Mirror ... mirror on the wall ...

What mirrors can do to a room ... add that elegance and style ... I would have just added the snap of my own home with my round mirrror ... but its not the same as showing you some great rooms ... with what mirrors do ... to make my point...

These rooms are fabulous... elegant and I go... woooow .... even as a designer ... ... it makes my heart skip a beat ... they sure have the uuumppphhhh factor about them ... :) ...and glamour too and ... well ,well , now ...let me tell you whose created them...

She is Jan Showers ,every bit the elegance that her rooms are. An interior designer from Dallas ,Texas ... and sitting here in India... I am inspired. I hope you get inspired too ... love the way she uses mirrrors...

Bevelled mirrors ... framed ... is just one of the many ways we designers ...innovate our designs.

My personal favorite thing to do...and probably the reason I decided to feature Jans' work ... the larger than life mirror... here too its a collection of bevelled pieces framed ... they create a lovely play of lines in a room ...a single huge mirror can be just as dramatic ...minus the line scape ... if thats not what clicks with you.
And finally meet the lady...creating these beautiful rooms ...now you know ,she is every bit the elegance and glamour her rooms personify ... visit her website ... http://www.janshowers.com/ and I am sure you'll love what you discover ...

And I can't believe I discovered someone who loves mirrors as much as I do... :)

add height to your room with curtains...

If you are thinking about redoing your curtains ... here's a point you might find handy ,while you shop for your new curtains... longer curtains increase the feel of height in any room. Hang your curtains closer to the ceiling and if your room has just a few feet on the sides of the windows ... then you might want to think of extending your curtain rod or the channel (if that's what you'll be using)the whole span of the room.
This definitely allows uninterrupted view through the window ...as well as visually since the eye travels a longer length ... you have the feel of more height in a room ... wall to wall curtaining at the same time will make your room feel more wider.

Strawberries .... strawberries ...every where

The strawberries have arrived in the markets of Mumbai ... they seem to be every where ... I am so sure the strawberry crop this year at Mahabaleshwar, has again been very good.I can almost smell them in the air.
In our house, we wait all year for the strawberry season to begin.Guess, we are a very -berry family ... the first pack that arrives ... is completely devoured up... with no trace except for the loud clicking of tongue ... and sour taste glands declaring... cease fire.
Wonderful Strawberry recipes ... soon follow. Here is a very simple recipe to use your strawberries.
1.Chop your strawberries... (say a small container of medim size 15-20 strawberries)
2. Add sugar (1-2 tsp) add an extra tsp. if you feel fruit is still tart.
3. Allow to stand for 10-15 min.'s and its all done.
You have a wonderful strawberry mix... to enjoy all by it self.It tastes fabulous with chocolate icecream ... chocolate cake(with a dollop of fresh cream)...
Hope you enjoy some fresh fruits of the season and if like our family you are a strawberry buff... do let me know... share your recipes with us ... or write in to know few of ours ...

Its Lily -G ... now

Oh ,Dear...I'm not quite sure whats happening ... but I hope this is not a trend... another one of my very new favorite blogs isn't going to be around... sadly have to say I will miss another source of graceful elegance ... and another blogger who loves Ralph Lauren ... just as much as I do. Do check out Lili-g ,the blog ... but you will still find a link to them on my blog to view the beautiful posts till now...
Rajee

the last post ... on lily-g............................

absolutely beautiful things: Time Out

absolutely beautiful things: Time Out
It was alway a beautiful feeling to click ... and pop came up ..a beautiful pink blog ... I have to say I am addicted to Anna Spiro's ... pink blog ...just...just sooooooo..beautiful... Anna... I am sure we all have our moments and our reasons...but I will miss you terribly... loved you're posts popping up so many times in a day...so many beautiful things to catch up on ... I am soooo addicted to your blog ... well..........................................................
Wish the very best to you and will wait for your website to come up ...
Rajee

Memories on a silver platter ...

On a recent vacation by the sea side ... my daughter Sarah,my nephew Shaurya and I collected loads of beach goodies... each little pebble with its own story to tell ... as a romantic junkie... I surround myself with memories ... as a designer I put it on a silver platter... on the coffee table. A very personal touch to any home.
How do you personalise your home ... and if you are a designer your ideas are welcome too ... do share your ideas of how to personalise your home decor.

Basics about wine ...

You are curious about wine … but not quite sure where to start … well here’s where to begin … know… what is wine. Simply put, wine is an alcohol…made from grapes. Honestly speaking… there’s so much that happens in between deciding the good regions to start vineyards…to the bottle you’ll buy, that …it’s an art…science and a labor of love.
All the times that you’ll hear people rambling away … about wine … well, no its not, all put on…it can be a passionate interest .The more you know about it the more you are drawn to it as an art…as a romance…
Wines are made from red grapes and white grapes, and to start with I’d like to introduce you to wines as red wine…white wine…rose wine…sparkling wine(Champagne would come in this category) and fortified wines.
Within each of these types there are different varieties of grapes .It is this different varieties that give every wine its unique character and flavor.These different varieties are called the varietal.
Let me tell you some of the major red and white wines …getting to know them you are already on a good start.

Red Wines….

