Mother's Day: Clotted Cream & Tea Box Gift « The Bon Appétit Diaries

Mother’s Day: Clotted Cream & Tea Box Gift

Posted by emily on April 27, 2012 · 1 Comment 

There’s no more traditional Mother’s Day celebration than a tea. I don’t know how or why this has become a loved tradition, but this year, I wanted to try some new things to make a special tea, fit for a King – love how my last name lends itself to jokes sometimes ;) It included fresh made scones, coffee cake muffins, clotted cream, Dad’s home-made blackberry jam and a special tea box gift.

I’ve made scones and shortcakes but I thought an appropriate twist to these traditional tea snacks would be making my own clotted cream. For those of you who don’t know, clotted cream is a spread kind of like butter, which is basically the cream solids separated out by slow cooking rather than churning. It’s really really rich and is pretty mcuh the best of the best of the cream. It’s so perfect on scones or crumpets with jam or curd, if you please. It was super simple, even though it took me over night to make it, and I made sure to use the highest quality cream I could find because that’s the only ingredient and you want to make sure it’s great! You should definitely give it a go this year as a special Mother’s Day treat.

start with 2 cups of high quality non-pasteurized or pasteurized heavy cream (NOT ultra-pasteurized)

bake at 180-200 degrees farenheit for 10-12 hrs, until you get a golden crust on top

cool ~10 hrs and skim the clotted cream off the top (I cooled mine in the fridge)

separate solids and liquids – the solid is the clotted cream the liquid can still be used for cooking. Like making scones!

bring clotted cream to room temp and serve on scones, biscuits, crumpets, etc.

Not only is it nice to cook mom something special on Mother’s Day, but it’s also nice to be able to give a little gift. Not that any gift you could give would really ever say ‘thanks for giving me life and raising me’ but you know, a little something is still a great gesture. A year ago or so my dad started his own tea box company. He designed these lovely all-wood tea boxes that are a beautiful and convenient way to store your tea bags. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and stains and this year he’s offering a 40% discount to all of my readers! I hope that you’ll check them out because they really are special and just the perfect little something for mom.

Tea Boxes from: A King’s Home, here

Discount Code for 40% off: BonAppetit (good through May 27)

I also made AMAZING coffee cake scones from the America’s Test Kitchen Cooking for Two cookbook – I was still a little jaded from my last muffin experience, but these were so easy and moist with just the right amount of cinnamon – not to mention it only made four, so I didn’t have to worry about having a ton left over. I will definitely be making these again.

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Filed under FEATURED, dessert, breakfast, side · Tagged with food, cooking, gift, muffin, clotted cream, Mother's Day, tea, tea box, scones

BB Cream Plus Sunscreen from La Belle Day Spa's Skincare Line ...

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Beth

Categories: Makeup Skincare
Tags: BB Cream, La Belle Day Spa

This was my first experience with a BB Cream. I know, I know, I should be ashamed. The BB Cream has been a huge trend for awhile now. Well after my facial the other month at La Belle Day Spa, I bought their BB Plus Sunscreen since the facialist had used it on my face at the very end of my facial and my skin looked great. I like the idea of a product that kind of bridges between the skincare and makeup world. Why not? Your foundation should be working to do more that just cover. This universal beauty balm does it all, hydrates, protects, and concealer. Its like a tinted moisturizer but so much better

It has amino acids proline and palm oil that boosts the penetration of its active ingredients. It smooths away visible wrinkles and evens out your skin tone without looking like a heavy coverage makeup. Moisturizing oils hydrate, soften fine lines and enhance your skin’s natural glow. Vitamin E eliminates damaging free radicals and supports the broad-spectrum UV protection, SPF 35.

It is ideal for travel and daily touch-ups, you can kind of use it like a concealer. But it is also gentle enough to be used after any peel or procedure. It does make my face a little more on the shiny side then I generally like, so I usually top it off with a little powder. I also use another concealer for major blemishes and under eye a bit. It only comes in one shade, which happens to work perfectly for me, but someone with darker skin might have to look for alternatives.

So for my first BB Cream experience, I’m pretty pleased. It is $42 for .7 fl oz, so a little steep, and available online or at one of La Belle Day Spa’s locations in San Francisco or Palo Alto. On to the next one! BB Cream that is…

BB Lovely!

