So you've arrived in Paris, but not sure where to start. Put on your walking shoes, buy a carnet of Metro tickets and you're good to go.
I've visited Paris every year for the last four years and this is my definitive list of things to do, places to go and along the way, habitancy to see.
The choice of colors is something a bride considers first when planning her wedding. Will she go for dramatic hues or softer shades. How about a pairing of both? If you are a bride who already loves pink then you might consider a pink and black wedding. These two shades are not only beautiful but compliment each other in a dramatic way as well. Now that I have your attention, let's scrutinize some options on how your wedding will look.
Wedding Attire -
You will first want to rule on a bridal gown and wedding apparel for your bridesmaids. Brides usually go for a former white or ivory gown, but have you considered a pink wedding gown, maybe with black trim or a black sash, no dear bride, I'm not talking goth, remember, these colors would be quite favorable for second time nearby brides. If you have your heart set on former white then you might ponder carrying a bouquet of hot pink roses or eye catching pink gerber daisies festooned with black ribbons. consider pinning a dainty butterfly or dragonfly among your bouquet flowers. For your bridesmaids, dress them up in hot pink gowns embellished with black velvet or satin sashes. Grooms men will indubitably turn heads when they wear black tails or tux set off with hot pink roses or carnations as boutonnieres.
Wedding Accessories and Favors -
Guest books, candles, memory books and garters can all be found in lovely pink shades. For wedding favors, you might consider flower seed wedding favors, pink orchid gel candles, soap roses, or chocolate truffles contained in black boxes and tied off with dramatic pink ribbons or pink rose or daisy decor. This all depends on the flowers you have prime of course.
Wedding Reception Decor -
Using black and pink in your reception can be fun. First, send off invitations in hot pink envelopes with black seals. Drape tables in pink and black table cloths, scatter sparkling black and pink crystals over tables for a dramatic and eye popping succeed and set off with pink flowers in tall black vases.
Cocktails and Bar - If you want to try something indubitably neat, surround your dance floor and bar in a hot pink mist. Serve your guests a signature cocktail with pink fruit juice mixed with liqueur, top off with tiny pink and black umbrellas. This can be served along with traditionals drinks of pina colodas, Margaritas, rum and coke, whiskey and Tom Collins. Your choices are unlimited.
Now that you have some great ideas for a pink and black themed wedding remember, have fun and give it all you've got.
Elegant Traditions - Planning a Pink and Black Color Themed WeddingHow to make Chocolate Truffle by Crumb Boss Video Clips. Duration : 4.87 Mins.
We've all encountered both milk and dark chocolate in stores, and we've probably all eaten some of each. We know that the milk types tends to be softer and sweeter than dark, but we might not know much more. If you've been wondering what the real difference in the middle of the two, as well as all the other kinds out there, here are the basic facts.
We discovered that we could cut off cocoa and butter from a processed bean. These substances are combined in dissimilar ways to give us the dissimilar kinds of chocolate: milk, dark, and white. Technically, white ones isn't absolutely chocolate, however. It contains only sugar and cocoa butter, not cocoa solids.
Unsweetened ones are made of pure chocolate liquor mixed with a fat - normally cocoa butter. It's also called baking or bitter choco. The flavor of this is strong, but it's not normally eaten on its own. Instead, it is is used for production cookies, brownies, cakes and similar foods.
Dark chocolate is made from cocoa solids or liquor to which fat and sugar have been added. normally it must have its fats from the liquor, and its often very high in attentiveness - 65% or more. This is my personal favorite. Also tasting great to me I know in determined quantities there could be health benefits to eating them.
Milk chocos are made similarly to dark ones, but it uses less cocoa and adds milk powder or condensed milk, too. The process of production solid chocolate using condensed milk was perfected in the 1870s. This is the most coarse type used in everyday candy bars.
Semi-sweet types are used mostly for cooking (such as in chocolate chip cookies). It's a low sugar type of dark chocolate.
Bittersweet types are similar to semi-sweet, but uses more cocoa butter and less sugar. It's interchangeable in baking, but higher percentages normally indicate a less sweet chocolate.
Couverture has a high cocoa butter content. These kinds include high percentages as well as a high total fat content.
The powders is made by removing practically all of the cocoa butter from the liquor and allowing the solids to dry. They're then ground. There are two main types of powder - natural, which is more acidic, and dutch process.
