Regrets…

If I had to do it all over again… this would be my wedding cake!

Rounds of cheeses piled on top of the other is very ingenious as a wedding cake, well a representation of a wedding cake anyway. But who among the guests would not enjoy this?

I tumbled upon this photo at Janis Ratnieks Photography (a cool events photographer), and it made me think how prodigious it would have been had this been a part of the my  “I’m the princess” day. Anyway, what’s done is done and all’s well that ends…

Just think about it for those of you who are pondering upon getting hitched, instead of the same old, same old fluffy, spongy, diabetic-friendly confection – how about a literal cheesecake?

Just for today…

Hope = Cherry

“And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.” Psalm 39:7

Just when I was in heavy doubt about this Barbados Cherry Tree a co-worker of mine gave me 2+ years ago, a cherry pops out from this miniature tree’s branch. To my astonishment indeed!

All those idioms about hope, patience, good things about waiting – mundane as it is, the simple fruit of this tree made things lighter for me – in hope

Titles

When a woman’s life’s title is “socialite” it follows a trail of curiosity and some sort of admiration. It’s one of those things where one is either born to it or not; sort of like the “X” factor. This lady whose photo is featured is the American Socialite  Lee Radziwell and this picture, taken by The Sartorialist caused me to pause from the unpredictability of my frenetic summer.

A socialite by definition is a lady who’s life’s assignment is the leisurely task of entertaining or being entertained at  social events in the upper crust of society. Lee Radizwell would fit the bill perfectly for the title by birthright (being the younger sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) and by association (having married a prince and a having been a PR executive of Giorgio Armani). A socialite is also a cosmopolitan with residences all around the greater metropolises of the world, like London, Paris and New York. Funny how with the word “socialite”; “London, Paris, New York, et. al” follows. I guess fine things beget even finer things and circumstances. Naturally the socialite is unreasonably wealthy and has a constant air of exclusivity, mystery and privilege about her; just look at this woman, all of us would agree that there was never a time when she had to carry a baby on her hip while hanging a huge pile of laundry in the back yard, sweaty with hair all disheveled.

A socialite is many other things as well but on my end though, I just see a woman whose sense of style and fashion is very notable,  worth stopping for and how fun it is to tumble on to a portrait of a person that’s the very expression of joie de vivre!

Recipe Time!

Colors in Cuisine comes in different appetizing shades, I don’t have to explain that. When I tumbled on to this recipe from Cooking Light Magazine, I instantly wanted to make it because I imagined it would be delicious just from how it looked on the photograph. It didn’t take me long to contemplate on it and I collected the ingredients (as closely as I could anyway) in our local grocer and the picture on top was what I came up with.

May I say to you, that this one tasted even better and was easier to make than how I thought it would an below is how I made the Salad, with my own spin added to it. here’s hoping you won’t be disappointed once you try it.

Shrimp Pasta Radish Salad

Ingredients:

4 ounces small shell pasta

1 cup – medium shrimp (peeled)
1 cup – cooked peas
1 cup thinly sliced radish

Dressing:
1/3rd cup buttermilk
1/4th cup mayo
1 spoonful of dill
2 tablespoons of white onions
1 teaspoon of finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon of lemon zest fresh
1 spoonful of lemon juice fresh

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano – quantity as desired

Process:
Boil pasta – while waiting to complete, start with slicing the radishes (Use a potato peeler to get uniformly thin radish slices) then place in a cup. Place peeled shrimp in a separate cup, place cooked peas in another cup
2-4 minutes before the pasta gets cooked to desired consistency, add the shrimp and peas; then, drain all these on a strainer and run cold water on the mixture; allow to rest.

On the Salad bowl, add the dressing ingredients of : mayo, buttermilk, lemon juice, lemon zest, dill, onions and garlic and fold the mixture altogether. Then add the drained pasta, shrimps, pea – add the radish then mix. After all ingredients are mixed altogether, chill for 1 – 2 hours before serving. Then add freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano as much as desired before serving.

Tip: You may slice the radish ahead of time before boiling pasta as this is time consuming

Naps

The inscription on the photo might a bit oxymoron-ic since naps are typically a short period of sleep during the daytime. But hey, if the time is there and it’s free, why not?