Note: This post includes products provided to me by the brand and/or its representatives. For more information on my policies, including those concerning reviews of free products, please see my fine print page.

Clarins Extra Firming Day Cream (All Skin Types), 1.7oz $54.95(30 ...

Amazon has Clarins Extra Firming Day Cream (All Skin Types), 1.7oz $54.95(30%off)+free shipping.

Indications
Can be used for the following skin conditions: Anti-Aging, Moisturizer, Face

Product Pixie: Dr Hauschka Rose Day Cream

There are certain products that pop up in the so-called Beauty Hall of Fame time and time again, and more often than not, I disagree with the choices.  That bloody Maybelline pink and green mascara???  Please.  Touche Eclat always gets in there despite, I believe, most people not knowing how to use it properly.  And a £56 toner from Sisley?  I don't think so.  However, there are products which get well-deserved applause consistently, and one of those is the Dr Hauschka Rose Day Cream.  Dr Hauschka is a natural brand based on a "deep anthroposophical understanding of nature", which, to you and me, basically means understanding the human body's functions and needs and meeting its requirements using natural means (herbs and things).

The Rose Day Cream is the most famous product in the Hauschka portfolio, and it's easy to see why.  It's a rich, beautifully scented moisturiser that works really well to soothe and nourish skin without leaving it greasy or clogged.  However, do not use this if you are in any way oily.  This is for normal/dry skins only.  It's particularly good for sensitive or mature skins.  It won't irritate it at all and the rose oil in it is known for soothing redness and strengthening the skin.

A beautiful moisturiser that's fully earned its place among one of the best on the market.

*PR sample

Earth Day Celebration, Ice Cream for All, and an Artist in the Making ...

One of the things I love about this column is the opportunity to give shout-outs to people doing interesting and/or extraordinary things. Today that person would be my friend Zoe Gregoric. Zoe is a junior at CCHS, and two weeks ago she was featured as the “Art Student of the Week” in the Concord Journal. Her preferred art medium is photography, and she especially loves doing portraits – which, if you are her Facebook friend, you can see, as she loves posting them. I love seeing someone find a creative outlet for their passions, and I’m really proud of Zoe for finding, and following, hers. I can’t wait to see her continue to grow as an artist.

Another parade!

In case you weren’t paying attention, Earth Day happened last Sunday, commemorating the anniversary of the beginnings of environmental awareness and a commitment to keeping Earth clean. Concord plans to celebrate this Saturday with the Musketaquid Earth Day celebration honoring Mother Earth. The goal is to get as many people as possible involved, so bring your kids, your neighbors, and your friends down to the Lowell Road boat launch at 10 a.m. for the River Ceremony. According to the website, this will feature “wise and foolish chickens, and sprites from water and earth.” Who wouldn’t want to experience that?? A parade will start from there at 11 a.m., and wind its way to Emerson Umbrella; it will include large puppets and community groups, but anyone can join in and march. They’ll even have extra costumes for those who want to really get into the spirit of the day, but didn’t plan ahead enough to make their own costume.

When you get to Emerson Umbrella, they will be hosting an Arts and Entertainment Festival on their grounds, featuring bands, food, information, even a glass-blowing demonstration by the very talented artists at Diablo Glass. All in all, a great way to celebrate this big blue marble we all have to share. So get out and party down! For all the good details, go to their website.

We all scream for ice cream

If you haven’t already, you should get on over to Bedford Farms Ice Cream on Thoreau Street to buy your Concord School Gift Card. Here’s how it works: you tell the server you want this card, load it up with any amount of money you want, and use it to purchase food and merchandise at Bedford Farms. You can reload the gift card as often as you like, and at the end of the month, Bedford Farms will donate 20 percent of the total placed onto the cards back to the Concord Schools. Such a deal! But you only have until the end of April – which is next Monday, by the by – to do this, so get a move on.

Do you have something you would like to share? Contact me at stefanieac@comcast.net or Maureen at mcb23@comcast.net, and we will be happy to help you spread the good news. And follow us on Twitter: Maureen is @cosmo1162, I’m @stefanie3131.

Super Radiance: Fave Day Cream Under £5 | Bee Loves Beauty

Sometimes you look back on previous decisions and say to yourself “What the hell was I thinking?” 

