Gothic Chic At Yoga. Muffins. The Day Before With the Rykiels.

I wonder if Angelina Jolie does this before going to yoga.  Pondering the way black has seeped into every aspect of fashion and beauty in 2010.  In those seconds that she may have to herself before Brad, one of the children, her PA or the press invades her personal space.  Gothic as a fashion inspiration may be so 1990s but black is timeless.

Black patent Birkenstocks, OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark and Witchery bag,

Don't worry, Angelina, you go off and do your thing.  I'm doing just fine on my own.  Sitting on the floor getting my act together before driving to class.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning here in Sydney and I went to yoga with Mr SSG.  In my black yoga clothes, birkis, pedicure and slouchy bag.  It was all going so well.  Class was challenging on my hips and I spent the final moments of shavasna looking forward to a coffee and pastry up the road at Bertoni's.  It was not to be.  I left my wallet at home.  We had an improvised brunch of last night's pizza and a coffee from Muffin Break.  With salad greens in aid of being healthful after a  yoga class.

It felt like a day for baking.

Those newspaper pages are hiding a pair of woefully bruised bananas.  The newspaper wrapping was meant to slow down ripening but it didn't work.

Muffins to be precise.  I like the emphasis on minimal mixing of the wet ingredients and the short baking time.

• 2 cups SR flour
• 200g carton of natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 80g of melted margarine (or blended butter if taste is key)
• 2 lightly beaten eggs
• 3/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 green apple, peeled and grated
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup honey (I had a crisis, ran out of honey and had to substitute some of the honey with brown sugar)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• squeeze of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup rolled oats in the batter and extra to top the muffins

We should all believe Donna Hay when she suggested the use of an old school ice cream scooper to decant batter from the mixing bowl to the greased muffin tray.

It is so tidy and quick.  None of the batter goes to waste and the muffins will all be of an even size.

After the precision division of batter among the 12 holes of my miracle non stick Anolon muffin pan comes the sprinkling of rolled oats.

I love Anolon.  No need for muffin cases.  Just a smear of butter and you're good to go.

Bake for 25 minutes or so at 180C.

And out pops a tray of muffins.  I like to look at them through squinty eyes and pretend I'm at a hip cafe rather than at the dining table of the very suburban environs of SSG Manor.

Sunday afternoons are ideal for catching up on the week's Foxtel highlights.

I adore The Day Before.  It is a series of documentaries that go behind the scenes at some major fashion houses as they prepare for fashion shows for buyers, celebrities and their investors.

I was catching up on the Sonia Rykiel episode today.

This is Sonia's daughter Nathalie telling it like it is.

I hear you Nathalie.

Sonia herself with her words of inspiration.

It is a fascinating series.  For me, the best parts are hearing and seeing the designers at work.  They are so passionate and dedicated to their work.  I found myself ignoring the models and just staring at the clothes.  For me it wasn't a case of thinking that these were clothes I'd never wear of be able to afford but rather an escape into the world of the designers and a sense of complete immersion in their vision.  True escapist television.

Speaking of escapism.  How's this for afternoon tea on a Sunday?

Jeff Kennett's drink and drive safe diet....

I'll explain about the Kool Mints later but the cheese and crackers are from my Ikea visit the other week.

As a completely unbiased taster with no formal education in cheese tasting, Ikea's organic blue cheese gets 2 thumbs up.  It's not too creamy, has that great blue cheese taste, doesn't smell much and is pretty good value (less than $5 for the block).

The strange thing is that it actually works with Ikea's ginger snaps.  There were a few mouthfuls there when I thought I was eating lemon cheesecake, but I think that's just me.

The Kool Mints.  I think everyone in Australia has already gone to town on what Jeff Kennett said about Kool Mints helping bring your blood alcohol down if you wished to drink and drive.  The following clip waffles on a bit but it is there for reference.



It's been a rather busy day, now that I look back on it.  I finished a very exciting guest blog post and did some more packing for Singapore.  My suitcase has come down from storage and is on the floor in the spare bedroom.  This is as good as saying we're ready to fly.

I'm settling in for the night.  It's the season finale of Offspring (or 'The Bonking Doctors' as Mr SSG likes to call it) tonight.

Have a lovely evening and I'll be back soon.