 Naps in English, Siesta in Spanish, “hundaray” in my dialect, no matter how you say it, its is beneficial any day. Just take it from a NASA study which reveals that naps have been found to be just as good as a night’s sleep for memory tasks;  it is also said to improve a person’s efficacy in alertness, response time and other cognitive skills. The Washington Post reported once about a study of 23,000 subjects who took regular midday naps and these sentient beings were found to be 30% less likely to die of heart disease.

 Sadly, cost-less as it is; naps are very rare and hard to get in busy countries. A friend of mine told me once that the best mother’s day gift she could ever have is a long nap on that Sunday which is designated for women like her; this from a stay-at-home mom. What then can be said of working moms? working Dads? working workers? Elusive as it may seem, I believe we ought to do it as much as we can, if we are able. In my personal experience, I have found naps to be invigorating; it also increases my productivity and strength with chores and activities, it lightens my mood and it’s very good for the skin, take it from Paulina Porizkova, who credits naps and sleep as one of her beauty secrets. 

 The picture shown above is the site I fall a-nap to, it’s both symbolic and conducive because when we nap, we usually just hang our hats, keep calm and carry on – napping…

L.A. Woman

I photographed this beautiful lady at Venice Beach. This lady was pure sunshine and happily posed for me. The red hat, the stance, the smile, the joie de vivre! She represented her state very well. 🙂

This Spring Runway Vision

I understand I am a Jill-come-lately with this one, this photo has now circulated and has been blog recycled ad infinitum by fashionistas on the web all over. Be that as it may, I still love this outfit ensemble completed at the House of Diane Von Furstenburg which is 70’s inspired but with a fresher approach. I love the casual quality; the simple and clean colors of the soft denim blue and the crisp white top makes this all flow beautifully. The ease by which this is presented is class in motion!

Mr. Cain Goes to Washington?

I stay away from politics as much as I can because it vexes me, period. But upon surfing through the channels last night, with nothing to do, I tumbled on the initial Republican debate of presidential hopefuls which was held in South Carolina and was aired on FOX News. Five members of the panel were noted but among the debaters, I only knew of Ron Paul, Rick Santorum; have vaguely heard of Tim Pawlenty and have never heard of the former New Mexico governor – Johnson (forgot the first name, sorry) and Herman Cain. However, by the end of the debate, Mr Herman Cain was the candidate that made quite a fresh imprint in my mind.

 At the outset, I saw and heard a genteel and well-spoken man who in fact had common sense social and economic solutions as he articulated through alliterated responses. This led me to research more on Mr. Cain and as he said in the debate, he has not held a political office but had been the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, then the President and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza Chain around the country and more recently, a radio talk show presenter in an Atlanta-based radio station. Prior to this debate I have not known of where he stands on things and I found out that he is a conservative, has a big heart for business, hard work and ethics. Going further with his curriculum vitae, Cain majored in mathematics and mastered in Computer Science at Perdue University. He also worked for Pillsbury and became an executive at Burger King Corporation. With him at the helm of the “Have it your way burger” company, reports say that his region became the most profitable for the corporation from being the least, within 3 years. This may not be public service per se, but personally, if a person has the strategy in turning losses around 180 degrees, then career politicians can eat their public service, especially if it’s tainted with pandering to special interests rather than citizen’s interests. I will omit other issues on his platform because it will be cumbersome in this piece, but to digress…

During the debate, when asked about whether his lack of public service would dampen hopes for his candidacy, the man replied indicating that there are plenty of people who desire the nomination, who served in political offices in Washington DC and “How’s that working for you (the people)?.” That was a slam dunk I think; for true enough, people are disillusioned across the board on all sides of the political spectrum. It turned out that I wasn’t the only one who noticed the entrepreneur as people applauded him. Also, among the focus groups gathered who graded each of the participants during the event, a majority of them came in not knowing Mr. Cain from atom, but left convinced of his politics, or lack thereof.

Will he get the Republican nomination for the presidency? It’s a very long shot, political analysts on FOX say; as they have already undermined and brushed him off today. But as for me, even if he doesn’t get into any public office, I am quite content that the world houses a man who seems positive and intelligent, believes in hard work, has aspirations to hold the highest office in the land, even in a cut-throat milieu yet still believing he will make things better while remaining hopeful and amiable as a person. In a naive way it’s like Frank Capra’s film about an inexperienced man who becomes a senator and goes to Washington; only this one will be called “Mr. Cain Goes to Washington.” 

Congratulations!

The Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge