Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION.
Inspirations on Life/Style/Design/ Recipes/ Health +
Not the City! I meant Paris-Amour from blush lingerie – from the Spring/Summer 2013 collection.
A very brief history: a dedicated entrepreneurial family from Montreal, an expert design team and more than 50 years of experience in the world of STYLE have culminated in the successful brand known as BLUSH.
Luxury which is flirtatious and affordable with a flair for playfulness. What more can you want?
Available at http://www.intrigueimports.com
Pretty or Princely in Paisley.
It mostly reminds me of wearing flannel pajamas. 
It’s a print pattern that dates back to ancient times, appearing on fabrics all around the world.
The Beatles popularized it as psychedelic on their 1968 pilgrimage to India, where it was everywhere, but in fact paisley derives from the “town of Paisley”, in central 
Scotland, a centre for textiles where paisley designs first were produced.
The New Oxford Dictionary defines paisley as ‘a distinctive intricate pattern of curved, feather-shaped figures based on a pine cone design from India‘ .
While many people may dislike paisley, the new look of this pattern with different style and color combinations works winningly for everyone. The current paisley is vibrant and epitomizes spring with its lush colors.
Whatever its origin, wearing curlicued teardrops makes a woman or man stand out wherever they go.
It’s nice to know some things never change….or maybe change if only slightly.
Many celebrities took to the Internet yesterday in response to the Boston Marathon tragedy, but it was comedian *Patton Oswalt who seemed to strike the biggest chord.
On Monday, Oswalt took to Facebook to post his reaction to the bombings. His thoughtful and beautifully written message has been “liked” more than 260,000 times and shared nearly as much. So I’m sharing it again just in case you were not one of the many who read it. I find it quite touching.
After noting the “darkness” of the tragedy, Oswalt wrote, “The vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We’d have eaten ourselves alive long ago.”
As he did in a tweet earlier in the day, Oswalt noted, “You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out.”
He concluded on an uplifting note, stating, “So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, ‘The good outnumber you, and we always will.‘”
*You may not know Oswalt by name, but the 44-year-old comedian just happened to be the voice behind Remy in “Ratatouille” and also starred as nerd Spencer Olchin in “The King of Queens.” And apparently he has a knack for writing, too.
Taken from Soraya Roberts article on The Juice
Last week I promised this very simple (only 3 ingredients) recipe which you can add to Moroccan chicken, spicy lamb, seafood dishes or just use the juice in salad dressings.
Lemons loose their sharpness when preserved in salt. The unique flavour and silken texture that develops when you use this technique is a characteristic of North Africa, especially Moroccan cooking. Yet the lemons also make a novel addition to non-Moroccan dishes. You will find that these lemons are easy to prepare and thin-skinned lemons yield the most juice.
Traditionally, only the peel of the preserved fruit is used, but I usually include the flesh as well and you can eat the whole thing. Once the jar has been opened, the fruit will keep for up to 1 year unrefrigerated (don’t worry if a lacy white film appears on top of the jar or on the lemons, as it is quite harmless – simply rinse it off); a layer of olive oil floated on the surface will help to preserve freshness. When it comes time to use one of these lemons just rinse & chop it.
Ingredients
7 Tablespoons coarse salt (you use 1 Tbsp of salt per lemon)
7 plump, juicy lemons, preferably thin-skinned
Boiling Water
Put 1 tsp. coarse salt in the bottom of a clean, dry jar. Holding a lemon over a plate to catch the juice, cut lengthwise 4 times as if about to quarter it, but do not cut quite through – leave the pieces joined. Ease out any seeds.
Pack 1 Tbsp. salt into the cuts, then close them up around the salt and put the lemon in the jar. Repeat with 5 more lemons, packing them tightly and pressing each layer down to expel any air before adding the next layer, until the jar is full.
Squeeze another lemon and pour the juice over the rest of the lemons. Sprinkle with more coarse salt and finally pour in boiling water to cover the lemons.
Close the jar tightly and keep in a warm place for 3 to 4 weeks before using.
Give me your feedback after you try them because I’m sure you’ll LOVE them.
SALTS: There is no difference between kosher salt and rough sea salt. Many cooks prefer to use kosher salt because its larger rough size crystals is simply more convenient and practical for certain kinds of food preparation such as this one.
