Chocolate Bowls

I haven't been doing much by way of creative baking, something I used to post frequently, but the other day I saw a chef on TV making chocolate bowls and got inspired! 

Melt chocolate and, while no hotter than 90 degrees, dip balloons into chocolate and set on wax paper. Place in freezer for ten minutes to harden. Remove from freezer, pop balloons, and fill with whatever you like! I filled mine with french vanilla custard and fresh fruit.

Tips: Use white water balloons so the dye won't transfer. I swirled in some white chocolate before dipping for a marbled look. Make sure the chocolate isn't too hot - seriously - we learned this the hard way by exploding a balloon, spraying scalding hot chocolate everywhere. Pop the balloons quickly rather than letting the air slowly ooze or the chocolate will crack.

Style crush! Nail Art

When it comes to nail art, there is a very fine line between fabulously fresh and disastrously tacky. The recent trend of paining your nails where one is a different color than the rest... Who decided that should happen? Certainly not me. And 3-D add-on's like little plastic bows and hearts? Yikes, ladies... yikes. What I do like are the more classic patterns and designs; the chevron, for example. When ladies jazz up just the thumbs it's like whispering "hey, I'm fun" without screaming "holler, I'm tacky." 

The other night I was having some me time and decided to give the leopard thumbs a go. I applied a base of gold on all of my nails, let it dry, then used light brown and black for the leopard print. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! 

I also have to recommend this polish to you - Sinful Colors. It lasts longer and is much cheaper than my former favorite, OPI. A bottle of OPI usually runs around $8, while Sinful is only $2 and is easier to track down since it is carried in Target and most drug stores. 

Campo di Bocce

Over the weekend I soaked up some sunshine at Campo di Bocce in Livermore with friends! We reserved an outdoor court, ordered a few appetizers to share, and pretended we weren't the worst bocce players to ever set foot in the place. Joking, we weren't so awful, but we certainly weren't graceful or gifted on the court.

PS- I wore the new scarf you've all been so excited about! Love it!