Happy B♥Day my Love!

Yes!! Today is my husband's birthday!..as well as my Mom's {but unfortunately she lives far far away from me}.. We celebrated with a HUGE lunch all cooked by me and served by our children! They had so much fun serving their Dad, pretending to be at a restaurant called "Mami's Kitchen". They were wearing their aprons and napkin folded on their arm.. They even wrote a Menu describing all the courses. Of course I directed this whole thing, I had a lot of fun too..especially cooking! I just love to cook. I'll share with you the dessert... Profiteroles! Et voila'!! The Puffs came out gorgeous!.. I followed a recipe from Martha Stewart's web-site.. then I filled them with pastry cream (= crema pasticcera) and covered them with a delicious chocolate sauce. YUM!!!
I know my husband had a great day and a big smile on his face. :)

Be My Valentine..

My vacation in Colorado is almost over. I will be back soon to sunny {but rainy at the same time} California. :)
While here I got inspired to create a new cozy for my shop.. for Valentine's Day, of course!!! It's the closest holiday, all the etsy shops and treasuries are already full of hearts and love themes.
I like this time of year, especially here in the States... not only because I'm a big fan of pink, red and hearts... In my country Valentine's Day is celebrated exclusively between boyfriend and girlfriend, while here everybody is involved! It's an occasion to show love and affection to the people close to you.. {am I right?}.. :)
I couldn't help but reading the history behind this day about Love. In Italy we call it "the Day of St. Valentine", it originally takes the name from a Saint who became a martyr in the ancient Rome. He was killed because he went against the Law by marrying christian couples. He gave his life for Love. So beautiful!
Well, to celebrate this feast I made a cute new item.. a Ladybug in Love cup cozy! I will share a picture with you, as well as a few other items among the many I like from different shops on etsy.




from the shop CreativePartyBanners



from gufobardo


from misala


from papernosh

Happy New Year 2012!!!

...May this new year bring us Peace and all the desires of our Heart...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

{ LADYBUG GIVEAWAY }

Almost a month ago I received a message from a sweet girl asking me to participate in a give-away. This is my first experience and I'm thrilled!! I'm giving away one of my cozies, the Ladybug in the Clouds, through her blog. If you are interested and would like to have the opportunity to win one, just click HERE and follow her directions. :)

http://shealynns-faerie-shoppe.blogspot.com/2011/12/2nd-day-of-christmas-le-belle-madeline.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ShealynnsFaerieShoppe+%28Shealynn%27s+Faerie+Shoppe%29

Merry Christmas!

I Wish You All a Beautiful and Blessed Christmas!!
xoxo

Merenda time!!

Merenda is the Italian word for "afternoon snack". Today, under my husband's request, I made Churros for the first time! I found the recipe on the online magazine Bon Appetit, one of my favorite magazines. They are basically fried eggy dough covered with sugar. They didn't come out too bad, the frying oil was probably a little too hot so they came out crunchy on the outside but not completely cooked inside. They were edible though... they are almost all gone! :) I also served, to my husband and children, a delicious hot chocolate. It was great!!
I was curious to know more about this crunchy Spanish snack..I knew it came from Spain and it's very popular all over South America and Mexico, but I found out it was a recipe made by Spanish shepherds, to substitute fresh bakery goods. Churro paste was easy to make and fry in an open fire in the mountains, where shepherds spend most of their time. I think it's interesting...
Here's a picture taken earlier to show you how they came out! Bon Appétit!!

my Ladybugs...

I don't remember how I started to create my little Ladybugs.. probably because since I moved to California it became my favorite bug! My yard is always full of them, my children like to observe them, I love the feeling and tickling of their tiny legs walking on my arm, or hand. Sometimes we find them in the house! They are just cute bugs and are now part of my BUG ON A MUG collection of cozies!
The last one I made, after the success of my Ladybug in the clouds, is the Ladybug walking on the Moon.. the first is a "day-time cozy", so why not create a "night-time" one? :) Check it out and see if you like it!!