4 posts tagged “beauty and the feast”

 

 

Last week was our first wedding anniversary. We went back to where we went on our honeymoon..Palm Springs, CA.

The property that we stayed at offered loads of citrus trees bearing lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit. We were kids in a candy store every day picking fresh oranges and making freshly squeezed juice every morning. It was truly paradise.

 

As if my paradise in citrus heaven wasn’t enough, my husband gave me a very special anniversary gift – a day of pampering at a luxurious spa complete with a body scrub treatment. What can I say – the man knows me. Just as I know the way to his heart is through his stomach; he knows the way to my heart is through spa treatments.

 

The body scrubs was truly amazing and left my skin silky smooth for days. Going to the day spa makes me feel so healthy and rejuvenated, I often leave with a sense that I am going to continue to take care of my body and eat only organic, healthy meals from that moment on. It usually lasts a whole two hours after I get back home.

 

That night, I was inspired to whip up a fabulous dessert for the two of us. Yes, I cooked on my vacation—I can’t help myself.

 

Inspired by the large sugar grains that sloughed away my dry skin, I made a delicious brown sugar topping for fresh pineapples and broiled them to a bubbling, golden brown glaze. The dish was exotic, elegant and I still felt as though I hadn’t completely abandoned my healthy ambitions as the pineapples were broiled and not fried in lots of butter. This would also be sensational with bananas!

 

Along with this easy recipe, I found a great recipe for an at-home sugar scrub to try. The scrub exfoliates the skin and leaves it feeling soft and smooth for days. Finish your body treatment with a generous slathering of body butter (concentrating on those elbows, knees and heels) and your skin will feel as though winter’s drying effects never took place.

 

You may use Epsom salt instead of sugar if you prefer a larger grain. When making the scrubs, I prefer using grapeseed oil since it is light and odorless; however olive oil is rich and moisturizing which is perfect for extra dry skin or those rougher areas such as elbows and heels. Sunflower oil is also a good choice as it is odorless and inexpensive. The scents for the scrub is virtually limitless, use rose essential oil for a lovely perfume scent, lavender for relaxation, citrus for invigoration.

 

Package the scrub in airtight containers and offer as gifts this holiday season for a special treat for a special friend!

 

 

 

 

Broiled Brown Sugar Pineapples

 

 

 

1 large pineapple, halved vertically.

¼ c brown sugar

¼ c granulated sugar

1/8 tsp coarse salt

1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

 

Preheat broiler, with rack placed 6 inches from heat source.  Mix sugars, salt and vanilla in a small bowl.  Cut pineapple vertically with top husks still attached to the fruit.

 

Lightly brush water on top of pineapple halves.  Pat layer of mixed sugar evenly on top of the pineapple halves to prevent clumping and burning.

Broil until sugar has caramelized, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sugar Body Scrub

 

2 c. organic cane sugar or Epsom salts

1 c. “base” oil (grapeseed, olive, sunflower or vitamin E)

8 drops essential oil (grapefruit, rose, peppermint, or lavender…whatever you like best!)

1 drop of food coloring (which ever color you prefer)

 

Stir together salt or sugar and “base” oil in a bowl, mixing well.  Using pipette, add essential oil, 1 drop at a time.  Add food coloring and stir until color is even throughout.  Spoon into airtight or canning jars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guacamole is one of my top five absolute favorite indulgences. I figure that since this dip consists of fresh healthy ingredients that it must be nothing but good for me. In one aspect, it is…but the avocado, while containing very healthy and nutrient-rich properties, is quite the caloric intake.

 

I don’t care. Give me chips and give me guacamole dip and I am in heaven. The chips merely serve as a means of transport for me but I have been known to just snack on the dip itself. Since this is not very socially acceptable and I am so madly in love with avocados, I made a salad out of it. Basically, I took all the ingredients that are used to make guacamole and didn’t bother to blend. I got the notion to add some yummy black beans from an Ina Garten recipe I found in one of my most treasured cookbooks and voila: I had a delicious guacamole salad that was everything I wanted and more.

