Choose Cadbury®!

I really love cooking. I don't mind spending too much time in the kitchen while preparing a new creation. In general, I don't have any problem when it comes to cooking savory things. Even my International food is absolutely delicious. 

However there is a curse over me. All desserts, that I try to make, are horrible...Yes, I don't mind to admit it. I have to put up with my boyfriend's strange look, burnt sponge cakes and so on xD.

But last Sunday, I struggled to break that curse. The name of the miracle is: Coulant au Chocolat or Chocolate Lava Cake. This delicious dessert has one legend: It was the result of a major cooking disaster (I think the combination of the words dessert + disaster describes me perfectly LOL). The legend reads that the chef tried to make some simple chocolate cakes but someone (not me, I promise haha) took them out of the ovens too early and the centers where not cooked enough and still liquefied. 

I took the recipe from yellowsaffron's channel on Youtube. The ingredients are as follow:

- 5 ^1/2 oz (50 g) of dark chocolate. (I use 50g of Cadbury® dark chocolate, because this is my favorite brand).

- 3 ^1/2 tbsp (20 g) of flour.

- 2 medium eggs + 1 yolk

- A pinch of salt

- 1 ^1/2 tbsp (20 g) of flour.

- 5 ^1/2 tbsp (80 g) of butter.

- 2/3 cup (90 g) of powdered sugar. (I skipped this step, because I usually buy brown sugar and it would make no difference on the cake)

- 1/2 vanilla pod.

- 4 individual cake tins.

The video is perfectly explained by this Italian lovely girl. (Thank you so much for your recipes).

And Voilà! These are my own pictures:

Yummy Yummy! :)

Mr. President...Marilyn Monroe!

Today, 29th May 2012, John Fitzgerald Kennedy would be 95 years old. Ten days ago was the 50th anniversary of the famous song 'Happy Birthday Mr. President' sung by The Blonde Bombshell: Marilyn Monroe.

We will always remember it for three reasons:

- The first one, there were many rumors about Miss Monroe being the President's lover.

- The second one is that it was one of her last major performance, given the fact that she died on 5th August 1962.

-The last one is the stunning dress she was wearing. She was radiant with her open-backed dress made of flesh-colored soufflé gauze encrusted with rhinestones. It was sold in 1999 for $1.26 million at a New York auction.

Mr. President, Be-Bop Lashes wishes you a Happy Birthday, wherever you are.

Be-Bop Video

Привет ! This is only a brief post. I have just found this video on Youtube and I had to share it with you!. These glasses are marvelously handcrafted...Enjoy!

Можно ли подпись? Yes, please! ;)

"Boni...no..."

I want to express my personal feelings about a trendy topic nowadays: Male Depilation. First and foremost, I wouldn't like to offend anyone because it is only my point of view.

Recently I was on holidays enjoying sunny days on the beach. I was having a sunbathe and many guys were around me, some of them were single, some of them were with their partners  and the rest were family men. Everybody had one thing in common: waxed chest. A Few of them got their legs waxed as well.

I wonder, what is happening? Do they truly do that because they really like it or are they just being carried away by fashion rules?. I think it is ok if you feel more confident that way, but please it doesn't have to be an obligation as not all women like that.

Look at this commercial:

I've never seen anything so stupid! What's wrong? if you are a hairy man, does it mean that you are not tidy enough? so you are a slob hairy man. It is funny, you can compare a man with a pig, but it is said that pigs are one of the cleanest animals in the world.  They just need to moisture their skin, and humans blame them for that. They use mud instead of water, so that is why they have to roll over it.

We don't know the true reasons why men and women remove their body hair but this habit exists from the beginning of the mankind. Although some things have changed, mostly which part of the body we’re removing hair from, the techniques have only been honed a little with technology. If you are interested on the depilation history, you can read it on this website.

History of Depilation

Finally, I enjoyed a lot with this funny article, so I will recommend you :)

Gentlemen don’t shave their chests.

After that, definitely I can only say..."Boni...si..." , Hurray Hairy men!

Better than a Chocolate cake!

