Finding 50 and Fabulous...the Supplement debate.

 

What do you think about taking supplements to ward off ills, and hang on to youth?

 

I'm consistently divided. Is that a tautology?

 

Like luxury skin care products vs budget ones, there is much debate surrounding the popping of multivitamins and supplements vs following a normal healthy diet to prolong our looks and good health.

 

I've taken supplements on and off for my entire life. Much as the use of both luxury and budget skin care has been a lifelong practice, I've felt compelled to do so by a Mother who was queen of 'do all you can to stay healthy and live long' proclamations.

 

All I can categorically state is that I believe that had I not done these things, I may look or feel differently to the way I do at the age of 54. I will never know how much impact this practice has had, as it might equally be that I haven't smoked, taken recreational drugs, or consumed other nasty substances.

 

Well....that is to say that I do enjoy a glass of wine, I do eat butter, I do eat sugar. I'm human. And I do not subscribe to current thinking that one or the other of those things is evil. Call me a rebel.

 

I do not eat processed foods if I can help it, and takeaway in all forms is banned in my house. That's just a snobs choice if you will. I cook a better burger than either the M people or the HJ people, and my grilled salmon leaves the one from the takeaway down the road for dead. Although I admire greatly, the addition of 'grilled salmon' to the menu of the local fish and chippery. Perhaps that has helped.

 

I've done a lot of reading and layman's research, and I think overall I prefer to take a few supplements, use organic skin care, and eat sensibly, than risk my health and vastly diminished youth ju-ju (my terminology for whatever happy hormones may be left floating in my body post menopause), than not.

 

Many of these also support organs in the body other than the skin, so that in itself is beneficial.

 

My current list of supplements includes:

 

Magnesium

Co Enzyme Q-10

Fish oil

B Complex

Women's Multi

Antioxidant blend

Chlorophyll liquid

 

I force the first six down with a swig of the seventh in a glass of juice each morning and feel very pious.

 

I recently bumped in to a girl I used to go clubbing with, back in the hey day of the Disco in the 70's and 80's. I wouldn't have recognised her by her appearance. It was her curly hair, her eyes, and some certain mannerisms that jogged my memory. Well...that and her name on her name tag. When I mentioned to The Diva Daughter that the lady had been a friend many years ago, she was incredulous. The poor lady looked fifteen years older than me, and she is in fact two years younger. A victim of the drinking, drugs and debauchery of our era. Sad really. Even sadder was the resignation to her lot in life, her sparkle gone and all traces of the pretty twenty year old I once knew, lost forever. So perhaps much had occurred in the intervening years.

 

Still, part of me wonders how much our respective lifestyle choices, including the taking of nutritional supplements over recreational ones, figured in the difference in our appearances thirty years later.

 

All I can say for certain, is that if you're twenty or thirty-something, and reading this, is....beware....it catches up with you....lol!

 

What do you think?

 

Supplements or no?

 

DIY Owl Cake and Heat Proof Buttercream Frosting...

 

Here's my first attempt at a fondant covered character style cake.

 

I didn't just make this for any old soul. It was a special labour of love for my darling little granddaughter no. 2, who has just turned one. Happy Birthday little petal :)

 

You might remember the giant cupcake I made for her to be photographed with for the invitations to this grand event....

 

 

 

I've been dabbling in cake decorating for a year or two, ever since my daughter in law asked me to make a Princess cake for granddaughter no. 1 for her first birthday.

 

 

This was my first fondant covered cake and I was pretty proud of it overall.

 

The owl was more challenging and do you have any idea how many variations on 'owl cake' there are out there in cyber world....I'm talking thousands. So it was hard to arrive at a decision on how the owl was to be accomplished.

 

In the end, it was just a round cake. Crumb coated, covered in buttercream and smoothed, chilled overnight, and draped in hand tinted supermarket fondant (big cheat!), before using coloured fondant to model the features.

