It’s February – out with the January blues and in with reds Hearts Chocolates, fudge and roses, wine and red lingerie. The month for romance and chocolate lovers.

I love February. It’s not just a month for lovers, it’s a time to be nice to yourself. Don’t wait for someone to buy you flowers, when you are passing the flowers stand or in the market buy yourself some flowers, put them on your desk at work or in your kitchen, it’s a great pick me up. A drop of bleach in the vase will keep your roses fresh a little longer.

Here are a few helpful hints:
If you are planning a meal for that special someone and you don’t want an unpleasant odor in the room, simmer a small pan of vinegar, or add vinegar in the water. If its fish make sure you wash the cooking implements with vinegar.

If you light candles and the wax gets on a wood surface, you can soften it with a hairdryer. Once softened, remove the wax with a paper towel and wash with vinegar and water. If the wax gets on your linen, remove as much as you can with a butter knife and place fabric between two blotters, such as a paper towel or napkin and press it with a warm iron. If the color from the candle stains the fabric, try some dry cleaning solvent and wash immediately.

If you spill red wine on your linen, you can pour some white wine over the stain immediately or later. You can also make a paste of baking soda and water and leave on to absorbed, while spraying with a little water intermediately.

I am concluding my note with a chocolate lover’ delight – my favorite recipe for rich fudge brownies:

Brownies:

4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of butter (2 sticks of butter)
4 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 cup of flour

Fudge Topping:

2 cups of sugar
1/3 cup of butter
1 can of condensed milk (12oz)
1 cup (8oz) semisweet special dark chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, prepare a 13×9 inch pan, buttering pan thoroughly. Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Melt butter and chocolate in saucepan, let cool, and gently fold into egg and sugar mixture. Slowly add flour, mixing thoroughly. Pour into pan and bake for 25 mins, do not over bake as brownie should remain moist. In a separate pan, melt your butter slowly adding sugar and condensed milk stirring constantly over low heat for about 5 mins ,add chocolate chips mix thoroughly and beat until smooth, it should be a nice smooth consistency and not thick. Remove from heat pouring (should pour easily) over the brownie immediately. Time the cake to come out of the oven just seconds before the fudge mix is done. Allow to cool. Put in the freezer to set. Cut into one inch squares and enjoy!

Remember … if you are one egg shy for a recipe, substitute I teaspoon of cornstarch.

Don’t forget to check out our website at LaviniaLingerie.com for that someone special you!

Amore!

Chocolate Shortbread

1 cup flour (unsifted)
½ cup butter
½ cup powder sugar or ¼ cup super fine sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup cocoa powder

Preheat oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Cream the butter, add sugar and vanilla until well blended, sift in flour and cocoa until the mixture forms into soft dough.

Cut the dough in half and shape it into two rounds. With your thumb and finger, pinch the dough around the edge and prick all over with a fork. The pattern should resemble the bottom of a petticoat. If you would rather shape the shortbread it into hearts, go for it!

Bake for 30–35 minutes on a cookie sheet. Lightly score the shortbread into wedge slices. Remove from oven. While it’s still warm, completely cut the shortbread into wedges. Let it cool and serve.

There are so many different variations of Scottish shortbread and petticoat tails are just another version of this delicious butter cookie. Petticoat tails originated in Edinburgh around 1560 when Mary Queen of Scots arrived back from France. Her French chefs modified the traditional Scottish recipe for shortbread and produced small thin cakes called “petites gatelles” (little cakes), which later became known as petticoat tails. Although, some believe that the origin of the name came from its shape as the cakes resembled the petticoat hoops worn by the ladies in old Scottish Court. Either way, they are delicious. Yum!

Not all of us have that special someone in our lives, so I think it’s time to be nice to ourselves. Now that the shortbread is ready, sit down, pour yourself a glass of red wine and enjoy your chocolate shortbread. Tomorrow buy yourself some flowers, and don’t forget to take a quick peak at Lavinia’s new lingerie. The brown lingerie is very appealing too.
It might just be what the doctor ordered.

Love is in the air. Love is everywhere!

Enjoy the moment, enjoy the month.

Simply trying to bake some holiday cookies for the family or friends can be stressful. I find that you can even get more stressed out when someone you love tries to tell you to relax. One technique I like, breathing in through the nose and slowly exhaling through the mouth a few times. I think that it really helps. Try it!

