Fashion that doesn't bleed!

Been a very very long time since I wrote something on the blog... :) 



But moving and being busy doesn't really help. So becoming vegetarian (again) wasn't really something I saw my self being capable of doing, because come on Australia has so much of wine, and with wine comes cheese and cold cuts.. 

But once I put my mind to it, it was easy as it could get. However today's post isn't about vegetarianism or veganism... its about Fashion. 

 

A few months ago, I put my head to buying my self a Prada bag (yes vain) but a girl needs a dream... I found the bag, found the price and was on my way to collecting/saving to purchase this beautiful bag for my self... I came across this peta video about fur and leather, which made me sit and cry my heart out. I never condoned fur - WHY in the WORLD WOULD SOMEONE WEAR FUR? WHY?? WHY?? and I always made it a point never to purchase leather goods... side note however I love shoes, and always bought them, never thought twice about the material until one day I was preaching to a friend about how all the big companies such as louise vuitton, prada, louboutin uses leather till she pointed out to me to check if my shoes said leather upper, which infact it did... this broke my heart.. I still have a few products which obviously is leather which I cannot throw away for sentimental reasons. However I will NEVER purchase anything leahter going forward. THAT was my promise.



After much research high and low and stalking instagram  I've found some designers if one wants to pamper your self guilt free and cruelty free. (these are only a few, you can find plenty online)  I, my self carry a bag made out of cloth :) gives me a lot of pleasure... 

 
These are a few fashion designers in case anyone is interested.


Stella McCartney

Freedom of Animals

Corature

Matt and Nat

Labante London

Ethique212

Viva  Creatures

 

Remember,  PU stands for Polyurethane is a tad more eco-friendly than PVC. Bonded Leather and Genuine Suede

actually does contain animal products. If you see the terms Faux, Pleather, Suedette or Leatherette  you are good to go!!!

 
Will be on the look out for some Lankan designers.. But I do know for sure Lonali from House of Lonali  definitely is someone who looks for ethical ways of producing a garment... 


Peace xox

 

"Sri Lankan" Lime Pie ;)

I've started subscribing to all things food recently, be it bite-sized (pun intended) recipe how-to videos on FB and foodie channels on Instagram and on and on. This makes me super hangry most of the time BUT also inspires me to get into the kitchen to try my hand at a few of them. One such recipe is the "Key Lime Pie"; made originally using key limes (Floridian) and pastry for the base. I picked an easier recipe which called for;

a) Graham cracker crust - crackers were easier to find/ prepare than pastry, and I was stuck for time... boo!
b) I used Sri Lankan lime which gave a really nice tartness to the pie as a whole. No lemon either :( Darn you Keells.

The important part of baking in general is getting all the stuff ready and to be at hand; makes life MUCH easier. (Laptop with loaded recipe :D). Pictured below is the Munchee version of digestive biscuits, quite sweet but very economical. I adjusted the sugar because of this.

The base is just the Munchee graham cracker with unsalted butter, sugar and salt. It disintegrates really easily and doesn't need any fancy food processes as such. I also added some flaked coconut for added flavour. 

Base patted down and baked to perfection below! The coconut gave it a yummylicious smell once baked too. *thumb up*

Separating the egg yolks "Masterchef style" (with a judgey judge watching my every move... eeks!)

I can has whatever you're making?

Whip up condensed milk, egg yolks and lime juice and add on top of the baked crust. The lime juice thickens up the yolks and milk into a pudding texture naturally, which was a real surprise to me :D SCI-E-NCE! (I made a smaller dish of the pie as a sample for myself...nom!)

Apparently the original pie was eaten without any baking but modern recipes call for 20min or so of baking since eating uncooked eggs may not be the healthiest thing to do these days.

And, TA-DA! Pretty easy huh? It came out exactly like the stuff you get in coffee shops. I also made a passion fruit coulis (fancy talk for syrup) to go with it. I covered the pie with the foil top and wrapped in a bag before keeping it in the fridge for later. I read that it gets better with time since the flavours have time to mingle.

Full recipe over here.

Happy baking ya'll!

xo
Dee

Kalpitiya, Dolphins, Seafood!

We ventured up to Kalpitiya a few weekends ago since a few of us hadn't gone dolphin or whale watching at all. The drive itself is not too bad, being just 3 hours or so away from Colombo... but travelling with a 5mo old is an entirely different operation! She is generally a non-fussy baby but 3 hours cramped in her little baby carrier made her cranky and she insisted to be carried half the way. I know, I know....it's insanely dangerous - but please judge a mother when you're ACTUALLY a mother. We just do what we have to man.

Anyway, we stayed at Diyamba Beach Resort which is a cute little place, belonging to a lovely little Aunty called Ramani (not related, every adult is an Aunty or Uncle obviously). My review on Tripadvisor here, so I won't harp on the place here.

Diyamba Beach Resort

The sea - Well, if you're into swimming in really calm, warm waters... Kalpitiya is your thing. It's basically a lagoon with a natural reef so there's literally no waves. It's also very shallow and therefore warm - I assume kids would love it. Do I sound negative? Possibly because my kind of beach would be Unawatuna, where it's calm enough to swim but moves enough to give that bit of excitement :D (Why do I sound like a sex toy ad?)

Resident podi-guard and cutie "Singham" (a.k.a Lion in Tamil)

Dolphin watching starts early. Aunty Ramani arranged a boat to come pick us at 7am itself. There was about 10 boats in the sea that morning so not too much traffic. I wondered whether the noise and smell of diesel disrupt the marine life but never got an answer to that. Apparently the spinner dolphins feed early morning and just play around during the time the boats come in the see them. Also, if you see say, 15 dolphins on the surface - there are three layers underneath - making it a pod of 45...pretty cool eh?

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

We also dipped our GoPro Hero 4 into the water and got this amazing footage!

So Animal Planet-y

And finally, c'est moi! and my first time snorkelling!

You don't get a lot of colourful corals but there are lots of cool looking fish - especially lots of Dory types, lol (Finding Nemo ref).

Cost wise, other than the room cost, the boat should be about SLR 15,000 (dolphin watching and snorkelling both) and SLR 12,000 for dolphins only. Aunty Ramani said migratory whales should come by soon and that's amazing to see too. If you're REALLY REALLY lucky, you MIGHT see orcas too (killer whales)...but they are quite rare. Spinners hang around the lagoon and move on in the Indian Ocean since its warm and full of stuff they like to eat. The only scary part is the dynamite fishing going on in the lagoon...they even snag the occasional dolphin and quickly dispose of it, it seems. They've already killed half the corals and even the Navy used to not give a damn about corals back in the day (shared by our boatman).. I guess ignorance about nature and conservation is a large hindrance in Sri Lanka as always. Hopefully it'll change over time since the Director-General of Wildlife has changed to someone who's actually educated in the matter - Happy Days!

xo
Dee