Friday's Fancies

Happy friday everyone! I don't know about you, but I sure am glad this week is almost over. It's been a crummy one in this household with both kids sick. My husband has been gone for the past month now for work. He's due back home next week but the entire time he's been gone I've been crossing all my fingers and toes hoping that neither the kids nor I will get sick. We had a good run, we almost made it. 

For anyone following me on Facebook, watch your news feed because I've recently discovered what a great outlet it is for sharing collages of new trends and current obsessions. Just let me know if I start to get a little overboard.

So as it turns out, this week's friday's fancies is all centered around food. What can I say, I do like to eat. Hope you have a great start to the weekend and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. xx

I have only just discovered these little doughnut peaches and am kicking myself for not trying them earlier (obviously never quite mastered how to 'not judge a book by it's cover'). These little peaches are quite genius. It's flattened shape means you can walk around snacking on them without making a mess. I know I know, hastag firstworldproblem. 

Starting the day off bright and cheery with a rainbow breakfast treat of fruit loops, organic yoghurt and organic strawberries. I am constantly on the lookout for ways to reinvent the most mundane meals to satisfy my picky eaters.   

Could not resist taking these adorable chopsticks home with me. Tried justifying it by telling myself I will start my kids off young. It has not worked yet. My two year old still eats with her hands.

My sister is quite the master baker. How cute are these cupcakes she recently made for a baby shower!?

She also made the adorable three tiered birthday cake for my older daughter's first birthday last year.  

Savouring as much fresh fruit as I can before the end of summer. It's been a nonstop rotation of strawberries-cherries-peaches in this household.

The Instant, No Egg, No Set, Chocolate Mousse

Rarely do I stumble across a recipe so exciting that I rush out a few hours later for supplies and spend the very next morning cooking in the kitchen. I may or may not have let out a little yelp of excitement when I first came across this via the very domestic goddess herself- Nigella Lawson.

I think what excited me most, besides the idea of an instant chocolate mousse is that this recipe requires no raw eggs! For anyone who's never made a mousse before, one of the key ingredients is raw egg yolks. Which means this version is perfectly safe to satisfy the pregnant women of this world. I only wish I had known about this when I was pregnant with my own kids. There's been a few times too many when I've found myself gazing longingly at the mousses in the cake display fridge. As much as I would have loved to give in, I just couldn't bring myself to possibly exposing my unborn child to salmonella or listeria or whatever else the FDA were paranoid over.

Besides being an egg-less mousse, this version also requires minimal setting time and prep time. The result, a rich, airy, decadent dessert that you could whip up in a manner of minutes. Perfect!

 

 

 

Instant Chocolate Mousse 

150g mini marshmallow

50g butter

250g dark chocolate

60ml hot water

300ml heavy whipping cream

1tsp vanilla extract

1. Place marshmallows, butter, chocolate, and water in heavy saucepan over medium heat.

2. Melt contents, stirring occasionally until all combined. Remove and cool.

3. Whip cream with vanilla extract until thick. Fold into cooled chocolate mixture until all combined. Save a few dollops of whipped cream to use for garnish. 

4. Arrange into 4 glasses or ramekins. Garnish with whipped cream and grated chocolate. Chill until ready to eat. 

* Mixture may liquify when combined. Chill to set.

CHOCOLATE PAIRINGS

For anyone feeling adventurous, I put together a few ideas for spicing up this classic chocolate mousse. My personal favourite is chili chocolate. You could easily add a dash of cayenne pepper while heating up the chocolate marshmallow mixture. Or if you like to keep things simple, a sprinkle of sea salt over a classic chocolate mousse is always nice. 

Wardrobe Diaries: Rainy Day Polka-dots

Ah... summer showers, how I love thee. You are a welcome relief to the neverending heat wave. After all, day after day of continuous sunshine and clear blue sky does get rather monotonous. Your visits fill me with joy and gets my heart racing. We're like young love reunited... okay maybe not, but you know what I mean. You fill the air with your lovely muggy scent whilst gracefully scattering the thick cloud of warm air. My kids love splashing about in your downpours. And I can look on lovingly knowing that they are warm enough to not catch a cold. You are my favourite part of summer (though don't expect the same warm welcome from me during Fall). I look forward to you all season, like the anticipation of a phone call from a long lost friend. Warm, inviting and comfortable in it's familiarity with just a hint of excitement.

{ polka-dot vest also worn in this post }

{ aryn k. anorak now on sale . anthropologie vest also loving this and this . bettina liano jeans similar here and here . chanel bag . target sandals similar here and here }

Friday's Fancies

Friday is almost over and I am still here putting together this friday's collection of polaroids. My excuse is... well I don't have one really. I spent the day at the Nordstrom Anniversary sale, enough said.

This week was a good one despite some unexpected news. The highlight was a little midweek getaway with a few girlfriends and all our kids. One of the things I enjoy most about being an army wife is the amazing people you meet who comes from all walks of life and are joined together under a common cause. We all live in close proximity to each other, our husbands all work together and our kids are all roughly the same age. The sense of community here is really strong and quite different to civilian life. I would consider this little community to be quite segregated from the rest of society. We live in the outskirts of major cities. The entire population is mostly made up of military families and contractors. There is no real interaction with the outside world unless you leave the town. When deployment comes around, swarms of soldiers leave together leaving behind their spouse and children. In those times, your friends really do become your family. I know this blog is called {camo meets couture} but I rarely write about military life. I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my world.



Day spent at the manmade beach resulting in the most horrible tan for myself (see instagram @jeneechen) and no signs of sun whatsoever on either of my kids. Sunscreen really is a wonderful product. I really should be using it on myself too and not just the kids.

My daughter's and their bff's. How many people can say that they were friends since before they were born? When I was pregnant with my first, my good friend was also pregnant resulting in our two girls being born two days apart. When I fell pregnant the second time, the same friend also fell pregnant resulting in the birth of our other two girls born two weeks apart. These four were destined to be friends for life. 

Cloud gazing is a favourite passtime of mine. In my much younger days I use to want to be a meterologist. I would bury myself in books memorising different cloud formations and their scientific names. Seriously, who's ever heard of someone say they want to be a meterologist when they grow up?

My little one just loves to smile. Her aunt once asked me in all seriousness if she had a smiling disease? These toothy grins just get me each time. 

Dear Nordstrom, thank you for your yearly Anniversary Sale. I look forward to them each year, especially when they coincide with Tax Free Weekend like this year!

Wardrobe Diaries: Knit and Maxi

One of my fondest memories as a kid were of days spent playing in the evening sun. There's something magical about those last few hours towards the end of the day. It's like all of a sudden the pace of the world slows to a crawl, and everything in sight turns a warm nostalgic glow. I can't help being melancholy whenever twilight comes around. It is definitely my favourite time of the day.

These days instead of sitting and reflecting on the events of the day, I try to take my girls on an evening stroll. I load them both into their little red wagon and away we go in silence stopping now and then to gaze at something delightful. If daytime is for doing and nighttime is for resting, then twilight was made for pondering.

{ catherine malandrino skirt no longer available also loving this and this . country road knit tank similar here and here . guess wedges . R+J clutch no longer available also loving this and this . necklace gift }