You know, it’s Christmas. You’ve been running around decorating, baking, cooking, buying presents for everyone else. You deserve a little something just for you. That’s what I’m thinkin’.

So, to reward you for just being you, I’m giving one of you a $15 Starbucks Gift Card. Starbucks is everywhere – probably right next door to your favorite shop in the mall – and I want you to take a little break on me!

Here’s all you have to do:

Tweet this on Twitter: “I just entered to win a Starbucks Holiday Coffee Break from @RJFlamingo at Flamingo Musings. Join me? http://bit.ly/iaogaB” Then come back here and leave a comment with the URL of your Tweet. (To get the URL of your tweet: Go to your own user stream, find your tweet and click on the bit where it says how long ago you tweeted it. A browser window should open with the information.) -and/or-

“Like” Flamingo Musings on Facebook, either by clicking the icon in the sidebar over there to the right (no, your other right!) or by clicking here then leaving me a comment here. -and/or-

Or, if you’re not on Facebook (Why not? All the cool kids are doing it.), just leave me a comment telling me why you deserve a break today. Wait. Wrong restaurant.

This is a quickie, kids – deadline to enter is 12:01 AM, EST, Friday December 17, 2010. Random.org will choose the winner and I will tweet and post the winner on the Facebook Flamingo Musings page on Friday morning. Make sure there’s a valid e-mail address linked to your comment!

Happy Holidays, from all of us (that would be me) at Flamingo Musings!

Disclosure: I was not paid or otherwise compensated to conduct this giveaway. I don’t even like Starbucks. But I knew you would. This is my own personal gift card that I’m giving away just because I like you. And it shouldn’t go to waste.

This is Week 2 of our Saveur Holiday Cookie Challenge: Cookies We Love. I chose to bake the Alfajores, a popular Latin-American dulce de leche sandwich cookie. Here’s the recipe from Saveur, with my notes following:

Alfajores (Latin-American Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies)
(makes about 20 sandwich cookies)

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups cornstarch
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
10 tbsp. unsalted butter,
softened
1 tbsp. cognac or brandy
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
4 egg yolks
Canned dulce de leche, for filling
cookies

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350°.

In a bowl, sift together cornstarch, flour, and baking powder; set aside. In a mixer fitted with a paddle, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy. Add cognac and zest; beat. Add yolks one at a time; beat. Add dry ingredients; mix.

Transfer dough to a floured surface, knead briefly; divide into 3 pieces. Working with 1 dough piece at a time, roll dough to 1/4″ thickness. Using a 2 1/2″ round cookie cutter, cut out cookies; transfer to parchment paper—lined baking sheets, spaced 1″ apart. Reroll scraps and repeat.

Bake until golden, 12–15 minutes. Let cool. Flip half the cookies over; top each with 1 heaping tsp. dulce de leche. Top with remaining cookies.

Notes:

I have to say one thing, right off the bat: Really, Saveur?!? Canned dulce de leche?!? Dulce de leche is the easiest thing ever to make at home, provided you give it the proper time and attention. See my instructions on making dulce de leche of a few weeks ago, here. Please don’t use ready-made dulce de leche if you can avoid it. Real dulce de leche should only contain milk and sugar. The ready-made variety in cans and squeeze bottles has loads of other stuff in it. Make it yourself. It lasts for-freaking-ever in the fridge.

This is a nice, sturdy, crispy butter cookie. I used Orange Curacao instead of the brandy, and I honestly believe I could have skipped the liqueur and just used a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

This is a serious question for you guys, and I want you to be honest: Have you ever filled a sandwich cookie where the filling didn’t just goosh out? Or the top cookie slide off the filling? *Postscript – A day later, the dulce de leche filling set up. The tops are now firmly attached and no sliding. Guess I was impatient. The moral? Fill the cookies and leave them on a level surface for a couple of hours before storing!