Every now and then you look back on previous decisions and say to youself “Past Me really had something going ON! Present Me, Why you not learn from her?” (Of course I talk to myself in pigdin LOLspeak I’m from the internet!)

This second category of past decision is great when you have a beauty problem and a few minutes of thinking reminds you that you already solved the problem back in the early Noughties Ahh, creative juices saved for more pressing problems!

So the problem is this:

Since I switched to using Clarins Daily Energisers, my sad, sore skin has been happy and pretty and good. However, a small (30ml) pot of the day cream costs me £19 every six weeks. Ouch! If this is the only way to good skin, fine. However, it can’t be the only moisturiser that my skin can bear, can it? I’d like a cheap, effective day cream that doesn’t contain parabens and doesn’t cost a fortune.

Turns out, way back in my penniless student days, I’d been using just that! Superdrug Natural High Radiance Balm is a product modelled after moisturiser/primer/illuminator/mask multi taskers like Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

image source

Pictured above is how it used to look in its old packaging, nostalgia much! I loved this product so much as a day cream and base for make up, that when I saw the range was being revamped and reformulated, I bought up a stash of the old, delicious smelling pink balms  and used them till they ran out then tried to forget about it and go on without it… woe.

I think I was put off the new formula because I was sad to lose the old one and disappointed it listed different natural ingredients, Olive oil and Elderberry? That’s not my tried and trusted Linden Blossom and Witch Hazel, is it?  I didn’t even try it!

Turns out I was being completely foolish! When I bought it a couple of weeks ago I kicked myself! Yes, it is slightly different, the smell is slightly different, though still delicious and fruity, but it works so well! It works as well as it ever did! It’s £4.99 these days, £1 more than it’s launch price many years ago but it’s worth it and more!

The yellow/peach coloured original formula has been replaced with a similar smelling white formula with tiny sparkles of light reflecting particles like those in Rimmel’s Wake Me Up foundation.

The magic of this product for me is that it sinks in completely and undetectably like a gel moisturiser might, but then it completely normalises my skin. The dry patches are not dry, the oily T Zone no longer oily. It evens and moisturises for at least the advertised 12 hours. It’s amazing!

I went into Superdrug to pick up the Night Cream from this range today but I was disappointed to find that this does contain parabens. While I am aware that cheap colour cosmetics I use contain parabens, I make sure I remove my colour cosmetics every day. Products designed to sink in, like moisturisers and deoderants, I’m more cautious of. So while I’m happy the balm doesn’t contain them, it’d be good if the rest of the range didn’t  either.  Instead I picked up Nivea’s Pure and Natural Regenerating Night Cream as it is free from parabens, silicones, colourants and mineral oils. I’m going to start using this at night and will bring you a review soon.

So, to summarise, Superdrug Natural High Radiance Balm is one of my favourite moisturisers, and doubles as a primer and face mask too. At £5 it’s a bargain and smells delicious too. Highly recommended!

Tags: Bargains, Pics, review, skincare

Bleeding Beauty: Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream All Day ...

I just seem to love everything I own so far from Etude House but this is the first time for trying any of their BB Creams. Precious Mineral BB Creams come in a nicely packaged tube with pump, which contains 60g of product. They come in 3 finishes but from the catalogue swatches #1 seems to be the lightest so I have to be safe than sorry. Apparently #1 is best for oil control which actually I'm not complaining about. My face doesn't really get seriously oily but it can now and again. I find this BB cream will never 'give' you grease. Since it is more for oil control it won't be as moisturising as others. However I've been using 'this' day cream under all my makeup as of lately and it's no problem. 

The texture is quite thick but very easy to blend into the skin and medium coverage like with most BB Creams. 

I find that this one runs slightly too dark for me but once applied It didn't seem noticeable and blended into my skin, also the undertones helped as it has a neutral sort of yellow undertone which is me. There is scent but it's a very pleasant light fruity floral type. I always set any BB cream with a light dusting of StarGazer pressed white powder and this lasted all day till I took my makeup off. 

As this is a Korean brand you won't find it in the UK. I got mine from Ebay for around £10.00

Precious Mineral BB Creams contain properties like pearl extract and the usual likes of anti-wrinkle, SPF and whitening. 

Purchased at Ebay