Want to be a trendsetter this fall?

I recently posted the fall '08 trends for New York city which is probably applicable to New Yorkers alone. Buuuut...to the people outside NYC, Apparelnews posted a trend forecast for Fall 2008. These trends were determined in recent shows including the Project Global Trade Show, Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo and the MAGIC Marketplace.

You'll probably recognize some of the trends you'll see in this entry (if you read the NY fall trends entry) so don't worry or fuss about it okay? Lol. So yeah, here are the Fall 2008 trends - which all are wittingly named again!

1. Bomb Squad - jackets are in this season: motorcycle and bomber styles are hot!

2. '80s Edge - okay, so NY will see the '70s back in action while the rest of the world (?) will rock with the '80s.

3. Retro Future Denim - jeans are redesigned and brought back to life for fall - yep, high-waisted ones included.

4. Knits - yep, like in NY, knitted clothes are hot this coming fall.

5. High-Tech - futurism is rampant!

6. Tee Time - t-shirts are in this coming season with bold punk-rock designs.

7. Plaid, Plaid World - plaid still looks great, especially on coats!

8. Frock Talk - vintage-styled frocks will replace the baby doll looks during fall.

9. Rock Chic - relieve the rock era and bring out the rockstar in you...no matter what decade!

10. Uni-Sex - utilitarian-meets-boy-meets-girl fashion. 'Nuff said.

11. Eco-Logic - environment-friendly industrial fabric-made clothes rev up the runway...and soon, the streets!

Want Color, Got Color

I guess everyone wants to jazz up their bags in one way or another....so here's one way of doing just that! Coach Japan released these new keyrings that will definitely, definitely add more life to an otherwise dull bag.

I am so in love with the star keyring! Too bad it costs a whole lot; I would love to get all of them :)

Darker Shades of Fall

Despite the numerous bursts of bright colors for this coming fall, Stella McCartney's 2008 RTW collection seem to focus on darker and more earthly tones as her clothes and accessories range from the colors gray, brown and black. The single blue dress looks lost amidst a sea of the colors I just mentioned, but it's cute. I like that lone blue dress.

Here are some of the accessories that goes with the collection. Personally, I think the shoes are hard to walk on!

Yee-haw!

It's about Rodeo time around here....

These cookies are pretty simple, only using one food coloring (Spectrum Chocolate Brown) mixed up in light and dark. The silver accents, stars and spurs, are made with silver lustre dust mixed with vodka and brushed on dried, piped white icing. Click here for more details on lustre dust.

These look really cute bagged and tied with a red & white checked ribbon. Giddy Up!

Review #2 for Mickey's Gourmet Cookbook

The Shogun Dinner, from Mickey's Gourmet Cookbook. The recipe sounds like we are going for a shoot out at dawn. Japanese cowboy style. I have the cowboy hat; I should have worn it while making this dinner. A wok, the main cooking paraphernalia. Sizzling hot with a little butter in the bottom, bubbling and ready to bronze whatever gets tossed in. Basically, a shogun dinner is a meal made up of several parts. In this case, it is an appetizer with a sauce and a stir fry dinner with a sauce. The best way to tackle this dinner would be to make the sauces up ahead of time and refrigerate and have all the ingredients prepped before starting. The appetizer and dinner cooks really fast and so there is plenty of time to sit and enjoy the shrimp and sauce before moving on to making the dinner. I actually had a lot of fun making this. The drawback to this dinner is that the sauces were to strong in flavor for me and I do not see myself making them again. Also, the amount of sauce that is called for to be made was unreasonably large compared to the amount of food that gets dipped into the sauces. I had over 2 cups left over. Because I didn't like the strength of the sauce, it was not saved after using with dinner. I would make the stir fry again but create my own seasonings because the combination of meat and veggies was delicious!

The appetizer for the Shogun Dinner is sauteed Shrimp and a Ginger Sauce to dip the shrimp into.

I made sure to have all my ingredients ready to go so and after the wok was heated, the cooking only took about 4 to 5 minutes.
Just saute the shrimp in butter, soy sauce, lemon juice, and seasonings. Easy.

Ginger Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 T. ginger root, fresh, coarsely cut

2 T. onion, coarsely cut

2 T. water

1 1/4-inch slice lemon

1 c. Japanese soy sauce

1/2 c. rice wine vinegar

1/4 c. vegetable oil

4 sprigs parsley

Directions:

Soak fresh ginger root in water for a few minutes to easily remove skin. Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor with a steel blade and blend until smooth. Store in the refrigerator up to a week.

Shrimp Appetizer

Ingredients:

1 pound of medium shrimp, raw and peeled

2 T. butter

salt and pepper to taste

Dash of soy sauce, I used about 1 T.

1/2 t. lemon juice. . .I used 1 t. which to me was perfect for the amount of shrimp used

Ginger sauce

Directions:

Clean, rinse, and dry shrimp. Heat butter in a wok or skillet and quickly saute shrimp until fully cooked. Season with salt, pepper, soy sauce, and lemon juice.

Serve with ginger sauce as an appetizer.

The Shogun Dinner could have any combo of veggies put with the meat and it would be wonderful!

Main Dish

Ingredients:

4 T. butter

1 c. onions, sliced

1 c. zucchini, sliced

1 c. mushroom buttons

1/4 c. sesame seeds, roasted

1 pound chicken breast meat, boneless, cut in 1/2-inch cubes

1 pound strip sirloin steak, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (I left my strips longer and thin)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Dash soy sauce, I used 1 T.

Mustard Sauce (Recipe Below)

Directions:

In a large wok or skillet, melt butter and quickly saute vegetables until tender. Season with salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Add roasted sesame seeds and remove vegetables from wok. Set aside and keep warm.

Add cubed chicken to wok and quickly saute until tender. Season with same ingredients as vegetables. Remove and repeat with sirloin steak. When steak is cooked as desired, remove to a serving plate with vegetables and chicken arranged across plate.

Serve with mustard sauce.

Mustard Sauce

Ingredients:

2 1/2 T. sesame seeds

1 T. onion, coarsely cut

1/2 c. soy sauce

1 T. dry mustard

1 ounce vegetable oil

2/3 c. water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread sesame seeds on a flat baking dish and bake until lightly toasted (about 10 minutes). Combine with remaining ingredients in a blender and blend until well mixed.

Really bold.

Both of these are from Viktor & Rolf's fall 2008 collections. I find it intriguing because I can't really imagine how they were able to make those words stand out, when they seem to be made of the same material as the coats themselves. Anyone wants to try and guess?

Christian Lacroix Fall 2008 Ready-to-Wear

Here's Christian Lacroix' Fall 2008 RTW collection. I like the pink, black and cream combination of the second dress but then again, the colors combination that he used for some of the dresses are lovely. Although I really do not fancy that huge fur hood (5th picture) and fur outerwear -- if they are fur.