 

Avocados tend to be very bland so lots of salt and spice are needed to liven up the dish. The texture of an avocado is simply mesmerizing. The outside texture is bumpy and tough but the inside is succulent and almost clay-like. The flesh is very sensitive to air exposure so when you prepare this dish or homemade guacamole, be sure to wait until the last possible moment to add in the avocado and squeeze a generous amount of fresh lime juice to keep it from discoloring. An old Mexican tradition is to keep the big, round pit in with the guacamole dip to keep it from browning. I think this looks very cool and rustic and yes, I tend to nibble on the pit. But not while anyone is watching!

 

 

 

Guacamole Salad

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa

 

Ingredients

 

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

3 Hass avocados, pitted and cut into chunks

2 limes

1 garlic clove, minced

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

¼ c. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Crushed red pepper flakes

 

Directions

 

Combine tomatoes and beans in a medium bowl. Add zest of 1 lime. In a separate bowl whisk together the juice of 2 limes, olive oil, about a teaspoon of salt and pepper, red pepper flakes (to taste) until blended well. Add in minced garlic to the dressing. Add avocados to tomatoes and beans and immediately cover with dressing and toss gently. Enjoy!

 

This salad was an awesome side with my steak fajita dinner! YUM!

 

 

 

 

For a fabulous “Beauty and The Feast” treatment, I have a fantastic recipe for a homemade avocado mask that moistens and nourishes the skin, leaving it soft and silky. It’s also perfect if you have sensitive skin like I do and since the avocados are full of Vitamin E it may also prevent future outbreaks! Just try to avoid dipping chips on your face!

Mask twice a week by combining 1/2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil and 1-1/2 tsp. mashed avocado.  Chill mixture briefly, then massage into skin and leave on for 5 minutes.  Remove mask with a soft cotton cloth. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a long, hard day of working in the dead of summer in L.A. in 1991, the ambitious Su Ellen Crandall (Christina Applegate) and her much older boss, Rose, were gabbing after they wrapped up their plans for the upcoming fashion show that would soon end their company's pending doom.  Rose offers  some beauty advice to Su Ellen after she expresses her exhaustion. "Take a hot bath, drink some wine and place some cucumbers on your eyes and you'll feel as good as new". "Well, I'm fresh out of cucumbers" says Su Ellen to which Rose provides one of my most favorite movie lines of all time: "Oh, well, Su Ellen…every woman over twenty-five should keep a cucumber in the house!"  I was ten at the time and at that moment I couldn't wait to be twenty-five and start soothing my puffy eyes after a long day at work with some cool cucumber slices!

I know, I dreamed big. To make matters worse, the movie to which I refer to was "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead". 

 

 

Regardless, 17 years passed by and here I was, in the midst of an ungodly heat wave in New Jersey after a long, hard day at work and all I wanted was a cool treat that would soothe my nerves and cure what stresses were ailing me. So I chose to forgo my kitchen and head for the happy hour at the closest bar to my office where lo and behold I discovered the BEST summer treat that was everything that I was looking for at that moment in time: The Cucumber Martini.

Sean Hoover, one of the bartenders at the fabulous Italian Gourmet in Galloway Twp., whipped up this concoction in response to me and my co-workers' aching needs.  They have a whole martini menu full of fusion options such as hibiscus-, ginger-, and lemongrass-infused drinks.  But the cool, soothing cucumber martini was sounding mighty good on a day that felt like 105 degrees.  This martini would be great at any party and is the perfect follow-up to the cosmo fad!

 

 

The Italian Gourmet Cucumber Martini

Sean Hoover

Ingredients

4-5 slices of cucumber

Van Gogh Melon Vodka

Splash of Rose's Lime juice

Splash of club soda

Splash of water

 

Directions

In a glass, muddle the cucumber slices with the lime juice and club soda. Add to the martini shaker. Add ice, Van Gogh Melon Vodka, and a splash of water. Shake well and strain into a glass. Garnish with a slice of cucumber and instantly feel chilled!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But a cool martini isn't the only way to this girls' heart. A cool and light treat on such a hot day is also a necessity. Once again, I refer to the fruit (yes, it's a fruit!):  the cucumber.  My favorite dip in the world is Tzatziki (pronounced as zaa-zee-kee) which is a Greek, yogurt-based dip with grated cucumber, garlic and dill. Let's face it, those Greeks know how to stay cool—and  create philosophy and democracy and mathematics.

