The Bais Yaakov Cookbook Review

The Bais Yaakov Cookbook $31.70

I admit it. I am the worlds worst food blogger when it comes down to actually looking in a cookbook. Perhaps its sheer laziness that has me avoiding pulling one out of the pile. I tend to just go with whats in my head- a little bit of this and a little bit of that and done. At times I do need some inspiration and of the many places I turn to for help (pinterest, the folder of magazine tear outs,scrawled words on a sticky note from a recent phone call with a friend or relative etc.) cookbooks truly are a great place to look when all else fails! A review for The Bais Yaakov Cookbook has been on my mind for a while. I even mentioned it as being one of my favorites along with 8 others back in October, a short while after receiving it as a very generous gift from the women who rents my apartment to me. As it has been quite talked about ever since it was first published I thought it was about time I gave my opinion on it too. So finally here is what I think:

The details:

How it looks: Simply eye catching and classic with it's stark white cover and vibrant glossy pictures. It is a little large for my taste but the hardcover detail sure is an added flourish! 

Whats Inside? 200 original recipes gathered from all over the world written out very clearly in a decent sized print over a span of 381 pages. The graphics are to put it simply just stunning and the recipe selection impressive including some interesting takes on our classic Jewish favorites. 

Extras: Towards the end of the book there is an entire section dedicated completely to Halachic guidelines (for Kosher cooking), Culinary Tips, Guide for meats, fish, spices and even one for kitchen gadgets. I also loved learning about some Jewish history included at the start of the book. A detail which really makes me happy as the topic is near and dear to my heart is that proceeds from this cookbook are going to benefit funds for Jewish education which is much needed!

What I love: The photos, the clear instructions, the extra guides at the back and the huge array of salad ideas. 

What I Don't Love: The dairy recipe section in this book  is seriously lacking. I know not everyone serves dairy on a regular basis but in my house we enjoy dairy so much! I also found that some of the dairy recipes were quite boring and not detailed enough- I mean come on anyone can buy frozen potato blintzes and give you a recipe for sauce, I would have liked to have a recipe for the actual blintze wraps to me that is far more impressive. 

Some of my favorite recipes from the book:  1) Pastrami Salad with Creamy Garlic Dressing, 2) Quesadillas, 3) One Slice with the Works

A recipe of my own that was inspired by/incorporated from one in this cookbook is this one for Chocolate Caramel Cookies Drizzled with White Chocolate- yum!

Overall:

I really love this cookbook and I think it would be the perfect addition to any of your collections.  It's great for the home cook, caterer and anyone else who likes easy to follow, well detailed recipes while enjoying the fantastic mouth watering photos to go along with it. 

Hoping this cookbook review will be useful to you if you were unsure on any of the details!

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Gigi.

Raspberry Whiskey BBQ Chicken Recipe

I am bringing back another oldie but goodie from the archives today. I will certainly be featuring more of these in the future because to be completely honest the pictures in those posts were taken with my old olympus camera and aren't very good. And thats only the ones that are left after the incident of several pictures disapearing from my blog a while back for no given reason. In an attempt to bring back some of those great recipes and recover some of those photos, I am on a very great mission. I wouldn't say I am now a fantastic photographer but I can say I have come a long way. I have so much to learn and it certainly excites me! 

 Ever since I had my gall bladder removed almost 4 years ago, I haven't been much of a meat eater due to my stomach not processing fatty foods too well. I guess it's a good thing that I love dairy foods so much. I do still prepare dishes with chicken and meat often enough for the rest of my household. Chicken may seem a little boring as it is a dish chosen often as a dinner dish. This one was definitely not typical though- preparation and ingredients wise and it was absolutely delicious. On a side note I want to add that this recipe is also not extremely high in calorie so thats another huge pro. And finally here is the recipe:

Raspberry Whiskey BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Chicken- Thighs or Legs 

1 Large Vidalia Onion ( Sweet Yellow Onion ) Circle Sliced in Thick Pieces and then Halved

1 Tsp Fresh Chopped Garlic

1 Tablespoon Chopped Scallion- Green Parts Only

1/8 Cup Safflower Oil

2 Tablespoons Whiskey

1 Tsp. Chicken Consumme

Salt and Pepper

3 Tablespoons Sugar Free Raspberry Preserves (Jam)

2 Tablespoons Gefen Onion Garlic BBQ Sauce

1/2 Cup Water

Method:

1. Saute the onion, garlic and scallions over a low flame in a few tablespoons of the oil. Let it cook until they seem almost soft- about 2 minutes. Add the raspberry jam, bbq sauce, whiskey and chicken consumme. Turn the flame up a bit and stir constantly to bring it all together. 

2. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Lay pieces of chicken out skin side up in a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle each piece with some salt and pepper. Add the half cup of water to the bottom of the pan. 

3. Bake for 45 minutes. Then remove the pan from the oven and spoon the prepared sauce over each piece. Put it back in the oven for another half hour or until the chicken seems cooked through completely.   

4. Serve topped with spoonfuls of the raspberry sauce and onions. 

Hope you will enjoy this recipe!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you had a great start to the new week!

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Gigi.

Memorial Day Sale Beauty Haul- Drugstore.com, Beauty.com & Bath&BodyWorks

Over Memorial Day weekend there was huge sales going on at many of my favorite websites. So I took advantage of that and got some of the things I had been eyeing for a little while. It was just after Mothers day as well so my husband added a little something in as a gift which was so very sweet and also very exciting for me since it was one I've wanted for ages. I was obviously thrilled when the boxes began arriving. There was so many things included so I decided to split the post and video into 2 parts. There were also 2 items that I didn't receive till a while later so they will be included in a haul post/video in the future. All of this shopping was done at drugstore.com, beauty.com and bathandbodyworks.com. What is your favorite website to shop at for beauty related items? I'd love to know, so leave it in the comments form below- I absolutely love to hear from you!

Here is what I purchased:

Bath & Body Works:

Market Peach,Watermelon Lemonade, Caribbaen Escape and Bahama Fizz 3 Wick Candles - Whenever bath and body works has a huge sale (not often enough!) I make sure to stock up on their 3 wick candles because I love burning them all year long. Until now I had several wintery candles so I chose to go with some that were a little more summery this time. They all smell so good and I have been burning them constantly eve since they arrived. My favorite of the ones I got here is the Watermelon Lemonade one but they are all  really fantastic.

3 Pack Pocket Bac Sanitizers- Pink Lemonade, Pink Champagne, Pink Frosting- My sister introduced these to me a little while back so when I saw a good deal on them I chose these three. They leave your hands perfectly clean, smelling great and even leave a slight shimmer behind. I think they are the best things for keeping in a purse and pulling out on any occasion.

True Blue Spa Sugar Crystals Raspberry Body Scrub- I love using scrubs in the summer especially on my legs and arms where I self tan. It keeps dead skin away and evens my tan out leaving me with a perfect glow. This one smells really great too.

From Drugstore.com:

Jimmy Choo Perfume- This is something I have been eyeing for ages in fact I even added it to one of my wish list posts a little while ago. It has such a lovely scent that I think suits me very well and the packaging is just gorgeous! My husband so kindly offered to get it for me as a Mothers Day Gift and I think that was so sweet! It may just be one of my favorite gifts I have ever received.

Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara- I have read some amazing reviews on this mascara and after having then seen it in action looking pretty great I decided I needed to have one- the best part was that it was less then $3. I do love how it looks on my lashes. I will have a full review on it soon.

Duo Lash Glue Dark Tone- This is my most used lash glue for myself and my clients both. I ran out of the one in my makeup artists kit and therefore needed to purchase a new one. I go for the dark tone which makes the lashes look even darker and doesn't require as much eyeliner to be used in covering the band. 

Ardell Wispies Lashes- These specific lashes are some of my favorites for adding length and volume to natural lashes without looking totally fake. I purchase a couple of pairs every time I see them on sale since I can never have too many.

Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Shampoo+Conditioner- I have very dry hair in the summer time and so I use some very moisturizing hair care products. Between everything I use on my hair I end up with a lot of gross build up and my hair feels weighed down from it all. That is where a great clarifying shampoo comes in and I've been using this one once a week to remove all of that extra build up and give my hair a really good clean.

Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque- This is another hair care product I purchased to help with my dry hair after hearing some great things about it. I like to use this once a week too since it gives my hair some much needed moisture and leaves it feeling soft and luscious. I will not buy the tub again in the future though instead I plan to buy the squeeze out tube as this is just a huge mess.

              

 From Beauty.com:

Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer- In the summertime I like to use light face products like tinted moisturizers, bb creams and very light foundations (Mac Face and Body Foundation). I had never purchased anything from Stila surprisingly and after reading some good things about it I decided it would be worth a try. I will update you with a full review once I get an idea of what I think of it. 

The Balm Bahama Mama Matte Bronzer- This is going to be one of my go to bronzers  for this Summer. I can already tell since it reminds me so much of Nars Laguna in it's texture and color. I like that the compact is small but it still comes with a mirror.

The Balm Mary Loumanizer- This highlighter is the best one I have found in a very long time. It is super pigmented, not overly shimmery on my cheeks and stays on all day. I am super impressed with the Balm already and look forward to trying some more of their products in the near future.

