Adding red to your home décor has the same impact as it does when you add it to your look. Try adding a red pillow, a lamp, lampshade, or even, if you want to be really dramatic, a red wall.

The result creates the same wow effect that you get when you put on those perfect red shoes or that fabulous red lipstick.

The magic of using accessories to play with color is that whether you add your red accent by painting a wall or your lips it can easily be changed!

There is nothing to lose by being a little daring . . . go for it and have some fun!

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Another great way to add red to your look is through accessories.

The effect of accessorizing with red is as dramatic as adding red lipstick to your look, but much more versatile.

One of the essences of French style is using accessories to personalize your look.  That’s a French-Secret worth remembering! 

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When the days start getting longer and winter just seems to linger on.  I’m ready for something new to brighten my appearance while I wait for the new season to finally make its appearance.

It’s at times like these that I take inspiration from French women. When they need to sparkle they fall back on one of the foundations of the classic French look, red. It is a simple trick that always seems to work.

Start by adding a vibrant red lipstick to your lips and then add the same color to your nails.

The brightness of the color transforms your look from drab to bright especially in winter. It makes you come to life.

It is hard not to take notice when you see the sparkle it adds and it always makes me feel better when I walk out the door.

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Harper’s Bazaar has an interesting article about weight lose entitled:

Lose the Last 5 Pounds For Good By Wendy Schmid

There are some good tips including: eating fat burning foods, lowering the calories you eat with smarter food choices and diet supplements to help rev up your metabolism. Also, discover the benefits of acupuncture for speeding up your metabolism and getting those stubborn final five off and keeping them off.

It’s worth the read!

Even with my best intentions, my diet has not gone well. As a matter of fact my scale has gone in the wrong direction!

It really wasn’t completely my fault; I had forgotten my husband, Mark’s, birthday. It happens every year so you’d think I’d remember the cake, but alas I forgot.

He has to have a German chocolate cake, a deliciously tempting tradition. I understand it‘s a tradition and I am all for tradition, but this cake is too good to resist.

Three layers of light chocolate cake filled with a frosting that is loaded with coconut and chopped pecans, it’s simply delicious.  It is as good raw, as it is cooked, and before the cake is even out of the oven I’ve already eaten a full serving!

Losing weight with this cake in the house is impossible! This year I got smart and brought the cake to my brother in law’s house, and left most of it with them; damage controlled.

Alas, this was the birthday that never seemed to end. First we celebrated with the cake the weekend before at his brothers’ house, then on the day of his birth. We celebrated again with friends the following weekend.  All was good until he looked at me and said, “You are going to bake another cake aren’t you?” Honestly, I hadn’t planned on it!

I’m a sucker for birthdays so, of course, I had to indulge him. To further control the damage I suggested our guests take some cake home with them; they politely refused giving me that knowing look that says, “We’re  on a diet, and we simply couldn’t!”

It looks like February is going to be the month of my weight loss; thank goodness we have an extra day this year!

When you are not trying to lose weight, you really should try this cake  .  .  .  it’s worth it!

Should I or Shouldn't I. . . Do I dare?

I have some strict rules I try to follow to avoid gaining weight, or at least to know when I do gain a little, so I can take immediate action.  I must also confess that I broke two of them, and am now dealing with the consequences.

First, this summer I wore leggings with elastic waistbands. They looked great under short dresses, but not so good for my waistline. The flexible waistband that expanded right along with my waist masked the discomfort of over-eating.

Second, I broke my rule about starting the holiday season overweight. Since the tendency to eat too much during the holidays is inevitable; it means that January like it or not is about self-discipline.

With my expanding waistline my wardrobe becomes limited to the few things I can still fit into.  I refuse to spend money to buy clothes for my new size; my only option is to lose weight and that is my saving grace! I don’t know why the process of taking those pounds off is always much harder than putting them on (and is far less fun), but alas it is!

Here’s how I do it, and of course I have rules for that too . . .

Step 1 – Stop eating sweets.

I find that this is much harder than it sounds. I crave them! I can usually get through the day without eating anything sweet. Evenings are tougher, especially since there are always left over desserts hiding somewhere.

If I can get through a week without sugar the cravings will lessen and then disappear altogether and I start losing weight. If I can continue to stay away from sugar I find that I’m not as hungry, and the weight continues to drop.

Step 2 – Avoid carbohydrates.

This is important too. I need to clear my system and the only way to do that is to limit what I eat to only protein and vegetables. I do eat dairy, but usually just a little cheese and plain yogurt. This extra step increases the speed of the weight loss and that is essential to my sticking to it. When the needle on the scale starts going down I feel victorious. That feeling and fitting into more of my clothes are the best incentives to continue saying no to all those tempting foods.