The verdict? This is a very quick and easy to work with cookie. Except for the filling part. And it’s delicious. But, despite the elegant dulce de leche, unless you dump a boatload of holly on the plate, it just isn’t fancy or seasonal enough for the holidays, in my opinion. The search continues…

Please be sure to visit my comrades in cookies to see what they chose to serve up!

Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes

Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen

Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook

Judy of No Fear Entertaining

Kelly of Sass & Veracity

Michelle of Big Black Dog

RJ of Flamingo Musings (that’s me!)

Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench

Tiffany of The Nesting Project

Courtney of Coco Cooks

Dulce De Leche

I recently began cooking and writing occasional mini-reviews for Cooks & Books & Recipes, an awesome website that focuses exclusively on reviews of the latest cookbooks, featuring a sample recipe from each one. Okay, I’ve done two, so far. But if you’re thinking of buying any of the new cookbooks coming out, be sure to check Cooks & Books & Recipes for the inside scoop!

One of the latest cookbooks reviewed at Cooks & Books (I call it for short), is Abby Dodge’s Desserts 4 Today. The recipe featured from the cookbook is Mini Bittersweet Chocolate Cheesecakes. Cheesecake? How could I pass up trying a recipe for personal-sized cheesecakes that takes 5 minutes to throw together and only 15 minutes in the oven?

Abby encourages creativity and even gives suggestions for ingredient switch-ins (or outs) and additions in case you want to “Gussy It Up.” I, of course, couldn’t leave well-enough alone and adapted her recipe even further. Not once, but twice! Because I’m just that kind of a girl. I give you

Coffee Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes
(makes 6 mini cheesecakes) (Recipe adapted from Desserts 4 Today by Abigail Johnson Dodge)

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. instant coffee powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips (do not use regular-sized chips)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300º F.

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric hand-mixer until smooth. Add the brown sugar and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl between each step.

Dissolve the coffee powder in the vanilla extract and add to the cream cheese mixture, then add the egg. Beat thoroughly. Add the mini chocolate chips and stir to combine completely.

Take a regular-sized muffin tin and place foil liners into 6 of the cups, then spray with no-stick cooking spray. Alternatively, you can use reusable silicone cupcake liners without the cooking spray.

Bake for 15-18 minutes. The centers should barely jiggle when you nudge the pan. Set the muffin tin on a rack to cool completely, then refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.

Notes:

About 30 minutes prior to serving, take the cheesecakes out of the refrigerator and remove from the liners. If using the silicone liners, just pull back the edges slightly with your fingers, then turn them over and push the bottoms with your thumbs. They should pop right out. This allows them to take some of the chill off and the cheesecakes to return to that creamy mouthfeel we all love about them.

And because I couldn’t stop playing with it, and because I love you, here’s your *Bonus* Recipe:

Mini Nutella Cheesecakes
(makes 6 mini cheesecakes) (Recipe adapted from Desserts 4 Today by Abigail Johnson Dodge)

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/3 cup natural cane sugar (or granulated white sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/3 cup Nutella
A few hazelnuts, finely chopped for garnish

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300º F.

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric hand-mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl between each step.

Add the egg, vanilla, and the Nutella, and beat till thoroughly combined.

Take a regular-sized muffin tin and place foil liners into 6 of the cups, then spray with no-stick cooking spray. Alternatively, you can use reusable silicone cupcake liners without the cooking spray.

Bake for 18 – 20 minutes. The centers should barely jiggle when you nudge the pan. Set the muffin tin on a rack to cool completely, then refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. After unmolding, garnish with the chopped hazelnuts.

For the original Bittersweet Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes recipe and a full review of Desserts 4 Today (and my mini-review!), click here.

Just think of the make-ahead possibilities for the Holidays. Or any day. Ooo… wonder what I could do with pumpkin…

The 12 Christmas Cookies series snuck up on me, this year, mainly because the group decided to start now, and – very wisely, I might add – to post one cookie a week instead of one cookie a day.