The only differences between kosher salt and nearly every other sort of salt lie in the shape and size of its crystals, not its chemical makeup. Almost all salt has an identical chemistry. Some are smoked, or have trace elements of minerals that change their taste or color, but any differences between “kosher” and “sea” salt, provided the shapes of their crystals are the same, are purely in the labeling. In general Kosher salt and flakier, more delicate salts that melt nicely on the tongue, tend to be used as finishing salts, adding the last crunchy, salty touch to a dish. Table salt is used more for seasoning a dish while still in process.
*Recipe taken from Sensational Preserves by Hilaire Walden (250 recipes for jams, jellies, chutneys and sauces). This has been my guide book for making jams, hot pepper sauces & mustards. It’s an exceptionally useful book in both my opinion and that of the Daily Mail, UK.
At Cowboy Cafe in Roswell where customers write their names and state on $1 bills and stick them all over the restaurant walls, windows, ceilings….wherever they can just for fun.
Kind of cool actually and nobody seems tempted to remove any of them. Especially since in about 6 months (the time it takes for them to naturally fall off the walls, etc.) they’ll all be donated to a local charity. What a great idea!
More restaurants should take note(s) – I really meant that!
HOW TO EXERCISE WHEN YOU’RE TRAVELING:
An Interview with David Kirsch, fitness expert and author of “The Ultimate New York Diet” (McGraw-Hill). David owns the Madison Square Club, a private training gym in New York City, and has worked with Heidi Klum and Liv Tyler. This is an excerpt from his interview with Courtney Balestier.
Kirsch equates exercise with brushing his teeth or talking a shower. It gets the day going. If you have that attitude, it’s easy to take fitness on the road.
Get motivated bright and early: Here’s a universal truth – if you’re not working out in the morning, you probably won’t do it later in the day either. You’re going to be tired from meetings, buzzed from the wine at lunch, later for your dinner reservation, and so on. Whether you’re on a vacation or business trip, get 30 to 45 minutes of cardio out of the way first thing, and it’ll energize your day.
Use your hotel: Predictability is a good thing at the hotel gym. Don’t fool with machines you’re not familiar with – stick with the treadmill or elliptical. If you’re in a country that’s on a metric system, be less concerned with speed and more dialed into pushing yourself.
Improvise: But you don’t need a gym – or a vacation’s worth of free time. My Hotel workout includes Spider-Man push-ups (feet on the bed and hands on the floor) and hand-offs with a pillow (lie on your back with arms stretched overhead and legs in the air, hold a pillow between your shins, then pass it from legs to hands and back). You can do lunges and step-ups using a chair or ottoman. Do three sets of 10 reps each for the push-ups, 10 to 15 reps for the pillow hand-offs, and 10 to 15 reps per leg for the lunges and step-ups.
Be adventurous: Travel is the perfect excuse to change your routine. If you usually run three miles, bring a great pair of cross-trainers (I like Brooks) and power walk for an hour around a new city. If you’re a fitness-class-person, ask the concierge about great classes nearby. This is often entertaining too – a body-sculpting class conducted in French can be pretty funny.
Also – **Don’t miss listening to “Transforming Health” with host Brad King for the most evocative and informative up-to-the-minute interviews with leading health professionals – Live every Wednesday @ 12PM-PST/3PM-EST on VoiceAmerica.com – #1 internet radio station in North America.
Here’s the link: http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/1686/transforming-health
Delightful Drugstore Deals for LIPS:
These two products work wonderfully and are a fraction of the price of other name brands. For under $10.00 you can’t beat them.
Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede Lipstick – did almost everything the ads suggested. They provided a velvety texture with moisturizing shea butter & aloe and lasted “almost” all-day which for me was enough. All in all it’s a great lipstick without the big price tag and rates right up there with much higher priced lipsticks.
On a softer note: both Revlon “Just Bitten” balm stain and Covergirl “Jumbo Gloss Balm” are excellent.
They’re very moisturizing and depending on which shade you choose can provide a nice sheer color. In my opinion they rate right up there with the Clinique Chubby Sticks which are at least double the price.
That’s not to say we can stop shopping at Sephora or other department stores but it’s nice to have an option. I’ll be reviewing more finds in the weeks to come as I’ve become somewhat of a drugstore junkie. Stay tuned….
