A New Year, A Deep Fryer, And Pre-Fall Favorites

I apologize for being terrible at updating this blog. Three whole months is inexcusable, but my new years resolution is to keep up with this blog and I intend to keep it (fingers crossed.) I hope everyone had a fabulous Holidays. I personally want to thank Santa for my new baby. It's name is Emeril and it is a Deep Fryer.

Isn't she a beauty!!!

I figured the responsible thing to do was to try it out, just to make sure it works. So last night I made Onion Rings and French Fries, and let me tell you it works just fine.

Sweet Potato Fries and regular french Fries fresh out of the fryer.

Beer Battered Onion Rings, kind of fantastic.

Now that I have shared with you my gastronomical endeavors, on to Pre-Fall. I just wanted to share a few of my favorite looks from the collections. First up is Rachel Zoe.

I must say I have been loving Rachel Zoe as a designer. I already loved her as a stylist but the clothes she is pumping out are quite cool. I mean the clothes she designs are not really new, there are no boundary pushing looks that I've seen so far. She does something equal to that though she creates looks that are undeniably cool. Its like she creates a wardrobe for the coolest ever "it girl." And isn't that enough? Anyways, I have adored all of the collections she has put out and this one is no exception (I fretted over which look to pick for at least 10 minutes.) I loved this look because this has a hint of boundary pushing/something new. The dress alone is gorgeous, the print is super pretty, the cut of the dress spectacular. But what I really love is the blazer layered over the dress. The cut of the jacket for starters is super cool, I love the color and the little satin detail by the collar kind of makes the jacket. 

Next Up is Burberry Prorsum

   

It is coats like these that make me long for brisk, overcast, fall days. I mean what can I say? Burberry cuts their coats fantastically, but it is the whole look that makes this my favorite. The plaid and the leopard blend so well together and then the leather gloves and clutch and those gorgeous heels, all brown suede and little white shearing fur popping out, oh I'm just drooling now thinking about it. the whole look just reeks understated glam and natural sophistication. Very traditional, almost old world glamour, in a demure way.

Lastly is Chanel.

How do you pick just one look from Chanel?!

I FINALLY narrowed it down to my two favorite looks. They are very disheveled glam with a regal Indian influence. I wonder if I can get my hair to look like Edie Campbell's? Perhaps if I don't wash it for a week and add some glitter?

I also wanted to share a fantastic recipe with you. This past week was my older brothers Birthday, so I decided it was time to break out the 9 inch layer pans. This was my first attempt at a layer cake and it turned out pretty well. The cake was rich, and dense, but not dry. And the frosting once it cooled and was whipped with the Kitchenaid turned into a deliciously thick Chocolate frosting with some bitter notes that was a nice contrast to the sweet cake. Here's a picture:

   

Obviously I need to work on my writing skills on cakes, lets just say they won't be hiring me at a bakery anytime soon to decorate cakes. Have a Happy New Years Everyone! May it be Happy, healthy, and Prosperous!

Adapted from The Willaims Sonoma Baking Book

Ingredients:

For the cake: 

• 1 cup boiling water 
• 3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder 
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 
• 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt 
• 2 cups granulated sugar 
• 10 Tbs. (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 
• 3 eggs 
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract  
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk 
•   

For the chocolate frosting: 

• 3 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar 
• 1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder  
• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract  
• 1 cup heavy cream, or as needed  

Directions:

To make the cake, preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.

In a small heatproof bowl, whisk together the boiling water and cocoa powder until smooth. Let cool completely.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat together the granulated sugar and butter on medium-high speed until the mixture is light in color and texture, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the vanilla and the cooled cocoa mixture.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until smooth, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the tops.

Bake the cakes until they begin to pull away from the sides of the pans, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the inside of each pan to release the cake. Invert the pans onto the racks, lift off the pans and peel the parchment paper off the cakes. Turn the cakes right side up and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the chocolate frosting: In a bowl, sift together the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder. Using the mixer, beat in the butter on low speed until it is crumbly. Beat in the vanilla, then gradually beat in enough of the cream to make a spreadable frosting.

Place 1 cake layer, bottom side up, on a cake plate. Using an icing spatula, spread the top of the layer with a generous 1/2 cup of the frosting. Place the second layer, top side down, on top of the first layer. Frost the top and then the sides with the remaining frosting. Slice the cake into thick wedges and serve. Serves 10.

The Recipe

Spring fashion even though it feels like fall and an apple strudel

Dolce & Gabbana this season was insane!!!!! I couldn't write about it before showing the pictures like I normally do because I know that no words I write will do this gorgeousness justice. It was amazing! It was the quintessential chic, traditional but youthful, Italian women at her best; with a splash of Vegas showgirl. Anyways that is all I am going to say on the matter, because honestly the pictures speak for themselves. Now on to this apple strudel. I have been hankering for an apple strudel since I Inglorious Bastards came out. I knew as soon as apple season hit that baby would be mine. So on Friday I had off from school and wasted no time in making it. I used the recipe on: http://chefinyou.com/2009/05/austrian-apple-strudel/. The step by step photos and tutorial is super useful and helped a lot. All the ingredients is stuff that is normally on hand, with the exception of Apple Cider Vinegar which I found easily at a supermarket. The overall product turned out amazing, don't let the making your own dough and rolling it out super thin scare you away from this recipe! Believe me if I can do this, pretty much anyone can. The strudel tastes fantastic, the bread crumbs doused in butter just adds to the nice tartness of the apples and the raisins add this great sweetness that gets balanced out with this subtle zing from the cider vinegar. I made cream to go with it, but it turned out to be a hit mess. I used a french pastry cream recipe and didn't whisk my flour enough and so it got lumpy and not very appetizing looking. But I will let it be for now and come back to it another time. I hope everyone has a good week!