If I say the phrase 'Better than a Cheesecake', you will know that I am referring to a pretty lady: A pin-up girl. The earliest documented proof of this sense of cheesecake is in 1934, predating pin-up, although it reads the phrase was in spoken slang some 20 years earlier. In the 1950's, for example, there was a periodical magazine called Cheesecake: An American Phenomenon, that had a young Marilyn Monroe in a yellow bikini on its cover in 1953.

After this brief top, I would like to show you how to turn into a 'chocolate cake', I mean, my Chocomania collection from The Body Shop©.

Chocomania.- The Body Shop

It was my Valentine's day gift :). The set, whose slogan reads 'Wear it, love it, but don’t eat it', was a lovely basket which contained:

1. Chocomania Shower Cream (Prize: £4.00- €5.00 approx- $6.30 approx).

It contains real cocoa butter and it is very soft so it won't dry out your skin. This product is soap free so you will feel the fragrance on your skin like when you are drinking a hot delicious chocolate. The texture is thick and creamy. The colour is caramel like and if you feel like having a bath, fill up your bathtub water, pour some shower cream into it and relax. It will create a lot of bubbles.

2. Chocomania Body Butter (Prize: £12.50- €15.60 approx- $19.62 approx).

This luxurious chocolatey Body Butter provides 48-hour hydration, thanks to buttery texture. It is not sticky given that it will be absorbed quickly on your skin. It leaves skin sweetly scented, and feeling softer and smoother. The colour is ivory like without shimmering. 

3. Chocomania Body Scrub (Prize: £12,50- €15.60 approx- $19.62 approx).

It contains real cocoa butter and organic cane sugar. This exfoliating body scrub has a pleasant chocolatey scent and leaves skin feeling softer and smoother. If you applied the product over your skin, it will remove dead skin cells and will stimulate her microcirculation at the same time. The colour is like brown ebony with little cane sugar particles.

4. Chocomania Body Lotion (Prize: £8.00- €10.00 approx- $12.55 approx).

This lovely body lotion has a chocolate fragrance as the rest of products in the set. Leaves skin feeling softer and smoother however it doesn't have a long lasting hydration like the body butter, it is lighter. The colour is like polished ivory and the texture is very creamy but it will be quickly absorbed.

Bellow, there is a famous 50's advertisement for Valentine's Day. It was from Whitman's Chocolates brand (Since 1842), one of the most popular and oldest American home of boxed chocolates.

Whitman's Chocolates website

It is a worldwide custom to give chocolates, flowers or cuddly toys as a present for the 14th February. The slogan of this advertisement is 'Something special for someone special'. With that, Husbands surprised their wives with a cute heart box full of little delicious candies.

Nowadays, Brands (like The Body Shop©) propose new alternatives for this special day. That is why comes up Chocomania, a new form to say 'I love you'.

Eddie Rocket's

Do you fancy real Americana fast food? Let's go to the famous Irish restaurant chain: Eddie Rocket's! where you will enjoy a classic American atmosphere. 

The interior design provides you with a classic and comfortable ambiance, they really did a great job decorating and it makes you feel like you stepped back in time to the old fashion time. Two of the most famous 50's movies have been shot in this kind of restaurant. Do you know which they are?

Yes, you are right. They are: Grease & American Graffiti. The night was for the guys who hanged out at a fast food restaurant. They met up and planned where they were going to go later in the night, enjoying a unhealthy but cheap combo: Cheeseburger & Cholocate milkshake.

Yesterday, we had brunch in an Eddie Rocket's. It is quite similar to American Johnny Rockets franchise. It's owned by Rocket Restaurants who opened their first local in Dublin in 1989 and now has 42 locations in Ireland, England, Wales and Spain (Unfortunately only one, in Alicante).

Eddie Rocket's website

The wait staff is very attentive and friendly, they wear a 50's striped red and white uniform with an apron, a matching hat and trainers. They don't wear the typical car hop outfit, what a pity! but considering that in Dublin, it is nearly always raining, I guess it's not a good idea to run through the corridors in roller skates :)

The food is great, I mean, it is a junk food restaurant, but for a fast food one it is certainly one of the best. Fried pickles, specially onion rings, were the best I have ever tried. You can see the complete menu on the website:

Eddie Rocket's menu

Yesterday we ordered, two sodas, a Slider Basket combo and The Club Sandwich. The last one is quite popular on Facebook because there is a page specially designed for the Eddie Rocket's Management, to avoid this dish from being removed out of the menu. So that was the reason why I ordered it! and It is yummy! so I hope the request has a great success.

