Not so hot sauce

FFF is addicted to Sriracha sauce. In our book, it pretty much goes with anything — it’s particularly good on fish tacos, and we wouldn’t look sideways at Bánh Mì without it. Think of Sriracha as the spitfire sister to tomato sauce — hot and spicy enough to give you a kick, but not so fiery as to knock you out of your Choos like ol’ Mr Tabasco.

Unfortunately, like many yummy things, it’s got a few nasty ingredients of the chemical variety in its DNA. So like many a conscious foodie, we’re getting on the DIY bandwagon and concocting our own home brew. If you’re an addict, you may want to get off the junk and make a batch too!

Gwyneth Paltow’s Sriracha Sauce
recipe via My Father’s Daughter

• 1 1/2 cups clove garlic, peeled
• 1 Lb(s). red jalapeno peppers, stemmed,sliced and cut into thin rings
• 2 1/4 cups rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (we might try maple syrup next time)
• 2 tbsp coarse table salt
• 1 tbsp arrowroot
• 2 tbsp fish sauce

Place the garlic in a small saucepan and add cold water just to cover. Bring to a boil,immediately drain and run the garlic under cool water.

Return the garlic to the saucepan, cover with cold water and bring back to a boil.Rinse the garlic and slice the blanched garlic into thin slices.

Combine the cut red jalapeños,blanched garlic and rice vinegar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the agave and salt and stir to combine.Let the mixture stand, covered for 1 hour for the flavors to steep and cool. ( I let the mixture rest overnight to cool completely.)

Puree the mixture in a blender until smooth- some seeds will remain in tact but that’s fine.

Return the mixture to a saucepan and bring back to a boil. Simmer 10-15 minutes, skimming off any foam as it rises to the top. The mixture will thicken slightly as it cooks down.

In a small bowl, dissolve the arrowroot with 1 Tbsp of lukewarm water. Whisk the arrowroot into the sauce and cook for 2 more minutes or until nicely thickened. Remove from heat let cool slightly and stir in fish sauce.

Blake Bakes!

Good God we love a celeb who loves to cook! Let’s face it, so many of them exist on a limp bit of iceberg to keep those Hollywood calories down, so when we see a gorgeous young thing who likes to get messy with some flour and butter, we’re pretty happy.

Enter Blake Lively (aka Mrs Ryan Reynolds). This girl adores food and cooking: exhibit A: her custom La Cornue range. We sense another Gwyneth-slash-Martha in the making here.

Check out this gorgeous video (below) of Blake with super-dooper Hollywood Royalty Elettra Wiedemann (Ingrid Bergman is her grandma and the exquisite Isabella Rossellini is her mum) cooking in the kitchen of Richare Gere’s Bedford Inn.

Um … does it get any sweeter or star studded?! Nope. Bake on girls.

Spiced Pumpkin Scones with Maple Butter

Ooh it’s getting chilly! As the temperature drops, our kettle is constantly on the boil so we can make big, sturdy pots of tea to warm our cold hands and tummies. Sometimes a little something on the side with our afternoon brew is called for, and the other day we discovered the best pumpkin scones from Banneton Bakery. Think light and fluffy, with a subtle sweetness and hint of spice. Hot and slathered with butter, these were just what we needed.

Can’t get to Banneton Bakery? Try our FFF version with maple butter.

Spiced Pumpkin Scones with Maple Butter
adapted from a recipe via taste.com.au

• 600g Kent pumpkin, seeded, peeled, chopped into small chunks
• Butter, at room temperature, to grease
• 450g (3 cups) self-raising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• Pinch of salt
• 60g chilled butter, cut into 1cm pieces
• 250ml (1 cup) buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Cook pumpkin in a saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes or until very tender. Drain well. Use a potato masher to mash until a coarse puree forms. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 240°C. Rub a baking tray with butter to grease. Combine the flour, salt and spices in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add pumpkin,  buttermilk and maple syrup. Use a flat-bladed knife in a cutting motion to mix until evenly incorporated and the mixture just starts to hold together.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Use your hands to press out the dough until about 2cm thick. Use a round 5.5cm pastry cutter to cut 15 discs from the dough. Place, about 1cm apart, on the prepared tray. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden and scones sound hollow when tapped on the base. Serve warm with maple butter.

To make maple butter: with electric beaters, mix 1/2 cup softened butter with 1/4 cup pure maple syrup until combined and fluffy.

Image via taste.com.au

Pop-up Palaces!

