By Morgan

For Molly Holt’s 16-birthday trip to NYC, her mom, Rosemary, surprised the Tennessee teenager with a makeover compliments of the Upper East Side Paul Labrecque Salon.

Paul Labrecque is a gorgeous, chic, multi-floored salon with three locations in Manhattan (East 65th Street, East 55th Street and Columbus Avenue). Their services include hair for both men and women, make-up application, manicures/pedicures, facials, waxing and hair removal, body treatments and massage. Celebrities like Cameron Diaz frequent the salon for their amazing facials.

Molly has had the same long, brown hair since she was young. With her first prom approaching (and first boyfriend to attend with!), she was nervous about making any dramatic changes that she might regret, but also knew it was time to mix things up.

The gorgeous Kelly Brandt decided to give her a great (and much-needed!) trim in an effort to maintain her length while adding some shape. To give Molly’s hair some dimension, she added some golden dark blonde highlights that picked up on her warm skin tone and eye color. To keep Molly’s hair healthy, shiny, and bouncy, Kelly gave her a deep conditioning treatment using Paul Labreque Repair Conditioner. The look was finished off with some loose curls that will be perfect for her prom next month (she plans to replicate the look at home).

Before Molly got her makeup done by Jasmine, she had her eyebrows waxed. We’ve always heard what a difference waxing makes…but were still shocked to see how dramatically the new shape opened up Molly’s face.

Jasmine applied the perfect amount of color to keep Molly looking natural and age-appropriate, while giving her a boost that she could re-create at home (and, of course, for prom). One of Molly’s favorite tricks? Jasmine used NARS Eyeliner in Kitty (a turquoise blue) to line her lower lid and really make her eyes pop.

Molly walked out of the salon with tears in her eyes (but not enough to ruin her makeup!) and could not have been more thrilled. It was a picture-perfect Sweet 16 gift, and she can’t wait to show it off to her new boyfriend when she returns home to Tennessee.

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April 5th, 2011 | Posted by Jordan | Community | 1 Comment »

By Lilly Melin

Yes, it’s resort season again, time to start planning our vacations and summer happenings. I always find it hard to believe that warmer weather is (almost) on the way, since I live in Chicago (and it’s currently 17 degrees out). The shops, however, are absolutely packed with swimsuits, sandals, sunglasses and beach bags.

While I love a good trend, I always fall back on the classics. It’s a win-win situation: the garment doesn’t go out of style… and you save money by wearing the item year after year. Also, I’m a huge old Hollywood fan, so the classic pinups are never far from my mind. These women embody what I think most of us want to be: sexy, but also sweet and feminine.

Below, a few of my favorite ladies in their iconic suits, and some modern ways to get their looks yourself.

Marilyn is obviously full of va-va-voom, but off-camera she was known to be extremely playful. I think this Anthropologie Drawn To The Heart maillot ($138) perfectly encapsulates both her sex appeal and her sweetness.

Bettie Page was one of the first fetish models, known for her 6″ patent leather heels and silk stockings. She was also a total beach babe: she adored Florida, and had many swimsuit shoots with photographer Bunny Yeager. I think she would have adored this polka-dot two-piece, also from Anthropologie ($68).

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Sally Field, who portrayed Gidget in the classic TV series. She was the original beach bunny: carefree and adorable. I love the sweetness of this blue two piece from Target ($14.99); you could even pair the top with some white denim shorts and wear it to a beach barbecue.

Deborah Kerr is probably best known for her role in From Here to Eternity, and with good reason: it doesn’t get much more romantic than a passionate embrace in the waves. This Carmen Marc Valvo one-piece ($167 from Victoria’s Secret) is, like Kerr herself, pure class: elegant, sexy, and totally wearable.

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February 17th, 2011 | Posted by Jordan | Community | No Comments »

By Lilly

ENGLISH TOFFEE

What you need:

1 cup sliced almonds

1 lb. dark chocolate (I prefer Ghiradelli’s)

2 cups butter

2 2/3 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

1/4 corn syrup

What you do:

1. Prepare a jelly roll pan with greased aluminum foil. Set aside.

2. Combine butter, sugar, water and corn syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and melt the butter. Insert a candy thermometer and bring the candy to a boil, stirring occasionally.

