Macarons and Indian coffee

Yesterday I was spoiled by Stephanie from Artfully Adored when she came to my apartment for coffee and macarons (that she kindly brought me from the one and only Ladurée). I made my signature coffee with coffee from Kerela, India. We talked India, Cleopatra’s Bling, Paris and life abroad. She will soon be featuring Cleopatra’s Bling on her blog.

Have you all entered my giveaway to win a cluster ring from my new collection?

First day of March

This morning I drank strong Italian stovetop coffee, admired my flowers and thought how exciting it is that Spring is just around the corner. Happy Friday everybody! ♥

unicorn

flowers

dream catcher

Unicorn cup by Superfumi.
Gypset travel book by Julia Chaplin.
Dream catcher from Denver, USA.

You still have 5 days to enter our GIVEAWAY here!

Valentine’s Day Cupcakes

When I cook, I go all out. There is no such thing for me as having friends over and making frozen pizza (heaven forbid!). For Valentine’s Day I made J vanilla cupcakes with salted caramel hearts and chocolate icing. I used this recipe but replaced milk chocolate for dark chocolate for the icing and simply added a spoon of my salted caramel before baking in the middle of each cupcake instead of the berries in the other recipe.

J is French and I’m Australian so the frog and koala seemed so appropriate. And funny!

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

Valentines Day

What did you do for Valentine’s Day?

Don’t forget to enter our GIVEAWAY here. Entries close on the 6th of March.

GIVEAWAY! CONCOURS!

We are proud to announce our first Giveaway on Cleopatra’s Bling!

The piece we have chosen to give our lucky winner is a vintage bracelet that is very special and we believe will find a good home with one of you. This vintage Afghani agate cuff was made around 30 years ago by the Kuchi Pashtuns, a nomadic people in what is now Afghanistan. It is probably from the Logar region.

What can agate do for you in your life?

Agate’s most noticable properties overall are balancing yin/yang energy, courage, protection, healing, and calming. Historically it was placed in water for cooking or drinking to dispel sickness. The Metaphysical and Healing Properties Lore of any specific type of agate depend to some extent on the color of the agate, but all agates have certain things in common.

Agate is a stone of strength. It was used by on the breastplates of armor to give warriors strength and make them victorious in battle. Energetically, it is considered to give strength both and physically mentally.

Giveaway on Cleopatra’s Bling

To be in the running you have to:

1. Like Cleopatra’s Bling on facebook

2. Tweet this giveaway post and follow us on twitter. (@Cleopatrasbling)

3. Comment on this post and tell us what your favourite stone is and why.

4. Follow us on instagram (@oh_la_la_livia) and repost the photo we posted announcing the giveaway and tagging us

5. Like our blog facebook page Oh la la livia.

6. Share the image post we posted on facebook with the link from your facebook account by clicking on “share” and leave us a comment telling us when you have done all of the above to go into the running.

WORLDWIDE ENTRIES WELCOME.

Good luck 🙂

We will then pull the name out of a hat. Winners will be announced on the 6th of March.

xoxoxox

Kale Soup

Winter time calls for soup time. This simple recipe is something that you can make very quickly at home and is perfect for a light meal with melted cheese on toast (oops!). This soup is just so easy, see for yourselves….

Here is how I did it:
a bunch of kale
a cup of lentils
vegetable stock
a bunch of spinach

I use organic green lentils and cook them up until soft. You’ll need to then drain the water and put new water in as the base of the soup and add the vegetable stock and any herbs or spices that you wish to use. For this soup I use some garam masala and herbes de Provence. The rest is simple: add in the kale and spinach and when the soup is cooked down and soft, blend it and serve it with a dollop of crème fraîche and the zest of a lemon or lime. Yum!

our apartment

Kale soup

Kale soup

Kale soup

Kale soup

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In other news, be sure to like my boutique facebook page Cleopatra’s Bling as we will be announcing a competition this week to win a gorgeous piece of jewelry!

FACEBOOK ♥ PINTEREST ♥ BOUTIQUE ♥ TWITTER ♥

Cupcake Camp Paris III at Comptoir Général for Make A Wish Foundation

Cupcake Camp III was held last Saturday at the Comptoir Général. All of the Cupcake pros in Paris were there, like SugarDaze and Beauty Cakes and all of the proceeds went to Make a Wish Foundation France. In total we made a little over 5500 euros, which really shows the wonderful participation of everybody and great spirit.

Kristen from The Kale Project made kale cupcakes and you can click here to get the recipe.

The theme was Halloween so many of the cupcakes were oh-so-spooky!

These lovely ones were made by la Dinette de Nelly, a lovely young French woman who I found to be very creative and welcoming.

I made Flourless Chocolate Cake for those of you wanting a little break from the flour after downing a couple of high-carbohydrate cupcakes (hehe!). I used the same recipe as this one, but I didn’t put in the raspberries this time. My amazing sprinkles came from The Sprinkle Box Shop. More details here.

Thanks to Elodie Garbé for her marvelous illustrations, as always. She can draw whatever you want for a very reasonable price.

My J took a while to choose his cupcakes but came back with these three:

It was really a wonderful day and I’d like to thank Bryan and Cat for making it happen! I can’t wait for next year.

In other news, if you want the chance to win some lovely soap, click here. Or else a funky bracelet by OOAKjewelz, click here.

Want to decorate cupcakes? My readers have been offered a 10% discount for the month of November with the code PARIS10 on this website. All you have to do is enter the coupon code at checkout.

You can follow my facebook by clicking here and my pinterest here and my twitter here.

Feel like shopping? Click here.

Bleekcup’s Giveaway! Concours Bleekcup’s!

Partez à la découverte du monde gourmand et festif de Bleekcup’s via leur e-boutique mais aussi en allant à leur rencontre lors du Salon Créations & Savoir-faire qui aura lieu du 21 au 25 novembre prochain Porte de Versailles à Paris. Pour cette occasion, tentez de remporter 2 invitations et un bon d’achat de 5 euros valable pendant le salon !

Comment tenter sa chance ? Visitez le site de Bleekcup’s, dites moi en laissant un commentaire sur cet article le porduit que vous aimeriez retrouver sur le stand des Bleekettes, et n’oubliez pas de suive leur Pinterest et de liker leur page Facebook.

Il faut également suivre mon Pinterest et liker mon page facebook.

Une fois tout ça accomplie, attendez jusqu’à dimanche 4 novembre pour l’annonce de la/le gagnant(e).

Check out the wonderful world of food and creativity that is Bleekcup’s by visiting their adorable online store here. This competition gives you the chance to win two tickets to the Salon Créations & Savoir-faire this coming November at Porte de Versailles in Paris as well as a 5 euro giftcard to spend at the Bleekcup’s stand.

How to win? Visit the Bleekcup’s site and comment below telling me which products you would like to see at the Bleekcup’s stand during the Salon Créations & Savoir-faire. Don’t forget to like follow their Pinterest their fan page here.

You also have to like follow my Pinterest and like my facebook page here.

The winner will be announced the 4th of november.

Good luck! Bonne chance!

You can follow my facebook by clicking here and my pinterest here and my twitter here.

Feel like shopping? Click here.