Thanks for stopping in!

Hoping you all had a lovely weekend!

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Gigi.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder Creamy Natural Review

Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder O11 Creamy Natural .49 oz 14 g $3.97-$5.99 

This was one of the items I mentioned in my most recent haul post/video as having really liked. It's a very talked about product around the Internet world right now and for good reason.  It stood out to me most in it's performance, it does an incredible job of setting my makeup for the day and it has replaced my most favored mac mineralize skin finish natural for the moment. I think it is an absolute steal for just under  or somewhere around $5.00. I had never tried any of the Rimmel products since I noticed they were expired at Rite Aid which is where usually shop for drugstore makeup. When I was in Walgreens I found some newly stocked products from the line and I was pretty happy with them. I will definitely be picking up some more pieces from Rimmel in the future. 

What Rimmel has to say about it: "Up to 5 hours of natural shine control with natural minerals, It helps to minimize the appearance of pores"

Continue Reading to find out more about my experience with this product:

Texture: It has a really velvety smooth feel to it and it's very light on my skin so I don't notice that heavy powdery feeling in fact I don't feel like I'm wearing anything at all. It isn't too powdery or chalky either in fact it seems almost transparent so a lot lighter in comparison to mac mineralize skin finish powders. I haven't noticed it caking up either even when I applied a few layers. 

Color: It's a pale ivory color that does show up a bit with application but smooths right out to be pretty transparent. This specific color is quite harmonious with my skin shade and doesn't make me seem to pale or too dark. 

Packaging & Travel Friendly? The packaging is just alright being that it's just that standard plastic sort of thing. The lid does come off pretty easily while it's being stored so I wouldn't recommend it for traveling as it would most likely just break and crumble everywhere. For that reason this isn't going to be a piece you'll want to throw in your purse for touch ups. 

Price: I've seen it sold for as little as $3.97 at Walmart which is pretty amazing!

Photo Friendly? Yes it is photo friendly. I think it looks just like skin and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary in pictures. 

Recommended Skin Types: This powder would be good for slightly oily to slightly dry skin types. I would not recommend it for very dry skin types as it will just settle into dry patches and appear a bit cakey.  As for very oily skin types it will just require touch ups a bit more often (every 4 hours or so) . 

Scent: The scent is kind of obnoxious to me. It smells exactly like baby powder in my opinion which just makes me cough. If you don't like the scent of baby powder you are going to have a hard time tolerating this one. I only smell it while I'm applying it though so that's not too terrible.

Quality and Lasting Power: I think the quality is fantastic. I have been dusting a light layer of this over my t-zone which is my oily area in the summer time and I have found that it keeps me matte all day. My skin is not majorly oily though so if you have extremely oily skin I would imagine you'd have to touch up half way through the day at  the very least. It not only keeps my oil shine at bay it also set my foundation and concealer in place and keeps it from moving around at all during the day. I did not notice it minimizing the appearance of pores though thus far.

Amount of Product: There is alot of product in there and not much needed for each application. As you can see, I've already made quite the dent in the center within a couple of weeks so I'm not sure it'll last quite as long as some of my other go-to face powders but for that price it's no big deal.

Shade Variety- This powder is available in 6 Shades-Silky Beige, Sandstorm, Transparent, Natural, Buff Beige, Nude Beige, Creamy Beige and Creamy Natural. It doesn't come in any of the darker shades which limits those with darker skin to using the transparent one only - not great!

The Round Up:

Pros:

This specific shade is a perfect match for me.

Smooth & Light Texture.

Price is unbeatable.

Keeps my t-zone matte all day and keeps my foundation from moving around at all. 

Cons:

Packaging is cheap looking and feels like it will easily fall apart. 

Not travel friendly since the lid doesn't stay on securely. 

It's baby powder like scent  really annoys me but this one is really up to personal preference.

Seems to be running out quickly.

No dark shades included in the line which makes it very limited to darker skinned individuals.

Not suitable for all skin types.

I may look a little more tan in that first picture but I assure you that is just the lighting. Also the second photo is from after I'd already applied blush, highlighter and bronzer so that bit of shine on my forehead is all thanks to The Balm Mary Loumanizer. Either way I hope the photo does this powder justice because I definitely notice a much more matte finish! 

Overall:

I really am very happy with this product. So although there are more cons then pros listed above I still quite like this one. It's super cheap, very effective and looks fantastic all day long. I don't really like the scent of it and I most definitely won't be traveling with it any time soon but all in all this product really lives up to it's hype.

Application Tips: I like to use my large ELF powder brush to apply this powder to my t-zone area and a for light dusting over the rest of my face. A large face brush or kabuki brush are ideal to use with this product. If you require more coverage and setting power you can use a little more but very little will take you a long way so no need to overdo it. 

