently was black. Somewhat Victorian, Lolita & neogoth, it seems black is back. Unless you have a clothing budget proportionate to price of a new home (you lucky girl if you do!), most of the lovely clothes on the runway will not make it into your closet. You can however borrow from these designs and use them as inspiration. Dammit, I know I am - these photos from the Alexander McQueen show just make me swoon! Here’s a rundown of the basic elements seen so far.
The Inspiration
Chanel
Lanvin & YSL
Balenciaga, Givenchy & Collette Dinnigan
Alexander McQueen
Andrew Gn
Images courtesy of Style.com
The Look
Several elements are recurring here, first up, the blouse & it’s all in the details. These Victorian inspired blouses begin with fabric covered buttons leading all the way up to a high collar, accented with simple & dainty lace, ribbon or ruffles all in black or white. That word again; simple. The look is somewhat androgynous & the feminine ribbon, ruffles & lace are merely accents. They shouldn’t shouldn’t steal the show! The blouses are accented with decorative cuffs, both the frilly kind & the simple over sized button-up kind.
Trousers are long, lean & high waisted. Also black, they taper at the ankles or are worn with a small boot-cut. A lot of emphasis is placed on the high waistline, so draw attention there with modest belts or buttons.
The coat. Military-esque styling lends these coats a structured style. Only the YLS coat is worn loosely or over sized, while the rest are tailored and fitted. The cuffs on the coat are designed so the the details on the sleeves of the blouse can show though, which lends everything a slightly Victorian look. Even if patterned, these coats are again, all black.
Skirts & dresses are high waisted & embellished with soft ruffles & pleats. Chanel opts for long, loose & flowing full-length skirts, whilst Alexander McQueen creates doll-like skirts ending just above, or just below the knee. Underskirts or pleats at the side provide volume & the whole thing is yes, you guessed it, black.
Make-up is pale & somewhat neutral (which I must confess is a blessing for little o’l anglo me!) The colour is of course black, but as for the placement, you have two options. Opt for black smokey, even batwing, eyes a la Lanvin & Balenciaga. Both Evan Rachel Wood & Amy Winehouse have been bringing black rimmed eyes back lately. The other option is to paint your lips with lashings of blood red, purple, or even black lipstick, the glossier the better. Their lips may be lovely, but don’t wear your bangs like the alien & eyeless YSL models or you’ll bump into things!
Make it yours
So you want it on a budget? I’d suggest investing in some good quality accessories & trying some DIY restructuring. A good place to start might be a pair of black tight-fitting gloves in satin, rubber, PVC (oh my!) or leather. Purchase some lengths of soft white linnen or silk & use them to make a cravat or wrist ties. You could replace the buttons on an old blouse with some fabric covered ones & add a bit Victorian flair by stitching on some premade ruffles or lace. For something more simple, wear a plain black skirt with black pumps or mary janes & a pair of white tights. Thrift stores are great places to pick a bargains. Keep a look out for useful items & remember, if the clothes you find are not black already, it’s very easy to dye them.
Extra Credit
- Check out these sets on Polyvore for more inspiration.
- Read Gala Darling’s article on Neogoth.
- Celebrate with Miss K of Aromaleigh & read about the recent catwalk trend.
- Peruse what Popsugar has to say about black lips & dark eyes.
- As well as what Claire Coleman wrote at Mail Online.
