In the Kitchen: Spicy Garlic Shrimp

It's official...most of my friends are total crazies. Especially when it comes to sea food.

Yesterday I had a meeting with my friend Luka at my place. To discuss serious matters of course....
I said, "Well I got shrimp" and she answered "ok, I'll bring wine". And that's exactly what happened!

So 'Spicy Garlic Shrimps' and white Zin it was...

The Shrimp was prepared in extra virgin olive oil and garlic and the sauce contained sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, chili sauce and Chinese rice wine....

Fry the shrimps in garlic and olive oil until pink on both sides. In the mean while, mix the other ingredients, and put them aside.
Once the shrimps are ready, add the mixture of the sauce and ready.

HERE...the outcome....and it tasted mind-blowing delicious!!!

Still Sizzling in the pan

SERVED!!!

Bon Apetit

The meeting was successful..yeah. More than successful hahahaha

Try it for yourselves lovebugs...it's just simply delicious!

X's n' O's

Dazzled

Sy

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In the Kitchen: UPDATE no bake chocolate goodness

Remember the no bake dessert I made last week?

Well this week I tried it out again. And mind you, I had two mini orders :P
So I decided to tweak it up a little bit.

Last time I used liquor cake. But the ready made liquor cake is expensive. So this time I bought a packet of lady fingers and a bottle of Curacao Liquor instead. Didn't want to change the color of the cookies..so I went for the white liquor. Drenched the lady fingers in the liquor, and voila!
I also decided to mix the chocolate pudding with cream cheese and cover the whole dessert with a chocolate crust.

OMG...this is just a sin in layers... I'm in love!!!
Both people that ordered loved it as well...one of them ate it right in front of my house and the other messaged me within 10 minutes after leaving my house to tell me how much he enjoyed it.
Mission Accomplished...I'll see what I'll try next time!!!

Until then, here are some pics of the tweaked dessert...

 The two minies...ready to be picked by the owners. Mine, cut up and ready to serve

Want a piee???

DEEEEEELICOUS!!!

Had anything special you prepared this Holiday and want to share the recipe with us? Mail me at hellodazzlingblog@gmail.com and let me know.
(btw, the recipe to this one is in the previous post about the no bake chocolate goodness)

Until later love bugs,

X's n' O's

Dazzled,

Sy

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Craft: The unconventional Christmas tree

Traditionally our family never decorate our Christmas tree with the conventional ornaments.
It's been like this for YEARS. And this year we discovered some people like THIS exactly about our Christmas tree...the surprise factor.

I mean, let's be honest; we've decorated the tree with cardboard boxes, aluminium foil, ragged jeans, clothes pegs...last year we did news paper. So this year it was time for plastic cups and potato sacks.

Oh believe me, me and my little brother had a good laugh just thinking about the reaction of people when they're told what your Christmas tree was decorated with...
Imagine them say something like: "What? (giggle) How cheap is that?" or " You MUST be kidding me, right?"

But hey, I come from an artistically rich family...there's so much creativity going on, that we can't help but do it our own way. (take a look on www.omarsling.com or www.francissling.com. Both my older brothers, both creativity lovers)

So this is it...with plastic cups and old potato sack it is...

We used 1fl oz. sized cups and thread. We bought a pack of ornament hangers and spray paint cans in pink and gold in a cheap store and went on making our own ornaments.

The potato sack? Well, mom just bought a sack of potatoes at the supermarket this week. So we placed the potatoes in another bag so to use the sack they came in...

And THAT'S how we roll with the Christmas tree this year...
It surely look more beautiful in person than it looks on these pics. But it's only so you'd have an idea...

I'm in love, every time I step in the living room and see the beauty of creativity standing right there.

Well I hope you enjoyed your Christmas time as much as I did, lovebugs.
Now it's up to a fruitful 2013...

X's n' O's

Dazzled,


Sy

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Crafts: Pearly Jewelry Set

Those of you who know me personally also know that I love being creative, be it with my nails, my make up, my hair, writing, crafting...whatever...

So, last week we had this very cool lunch with some of my colleagues at work and we thought about doing a gift exchange during the lunch. AMAZING idea... only, your gifts wasn't allowed to exceed 5 guilders (local currency equivalent of $ 2,75 approximately). How EXCITING...
Challenge accepted!!! And mind you,  I even did a silly dance after we withdrew the names a week in advance, so to know who you'd be buying a gift for. Mine was supposed to be easy, and my mind was flowing with ideas... So much that I was doing little screams of excitement and could hardly wait until next Friday.

Right!!! My dancing didn't last... That weekend when I went on my quest I discovered that I HAD to rethink my idea drastically. Most of the things I sought exceeded the limit of 5 guilders. FRUSTRATING!!!
I even got laughed at in a store, when I told the sales girl that I couldn't buy it because it was 'too expensive'. hahahahaha...

So here's what I did in the end...
I bought a black waxed linen cord for Fls. 4,51 (incl. taxes)...the rest I would have to conjure from what I have at home.
I had this pearl necklace which I've never used. And personally, I don't even remember why I bought it in the first place. Well then why not pick a scissor and go right through it? As a result...I got beads for my master piece.

