{Food} 3D Printed Chocolate City by Naoko Tone and Atsuyoshi Iijima

I am only just discovering the amazing things that can be achieved with 3D printing in the realm of design. What a wonderful tool!
So for all you map lovers and chocolate lovers. Check out this gorgeous and delicate 3D Printed Chocolate version of Tokyo by Naoko Tone and Atsuyoshi Iijima. It was all part of an exhibition about chocolate at the 21_21 Design Sight space in Tokyo some time ago. 

VIA pingmag

{Food} Emily Blincoe's sugar series

I wanted to share some sweets with you today, since last weekend it was a sweet fest at our place. My daughter had 5 of her friends over for a sleepover for her 8th birthday celebrations. Enjoy these yummy images from the sugar series by Emily Blincoe at These woods. Emily lives and works in Texas as a freelance photographer. I love how she has managed to convey the nostalgia of childhood in these images. 

VIA this is Colossal

Follow more of Blincoe’s work on her Instagram, @thuglifeforevs and on her Facebook page.

{Food} Pantone tarts by Emilie de Griottes

I love my food & design! So this project combines the two in a fab way... French food stylist and photographer Emilie de Griottes was commissioned by French culinary magazine Fricote to create a special feature for one of their issues. Emilie recreated Pantone colour swatches, using berries, carrots, lemon, candies, and other foods arranged upon a tart base decorated with the correspondent Pantone number and colour. 

I also love that her name is de Griottes [a type of cherry in french]! Yumm!
See more of her work here.

VIA Junkculture

{Book} Where chefs eat by Kobi Benezri

Where Chefs Eat by Kobi Benezri is a Guide to renowned chefs favourite restaurants worldwide. A collection of great recommendations. We got given this is a beautiful and useful book for a birthday recently. I can't wait to test it out. 

Apart from the content, I was also drawn to the 1960's style British phone books style, featuring ads on any possible space of the book - the front cover, spine, back cover, and paper edges.

I have included the page on London for you to check out. Enjoy!

{Food} French cuisse: the food blog

Thanks to Design mom to bringing French Cuisse to my attention. It is the food blog of a twenty-year  old restaurant management student. I love his photos and how they decompose the meal, showing a simple before and after image.
He also has an ongoing survey so readers can vote what he can make next: canned spam or canned tuna this week!

{Kids} Solar system hard candy lollypops

Astronomy and sugar! What a great combination! That is how you get your kids interested in the solar system.

These Vintage Confections Solar system hard candy lollypops really impressed me! They have a 10 pieces made to order collection that includes  the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. 

VIA SWISS MISS

{Food} Make great crêpes in a snap

I never miss crêpes day! In fact we love crêpes so much in our house, that we make them every weekend. The great thing is that you can keep the batter for a few days in the fridge, and keep on making them as needed.

VIA REMAIN SIMPLE

Here is my mum's recipe for you to enjoy.

Ingredients
250g flour
3 medium eggs
500ml milk
pinch salt
1tbsp sunflower oil
1tsp vanilla sugar (only if you are making sweet ones)

Preparation
I like the batter to be lump free, so I use this fail free technique.

1. In a large bowl, make a well with 1/3 of the flour. Add the eggs, salt, vanilla sugar and mix with a wooden spoon. It will be lumpy at this point but don't worry.
2. Then, add just enough milk to cover and mix. It should become smooth very quickly. 
Repeat adding flour, mixing. Then adding just a bit of the milk until you have used up all the flour.
3. Add remaining milk and sunflower oil and whisk.

Cooking
One thing worth having if you plan on making them often is a crêpe pan. They are thin and shallow, so perfect or the job.

1. Heat the pan & oil it with a brush.

2. Pour a ladle of batter while moving pan around to spread it and cook on one side for about 1 minute or until the edges start being crisp.

3. Flip crêpe and cook on the other side another 30 seconds.

Assembling

The filling possibilities are endless. Sweet or savoury. So add you favourite filling, roll up and enjoy!

My favourite filling has to be banana & chocolate. Miam! Miam!

What's your favourite filling?

Japanese linen aprons

I have had the same apron for the past 15 years. A great purchase from Muji. I am sad to say goodbye to it, but I really need a new one...

I have a little penchant for Japanese aprons and I love these by Le RepèRe des BeletTes.

Gorgeous linens with great colours. Enjoy!

VIA French by design

{Travel} Best chocolates in Paris by chocolatier Patrick Roger

I discovered these amazing designer chocolates by Patrick Roger a few months ago, when friends visiting from Paris brought us this wonderful treat.
To start with the packaging is gorgeous and allows you to anticipate what you will find inside the box. And then, 12 delicate chocolate bonbons filled with creamy ganache, enrobed in bittersweet dark chocolate and beautifully decorated. You almost feel bad about disturbing the symmetry.
I have tended to need a sugar rush on a daily basis since I had my first child, but these chocolates are so good, that your brain is overwhelmed by all the flavours. I can only have them one at a time, so in itself that is a good thing!

If you are ever in Paris, I urge you to go and try them here.

