Lavinia at Home

To me, the month of August always seems quiet. If you happen to live in a metropolitan area, you’ll notice less traffic and the streets are quieter too. Most people are either on vacation or headed out to the beach or lake.

However, it’s a great time to enjoy the city parks and check out the city’s calendar of events; there’s always a concert or some summer activity to enjoy. Or maybe you’re a stay-at-home person and just want to clean out a closet or freshen up your house plants. Whatever it is, enjoy it. Relax too. Take a nice long bath or grab that book you always wanted to read.

You can also make yourself a cold pitcher of Sangria – great for these warm nights.

Here’s my favorite recipe for Sangria.

1 bottle of chilled red wine (750 ml)
2 cups of orange juice (not concentrated)
1 can of club soda
1 can of lemonade or lemon-lime soda (e.g., 7up or Sprite)
1 orange diced
1 apple diced

Fill the pitcher with diced fruit, add wine, orange juice and stir. Add club soda and lemonade or 7 up, all to your own taste.

Chill mixture in the refrigerator to let the Sangria absorb into the fruit. Serve in ice-filled wine glasses, so that the flavor is not watered down before it is served. For those who do not care for a lot of fruit in their glass, you can pour the liquid portion of the Sangria into the glasses, then cut a thin round slice of orange and place it on top of the glass as a float for decoration.

Enjoy your Sangria and don’t forget to checkout my lingerie, activewear and new accessory line at www.LaviniaLingerie.com

Cheers!

I think June is such a transitional month, there is such a swing of weather temperature this time of year, and the question is always the same as we shuffle through our wardrobe “what to wear“. Well I’m delighted to say that when it comes to our foundations & garments at Lavinia Lingerie & Activewear, you don’t have that problem so check us out. If you are like most of us, you’ll be at the gym trying to lose those “winter gains” our active wear is easy, light and attractive to wear.

With the start of the warm weather approaching, enjoy this refreshing dish of yogurt and cucumbers.

Start with a quart of plain yogurt; add 2 cucumbers cut small, now add some mint chopped fine, a dash of garlic to taste, and a pinch of salt.

Great dish for the summer months.

If you don’t have enough yogurt make your own…

1 quart of milk

3 table spoon of plain yogurt

Bring to a boil and let cool, not too cool, you test the temperature by dropping milk on the wrist or by using the tip of your little finger and count to 10, the milk should sting slightly. Pour the milk into a glass or crockery dish, add the plain yogurt and stir thoroughly, cover with a towel. The milk should jell in about 5 to 7 hours. Place in refrigerator..

Enjoy!

May is here – a month when we all focus on planting our gardens, and tiding up the yard, looking forward to those warm summer days.

But wait, this is the month we celebrate motherhood.

While driving up from Virginia, we saw a sign by a garden center that read “Mother called, she needs bloomers”! I must say we had a chuckle.

So on the light side, you should check out our seductive lace lingerie at LaviniaLingerie.com and get mom the “bloomers”, she would enjoy. Lets head for the kitchen and make these delightful Linzer Tarts for Mothers Day.

May is looking really good.

Linzer Tarts
2 cups flour
1½ sticks of butter
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup of grounded almonds(optional)

(Smuckers) red or black seedless raspberry jam
Confectionnary sugar for dusting tarts
Cookie cutters set

Mix the first six ingredients in a food processor or by hand. Let the dough rest for about one hour in the refrigerator. Roll dough 1/3 at a time, 1/8 of an inch thick (more on the thinner side). Using the cookie cutter set, choose your desired size.

For entertaining, I prefer a 2 ¼” round cutter for the base, and the 1 inch for the center cut out on top. You should get about twenty three to twenty five cookies. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F.

Let cookies cool and spread jam on bottom base cookie, placing the ring cookie on top and dusting with powder sugar. ENJOY!!!!

Spent a few days in Virginia and had a wonderful time – what a great state and a quick ride will get you into Washington DC too. And if you haven’t seen the new World War II Memorial, it’s a must. Mark your calendar and visit this beautiful site. It moved me to tears. What a beautiful tribute to all brave men and a symbol of the price we paid for freedom. The DC area is so majestic and offers a memorable journey into our past; one of my favorite spots is the Jefferson Memorial. No matter what, I always make a quick visit to it.

Enjoyed a day in Georgetown. It’s a great “young town” with wall-to- wall shopping and eating. The restaurants are wonderful; one of my favorites is Neyla’s. You should try it if you enjoy Mediterranean cuisine; the chef is amazing. Then I was off to Leesburg, Virginia, a old town with antique stores and teashops with a great old world feeling.

Something you must do if you are a wine lover is visit the Virginia wineries. It’s amazing; there are over 90 wineries in Virginia, and the wine is wonderful, one of my favorites that I was recently introduced to, was a red wine by Chateau Morresette, Sweet Mountain Laurel, another if you like white was Sarah’s Patio by Chrysalis Vine yards, and if you are interested there is a wine Festival Sept 30th; Oct1st, it’s a worthwhile adventure.
They say Virginia is for lover’s, so before you pack that bag and enjoy all that wonderful state has to offer check out our web site at LaviniaLingerie.com
There are some lovely items you ladies should just never leave home without ….

I would like to share with you one of my favorite Middle Eastern desserts called Mahalabieh – a white pudding

1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup corn starch
1/8 tsp. salt
2 3/4 cup milk
orange blossom water to taste
pistachio nuts or silver almonds (the nuts are for decoration)

Mix the first three ingredients together in a pot slowly adding the milk. Bring to a boil slowly, constantly stirring over a medium heat. As it thickens add a drop of orange blossom water to your taste. Pour into dessert cups and sprinkle with the almonds or pistachio nuts to decorate. I prefer to crush the pistachio nuts to a powder before using.
Refrigerate and serve cold.

Enjoy the sweet nectar, the fruits and wines of Virginia.

“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit” Kahlil Girbran

It’s April, when the promise of spring is just beginning and plants are awakening from their winter sleep. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. I love to go outside in the garden–it’s my place to enjoy the beauty of nature and escape. Just the thought of the fragrance makes me smile. If you don’t have a place to retreat like this, make one. Buy yourself some plants and bring a garden into your home. Explore the possibilities. Grab a book and go to the coziest place in your house. Put some music on, light a candle and take a long soothing bath. Find that special something to rejuvenate yourself. The spring season can do that for many people. Have you noticed it too? There’s a freshness to the air. Clothing is lighter. Joggers are out–walkers too. Mothers are pushing baby strollers through the park. Children are jumping to get of the house and play.

So, let’s get out there in the spring air. Walk, run and jump with excitement. And, if you want to go out with added performance and style, check out our spring line of lingerie and exercise wear – it’s great for yoga, dance and the gym too. Visit our website to see Lavinia Lingerie & Activewear.

P.S. – I discovered a great new recipe last month, which is delicious and easy to make. And if you know someone who can’t or won’t eat dairy and animal products, it’s a perfect treat.

Holiday Cake

2½ cups flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup oil
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup orange juice
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup water
1cup raisins

Combine the sugar and oil, add the orange juice, baking powder and water.
Add dry ingredients. Spray a 9″ x 11″ pan and pour in mixture.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes.

Make it happen!