Compound ones refers to cocoa combined with vegetable fats like palm oil. Not a true chocolate, this is part of "chocolatey coatings" and "choco flavored confections". Some white types are also made without cocoa butter and fall into this category.
What's the divergence in the middle of Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate?How to make Chocolate Truffle by Crumb Boss Tube. Duration : 4.87 Mins.Eating chocolate can be one of the most pleasurable things in the world if you are in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, and most of the time, with your popular kind of chocolate.
Out of a scrutinize of 22 people who liked chocolate and one who didn't, half of the people adored milk chocolate, 18.18% favored hot chocolate, and white chocolate and very dark chocolate come in a tie next with 13.63% each. For toppings, 36.36% people liked plain chocolate, 22.73% adored chocolate with caramel and third in line was chocolate containing liquor inside with 18.18%.
I, however, like plain milk chocolate or with dried fruits, preferably the brand Lindt or Ferrero Rocher. Hot chocolate is an enjoyment, too, but only in winter when the weather is cold.
For me, chocolate is great for all occasions; the only downside to chocolate is that it is packed with sugar and unhealthy if eaten in large amounts. I use chocolate as a minute bonus for myself for when I get good grades, when I win something, or when I quit a scheme that took a lot of effort. For example, when I was little, I would sometimes keep a bag of m&m's on my desk and everyday after I ended all of my homework, I would eat ten m&m's. It made me more motivated to do my homework quickly, and this formula of self-discipline worked well for a long time.
Chocolate is also great for cheering someone up on a bad day. At church when I was America, I would bring some chocolates if I had any and if I saw one of my mom's students crying, I'd tell them that if they stopped crying, I'd give them chocolate. My dad did the same thing, except he gave candy to all the minute children and a lot of children came to church willingly just for his treats. In time, he was known as "Tang shu shu" which means Mr. Candy and I was "Tang jie jie", meaning Miss Candy/older sister. Chocolate does not work only on minute children; it's great for anyone at any sad moment in life. The most popular images are the ones of adolescent girls, freshly dumped eating chocolate like it's the only food on earth. I have never had this experience, but some of my friends turn to chocolate when they are depressed.
Chocolate is a great gift for anyone at anytime. Valentines Day, White Day, Christmas, birthdays, and more are holidays where giving chocolate is very common. The exquisite box for chocolate in my opinion is a beautiful golden box with dark brown ribbons tying it together. To add a dash of creativity, chocolate can be melted for anyone to shape into hearts, stars, and anyone they can think of. Most people like chocolate, so this gift is normally safe to give; negative reactions are normally rare, and in my case, chocolate is all the time a great present.
Chocolate - Personal EssayRed Velvet Cake Balls with Amaretto Filling (1 Dozen)--Made-to-Order Tube. Duration : 0.48 Mins.The medieval settlement of Arcidosso lies on the slopes of Monte Amiata about 2 ½ hours north of Rome. As you arrival the village, you notice its outstanding feature; the tower of the Aldobrondeschi Castle built in 896. The settlement itself nestles next to the castle walls, as if still seeking safety from the fortress of its feudal lords, the Aldobrondeschi family. A small village, populated mostly by farmers and artisans, most Arcidosso residents can trace their ancestry back to the first villagers who populated these hills. While an absorbing night life and the bustle of city living won't be found in this ancient peasant village, there's one thing that draws visitors consistently from all over the globe; its outstanding traditional Tuscan food and wine.
At the base of every good dish stands its humble beginnings; its produce. Tuscany is blessed with numerous micro-climates, healthy soil, and long growing seasons, and the food produced on this soil is determined the best by Italian chefs. From the long, dry, hot coasts and hills of La Maremma, where some of the finest olives, grapes and cattle are grown, to the vast, beautiful sunflower fields grown for oil, to the chianini cattle produced for it's tender, lean beef, the sheep dotting the hillsides, and it's fresh, organically grown vegetables, the Tuscan chef uses seasonal, locally produced, and fresh ingredients to furnish simple, delicious, healthy and satisfying fare. Many of the recipes used today are as old as the Tuscan hills themselves, each generation of chefs adding his or her own regional twist, house preference, and, as in Florence, even contemporary elegance to their favorite dishes.
