Apr 28, 2016

Style: Florals and Fitting Out

Fashion isn't just about clothing. I'm not an egg short of a full carton, I just mean that while clothing is, of course, part of fashion, you're not done once you've picked out the clothes for your outfit. 

In other words, clothing is necessary for great style, but not sufficient. Accessories finish a look


Accessories are all too often overlooked because, unlike pants, no one is going to raise an eyebrow if you forget them. You'll feel under-dressed if you forget to put on a shirt one day, but the same usually doesn't apply for a bracelet.

But, like lingerie, your accessories can change how you feel in your outfit and throughout your day. 


It's great when other people appreciate our style, but most important is that we appreciate our own style and that it makes us feel good and comfortable in our own skin.

Apr 22, 2016

Style Post: Springing Towards Summer

The temperatures are warming up and our wardrobes are switching from wintertime drab to springy fun! I love dresses and I love feeling free and light, with swishy skirts for twirling and bare arms for cartwheeling.


I'm spending this summer in Boston and I can't wait! I had a trip out to Boston a week ago for a fun shoot and we stumbled upon this fun hot pink scaffolding in Chinatown. It was the cutest scaffolding I've ever seen in my life and paired wonderfully with this gingham and daisy dress from ASOS!


With a bright, happy welcome like that, I can't wait to return to Boston in just a few short weeks and make it, once again, my warm weather home!

Apr 19, 2016

Recipe: Spooky Sweet Potato Burritos

It's Halloween's half-birthday very soon, so here's an orange-and-black healthy vegetarian recipe to celebrate!


Burritos are a great meal. You can make them for dinner, they're pretty simple to make and can be packed with healthy ingredients (like the protein and fiber rich black beans and the vitamin rich sweet potatoes. While these are an unusual flavor combo for a burrito (some tasters loved them and some thought sweet potato is too sweet for a burrito, so know your audience) sweet potato lovers typically liked them. They also make easy bag lunches!



Make the burritos ahead of time, wrap them in aluminum foil, and store them in the fridge or freezer (depending on how long you want to keep them - they'll last weeks in the freezer, but just a few days in the fridge). When you're ready to eat them, just pop the aluminum foil-wrapped burrito in the oven to re-warm or remove the aluminum to microwave! Read on for the simple recipe.

Apr 16, 2016

Review: That's It Bars

I love the chewy sweetness of dried fruits and I love the on-the-go convenience of snack bars. That's It bars have both!


Many dried fruits (and snack bars, for that matter) can be loaded with added sugars. That's really just not necessary when you consider how sweet fruit is naturally and that dried fruit has all of that sweetness, but concentrated! 

Many of us eat too much sugar as is, since it's in everything from ketchup to pasta sauce to cereal to yogurt. I was thrilled to see that That's It bars are 100% natural dried fruit with no added sugars or other unhealthy fillers.


They don't need them! The bars are chewy, sweet, flavorful, and satisfying. I tried ten delicious That's It bar flavors and they were all unique, but all delicious.

Apr 13, 2016

Recipe: Zucchini Bread

A few weeks ago, I visited Bluestone Lane Cafes on the upper east side for brunch. The zucchini bread there was incredible (as was everything else) and I've been inspired to make a loaf of my own ever since then!



One might not think of zucchini as an ideal ingredient in a sweet bread, but it works so well in zucchini bread!

This bread is soft, moist, flavorful (I highly recommend keeping the walnuts and not omitting the optional topping) and both delicious and pretty!

Zucchini Bread Recipe

It's also easy to make, features easy to find ingredients, includes two whole zucchinis, and will make your apartment smell amazing. Read on for the recipe!

Apr 10, 2016

Spring Flavors: Honey Ridge Farms Artisan Honeys!

Springtime makes me think of flowers, sunshine, twirly dresses, my birthday, and the sticky fingers of childhood. I'm not sure what it is about honey (perhaps the association with bees and flowers and all things happy and sweet?) but honey is such a spring food to me!


