A Surprising Recipe: "Ropa Vieja"

"Ropa Vieja" is delicious dish, very typical in the Canary Islands. I remember how my mum cooked this for me when I was a child, it was so yummy!

"Ropa Vieja" means "old clothes" in Spanish and it´s believed it was originated in the Canaries. This place was in the past a territory where ships would stop before the long run to or after the long trip home from the Americas. As a result, immigrants from the Canaries supposedly brought the dish with them to the Caribbean.

If you want to try it, here is the typical recipe:

Ingredients:

1.1 pounds of chickpeas (1/2 kg.)
1.1 pounds of beef meat (1/2kg.)
1.1 pounds of chicken meat (1/2 kg.)
2.2 pounds of potatoes (1 kg.)
3 garlic cloves
1 red or green pepper
1 onion
1 tomato
1 small cup of white wine
pepper, salt, thyme, laurel and olive oil

Directions:

The previous night, leave the chickpeas in water so they will be tender next day.
In a saucepan, mix the meat, the chickpeas, salt and water.
When they are stewed, mince the meat. After that, fry the chickpeas and the meat until they are crunchy.




In another saucepan, use some oilve oil and fry the onion, the pepper, the tomato and the garlic cloves (everything previously minced). Add pepper, salt and thyme.

Also, add the meat and the chickpeas and cook ten minutes more.

Finally, chop the potatoes and fry them. When they are ready, add them to the rest and serve!

I hope you liked the recipe and thanks for reading!

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Very soon I´ll be organizing a new giveaway, stay tuned!

My Designs Have Been Featured!

Recently, I´ve been featured in some different sites. The first one you can see is the lovely blog of the winner of my last giveaway, Kerrin (a.k.a. Sigmosaics). You can visit her wonderful shop HERE and her fantastic blog HERE. Thank you Kerrin!

My Green Petal Necklace has been featured on Shesdaily.com ! Shesdaily is "The insider's guide to today's women online".

I invite you to visit this fantastic site, with great articles: Shesdaily.com Thank you Mara!

And last, but not least, the amazing Shannon Nelson wrote THIS fantastic article about the digns she bought from me. Thank you Shannon!

I feel very honored of being featured on these lovely sites! Thank you!

Real Women on the Runway

FASHION - Its not that fashion models and supermodels aren't real, its just that they're not realistic compared to average working women these days.

Today Vancouver Canada based fashion designer Cheri Milaney created a first-of-its-kind runway show that stitches together real women and high fashion. She's chosen 22 average-sized non-models from a variety of careers to display her Fall/Winter 2009 collection tonight at LG Fashion Week.

The women he's trained are mothers, artists, teachers, entrepreneurs and cancer survivors.

"It's not just a runway show," says Milaney. The concept is intended to shake up the notion of ideal beauty, she says. "It's about bringing life to the clothing."

While not professional models, the models have each been given practice sessions on the catwalk by Ben Barry, the author of 'Fashioning Reality' and a modelling consultant.

Milaney hopes her stance will give the younger generation role models to look up to.

The name of Milaney's Fall 2009 collection, Viola, which means purple in Italian, also represents an instrument that can be associated with the natural curves of women.

To make the clothes fit women sized 2 to 16, Milaney takes into account the rise in the pants, the seams on the jackets and the way they drape over the body, details that both flatter the models and looks great.

Fashion Brawl in Manhattan

FASHION - Supermodel Tyra Banks says producers of America's Next Top Model are "doing everything we can" to see all the women left out of auditions after a weekend melee in Manhattan.

Three people were arrested and six injured in New York on Saturday afternoon when an audition lineup for America's Next Top Model turned into a brawl.

Thousands of women had been waiting overnight outside the Park Central New York hotel for a shot at stardom on the hit television reality show created and hosted by former supermodel Tyra Banks when the chaos broke out.

Two people were taken to hospital, but four others refused treatment.

Its believed the riot started when a fight between two women broke out. Matters were made worse when a man charged into the crowd attempting to steal handbags.

Police canceled the day's auditions and two women and a man were arrested on charges of inciting the riot and disorderly conduct.

The street outside the hotel was littered with shoes and clothing from people who had tried to escape the melee.

Tyra Banks, who is also the show's supermodel executive producer, has said she created the show to counter stereotypes about beauty. The current auditions were open only to women no taller than five feet, seven inches tall, which is shorter than the industry's conventions.

"It is so important to me to redefine beauty, and make sure that everyone gets a fair chance to pursue their dream," says Tyra Banks. "I am beyond excited for Cycle 13; for the first time ever, young women 5'7" and under have a shot at becoming America's Next Top Model! I encourage each girl to come out ready to rock the runway and show off their fiercest pose. I'm rooting for all of you!"

Tryouts are being held around the United States this month.