What I eat is simple, lots of vegetables with a piece of grilled protein, usually chicken, veal, pork or fish. Salads with some protein such as eggs, tuna, or grilled chicken, make a great lunch also. And if I need a snack I’ll have a piece of cheese.

I don’t use any sugar substitutes, and I avoid sodas or desserts. If I crave a sweet I’ll go for a cough drop or a mint instead, it satisfy my craving without upsetting my whole system. I find that the more diligent I am the quicker my body responds and the faster the weight starts dropping off.

There are two things I’ve learned to watch out for. The first is when I say to myself “Oh it won’t matter if I just have a little.” The truth is that it does matter! This is the one thing that I find sets me back and makes the process go on and on.

The second is that once I’ve lost the weight and I start letting myself go back to eating sugars and carbohydrates, I have to be vigilant. If my weight starts creeping up again it is time to take immediate action.

This is where my mother’s advice comes in about watching your weight. “If you take care of it when it happens (that means stepping on the scale regularly) it’s not so hard to maintain your girlish figure”.

It’s one of those French-secrets that works!

As January nears its end and I think back on the holidays, I’m amazed that they are a complete blur. They are always busy with family and friends. Before I know it they have passed, and I wonder how that happened, remembering the days when Christmas seemed to take forever to arrive and lingered as if there were nothing else to do but savor the days.

I don’t know if it is because there is just so much to do or that the focus is on so many things at once, but the blur that is now our celebrations makes me long for ways to slow down, even if it is just a little.

I found that thinking of New Year resolutions is a good way to start slowing down my life. Having more time isn’t going to happen unless I find a way to make the time myself by slowing down. I can think of two things that might work:

The first change is to plan ahead so that I don’t find myself rushing to get things done. A few years ago we gave a big Christmas party at the beginning of December. When the party was over, I was ready for the holidays to begin. It allowed for a more relaxed and leisurely holiday season to enjoy everything there was to do.

The second change is to mix up my routine. It could be skipping the news for the evening and sitting in a different area of my home to enjoy a conversation over a glass of wine, or it could be doing as I watched my grandparents do and taking out a deck of cards to play a few hands of gin rummy after dinner. Growing up, we played cards a lot. It was a fun way to spend time face-to-face. It always sparked our competitive streaks and led to animated conversations that would inevitably end in laughs and promises of a rematch.

Whatever it is I decide to change, just considering how I might alter my routine has made me aware of how I spend my time instead of just settling into my usual habits without much thought.

I like to call myself soup challenged.  I love soup but have trouble making a good one.  It’s not from lack of effort, I probably try at least once a month through the winter, but all my attempts seem to fall flat.  My soups are blah . . . they just don’t taste great.

In general, I am a pretty good cook, and not afraid to try and learn new things, but curiously soups escape me.  As a child I traveled to France often and no matter where we were soup was always on the menu, and it was something I loved.  As far as I am concerned there is nothing better than a Potage de Legume (Vegetable Soup).  I am on a quest to make such a soup or for that matter any soup at all . . . so long as it’s good!

To my surprise, I have recently made a few soups that were actually quite good and was able to say “I made a good soup.”  My first was a Zucchini Soup, it’s a simple soup that has a lot of flavor.

The Pioneer Woman, one of my favorite blogs, recently posted a recipe for Corn Cheese Chowder.   Her photos are beautiful and also serve as a step by step how-to guide on making the recipe.  You get hungry just looking at the photos.  I decided to give this recipe a try myself.  I followed her recipe closely with a couple of changes: my kids don’t love peppers so I used 2 instead of 3, I didn’t have fresh corn so I used 2 bags of frozen, I added 3 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces, instead of serving it in a bread bowl I had a good crusty baguette, and cooked it for longer.  The soup was wonderful, rich and creamy, and my soup dinner was enjoyed by all!

Ok, so the soup turned out great for dinner but what to do with the soup leftovers?  Soup has a tendency to thicken considerably while hanging out in the fridge . . . what to do to thin it out the soup without losing any flavor?   For this soup I added 2 cups of water, 2-3 chicken bouillon cubes depending on how salty your soup is, and half a bag of frozen corn.  Lo and behold the soup was still good, and lunch with the girls turned out great!

Thank you Pioneer Woman – I will be trying your Broccoli Cheese Soup soon.

Audrey Olmer

          U p c o m i n g   C l a s s e s

ou’ve decided to have a party, the invitations have been sent—and then you realize how much work lies ahead: cleaning, planning the menu, shopping, cooking, arranging flowers . . . and you still don’t know what you’re going to wear!!