And if none of the above works, check out our Lavinia Lingerie site. We have some lovely new items and colors within our active wear collection for yoga or pilates classes. Check out our capri leggings, sports bras, bandeau tube tops and yoga shorts. Maybe there’s a nice piece that’s perfect for one of your friends. Hey, don’t forget something nice for yourself, you deserve it. I know most of my friends seem to forget their troubles when they do a little shopping for themselves; it’s definitely a distressed.

And if you still feel like baking, try out these delicious cookies:

Chocolate Almond Fingers

3/4 cup of butter

3 ounces of almond paste

1/3 cup of sugar

6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup of finely chopped pistachios

1 2/3 cups of flour

Note: Nuts are optional

Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper or grease and lightly flour it.

Cream butter and sugar until blended; add almond paste and egg yolk, beat until light and fluffy. Blend in flour to make smooth dough; refrigerate the dough for a little while if the dough seems too soft to handle. Lightly flour your baking board and divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 12 inch rope and cut each cookie into a 2 inch length. Place 2 inches apart on a prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Place on a rack to cool. Melt your chocolate in a bowl over hot water, stirring until smooth. Dip both ends of the cookie in the chocolate and then in the pistachios, or if you have small children, maybe you can dip them in colored sprinkles. Enjoy!

To all my friends and fellow shoppers, I wish you a Joyous Holiday Season and a Happy New Year.

Enjoy!

For that special evening you’re planning, I thought I would share with you my favorite holiday Yule Log recipe.

Serves 6 to 8
6 ounces ( 175 g ) dark chocolate
3-4 tablespoons water or strong black coffee
5 large eggs, separated
8 ounces ( 225 g ) granulated sugar
11 fluid ounces (300 ml) heavy cream

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Line a 10 x 12 inch baking tray with baking parchment paper. Break chocolate into a bowl. Add water or coffee and melt over simmering water, then cool. Beat egg yolks with sugar until thick, then mix with the chocolate. Beat egg whites until stiff, then fold through the chocolate mixture. Pour into the baking tray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until firm to touch. Remove it from the oven and cover with a damp towel; this will make it easier to roll. Let stand for several hours or overnight, then place a sheet of baking parchment paper on your work area and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Remove towel and place the thin chocolate cake (cake side face down) on top of the sugar, then remove your lining paper very carefully. Whip the cream and flavour it to your taste by adding vanilla, Tia Maria or Kahlua. Spread over chocolate cake and roll it up carefully so that it resembles a log. Slip it onto your favorite serving dish and dust with confectioner sugar.

In the event you have any problems with your cream, here are a few tips.

A quick way to whip cream is to add a pinch of salt to the cream before whipping; it strengthens the fat cells and makes them more elastic. This helps the cream stiffen much more quickly. If your cream will not thicken, chill the cream and bowl. That is, set your bowl of cream into a bowl of ice water while you are ready to begin whipping it. Add the white of an egg, chill and then whip. If the cream still does not stiffen, gradually whip in 3 or 4 drops of lemon juice. Cream whipped ahead of time will not separate if you add a touch of unflavoured gelatin (1/4 teaspoon per cup of cream). To eliminate a lot of mess when whipping cream with an electric beater, try this: cut 2 holes in the middle of a piece of wax paper then slip the stems of the beaters through the holes and attach the beaters to the machine. Simply place paper and beaters over the bowl and whip.

Until next time, have a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends.

Don’t forget to visit my website at www.LaviniaLingerie.com

This year though, as we sit down to our Thanksgiving dinner, we have to be thankful that we have a place to sit and those we love are around us. It has been such a devastating year across the country and the world and so many have lost so much.

Stuffed cabbage in tomatoe sauce.
1 large head of cabbage ½ c. rice (raw)
1 ½ lb. ground beef or lamb ½ c. parsley, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped fine salt and pepper
1 clove garlic chopped fine 2 to four Tbsp. butter

Core the cabbage and parboil, removing outer leaves as they become tender. Set aside to cool. Mix meat, onions, garlic, rice, parsley, salt and pepper and about 1/3 to ½ cup of water. Remove the heavy part of the vein from each leaf. Place 1 full tablespoon of the meat mixture on the end of the leaf. Fold each side of the leaf over the meat and roll it. Place cabbage rolls in a large pot close together in layers.

If using tomato sauce, pour 1 (8 ounce) can of sauce over cabbage and add enough water to cover the tops of the cabbage rolls. Top with dabs of butter. Place an inverted small plate on top, cover pot and simmer for about ¾ hour. Serves 6 to 8.

I hope you enjoy the stuffed cabbage and the holiday season too! Don’t forget to check out our new sexy lingerie line at www.LaviniaLingerie.com. The colors are energizing.

Enjoy!