Tag archive for fashion

This Sunday I had the pleasure of spending the better part of the day hanging out with the very talented Joann from Slice of Pai (don’t forget to check her out on Instagram). For a month or so Joann and I have been talking about doing a collaboration. On Sunday the planets or perhaps more accurately, our agendas finally aligned and we carved out a bit of free time in-between babyshowers and other such obligation to share some time baking and taking photographs. I have been really excited about this collaboration because Joann has an such an amazing eye for food styling and photography. The majority of the photographs you see here today are Joann’s handy work!

Our morning started nice and early (for a Sunday) with me arriving on Joann’s doorstep with a giant box of props and a bottle of whiskey. The whiskey was one of the props of course! Our plan was to bake shortbread two ways, savoury and sweet. I have always loved baking that mixes sweet and salty so when we came across a recipe for a delicate sweet and salty pre-dinner cocktail shortbread (enter the Whiskey) I was all in. For our sweet selection we chose an amazing buttery and crisp almond shortbread sandwich. The almond shortbread maybe one of the best shortbreads I have had in years; so good that I have since made a second batch. See below for recipes.

Sweet and Salty Herbed Shortbread
Recipe Adapted from Food52 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sal
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1 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, thyme and lavender
1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack positioned in the centre. In a medium bowl sift together flour and salt. In a small bowl, combined 2 tablespoons of sugar and the chopped herbs. Using your fingers gently rub the sugar and the chopped herbs together, this will release the oils from the herbs. Stir the herb mixture into the flour.

Add butter chunks to the flour, mix using a fork until a soft dough forms. Transfer the dough into a 9-inch round or square baking pan; gently pat the dough down. Using a fork prick the dough and sprinkle the remaining teaspoon of sugar evenly over the dough.

Place the pan in the oven and bake the shortbread for 20 to 30 minutes, until it is golden and no longer looks at all wet. While the dough is still warm, score it into fingers using a very sharp knife. Allow it to cool completely in the pan before separating the pieces.

Almond Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Recipe adapted from FineCooking

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sal
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond meal
Strawberry jam
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a mixer combine butter, sugar and salt at low speed. Mix the ingredients on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes until the butter blends with the sugar but isn’t perfectly smooth. Continue mixing at low speed while adding the flour and almonds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing until the dough begins to hold together. Be careful not to overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, quickly rolling the dough to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Thinner cookies will make a more attractive sandwich.

Make an even number of cookies and cut a smaller shape into the middle of half of your cookies. This will become the top of the sandwich. The tops of the cookies can be fragile so make sure the border is fairly wide. Transfer the cookies onto baking sheets and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

While the cookies are cooling position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat to 300°F. Bake the cookies until golden, about 30 min. Halfway through the baking time switch the pan from top to bottom and rotate them 180 degrees, cook for the remaining time.

Allow the cookies to fully cool. Place a small teaspoon of jam in the centre of the cookie bottoms and spread the jam lightly over the cookie avoiding the edges. Using a sifter dust the cookie tops with confectioners’ sugar. Place the sandwiches tops on the jammed cookie bottoms and very gently press together.

The alarm started ringing at the ungodly hour of 6 am and virtually reached a fever pitch before I realized that is was ringing for me. It was launch and likely sellout day for the new Marni for H&M collection and my friend Andrea and I decided that we needed to be one of the first in the store.

Neither of us had engaged in anything like this before, so a few weeks ago we devised a plan to divide and conquer. During the weeks leading up to Thursday we conferenced on which items where must haves and which were maybes and finally both compiled lists of our top picks. Our strategy was to split our lists into one of two categories, clothing or accessories and then on the day of we would each take one of the categories and grab everything on both lists. With no idea what to expect on the morning of, it only seemed like the logical thing to do. However, at 6:00 am the whole idea of lining up to go shopping didn’t seem very logical at all.

We arrived out in front of H&M both not knowing what to expect, but holy is H&M organized. Upon arrival in line we were immediately given colored wristbands with a designated shopping time of 9:15 and sent off.

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The fitting rooms was really the funnest part of the whole experience in my mind. Everyone was checking out the items that the person in the room next to them had selected, people were trading sizes and items that they didn’t want for items that other people didn’t want. I came into things expecting mayhem and other sandbox like behaviour but, the whole experience was over in a flash and surprisingly pleasant. I got a lovely silk color block dress and a set of bracelets.

All and all a good time and totally worth the 6:00 am wake up call. Thanks for going shopping Andrea!

The great closet purge started one day after work.  I stopped by the wine merchant, grabbed a bottle of red and headed straight for my shoe closet. When I first decided that a total refresh was in store for my closet, I also decided that I was going to be methodical and a little cerebral about the whole thing. I did my research, read a million different suggestions on the right way to go about culling ones closet and some how I ended up spending 3 weeks just thinking and imaging what my new wardrobe would look like. Last week I realized that if I kept it up I was never going to have a closet full of lovely things. It was time for a change in strategy. Thus the bottle of wine and the shoe closet.

I started by basically opening the closet and throwing everything onto the floor. The shoes were then sorted into three piles, keepers, donations and just plain finished shoes. Well to be honest there is a fourth pile, it is the shoes that should get donated but i’m not ready to part with pile. All of the keepers were lucky enough to received the royal treatment; polish, leather protector, black suede was re-dyed, and a final shine/brush. They are all looking lovely and organized in the closet as I sit here writing.

Next I pulled a chair into the bedroom and hauled out the purse collection, which was another easy target. I don’t have a lot of purses but the ones I have are good ones and I try to keep them in good shape. I did however send a few into the donate pile. Finally, I moved onto the scarf box, but there wasn’t much to do there.

So, what did I learn from all of this?

• I need some new coloured flats and a pair of summer sandals.
• Never buy shoes that don’t fit you perfectly. No matter how much you love their look.
• Get a good cobbler. I take my good shoe there often and have them resoles and reheeled.
• If you buy good quality leather goods and take care of them they will last for years.
• You can never have to many scarves!

Stay tuned, I still have a long way to go on my closet purge. With a little fear and trepidation I will be moving on to my jackets, dresser and finally the REAL closet.

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When I’m trying to appear put together, a no brainer option for me is to throw something around my neck. A scarf or a jacket with a big collar have been my standard go to looks but lately I have been turning to necklaces. Recently I read a post on The Sartorialist and it go me thinking that it is time for me to grow my collection of necklaces and start looking for a few good statement pieces for the spring.

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I know, I have aways to go still. Apparently amazing necklaces are few and far between here in Vancouver, so my search carries on.

Fall came this week.

The colour of the light changed ever so slightly. A little softer maybe. And with the turn in the season I went to my closet and pulled out all the warm fuzzy cashmere I could find. Then I had a crisis.
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This weekend I learned that my friends seem to all have style icons. Where have I been! I certainly do not have a style icon nor has it ever crossed my mind. And no I’m not running around wearing a paper bag on my head, I’m aware of fashion. If you were to ask me who Kyle Maclachlan is I would said “Isn’t he the guy from that spread in Vogue with Linda Evangelista back in the 90’s?” I just have never thought about having a style icon.

So while I was pulling out all my winter sweaters and scarves I did a little style soul searching. I tried on numerous outfits. And then tried them on again and finally decided that I don’t really need a style icon after all, I just needed to make a kale salad.

Kale salad inspired by the many kale and quinoa salads on My Cooking Diary and the Tahini dressing by 101 Cookbooks