For years the approach of fall made me anxious. It meant the beginning of the holiday season, and unless I started planning weeks ahead of time, the stress would take the fun out of having parties. Determined to make entertaining stress free, I came up with some simple steps that made it easy to plan and host my own parties.

Using my twenty-five years of design experience, my expertise in the kitchen, and my love of entertaining I’ve created a way to teach you how to  plan—and enjoy—    your own parties.

I’ve put together four classes so you can learn the simple steps that will take the stress out of entertaining and let you have a great time at your own parties.

Class 1: Pastry—It’s not just for pies anymore!

A great pastry dough can be one of your most useful party tools. Learn how to use it to create great dishes for any part of a meal, and how to store it so it’s ready when you need it.

Class 2: Taste sensation—How to make your food come to life

Learn how to make sweet and savory fillings to use with your pastry—for hors d’oeuvres, appetizers, main courses, and desserts.

Class 3: Be prepared—But that’s only the beginning!

Having what you need on hand is key to stress-free entertaining. This class covers the essentials of a well-stocked pantry that is ready for emergencies. It will teach you to take stock of your cookware and tableware so you know what you have and what you need.

Class 4: Enjoy your own party—How to stay cool, calm, and collected while entertaining

This class covers tricks to getting your home ready, how to create the perfect party ambiance, and the ten essential steps to avoiding stress.

Each student will receive a notebook containing copies of all the recipes they learn, with space to take notes in class, sample inventory forms, and a list of the ten steps to avoiding stress—ready to post on your wall.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Tuesdays, October 4, 11, 18, 25, 7-9 pm

                                   or

Tuesdays, November 1, 8, 15, 22, 7-9 pm

$195 for the series of four

$55 per two-hour class

Thursdays, October 20, 27, 9am-1pm

                                 or

Thursdays, November 3, 10, 6-10 pm

$195 for the series of four

$110 per four-hour class

All classes are held in Briarcliff Manor, New York.

When I travel I have one thing in mind, and that is to go to the market. Food is the common denominator, but how it’s prepared and presented is unique to its location. The more exotic the locale, the more I find myself obsessed with the market, and when I think back on my travels it’s the markets that stand out.

I am grateful to Julie Butler, the winner of our Market basket contest, for writing about her trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand and the Walking Street.

We arrived in Chiang Mai on a Sunday. Our taxi driver explained to us that he would have to drop us at the back entrance of our hotel because on Sunday the front entrance on Rajdamnoen Road is closed for the weekly “Walking Street.” The hotel, Tamarind Village, was beautiful. It is located in the heart of Chiang Mai, midway between the eastern and western gates of the wall that surrounds the old city. It is a peaceful, serene, tastefully decorated complex of buildings with an enormous Tamarind tree as its centerpiece.

We made our way from the back entrance through the pretty maze of courtyards to the front lobby which was an outdoor space lined with lush wood furniture and colorful fabrics.  As we headed for our room, one of the employees urged us to step out of the front entrance because it was Sunday and we wouldn’t want to miss the Walking Street.

We were tired, but we were also hungry so we cleaned ourselves up and headed down the bamboo lined driveway leading to the entrance of the hotel. It was a short, dark drive wide enough for a car and  lit by huge rectangular white cloth lanterns that appeared to float along beside us. In the distance, we could see a sliver of what appeared to be a parade of illuminated color. Emerging from the peaceful drive on to the Walking Street was magical. The color, the light, the music, and the exuberant throng of people from all walks of life were completely unexpected.

Our mouths watered as the scent of exotic spices wafted through the air. We walked the length of the street; first in one direction and then the other. We passed every possible vendor imaginable; motorcycle carts displaying smokey barbequed meats, shelves lined with layers of leafy greens, a scary row of “fresh” chickens on their backs with their claws sticking out as if to say, “I dare you to eat me,” fish in tanks and on ice, boxes of desserts, baskets of rice (I never knew there were so many kinds of rice), buckets of spices, and wok after wok of curries, vegetables, and noodles . . . . And that’s just the food. There were at  least 200 tents filled with  interesting artwork, lovely fabrics, instruments, clothing, appliances, toys, anything one might desire during  a Sunday evening stroll through the heart of Chiang Mai. The booths spilled into courtyards and beyond the eastern gate.  Down the center of the road individuals and groups entertained   the parade of shoppers with drums or dance or song . . . . A sudden downpour had merchants protecting their goods with clear tarps and shoppers scrambling for cover. It was late, and we thought the evening had come to an end. Then as quickly as the rain started it stopped; everything was unwrapped and within moments the Walking Street came back to life.

Julie’s blog is Passing Through – A worrywart’s ramblings on world travel, weight loss, . . . and what old married couples do when the kids move out.

 
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