Spaghetti al pesto genovese

The secret of making a real genovese pesto (except for using the freshest ingredients) is to grind the ingredients with a mortar and pestle to get a real authentic taste. Most people use electric mixers nowadays which is still fine  however it is important to not over-mix the ingredients as it will then over-heat the sauce . This is one of the most simple recipes and it doesn't require a lot of ingredients, I used this recipe and have translated it for you:

Recipe:

2 cloves of garlic

100ml extra virgin olive oil

50g of basil leaves

70g freshly grated parmesan cheese

30g of pecorino cheese

15g of pine nuts

a pinch of salt ( I use fleur de sel)

*Start by grinding the garlic cloves with a pinch of salt in the mortar until a creamy like texture is formed

*Add a few basil leaves at a time to the garlic together with a pinch of salt and grind (or as they say in italy pestare) until the bright green essence of the basil has come out

*Add the pine nuts and crush until creamy, at this point you may add the 2 cheeses altering them with the olive oil and grind till the texture is consistent

Et Voilà! Buon appetito!  

Anselm Reyle for Dior

*Metallic purple Lady Dior*

Do you remember the colorful arty collaboration of Stephen Sprouse for Louis Vuitton?

Well, this year it's the turn of  german artist Anselm Reyle for Dior.

Reyle uses some of the iconic Dior pieces (such as the Lady Dior bag) and reinterprets them his own way which has resulted in an amazing collection where metallics and camouflage rock it all! 

What are your favorite pieces of this limited edition collection?

I have to admit that I have fallen for the Lady Dior bags :)

*Mise en Dior necklace*

*Clutch*

*Printed camouflage polochon*

*Cannage bracelet - limited edition*

*Camouflage bracelet - limited edition*

*Lady Dior card holder*

*Black Lady Dior *

*Camouflage weges*

*Sac de voyage - camouflage print*

*Carré*

*Make-up palette*

*Limited edition nail polishes*

*Bar Refaeli at the launch of the collection in Paris wearing the Miss Dior pochette*

*All item pictures are from the www.dior.com website

* Bar Refaeli picture from stylosophy.it

Marble cake

Marble cake is one of my favorites and this time I thought about trying out a recipe I found in one of my french cookbooks. 

To be honest  I think they put far too much cocoa powder in their recipe so I decided to decrease the portion and it turned out beautifully by being nice and moist in the inside and had various degradations of chocolate colors which gave it the rustic look.

Next time I will try this recipe and see the difference between the 2!

You can now check out all my recipes on the tab below the "About Me" section

The colorful people of Chinatown Singapore

As I was telling you in my previous post, this weekend we have been celebrating the beginning of the Dragon year, aka the chinese lunar new year... and what better place to feel fully immersed in the celebrations than in Chinatown?! 

In this post I am sharing with you the beautiful colors, people and traditions of Chinatown in full Chinese new year action :)

GONG XI FA CAI ! - (HAPPY NEW YEAR in Chinese)

Animal prints taken to a whole new level!

Have you noticed the frenzy of the animal shaped coin purses? 

2 years ago I received the Louis Vuitton bunny coin purse that you can see in the first and second picture and now I have to say that I love the trend of the actual animal shape!

How do you like this accessory trend?

*Fun Fact: when offering a wallet/purse as a present remember to always put a coin inside it for good luck ;)

This weekend is a long 5 day weekend in Asia for the celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year which will celebrate the year of the dragon :)

*Gucci ladybug coin purse*

*Kate Spade hedgehog coin purse*

*Prada penguin coin purse*

*Louis Vuitton rooster coin purse*

Balinese retreat

The more I go to Bali the more i love it!

As I was telling you in my previous post, this time around we decided to stay in Seminyak which is right by the beach and perfect for a relaxing holiday. Unfortunately since the second we landed we were welcomed with a typhoon-like weather which lasted for our entire stay except for half a day when the sun decided to show up! 

We didn't let the storm ruin our holiday and took advantage of the situation mostly by indulging ourselves at the spa and visiting temples ;) 

Good to know:
How to get there: Bali is a 2h30min flight from Singapore
Best time to visit: from April to October (dry season) 
Sea and beaches: Do not expect Maldivian like water as the sea in Bali is pretty rough and often suffers of pollution however it is known for having great diving spots and is a surfers paradise

*Balinese women are often seen with rice grains (Bija) on their forehead, throat and hair which is applied during their prayer*

*Tanah Lot Temple*

*Planting rice*

*Rice field*

*Dragon sculpture*

*Traditional Balinese dancing statue*

*The W hotel - Seminyak*

*Bathroom in the W room*

*Having a drink at KUDETA by the beach*