My Latest Designs

Here I share with you some of the designs I´ve been working on lately. These two necklaces belong to the "Romantic Collection", which is inspired on spring elements.
The yellow one is the "Sun Leaf Necklace".

This one is the "Green Petal Necklace" and both are made with brass chain, Murano crystal and Czech crystal.

This one is the "Lily Pendant" and it´s made with Swarovski crystals in green. I´m also working on some earrings for this design (it´s a custom order).

This original ring is made with Swarovski crystal and golden plated wire, and it´s called "Purple Tulips" .

These tiny and elegant earrings are made with Swarovski crystal and sterling silver and their name is "Lil White".

This long necklace is called "Broadway Necklace" and it was made with Swarovski crystal and sterling silver.

And last, but not least, these earrings: the "Golden Butterfly" earrings are made with Swarovski crystal and sterling silver.

I´m working in some other designs that I will be publishing this week.

Thanks for reading!

Free Shipping! Only This Weekend!

Special offer available in my Etsy shop, only this weekend: FREE SHIPPING!

All the items from my shop.

Everywhere.





And to help you to start the weekend with a smile, here is a funny video of a kitty. I hope you like it!



Thanks for reading!

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

When I first saw this wonderful picture, I thought "yummy!" and gave me the idea of making homemade ice cream.

This picture belongs to the amazing artist known as PetitPlat. Her work is stunning and very detailed, everything in her shop looks almost real!

If you want to know more about her and her work, take a look at her Etsy shop: http://www.petitplat.etsy.com/ and also her blog:
http://petitplatbysk.blogspot.com/




And here is a recipe of Strawberry Ice Cream, found HERE:

"Ingredients:

2 cups (480 ml) half-and-half
5 large egg yolks
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 vanilla bean or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup strawberry puree (sauce)

Directions:


In a small saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring the half-and-half and the vanilla bean to the scalding point (the milk begins to foam up). Remove from heat, take out the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds from the bean with the back of a knife, and mix the seeds back into the half-and-half.

Meanwhile in a stainless steel bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (about two minutes). Gradually pour the scalding half-and-half into the whipped egg yolk mixture, making sure you keep whisking constantly so the eggs don't curdle.

Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook until the custard thickens enough that it coats the back of a spoon (170 degrees F) (77 degrees C).

Immediately remove the custard from the heat and continue to stir the custard for a few minutes so it does not overcook. At this point stir in the vanilla extract. Stir in the strawberry puree. Cover and let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate the custard until it is completely cold (several hours but preferably overnight).

Transfer the cold custard to the chilled container of your ice cream machine and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once made, transfer the ice cream to a chilled container and store in the freezer. If the ice cream becomes too hard place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving so it can soften."



Thanks for reading!

Luxurious Earth Tones

FASHION - Love earth tones but don't want to blend into the background?

Think luxury.

When picking earth tones to wear, the trick is to look at the clothing and imagine if Marilyn Monroe was wearing it. Would it look elegant, luxurious and sexy? Or would Ms Monroe toss it to the side and look for something else.

If it can't pass Monroe's standards, why would it pass yours?

FOR REFERENCE: Earth tones is a color scheme that draws from a colour palette of browns, tans, greys, greens, and even some reds. The colours in an earth tone scheme are muted and flat in an emulation of the natural colors found in dirt, moss, trees, rocks and minerals. Many earth tones originate from clay earth pigments, such as umber, ochre and sienna.

Earth tones has a very natural, sexy look.

Depending on the fabric, the cut of the fabric or what you mix it up with, earth tones can also look rustic, festive, warm and soft. It breathes sensibility, sexuality and it slimming. Earth tones also brings out your unique qualities and compliments your skin tone.

After all, why get stuck with the little black dress in a room filled with little black dresses, when you can wear something that is both slimming and unique.

When picking clothes, regardless of what colour(s) it is, I always take into account Three Things:

#1. When/where am I going to wear this?

#2. What can I wear with this? What will it match?

#3. Will I still be wearing this 2 years from now, or 5 years from now?

And if you're on a budget, you can add a 4th: Cost.

With earth tones its really easy to accessorize and it matches with a lot of the clothes you already have (hence why brown leather jackets have stayed hot throughout the ages). Add a fedora, bandanna or long gloves and you can create a very unique look.

Brown doesn't have to be boring however.

It can be very elaborate, elegant and vibrant. Mix it up with some golds/reds/greens it becomes even festive.

And don't think for a second this is just for Winter, Spring or Autumn. A brown bikini can be quite sexy, because it matches your skin tone very well.

Red Alert: Fashion Entering the Red Revolution

FASHION - For almost 30 years black has maintained a stranglehold on fashion, even in Paris the avant garde capitol.

But there are growing signs that things are changing and that red... isn't dead.

In the early 1980s purist Japanese designers such as Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto claimed black was dense with meaning and subtext.

