If you’re looking for a long-lasting gift, consider a Hermés blanket. Or really anything at all Hermés, can’t go wrong. Expensive up front, but delivers all year-long. Snow storms, air-conditioning chill-out, these blankets have you covered. Research shows sleep is a good thing. Cover-up, nap-time, we won’t tell.
Not a huge fan of monograms, sometimes yes, sometimes no, this piece was a gift to our youngest, twelve at the time, and here our oldest, headed towards sixty, is under wraps.
Monogram this, February nights all tucked in. Every day dress.
Keep the faith everyone, we can get through these cold, dark nights. New York Times on the sofa. xo
With yet another winter storm headed our way here in upstate New York and the entire Northeast in a deep freeze, here’s the recipe, by request, for an easy soulful stew to nourish you and yours.
This is from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, I think actually my late grandmother’s copy, and calls for vegetable juice cocktail, I use two large jugs of V8 as I always double. You can use beef or veal, the best yet has been when organic lamb stew meat was used. This is a quickie, you can even go to market at 4 pm and have dinner by 7. Add a green salad, old-fashioned buttered egg noodles, some bread, your favorite red, and dinner is served.
Beef Stew | or Veal | or Lamb
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound beef or pork or lamb stew meat
3 1/2 cups vegetable juice cocktail | I would use one large V8, when doubling the recipe which I always do, I use two
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules | I actually use the better than bouillon, it comes like paste in a jar and I just scoop out a big couple of spoonfuls
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
2 1/4 cups cubed, peeled potatoes | I use small red and cut them in half or quartered, depending on size, and do not peel
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup celery
Place flour in a plastic zip-loc bag. Add meat cubes, a few at a time, shaking to coat. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven brown meat, half at a time, in hot oil. I skip the vegetable oil and use the best olive oil I have on hand. In the interest of speed I usually have two large dutch ovens going at once, you don’t want to crowd the meat as it will steam and not get nice and brown.
Return meat to saucepan. Add juice cocktail, onion, bouillon, garlic, basil, and thyme. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover, simmer 1 to 1 1/4 hours for beef (30 minutes for pork) or till meat is nearly tender. With the lamb I simply used perceived doneness. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cover; simmer 30 minutes more. Skim fat. Makes 4 main-dish servings. Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.
And now the outfit, practically every women I have been speaking with has been dressed in some variation of the same this winter: black pant, black turtleneck, black jacket, flat boot. It’s been a tough one but we can get through it. I’ve got Spring Fashion inspiration going on all around me, Trunk Show going on now through Monday, February 10th. Come on by, in your black pants, visit, browse, bring a friend. You can see, touch, and feel all the new looks. Feeding and dressing others are two things I do well. 🙂 Call me at 716-445-3033.
Fashion friends, here’s one quick photo from the new line on my new iPhone. Wanted to upload the February cover and current Worth New York ad in this month’s Town & Country magazine, after countless tries of trying to get the professional images to you and failing, decided to go with the easy iPhone pic. In case you missed it, hit up your local newsstand for the February issue.
I found Worth New York some fifteen years ago or so by their national advertising in that exact magazine. Purchased my first Worth outfit while pregnant with sixth child fourteen years ago and have worn the stuff ever since.
Spring 2014 Trunk Show opens Monday, February 3rd. Call, text, or email to visit me, I will make sure you are incredibly dressed for wherever life takes you, Town or Country. 🙂
Truth be told, I have so many darn email accounts I can’t find the log-in info for my every day dress email so if you have tried to reach me, try the rcollins@worthnewyork.com instead. Upgraded the iPhone to the 5s and somehow the everyday dress email account got lost in the shuffle. Way too much going on.
ps. Both pieces seen here are available in navy and white, think we all need them. Four that is, navy pant, navy cutaway, white pant, white cutaway. Uniform dressing is the best.
Wednesday nights lamb stew dinner led to Thursday nights excursion to Jay-Z. Bringing the house together for shared meals always leads to learning new things. With two daughters and now two Costa Rica exchange students, the conversation led to pop culture. Next thing we knew husband was online booking five tickets for the following night’s concert. So, me, and four young women, age thirteen to seventeen, have all been inspired by Jay-Z.
Explicit? Yes, of course. He’s a masterful artist and sent me home with the message dream, and believe. My two older daughters, twenty-three and twenty-one, have seen him live many times. When talking to my twenty-three year old on the phone she said, ‘mom, when they show his face close up on the big screens you can really see his age’. I told her I loved that, the depth of character, the experience, the ups and downs and the lines of modern life.
I liked how he was dressed. Mostly all black, you know my favorite, and with an incredible ease of movement. My next days work outfit, I was on the road again and needed to be able to move, oversized necklace especially, inspired by Jay-Z. Thanks, man, I dream, and believe.
Every day dress inspired by Jay-Z. Have a great Saturday everyone.
Anything to be inspired. Dressed in all black, again, of course, super busy work day, took the red handbag out and put it into rotation. Cooked up some lamb stew, best yet, better than beef or veal, and old-fashioned egg noodles with you’ve got to love it butter and kosher salt.
Let’s get our red on even continues with the fresh-cut. Looked at the tulips, decided on roses and eucalyptus.
Husband gave me the bag for Christmas three years ago. It’s a good one. With St. Valentine’s Day right around the corner, let’s all get our red on. A little cab franc helps, too.