{Design} Plates by Maxime Ansiau

Don't you just love these plates by Maxime Ansiau. I have an obsession with all kitchen related things as you can see...

VIA Artnau

{Travel} My 10 favourite things to do in Paris

Once upon a time, I lived in Paris for a year. A friend recently asked me for tips and I could not think of a single one on the spot. So this is for you J.

VIA ETSY

1. Rue Montorgeuil
This is a great place to spend the day. It is a pedestrian street where you can eat well, sit in a sunny café, shop for kitchenware, and buy phenomenal breads, chocolates, cheeses, and pastries... I can also recommend it as a great neighbourhood to stay in when in Paris. Very central and still reasonable. If you are planning a visit David Leibowitz has a lot of great recommendations.

2. Hit the market
Every day in Paris, except on Mondays, there’s an outdoor market somewhere taking place. The Marché d’Aligre is a daily market, and has a small flea market in the center. If you are like me, you will love looking around for that special something that you need for your place. You can find a market no matter where you are on the complete list of Paris Markets.

3. Jardin des plantes
This is the one that made my kids happiest last time I was there. A wonderful botanical garden with a small zoo. I particularly like the Evolution gallery: beautiful displays of animals, very inspiring and educational.

4. Mosquée de Paris
I love sipping a glass of mint tea and eat Moroccan cornes de gazelles in the courtyard. If I am feeling more indulgent, I would spend half a day at the hammam. It is a lovely building and I feel transported back home. There are specific days for men and women, so I always check online before I go.

5. Use a Velib
If I could choose anyway to get around Paris, I would most definitely choose the bicycle. It is the original Boris Bike! Self hire bicycles on docking stations dotted around the city. the first half hour is free and you pay for what you use. Choose your route and enjoy. Be careful though!

6. Montmartre
Not much of a discovery there... But I can't help but have it in my favourites. I like seeing the view and the getting lost in the streets at the south-west of the sacré coeur. I can also indulge my fabric buying impulses in the shops below the sacré coeur.

7. Picnic on the pont des arts
Du pain, du vin, du boursin! Beautiful views of Paris.

8. L'Ile Saint Louis
I love to have a Bertillon ice cream l'ile Saint Louis followed by a stroll around Notre Dame. Favourite flavour: pain d'épice.

9. Macarons La Durée
I can't resist them! My favourite treat: a box of 18 macarons au caramel salé.

10. Le Bon Marché
There is more to this grand department store than great fashion. La grande épicerie de Paris is just magical: I usually raid the cheese counter, the sweets aisle and the charcuterie counter.

So this is my Paris. I notice it mostly involves getting somewhere to eat something...

Share your favourite things to do in Paris?

{Food} Recipe book: Rôtis by Stéphane Reynaud

My favourite recipe books these days! Pure and simple roasts! Perfect for winter... Find it here.

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{Private collection} Unpackaged

At the end of each day, I am shocked at the amount of waste we produce as a family of 4. It’s mostly all food packaging: wrappers, containers, packets and useless plastic. On saturday I went to my friend A's new Kickashna Gym Club (more to come on that when I can get some decent photographs together). Across the road from her place, near Hackney's London Fields, I came across Unpackaged. 

Unpackaged, is a zero packaging grocery store, hipster style. It used to be in Islington and has now moved to a more spacious home, complete with a café and bar.

The concept is simple: you reduce your waste and only buy what you use. Bring your own containers and get refills for everything: liquids (olive oil, wine, juices), cupboard essentials (flour, rice, pasta...), pulses,  household products (washing up liquid, soaps), home made jams, cheese, toiletries... 

I couldn't help but think that it is a modern version of the traditional "hanout" from my native Morocco. Imagine a man standing in a 4 square metres space, and somehow he has anything you might need to cook from scratch. You can swap your own containers or get his for a deposit.

Although it is difficult for Unpackaged to compete on price with larger distributors, it is cheaper than buying packaged products in your standard corner shop. Next time I go to the gym I will take 5 containers for refills, and maybe grab a coffee. I must remember to get a travel mug. Although I could just have a nice coffee at a table! All by myself...

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{Food} Serbian wedding cake

My mum sent me these photos of this amazing wedding cake. I need to explain that my mother is from Serbia, and that all things savoury are always a hit over there.  Most of all charcuterie! I will keep that in mind for my next big gathering. Love it!

{Design} Guest check tray

Isn't it a great idea. Get it from fish eddy.

{Food} United steaks of America

Cool idea by Dominic Episcopo.

{Food} Swiss army chocolate knife

I always travel with my Swiss army knife. This version of it would be used even more often. The classic swiss army knife and chocolate are Switzerland most famous exports and someone had the great idea to combine the two into a single product. You can find it here.

{Art} How do you like your coffee

Check out this impressive collection of coffee cup sketches by Boy Obsolete. Nice graphics and original medium for his art.

{Design} Messy Tablecloth by AZE

Polish designers AZE celebrate the "pattern of situation" that sitting at a table together creates while enjoying a meal together. Messy tablecloth is a playful celebration of the diner table. Unfortunately it is not in production yet.