We adore a pop-up book, and one of our favourites is Royal Palaces of London by the super talented UK illustrator Nina Cosford. If only the real world looked this good! Nina’s painterly style is whimsical and saturated with colour, and we swoon with envy at her clever talent! Read more about Nina here, and bask in her glorious work below.

Monday lust list: really useful things for the wardrobe

What better way to start a new week than with a consise list of wants. High-maintenance? Us? Never. We’re not talking crazy, extravagant wants. We’re talking really, wearable, go-to needs. Great sneakers, tough tees, reversible bag (ie 2 in 1), good denim, a fab sweater for night and a stack of coloured bangles to pull it all together. Let’s go!

Chinti & Parker organic top, YSL reversible suede & leather tote, Isabel Marant Bekket sneakers, Victoria Beckham reflector aviators, Rag & Bone jean jacket, See by Chloe wide-leg jean, Richard Nicoll wool sweater, Lulu Frost bamboo and resin bangles.

The brows have it

For those of us with substantial eyebrows, Cara Delevingne’s (and that of her thick, luscious eyebrows) rise to fame has been a facial hair triumph.

God knows we have hung onto our eyebrows by the roots through every phase known to womankind - from bleached and non-existent to skinny and sparse to arched and straight. Now thick again! Cara, we and our thick, unruly brows salute you! 

We could write a post on how to hedge your own eyebrows to perfection, but that would be plain irresponsible and a potentialy hairy situation. Any woman worth great eyebrows knows that the only one wielding a pot of wax near your face should be a Brow Expert!

Here are some of the best people to take yours to for their monthly pluck, tint, wax and brush. 

SYDNEY

Sharon-Lee - sharon-lee.com.au

MELBOURNE

The Brow Bar - browbar.com

PERTH 

Matt Yuko - mattyuko.com.au

BRISBANE

Blow Salon - blowsalon.com.au

LONDON

Blink Brow Bar - blinkbrowbar.com

NEW YORK CITY

Dr. Ronald Sherman/Trish McEvoy Skin Care Centre - trishmcevoyskincare.com

The amazing 7 minute workout

Say what? A exercise regime devised by scientists apparently provides as many health benefits as going for a long run and doing a session of weight training (and only requires a wall and a chair) … AND it only takes 7 minutes. We’re in! Wait … what’s the catch?

Well, for the workout to reeeally work … you must exercise so intensely that it is painful. The old saying ‘no pain, no gain’ is non-negotiable in this instance.

Want to give it a go? Here it is…

The 7 Minute High Intensity Workout
Exercises are performed for 30 seconds, with 10 seconds of transition time between bouts. Total time for the entire circuit workout is approximately 7 minutes. The circuit can be repeated 2 to 3 times.

Taken from the study HIGH-INTENSITY CIRCUIT TRAINING USING BODY WEIGHT: Maximum Results With Minimal Investment. Read more here.

Image via dailymail

Miss Bunting talks perfect party flowers

So you’ve worked out your menu and figured out your tipple of choice. Now—how to take your table from midweek mundane to a whimsical weekend special? Quite simply, flowers.

And you don’t need a large budget either – save all those glass jars you’ve been throwing out, wrap them with our doilies and twine (below), and fill with flowers from the garden, or even bunches of woody herbs like Rosemary. This will instantly transform your table, and the low height lends an added bonus of still being able to see your guests across the table. Unless you really don’t like them of course, in which case a large arrangement of hydrangea should do the trick. Candles are also a sure-fire winner for ambient lighting (simply pop a few tea-lights in those glass jars you’ve been hoarding), but perhaps save the Diptyque scented candles for the entry way or bathroom. Considering we ‘eat’ with all our other senses first, the heady aroma of jasmine mixing with the slow-roast pork might not be the best start to your fine dining experience.

Winona Forever

We are FFFing loving the return of the darkly diminutive Winona Ryder. Once Gwyneth Paltrow’s BFF (read about their Frenemy Feud here), she is the polar opposite of the tall, blonde and waspish Paltrow. Ryder is a pocket sized Elizabeth Taylor—all raven tresses, magnetic eyes and ample bossom, with a complicated past to boot.

But she’s back, and all her troubles are forgotten. Her new movie, The Iceman, is a period piece set mostly in the 1960s and ’70s that stars Michael Shannon as Richard Kuklinski, a real-life contract killer for the mob in New York and New Jersey who is said to have murdered more than 100 people. Early talk is that Ryder, portraying Kuklinski’s wife, is not just good—she’s brilliant. Check out the trailer here.

Maybe she and her true love Johnny Depp will come full circle, he’ll re-ink his ‘Winona Forever’ tat and they’ll waltz off into that Hollywood sunset together. We can hope… in the meantime, check out these stunning shots from Interview magazine. You can read the full story here.