So, I’m starting off simple, with my favorite chocolate chip cookie in the world. I’ve never made another chocolate chip cookie recipe that could beat it for flavor and texture – chocolaty, chewy, and crispy. It keeps well in an airtight container or plastic storage bag, and freezes well. Although it’s not a fancy schmancy “holiday” cookie, I don’t think any cookie platter would be complete without a really good, rich chocolate chip cookie.

The “Neiman Marcus” Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe started making the rounds of the Internet (such as it was), as an urban legend, about 15 or more years ago, back when the Internet as we all knew it, consisted mostly of e-mail and dancing babies. I’m betting that most of you have never heard the story, having been way too young to remember green screens and DOS, so a quick retelling. The story goes something like this:

A man and his young daughter were eating lunch in a Neiman Marcus restaurant, and ordered their chocolate chip cookies for dessert. They loved the cookies so much, that the man asked their waitress if they could have the recipe. She replied that they could have the recipe, but it would cost them two-fifty. The man thought that $2.50 was pretty reasonable and the waitress gave them the recipe. When he received his Neiman Marcus bill sometime later, he noticed a restaurant charge for $250. Outraged, he called customer service and was told that they could not remove the charge and he was stuck with it. Now apoplectic, the man told them that as revenge, he would e-mail the recipe to all his friends and relatives and urge them to do the same. The End.

This recipe makes an enormous quantity of cookies, so feel free to halve or even quarter the amounts. I quartered it and ended up with 30 cookies. The calculator is your friend.

“Neiman Marcus” Chocolate Chip Cookies
(makes approx. 112 cookies)

Ingredients:

2 cups butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 cups flour
5 cups blended oatmeal *
2 tsp. soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
24 oz. chocolate chips
8 oz. milk chocolate candy bar (grated) *
3 cups chopped nuts (I made these with California Walnuts)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Cream the butter and both sugars. On low speed, add eggs and vanilla till completely incorporated.

Add the flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, mixing till combined, then add the chocolate chips, grated milk chocolate, and nuts.

Roll into balls about the size of a ping pong ball and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for several minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely. Or not. A cold glass of milk or hot cup of coffee at this point would be awesome.

Notes:

* To make “blended oatmeal”, measure the amount of oatmeal and run through the food processor or a blender on high, till ground to a fine meal consistency.

* The “original” recipe called for an 8 oz. Hershey Bar. Now, you and I know that Hershey Bars haven’t come in an 8 oz. size in probably 10 years. Also, this time, I didn’t have any Hershey Bars, so I used some Hershey milk chocolate Kisses. In order to grate the chocolate, put it in the freezer for about an hour, then pulse it in your food processor.

Well, of course it’s too early for Christmas, so why wait to make these fabulous cookies? Make ‘em for Halloween or Chanukah, or anytime at all!

While I was at the grocery store a few days ago, this gorgeous hunk of meat caught my eye from across the aisle.  It was big, beautiful, gleaming, and fresh.  It taunted me with its possibilities.  And, all things considered, it was a fairly cheap date.  It called itself “London Broil” and virtually begged me to take it home with me and have my way with it.  How could I resist?

I had to combine two of my favorite flavors in the world – coffee and chipotle – and do right by it.

Try this on the grill, or if it’s raining, under the broiler.  It’s so simple, don’t tell anyone how you did it – it’ll make you a grilling rock star!

Coffee & Chipotle Crusted London Broil

Ingredients:

3 Tbs. ground coffee (not instant!)
2 tsp. ground chipotle pepper
1 tsp. kosher salt

1 London Broil, 2-3 pounds and at least 1-1/2 – 2 inches thick

A little olive oil

Method:

Combine the coffee, ground chipotle pepper, and salt in a small dish and set aside.

Rinse the London Broil, pat dry with a paper towel, and rub or brush a bit of the olive oil onto the surface of the meat.

