Swedish delights at IKEA

Did anyone know about the Swedish goodies sections at IKEA? I needed to run an errand the other day and noticed this delightful corner selling crackers, jams, chocolates, wafers, etc. I didn't manage to buy anything as I was in a rush, but my bestie A, that grew up in Sweden informed me that the KEX wafers are really good. Has anyone tried any of these items?

Song of the day

Frugal Finds

As a huge lover of fashion, I can't resist a good bargain, I mean a really really good one. Take for example the skirt I am wearing below I bought from H&M for 2kd only! How can someone walk away from that? I teamed it with an Elizabeth and James top and J Crew blazer. More frugal find posts to follow. This skirt is still available in the H&M branch at the Grand Avenues. Happy Shopping!

Song of the day

Rigatoni with Baked Pumpkin and Mushroom

I haven't posted any recipes lately, no excuse really, but I purchased a beautiful pasta clay dish at Williams Sonoma recently and created a pasta bake on Friday which was a big hit! Seasonal baked pumpkin with chestnut mushrooms, white sauce and Rigatoni. 

Recipe:

1 butternut squash cut in big chunks
1 box chestnut mushrooms chopped lengthwise
3 tablespoons pine nuts (roasted)
1 box Rigatoni
Handful of fresh thyme, tarragon, basil
2 onions chopped
4 garlic cloves smashed
3 garlic cloves whole unpeeled
1/2 stick of butter
5 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

White Sauce:
1/2 stick of butter
2 tablespoons white flour
1/2 liter full fat milk (warm)
Nutmeg
Gruyere cheese grated
Parmesan cheese grated
White pepper
Salt

Method:
In an ovenproof dish place the pumpkin pieces, 3 whole garlic cloves drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with black pepper and salt and put in the oven at 200 Celsius for an hour until fully roasted. Mash the flesh with the back of a fork, including the roasted garlic cloves, set aside. Melt 1/2 stick of butter, remaining olive oil and saute the onions until translucent, adding the mushrooms, fresh herbs and remainder of the garlic. Season with salt and black pepper. Add the pumpkin mash, lemon juice and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. Cook the rigatoni for 5 minutes very al dente. Set aside. Make the bechamel sauce by melting the butter adding the flour and stirring for 2-3 minutes. Slowing adding the milk and stirring until it forms a thick consistency. Add the cheeses and nutmeg to the sauce. In an ovenproof dish layer the white sauce, pasta and pumpkin mushroom mash, repeat adding the remainder of the white sauce on top with more cheese. Put in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 200 Celsius.

Beat that Dubai!

China is to build the tallest building in the world in 90 days according to the independent. Once built in March, Sky City in Changsha will be the tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at 2,749ft (838m), over 220 floors. Burj Khalifa took five years to build standing at 828m, but architects and engineers at Broad Sustainable Building (BSB) are confident they can beat this record. Very interesting to see this unfold!

Song of the day

Pure Dance

Enormous respect to Japanese photographer Shinichi Maruyama for capturing nude dancers in their element. How beautiful and graceful are these images? There must have been a huge level of patience creating these shots. The beauty of art, priceless. Read more here.

Shite List

1. Shake Shack.....................tried it for the first time this week, never again! What was is hype about people????

2. The embarrassment of pronouncing COS in front of your parents, well anyone really. I just stick to C.O.S!


Somebody share their anger, puleeze!!!

Song of the day

Matthew Lyons

Matthew Lyons is a very private illustrator from Britain. That's all he shares on his website and to be honest I love the sense of mystery he has created allowing his amazing talent speak for itself and have YOU piece together his make believe personality. I absolutely love his creativity, originality, descriptive visuals and vision of the land of unkown. HUGE FAN! You can view his all his work here.

Williams Sonoma

I was overjoyed when I found out Williams Sonoma had opened in Avenues phase 3. A store crammed with domestic bliss and more posh kitchenware than you can ask for. The store itself is quite large, two floors and holds every possible professional quality cookware and culinary accessory imaginable. I was a tad disappointed they didn't carry luxury cooking ingredients such as baking ingredients, vinegar's, oils etc. Moving along, I know I did promise better quality pictures from now on but I didn't have my camera on me. My bad.

Lets have view of this fab store:

Song of the day

Change of Lashes

I did a review not to long ago on the new MAC false lashes extreme black here, and well I think I need to say I used it a on and off since then and it really is a brilliant mascara. I didn't apply it carefully when I initially scored it and here I am again taking my words back. The color is the deepest black it separates and lengthens lashes to the extreme giving you a gorgeous flutter. The only problem I do have with this mascara is removing it, it tends to burn your eyes when you wash it off, so be careful! Highly recommended! 

Tony Montana's Crib

As a huge fan of Scarface, and even more obsessed with Michelle Pfeiffer's wardrobe in the movie, I came across this article on highsnobiety offering a lucky fan an amazing opportunity to rent out the mansion located in Santa Barbara not Miami for 30,000 dollars a month. How fun would that be? If only I could find a guy hot enough to pull off a cream suit the way Tony Montana did............on the search! Read here for more.

Song of the day

Herb Ritts

Herb Ritts- legend, explicit, notorious, sexy. One of my favorite photographers/music directors of all time. His strong and bold photographs capture the beauty of the human form like no other. Love and respect.

Song of the day

Shite List

1. The "shoe section" at Harvey Nichols.....are you serious? So gloomy, can count maybe 3 pairs of shoes
    worth buying.

2. Heidi Klum fashion sense at MTV EMA's........honey, you are a mother of 4 kids, no one needs to see
    that much skin, put it away.

Song of the day

Crusty Eggs

Late LATE last night I couldn't sleep, frustrated I began flipping through the telly and came across an episode of Unique Eats on the food network, when an interesting feature on a restaurant in New York (can't remember the name) was talked about. The one main dish that is was known for was a Panko, Almond and Parmesan cheese hard boiled egg. It sounded so odd yet interesting, so as soon as woke back up I whipped it up and volla it was good. I served it on a bed of grilled portobello mushrooms.

Side note: Please excuse the quality of this picture, I am going to start using a proper camera from now! Promise!

Recipe:

2-4 eggs
1 egg white
Big handful of panko
2 tablespoons ground almond
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
Salt
Pepper
1 cup grape-seed oil
1 portobello mushroom


Method:

Boil your eggs to your liking but not less than 6 minutes, remove and peel. In a bowl lightly whisk an egg white set aside. In another bowl add the panko, ground almond and Parmesan  Dip the hard boiled egg into the egg white mixture and into the panko mixture and repeat. Heat the oil  in a pan and once hot fry the egg until golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel, serve with grilled mushroom (optional) and season with more salt and pepper. Hot sauce is delish with this crispy delight.

Song of the day

Roland Mouret Love Affair

One of my favorite designers of all time is the fabulous Roland Mouret. His perfect Parisian tailoring, attention to detail, gorgeous form fitting silhouette dresses take my breath away every time. I was ecstatic when I saw his SS13 collection, the razor sharp origami folds, contrast of colors and the fresh introduction of trousers really stand out as strong yet so chic!! LOVE! OBSESSED! Below are my favorite pieces.

photo credit: style.com