//Paris Trip Part Three - Steven and I//

Although I love posing in front of camera - recently I do not feel confidence like I used to when it comes to having my picture taken.

This time is different. This is Paris. And I think I am ready for it, just for the fun. 

But wait a minute! Who is going to be the photographer? Yes, it will be Steven. He does not like this job at all. But since at home, I promised him that it will be easy and he will not be taking pictures all the time. And he agreed.

Ideally I would like to take picture of a model in the street of Paris. But I do not have anybody but me. At one time in my life and as mentioned earlier I love being my picture taken. And I was not shy about it, but that was many years a go. So this time I planned in advance in my head what type of photography I wanted. And the type of clothing I wanted to wear during the shoot. Again, this is just for fun and curious about how it goes.

So let's take a look at them.

Recently Steven brought our rented storage boxes into our home. Between Steven and I we collected so many junks. So prior to this trip I opened one box and found a vintage fabric that I bought when I was a student about 15 years a go. It was actually a curtain panel. When saw it again, I said to myself that this would be great as a skirt. So I searched on youtube (here) about how to create the flaired pleated skirt. And I sewn the fabric into a skirt that I am wearing on below photograph. And I like the DIY skirt very much!

You see the pink back bow top? I also sewn the top myself. The material bought at Jo Ann fabrics. The cullotes bought at Forever 21.

These pictures was taken a block or two a way from our hotel. And the last 2 days we were in Paris; it was raining a lot.

I taught Steven on how to use the camera. Although they were not perfect like I had in mind - Steven did a great job. It is hard for someone who never even hold this type of camera to use it. The composition is not right. The Parisian building in the background was not in the picture.  The bokeh is not there and is not sharp as this camera is very sensitive. One must be still while pressing the release button and takes practice to be able to do this in order to get the sharp focus.  But I am happy that he is patient enough with me to do this shoot. I think he did a good job, right?

At The Marche aux Puces St Ouen.

Having pizza at Marche aux Puce de Paris

At Sacre Coeur

The Arc de Triomphe was near our hotel. So we started our trip from the metro station Charles de Gaulle Etoile a lot and we go where ever we wanted to go from there.

July is the busiest tourists season in Paris. We went to de Louvre because Steven wanted to see Monalisa. But we could not even get near it. And the museum is so big that we thought we can never get out of that museum after we have seen and walked around a lot in that museum. If you ever visited Musee du Louvre, please wear the thinnest outfit and comfortable shoes like sneakers because there is no air condition in there and with a lot of tourists, each hall was a little bit hot and humid.

 Thank you for stopping by!

//Paris Trip Part Two - The Buildings of Paris//

I do not know why but I really love Parisian apartment buildings. 

When looking from the outside I can only imagine the elegance decor of the inside with its parquet floor, high ceiling and beautiful molding on the wall. What really fascinate me is the doors and windows with its wrought iron balcony and beautiful stone work around it. I really love the elegance of this type of apartment building. So while visited Paris where ever I go - I always look up for the wrought iron balcony;  apparently it has many beautiful designs.

It is in my bucket list that one day if I ever visited Paris again; I will spend more time painting these buildings or take more beautiful pictures of Parisian apartment buildings.

More story about this (here).

 

These two pictures below was taken during the river boat cruise.

 

Don't you just love that little balcony?  

Thank you for stopping by!

//Paris Trip Part One - Our 10th Anniversary//

I can't wait to share our trip to Paris a few days a go. We spent 6 days in the beautiful city of Paris to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. 

Prior to the trip - Steven has booked a restaurant  to celebrate our 10th anniversary in Paris. But upon arrival I suggested that we take a dinner boat cruise so that was what we did. It was a beautiful evening cruising a long the Seine river while having dinner and live piano on board the boat. I really recommend that if you ever visited Paris please take this dinner river boat cruise. You will not be disappointed. I think the best time to do it is during summer like we did in mid July where the sun goes down by about 10 pm. The most beautiful part about the trip was that the boat goes a long the Seine river where all the important historic building situated a long the Seine river and with the sun set about 8 or 9 pm it was the most romantic scene to be witnessed this dramatic view especially when the boat reached the Eiffel Tower. From a distance she is starting to show off her twinkling light. It was just beautiful.

There are a few companies that does this kind a tour. We took the Bateaux Muches one (here).

I did not take many pictures although I brought the camera with me. And when I took some shots I had forgotten to change the setting. So all pictures came out grainy and not what I wanted then I realize the mistake I made. This happened with me on numerous occasions - when I got very excited I forget to change the setting as I always take picture during sunny day.

So let's take a look at those pictures.

Since I took so many pictures on this trip - I decided the best way to post them all was to divide them in four categories or 4 parts; Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four. So the story will be continued to Part Two.

Thank you so much for reading!

//Off to Paris//

Hello,

This is a short post. We are off to Pairs  for 6 days today.

I am super happy and excited to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I can't believe that we have been married for 10 years as of tomorrow.

Will have many pictures and videos to post when we came back.

More on Instagram, (here)

Thank you so much for being in this journey with me.

Have a beautiful day !

//Kaastengels - Cheese Cookies//

I grew up with these cookies. During Ied Mubarak (here) - a religious muslim celebration my - mother bake this cookies each year since I can remember until a few days a go for a Ied Mubarak.

Since Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for hundred years a long time a go I think this is how the cookies adapted to Indonesian people to this date.