Tzatziki is the perfect condiment because it makes everything better—burgers, chicken, crudités, salmon, shrimp, lamb, etc. But the best part is that it can be enjoyed all on its own. If it was socially acceptable, I would eat this stuff with a spoon as my pita wedges are only a means of facilitation. Now when was the last time you could eat mayo all by itself? Never. Unless you were trying to purposely gross me out in sixth grade! Yeah, that's right...I'm looking at YOU Enthony!!

 

 

 

Tzatziki

 

Ingredients

 

1 pint Greek yogurt

1 cucumber, unpeeled and seeded

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic

1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh dill

About a tablespoon of olive oil

 

Directions

 

Grate the cucumber and squeeze as much liquid from it as you can.  Add to the Greek yogurt. Mix in garlic, dill, salt and olive oil. After all the ingredients are mixed together completely, you may serve it right away or chill it so that it's nice and cold and top with a drizzle of olive oil and kalamata olives for garnish.

 

So, of course after my martinis and dip, I still had some cucumber slices left and did as Rose would do; place the slices over my eyes while sipping and munching on my new favorite cool treats. I'm right on top of that, Rose!!

 

 

 

There are some days when a girl just has to indulge. Everyone has their own way of pampering themselves. My way? I like to give myself an at-home spa treatment, make a decadent dessert and watch chick flicks until my husband feels the need to run to the closest sports bar to rebalance his testosterone levels.

 

So I thought I'd share a few tips with my lovely blogger readers. We all know how most facial masks look and smell good enough to eat and my theory is that if it's natural enough to go in my body, it's good enough to go on it. No dyes, no artificial fragrances, no nothing that Mother Nature didn't provide will go on my face or hair or skin so long as I am beautifying! Here's one of my favorite facial recipes. it's not that creative but it still works wonders!

 

Egg White Mask

 

Use two egg whites and whisk together gently. (Tip: add a few drops of fresh lemon juice for oily skin. Do not use on dry skin as it will only irritate it more.).

Massage the egg all over your face in circular motions while, of course, avoiding the eye area.

Leave on your face for anywhere from about 15 - 30 minutes or until it begins to "harden".

Wash off the mask with warm water and pat dry to reveal a lovely, silky soft face!

 

If you're anything like me, you need a sweet treat to go with your sweet treatment. I figured since I had the eggs and I was using the whites, why not make a mixed berry pavlova? 

I first got the idea to make a pavlova by seeing it on The Barefoot Contessa. It looks absolutely decadent and since it's really only egg whites and a cup of sugar, there's nothing to feel guilty about. Except maybe for the giant glop of homemade heavy whipped cream on top. Eh, who cares? Live a little!

 

Mixed Berry Pavlova

The Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

4 egg whites (room temp)

1 cup sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp white wine vinegar

pinch of salt

strawberries

blueberries

raspberries

 

Directions

 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan. Draw a 9-inch circle on the paper, using a 9-inch plate as a guide, then turn the paper over so the circle of on the reverse side. (This way you won't get any pencils marks on the pavlova.)

Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites on high speed until firm, about 1 minute. With the mixer still on high, slowly add the sugar and beat until it makes firm, shiny peaks, about 2 minutes.

 

Remove from the bowl and sift the cornstarch onto the beaten egg whites, add the vinegar and vanilla, and fold in lightly with a rubber spatula. Pile the meringue into the middle of the circle on the parchemnt paper and smooth it within the circle, making a rough disk. Bake for 1.5 hours. Turn off the oven, keep the door closed and cool completely in the oven, about 1 hour. The pavlova should be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

 

Invert the meringue disk onto a plate and spread the top completely with the homemade whipped cream. Top any way you'd like with the berries.

 

This dessert would also be very tasty topped with passion fruit (as it was originally topped with when the recipe was first conceived) or I like to top this even with chopped chunks of mango and raspberries with a mango puree drizzled on top!

Whichever way you choose to enjoy your pavlova, do just that...ENJOY!