Author Archives: Catherine Balavage

MUMS CAN GET THEIR MOJO BACK IN 2012 WITH THE MuTu® System

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If you want to get stronger, fitter, leaner and more confident in 2012, forever, need look no further than the MuTu® System 

The MuTu® System, has been created by Wendy Powell, a mother of two who has been there & done it, and is also an experienced, highly qualified pre & post natal fitness professional. Her unique, proven, step by step 12 week programme and video series of restorative exercises, effective workouts, yoga and motivational techniques is ideal for women who want to rediscover their waistline AND body confidence, however long ago they had their baby.

Five interconnecting elements have been woven together to put a mother’s body back where she wants it.  MuTu Core is the *find your waist & flatten your tummy* bit, MuTu Breathe, the *tone your pelvic floor & chill out* bit and MuTu New Mum / MuTu Intensive is the *time to get sweaty & shape your body* bit. MuTu Posture is the *stand tall & find your mojo* bit and MuTu Food is the *eat right with no hang ups* bit.

 

Wendy Powell, said, “There’s a huge amount of advice out there for brand new mums but the physical effects of pregnancy, childbirth and mothering – weak pelvic floor, saggy tummy, weak core muscles, back ache – can go on for years, and this is what I tackle. The MuTu® System really ‘GETS’ the practicalities, hormones, emotions and pressures mums face. By following the programme you can stop being confused by conflicting advice and get your body – and mind – back in good working order and shape, however long ago you gave birth”.

She added, “The programme works because it gives women the tools, information and guidance they need to change habits and take responsibility for their bodies once again. The holistic approach is about working out, eating well and increasing self-esteem so you feel sexy, capable, strong and healthy in a world full of quick fixes and unrealistic expectations that just don’t work”.

“Thank you for MuTu – I have been totally motivated & have stuck to a programme for the first time ever! – Wendy, you have achieved the impossible!” Emi, mum of 2

For more information go to Mutu System

Salt Cod Ravioli with sauce vierge and fresh asparagus {Recipes}

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Recipe For: Salt Cod Ravioli with sauce vierge and fresh asparagus

 

Ingredients

 

500 gr Salt Cod

1 Onion

10 Parsley stalks

10 White Pepercorns

1 Garlic clove

200ml Virgin Olive Oil

200ml Cream

200gm Desiree Potatoes

1 Lemon ,Juice of

10 ml White Wine Vinegar

200gm Croutons

 

Soak cod for two days changing water every 4 hours drain and poach cod with peppercorns/onion/parsley/garlic

wrapped in muslin discard all bones/skin cook potatoes separately put through mouli warm cream in blender bring mash and oil

together adjust seasoning/lemon juice add cream near end.

 

 

DOUGH RECIPE

 

700 GRAMS OF 00 FARINA FLOUR

l/2 TEASPOON OF SEA SALT

4 WHOLE FREE RANGE EGGS

9 EGG YOLKS

1-2 TABLESPOONS OF EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

 

METHOD

 

PUT THE FLOUR AND THE SALT INTO FOOD PROCESSOR PROCESS AND ADD THE EGG AND THE YOLKS .

ADD THE OLIVE OIL AND TAKE OUT OF THE PROCESSOR PLACE ONTO FLOURED BENCH AND KNEED UNTIL THE MIXTURE IS SMOOTH TAKES ABOUT 10 MINUTES

WRAP IN CLING FILM AND REST FOR 1 TO 2 HOURS TAKE OUT AND ROLL THROUGH PASTA MACHINE.

 

50 mls Xtra Virgin Olive Oil evo

1 eschallot brunoise

2 tsp lemon juice

6 corriander seeds

1 tomato fine concasse

6 basil leaves

6 corriander leaves

1 white anchovy fillet

1 tsp sherry vinegar ( de soto)

8 baby capers

3 tbsp parsley chiffonade

 

Roast and Grind coriander crush slightly saute shallot, combine all ingredients well.

Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.

 

To assemble

Blanche ravioli in boiling salted water until just cooked do not overcook it place sauce vierge on plate with some warmed asparagus then place ravioli on top garnish with some deep fried leeks for some texture difference.

 

The recipe has come from David Spanner, Executive Chef at Livebait Manchester.

Livebait seafood and fresh fish restaurant is housed in a stunning Grade 2 listed building which is tucked away on the edge of Albert Square right in the heart of Manchester’s city centre. The restaurant dedicates its menu mainly to fish and seafood dishes and executive chef, David Spanner is intent on showcasing the true beauty and simplicity of fresh fish. The restaurant boasts an excellent wine and champagne list fit to accompany any seafood feast.

 

www.livebaitmanchester.com

 

www.livebaitleeds.com

 

 

Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis Split. Angelina Jolie Pregnant.

