My first black tie event of the party season

Hi all you fashion lovers,

I've just attended my first black tie event leading up to the party season and I was very pleased to meet Maureen Bramham, one of our regular customers, who I must say was turned out beautifully. 

All the ladies at the event had made a special effort for this glamorous occasion. The trend for the men seemed to be dinner jackets with coloured bow ties, all very daring indeed. I opted for a classic slim black tie. 

One accessory that I think would have been very useful for some of the ladies would have been a shawl or wrap, giving them an extra layer to wrap around their shoulders on arrival and adding an extra splash of glamour. My favourite has to be the Pure & Simple pashmina with beaded fringing. 

Plus, also check out Dream Keeper's beautifully embellished shawls. They have a vintage feel to them which will allow you to arrive at your festive celebrations looking fabulous and also avoid any cloakroom queue when it comes to carriages home.

Love Glen x

My Christmas food preparations continue...

Hi all you food lovers,

My first love is fashion but I also have a passion for food and cooking, so on the back of last weekend I just thought I would let you know how my prep and sample recipes are going for the Christmas period. I prepared these mussels (below) on Saturday evening with a view to serving them for family and friends on Christmas Eve.

Here’s my recipe...
 
Sautée one banana shallot in unsalted butter. Once soft and translucent add a diced knuckle of ginger, half a chopped chilli and one chopped clove of garlic.

After a couple of minutes add a glass of crisp dry white wine, bring to the boil add your scrubbed and de-bearded mussels (make sure they are all closed before you put them in) put the lid on and steam until all the mussels are open. This should take around four to five minutes.

I'm really getting into the Christmas spirit!

Hi fashion lovers,

After my first Christmas gift show last Saturday, I'm really getting into the Christmas spirit!  On the train home I started to think about our Christmas menu and decided that when I got home I would start to experiment with the starter….

Here’s what I came up with - a gazpacho base with a white crab meat centre, topped with avocado guacamole and deep-fried Japanese bread-crumbed king prawns. It's then finished with a drizzle of mango vinaigrette with groundnut oil, ginger, chilli and lime juice. What do you think?! There's a photo on the right, but it's not that clear sorry!I tested the recipe out on my son Ali who gave the thumbs up. I'll let you know how the menu progresses!

In the meantime if you fancy a fashion fix catch the Fashion Gift show at 12 o’clock tomorrow - I'll be with you with some Style Inc and also Deerstag slippers. Also look out for the Pure & Simple Pashminas as they make fabulous Christmas gifts for loved ones.

I'd love to know what you'll be cooking over the festive period, let me know what you're doing and we can inspire each other!

Love glen x