Sprinkle the seasoning onto the meat, pressing it into the surface with your hands.  Coat the entire steak well, including the sides.  Let sit for a minimum of 15 minutes and up to an hour.

Grill or broil to your preferred doneness (about 10 minutes per side for medium), at least six inches from the heat source, whether flame or broiler element.

Allow to rest about 5 – 10 minutes before slicing across the grain to serve.

Notes:

This is going to generate some smoke, so again, make sure to keep it a good six inches from the flame or broiler element, and if you’re doing this indoors, turn on your kitchen ventilation fan!

London Broil is not generally the most tender cut of beef, hence the lower price.  The keys to keeping it from turning into shoe-leather, are to allow it to rest well, once cooked, and slicing it thinly across the grain.

Do Ahead:

Want to have this during the week, but don’t have time to grill on your average weeknight?  Go ahead and grill this up when you’re grilling other things on the weekend and cut the cooking time by 2 minutes per side.  Remove from the heat, allow to cool, and wrap in foil and refrigerate whole.  Slice thinly while cold and lay the slices out on a baking pan.  Brush the exposed surfaces with a little cold coffee and cover with another sheet of foil.  Heat in a 350º F oven for about 15 minutes, or heated through.

Serve with your favorite sides or even a simple baked potato and pickles or tossed salad.

*We take a moment today to remember the sacrifices of our Service men and women, past and present.  To all members of the Armed Forces: Thank You For Your Service!

Print this post for your Moleskine journal

Keep in mind here that I am writing this on no food, no water, and no coffee. In fact, I will probably be struck by lightening at some point. Fair warning.

We open on Kenley, Leanne, Korto, and Jerell at the runway. Heidi comes out and tells them that they will each put together a collection of ten looks for New York Fashion Week. They will each get $8,000 and will have 2 months.

She reminds them that only three of them will actually compete – when they return to NY, one of them will be out. She continues that the evening gown was a misstep for them as designers, but with more time and money, they think they will shine.

So, she’s sending them home with one more challenge – They are each to design a wedding dress that represents them as designers and as a reflection of their line.

Korto is annoyed because she thought they were finally going to be free.

I’m annoyed because I’m a quart low.

Tim comes out from behind the scrim and says that he will be checking in on them in the next month. So do it! Heidi: Yes, amaze us! “Come on, Tim. Let’s walk into the sunset.”

The Atlas lobby

Kenley: “Last runway show I was completely sabotaged by all of the other designers, and it sucked. But, bring it on, I’m going to win this thing.” She walks right by Jerell without a word, out the door, and down the street.

Jerell gets up to greet Korto and Leanne. They mockingly look around for Kenley – “There’s someone else.” “I don’t see anyone!” Korto interviews: “Typical Kenley. Rude as hell. I’m glad the judges called her on it. I don’t think it’s going to change her – she’s still going to have that stanky attitude…”

Jerell interviews that he doesn’t know what the girls are going to be doing at home with their $8,000, but he’ll be constructing pure magic.

Leanne interviews that this is her lifetime opportunity and there’s no way she’s going to procrastinate on this.

I really need a cup of coffee.

4 weeks till Fashion Week

Tim is in Little Rock, Arkansas (shout out to my friend, Kelli!) to check on Korto. “Who is it?” Air kisses at the door. “What is this place?” It’s called Park On River and belongs to the City of Maumelle (just NW of Little Rock, for you sticklers out there). The building has some spaces for artists, etc. Korto said she needed a place where she could concentrate, and though she loves her family, she doesn’t think that they fully grok the pressure she’s under right now.

Korto tells Tim that she was scared by his visit. He says: “Oh, don’t be scared. I’m friend, not foe… You know me.” Korto says that the inspiration for her collection is culture and nature and ethnic. She wanted it to be ethnic without being too ethnic. Her own original beadwork is incorporated.

The green is her favorite. Tim looks at it and says that the shape of it bothers him – it seems a little sexual. Kind of a snatch shot. Tim!