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Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis are ‘all  but offically  finished’ according to People Magazine, and have not been seen together in public for a year. There has been ferocious debate about the relationship in the last few months and it has now been confirmed that they are living apart.

 

The 48-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean actor has been with the 39-year-old Paradis for 15 years and they have two children together.

 

“According to multiple sources…[they] are all but officially finished,” the magazine said.

 

Onlookers at the Golden Globes said Depp looked ‘subdued’.  “He didn’t smile, walked off stage and went right out the door.”

 

Angelina Jolie is reportedly three months pregnant with her and Brad Pitts 7th child. Congratulations to the happy couple!

 

Let’s Toddle! Free App For Parents

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Cow & Gate launches free app for parents

 

Did you know that by the time your toddler is three they will have reached around half of their adult size and could be using up to 900 words? Now, parents never need to miss a moment of their toddler’s extraordinary growth and development with Cow & Gate’s handy new ‘Let’s Toddle!’ app.

 

Available on iPhone, passionate parents can keep track of all of the exciting milestones their toddlers reach, from finger painting to taking those first few steps, as it happens with this handy tool.

 

The Let’s Toddle! app is easy to use with four simple steps:

 

  1. Download it for free from the iTunes App Store.

 

  1. Capture it by taking photos and building an album to celebrate each special moment, making each one totally unique with different frames and captions.

 

  1. Enjoy it as you share with friends and loved ones online, uploading their most amazing moments to Facebook and Twitter, or sending via email.

 

  1. Ask it any questions you may have about toddler development. Contact Cow & Gate’s expert Careline advisors directly who are on hand, day and night, with tips and advice from how to cope with a fussy eater to ensuring your little ones are getting all of the nutrients they need.

 

The app is jam-packed with a whole host of astonishing facts about toddler development. Did you know that a toddler’s nutritional needs can be more than double those of an adult? With so much growth and development between one and three years it’s not surprising, which is why Cow & Gate Growing Up Milk is specially formulated to help provide your toddler with the extra goodness they need throughout this period of extraordinary development. Growing Up Milk is made from cows’ milk, enriched with the key nutrients toddlers need, such as iron, calcium and vitamins A, C and D.

 

 

High Impact Shutters – Spruce Up For Spring.

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Spruce up for Spring!




Spring time is nearly here and there’s no better time to give your home a fresh new look by replacing your blinds and curtains with elegant shutters.
A practical and stylish way to update your home, shutters suit every room in the house and can be made to fit any unusual space.
Sam Tamlyn from the web’s leading shutter retailer, the California Shutter Company discusses why shutters are this year’s must-have in springtime:
“Shutters provide a chic and stylish alternative to blinds and curtains and are a cost-effective, easy way to completely update the look and feel of a room for spring.
“Shutters are excellent in the spring and summer time as you can keep the doors and windows open but the shutters closed, letting plenty of glorious light and fresh air in whilst keeping those annoying bugs out.
“The spring time is associated with spring cleaning and by installing shutters in your windows you’re making life easier as they are easy to wipe clean and don’t absorb dust like curtains or blinds do.
“Shutters are incredibly versatile and so offer you a great deal of flexibility, you can choose between different slat sizes, different colours and different panel designs.
At the California Shutter Company you can choose from a range of over 18 beautiful stains and paints to best suit your shutters, your furniture in the room and the ambience you’re looking to create.

High Impact with Tangerine Tango
Tangerine Tango, a spirited and high-visibility reddish orange, is Pantone colour of the year*. The vivacious colour is being incorporated into the spring collections of famous fashion designers such as Tommy Hilfiger and Elie Tahari and can be found on the catwalk runways of 2012.
So why not inject a little colour into your home and energize your living space whilst bringing your interiors bang up-to-date?
Sam Tamlyn from the California Shutter Company says: “Shutters make a statement and provide a practical and stylish way to update your home, suit every room in the house and can be made to fit any unusual space.
We understand that everyone has their own style so that’s why our customers can choose from 18 different stains and paints or can customise their shutters with a colour of their choice.”
It’s easy to order shutters with the California Shutter Company, the web’s leading DIY shutter retailer. Simply go online, choose the shutters you like, measure up and watch their detailed advice videos to learn how you put them up yourself. Or you can take advantage of their excellent installation service.
www.californiashuttercompany.co.uk

The Ultimate Valentines Gift…

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The Ultimate Valentines Gift…
And a good investment in your relationship!

 
Why not treat your loved one to the ULTIMATE Valentines gift this year – a new luxurious bed and mattress. It’s the obvious place to get ‘lovey dovey’ but a new bed will ensure couples get a good night’s sleep – a vital ingredient in any happy relationship!
A favourite with customers, the Siesta has a super large sloped headboard perfect for lazy Sunday mornings, and its extra height clearance facilitates extra deep fitted drawers neatly hiding items away underneath. A double is only £395 throughout February.
The Cuba, with its hot spice fabric, adds a glorious splash of electric colour to any bedroom and is part of the Warren Evans Space Saving range where the mattress sits on top of the frame, taking up no more of your valuable room space than necessary. Price is only £395 for a double.
Warren Evans, the award winning bed specialist, handcraft all of their beds and bedroom furniture with love from sustainable solid wood in their environmentally friendly workshop in London, and also supply top quality mattresses.