The Club Sandwich on Facebook

The meal came about 15-20 minutes, therefore you have to be a little bit patient. Everything will be prepared the moment you order it.

The Slider Basket is a combo which has a hamburger, a soda and a bowl fries. The hamburger is loaded with grilled bacon, melted cheddar cheese, succulent two slices of Irish beef, two extra onion rings and ED secret sauce. The prize of the combo is €6,50.

The Club Sandwich is seared chicken breast, gently melted cheese, crispy bacon, lush, green lettuce, tomato and smooth mayonnaise. You can choose what type of bread you would like to eat, white or nutty brown bread. It comes with a little bowl of coleslaw. His prize is €7.75.

The interior of the diner is decorated so cute with lots of funny posters and pics that it will keep you entertained until the food arrives. The music, as you can imagine, is 50's - 60's rock' n 'roll hits, so you will eat your hamburger while Elvis' songs such as 'Hound Dog' is on.

I would like to recommend you Eddie Rocket's if you are either a fast food or Rockabilly style lover. Also there is a famous American restaurant chain in Spain. The name is Peggy Sue's. 


Peggy Sue's website

It has a lovely website style so maybe in Ireland, a restaurant could be opened...but I think, it can do a play on words... what do you think about 'Paddy' Sue's? :) Just Kidding. Anyway, I almost forget to ask you a favor, Could you lend me a coin for the Jukebox? ;)

In Cartoon You Can Do Everything

I named this post after one phrase, a phrase of one genius from The Golden Age of American Animation (1928-early 60's): Tex Avery. As you can imagine, he is my favorite cartoonist, today one of their characters popped up in my head therefore I want to pay tribute to him on my blog.

He worked for the Warner Bros and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios where he created  characters as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, and developed Porky Pig, Chilly Willy (this last one for the Walter Lantz Studio) into the people for which they are remembered. If you are interested in reading his story, visit this link:

Tex Avery Tribute

In the meantime, you are reading my post, I will suggest you a song, which appears as an adaptation in one of my favourite Avery's short film: 

this is 'Oh Johnny! Oh' sung by The Andrews Sisters. Tex was based on this song for the lovely performance 'Oh, Wolfie' in his animated cartoon short film 'Swing Shift Cinderella'.

Swing Shift Cinderella (1945)

The plot is perfectly explained on Wikipedia, so you can read it there:

Swing Shift Cinderella Wikipedia

I do love it! however I am afraid that Cinderella version is not suitable for children.

She performs in a night club with a white cabaret outfit, gloves and sexy stiletto-heels, she dances provocatively and sings bubbly. She is despot and spoiled with her fairy godmother. Even she addresses her badly, such as 'Listen Granny', while they are talking on the phone and when she turns into a glamour girl she says, looking to her new dress 'You do wave a mean band, don't you? old girl'.

The Prince in this story is a Wolf who is not a gentleman but a sex maniac. He starts to whistle at her like crazy while she insinuates with her song chorus 'Oh, Wolfie, Oh, Wolfie, Ain't you the one?'.

In addition, the Fairy Godmother is a cougar that would like to land Wolf although she is a very good person with Cinderella as in the tale.

Finally, I love the end of the story, when it's 12.00 o'clock, Cinderella is not going to turn into a housemaid but she is Rosie the Riveter, a cultural American idol for women workers.

As far as I am concerned, I don't think that this version has to do with Disney movie or Brothers Grimm's story, doesn't it? 

My adored Benetint

Today, I would like to talk about my unconditional beauty product: Benetint which is a top seller in Benefit Cosmetics. It is rose-tinted lip & cheek stain, but I use it only for cheeks, you will know soon ;)

Benetint on Benefit Cosmetics website

This product, as you can see on the website, was originally created for an exotic dancer in the 1970's. The brand founders were twin sisters Ford, who opened in 1976 a make-up shop in San Francisco. The shop looked like sweet and candy and had a great success. The exotic dancer asked Ms. Ford for a product that could make her nipples look more attractive. The first name for this tint was Rose Tint and nowadays is called Benetint.