They move on to her wedding dress. She says it’s not traditional and is the color of her wedding dress when she got married (kind of a beige-y taupe-y color). It’s got a lot of tucks and ripples in the detailing. She says that she’s not going to have a headpiece or a train, and Tim says that it needs something that says wedding, not red carpet, but that it’s sensational and just stunning. Korto tells him that it’s been giving her nightmares.

Korto takes Tim home to meet her (very!) adorable husband and (very!) adorable little girl, and some friends. She wants to give him a little bit of Arkansas and a little bit of Africa. Her friends are introducing themselves, and one woman’s name is Star. Tim: “Star! There’s only one star in this household!” as he puts his arm around Korto. Awww. That’s sweet.

She then introduces her “drumming partner” and tells Tim that she’s performing for him. Gee, that’s pretty good. Korto voices over that she was born in Liberia in west Africa, and that it’s important to her to maintain a connection with her roots. Her family escaped during their civil war and her father, having been a government official, couldn’t go back or he’d be executed. Listen, Korto. I’ve had conversations with people who’ve been to Liberia recently. I’ve seen pictures. Trust me, Sweetie, you’re not missing anything. They didn’t have anything when they got here. They had to go on welfare and start from scratch. “Just because you’re down on the ground, doesn’t mean you have to stay there.” She wants to show her daughter that whatever she wants to be, she can be it.

As he leaves, Tim gives Korto’s daughter a lesson in air-kissing.

Caffeine deprivation headache setting in. Must. Lie. Down.

Okay, where were we? Oh, yes.

3-1/2 weeks till Fashion Week

Tim is in Portland, Oregon to see Leanne.

Leanne says that she loves her collection, but she’s really nervous about Tim’s reaction. Is he going to love it? Is he going to hate it?

After returning from New York, Leanne went to the waterfront and sketched for a few days and got the idea of doing wave patterns. Tim is concerned with the super white color in the collection. She says that she’ll probably do some dyeing (or was that, dying) to make the collection more cohesive. Tim suggests that her wedding dress doesn’t have the same ease and flow as the other pieces. It looks like a white dress with a bunch of those wave things stuck on it. She says that she’s going to make some changes.

Leanne is taking Tim for a bike ride (“I have to check my medical insurance first.”) It’s a bicycle built for two! How cute is that. She’s taking Tim to a park in the middle of the city.

Leanne wanted to be a designer since she was 12. She was a dancer and began designing her own costumes. “I was always drawing. I had a crayon in my hand from the moment I could pick one up. I was always drawing dresses. And then I thought, hey! I could have a job as a fashion designer when I grow up.” And when you do grow up, Leanne, you might want to think about doing something with your hair. You look like you’re still 12. A little makeup would kill you?

I would kill for a cup of coffee right now.

3 weeks till Fashion Week

Next, Tim goes to LA to visit Jerell. Jerell is very excited to see Tim and to show him the collection.

It’s pretty much an evening collection. There’s lots of embellishment and mixing textures. He shows Tim the wedding dress. Um. This really isn’t very pretty. Jerell wanted to do an “asymmetrical, swooping kind of thing”. There’s this really ugly flap at the top. Tim tells him it looks like something popped out. And it flaps. Tim suggests that he give it some stability, and when he separates it, lo and behold! There’s a dark beaded, almost bustier kind of insert. It’s shiny. Jerell interviews that Tim didn’t think it needed to be quite so asymmetrical at the top, “… and I think it speaks to who I am as a designer.” Uh, oh. Have you learned nothing, Jerell?

Tim checks out the rest of Jerell’s collection. “That’s a lot of look.” Tim thinks Jerell should start thinking about editing. Jerell appears a little disappointed. Tim asks if he can still meet Jerell’s family and friends.