The original insperation for my strudel

Cowboy Cookies & Anna Sui

Well we are in the midst of fashion week, as New York closed I have sooooooooooo much gorgeousness I want to cover. I also wanted to share a recipe for some delicious cookies as well. Where to start? One of my favorite shows of New York was Anna Sui. It was everything a gal could ask for for spring. There was bright purples, and pinks! Prints! Plenty of high waisted short numbers! Sequins! The chicest Turbans! And just about everything else in between. The whole show had a vintage neon club feel and was styled to perfection. There were bags, sexy cat eye sunglasses, and these super cool wedges that head on look like creeper-saddle shoe hybrid's, kind of like the Dolce and Gabbana ones from last post or the post before, but then when you see them from the side, Bam! , they are these really cool striped wedges. The textures were mixed so well! Sheer with conservative skirts, dainty cotton dresses mixed with sexy thigh high heart bordered stockings. The whole show just exuded vibes of sophisticated and reminiscent vintage but fun whimsy ease that Anna Sui always does so well. She truly always strikes the perfect balance of chic but not boring or conventional. One of the best parts are the necklaces, they remind me of the plastic ones I had when I was little, with all the big plastic charms attached. The used to go bananas in Claries for them, for me no plastic necklace was to big or to gaudy. But these are not plastic and are a more grown up version. but still so pretty! The shows and clothes are so well put together, she is just amazing. Now the hard part is figuring how to accumulate enough money to buy the whole collection. Hmmm... I'll get back to that. Anyways here are my favorite looks:

Now on to the cookies. I found these babies on Dana Treat Blog and was immediately intrigued. So i baked them for a care package and.... I think I'm in love. They were delicious. They were adapted from the book "Baked Explorations", and I have a few of my own adaptations for next time I make them. I don't have pictures (I must get better about taking them), but you can always see them at Dana Treat Blog. Now, what is a cowboy cookie you ask? Well it is like an oatmeal cookie on steroids. It's pretzels, oats, chocolate chips, and brown sugar goodness, packed into one amazing cookie. The one issue I had was the chocolate chips to batter ratio. There were just to many chips and not enough batter! So I wound up taking what was left of the chips and using it as a base for a trail mix. Also the dough needs to be refrigerated for four hours, I'm guessing to bind the ingredients, unfortunately due to my chocolate chip overload this just made the dough harder to scoop out. But I also have to say ice cream scooper begin used as a dough scooper for cupcakes and cookies; changed my life!!! It is so much easier and well proportioned with the help of an ice cream scooper! Please check out the recipe at Dana Treat, next time I might go totally crazy and add rasians too, but anyways I hope you enjoy! I hope everyone has a good rest of week!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!!!!

No, ok its not the holiday season, its something almost as good. Can You guess? I bet you can. That's right its FASHION WEEK!!!!!!!So right down to business. So far the shows have been amazing. Here are my favorite looks so far:
Alexander Wang:

Sportswear has never looked so damn chic. The whole collection was amazing (since when has mesh looked so cool.) It was evening wear, it was sexy, it was edgy, it was expensive, it was borderline couture. In a word it was amazing. This is my favorite look though. I love the jersey pullover with the almost tribal looking embroidery over the opaque mesh, the simple perfectly fitted bodysuit is a perfect pairing, with that little hint of sparkle at the bottom, completed with Magdalena Frackowiak's gorgeous mile high gams, this look is complete perfection.

Christian Siriano:

What can I say? I am a sucker for long, voluminous, over-the-top skirts; paired with the most simplest of t-shirts (r.e. me wanting to dress Anne Hathaway for the Oscars in a similar Jil Sander's ensemble for the Oscars in a post back in February.) So it will come to no surprise that I fell for this look. One thing that really stood out to me and really made me fall in love was the gorgeous pale, washed out gray color; which is sooooo pretty. And two was the tulle ruching it looks like, which are kind of cascading down the skirt like vines do when they envelop an English country home. Or something like that. Bad description tangent aside, totally a great look for spring!!! 

The Row:

The Row has been cranking out some super impressive stuff, which has believe it or not made me take Mary-Kate and Ashley really seriously as designers. This look is fantastic, where to start? There are so many textures in one look!!! The cotton pants are a bit to baggy for my taste, but they just look really good and super comfortable here. The top I'm going to go for a guess and say it's silk is nicely cut and tailored. My favorite is the sweater sleeves that peak out of the GORGEOUS jacket are actually all covered in white buttons. The simple rope sandals are the perfect completion. I was surprised I loved this collection as much as I do, normally I am not one for monochromatic color schemes; probably has something to do with the fact I really haven't me a color in the rainbow that I don't like but, what can I say. Brava Mary-Kate and Ashley!

