{foodie blog highlight and Christmas dessert}

Dulce Delight

Quirky. Colorful.Creative.

Raiza Costsa is Brazilian born blogger living in NYC and I love love love her cooking show/blog. I can't wait to try the below recipe this Christmas (which is exactly one month away). I am already planning my menu and this "praline like" cheesecake will fit perfectly in my New Orleans themed menu!!!

Check out her blog and try her recipes.
I know I will.

xoxo,

Ronita

{Seattle Take 1: Sight Seeing and The Duck Tour}

For four nights and 3 days I spent some much needed quality time with my two line sisters. After getting through my flying anxiety and landing safely in surprisingly sunny Seattle we spent a relaxed day touring the city!

Take 1: Duck Tour

Our boat

{The Super Car Wash est 1951} 

{entering  the water}

{our absolutely hilarious captain}

{there were so many beautiful boats}

{ocean view of the famous Space Needle}

{the Sleepless in Seattle house}

{Seattle Art Museum}

We had so much fun on the Duck Tour. If you are ever visiting a city that has one I highly recommend it! It's the perfect way to see many sites at once. I will say it was worth the $30 price tag.

Stay Tuned for more Seattle pics!

xoxo,

Ronita

{Online Magazine Roundup}

I know I have been MIA for awhile...taking a break from the blog but I am back!

Here are some a the beautiful e-Magazines I have been engulfed in during my spare time...

Do you have any online magazines that you enjoy reading?

xoxo,

Ronita

{grooving this lovely friday}

Thee Satisfaction - "Queens" from dream hampton on Vimeo.

I am loving the visuals, the naturals and the fashion in this video!

Get your groove on!

HAPPY FRIDAY

xoxo,

Ronita

Josephine Josephine...

 

 

(photos via)

 

Last weekend I came across The Josephine Baker Story movie on TVOne starring Lynn Whitfield. Boy was I intrigued and moved to do a little research.

I admired her persistence courage and strong will to integrate where ever she was, on stage, restaurants, the military...

 

***

 

Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was a dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. Born in St Louis, Missouri, she renounced her American citizenship in 1937 to become French. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"

Baker was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture, to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States (she was offered the unofficial leadership of the movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, but turned it down),[3] for assisting the French Resistance during World War II,[4] and for being the first American-born woman to receive the French military honor, the Croix de guerre. (excerpt taken via)

Read her entire life story, here.

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To Josephine...

 

xoxo,

Ronita

Ebony Covers...a little late but WOW!!!

These playful shots were taken for the November 2010 Issue of Ebony Magazine to celebrate it's 65th anniversary.

I am loving these!!

Regina King as Eartha Kitt

John Legend as Duke Ellington

Mary J as Diana Ross

Nia Long as Dorothy Danridge

Taraji P. Henson as Diahannn Carroll

Usher as Sammy Davis

How creative!!!

xoxo,

Ronita

Exhausted today but for a great reason!!!

Last night I stayed up and watched Julie and Julia and am in love!!! I had such a great time by myself. I think this was a combination of what I enjoy most, great food- cooking and eating, blogging, romance, comedy...it was just so awesome to watch. I think I will take a trip to half price books to see if I can score Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I think it would be absolutely delightful to try some of her recipes. The movie made me miss Paris!! I can remember when I went in 2001 and how much I loved the food!!! I think one of my future goals will be to save for a trip back to France and I would love to tour Italy...with my amour of course!!!




I think I will try this recipe for Sunday dinner.

French Roast Chicken Recipe

Julia Child's recipe from 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking.' This makes a wonderful, moist, juicy bird. I think it's the turning technique while roasting that does it. It may sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't much more than roasting a bird any other way. The sauce reduction is a LOT easier than any gravy, and is out of this world! In the book, she suggests serving this with green beans or peas (buttered, of course! this IS French cooking!) and sauted, roasted, fried, or souffleed potatoes, or potato crepes. I have also posted the recipe for brown chicken stock, which can quite easily be simmering away as you cook the bird (you don't need the stock until the very end). Using the homemade stock makes a huge difference in the flavour, but it can be substituted, I suppose.