Jerell grew up in South Central LA. His mother said she always knew he would have something to do with creativity. Jerell relates that when he was 4, he cut the bottom off of a tube sock, and “oh, there’s a dress with a train.” I’m thinking he needed to get out of South Central LA before the other kids found out. That’s a tough neighborhood. There was a lot of gang violence, the riots started about 2 blocks from where they lived and liquor store next door was burned down. His dad was a truck driver and was on the road all the time during his childhood. Jerell tears up when says that he appreciates his parents’ sacrifices to get him and his sister out of there and give them a better opportunity.

He interviews that being this close to Bryant Park, not making it is not even an option. “I’ve come this far and there’s no turning back.”

2-1/2 weeks till Fashion Week

Tim goes to Brooklyn to visit Kenley. She hopes that he loves her line that she works so hard on. She says that she values Tim’s opinion, even though it doesn’t look like it. Her grandmother was in fashion in the 40’s and “had a ridiculous style.” She was fun-loving and carefree and influenced Kenley’s style. I couldn’t tell. She gets emotional talking about how her grandmother just passed away a couple of months ago. Kenley was inspired by Alice In Wonderland and painting the roses, so she painted her fabrics. The one Tim pulls off the rack is silk. I hate to admit it, but it’s gorgeous. She shows him another piece that she’s trimmed with ropes wound around the neck. “Talk to me about the ropes.” “I’m into ropes!” Tim keeps thinking of people hanging themselves. Perhaps Kenley?

Tim loves her wedding dress – it’s spectacular. It really is. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Maybe it should be the grand finale?” “Well, yeah!” Kenley is very happy and hugs Tim. “Suddenly I think that I have a huge chance of winning.” I am, however, uncomfortably reminded of Bjork, the Icelandic singer/songwriter who wore this to the 2001 Oscars to great fame and derision:I would kill Kenley for a cup of coffee.

6 days till Fashion Week

Ooo, very nice! They put them up in the Presidential suite at the Westin Hotel, Times Square.

Korto is the first to arrive. “It’s too quiet in here – I need some roommates.” She thinks about the last time she saw Kenley and says that someone is going to have to room with her – she just hopes it’s not her.

To Korto’s relief, Leanne arrives next. “I was praying you would be here next.” Leanne takes her stuff into one of the bedrooms: “I’d better go mark my territory.” “Yeah, go pee on it.” Has Korto been watching America’s Next Top Model?

Jerell shows up next. “I’m hoping Korto and Leanne will be the ones joining me at the tents, but I guess we’ll see – I don’t know.” “We’re so sorry.” “Why? What happened?” “Well, let’s just say you go to your room and find out.” Jerell checks out the other bedroom. “Oh, I’m going to be staying with Kenley, Yaay!” “Don’t worry – we’ll come check on you.” “You might be checking on me on the couch.”

Kenley is the last to arrive. “Hi!” Everyone is very tense because they’re not sure what to expect. “Listen I’m sorry about being such a bitch. I just want to be cool with everyone.” She interviews that “It’s not really worth being mad at people I’m never going to see again. I’m not thinking about them at all. I’m thinking about getting to Bryant Park.” I don’t know, Kenley. Are you planning to continue in the fashion industry? Do you not still have some contractual obligations with Bravo? Then you know, you just might see these people again. A lot. For years.

The doorbell rings and it’s room service with champagne and goodies! There’s a note from Tim, telling them to relax and enjoy and he would see them in the morning.

Kenley pops a bottle of bubbly. Mmmm. Moet. My favorite. If any of you chooses to take note.

Right now, some Dunkin Donuts coffee sounds even better. Mmmm…

Jerell interviews that the mood in the room lightened after Kenley’s apology, but there’s still underlying tension.

Next morning

They arrive at their work room and begin unpacking their collections. Jerell tells the girls to finish unpacking and he would be by to critique them.

Tim comes in and asks them to “gather round.” He welcomes them to the Bluefly.com Studio. He reminds them that only three of them will compete at Bryant Park. And to decide which one would be eliminated, there will be one more challenge. “I was pissed – we were all pissed” says Kenley. The challenge will be to design a bridesmaid’s dress to coordinate with the wedding gown they made for what they thought would be their final challenge. I could have told you that.

