11/24/11

Good music and a sunny morning.

Yesterday i spent a really pleasant evening: i went with some friends to hear a band called "Hobocombo" 
www.hobocombo.com
The band was put together by Andrea Belfi on drums, percussions, harmonica and voice; Francesca Baccolini  on double bass and voice; Rocco Marchi on electric guitar, lap steel, corgi ms 10 and voice. 
The three young italian musicians set up "Hobocombo" about a year ago to play the music of Moondog the musician, composer and inventor, that choose to live and perform on the streets of New York City for 30 years between the late 40s and 1974.
The interpretation of the Moondog's music by the "Hobocombo" trio is simply brilliant. The trio takes you by the hand and carries  you to an enchanting journey thru the magic music of the great composer.



 
 


One reason why i love this band, beside their good music of course, is that Andrea Belfi was born and raised in my city and i remember him as a kid that used to come to the records store where i worked at that time. 
I've always been impressed by his tastes in music, that where quite avant garde for a kid of his age, and the amazing style of his outfits.
Today Andrea lives in Berlin, he still wears amazing outfits and, as an artist, he seems to have many good ideas clear in his head.

His career is rich in collaborations, productions and works he did as music performer.
Check out the website of his record label "Cocolate Guns" for more info:
www.chocolateguns.com

So, yesterday night i went home happy and very grateful to the "Hobocombo" trio for such a beautiful gig.
Of course i bought their cd "Now that it's the opposite, it's twice upon a time", realised by the italian label Trovarobato (www.trovarobato.com) and of course i put it in my iPod and, this morning, i got out with the music loud in my ears on a beautiful sunny morning.

The light was so unusually bright for a winter day that i decided to take my camera with me and take some pics.

There's a Ginkgo biloba which is a kind of celebrity in my town so i went to pay my tribute to its gorgeous foliage
 
 I walked to the organic farmers market then, where i bought a bunch of colourful veggies:
 On the way back to my home i ran into this:
I can definitely say that today was a day full of sun, bright colors,  and very good music!!!
Thank you again to Andrea, Francesca and Rocco: you guys made my day!!! 

11/22/11

Something new in fashion.

Surfing here and there on the Internet, sometime it happens to get into some interesting fashion news. 
Today my attention has been captured by "Les Aperizes" a new brand started by Laurence Nguyen and Brian Tamborello, a young american couple.
Laurence has worked at Levi's and Ralph Lauren, Brian was a photographer and a drummer playing in different bands of the Brooklyn music scene. 
Apparently the two met after a Brian's gig and they fell in love instantly.... 
Anyway, they put together their skills and started the fashion label "Les Aperizes". 
Their debut collection for the S/S 2012 is quite interesting: the suits are well tailored, silk dresses and blouses are sleek and fluid. Hand embroidered details, micro prints, precious materials and a romantic vision of life make of this collection something out of time and trends. 
The clothes look like those things that you won't get tired of very fast and that will make a woman feel comfortable yet chic in very modern way. 
What I liked more about this collection are the suits: slouchy and a little over size. Masculine trousers and jackets turned fluidly feminine and sexy. 
These suits remind me of some creations by Belgian designers such as Martin Margiela. 
We don't know much more about this pair but it seems they are talented and I've heard that they are madly in love with each other which is fine, for them of course, and for their creative wave. 
Let's wait and see what they will show us in the future. 


You can see the S/S 2012 collection by "Les Aperizes" on their web site:

11/14/11

Monday sweet monday!!!! Finalmente è lunedì!!!!


As soon as i work on week ends i consider monday my sunday and i have to say that the last week end has been definitely hard and i felt i really deserved some time off. So my plan for today was staying at home spending time between my bed and the sofa with the iPad, books and just get out later for my favorite fitness class.
But my beloved boyfriend, that was mysteriously off today aswell, decided to build a new bed  from the scratch using some wood he found somewhere….. 
Yes, very nice from him, and i'm sure he's going to do a great job but the bedroom became off limits for me and i had to change my plan.
I wasn't really in the mood for cooking but i had to find something to do instead of enjoying the "to do nothing day" and i decided to prepare for lunch something fast but healthy and tasteful.
After checking my fridge and my pantry i decided to go for what i consider a macrobiotic classic: whole rice with arame seaweeds and adzuki beans salad.
With some little tricks, such as using pressure cooker and having the beans already boiled, this dish doesn't take much time and it's loaded with a lot of good energy for starting a new week.





Ingredients for two people:
1 and 1/2 cup of whole rice
a small piece of kombu seaweed
1\2 cup of dry arame seaweeds
4 medium carrots
2 garlic cloves
2 cups boiled and drained adzuki beans
 some red onion thinly sliced, oregano, goma-sio, extra virgin olive oil (cold pressed!!!), tamari.

