Recipe Swap: Chocolate Mousse

Im sharing a chocolate mousse recipe that made seriously the best at home mousse ever. The recipe is actually from Alton Brown of Food Network. 

A friend and I made this, and while the recipe said "easy", i think were a little kitchen challenged so it was a tad bit harder for us.

Theres a section that refers to "blooming" gelatin....we could not figure this out for the life of us! Needless to say, it doesnt seem to be an essential part of the recipe, but if you know how to do this please share!

Anyway here it is:

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups whipping cream
• 12 ounces quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 ounces espresso or strong coffee
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon flavorless, granulated gelatin

Directions

Chill 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in refrigerator. Chill metal mixing bowl and mixer beaters in freezer.

In top of a double boiler, combine chocolate chips, coffee, rum and butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from heat while a couple of chunks are still visible. Cool, stirring occasionally to just above body temperature.

Pour remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow gelatin to "bloom" for 10 minutes. Then carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or gelatin will be damaged. Stir mixture into the cooled chocolate and set aside.

In the chilled mixing bowl, beat cream to medium peaks. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining whipped cream in two doses. There may be streaks of whipped cream in the chocolate and that is fine. Do not over work the mousse.

 chill for at least 1 hour.

we made a quick raspberry sauce (raspberries, sugar, water in a sauce pan) to eat with ours.....it was soooo good!

By Invitation Only

You may remember my post about Fashion Week. Well, I returned to my computer friday night to find very exciting news....i was going to a show at Lincoln Center for New York Fashion Week!!! It was one of those times were you reread it because you think it cannot actually say that.

We got awesome seats in the American Express Sky Box for the Custo Barcelona show....it was completely packed. This tickets granted us access into the invitation only entrance which had a large area  to mingle filled with a bunch of complimentary things. (Ive never seen so many louboutins in one place) The show was actually overbooked. Ive wanted to go to a show forever and it finally happened!

so much press at the end of the runway

Finale

Coast and Canter Giveaway!

I am soooo excited to announce my very first blog giveaway here at Life Through Preppy Glasses. For this giveaway I've partnered with a great company, Coast and Canter.

This company was started by a college student, and is such a great example of entrepreneurship. They are committed to making fashionable, high quality clothing....geared toward the relaxed lifestyle of course!

"At Coast & Canter clothiers, we are dedicated to making functional yet wearable casual garments that are either produced entirely or finished in the United States, helping to keep jobs in America and stimulate the economy." -  via

This giveaway is not for one, but TWO "Seaside Pocket Shirts." Keep one for yourself, get both colors, or give one to a friend and share the Coast and Canter brand.

via

Via

Ok, so now for the details of the giveaway:

Mandatory: To Be eligible to enter you must be a follower of Life Through Preppy Glasses via Google Friend Connect and "like" Coast & Canter on Facebook.

**Please leave all entries in separate comments as I will be using random.org to calculate the winner***

Entries:

1. Visit Coast and Canter's website and tell me what your favorite item is.

2. Blog About this giveaway using my button below, and leave a link to your blog in the comment

3. Follow @Wes_Holland on twitter

4. Follow @CoastandCanter on twitter

5. Tweet About this giveaway using @Wes_Holland in your tweet

This giveaway will run for a week, so you have until 11:55pm EST on 2/7 to enter. Please note, an email address must be available for me to contact the winner for size/color preference and shipping address!

Thanks for participating!!

College Prepster is having an awesome KJP bracelet giveaway....it was made custom for her!! Check it out and tell her i sent you over.

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Lonny Mag Loves Lilly

Lonny Magazine, an online publication, recently featured Lilly Pulitzer in its issue. Thought this would be something fun to share. If you haven't heard of Lonny before, you will probably become obsessed and keep reading it!

All images courtesy of the current issue of Lonny Mag

The page below explains how all the prints for the designs are made....in house. Each print is designed and painted by hand compliments of the in-house print team which many people do not know exists! They're so talented.

The last page of the write up features the wonderful KOP store. The captured all the elements from the summer remodel. From the zebra bathroom to the Philadelphia toile fitting room, the KOP store is truly a real life showcase of the wonderful print team.

check out the current issue online to read the actual article!

The House that Kate and Andy Spade Built

I've been doing a lot of apartment searching within the past few days. Mainly because i like looking at apartments, but even more so because i want my own! Through my searching, I came across some photos of Andy and Kate Spade's Park Avenue apartment, and knew many of you would probably enjoy some of the photos.


Kate and Andy have built brands that are centered around simple, classic styles. They have built respectable empires and established great names for themselves. Their apartment is a tad eclectic yet preppy, and 100% timeless and classic.

We all remember the section of True Prep entitled decorating with books right??

All images via

A Snapshot of Timeless Covers

Im sure everyone knows the renowned "New Yorker" Magazine. It was started in 1925 and has had many well known writers submitting work for the publication. Perhaps what is the most well known is its covers.
I was looking through the archives and just selected a few that I liked.


all photos via New Yorker archives.

And perhaps one of my favorites: Saul Steinbergs' "View of the World From 9th Avenue"

Its true- New York seems like its own little world, and its easy to forget about anything west of the Hudson River......but I do miss it.

Tasteful Tuesday: Tiramisu

A good Tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts...love. We've been cleaning out closets, drawers, ect. around here lately and I came across a folder filled with recipes and the one that caught my eye a is for a twist on the traditional Tiramisu....i thought I'd share:

Blueberry-Lemon Tiramisu:

It only takes about 25 minutes to put this together and then it needs to be chilled overnight.

makes 9 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 lemons
• 3.75 c. blueberries
• .75 c sugar
• 4 tbsp. water
• 1 container nonfat Greek Yogurt
• 1 pkg ladyfingers

1. From lemons, grate 1.5 tsp. peel and squeeze .25 cup juice.

2. in a saucepan combine 1.5 c blueberries, .25 c sugar, and 1 tbsp. water. Heat on medium 5 minutes, or until blueberries soften and juice thickens, stirring occasionally. Transfer to bowl an stir in 1.5 c blueberries. Set aside

3. Prepare lemon syrup: in microwave safe bowl, combine .25 c sugar and remaining 3 tbsp. water. Cook in microwave on high 1 minute. Stir in 3 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp lemon peel.

4. In medium bowl, stir together nonfat yogurt and remaining .25 c sugar, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, and .5 tsp lemon peel.

5. In a baking dish, arrange half of ladyfingers and brush with half of lemon syrup. Spoon blueberry mixture evenly over ladyfingers. Arrange remaining ladyfinger over blueberries. Brush with remaining lemon syrup. Spoon yogurt mixture on top, spreading evenly. Cover and refrigerate overnight. To serve, top tiramisu with remaining blueberries.

I know everyone New Year's Plan is to lose weight, but i think you should give this a try. Dont forget to vote in my poll found on the top right of my page!