Cabernet Sauvignon (Ka-ber-nay So-vee-nyon)
Merlot ( Mer - lo )
Zinfandel (Zin - fan -del)
Syrah ( Sah- ra or Shi-raz)
Pinot Noir ( Pee-no Nwar )
Sangiovese (San-gee-o-v-zee)
Barbera (Bar-bear-a)

White Wines …

Chardonnay … (Shar-doe-nay)
Sauvignon Blanc…(So-veen-yawn Blah)
Semillion … (Say-mee-yaw)
Muscat… (Moos-cat)
Pinot Grigio …(Pee-no-gree-zo)
Reisling(Rees-ling)
Gewurztraminer… (Gah-vurtz-tra-meener)

Knowing this you are all ready to go and pick up that bottle of wine you've been thinking of for all this time... trust your taste buds ... and you are on your way to discovering the romance of wine.

Chinese Orange Marmalade Recipe...

Priya Kumar... wanted to know how to make marmalade with the Chinese Oranges ... well, Priya... I truly hope you enjoy making it ... will wait to hear your side of the story.

Luckily, I had a few Chinese oranges ... all plum...ripe and orange on my little orange plant.And I wanted to make the marmalade as I write this recipe down for all my readers... so here goes... and please do note I use no preservatives ...and ...aaahhh... no ... it can't go easy on sugar ... :)

Ingredients -

- Chinese oranges

- Sugar

( P.S - I do not mention the quantity of the two ingredients because ... you only need to remember a 1:3 ratio ... sugar will be 3 times the quantity of your chinese oranges )

Method -

Wash and pat dry the oranges ... cut them into two halves and remove all the seeds.Now, slice the oranges into thin slivers.We don't remove the rind ... the whole fruit is used .

The deseeded amount of fruit ...will give you exact idea of ...what the 3 times quantity of sugar is ...(e.g - 250 gms of deseeded and diced oranges needs 750 gms of sugar.)Trust me ... they may smell sweet while cooking ... but you need that kind of sugar... they are sour as hell.

Put the oranges in a cooker ... and add water (1/4 th of a cup per 250 gms)

Cook it covered till steam starts to come out ... turn the heat to low ... and cook for about 15-20 min.'s. ..or till most of the water evaporates...

Turn the heat off when you see its just the juice part of the fruit at the bottom of the cooker.(but don't let it completely dry.)

Now add the complete quantity of sugar and keep stiring... so that sugar does not caramelise at the bottom of your pot ... make sure you melt all the sugar.It may take another 15 - 20 min.'s ... cook on low flame ... at times you may feel syrup to be too thick ,and so sugar may not dissolve easily ... not a prob. ,add a little bit of warm water .

Put a spoon in and ... if the back of the spoon comes out coated sticky ... your marmalade is ready ... and all the bubbles you may see ...they'll settle down on cooling.

P.S - The Chinese orange marmalade ... makes one of the yummiest bread pudding ...ever ... ofcourse the chef is my darling husband , Sam ... who guards his recipe like a mama bear ... :D ...do write in ,if you'd like me to wrestle the recipe out of the big bear ...

(Find out more about the chinese orange...in the gardening section...post dated... Jan.6th,2009)

miniature flower arrangement...

A few leaves and a floribunda rose ,blossom... in a silver milk pot.Small arrangements like this ... very victorian and very personal.

For the abrakophiles ... Collecting owl figurines

Over the years ... I have gotten used to expecting the weird and unexpected things from my elder brother ... he lives on another planet called Advertising . So one fine day, I discover ... he has a passion for collecting owls ... o.k ... sooo... my eyes roll in their sockets ... but over the years ... the lil' creatures I see added to his collection ,everynow and then ... well , I have to say... its interesting. Like this porcelin one from China ... I love blue and white ware ... and this one really caught at my heart ... a blue and white owl ... ???...I discovered there is an official word for people who love collecting nicknacks and trinkets ... abrakophiles .
It is always interesting to see what people collect ...it is really very inspiring. As in the case of the owls... each region and each culture ... has a unique way to make its owl figurines... depending ofcourse on also what kind of owls are found in the local areas and the local style of craftsmenship.
Here are two owls ... the gold chested one bought in Dubai ... definitely very different from the other one picked up in Auroville (Pondicherry,India)
...heres a corner with some of the owls finding their perch... ... another set I found interesting... on the books is a piece from Thailand and the other is from South India ... ... have to say...this chubby and very cherubic piece... made in brass... takes the crown as my favorite...... another piece ...from India ...the feathered torso is carved out in the a jali (mesh)style......one of the smallest member of the collection ... sits on the study table... ... this family of three are very interesting sitting atop one of the library book cabinet ... also from Auroville (Pondicherry, India)

... some more members of the beautiful collection are housed in this shelving ... As I discover this collection ... I know one thing ,each piece is a work of art ...and art is all about you.It is about making that personal connection with a piece ...
If you are getting interested in starting a collection... I would recommend you read some books and discover the magnificient creature that the owl is.It is just a way of tickling your senses into the world of owls.
Owl figurines , you'll find in many different materials... be it porcelin... glass... metals like brass... and ofcourse wood.And each looking so different because there are so many types of owls in each region of the world.

Lillies and Carnations ... pink cheer

Sarah ,my daughter and I did this arrangement for my mother with shocking pink carnations and powder pink lillies ... nanee , was so thrilled to see her girls going crazy with pink.The Michael Aram ... ice bucket made the picture perfect...

This was the look on the first evening ... the lillies still buds, on many of the stems ... the light from the lamps ... it makes magic happen ...