Wash the rice under cold running water, put it in the pressure cooker with 3 and 3\4 cups of water and the piece of kombu. Let it boil for 24 minutes (yes 24!!).
In the meantime soak the arame for 10 minutes in cold water, peel and cut the carrots lenghtwise and peel the garlic cloves.
Heat a little oil in a wok, add the garlic, let it become soft and add the drained arame: do not throw away the water as you will need it later.
Let the arame cook few minutes stirring constantly to avoid sticking, then add a little of the soaking water, lower the flame and cover.
After 5 minutes add the carrots, stir very well, add some more soaking water and cover.
Let them cook until the carrots are tender and the water has evaporated, add a tbs of tamari and let cook for 2 or 3 minutes more.
In a bowl mix the adzuki beans with the red onion, goma-sio, oil and oregano.
At this time the rice should be ready.
Assemble the dish in an "elegant" way, put some oil and goma-sio on the rice and enjoy it!

Note: i use only organic ingredients which are better for our health and for the Planet!
Tip: do not discard the remaining arame soaking water: your plants will love it!!! 






Visto che durante i fine settimana lavoro, considero il lunedì la mia domenica. Il fine settimana appena passato è stato davvero molto faticoso e quindi oggi, in particolare, desideravo starmene tranquilla a casa a passare la giornata tra il letto ed il divano in compagnia del' iPad, di un buon libro ed eventualmente uscire nel tardo pomeriggio per la mia lezione di fitness preferita.
Ma il mio adorato fidanzato, che per qualche motivo misterioso era libero, ha deciso di costruire un letto con del legno che aveva recuperato chissà dove….
Sì certo, molto carino da parte sua e conoscendolo sono sicura che farà un'ottimo lavoro ma la camera è, ovviamente, diventata zona a me interdetta e così ho dovuto cambiare i miei piani.
Non avevo esattamente voglia di cucinare ma dovevo pur trovare qualcosa da fare invece di godermi il "dolce far nulla" e così ho pensato di preparare per pranzo qualcosa che fosse veloce, saporito e sano allo stesso tempo.
Ho dato un'occhiata 
nel frigo e nella dispensa ed ho deciso di optare per quello che io considero un  classico della macrobiotica: riso integrale con alghe arame e carote ed insalata di adzuki.
Con qualche piccolo trucchetto, come l'uso della pentola a pressione ed i fagioli precedentemente cotti, questo piatto non richiede molto tempo ed è l'ideale per iniziare la settimana con un carico di buona energia.

Ingredienti per due persone:
1 e 1/2 tazza di riso integrale
un pezzetto di alga kombu
1/2 tazza di alghe arame essiccate4 carote di media grandezza
2 spicchi d'aglio
2 tazze di adzuki già bolliti e scolati
un pò di cipolla rossa affettata finemente, origano, goma-sio, olio extra vergine d'oliva (spremuto a freddo!!!), tamari.

Lavate il riso con aqua fredda corrente, metterlo nella pentola a pressione con 4 bicchieri un po' scarsi d'acqua ed un pezzetto di kombu. Fate bollire per 24 minuti (si' 24!!).
Nel frattempo mettete in ammollo le arame per 10 min. in acqua fredda, sbucciate e tagliate le carote a bastoncini e sbucciate gli spicchi d'aglio.
Riscaldate un po' d'olio in un wok, aggiungete l'aglio e lasciatelo soffriggere leggermente quindi aggiungete le alghe arame scolate (non buttate l'acqua che vi servirà in seguito).
Fate cuocere le arame per qualche minuto a fiamma alta mescolando costantemente per evitare che si attacchino, abbassate la fiamma, aggiungete un po' d'acqua dell'ammollo, coprite e lasciate cuocere per 5 min.
Trascorsi i 5 min aggiungete le carote, ancora un po' d'acqua dell'ammollo, coprite e fate cuocere finchè le carote saranno tenere e l'acqua evaporata. Aggiungete un cucchiaio di tamari e fate andare per altri 2 o 3 min.
In una ciotola mescolate gli adzuki con la cipolla rossa, un po' di goma-sio, olio ed origano
A questo punto anche il riso dovrebbe essere cotto.
Assemblate il piatto in modo "elegante", mettete un po' d'olio e goma-sio sul riso e…. buon appetito!

NB: io uso solo ingredienti biologici che considero molto più salutari per noi e per il nostro Pianeta!
Sug
gerimento: non buttate via l'acqua d'ammollo delle alghe: le vostre piante l'apprezzeranno molto!!!

11/10/11

HALLO!!!

Hallo everybody,
and welcome on SALTANDFASHION!!!
I'm Cerryred and i'd love to share with you my passions such as avant garde fashion, vegan and vegetarian cooking, music, travelling and more.....
As my first post i'm going to share with you what i think has been the most interesting collection for the S/S12.
I'm talking about the "Insalaam Inshalom" collection by the american brand threeASFOUR.
Angela Donhauser, Gabriel Asfour and  Adi Gil have been inspired by the symbols of Israeli and Palestinian culture such as Kaffiyeh, Mag David, Shofar, hamsa and evil eye  to create  impressive prints and decoration.

I think they have been quite brave to face the Middle East problems thru fashion especially in these times when the word "Peace" seems so far away to become real in that part of the world.

The three designers themselves are an example of interesting and brilliant meeting between different cultures: libanese, israeli and russian. 

Well, fashion won't save the world but a collection like this sounds as a good auspice, or at least a hope, for a peaceful dialogue between people.