 

 

Social Fabric Exhibition

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Social Fabric Exhibition: 19 January–10 March 2012

 

Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) presents Social Fabric exhibition at Rivington Place, in which textiles are used to explore colonial history, international trade, labour and militant politics. In the 19th Century Karl Marx’s account of the cotton industry tracked fifty years of boom and bust and the effects this had on workers in Britain and its colonies (and in particular India). Social Fabric cross references different accounts of textile history, focusing on works by two contemporary artists Sudhir Patwardhan and Alice Creischer, presented alongside extensive range of recent and historical archival material.

 

Alice Creischer’s installation Apparatus for the Osmotic Compensation of the Pressure of Wealth during the Contemplation of Poverty tracks the threads that connect cycles of investment, disinvestment and decline. Inspired by a trip to India, the work looks at the economic and social impact of European colonialism and subsequent globalisation. The craze for Indian Chintz caused protest amongst Spitalfields weavers in 1719 and devastated whole sections of its textile industry. This led to Gandhi’s choice of the spinning wheel as a symbol of decolonisation, and caused Nehru to comment that – ‘the history of cotton and textiles is not only the history of growth of modern industry in India, but in a sense it might be considered the history of India.’

 

Since the mid-1970s, Sudhir Patwardhan has depicted Mumbai and its urban proletariat. His painting Lower Parel (2001) shows ‘Girangaon’ (mill village) the place where the cotton mills that transformed the city’s economy and led to the Indian industrial revolution were located. By the 1970s textiles employed one in three of the city’s workers and sucked in migrants from surrounding regions. New social institutions evolved with forms of cultural expression including street theatre, poetry and music and it was a hub for trade union activity and left politics. This painting depicts the area after the mills closed down in the early 80s, superimposing different urban strata – the defunct factories, new small scale enterprises and high rise luxury apartments, invoking the workers’ struggle to keep the mills going and resist gentrification.

 

These two complex works are examined through an extensive display of archival loans and artist interventions, including Company Paintings, Indian Chintz, original journals from Marx, films, photographs, newspaper articles and recordings of mill workers’ testimonies. A curtain and two support structures, a table and wall unit, have been designed by artist Celine Condorelli to display the archival material.

 

There will also be an extended programme of talks and events running alongside, including a symposium on textiles; and workshops with activist and writer Meena Menon. Social Fabric is curated by Grant Watson, in collaboration with Christine Checinska, Nida Ghouse, Shanay Jhaveri, Nada Raza and Karen Roswell.

 

Social Fabric will tour to Londs Konsthall from 6 April until 27 May.

 

Dates: 19 January – 10 March 2012

Venue: Rivington Place, London, EC2A 3BA

Rivington Place public opening hours:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 11am – 6pm

Late Thursdays: 11am – 9pm (last admission 8.30pm)

Saturday: 12noon – 6pm

Admission: free

 

www.rivingtonplace.org

 

Tubes: Old Street/Liverpool Street/Shoreditch High St

Rivington Place is fully accessible, for parking & wheelchair facilities call +44 (0)20 7749 1240

 

WEST END STYLE COMES TO HEATHROW

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A brand new bar has opened at the Radisson Edwardian Heathrow Hotel, bringing West End style and panache to the UK’s busiest airport.

The designers of Bijou Bar have created a  “jewel” within the 4 star hotel renowned for it’s spacious and luxurious events spaces. The Bijou Bar features opulent silver fabric wall coverings and a mirrored champagne and spirits bar creating an intimate and sophisticated stop-over for both flyers and locals.

 “We aren’t like the airport lounge-style open plan bars known around Heathrow” said General Manager Gavin Sanders. “We’re more like a private club; intimate, stylish and with a cool vibe.”

A striking chandelier is the statement piece of the room and is positioned below a multi faceted mirror, which throws shimmering light across the room.

An impressive cocktail list and champagne menu makes the bar a destination for celebrations, after meetings, pre and post flights or just for the sheer enjoyment of relaxation in the most gorgeous room at the airport.

“We’re incredibly excited about the opening of Bijou and the response from guests and the local community has been really positive which makes it all worthwhile.” Mr Sanders continued.

The recent new look at the hotel has extended to dining too with designers having unveiled a brand new style and feel in the Brasserie earlier this year.


Bijou is open from 5pm until 1am Monday-Friday and 8am-1am Saturday and Sunday.  To book a table call 0208 7577 917 or visit www.radissonedwardian.com.