The Older Woman

For years now, I've been fascinated. Fascinated by an older woman. An older woman that attends my church. She tends to sit a few rows ahead of me. Forgive me God but during the mass I do watch, observe and admire. She is a petite old lady, short, light coloured skin and very short dark hair. She is probably in her mid 70's. She wears beautiful beige coats, pussy bow blouses, brooches, the colours navy, khaki, beige and dark green, round toe look-alike ferragamos, blazers with interesting buttons, snakeskin doctors frames bags, pleated woollen skirts. The list goes on. 

I've always had this urge to approach and compliment her on her impeccable style. Instead I just smile at her, thinking "hey little old lady do you want me to draft your will. Don't worry you don't need to pay me, just give me your wardrobe." I wonder if her grandchildren would mind.   

Recently, on a few street style blogs I've seen some photographs of older woman. One can always get inspiration from a person of any age. Street style bloggers tend to focus on older men, older Italian men but here's to the older woman. Show us more.

The Sartorialist

The Sartorialist

The Sartorialist

Image via Google Images

The Sartorialist

The one and only Coco Chanel via Google Images

It's Red

Erdem lace evening dress, 1,960 GBP
TopShop biker jacket, $110
Carven slingback pumps, $550
Marc jacobs bag, 995 EUR
Nehita jade jewelry, $1,276


Here Alexa Chung does it best. Been loving this dress for some time now. Of course it's sold out on Net-a-porter.

Check out this video here, for backstage footage to Alexa's shoot with Net-a-porter. You can't not like her. 

Chicken & Shiitake Dumplings with Bok Choy & Morello Cherries with Yoghurt

Note: Sincere apologies for the upper case. Have tried to get rid of it but I've had no luck!

Dumplings or jiaozi in Chinese, are traditionally eaten by the Chinese on Chinese New Years Eve, on the 5th day of Chinese New Year, on special family reunions or at farewells. 

I made these for no other reason than having some spare time on a Saturday. Please note that dumplings are one of those foods you need an awful lot of time to make. I'm quite slow in the kitchen, so that doesn't help!

Recipe courtesy of taste.com.au - it has been slightly altered

Ingredients

4 shiitake mushrooms

• 250g chicken mince
• 3 spring onions, mostly the white part
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tbs finely chopped coriander
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• 25 round wonton wrappers 

1/2 tsp sea salt

• Method
• 
  
• 1. Soak mushrooms in boiling water for 10 minutes or until they become soft. Drain and chop them. Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl and season with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• 
  
• 2. Place the wonton wrappers on a clean surface and cover with a damp cloth so they do not dry out. Working with a few at a time, place a teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each wrapper.
• 
  
• 3. Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of each wrapper with a little water.
• 
  
• 4. Fold each wrapper in half, enclosing the filling to form a semicircle. Pinch the edges of each wrapper together to form a frill.
• 
  
• 5. Line a steamer (bamboo or metal) with baking paper. Half fill a wok or steamer base with water and bring to the boil.  The steamer holding the dumplings shouldn't touch the water. Place the dumplings in the steamer in separate batches. Place over boiling water and cover with a lid.
• 
  
• 6. Steam for 8 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with dipping sauces.

Dipping Sauces

Soy & Honey - this involved about 4 tablespoons of soy and 1 tablespoon of honey. I make this sauce quite often so I don't count the measurements. It should be sweet but not too sweet, enough that you can still taste the flavour of the soy.

Soy & Chilli - this involved about 4 tablespoons of chilli and about 1 teaspoon of chilli oil. The chilli oil I used is one from an Asian grocer. It is extremely hot. I cannot bare it but Mr P loves it. Add chilli oil to taste.

Bok Choy

Ingredients 

3 bok choy

1 tbs vegetable oil 

3 garlic cloves

1 tbs honey

4 tbs soy sauce

Method

1. Heat a non-stick pan or wok with the oil.

2. Add the garlic and cook until slightly golden.

3. Add the boy choy. Stir occasionally until it becomes wilted. 

3. Add the honey and soy sauce and leave for a further few minutes. 

Morello Cherries with Yoghurt

This is such an easy and tasty dessert. Simple but effective. Jalna fat free yoghurt with a couple of spoonfuls of morello cherries from the jar. 

Self Service Magazine & Paris Fashion Week

Paris fashion week always brings about interesting blog viewing. I recently stumbled on the blog for the French fashion magazine, Self Service. It has some great coverage of fashion week. Some expectational shots. Be sure to check it out. Here are some of my favourites.

It's raining, it's pouring...

It has been raining non-stop in Sydney the last few days. So over the rain!

http://www.millionlooks.com via Google Images

 http://browneyedcharmer.blogspot.com via Google Images

Days like this I would much rather be at home with a cup of tea than stuck at work.

Vogue Italia via Google Images

Alternatively, I would much rather be strutting around in this Louis Vuitton rain coat. 

Muse Magazine 2007 editorial via Fashion Gone Rogue

Dazed & Confused 2010 editorial via Fashion Gone Rogue

Happy rainy days!

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Chocolate mousse can be quite a hard dessert to make. This dessert is something else. A very interesting collaboration between avocado and chocolate. Quite possibly the easiest chocolate mousse to make. It is utterly delicious. And no you can't taste the avocado! Mr P tried it and didn't have any idea that it wasn't your standard chocolate mousse. 

Recipe from Green Lite Bites. (This has been slightly altered.)

Ingredients

1 avocado

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla (I used 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence)

Pinch of sea salt

1 tbsp skim milk or water

Method

1. Slice up the avocado into cubes.

2. Add all the ingredients into a food processor until properly mixed. 

3. Then wham bam thank you mam, ready to serve!

Pleated Skirts

I've always been a fan of pleated skirts, particularly of the above the knee variety. However, at the moment I've taken a liking to the maxi varieties. I find pleated skirts immediately add a touch of sophistication. 

Chloe

Stockholm Streetstyle

Vanessa Jackman

ASOS

Halston Heritage via Shopbop

Zara

Glassons

Glazed Fig & Pear with Honey & Cream

Figs, oh how I'm a big fan of them. On my last visit to my parent's place my mother gave me some figs from her garden. I've had them sitting in the fridge for nearly a week now and I've been wondering how to make best use of these lovely creatures. They are said to have the highest plant sources of calcium and fibre. My mother makes a lovely fig jam. May make that soon with winter approaching. 


I also had some pears in my fridge and a small amount of cream. Thought it was a good opportunity to make use of all of these.


Ingredients


Makes 2
4-6 figs halved
2 pears sliced 
1/2 cup of thickened cream
2 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons of icing sugar


Method
1. On a non-stick pan add a small amount of oil, about 1 teaspoon. 
2. Pan fry the figs and pears on both sides to glaze them. They should have a nice golden tinge. 
3. Add the icing sugar to the cream. Slightly whip the cream.
4. Plate up the fruit, drizzle honey and follow with the cream.

Note: Please excuse the bad photography. I'm in the process of purchasing an SLR and enrolling into a food photography course. Good times ahead. It's been the number one reason why I've put off this blog for years! Finally I'm going to do it. 

Bright Coloured Trousers

With winter in the southern hemisphere quickly approaching, time to ponder on the winter wardrobe.With a lot of bright coloured pants out and about, think it will be a great way to showcase colour this winter. 

Gucci 

 Zara

 Asos

Gucci 

American Apparel 

Japan

Thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families of victims of the Japanese earth quake and tsunami tragedy.

Source: BBC News