blove

This picture makes me swoon <33 src="http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af351/emishop/bcp.jpg">

I have a thing for leather accessories, I think I have a matching wallet for every bag. I found the above photo from Flickr - it's of someones colorful collection of Balenciaga Coin Purses with both regular hardware and giant silver hardware. I love the blues the most and I've been on the hunt to find one. I've looked everywhere and it's been impossible to find since these colors are from past seasons. I checked out TPF today and found out that the 2010 colors are very similar to these two! I hope they make them in the giant gold hardware *cross fingers*

Paper Goods

I've been an etsy.com member for a few years now and have always enjoyed scouring the site for unique finds. I finally decided in the midst of decluttering my closet to make use of all the excess paper I've collected through the years of helping my cousin with invites for her wedding. I created some greeting note cards, personalized stationary and invites which are now available on my etsy site: http://www.shekstar.etsy.com. Please stop by and check it out :). Any feedback would also be greatly appreciated!

Project FABULOUS!

I absolutely adored Leanne Marshall's creations on Season 5 of Project Runway! Here's a picture of her showing at Bryant Park during New York fashion week last year:



Her creations are so beautiful and whimsical, so imagine my excitement when I logged onto bluefly.com today and saw this:





Her pieces on bluefly are so pretty and 20% off! Snap them up while you can. These are much more affordable pieces than her other clothes on etsy --> leanimal. I'm going to go shopping now so excited cause I have a $10 credit on bluefly that I never used. Happy shopping, be sure to check it out!

red, white and blueberry

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

I'm making red, white and blueberry cupcakes for today's barbeque. Here's the recipe:

MAKES 12 MEDIUM CUPCAKES

CUPCAKES

1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup fresh strawberries

TOPPING

2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup fresh strawberries
1/3 cup fresh blueberries


Make the cupcakes. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Put the blueberries and strawberries in a small bowl and stir them gently with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Sift the remaining flour, the baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until smoothly blended and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. In 2 additions, beat in the egg whites, mixing until smoothly blended. Add the vanilla and almond extract and beat for 2 minutes. The batter should look smooth but foamy. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the milk. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the blueberries and strawberries into the batter.

Fill each paper liner with 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/2 inch below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the cupcakes from the pan onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Make the topping. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until firm peaks form.

Use a small spatula to spread a generous 3 tablespoons of whipped cream evenly over the top of each cupcake. Gently spoon several raspberries and blueberries over the whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate up to 5 hours, and serve cold.

Here's a picture of my finished product, I arranged the strawberries and blueberries into stars and stripes. The cupcake liners are from Bake It Pretty.

Cute Bakeware!

I absolutely LOVE baking/decorating baked goods and just as importantly - sharing it with friends and family! Here's a picture of a cake I made a few years ago, as you can see I went a little crazy with the frosting:



I frequently browse Williams-Sonoma and Crate Barrel - ever since moving into our own place a few years ago, I've become engulfed in home decor/baking. Here are a few of my favorite finds that I heart and hope to add soon to my bakeware collection:


Williams Sonoma Pocket Pie Molds
This nifty two piece set is only $17 and very kid friendly - which is perfect for my two little sisters (6 & 7). The molds have a cute peek-through filling cut-out and can be used to stuff with meat, cheeses and fruits. You can make your very own hot pockets! I would love to make a ton of these to serve at a party or to bring to a bbq.



Williams Sonoma The Great Cupcake Pan
Calling all cupcake fanatics! This is the ultimate cupcake cake. This cupcake pan bakes in two molds and I imagine is easy to piece together with a little frosting "glue". There are so many possibilities with this cake pan. My favorite idea would be to hollow out some of the bottom center and fill it with chocolate fudge or ice cream. :) This would be my ideal birthday cake even though I'm not 10 anymore. If only it wasn't $36!



Crate & Barrel Mini 8-Loaf Pan
How cute is this pan. It's the perfect size to make a variety of loaves to wrap up and give away to friends and family for holidays. Way more cost and time effective than baking one mini loaf at a time or buying a ton of mini loaf pans. It's only $11.95 at the Crate and Barrel outlet. I'm definitely going to get this one and making lots of yummy loaves to share.