The Best of Carey Mulligan

We are nibbling our nails-down in anticipation for the upcoming release of The Great Gatsby!

Stepping into Mia Farrow’s shoes as the new Daisy Buchanan is the chic and gamine, Carey Mulligan. Her personal style is flawless and quietly elegant, favouring frocks with simple lines and minimal embellishment. Her go-to designers are Lanvin, Bottega Veneta, Prada and more recently, Victoria Beckham. We think these looks personify her star style to a T!  

pics via imnotobsessed.com, graziadaily.com, redcarpet-fashionawards.com, marieclaire.com, instyle.com, zimbio.com 

Clean up your fruit and veg act!

We’d all love to eat organic produce all the time — or better yet, food picked from our own lush vegie patch a la Meryl Streep in It’s Complicated. But a lot of the time you have to make do and slum it with the standard supermarket offerings. Either way, it’s essential to give your fruit and vegies a thorough clean before you eat them … even those packets of spinach that are ‘washed and ready to use’!

So why not clean up your act with this wash for squeaky clean vegies…

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Put all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake. Dump your fresh produce in a big bowl (or clean sink) and spray with solution. Leave for 10 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.

Guest Blogger Nadia Bellis: Sexy mood enhancing food

Hi FFFers! Our resident sexoligist Nadia Bellis has red penned our weekly shopping list! These two added and recommended mood enhancers are super delicious when teamed together and guaranteed to give every dinner a happy ending.  

Dark Chocolate

Chocolate—the ultimate mood enhancer—contains phenylethlyamine (PEA) also known as the ‘love chemical’, released when you are in love and strangely enough when you eat chocolate [duh cause we’re all in love with chocolate!]. This love chemical stimulates the release of hormones dopamine and in turn oxytocin; the former creates feelings of sexual euphoria and desire and the latter is released upon orgasm and promotes trust and bonds couples and mothers to their babies.

Chocolate comes from the Theobroma Cacao tree which literally translates to ‘fruit of the Gods’, the magic that is cacao is transformed into the smooth, velvety texture of chocolate that we obsess and feel guilty for consuming. As long as you eat over 70% cold pressed organic cocoa with no added sweeteners or dairy, you can quash the choccy-guilt, especially since it contains tryptophan the building block of serotonin, which makes us feel happy and is linked to desire and arousal. To top of the long list of benefits dark chocolate provides is arginine responsible for increased blood flow to the genitals resulting in stronger erections and enhanced genital sensations. Researchers have also found that chocolate contains cannabinoids (think THC), a little bit of caffeine for an energy kick and may regulate women’s sexual functioning – Fruits of the Gods indeed!

Red Wine

We all need a little lowering of our inhibitions and a confidence boost now and then to help us engage in intimate acts of the sexual variety with a long-term partner or a new date…and hey – a little alcohol content never hurt anyone! In fact research has found that one to two glasses of red wine a day improves a women’s sexual desire. Packed with antioxidants specifically resveratrol, sexual arousal is enhanced as increased blood flow and sensitivity to erogenous zones, sends our naughty parts singing- red wine, feeling fine! Add some clove or spices to your wine for added aphrodisiac effect.

Image via topnews

Miss Bunting on the perfect party tipple

Now that you’ve planned your menu or have dusted off all your fancy cookbooks (it’s a start, well done you), it’s time to talk drinks. So pour yourself a single-malt and consider this: checking to see if you still have wine in the cupboard really isn’t enough. Especially if your ‘cellar’ consists solely of corporate-gift cleanskin bottles from last Christmas. Cellar forever. In a bin. Or use in a recipe, but try it first—remember, if it’s not good enough to drink, it ain’t mysteriously going to transform into something good enough to cook with. Fact.

So take the time to think a little longer about what you are serving and whether it’s complementary. A heavy, peppery, full-bodied Shiraz with say, your sashimi & tempura starter isn’t really going to work all that well. You don’t need to be an expert, but do apply the general rules for food matching, and do cater for at least a beer and one or two spirits. If you’re feeling brave, pop on over to matchingfoodandwine.com for inspiration. They’ve even got a story on pairing whisky with Indian food. I know, right?

Even better, have a little fun creating a signature cocktail—the type you can serve in a jug and create a mini bar station prepped and ready to go so guests can help themselves. This will work even better in a garden party scenario when you can experiment with some punchy summer flavours. Think Rosewater and Watermelon martinis. A jug of Pimms crammed with mint & cucumber = heaven. Have some of our vintage striped straws ready and use our mini chalkboards to label your drinks. Hey presto—you have yourself an instantly fabulous mini-bar!

xMiriam

PS… if you are doing a sashimi & tempura starter—you’re officially fabulous.