 

I used egg cups and port glasses to cut the eye circles, a heart cookie cutter to cut the breast feathers and impress the wings, and the wings themselves were cut from the curve of a bread and butter plate. The heart cutter came in handy again to cut the sweet eyelashes (just one side of the cutter), and the beak, ears, and feet were hand modelled.

 

A dusting of edible pearl lustre, brings it up a treat :)

 

The quote my daughter in law had for a similar cake was $400. I kid you not. And, might I add, it wasn't nearly as pretty as the one I made with LOVE. And cost? $40.

 

Don't be frightened of decorating with fondant. It's a bit like plasticine modelling and heaps of fun.

 

Like a lot of things though, it  helps to have the base right, and a good smooth buttercream undercoat seems to be the key.

 

Here's a great buttercream recipe for use in hot weather....a must for grand babies birthdays here!

 

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup Copha
• 2 tablespoons cornflour
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons of flavoured essence (I used Rosewater)
• 6-8 cups icing sugar

Mix the first five ingredients then slowly add the sugar till you get a consistency you're happy with. It needs to be fairly stiff, but still spreadable.   Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of this, and allow it to chill. Then coat it lavishly, smoothing and squaring it up at the edges, before allowing it to chill again. There are lots of great Youtube videos on how to do this if you're not sure.   I found this one particularly useful....   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ659Qhy9_Q   Then knead the colour into your fondant, a few drops at a time. Remember you can always add more, but it's fiddly to add extra white fondant to fade the colour if it's too dark.   http://www.wilton.com/decorating/fondant/coloring-fondant.cfm   Dust your bench liberally with icing sugar and roll out like pastry or dough, flip it on to the rolling pin, then drape over your buttercream'd and chilled cake. Smooth it down with your hands, and trim. Again I viewed a few Youtube tutorials to get my head around this.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GF9HjdSYo4   Then off you go with modelling your decorations. I did mine on the day and fixed them with a little water, but apparently you're supposed to do them ahead....cest` la vie...grandbaby did not notice.   A triumph, I think. What say you?   ...Mimi...    

Belly Bands....pretty gift wrap idea....

 

I was marbling/dip dyeing some paper the other day. No fuss for me. No turps or shaving cream.

 

I just tipped a glass of water into a cookie tray, blobbed some acrylic paint in, swirled it with a chopstick, and dropped a sheet of blue paper in, face down.

 

I then flipped the paper over, rested it on a clean teatowel, and allowed it to dry. I think it's pretty. All sort of soft and reminiscent of a Monet painting.

 

Once dry, I cut it in half, stuck it together with tape to form a long 'band', and wrapped it round the so called Belly of my gift.

 

A sliver of toning ribbon, adds a little flourish.

 

I love the idea of Belly Bands. They just add a little extra anticipation to the unwrapping and unveiling.

 

So, do you Belly Band? Or is it all too much bother?

 

...Mimi...

Fascinating time with Flora...

 

I had such a lovely time last Saturday.

 

I attended a Make your own Fascinator workshop with my friend Flora.

 

Flora is an uber clever millinery type, who fashions pretty things from wisps of fabric that the rest of us wouldn't credit with a second glance.

 

 

Here's some of her gorgeous things.

 

So a few of us went along to see if we could inhale some creative neurons just by being in Floras presence, but alas, we had to actually DO stuff!

 

Fortunately all was well, and none of us were to shabby in the creativity department.

 

Here's what my Fascinator looked like when I had finished it....

 

 

...that's a couple of hours worth of cutting satin and organza petals and hand stitching, thankyou. Not to be sneezed at.

 

And of course, the first picture above, is what my fascinator looked like after Flora had waved her magic tidying and stiffening wand over it. Ahem. Thanks Flora....mwah!

 

Clearly I have a few things to learn yet!

 

But honestly, what a gorgeous way to spend a morning. Fluffing around with pretty stuff and fashioning gorgeous girly things. It doesn't get much better.

 

If you'd like to learn how to make your own Flora style fascinator, then there are worse ways to go about it.

 

Flora might have another class sometime soon. Best you keep your eyes fixed on her blog for further news ;-)

 

...Mimi...