3. Continue to stir every few minutes until the mixture reaches 300 degrees.

4. While the candy is cooking place almonds into oven set at 325 degrees, toast for about 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.

5. As soon as the candy hits 300 degrees take it off the stove and pour it immediately into the prepared jelly roll pan. Do not scrape the pan!

6. Let the toffee cool slightly then score with a sharp knife.

7. Once it is cooled completely break into pieces.

8. Following package directions melt chocolate. Dip toffee (or paint it on with a pastry brush as I have) in chocolate and coat with sliced almonds- let cool on cooling rack.

FLEUR DE SEL CARAMELS

What you need:

Vegetable oil cooking spray

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups sugar

2 cups light corn syrup

3 ounces (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 teaspoon Fleur de Sel (sea salt)

1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)

What you do:

1. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line with parchment then coat parchment with spray.

2. Place sugar, corn syrup and butterin a large pot. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves and butter melts.

3. Slowly pour in heavy cream.

4. Cook over medium heat stirring often, make sure to keep your eye on the candy thermometer until it registers 255 degrees.

5. While this is cooking, open and scrape vanilla bean into a a small dish with sea salt so you can easily pour it into the mix when the caramel is done.

6. Once the thermometer reads 255 degrees, remove the pot from heat and quickly add vanilla and salt mixture.
Stir vigorously.

7. Immediately pour (without scraping pot) into prepared baking sheet and let cool. (I find it’s best to put the sheet on a cookie cooling rack as well so the heat can escape from the bottom of the sheet.)

8. Once the caramel has cooled, cut with a well-oiled, sharp kitchen knife into whatever sized pieces you desire.

I like to give these as gifts – you can find great wrappers at places like Sur La Table. You can also buy custom boxes and the padded inserts like mine from Papermart.

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December 15th, 2010 | Posted by Jordan | Community | No Comments »

By Lilly

This is the recipe I use every year as a staple for pretty much every holiday cookie. They are the perfect butter cookie for Italian wedding cookies, frosted sugar cookies, spritzes…you name it. Every person who eats these asks whose recipe it is. I wish I could take credit (usually my recipes are my own) but they’re from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Tonight I baked up a batch with my son for his school…they don’t celebrate secular holidays, so we stayed neutral by making iced bears, squirrels and porcupines for his preschool class.

*My son cannot have milk so we substitute all dairy with hemp or almond milk and soy butter and the recipe works just as well!

THE PERFECT HOLIDAY COOKIES (makes 3 dozen)

Prep time: 5 mins; Total time: 1hr 15 plus cooling time

What you need:

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 cup superfine sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

16 tbsp. unsalted butter (2 sticks softened cut into 1/2″ pieces)

2 tbsp. cream cheese

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

What you do:

1. Whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.

2. Beat the butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time, using an electric mixer on med. low-speed, con’t to beat until the mix looks crumbly and slightly wet (1-2 mins.) Beat in cream cheese and vanilla until the dough just begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds.

3. Knead the dough in the bowl by hand a few times until it forms a large cohesive mass. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter, divide into two 4″ disks. Wrap the disks tightly in saran wrap and refrigerate until they begin to firm up 20-30 mins.

4. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Working with one disk of dough at a time, roll out the dough to a 1/8″ thickness between two sheets of parchment paper. Slide the rolled dough and parchment onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm. About 10 mins.

5. Working with one sheet of dough at a time, cut shapes using cookie cutters and lay on two parchment lined baking sheets, spaced about 1″ apart. (I differ here- I punch the shapes then put them back in the fridge for about 5 mins., then I pull the dough from around the shapes. Otherwise they don’t hold their form well.) Bake the cookies about 10 minutes rotating the sheet halfway through baking. While the first batch is in the oven, roll out and cut the shapes for the second batch.

6. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 mins. When cooled, cookies can be glazed and decorated as desired.

GLAZE:

What you need:

3 tbsp. whole milk

1 tbsp. cream cheese softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

What you do:

Whisk the milk and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until fully blended. Drizzle on cookies with spoon, add sprinkles etc and enjoy!

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December 6th, 2010 | Posted by Jordan | Community | 1 Comment »

By Cara of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

EVENT: Grizzly Bear at Governor’s Island

WEATHER: Rain

PARTY SIZE: 2

TYPE: Stealth Picnic

MENU: Egg Salad, Arugula & Bacon Wraps; Mustardy String Beans with Pickled Shallots; British Biscuits

Whenever I go on vacation, my mom gives me a strict warning. “Be careful,” she says. “Really.” Her words may not be dissimilar from those of most parents’, but her worries are more targeted. While out of town, I have a tendency to believe that rules are not for me. I cut in line, cross caution tape, and disobey every museum guard in sight, and I guess my mom hopes I won’t wind up in a Moroccan prison.

Apparently a trip to Governor’s Island was considered enough of a getaway for me to put away my law-abiding New York self and hand over the rule to my criminal side. Alex and I went, in August, to the performance of Grizzly Bear on Governor’s Island. You have to take a ferry there, and since the concert started early, I decided to pack dinner. I figured it would be thriftier and more delicious than anything they might have at the concert–if they sold food there at all. But as we waited in line for the ferry to take us there, guards swarmed around us. “No food!” they shouted. “No drinks!” Ahead of us, I could see the bag searchers confiscating granola bars and jelly beans.

Alex looked at the paper shopping bag I was carrying, packed with egg salad wraps, and motioned to me to get out of line. “We can’t bring those,” he mouthed. I stood right where I was.

I didn’t mean to be so delinquent. When I checked the website (in between checking the weather, which again and again confirmed rain), it said nothing about food. Nothing at all. And once I’d made my beautiful sandwiches, there was no way we were giving them up. Nor was I about to allow us to scarf them down outside the ferry terminal in the drizzle.

I shouldn’t be announcing this publicly, but when it was my turn at the bag search, I simply put my messenger bag on the table. I didn’t volunteer the dinner bag. Cool as a cucumber, I walked in between the gates onto the boat.

Once on, I too panicked. What if they kicked us out of the concert over a few little egg salad sandwiches? The whole ferry ride I clutched the bag of wraps to my chest. On shore, I continued to worry. It wasn’t until we got down to the “beach,” planted with lighted “palm trees” that we could blend in.

Stands were selling food, people were drinking and eating, and no one would deduce that our picnic was a stealth one. Alex and I sat down in the shade of a palm, where the ground wasn’t too wet, and we slowly enjoyed my labor of love, cooking, and law breaking.

From my kitchen, where there’s no rule against eating, to yours,

Cara, THE QUARTER-LIFE COOK

**Recipe**

Egg Salad, Arugula & Bacon Wraps

Makes 4 wraps

This egg salad is awesome, and it makes great sandwiches even if you don’t use the bacon.

Ingredients

6 hardboiled eggs

1/4 cup mayo

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon tarragon

freshly ground pepper

2 stalks celery, very finely diced

2 tablespoons finely diced red onion

4 slices bacon

1 cup arugula

4 wraps

Directions

1. Cook the bacon using your favorite method. I like to fry it in a pan with the tiniest bit of olive oil over medium-high heat, flipping once, until it’s crispy. Set aside on paper towels to drain.

2. Smash the eggs with a fork. Mix in the mayo, mustard, salt, tarragon, pepper, celery, and red onion, and stir well.

3. Warm the wraps slightly in the microwave, under a damp paper towel for about 30 seconds. Put a small handful of arugula in the center of each, and top it with one quarter of the egg salad. Top with a slice of bacon.

4. Wrap by folding in either end and rolling the wrap away from you. Pack in a container with the seam side of each wrap facing down.

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September 27th, 2010 | Posted by Jordan | Community | No Comments »