Tomorrow they will present their wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses to the judges. The budget is $150 and they’re off to Mood. They have until midnight to complete the dress.

Leanne says that she is using the opportunity to show more color.

Korto says that she hopes she doesn’t snap on anyone. Kenley replies that she can go ahead and give it to her, because she already has – at the last runway show. Korto says that was because Kenley called her boring. Kenley says that at least she didn’t say that she didn’t deserve to go on because of her personality. Well!

Korto interviews that Kenley is good in her book until she pisses her off again. Which could be at any time.

Jerell – bridesmaids’ dresses are butt-ugly.

Korto – It’s alright for your bridesmaids to be cute, ladies.

Tim’s Walkabout

Kenley: Fun and upbeat.

Jerell – looks sloppy – puckering. Don’t fight mother nature – or Nina Garcia.

Leanne – it will be cuter [if it were] shorter.

Korto – He sees 2 wedding dresses. “At this point, I see them in competition.”

Tim: “It is critically important that you can stand by your creations… Don’t make any decisions that you’re not confident about.” He’s so proud and begins tearing up. “I really care about you.”

Korto is starting to freak out because she has a lot to do and there are only 4 hours left till midnight.

I’m freaking out because, well…

4 days till Fashion Week

This is it – the elimination.

Korto shortened her bridesmaid dress. “I’m going to use my time very wisely.”

Tim is sending in the models.

Kenley thought she was the only one making a short bridesmaid dress. She’s really pissed off that Korto and Leanne did, too.

Leanne loves seeing her wedding dress on Tia.

Korto – Somebody’s dream is going to be ruined.

Runway

Heidi: “These 2 looks will determine which 3 of you will compete at Bryant Park.” Heidi, Michael and Nina are the only judges.

Jerell:

Korto:


Leanne:


Kenley:

Judging

Leanne: MK – this is so chic, beautifully crafted. Fabric is interesting, modern, dreamy, you. Love the bridesmaid dress. Fantastic job.

Jerell: MK likes the wedding dress from the empire waist down. Looks a bit messy. The bridesmaid dress is “mumsy”(?).

Kenley – The wedding dress is a little Alexander McQueen. But done beautifully. The bridesmaid dress is cute. Heidi thinks it’s crazy good.

Korto – Heidi wouldn’t want to be the bride in that dress. The bride is overworked and bridesmaid is underworked.

Judges

Leanne – loves all that architectural work. Able to do the modern with the romantic.

Kenley – would be a fun wedding. Kooky and meticulous at the same time. The wedding dress would be an awesome finale dress.

Korto – overkill. Bridesmaid was boring.

Jerell: overwrought by 20,000. All he does is embellish things.

Verdict

Leanne and Kenley will compete at Fashion Week.

Korto – the dresses did not relate to each other.

Jerell – look was garish and too much

Korto – is in. Jerell is auf’ed!

“Tear it up, Girls. If you want a basic white tee, get it from Michael Kors. (Ouch! Just a tad bitter, are we, Jerell?) I see when I’m 80 years old being invited to the Met for a retrospective of my work.”

Discussion

I’ve noticed that there has been some heated debate on the interwebs on the subject of Kenley’s wedding dress. Some people feel that she stole the idea from Alexander McQueen, especially since MK noted that he saw something quite similar in Alexander McQueen’s show at Fall Fashion Week. I don’t know where they got their photo, but I borrowed this from LaLateNews to show you the side-by-side.

I’m not sure. Would Kenley be that ballsy? She has been called on being derivative before. So what do you think? And again, let’s compare:

Could we not just as easily say that Alexander McQueen stole his idea from Marjan Pejoski?

Next week: The Final Finale! Which they scheduled directly opposite the third and last presidential debate. Nice timing! So, I think it’s safe to say that next week’s recap will be late, too. Apologies in advance.