I never bake these cookies before but to celebrate Ied Mubarak this yearI asked my mother for the recipe. You know it is one of those thing that when you grow up with a certain food - you tent to neglect to know about it. And I think it is wrong.  I considered this a tradition - my family tradition. And I wanted people to now that this is something I grew up with and since now I am living a broad in the US I wanted Steven's family to know about my tradition. So after baking a lot of these cookies I packed them up and brought them over to Steven's mother and step mother. A long with a brief written explanation about the cookies. And I am very happy that they liked it.

These cookies are so delicious. If you like unsweetened cookies - this is for you. When you bite it - it is soft and crunchy at the same time. And it is super easy to make.

Recipe

Kaastengels (Cheese Cookies)

~ 1-1/2 cup flour

~ 3/4 cup grated hard gouda cheese. Please use the smallest size grater.

~ 1/2 cup margerine, plus

~ 1/2 cup Wijsman butter (here) Alhtough I never used a substitue from regular grocery I think you can use the imported butter for this.

Direction.

1. After grated the cheese, leave the cheese on the counter for over night without cover. And in the morning place the un covered cheese under the sun somewhere in your home for a few hours. This will help the cheese to get dry and add the crunchiness to the cookies.

2. Using a hand mixer - mix the two butter together and add the cheese.

3. Slowly add flour and mix by hand.

4. After putting all the flour mix the batter by hand until it reach to a consistency that it won't stick to your hand any more. Note; to be honest I do not use measurement I just go with how I feel. If it still soft and sticky please add more flour. The right consistency is when you roll the small amount of dough with both hand it wont stick and it will roll nicely. But you do not want it too hard either.

5. Then sprinkle a flour on a working board roll a small amount of dough to create a long round shape like a snake the size of your thumb.

6. Then cut it every 1-1/2 inch and put it on the lining baking tray.

7. Brush the top with egg yolk mix with butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

7. Bake for about 18 minutes at 350 deg.

(Note: To avoid the top egg yolk and cheese to get burn and became dark in color - I bake the cookies without the brushed egg yolk first for about 7 or 8 minutes. Then after 5 minutes when it is start to get colder I brush the half cooked cookies with egg yolk and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese) And bake them again for another 10 minutes until it became a little brownish in color. And while you are working on brushing the egg yolk - put another tray of cookies in the oven. Alternate this will safe time)

Happy baking Everyone!

//Gruyere Mushroom Quiche//

I am not much a fan of mushroom. But recently I started to like mushroom. Though I have not explored the different type of mushrooms out there - I do like the cremini mushrooms especially sautee them with lots of garlic.

This week end I had so much raw mushrooms left over from the Sunday barbeque. And through an internet researched I found this delicious super easy Gruyere Mushroom Quiche. I can not resist on trying the recipe with the mushrooms I already have. And I was not disappointed. It is very tasty - this is the kind of quiche that your guests will like and will talk about during the party. 

So without further a do let's take a look at this delicious dish.

::Recipe::

Gruyere Mushroom Quiche

Ingredients;

~ Store bought frozen pie crust

~ 4 tbsp olive oil

~ 1 large onion, sliced thinly into half moons

~ 8 ounces sliced mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster, shiitake (I only used cremini)

~ 1/2 tsp salt

~ 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

~ 1/4 tsp dry mustard

~ 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dry)

~ 2 large eggs

~ 2 eggs whites

~ 3/4 cup evaporated fat-free milk (not condensed milk)

~ 2/3 cup grated Gruyere cheese (about 1 ounce) plus more to sprinkle on the top.

Directions;

To prepare the filling. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in large nonstick pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Transfer the onion to a bowl. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the pan and and heat over a medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have released their water and begin to brown about 6 minutes. Add the onions back to the pan, stir in the salt, pepper, mustard and thyme.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, egg whites and evaporated milk.

Sprinkle the  cheese into the pie crust. Top with the mushroom-onion mixture and pour the egg mixture on top and sprinkle with the remaining of shredded Gruyere cheese. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degree F. Bake for 35 minutes or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into 6 wedges and serving.

~~~oo0oo~~~

Happy baking Everyone!!

//Grouping My Water Color Perfume Arts//

When I was starting painted the water color perfume arts, I had a vision that the arts will be pretty to hang on the wall as a group like 6, 8 or even more. Since they are small in size grouping is one way to create a dramatic and beautiful gallery wall. The illustrations are feminine and easy to please the eye for people to look at. And since these are all perfumes as a subject - it is better to hang them somewhere in a home studio, home office, craft room, powder room, wardrobe room and a bed room.

Just a suggestion - when you have a simple art like these it is better to frame them with a simple frame. An alternative to frame a group art like this is you can do a DIY. Find a cheap frame in a thrift store with the same size and spray painted them all with the same color. I love gold or white - you can choose a color as well to unite them all. I know when scouring a thrift store for a frame they do not come in the same style frame but give it a coat of same color of spray paint will do and unite them all together. The other alternative is buying a certificate frame at an art store in Michael then spray paint them all.

I found mine at a thrift store in Florida near our home in Delray - they are an antique metal frame. I think you know the frames I am talking about, the one that your grandma used to own. Yes that's the one!

Here I grouped them together in my craft/sewing/studio.

For more arts please check them out, here.

Happy Thursday Everyone and thank you so much for stopping by!