On other notes, I have finished reading one of the best Pastry book memoirs every! It is called "All of the Presidents Pastries" by Roland Mesnier. It is a memoir that Mr. Mesnier wrote about his twenty five years as serving as head pastry chef at the white house. It's a very good read, even for people who don't like to cook. Also on a food related note here is the trailer for the movie "Toast" based on Nigel Slater's (he is a chef that I just learned about in Bon Appetit) memoir after the same name. I haven't read the book but it is on my reading list after I finish "Blood, Bones, and Butter" which is another fantastic cooking memoir by Gabrielle Hamilton. Anyhow, the movie looks great, it was on BBC, but they don't have it on the website anymore. SO I will look on Netflix and just keep my eyes out for when it comes on TV. I hope everyone has a good week!!!!

We all are alittle serious sometimes

This is going to be a super short post. It's a little serious, but I promise I'll be quick. Today is September 11th. It is the tenth anniversary of the Twin Towers falling, the Pentagon begin attacked, and flight 93 crashing in a field in Virgina. I just wanted to as a New Yorker, first thank the first responders, the NYPD, the Firefighters, and all of the brave men and women who risked their lives to save others. To those who perished and didn't make it out alive, you will never be forgotten. To families who lost a loved ones on this day, I hope you find can find peace. To the people who were on flight 93, you're bravery is something I can strive to emulate, but never be able to achieve. I hope you are all in a good place. And of course thank you to our brave men and women over seas, those who protect us, and give their lives for our country. I don't want to go on to long, because this isn't really that type of blog where we talk about serious topics, like life changing days. Normally I would be babbling about the new Christian Siriano show (sooooo good, will post on Fashion Week really, really, soon) So with that, I hope everyone has a good week!

  

Today I traveled back in time

No I actually did a practice SAT test today, but that's how I feel whenever I see Dolce & Gabbana's Fall/Winter 2011 Ad's. Even though they came out earlier this summer, I have to share them with you. Plus watching some of the spring shows that are going on now are so depressing because the warm weather is on its way out, so here is some gorgeous stuff that is perfect for the upcoming weather:

This collection was defiantly one of my favorites, if not my favorite from the Fall/Winter collections. This is defiantly my favorite Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign, their best yet. I love the play on masculine and feminine. The skinny pants were defiantly a fresh take on the menswear women pant, normally when designers do "Menswear" inspired looks they are shapeless and tailored poorly, but the skinny fitted approach works perfectly and added a new twist I really like. I mean, how can you go wrong with sequin skinny pants, collared shirts, fur, tight black lingerie bodysuits, and gorgeous printed, glitter covered dresses that complement a variety of body types!? Ohmygod, we need to talk about the shoes too. Classic saddle-esque shoes taken to a totally new level with neon colors, prints and what else sequin. I love how they are chunkier than a normal menswear shoe/saddle shoe. They almost look like the low top Doc Martens or Creepers. Very Cool. The Ad's made me think of the painting "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper. It is one of my favorite paintings of all time. I don't know why it makes me think of it, I think the whole androgynous vintage feel that the clothes have kind of coincide with the lonely, vintage, slightly melancholy tone of the painting. I feel like the models would fit in well in the painting. Whenever I look at it I always want to be in it, somewhere in between the couple and lonely guy or somewhere behind the bar:    

Anyways, I hope everyone has a good Saturday!!!

Not the ending of an Era... Just the ending of a Summer

Well my friends, it is done. I am writing to you on the eve before I begin my junior year with a melancholy heart; summer is gone. Ok, I know, I'm way to dramatic. I can't even begin to apologize for begin a terrible blogger and falling off the face of the earth for the whole summer. But with a new school year comes new resolution to blog. I made a mood board/collage of the summer. Summer fashion images I have been obsessing/drooling over all summer. A very bad photo of central park, which is divine in the summer. Wearing shoes with no socks (You know its a good summer when your legs are covered in scabs and mosquito bites.) Shake shack fries and peanut butter milkshakes, which is basically my ideal summer lunch. Yummy fresh of the barbecue chicken wings. The most insane burger I have ever made, a bun consisting of two grilled cheese sandwiches, relish, sauteed onions, and ketchup. Also this summer I have revived my passion for baking. I have always loved to bake and I did a lot this summer. These picture are of a few of my adventures in the kitchen. Bacon chocolate chip cookies. Strawberry Banana Bread. And exploded red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (Tip, overfilled cupcake tins + hot oven = delicious mess!) Just your typical beginner baking stuff. I hope everyone has had a good summer! I will defiantly be posting more soon, there are more messes to be made in the kitchen and fashion week starts tomarrow with Fashion's Night Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we will be seeing plenty of eachother. So with that let's part with one of my favorite music videos that I have looped throughout the summer:

Florence and the Machine Rabbit Heart

I hope everyone has a good rest of week!!!