Every day dress will be in Williamsville NY tomorrow, Thursday, January 30th, and Friday, January 31st, at The Village Spa, 10:30 am to 4 pm. Come on in and visit. Stay warm, drive safe.
Channeling a little Daft Punk, helmet and hat have been the favorite fashion accessories of late, head-gear when it’s cold out there is a very good thing.
Today was the sixteenth day of below freezing, we are still thirty days away from the record of forty-five days.
Head-gear everyone. When you can’t beat it, join it. We’re not kids anymore, cover up.
Every day dress, skiing upstate. Fur hat when you what you really want to do is stay home all night, and leather long-sleeved tee, black jeans and a little black suede bling belt underneath it all.
Without apology, today’s work outfit started with the ‘I have no idea what to wear, I’m driving 75 miles each way and it’s a freezing polar vortex’. Of course, all black ponte. Pièce de résistance, the kind of aggressive four-year old black pebbled leather Loeffler Randall boots.
Photos taken with the iPhone, and yes, total selflies. Kind of aggressive, I agree. My photographer daughter, who was in school, tells me, ‘Mom, you have a really nice camera’. I know, left that at home, was kind of in a hurry.
Every day dress, kind of aggressive. Stay warm friends.
My best dressed clients and colleagues shop early. They order their things before the season hits so they are wardrobe ready to greet all life’s happenings.
We’re now on the road doing Spring Trunk Shows. Helping women build their professional, philanthropic, and casual clothing looks.
Here’s my first pick for Spring 2014: Forest Green and Clover Leaf Skin Print Off the Shoulder Blouse. Kind of a mouthful but I can see this being worn now through September. The bodice is lined, arms are covered yet sleeves are sheer. Most of us still have great shoulders so this is a good first pick for many women craving something a little new. 100% Silk, Easy Fit, XP – XL.
White jeans? Unlike all of your black those should be fresh, a first pick too for the new season ahead.
These photos taken same day as the head to toe black with fur look. To get good wardrobe results it helps to think, plan, and shop ahead. Every day dress.
Super low temperatures, white out driving conditions, and the need to get out of the house during the month of January calls for a uniform of sorts. 95 percent of the women I’ve seen in the last two days have been dressed pretty much in head to toe black. Totally on board with that, to add an extra layer of warmth searched out fur collar and cuffs that were purchased many seasons back and added them to today’s ensemble and last nights, not together of course.
Today did Wolford black tights, super old black turtleneck that’s been resurrected from the closet archives, new long black knit zippered skirt, wide black belt, stylishly odd glittered hair calf ankle boots. Added the silver fox fur cuffs to wear while working a Spring Trunk Show. Total dichotomy. It’s more fun and motivating to wear the new Spring line while working with clients but just couldn’t do it. We have space heaters plugged in at the show space and to get a coffee at two buildings away you have to basically scurry. Went with what some would call the granny or librarian look but I when I put my glasses on to read fabric contents in the fine print I felt both smart and stylish in an odd kind of way. Smart and stylish is good, even when odd. One of the clients we saw today thought my skirt length was particularly dowdy, we’re honest with each other that way, I was liking it. Heck, it’s cold out there.
Last night for dinner out wore a variation of the same: black Wolford tights, those are the best, black leather skirt, same black turtleneck as today, silver fox collar, and liquid metal silver cuffs. Might as well keep the cool tones going as the temperature is only about 10 degrees.
Fur’s not for everyone, but if you have some pull it out now and mix it in with your day-to-day look. If not when it’s this cold in January, when?
Every day dress pulls out the stowed away fur accessories. Now’s the time.
Alright people, life is not always fancy and sometimes you just want to tuck in with a big bowl of pasta. Husband requested fish tonight. When at the market thought no freaking way, it’s in the single digits out there and I don’t think I can look at or prepare a piece of cold stinking fish (only kidding), these days in the single digits can get to you.
Fell back to the Braised Turkey Meatballs with Quick Tomato Sauce that I picked up from Chuck and one of his recipes in the Williams-Sonoma catalog. This works every time and is adaptable to all situations. Doubled it, added 1/2 cup ground organic beef, used fire roasted tomatoes instead of San Marzano, dried sage tonight instead of fresh, they were all out and there was no way I was going to any other market to secure the fresh stuff.
Photo taken with the iPhone, and, truth be told, violated all principles of every day dress: worked at home all darn day and did a little run-around. Never showered until dinner, never dressed until dinner, and never put on lipstick until dinner. Life happens all around us.
2 cans (each 28oz.) whole San Marzano tomatoes, with juices
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
Grated Parmigiano-Reggaino for serving
In large saute pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. oil. Add onion and carrot, and a few pinches of salt; cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, let cool. Add ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, sage, t tsp. alt and 1/2 tsp. pepper, gently mix well with hands. From into 12 meatballs. In same sauce pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 Tbs. oil. Brown meatballs 1 minute per side. Transfer to plate.
Put tomatoes and juices in food processor. While pulsing, slowly stream in 1/4 cup oil through feed tube until tomatoes are pureed but still a bit chunky. Stir in garlic and oregano, season with salt and pepper. Pour tomato sauce into same pan, warm over medium heat. Add meatballs. Cover, reduce heat to low. Simmer until meatballs are cooked through, about 3o minutes. Divide meatballs and sauce among individual bowls. Sprinkle with cheese. Serves 4. Or 8, if you double, which I always do.
Tonight I added pan sautéed local chicken sausage, 6 links, cooked, then cut in half. Gave it a nice kick.