Hope my product review was helpful to you!

Have you tried this Rimmel pressed powder? What did you think of it? What powder if any are you using to set your makeup right now? Leave me a comment below- I love to hear from all of you and if you are a fellow blogger don't be shy, please leave your link so I can stop by and say hi too!

Thanks so much for stopping in! 

Hope you are having a lovely day! 

"Nothing makes a women more beautiful then the belief that she is beautiful"

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Gigi.

My June 2013 Wishlist

Do you love seeing other peoples wish list? I'm pretty sure I now love reading wish list posts almost as much as I love writing them. Browsing through other bloggers wish lists is a fantastic way to see what their sense of style is and what kinds of things they hope to purchase in the future. It's also the ultimate path to getting a bit carried away with some impulsive shopping if you aren't too careful ;) I like writing these because I am obviously on a budget and trying to save for my new house {house hunting is in progress!} so sometimes the best way to get those whimsy wants off your chests is to write them down and store the queue away for another time. It's what I like to think of as window shopping online. 

I have in fact gone back and purchased items from previous wish lists so it's nice to know nothing will be forgotten. Some examples: 1) The Bobbie Brown Ultimate Face Palette that I talked about for ages {mentioned in my birthday wish list last year}before getting it as a wonderful birthday gift- one of the best I've ever received.  2) The bow earrings {mentioned in that same wish list} which I got in a rhinestone version. And most recently the 3) Jimmy Choo perfume (a mothers day gift from my husband! and 4) Bath & Body Works Watermelon Lemonade Candle {both of which were mentioned in my mothers day gift guide/wish list}you will get to see more about those in my next haul video & post! Sometimes things just need to get put on a back burner so to say until you are due for a gift, a special treat or perhaps until you have the funds most importantly.

 During this month I have already discovered some pretty cool discounted designer web stores and Etsy shops which have inspired several of these pieces below- Cruise Fashion, Thredup, SalmonRiverGlassArt on Etsy and ShadeonShape on Etsy being some that come to mind off hand. There is one thing you can be sure of- I love getting designer pieces at a discount and I love handmade crafts and home decor as well! 

Here are some of the things I have been eyeing recently. 

1. Jimmy Choo Shoes- Vamp Patent Leather Tangerine Crossover Heels- How gorgeous is that color? 

2. A 2 year subscription to Better Homes & Gardens Magazine- With house hunting on the table,  design and home decorating is all I can think about. 

3. Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation- I have read some really great reviews and I have found some great finds from the Covergirl line lately so this will be my next drugstore foundation for sure. 

4. Anchor Necklace- I think this piece is so delicate and would add the nicest touch to a elegant summer outfit + I'm all about that nautical theme lately.

5. D&G Dress- Leopard Print Sleeveless Shift Dress- I have always liked animal print. I can see myself pairing this with a cream 3/4 sleeve kiki riki shell nude wedges and a light pink clutch. 

6. Clinique A Different Nail Enamel For Sensitive, 70 & Sunny- What a cool invention? If these nail polish are good quality then I think they will be all the rage. 

7. Geometric Mini Planters, Set of 3- I found these on Etsy, I love plants and I love the idea of having someones else handmade creativity in my house one day!

8. Korres Greek Yoghurt Nourishing Sleeping Facial- I have heard so many things about this company and have yet to try something. When I saw this in the latest Instyle Magazine I knew it would be something to try.

9. Babycakes Cakepop Maker- I have seen and tasted plenty of delicious and creative cake pops- maybe too many? Unfortunately I haven't tried putting together any of my own since the process seemed too intimidating but with a machine like this how can I go wrong?

10. Olivia+Joy Trixie Conv. Crossbody Bag in Grass Green- I don't have to tell you how much I love green you already know ;) Anna from fashboulevard.com is one of my biggest fashion inspirations and she rocks the Olivia+Joy bags!

11. Fancierstudio 3000 Watt Digital Video Continuous Softbox Lighting Kit- Now that I am making YouTube videos weekly I would really like to invest in a good lighting system so I can film day or night rain or shine. 

12. Fused Glass 12-inch Contemporary Decorative Serving Dish in Cranberry Grey and Ivory- Another great Etsy find. How gorgeous is this dish? I love the colors!

13. Smashbox "It's a Wrap" Waterproof Makeup Remover- If you are following my blog for any amount of time you will know I am always looking for some good eye makeup remover this is the next one on the list for me. 

Please tell me what items are on your wish list for this month in the comments form below- I really would love to know!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Hope you are having a lovely day! 

"Your dream doesn't have an expiration date, take a breath and try again" 

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Gigi.