Onion remedy for cold & flu season

There’s a cold and flu cure remedy that’s been doing the rounds on the internet for a while, and it’s all about the humble onion. You can read the full story here, but in a nutshell: if you slice both ends off an onion, and place in an open jar next to your bed (and head), the onion will absorb all your nasty bacteria and germs … and possibly be black by the morning! Yeuck!!

We think there’s a bigger question here. How can you possibly get to sleep with a smelly ol’ onion keeping you company through the night? Still, when you’re in the throes of a nasty lurgy you’d try just about anything.

However, we think a much better option for our onions is to whack them all in a pot and make a sweet, caramelised French onion soup to slurp on while we battle the sniffles. This version is one of our favourites. Enjoy!

Delia Smith’s French Onion Soup

• 700 g onions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 50 g butter
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ level teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1.2 litres good beef stock
• 275 ml dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons Cognac
• salt and freshly milled black pepper

For the croutons:

• French baguette, cut into 2.5 cm diagonal slices
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

To serve:

• 6 large or 12 small croutons
• 225 g Gruyère, grated

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).

First make the croutons: begin by drizzling the olive oil on to a large, solid baking-sheet, add the crushed garlic and then, using your hands, spread the oil and garlic all over the baking sheet. Now place the bread slices on top of the oil, then turn over each one so that both sides have been lightly coated with the oil. Bake them in the oven for 20-25 minutes till crispy and crunchy.

Next: place the saucepan or casserole on a high heat and melt the oil and butter together. When this is very hot, add the onions, garlic and sugar, and keep turning them from time to time until the edges of the onions have turned dark – this will take about 6 minutes. Then reduce the heat to its lowest setting and leave the onions to carry on cooking very slowly for about 30 minutes, by which time the base of the pan will be covered with a rich, nut brown, caramelised film. After that, pour in the stock and white wine, season, then stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the base of the pan well.

As soon as it all comes up to simmering point, turn down the heat to its lowest setting, then go away and leave it to cook very gently, without a lid, for about 1 hour. All this can be done in advance but, when you’re ready to serve the soup, bring it back up to simmering point, taste to check for seasoning – and if it’s extra-cold outside, add a couple of tablespoons of Cognac! Warm the tureen or soup bowls in a low oven and pre-heat the grill to its highest setting. Then ladle in the hot soup and top with the croutons, allowing them to float on the top of the soup. Now sprinkle the grated Gruyère thickly over the croutons and place the whole lot under the grill until the cheese is golden brown and bubbling.

Serve immediately – and don’t forget to warn your guests that everything is super hot!

Recipe via deliaonline

FFF says: DO DOUBLE DENIM

dou·ble den·im (n.)  (dbl)  (dnm)

—the art of teaming two or more denims, identical or different, together in one single outfit, sometimes successfully but most of the time not.

Since Charles and Di defined double denim back in the 80s, it has been one of our favourite hot (but mostly not) fashion trends of all time. Like a cold sore, it keeps coming back and often in painful ways (we’re looking at your Britney and Justin). 

Here are our top tips for doing double denim right…

• Wear mismatched coloured washes and if in doubt, only two of them.
• Add a third item of clothing, say a navy or white blazer, to cut through all that twill.
• Wear in an undone fashion. Meaning, keep it loose and artfully disheveled. Pull it together with too much polish and aplomb and you are veering into Kath Day-Knight territory.
• Add tan accessories for guaranteed spot-on embellishment.
• Never opt for marble wash. Ever.

Check out the shots below for sheer sartorial inspiration and GO FOR IT!

Images via the sartorialist; thecoveteur; vanessajackman; jakandjil

Tight-arse Tuesday

If money’s too tight to mention, make like Kate and hit the highstreet. Stock up on cool, cheap and cheerful seasonal wonders and buy guilt-free whilst giving your wardrobe instant chutzpah. 

Grey jeans, $60, Top Shop, T-strap sandals, $118, JCrew, Clean Clip knapsack, $120, Top Shop, Stackable enamel ring, $38, JCrew,  Waistcoat, $100, Zara, Crystal and neon chevon bracelet, $78, JCrew, Faux leather and mesh top, $38, Zara (prices approx)

Wordless Wednesday: Airport Runway

RIP Chrissy Amphlett (1959 – 2013)

The original bad girl of Australian Rock is gone. As the front woman of The Divinyls, Chrissy Amphlett made us want to swagger and smoke in our uniforms while sporting shaggy fringes and scowls. She was one of the boys, but her tough girl femininity was hard to ignore. In a word, Amphlett was cool. And her voice? As original and strong as its owner. In recent years, she had battled MS and breast cancer — sadly, at 53, she lost that battle today. But we bet she fought both those adversaries with the same fierce attitude that made her a legend long before her untimely death.