1½ hours 1 min prep
SERVES 4 -6 , 1 bird
3 lbs broiler-fryer chickens
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 small carrot, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
Baste
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon minced shallot or green onion
1 cup brown chicken stock or canned chicken broth
salt
pepper
1-2 tablespoon softened butter

Preheat oven to 425.
Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and then smear in 1 tablespoon of the butter.
Truss and dry the chicken, and rub the skin with the other half of the butter.
Baste: Melt butter in a small saucepan with cooking oil.
Leave on stovetop with a basting brush for later use.
Back to the chicken: Place the chicken, breast side up, in a shallow small roasting pan.
Scatter the veggies around it, and set it on the rack in the preheated oven.
Allow the chicken to brown slightly for 15 minutes, turning on the left side after 5 minutes, then onto the right side for the last 5 minutes.
Baste with butter quickly after each turn so that the oven does not lose a lot of heat.
Reduce heat to 350.
Leave chicken on its side, baste every 8 to 10 minutes, using the butter in the bottom of the roasting pan once you have used up all of the baste in your bowl.
Watch and adjust oven heat so that the chicken is noisy, but fat is not burning.
Halfway through estimated roasting time (which is 70-80 minutes; so after about 35 minutes), salt the chicken and turn it onto its other side.
Continue to baste regularly.
15 minutes before end of estimated roasting time, salt again and flip chicken breast side up.
Continue to baste regularly.
Chicken will be done when drumstick moves easily in socket and juices run a clear yellow.
Let sit on a platter 5 to 10 minutes before carving.
Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the roasting pan.
Stir in shallot or onion and cook slowly for 1 minute.
Add stock and boil rapidly over high heat, scraping up bits that are stuck in the pan with a wooden spoon.
reduce to about 1/2 cup.
Season with salt and pepper.
Off heat just before serving, swirl in the last 1 to 2 tablespoons butter by bits until it is absorbed.
Pour a spoon of the sauce onto the chicken, then pour the rest into a gravy boat and serve with the chicken.

Bon Apetit

Ronita

Bye Bye Dear O

(images from Google search)

After 25 exciting years....as long as I have been walking (literally). It is time to say goodbye to the OPRAH show (sad face). Her last show will be September 9, 2011. CNN reports, "The show has been the highest-rated talk show for 23 consecutive seasons, according to the Oprah.com site. It is seen by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the United States and is broadcast to 145 countries.The show had its origins in 1984, when Winfrey moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk show, "AM Chicago," which became the No. 1 local talk show. The show surpassed ratings for "Donahue" one month after it began, the site said. Within a year, it had expanded to an hour-long format and been renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show." It entered national syndication in 1986." I, for one will be sad to see her go.

but wait...

There is talk that she will now have her own NETWORK the O.W.N. (The Oprah Winfrey Network) coming to cable next year. I can't wait to see the line up, I'm sure it will be awesome!

Until then...
xoxo

Ronita

Question: How did products sell before OPRAH?

The BIG Reveal..Prince #1 is Turning 4!!!

Every year we have fantastic fun themed parties for my little one's birthday. Because his birthday is on November 4th (middle of Fall) we have to get really creative. For his 1st birthday we did a huge costume party with all his family and friends. For his 2nd birthday we did Elmo at the Pool and had an indoor pool party at our local Y. His 3rd birthday we had a S'mores party on our back patio and this year, in honor of Tre's new found love for..... we are having a...........................................................................................................................drum roll please.....

(photobucket.com)

Dr. Seuss Party!!!

I am still doing my research and deciding on some key elements. The menu I'm sure will include green eggs and ham !! This is going to be a very colorful very whimsical celebration full of rhymes and tongue twisters. We may even have a special appearance by The Cat and The Hat...stay tuned for photos of the event!!

We are excited and Tre' is thrilled to read some of his favorites to his friends!!

xoxo,
Ronita

Precious based on PUSH by Sapphire

Winner of three awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, Lee Daniels’ “Precious: based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire” will be shown in UN CERTAIN REGARD at Cannes Film Festival. This is a vibrant, honest and resoundingly hopeful film about the human capacity to grow and overcome.With sheer audacity and utter authenticity, director Lee Daniels tackles “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” and creates an unforgettable film that sets a new standard for cinema of its kind. Precious Jones (Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe) is a high-school girl with nothing working in her favor. She is pregnant with her father’s child – for the second time. She can’t read or write, and her schoolmates tease her for being fat.Her home life is a horror, ruled by a mother (Mo’Nique) who keeps her imprisoned both emotionally and physically. Precious’s instincts tell her one thing: if she’s ever going to break from the chains of ignorance, she will have to dig deeply into her own resources. Don’t be misled – “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” is not a film wallowing in the stillness of depression – instead, it vibrates with the kind of energy derived only from anger and hope.The entire cast are amazing. Starring Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Sherri Shepherd, Amina Robinson, Nealla Gordon, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz and introducing Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious” directed by Lee Daniels from a screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher based on the novel Push by Sapphire. (Film Filia)


I am so excited to view this movie after reading the "can't put down book," a couple years ago. The movie comes out before the end of this year .

This sounds like a Girl's Night Out to me...
xoxo,
Ronita