50 Shades or more. Okay, so I’m just one more person making a play on words of “that” book and I haven’t even read it. But the title did get me thinking of all the glorious variations on this timeless hue. Grey is classic like black and white –a wardrobe staple that never goes out of season. A neutral (never boring) shade that can be worn with almost every color and dressed up with accessories. It suits almost every skin tone too. It’s a great basic to any outfit.
Some name dropping: Feather, Heather, Dove, Gunmetal, Charcoal, Pebble, Pewter, Platinum, Oyster, Pearl, Cement, Ash, Nickel, Mica, Iron, Hematite…..any more that you can think of?
Chicken Tagine with Olives and Apricots.
I’ve had a few requests for this recipe: Don’t worry if you don’t have a tagine – you can use a large dutch oven instead. No dutch oven (see below) – no luck!
I’ve not yet been to Morocco but I love the taste of Moroccan chicken and cooking it in a tagine (cone shaped clay cooker which cooks whatever is placed inside it very evenly and helps retain juices).
This is an easier recipe in the sense that you don’t need a tagine or the usual preserved lemons (although they are the best) which is a signature of Moroccan cooking. Preparing preserved lemons is easy but you need to leave them sit for at least 3 weeks before using them in the recipe. They “cook” in a mixture of their own juice, coarse salt and boiling water and have a unique sour-salty flavour. But using preserved lemons means being able to eat the skin too. I’ll put the recipe in next Tuesday. If you like this recipe then you can try making the preserved lemons for use next time. This is a bit more work than my usual blog recipes but worth the extra trouble. It will taste exotic.
Ingredients:
6 chicken quarters, excess fat trimmed
Kosher salt
2 Lemons (preferably thin skinned and juicy)
¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. crushed saffron threads
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
½ finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ finely chopped fresh mint
½ cup dried apricots, sliced in half crosswise
1 Tbsp. honey
¼ cup blanched almonds
1 cup pitted Moroccan olives (small black olives that look prunelike). You can substitute with pitted small green Greek or Picholine olives if you prefer.
1) Sprinkle the chicken all over with 1 tsp. kosher salt. **If you’re able to buy a Moroccan spice mix use some of that as well. Refrigerate, uncovered, at least 30 minutes or overnight.
2) Meanwhile, thinly slice 1 lemon; spread out the slices and sprinkle generously with kosher salt on both sides. Stack the slices on a plate and let stand at room temperature, at least 20 minutes and up to 3 hours.
3) Pat the chicken dry. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add 3 Tbsp. of olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add half of the chicken, skin-side down; cover and cook until the skin is golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a platter. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Discard the excess oil.
4) Add the butter, onion, garlic, coriander, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, saffron and ½ tsp. black pepper to the pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes; stir in the cilantro, parsley. Push the onion mixture to one side, then add the chicken to the pot, skin side-up. Spoon some of the onion mixture over the chicken and add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, *cover and gently simmer for 30 minutes.
5) Meanwhile combine the apricots, 1 cup of water and the *honey in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cover and cook until the apricots are plump, about 15 minutes. Uncover and cook until the liquid is syrupy, about 15 more minutes, set aside. Cook the almonds in the remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Set aside on paper towels.
6) Chop the salted lemons slices into small pieces; add to the pot with the chicken along with the olives and the juice of the remaining lemon. Cover and continue cooking until the chicken is tender, about 20 minutes more. Arrange the chicken on a platter. Top with the olive sauce, apricot mixture and almonds. Sprinkle chopped mint over top. Serve with couscous.
*If using a tagine you would simply add the couscous first and the juices from the chicken would automatically cook it.
Bob Hope’s legendary Palm Springs mansion has gone on the market for an eye-watering $50m. It is the most famous property owned by the legendary comic, who was extremely passionate about architecture.
No wonder he was so cheerful – the entertainer was often cited as the biggest private landowner in California. Bob Hope had this house built in Palm Springs but never actually moved into it. The house he lived in was much more modest. If you can afford it and love living large then there’s a lot of HOPE for this house.
The futuristic California home was designed by renowned Modern architect John Lautner especially for the funnyman and his beloved wife Dolores.The concrete, steel and glass house was built in 1979 and has about 22,000 square feet of living space, and its unique design is somewhat reminiscent of the USS Enterprise.Buyer’s will get to boldly go where no-one except the Hope family has gone before.
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
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