Then with needle and black thread from my mom...and a little bit of patience I got to these three beauties (even if I have to say it myself  TIHIHI).
One double wrap pearl bracelet, a simpler bracelet and a pair of earrings.
(Yes I disassembled an unused earring to make this)

Now, for the presentation. How do you present handmade gifts? Especially when you can't buy anything else? Well you MAKE a 'clutch'. I have colored paper and colored foam at home...so yeah...why not?
For the two bracelets I made two custom pouches out of  make-up brush pouches and inserted a quote about pearls.

It says...

I belive the nicest and sweetest days are not those where anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens. But just those that bring simple little pleasures following one another softly like pearls of a string.

Sewn in a diagonal stripe with the waxed linen to hang the earrings. The clutch's closure was also made out of pearls and the waxed linen. Made a foam flower with a pearl center for embelishment on the front and a slider from colored paper...

And THIS is the result...

Opened:

 Closed:

Uhm no that's not tape on the closure. It's a transparent bead

And for Fls 4,51, some material I owned myself and a drop of patience I could gladly hand this handmade gift to my friend and colleague, Claudia.
It was such a fun and meaningfull afternoon with my bunch of crazies...
We laughed, we cried, we sang, we danced and we had an amazing time.
Me? well after walking around screaming like a duck and singing 'Alelimo'in between chuckles and uncontrollable laughter, I got two of my favorites...Ritter Sport Chocolate and Cherry gummies in an oversized shredded paper filled hair drier  box. whahahaha...The craziest ideas...but I LOOOOOVVVEEEEDDD it...!

Here, some peeks...

All the gifts on the table in the morning...hidden in black plastic bags. To keep the mysterious touch aaaaall through the morning...

UNVEILEDDDD!!! Just before lunch!!! The red gift is the one I made. haha the real gift wasn't in it. Claudia opened a total of 12 wraps only to find that I still had the gift with me.

The peach one was for me...MINEEE!!

My delicous gift..unwrapped:

p.s. My gifts didn't see the light of the next day pfff...did you really expect them to? And Claudia wore the earrings and the simple bracelet yesterday and actually is wearing the double wrap bracelet as a necklace today lol

Sigh..

Well lovebugs, this has been it for today! I really hope you like it!

X's n' O's

Dazzled,

Sy


Been creative with your hair, make-up, nails or just crafty? want to do a feature post on Hello Dazzling? Contact me on hellodazzlingblog@gmail.com

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Hair: The AvoCocos Home-Made Treatment

So yeah...it's been quite a while since I last posted...am sorry...really really am.

Been super busy lately! And whenever I promised myself to write a blogpost at night when I got home, I usually reach home  SO tired that I can't even move my pinky finger.
But I've tried something here...and I thought it would be interesting to share with you guys.

I've been natural for 4 years now, and I'm still smitten! Aha, with my hair that is. One thing I love is, trying out new hair products to see how my hair responds. So I might still take a detour from my normal hair routines to try something totally new (to me).
My hair is naturally very dry, and I constantly find myself applying loads of oil moisturizing creams. Which tends to leave my hair completely grimy and nasty to the touch
Last weekend I decided upon a homemade treatment to try and aid in this whole moisture process.

I call it the AvoCocos Home-Made Treatment...and yes...it's plain avocado and coconut oil.
I chose an overripe avocado since it's easier when preparing the paste.

Hair benefits of both ingredients are countless. Here, just a few:

Avocado:

• helps moisturizing the hair
• Packed with healthy oils
• Vitamin E powerhouse
• Repairs damaged hair
• Strengthens brittle hair
• Aids in Hair Growth
• Helps treating dandruff

Coconut Oil:

• Known as one of the best hair nutritions out there since it penetrates right in the hair itself and not just supperficially shines
• Aids in a healthy hair growth
• Gives a shiny complexion
• Reduces protein loss
• Is an EXCELLENT conditioner
• Helps re-growth of damaged hair and nourishes them
• Treats dandruff, lice and lice eggs
• Gives protection against hygral fatique

Of course there are more benefits...but these are just a few.

So here's what I did. First I washed my hair to get rid of all the built-up products. (and YES i washed it with shampoo. Beautiful textures for the matter). Next I towel dried my hair and grinded the fruit of one avocado with the coconut oil until it has the concistency of a fine greeny paste. (Note: it depends on the length and amount of your hair how much of the paste yoú'll have to make and how much avocado and coconut oil you'll have to use)

I then parted my hear in four sections and applied this paste generously to each section meaking sure each strand of hair is totally covered.
Since I did the whole treatment by night, I tuck it all in a shower cap and wrapped my head in a shawl while letting the treatment work overnite.

In the morning I rinsed the treatment out and co-washed my hair. All I needed to do thereafter is apply a leave-in and I was ready to rock.
Did the treatment on Friday night and up until today it hasn't been necessary to apply one drop of oil moisturizer. I only re-apply the leave-in in the morning and leave the house.
My hair has been quite shiny to my opinion. All without the grimmy feels when I touch it.
I only need now one ingredient to help soften the hair a bit more, since the coconut oil "dries"my hair just a little bit and makes it feel rough to the touch.
Thought about using coconut milk or coconut cream next time instead of the oil...I'm only afraid I'd loose all the nutrients in a can.
But all by all...I love the AvoCocos and would definitely try it again..

Here's the paste...

A lump of damp hair before the application of the treatment

After the application (the next day and two days after)

So, what's your go-to home-made treatment? I'd love to try out more things and just see which one's a love at first application for my hair.

See you around lovebugs,


X's n'O's

Dazzled

Sy

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