LUSH. Peppermint Body Wash.

It's Do It Yourself Friday and after a couple of weeks off I'm back with a new project. First, I took a trip to the Lush store in Santa Monica and picked out my favorite bar of soap. For me I love the scent of peppermint so their Ice Blue soap was a perfect choice. You can go anywhere to get your soap, (William and Sonoma makes yummy recipes, as well as the Pepper Black Body Scrub Bar by Molton Brown!!) The important aspect is that the soap doesn't have a lot of added moisturizer. After you find your soap, you'll need to grab Glycerin from a drug store. A small bottle retails for about $6 each. Begin by grating the bar of soap (1 bar = 1 gallon of body wash). Next add 1 gallon of water to the stove top and bring water to a boil. Add two tablespoons of glycerin and the grated soap. Stir for 20 mins as the soap is simmering.Turn off the stove, and let the soap cool for 12 hours (After 3 hours the soap should begin to become creamy). Finally, pour the soap into an empty container and enjoy showering with your favorite scent!!!!

    

DIY Friday

What better way to celebrate Friday than featuring a weekly DIY project. There's so much creativity out there sometimes I'm overwhelmed with new ideas just by looking at a magazine. Instead of tackling them all at once I figure I can sit down once a week to do a project!

                                             

French Inspired Cuisine

Lately I've been obsessed with Crème Fraiche. It all started when I was debating what to make for dinner. I was sick of my usual go to meals: Trader Joe's frozen Pesto Pizza or Shrimp Stir Fry. While lost in my head,   I found myself craving a crepe I had ordered at a small French cafe next to my house.  Instead of ordering in I decided to make the light creamy white sauce from scratch.  I quickly learned that Béchamel sauce is one of the most basic sauces used in cooking and simple to make. The recipe calls for flour, butter, milk, cayenne pepper, and mint leaves mixed together in a sauce pan. It's amazing over halibut or even swordfish. Something else I tried tonight was Crème Fraiche combined with tomato sauce, poured over Penne pasta, and lightly sprinkled with parmesan cheese. I can't wait try more recipes and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. 

I'm on TV

On January 21st Up Close with David Dang aired on the LSTV 57.7. The witty and entertaining David Dang took on his first project throwing a Vietnamese New Year's Party. With me as his sidekick, we explored ways to modernize the traditional holiday and master the art of entertaining on a budget. For those of you who missed it catch it on www.littlesaigontv.net #tune in and spread it like wildfire

Up Close With David Dang New Year Promo

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This is a running promotion for LSTV on its newest show, "Up Close with David Dang." Celebrity hair stylist for Hollywood's famous who has worked with the li...

Xmas Eve Brunch!

It was so good to spend time with my sis and her husband this past week, they are the kind of couple who is always up for anything!! We spent christmas eve morning at Watercourse, a vegan place in uptown Denver. Decorated with one of a kind art pieces it quickly became one of my favorite places. I had the blackened tofu, and my sis had the breakfast sandwich, the bread was amazing. Overall I spent three days in the city and four days in the mountains. Pretty sweet vacation.

Salted Carmel Mocha Brownie Cups

Inspired by Pinterest and the Starbuck's coffee drink. They are absolutely delicious.  Next on the list for Spring? Poptart cupcakes. Thanks Inside BruCrew Life for originally posting this recipe.