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Healthy chocolate fix

Recipes, Uncategorized

chocballsI just made these healthy cousins to traditional Swedish chocolate balls and I am really happy with the result. They instantly satisfy that enormous chocolate craving that I experience every night, but unlike their lard-laden relatives, they contain no butter and no added sugar.

1.5 cups of oats
3 tablespoons of protein powder, any will work, chocolate or vanilla flavor
3/4 cups of chopped pitted dates, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of cacao
4 squares Lindt chocolate, the really dark 85 % one (OK, this contains a little bit of butter, but all in all, not much!!)
1 tablespoon strong coffee
2-4 tablespoons water or milk (this depends on the type of protein powder you use, start with one tbsp and add water til you get a nice consistency)

Mix all ingredients except water/milk, preferably in a food processor but can also be done by hand; in that case, cut up the dates into really small pieces first. Add water or milk last. Roll into balls. If you like, you can roll the balls in coconut as well, but I didn’t this time.

Decadent and healthy at the same time!!

My Great Ocean Road necklace

Australia, music, Our jewellery, Travel, world

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I have come to Aireys inlet a few times now, and each time it is like all the stress drains out of my body as soon as I have climbed the hill up to the lighthouse. The view is breathtaking; the blue sky and the blue ocean; all different shades of blue. The fresh smell of seasalt, dry wood and spices. As I inhale the healing air, The Lighthouse Song (one of my absolute favourite Aussie songs, btw!) by Josh Pyke starts to play in my head.

I just had to make a necklace inspired by the colours. I had some ancient African trade beads resembling light bulbs; they are truly unique. The material resembles sea glass that has been polished by the ocean for a very long time, and the subtle irregular swirls look like the ocean bed. The beads have so much history and have been touched by so many hands; they were made in the early 1900s in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic) for trade with Mali, where brides would wear them on their wedding day. I bought them from a Malinese lady; she said that she thought they were really old-fashioned, but I absolutely love them. For me, they really capture the essence of the Great Ocean Road.

Up near the lighthouse, we visited the Old Stables cafe; this is my favourite cafe in the whole world, seriously. The atmosphere is casually bohemian, and the chai tea is to die for. They also sell wonderful hand made home decorations, clothes and bags and I always buy something, to have a little piece of the Great Ocean Road in my suitcase when I go back home.

The view from the lighthouse; my husband and kids on the beach, and My Favourite Cafe In The Whole Wide World.
The view from the lighthouse; my husband and kids on the beach, and My Favourite Cafe In The Whole Wide World.

Matte gold jewellery

fashion, Our jewellery
Real skeleton leaf that has been plated with 22 karat gold
Real skeleton leaf that has been plated with 22 karat gold

I love our new range of jewellery that has been plated with matte 22 karat gold; it is sleek and sophisticated but still with our usual edge. The different necklaces in the series look amazing layered and also look great with silver; the mixed metal look is still huge this season as you might have noticed if you have been checking out the scene at NY fashion week.

Top: Golden Angel Wing Padlock Necklace. Bottom: Half Moon Seed Pod Earrings, and Feather Bracelet with tiny bird charm.
Top: Golden Angel Wing Padlock Necklace. Bottom: Half Moon Seed Pod Earrings, and Feather and Bird Bracelet.

 

Style icon: the amazingly talented Pamela Love

fashion, jewellery by others, Style icons

Pamela Love. Image from Free People’s Building 25 Blog
Pamela Love. Image from Free People’s Building 25 Blog
New York jewellery artist Pamela Love has not only created some of the most beutiful jewellery I have ever seen, she also has amazing style. I will let the photos speak for themselves; words are not really necessary here. I found out from her website (www.pamelalovenyc.com) that she began making jewellery in her apartment in Brooklyn seven years ago, and since then built up a full production facility and design studio in Manhattan. Pamela’s jewellery line is also ethical; most metal is recycled and all the stones are ethically sourced. And everything is made in that studio in Manhattan, that it would be a dream for me to one day visit.
From top left: 1. Pamelas beautiful hands. Source: Elle. 2. Pamela's Tribal Spike Necklace, found on Pamela Love NYC.com , which I will one day buy when my credit card has recovered a little (this is NOT overly expensive, just me who has overspent!), 3. Pamela in Time magazine Bottom from left:1. Pamela with her shoes, I believe she has designed these for Nine West (?). 2. Pamela's Paramount Double Finger Ring (from Pamela Love NYC )
From top left: 1. Pamelas beautiful hands. Source: Elle. 2. Pamela’s Tribal Spike Necklace, found on Pamela Love NYC.com , which I will one day buy when my credit card has recovered a little (this is NOT overly expensive, just me who has overspent!), 3. Pamela in Time magazine Bottom from left:1. Pamela with her shoes, I believe she has designed these for Nine West (?). 2. Pamela’s Paramount Double Finger Ring (from Pamela Love NYC )

