My Halloween fun took place Saturday night so instead of collecting candy I'll be toughing it out in a fitness boot camp but to everyone trick o' treating tonight, be safe and have fun!
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| Vintage Bunny Costume from Missimo.com. |
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Bangle Madness
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Great Case Race 2011
The event was entitled "The Great Case Race 2011" and was held in a condo building in downtown DC, right off 16th St. The original objective was for 12 people to taste 12 bottles of wine, but end of the night tallies revealed that 45 people tasted 48 bottles of wine. Nice. I was invited by my good friend Lauree O. and told we needed to bring a dish as the event was to be pot luck style. From my previous post, you know that I brought chocolate peanut bacon bark (it was delicious). I arrived a little later than most of the party patrons but immediately got acclimated to the festivities and dove right in and began tasting.
The night continued pretty much in the same manner, although, once I discovered that clutch, I didn't want to move too far away from it. So I sat right next to it, only getting up to get more wine. My reluctance to move could have also stemmed from the fact that my shoes, while quite fashionable, were quite painful. And unlike the red shoe abandoner, I refused to take my shoes off and let everyone in the party know fashion had gotten the best of me. So I sat next to the McQueen clutch and silently prayed that the Uni-verse deliver one equally as lovely to my doorstep, post-haste and that Lauree and Peter not want to move to the other side of the room where I would have to stand.
There was a solid array of wines, both red and white. I started with the reds, working my way from medium bodied to full and once the wines became too heavy/"oaky" for my palette, I made my way back to the whites. While tasting, I also mingled with Lauree and her friend from college, Peter. During our mingling (which was mostly walking back and forth among the tables sampling cheeses and the delicious chocolates donated by ACKC Cocoa Bar), Peter stumbled upon a sassy pair of red shoes that had been abandoned by their wearer. He then proceeded to model them for our cameras.
As you can see, he was quite darling. After Peter's sashay in the ruby slippers, we continued walking about sampling cheeses and breads and fruits. I was especially fond of the grapes. How ironic/awkward...me hovering about the grapes at a wine tasting. Go figure. In the midst of all our tasting and sampling and mingling, I noticed a newly acquired friend, Ashton, whom I met at a Brooks Brothers' event a few days prior. With Ashton was a lovely girl, who was made even more lovely by the Alexander McQueen skull clutch she brought along with her and casually discarded on a nearby bench while she mingled. Upon spying the clutch, I told her I needed a moment in private with it and proceeded to hold and caress and photograph it.
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| Alexander McQueen Skull Clutch |
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| I didn't want to let it go. :( |
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| Fashionable but painful. |
The Uni-verse answered one prayer and I continued to sit, we also continued to chat and drink taste. Towards the end of the night, we were notified that the evening's donations totalled over $1000 and would benefit an organization, known as 'Hole in the Wall Gang', a camp for ill children. Along with cheers, that elicited more drinking tasting until finally there were only 3 bottles of wine left.
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| The damage. |
An announcement was made that the party needed to dissolve or we could take the 3 bottles of wine and relocate to the roof. Most chose to head home or to other venues. The rest of us, steadfast in our glorious wine-induced haze, headed up to the roof to enjoy the remaining wine and a crisp fall night overlooking the city.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Wine and Chocolate
Last week I was invited to a wine tasting. We were asked to bring a dish, as all the wine was being provided free of charge. At the last minute, I remembered a friend's chocolate bacon bark from a party last year and decided to make it for the party, as what pairs better with wine than chocolate? Ok, maybe cheese, but I didn't have time for all that. The recipe called for 16oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 cup of unsalted peanuts, and 8 strips of fried and minced bacon (fry first, mince later). I added the semi-sweet chocolate chips to a "double broiler" (in this case, I placed a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water and once the water began to boil, I added the chips to the bowl) and stirred until the chips melted and the consistency was soft and smooth. I added the peanuts and the bacon and stirred them in until the peanuts were covered in chocolate. I then lined a cookie sheet with wax paper and poured the chocolate, bacon and peanut mixture over the wax paper. I used a plastic spatula to smooth the mixture evenly over the wax paper and then I refrigerated the ingredients for one hour. After one hour (you can go longer), I removed the cookie sheet from the refrigerator and proceeded to break the bark into small pieces. And voila! See below for the final outcome.
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| Chocolate Peanut Bacon Bark |
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