One such chef is Carlo Innocenti, owner and Grand Chef of Casa Inncoenti and the Trattoria at La Locanda del Prete. After traveling the world teaching Tuscan cooking through out Europe, retired into his family's ancestral home, Casa Innocenti, in Arcidosso. Built adjoining the Aldobrondeschi castle, this first-rate medieval home has three stories, with four guest rooms overlooking the Piazza, the castle, and Carlo's own garden, where he grows his tomatoes, zucchini, basil, and oregano. Not ready to stop sharing his love of Tuscan cooking, he offers cooking classes to guests from nearby the globe in his home and his trattoria at La Locanda del Prete is a favorite among Arcidosso locals.
Carlo's love of cooking is only surpassed by his love of hosting. "Friends, like wine, enhance with age." He says often, pouring his visitor a glass in his garden over antipasto. Carlo provides his guests with daily guided excursions, as well as a daily cooking course, for his guests over a 6 night stay. "Tuscany is my heart, my soul, it's who I am," he says, "I want others to see why I am so proud of my Toscana."
A typical day for Carlo begins at 4:30 am, when he goes out to the local store to be the first to pick the finest examples of Tuscan produce. It would appear as if he were a celebrity, with farmers waving from tractors and shop-keepers peeking out the doors of their shops to shout a hearty "Buon giorno! Carlo!", but you soon learn that this is the innate hospitality and friendliness of native Tuscans. A uncomplicated inquiry about a proscuitto will have the shopkeeper explaining to you the history of proscuitto, how it is made, the best proscuitto he ever tasted and where he was when he tried it. This will often engage the other shoppers in a discourse and absorbing seminar about the attractiveness of a good prosciutto, and where you can find the best. Everything in Tuscany is a topic of discussion, and you study why Carlo leaves his home so early! And you feel sorry for the other guests who chose to sleep in and missed this astounding opening to sample Tuscan settlement life. Carlo makes a stop at the pasticceria, a Tuscan pastry shop where the aroma of freshly baking sweet and savory pastries makes one's mouth water. He chooses tasty Tuscan Pastries for the typical morning breakfast, including Tuscan breads, honey, fruit preserves, and a tasty savory bread baked with Tuscan prosciutto, cheese and tomatoes.
Returning to house, Carlo barely misses a beat as he sets out to make the morning coffee, "Would you like a microscopic 'corretto'?" Carlo asks with a wink, contribution you a splash of the Tuscan digestive liqueur Grappa to "correct" your espresso. Before you get shocked at the idea of drinking before 7 am, that tiny splash of Grappa is guaranteed to open up your appetite and makes the whole world taste better.
After a satisfying morning meal, Carlo prepares the group for the first of five guided excursions. He accompanies his guests to varied locales throughout Tuscany, including the wine towns of Montepulciano, Montalcino, and Pienza, where the finest Pecorino cheeses are made in a tradition using sheep's milk that has remained unchanged for centuries. The sheep of Pienza graze freely, and the varied herbs which grow wild on the hillside lend flavor to their milk, and therefore the cheeses. Pecorino cheese is made in Pienza by outside the cheese in ashes and olive oil for ripening, the result, an amazing, smoky, tasty cheese that can be soft, medium or hard depending on the formula and ripening time used. Try the softer pecorino aged with black truffles, Marzolino al Tartufo, shaved over pasta and salads, or place a slice over your steak under the broiler instead of truffle butters. Or, the harder, well aged Pienza Morchiato as a table cheese instead of Parmesan. The flavor of Pienza's pecorino cheese is so enticing, that school children are often found walking right past the sweet shops to spend their pocket money on chunks of pecorino cheese!
Tuscan cooking has something for everyone, from the hard core carnivore to the vegetarian. Simple, delicious, and of course recreated, everyone visiting Tuscany should try to attend a cooking course, whether a week long affair at Casa Innocenti, where you can come to be immersed in local flavors, customs, and house and settlement life, or a few hours somewhere close to your villa. Tuscany is paramount for its wines and olive oils, and it should be paramount for it's cooking as well. This region that takes so much pride in it's food and wines has so many astounding culinary experiences to offer, it would be a shame to miss out on the fun.
La Cucina Povera Toscana - Cooking in TuscanyChambord Raspberry Liqueur Subsitute.M4V Video Clips. Duration : 1.80 Mins.