But the rose tint idea for cheeks is older than Ford's discovery. During World War II, the makeup turned into a war weapon for British women. The Germans invaded Paris and British women made an effort to look prettier. Their beauty was the main country emblem. If they were good-looking, the country would go wonderfully.

'Beauty is your duty' was a Vogue slogan and it was inspired by the idea of raising men moral. In war time, anything could do as a fantastic makeup, such as using blood for cheeks and lips (Can you imagine that Benetint was based on that idea?), beet as lipstick, boot polish as eye-shadow and lard as make-up remover.

Now I am going to explain how to apply Benetint and will do a swatch for you. The applicator is a little brush. It reminds me of a nail polish applicator brush. It contains 12,5 ml or 0,4 US fl.oz.

In the prescription that comes with the product, it reads:

'Dot a little of Benefit's popular rose-colored check tint onto the apples of your cheeks and blend with fingertips. Add a few more dots for a deeper color. It is so natural, you look like you're blushing from the inside out. It's the sexiest flush you can get from a bottle'

After you have applied the product, your fingerprints will be stained, however you can wash your hands several times, and remove it. 

Do you like it? I think it's lovely, isn't it? The prize is $29,00 (€22,81 or £18,23) on the official website (It's worth it if you want to buy some products for recovering the shipping cost, since in a Benefit makeup stand it could be a little bit more expensive) , but I ordered it on the website ASOS with a 20% promo-discount.  (ASOS often emails you about offers and discounts if you are registered) and it was (€22,81, free delivery cost worldwide:) ASOS website Benetint

I have to say that this product is a good investment, given that you only need some drops for looking pretty and its full-sized is for a long time....Also this sexy elixir is kiss proof and waterproof!

P.S. Sorry my pics don't have very good quality, I need a new one better camera, I hope to have it soon!^^

Be-Bop Glasses...or Lashes ;)

I am going to start this post with 'Cat-eye glasses'. I am sure if you are a Grease-a-holic, you will know what kind of glasses I am talking about...Let's watch a video on Youtube...given that a picture is worth a thousand words...and if it's a video, much better :)

Did you see them? Several girls put them on their eyes, even in the movie, Marty, one of the Pink Ladies complains about a little diamond of her glasses felt onto macaroni.

'Cat-eye glasses or sunglasses' are horn-rimmed glasses with flared outer edges where the arms join the frame. They were mainly popular in the 1950's and 1960's among fashionable women. This kind of glasses are catlike because the frame is pronounced and it reminds you of feline eyes features.

'Be-Bop glasses or sunglasses' is Black-American slang for these special fashionable glasses, and as a consequence some brands used it in their ads , specially designed for black people. Music, Be-Bop Jazz, was an influence on fashion.

If you see my personal profile, I said that I will be sharing my makeup looks and the like. My sister, Nata, helped me with the second word in the header, 'Lashes' because we are makeup nerds therefore we love false lashes. Together, we did a little play on words...Welcome to Be-Bop Lashes!!

The next picture is my small collection of Cat-eye glasses...And yours? :)

'Be-Bop', my first word in the header

Be-Bop is a style of Jazz born in the early and mid 40's as a result of the boring commercial circle that Jazz had turned into where the same hits sounded over and over every night.

There was a pub in Harlem (New York) called Minton's Playhouse. The owner was a man named Teddy Hill who had a brilliant idea. He thought...'If I open the bar until dawn, I will get all Jazz musicians play there'. That way a new style originated from the 1930's swing music.

There were a lot of famous musicians who played Be-Bop among whom was the sacastic Bird, `Charlie Parker'. Someone asked him...What does Be-Bop mean?, and he said, 'We use that word, because it reminds us of the sound of the police nightsticks beating the black men heads.'

The Be-Bop or Bop is characterized by fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity and improvisation based on the combination of harmonic structure and melody. This style of Jazz invented by the couple Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie became synonymous with modern jazz, as either category reached a certain final maturity in the 1960's.