I recently tried two new flavors, Honey Creme Coconut and Honey Creme Lavender, from Honey Ridge Farms!


While liquid honey is great for sweetening tea, I prefer honey cremes as a topping on toast for a peanut butter and honey sandwich (or on cream cheese, as in the photo above). It's a lot less messy (making it much more suitable for the adult, less sticky me), spreads easily, and just looks really nice - like spreading gold quartz on bread. Yum!

Apr 7, 2016

Travel Round-Up: Turks and Caicos

Those of you who follow me on Instagram (I'm @danaikadzere) already know that I had a very fun, quite last-minute work trip to Turks and Caicos last week!



It was beautiful!

Apr 4, 2016

Top Ten Kitchen Essentials

Every time I move or even just cook in someone else's kitchen, I am reminded of what a huge difference a well-stocked kitchen is!

Fortunately, I've never been anywhere near this desperate.
If you're still moving a lot, don't cook that often, or don't want to spend a lot on kitchen supplies, you can get away with skipping some of the fun extras, like food processors and rice cookers, as long as you have these ten kitchen essentials!

1) Cutting Board.

Some people like to get at least two cutting boards (one for meat/fish and one for produce/grains), but at least one good cutting board is absolutely necessary! I can't imagine how one could possibly cook without one, unless everything is pre-prepared (and buying only pre-chopped ingredients is such an expensive, wasteful, and packaging-heavy way to cook).


I highly recommend wooden cutting boards, because then you know there are no icky chemicals rubbing off into your food. If you take good care of your wooden cutting board(s) it/they can last forever!

2) Knife Set.

Good knives are expensive and are so, so, so fun too cook with. But if you're on a budget, moving a lot, live with roommates, or just don't cook enough to justify the cost to yourself, a cheap knife set from Ikea will do (that's what I have at the moment, since I live with roommates, and I make it work).

3) High-Speed Blender.

VitaMixes are obviously the dream, but their $400-$800 price tag is far from ideal. Unless you're making cream soups, produce-packed smoothies, nice cream, dips, or homemade nut butters everyday, I recommend the Ninja system.

It has its quirks and limits, but I've been pretty happy with mine for a few years!

Apr 1, 2016

Five Outrageous April Fools Day Pranks

Happy April Fool's Day!

I'm born just two days shy of the holiday and so very glad that I wasn't born just a bit later. In honor of the holiday (and in gratitude for not having my birthday on it) here are five memorable April Fools Day pranks from history!

1) The (Taco) Liberty Bell

In 1996, Taco Bell ran an ad on the holiday announcing that it had purchased the Liberty Bell!


The Tex-Mex fast food company set the trend for companies using the holiday to promote their brands.

2) Nixon return.

In 1992, NPR caused a stir by running a false announcement by 'President Nixon' (really a voice actor) announcing that he would run for the presidency again.


The faux-Nixon claimed, "I never did anything wrong, and I won't do it again."

3) Digital Ben.

In 1980, BBC announced that Big Ben would switch to digital readouts to keep up with modern technological advances.

4) The Left-Handed Whopper.

In 1998, Burger King followed Taco Bell's lead and ran an ad in USA Today announcing the release of a new Left-Handed Whopper. The new burger would be exactly like the original Whopper, except that all the condiments would be rotated 180 degrees to suit their left-handed customers.


Given that burgers are more or less circular, you wouldn't expect people to fall for it...and yet thousands of customers flocked to Burger King to try the new left-handed sandwich, while others requested their usual right-handed burger.

5) Spaghetti harvest.

BBC strikes again! In 1957, BBC reported that Switzerland had an excellent spaghetti harvest that year, thanks to the disappearance of the spaghetti weevil.
























To the hundreds that contacted BBC about how to grow their own spaghetti, BBC answered "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best." 

How do you celebrate April Fools Day?

When is your birthday?

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