Paramount double finger ring
Tribal spike necklace

My favourite part of Singapore: Kampong Glam

Singapore, Travel, world

IMG_3005Before Singapore was colonised by the British, Kampong Glam was home to the Malay aristrocracy. The neighborhood still has strong ties to Singapore’s Muslim community in general, with influences from North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia. Kampong Glam feels like a village, with chirping birds and iron street lights.

Shopping for shoes in Bussorah Street.
Shopping for shoes in Bussorah Street.
Bussorah street, a small pedestrian mall, is lined by oriental shops, Turkish and Moroccan Restaurants as well as little French-Arabic cafes. Sit here and relax. You will no longer feel that you are in a huge, densely populated city. Eat some crispy lemon crepes, sip on a Turkish coffee and smoke a hookah. You are in heaven now.IMG_3008

Venture a little further and you will reach the vibrant Arab Street where the main merchandise is textiles. Here, you find amazing huge Afghan carpets, thai silk in every colour imaginable, intricate hand-embroidered fabric appliques and roll after roll of excuisite lace trim. When your feet are killing you and the sun starts to set, go back to Bussorah and have your evening meal. It is now, when darkness falls, that the magic of Kampong Glam really kicks in. Sit down at a streetside cafe and enjoy the fragrant air, the palm trees moving slowly in the wind and listen to the evening prayers being called from the beautiful, large Sultan Mosque. Then you will understand why this is my favourite part of Singapore.

Click on the video at the very bottom of this post, under the “night in Bussorah street” photo below, to watch a little video I made about Kampong Glam.

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Little India, Singapore

Singapore, Travel, world

modif
We flew in over Singapore in the late afternoon, watching all the ships in the harbor, the sun pink-orange over the horizon. Arriving in Singapore feels more and more like coming home; I now find my way around the city, I know the neighborhoods, the roads, the waterholes; I no longer go to Raffles Hotel and pay a fortune for a Singapore sling.

Getting a henna tattoo next to my real one....
Getting a henna tattoo next to my real one….
We stayed on the outskirts of Little India which is so exotic and fragrant that it always feels like a new adventure walking around there at night, amongst all the people and the shops packed to the brim with gadgets, clothes and bright jewellery. Sensory overload, in a good way. In Little India, you are immersed in all imaginative colours from crimson to summer sky blue, and every thinkable smell between jasmine and vindaloo.

The amazing vintage shop.
The amazing vintage shop.
We discovered a new vintage shop in Cuff Road, with an air thick of incense and yesteryear. Here, we found the most amazing carved infinity sculptures, vintage guns and embroided camel leather slippes (of course I bought a pair). We marvelled at the intricate oriental buttery high carat gold jewellery at Mustafa’s and ate hot fresh ochra curries in banana leaves. A perfect warm, tropical velvet night.

Click on the video below to watch my “guide to Little India”!

Fashion against poverty

fashion, pick of the day


I am pretty bohemian, so much that I sometimes I verge on crazy cat lady. I love beaded bracelets; I stack them on my arms, particularly in summer. I absolutely love these, made by Maasai women in Tanzania. If you buy one, the profit goes to them; towards education and development of their businesses. They are about 12 dollars and if you think of the time it takes to make one, this is pretty cheap (I know because I make lots of beaded jewellery). I love the colours; imagine these bracelets against sunkissed skin, maybe stacked with some dainty gold chains….

The bracelets are found here.

My first woodland style hair wreath!

Our jewellery

I’ve made my first romantic woodland wreath headband, which makes me feel like a forest princess! Photo: James St John.
John Bauer’s Princess Tuvstarr.
Inspired by the change in season, and by the amazing Melbourne-based designer Connie Cao, I made my first woodland-style hair wreath. I love it! It makes me feel like Princess Tuvstarr! I can’t wait to make one in red, and white, and… wait a minute, white with glistening frost. Did I mention that I miss Sweden?