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Margot Robbie

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Margot Robbie by Max Doyle – Harper’s Bazaar Australia March 2018
Seychelles Islands - Indian Ocean

Seychelles Islands – Indian Ocean

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Seychelles Islands – Indian Ocean Travel Photography: Portraits, landscapes, monuments, highlights, places. people, culture, costumes and history.

| Bhumika Arora by Connie Berg – Harper’s Bazaar Kazakhstan February 2018 – Wearing Dior Resort 2018 Collection |

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Bhumika Arora by Connie Berg – Harper’s Bazaar Kazakhstan February 2018 – Wearing Dior Resort 2018 Collection

| Chinese New Year 2018 – Year of the Dog |

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Chinese New Year 2018 – Year of the Dog

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival in modern China, is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of several Lunar New Years in Asia. Celebrations traditionally run from the evening preceding the first day, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first calendar month. The first day of the New Year falls on the new moon between January 21 and February 20 In 2018, the first day of the Lunar New Year was on Friday, 16 February, initiating the year of the Dog.
Mauritius Islands - Indian Ocean

Mauritius Islands – Indian Ocean

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Mauritius Islands – Indian Ocean Travel Photography: Portraits, landscapes, monuments, highlights, places. people, culture, costumes and history.
Indian Ocean Islands

Indian Ocean Islands

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Indian Ocean – Travel Photography: Portraits, landscapes, monuments, highlights, places. people, culture, costumes and highlights.

Barbara Palvin – Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2018

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Barbara Palvin – Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2018

Chocolate Pots de Crème

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Chocolate Pots de Crème

Rich, creamy and utterly blissful chocolate pots de creme! Easier to make than you’d think and sure to impress. Perfect for any occasion. Cooking Classy

  • 9 oz (255g) high-quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 1/4 cups (295ml) heavy cream, divided
  • 1 1/4 cup (295ml) whole milk*
  • 1/2 cup (68g) granulated sugar
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2 vanilla extract

Topping

  • 3/4 cup (175ml) heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp (25g) granulated sugar
  • Fresh raspberries, chopped unsalted or lightly salted pistachios or almonds, shaved dark chocolate (optional)

For the Pots de Crème

  1.  Place chocolate in a blender, set aside. Add heavy cream, milk, sugar, egg yolks and salt to a medium saucepan and whisk until well combined.
  2. Set saucepan over medium heat and cooking, stirring constantly with a spatula while scraping along bottom and sides of pan, until mixture has thickened slightly and nearly boils, about 6 – 9 minutes (mixture should coat the back of a wooden spoon). 
  3. Remove from heat and immediately stir in vanilla then pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer into the blender (over the top of the chopped chocolate). Let rest 2 minutes to allow chocolate some time to melt. 
  4. Then cover blender with lid and hold a thick kitchen towel over lid, blend mixture on low speed until well combined. 
  5. Gently tap blender against counter several times just to remove large air bubbles (you don’t want to get rid of all of the bubbles just some of the big ones).
  6. Divide mixture among 6 – 8 small dessert cups or ramekins and refrigerate until set, about 2 – 3 hours. 
  7. Top with whipped topping and shaved chocolate, nuts and fresh raspberries if desired.

For the whipped topping

  1. In a medium mixing bowl whip heavy cream until soft peaks form then add sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.
  • *1% or 2% milk can be used as well. Just add replace 2 Tbsp of it with heavy cream.

Strawberry Meringue Tower

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Strawberry Meringue Tower

For a really special dessert option for your next dinner party that’s ready in just 40 minutes, try this deliciously sweet and impressive looking meringue tower. Woman and Home

  • 4 large free-range egg whites, at room temperature
  • 250 grams caster sugar
  • a little pink gel food colouring
  • 800 grams strawberries, hulled
  • 250 ml whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

  1. Heat the oven to 150C, gas 2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and a pinch of salt on a medium speed with an electric whisk until frothy. Increase the speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks form. Continue to whisk, adding 1 tbsp of the sugar at a time, and mix well after each addition. Make sure you add the sugar slowly or you’ll bash out all the air and have a fat meringue!

  2. Dip a skewer lightly in the food coloring and run it along the inside of the piping bag to create 3-4 evenly spaced vertical stripes. Fill with the meringue mix. Pipe into 3.5 cm dots, lifting the bag away slowly while still piping to create the “kisses”, then stop the flow of the meringue and pull the bag away to make a pointy tip. Space them evenly apart on the baking trays.

  3. Turn down the oven temperature to 140 C, gas 1. Cook the meringues for 15 minutes. Turn off the oven, keeping the meringues inside with the door shut for at least 3 hours.

  4. Very finely chop 125 g of the strawberries and set aside. Whip the cream, icing sugar and vanilla until just beginning to thicken, add the chopped strawberries and stir, as the acidity in the strawberries will make it thicken further. It’s better to under-whip than over – you can always whip a bit more if you need to.

  5. Using a palette knife, spread a little cream mixture on to the fat side of a meringue and sandwich with another. Repeat with the remaining meringues. Stack them in a tower, like a croquembouche, alternating the meringues with strawberries.

The meringues will keep for 3 days in an airtight container and you can fill them 2 hours ahead.

|Valentine’s & Romance Galleries-1|

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Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. Originating as a Western Christian feast day honoring one or two early saints named Valentinus, Valentine's Day is recognized as a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance and romantic love in many regions around the world, although it is not a public holiday in any country.