Now, where’s my damn coffee!?!

Little travel tip for you: Never go on vacation outside of your natural germ-zone during flu season. Even armored with a well-aged flu shot and having religiously ingested what MJ calls my “witches’ brew” of vitamins and herbs for months ahead of time. One of those little beggars is going to catch up with you. Out of spite. Because you planned so meticulously and for (almost) every eventuality, for a change.

MJ has a convention (work-related and therefore tax-deductible) in, of all places, Charlottesville, Virginia. Nearby Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. We looked at maps, Googled, etc., and thought: Hey! Wouldn’t it be a great vacation to get out of suffocating South Florida for a week or so, have us some REAL winter, see Colonial Williamsburg for the first time in about 15 years. Then we could drive over to Charlottesville, stop and see Monticello along the way, then have fun at the convention. Right?

So, we (rather, I) studied maps and timetables and crafted a schedule with only a modicum of structure. It was after all, primarily my vacation in a Winter Wonderland. And for the first couple of days, it was fine. We wandered, we ate at Colonial Taverns, we attended concerts in the Royal Governor’s Palace. And then, I literally could not drag my sorry ass out of bed one morning. I sent MJ out to the museums alone and I slept. All day. And then, how shall I say this delicately? I suffered a digestive failure. I couldn’t eat. At all. Water and ginger ale and the occasional cup of coffee (and if you know me, you know that coffee is like mother’s milk to me — I carry my own Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and filters with me on vacation so I won’t have to drink the swill they stock in the hotel rooms and so I can have as much as I want, whenever I want — and that’s another beef I’ve got with Doubletree: they don’t have real coffeemakers in the rooms! They’re those little individual “pod” things! Now I’m stuck drinking “pod” coffee for the next 3 days!), so one lousy little cup of coffee, drunk nervously because I don’t know how my body is going to react, is not one of life’s little pleasures. I’m not sure at what point that sentence got away from me, but you catch my drift.

Now, on day four, I have managed 4 little cheese cubes, a strawberry the size of a thimble, and 5 green grapes. And Wednesday evening, MJ had a little nap before supper and I went down to the hotel restaurant to bring back some food. When I got back, he sat down, had 5 or 6 spoonfuls of soup, and became violently ill. Same as me, but more intense. WAY more intense. No, not just in the “I’m a man and therefore a delicate flower” intense. This will sound completely wrong. I know it, but I’m going to say it anyway. I feel cheated. The last time I was this sick – and I’m not writhing on the floor or anything – was when I had my gall bladder out 3 years ago. Upstaged again. ->Smack!<- OK, I’ve punished myself.

Being the less ill of the two of us, I got us packed up and out of the hotel in Williamsburg this morning to drive here. It was 27 degrees. There was ice on the car. The automatic window on the driver’s side was frozen shut for awhile. And there was my (almost) 50 year old, 6′ 2″ toddler, bundled in his parka, whining “Can’t we just hibernate here for another day?” No. We can’t. There’s a “Winter Storm Warning” for the entire area we have to travel through for tonight. If we wait till tomorrow, we might have to deal with snow and/or ice and/or sleet, none of which either of us has any adult experience with driving in, and I’m not starting now. I don’t feel so great myownself, remember? I just have more experience acting.

I will say this much, though. Aside from the mentioned skinny bitch manager type in the previous post, I don’t think you’ll find any nicer people than the ones here in Virginia. From the housekeeping lady who, with a couple of jokes and a “blessing on the day!”, came back twice with more towels and coffee (“I knew it was for you!”), to the serving lady at the convention “snack stand” who only charged me one dollar for the chicken soup that was really supposed to cost $2.75 because I only wanted the broth (for MJ) “and there ain’t nothin’ in it!” So sweet… really… not fake “hotel-employee-trained-by mindless-Disney-automaton-hospitality” sweet, either. The real deal. It still exists. Cool.