They rejected colour and focused on form and shape. Colours were frivolous and only to be used as accents, if absolutely necessary.

Black was existential, smart, artsy and serious. Wearing it meant separating yourself (like goths do) from the rest of the overly colourful society.

For Kawakubo, black was a feminist colour because she felt it desexualized the female form.

These days everyone wears black, but the high-mindedness and theory has gone stale. Now black is a cliche and is "so two decades ago".

Women today who wear black will defend it by arguing it's easy to co-ordinate and that it visually flattens unwanted curves.

Even now as the fall/winter 2009 Paris collections unfold, black continues its death grip on the runways, from the outrageous puffy black gowns at Junya Watanabe to the dark elegant suits at Lanvin and the black rocker dresses at Balmain.

But long ago red was the hot ticket and now red may be positioning itself for a comeback.

Red is also the symbolic colour of economic failure, of blood, love, passion, hate, ambition. It is the colour of revolution, danger, bloodshed and change.

Red has so much more meaning, its bolder and more likely to land you the job when you go for the interview.

Barack Obama is here and change is in the air. The United States is the only place where change is taking place. We can almost taste it like a blood-red steak that hasn't been fully cooked.

Heck, Michelle Obama (the latest and kewlest fashion icon) is wearing red and so are her kids.

In Paris red is everywhere. From the scarlet hair of Sonia Rykiel to the discreet red soles of a Christian Louboutin shoe, even for the famous tourist trap the Moulin Rouge, red has always figured prominently.

An exhibit on display until November at Les Arts Décoratifs reminds visitors of the importance of red and its relationship with cultural subversion and political strife. The exhibit, called "Aussi Rouge Que Possible," pays its respect to the colour red as a symbol of life, danger, luxury, sex and fantasy.

Over two floors at the museum on Rue Rivoli, the exhibit chronicles the role of red in all of the visual arts, from art history to furniture to fashion.

It examines the part red has played in political struggles (revolutions from Ché Guevara [by photography Alberto Korda] to China); in eroticism as in red-light districts for prostitution; and in the pomp of military uniforms.

Even Little Red Riding Hood would seem inappropriate in any other colour.

The truth is, red may never regain its former glory. But right now, red is for people looking to be hot and cool at the same time.

My Mini Moo Cards Arrived!

Yay! Today my mini moo cards finally arrived and I´m very happy with them!






So I took some photos of my package and the lovely box they sent. They are really cool.




Here you can see the 100 cards I received (well, you are seeing less, I have already used some of them...) and the lovely mini moo card from them.

I think they did a great job and I´m totally amazed with the result and the quality of the paper.

Thanks for reading!

Paulina Porizkova - Czech Supermodel

FASHION - Check out this biography of 1980's Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova.

My Giveaway: And The Winner is...

Sigmosaics





Congratulations!

I have used random.org to decide the winner, as you can see in the video and pictures (sorry for the quality of the video).

Soon there will be another giveaway, stay tuned!

Thank you very much everyone for participating!!

Honest Weblog

My wonderful blogger friend from Timmy and Friends has chosen me for the "Honest Weblog Prize". Thank you so much!

So here we go:

"When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog”. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!"

Ten honest things about me:



1- I love singing...too much.



2-I love listening to the purr of the cats.



3-I hate eating eggs in the morning.



4-I like the smell of the books when they are new.



5-I wear jeans most of the time, because the are comfy but I have a huge collection of skirts that I rarely use.



6-I always carry a whole make up set in my purse. I call it the "emergency kit" (lol).



7-I have a strange passion for horror movies (specially zombie movies).



8-I´m a coffee addict! I can drink a lot of coffee in a day (yes, I know it´s not healthy lol).



9-I go to the beach in the Summer and also in the Winter, because the weather is very warm almost all the year where I live.



10-Winter is my favorite season.





And I give this award to:



-A Thyme To Bee Conforted


-Almay Alday Designs


-Beluda Designs

- KIZZ

-Meekiyu´s Dream


-moxylyn


-Swiedebie


Thanks for reading!

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Come and enter my Giveaway, you can win a lovely pendant. More info HERE. Tomorrow is the last day!

Featured!

I haven´t had the chance to write something in my blog in the last few days and today I would like to thank the wonderful people who have featured my work lately.

First, I would like to thank marcieadary for writing a wonderful post about my rings. I encourage you to visit her lovely blog HERE and her beautiful shop HERE.

Secondly, my giveaway has been featured on Shesdaily.com! Shesdaily is "The insider's guide to today's women online: Fashion, Beauty, Shopping, Style, Gifts, and Cooking and Dining and Travel." and I feel very honored to be chosen. Thank you!

You can visit Shesdaily HERE.

Thanks for reading!

___________________________

Come and enter my Giveaway, you can win a lovely pendant. More info HERE.