Jet Setter

Your Local Farmer's Market and Bolsa Market Cafe Wine Bar

Watched this great presentation by British Chef Jamie Oliver on healthy eating and cooking.  His documentary on PBS called "For the Love of Liberty" is a frightening look at what our fast food culture has produced. Take a trip to your local Farmers Market and it's enlightening to realize how disconnected we've become from our local producers with the convenience of grocery stores. We get produce that doesn't always reflect our own seasons and eat way too much processed food.

Jamie inspired me to head back to my local farmer's market by emphasizing that thinking global also means acting locally and supporting those around us. And one of my favorite local Dallas eating spots is Bolsa Market Cafe and Wine Bar.

Chef Graham Dodds uses seasonal ingredients from local area farmers. There isn't a freezer or a fryer in the restaurant. The food is wonderful. Tried the pork tenderloin dinner.  Specialty cocktails are exceptionally good. Their strawberry margaritas are my favorite. The setting is gorgeous. Always packed. Bolsa has alot of history as it used to be Settles Garage and was built by the original owner block by block. 

Also the Dallas Farmer's Market offers cooking classes each quarter with some of Dallas' famed chefs along with the American Institute of Wine and Food. Took a class last November with Chef Trevor Wilcox of Loft 610 in Plano. Chef Wilcox is a wonderful teacher and really emphasized using what you have around you and picking local ingredients. My favorite dish was this potatoe soup he made. Super easy.

Here's to Happy Eating and Happy Cooking and a Healthy rest of the Year! And watch Jamie's video - it's amazing.

-Denise

Website

Bolsa Market Cafe Wine Bar

Dallas Farmers Market

What Style of Womens Jeans Are You?

 

There's a raging debate in the fashion world over skinny jeans  - to wear them or not? Or rather the question is who should wear them?  You'll want to read this rather lucid story from the Huffington Post. It's really funny, because when you really think about it...is it really that important? But then again, you know what it's like when you see someone wearing something that she shouldn't have even tried. 

I took the quiz and first time, I was skinny jeans. Second time, I was dark wash jeans. So that tells me I need to buy dark wash skinny jeans.  I always love Heidi Klum's look...and she's rockin' those skinny leg jeans as is Katherine McPhee. I can't do those stilettos but another vote for skinny leg jeans! 

What Style of Women's Jeans Are You?

The Skinny Jeans Debate

The Denim Blog

 

Lulu Cheung - Hong Kong

Discovered Hong Kong designer Lulu Cheung as I was checking out the global shopping scene on Haute World. Haute World is one of my favorite fashion blogs as it covers fashion from the angle of a window shopper - exploring the ins and outs of boutique shops across the globe.

On the Asian front, Japan dominates the fashion scene, but looking at Lulu's designs, Hong Kong may catch up soon. Lulu's style is simple, sometimes bordering on plain. But her collection seems to center on well-tailored pieces that let you showcase your own style.

Love it! 

   

Websites

Lulu Cheung

Haute World

Hate It or Love It by The Game

Just one of those days.

Romantic Paris - Restaurant Laperouse and the Velvet Bar

Nothing is quite as romantic as walking through the streets of Paris on a winter day. Paris is a city of grey light. Everything looks grey. It's often cloudy and grey. Wintry and grey. But the architecture, the river Seine, the Eiffel Tower...all of iconic Paris make the city so moody, so romantic, so beautiful.

And on a cozy corner in on the banks of the Seine, you'll find Laperouse (51 quai des Grands Augustins), one of the top romantic restaurants in the city. It was founded in 1766 in a private mansion and is known for it's traditional French fare. This Valentine's Day, they have a menu which includes foie gras, scallops, quail, truffles and lots of chocolate.

It also has the swanky Velvet Bar decorated with antiques, velvet armchairs, a bookcase and a fireplace. They serve tapas and have a pianist on Friday and Saturday nights.

Here's a rose stand from Au Nom De La Rose taken in Paris by blogger Angela Murrills. If you're in Paris, it's a must. When you buy flowers from them, they line the shopping bags with rose petals. So "ravishingly" beautiful.

Happy Valentine's

-Denise

Websites

For more ideas on Paris' top romantic restaurants - Check out Context Travel's "Romantique Parisian Valentine's."

Restaurant Laperouse

Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles

 
It's snowing in Texas. Can you believe it? 12 inches of snow in the last few days?  I feel like I should be trudging in snow boots in Minnesota and Vancouver not Dallas. It is very pretty though. With the cold, it's the perfect time to cozy up with a good book, drink some hot chocolate and listen to (gasp!) Andrea Bocelli. My favorite of his first albums - "Sogno."

And I love to read children's books, especially classics written by the likes of Robert Louis Stephenson, C. S. Lewis or an easy Nancy Drew Mystery (my favorite from Mildred Wirt Benson who was one of the first ghostwriters of the series - Read the "Hidden Staircase.") I risk the wrath of Harry Potter fans to say I'm not a fan, don't like such dark fare. But I think I've found my muse in British author Rupert Kingfisher's "Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles."

What attracted me to the book? The word - Pamplemousse. I heard that word from a German neighbor of mine when I asked her how she said grapefruit in German. She said it in her cute German accent. Don't know why that came up, but I've loved that word ever since. Grapefruit vs. Pamplemousse. How in the world did the English language get the word grapefruit compared to pamplemousse? There's just no comparison. 

And the book. For any one that loves food and Paris...it's a treat. It's about this budding little chef Madeleine who is dropped off by her parents to slave away in her uncle's restaurant.  Her uncle has no appreciation for food, so Madeleine's little adventure takes her to Madame Pamplemousse.  Read the rest and go buy some grapefruit! No I think I'm calling it pamplemousse from now on.

- Denise

  Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles