Tuesday 30 November 2010

Framed plates


I just realised I didn't post these, and they were one of my favourite parts of our wedding.

After designing and printing our beautiful invitations, the wonderful Helen from Sweet Olive Press let me have the plates she had made for them. Above are the plates I had framed as a gift for my parents, with the rsvp cards and their address, and I had the plate for the invitation card itself framed as a wedding gift for D*. The finishing touch to a perfect day.


*Unfortunately, after being mounted on emerald green silk and carefully framed behind non-reflective glass at hideous expense in a gorgeous blue-grey frame, D's gift was damaged when our flat flooded while we were on honeymoon. It's part of the insurance claim however and the plate itself is still intact and ready to be re-framed when this whole debacle eventually comes to and end.

Sunday 28 November 2010

La Pâtisserie des réves


What a wonderful wedding present, a tasting session at the scrumptious Pâtisserie des réves in Paris' 16th. Created by master patissier Philippe Conticini, these are award-winning cakes to be taken seriously.

We started with a late breakfast of feather-light buttery brioche, doorstep slices of French toast and petits pains gourmands, speciality bread rolls sprinkled with vanilla sugar. Earl Grey and strong black coffee cut through the sweetness, and freshly squeezed orange juice with cloves revived our palates, already straining under the weight of so much butter and sugar.

The salon de thé on rue de Longchamp is light and airy, with double-height windows that look onto a small terrace and a smiling welcome from Vincent. The patisseries are displayed under weighted bell jars, gift items and baking ingredients are high up in niches, giving the shop the air of an art gallery. Fully deserved, as Conticini's créations are culinary works of art.


Take exhibit 1. Post-brunch and already full, we chose to taste the Black Forest gateau, one of the more extragavant items on the menu and rarely seen in patisseries. The gateau, all overblown layers of chantilly cream, dark chocolate sponge and rich cherry syrup, is tucked into a cherry-shaped chocolate shell, itself dipped into cherry glaze. With a tap of the fork, it breaks open with a satisfying crack and spills its contents.



Simple by comparison, our next choice was the sweet orange tart. A dense biscuit base, with a light orange cream and orange glaze that was bittersweet and refreshing. Brioche, bread, toast, gateau, tart, and full bellys.


La Pâtisserie des Rêves

Shop and salon de thé: 
111, rue du Longchamp
75016 Paris

Shop:
93, rue du Bac
75007 Paris

Thank you Delphine Chan!

Wednesday 24 November 2010

50 Most Powerful Women

Time magazine's coverage of Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women List, published yesterday, reads like a who's who of the IT, defence and technology industries. Ten top-flight US female execs were from the IT industry, with 5 VPs, one COO and 4 Presidents or CEOs. New tech companies like Facebook, Yahoo and Apple are leading the way, in a corporate shift which may also spell cultural and social change, for the US is already streets ahead of some European countries in terms of gender equality - the term 'the old continent' is not wholly inappropriate when it comes to equal opportunities.

The International Power 50 - the other four continents crammed onto a single page - includes 12 powerful women from the emerging economies of China, India and Mexico; nine from Britain. The eight from France was surprising, but A Good Thing nonetheless.

Time interviewed several of the women who made the list, including Chanel CEO Maureen Chiquet, and Google VP Susan Wojcicki and entertainment heavyweight Oprah Winfrey. The full list is on the Fortune website.

Sent from my iPhone


Tuesday 16 November 2010

Livre photo prête...


...mais j'attends mon mari ce soir pour l'ouvrir. Quel suspens!

Livre photo CeWe: le bilan


Le livre photo du voyages de noces m'attendait gentillement à la FNAC lors de mon retour de l'Angleterre... on en est ravis! J'adore le texte sur l'épine, ce qui fait 'vrai livre'. Le résultat est tout à fait ce qu'on voulait...

 

J'apprécie beaucoup les divers fonds qu'on peut choisir avec le logiciel CeWe, j'ai beaucoup utilisé la fonctionnalité fond-ésquisse, se qui fait dessin dans un cahier de vacances...


...couleurs à l'intérieur chaudes, saturées, mais pas fausses...

Des souvenirs de vacances sur papier de qualité très bien - même pas en qualité photo - brillante, mais pas trop...

Seul petit bémol: les couleurs sur la couverture sont un peu trop chaudes, mais bon. Merci encore trnd, un super projet!

Friday 12 November 2010

Oh England, I do miss your Victoria Sponge


And your tiffin, and flapjacks, and Bakewell tarts, and carrot cake, and chocolate cracknells...

Thursday 4 November 2010

Your own little Paris


My Little Paris sort son livre from mylittleparis on Vimeo.

I love My Little Paris. My little heart skips with joy when I see an iPhone alert with a new little insider idea. When I came back from Bangalore with freshly threaded eyebrows - and a slightly raised pain threshold - My Little Paris came up trumps, with an authentic bon adresse for, threading near La Chapelle. Arriving home frazzled after a long day, My Little Paris added a touch of glam to my bubble bath with the perfect bathtime playlist. Exclusive offers (My Little brunch at Boucheron, anyone?) are tailor-made for girls like us and the whole site is wrapped up in the gorgeously chic artwork of Japanese illustrator Kanako.

A Paris (and Marseilles, and Lyons) must-have... also available in English for expats and Parisiennes by proxy. And now there is a whole book, at the top of My Little Christmas list.
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