God Bless Chrissy Amphlett … you rock! xx

Guest Blogger: Nadia Bellis on SEXY FOOD

FFF recently shared a delicious rabbit ragu at Sydney’s Hugos with gorgeous Sexoligist Nadia Bellis. Her ideas on sex and the busy modern women were so riveting, we thought FFFers might like her tips and tricks on how to get their sexy back too.

Today, Nadia talks sexual desire and where the hell to find it - in the kitchen apparently. How apt! Thank you Nadia. Enjoy FFFers! xx

Sexual desire, also known as libido or sex drive, is the need, want or desire to engage in sexual activity. The most frequently reported sexual complaint among women is low sexual desire. In order to boost your libido, hit the kitchen and indulge in scrumptious aphrodisiacs that contain hormones, vitamins and minerals that will help improve your sex drive. Why not take all three and create an aphrodisiac-themed dinner for two? Sexy!

Asparagus, phallic in design and delicious when cooked al dente, are considered a libido-boosting food due to their high folate and vitamin E content. Folate maintains reproductive health but more interestingly regulates the production of histamine – the chemical released during an orgasm. Vitamin E, often referred to as the ‘ultimate sex vitamin’, stimulates hormone production including testosterone, which has been found to influence sex drive in both men and women. It also contains phosphorus and calcium, nutrients needed for healthy hormone function.

TIP: Lightly grill asparagus with chili and seasame seeds, freshly sliced garlic and lemon juice for a delicious and sexually invigorating starter! 

Oysters, especially when served fresh and raw, are a delight to our senses, sexual health and libido.  They contain the neurotransmitter dopamine as well as rare amino acids and high quantities of zinc often referred to as the ‘ultimate sexual mineral’ which increase sex hormones.  Historically, oyster eaters and their pearly offspring have aided the rich and famous in their sexual conquests. Cassanova consumed 50 oysters for breakfast each day and Cleopatra snared Mark Anthony with her erotic dinner-time ‘melt-a-pearl-and-drink-it’ routine. As well as sex drive, oysters are important for a man’s reproductive health, sperm production and fertility. The yonic shaped shell and clean, salty taste when slipped seductively into your mouth can evoke sexual undertones to your night - unless you’re too busy locking eyes with your lover to realise the slippery suckers fallen into your lap!

Eggs, rich in protein and dopamine, are surprisingly perfect for enhancing pleasure. High levels of vitamin B5 and B6 help balance hormone levels and have been found to heighten the intensity of an orgasm.  In addition zinc and amino acids have beneficial effects on luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone production. Eat a couple in the morning to boost your libido for a sexy day ahead!

image via thegourmand

Miss Bunting on how to fashion the perfect feast

So we’re across this playlist business now, but the one thing that is constantly on your mind is probably the food, right? Look, it’s really important. But not so important that you need to lose sleep over designing a menu or sign up to do a cake-decorating night course. Your friends should (hopefully) be the types that are there because they want to see you, irrespective of what you serve them. If they’re not – ditch em’!

First and foremost, I really, really recommend that, unless you’re a chef, as much sharing plates, platters and prep that you can do, do it. I’m talking about a menu that is as considered for its flavour as it is for it’s minimal requirement for you to actually be in the kitchen making it. As I mentioned earlier, if you are in the kitchen panicking and smoke starts billowing into the dining room, it’s not that great for customer satisfaction levels. No one wants to feel like they’re a burden or the cause of a stressful situation, unless you are a contestant on My Kitchen Rules. Things like Panna Cotta made the night before are perfect, when all you need to do is plate up and serve. If you do feel like going all out however, try avoiding new, particularly challenging recipes for the very first time. If you’ve never filleted and pin-boned a whole side of Atlantic salmon before, I’d say attempting this just before guests are due would be foolhardy at best.  

Also, if you have any new guests, or partners of guests you may not have met, do find out if they have any allergy or food requirements. There’s nothing worse than proudly bringing your slow roast pork belly to a table full of vegetarians. If you are the guest, it’s always polite to let your host know well ahead of schedule also – and we’re talking allergies here, not simply aversions to foods by fussy eaters. Again, we’ll cover that on another post.

x Miriam