I have babies on the mind!  In my affirmations, on my vision board, in my dreams!  I’m ready for one!  I was thinking about the food they eat.  Of course they start out with Mother’s Milk and then progress to other mashed delights.  But the best part of their dining experience is how the food is delivered!

Clearly all men will agree that the former of the two is the most desirable method… I’ll give them that.  I however was thinking how nice it is to be fed.  Now is the time to remove any visions of babies and thoughts of parenting.  Minds are a curious thing and anything can be the inspiration for something else…

So imagine a plate full of fresh, juicy fruit; strawberries, mangos, grapes, kiwis, bananas… whatever you like.  You are lounging on the couch, spread out on a lush blanket on the floor or cradled by cushions on your bed.  Your man comes in, he’s carrying a large plate full of these sweet jewels.  You are wearing a silky nighty, his hand makes it’s way from your shoulder down your leg, you get goose bumps.  Then he gently ties a silk sash around your eyes and gently kisses your lips.  He has your complete attention.  Then one by one, he feeds you.  His manly hands place each luscious, ripe fruit onto your tongue.  He is careful, attentive and loving.  You feel totally adored as he slowly, seductively nourishes your soul
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Yesterday started the competition with my husband- we both did a GREAT job!  I even made it the    entire day without sugar or flour!  In those past 24 hours, I realized something.  What you can’t  have, you want!  Every commercial… Dunkin Doughnuts, ice cream, Papa John’s!  Seriously- stuff I  don’t even normally want… I was now lusting after.  What is that all about?

When you create a taboo in your life, it seems as though you then want it even more and more often!  Now is the same thing true for the opposite scenario?  If I lived in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, would I then NEVER want sweets?  That’s doubtful… but how is it possible to make these desires work in my favor?  Even better, how do I make the things that I want to do, but kinda dread doing become a major desire in my life?  I discovered that with working out, the more often one does it, the more you want to do it, but the minute you stop- you are happy to sit on the couch forever.  Sex is tricky.  My husband and I want to have a baby, so clearly the more sex we have the better our odds.  Funny thing is, the minute you look at sex that way, it becomes a job and you no longer want it.  WHAT?  Not fair!

Or is it all about advertising?  My mind wasn’t really thinking about Dunkin’ Doughnuts (really they are not my favorite thing) but the commercial seduced me.  I want my yoga class to seduce me like I was a single, divorced woman and yoga was my sexy, wealthy dream man.  I guess as far as the baby making goes… I need to do my own advertising.  Pump up the seduction quality in my life… maybe that will be the incentive to get to yoga class in order to show off my new bod- to seduce my husband to make the baby.  It’s worth a try!

Last night, my husband and I created a six week competition.  It’s based on things that we both feel we would like to add to our lives, better eating habits, consistent exercise routine, affirmations, (and blogging) etc.  The rules of the game reward you for each positive habit you execute.  There is also a BIG prize for the winner.  I do want to WIN!  I want the prize, the title and the gratification!  I’m diving in-  giving this competition my all.  I am considering a strategy.  As the “chef” of the house I am in an interesting position.  I’ve seen it before- those calculated players, the ones that set up their opponents, doing anything possible to see the other person fail.  I’m not that kind of person.  So even though I am in charge of our meals and the competition does have a weight loss category, I intend to play fair and do whatever I can to make our low calorie meals as delicious as possible.

This is quite a challenge.  I learned quickly that if you wrap anything in puff pastry, dose it with butter or smother it with mayonnaise, it will taste amazing!  Not the ideal recipe for a healthy diet and weight loss.   So, my side challenge is to create a myriad of luscious, delectable low calorie meals that not only help my husband and I drop some LB’s but that will also keep us excited enough to make it through the six weeks.

Tonight’s menu includes my take on Armenian eggplant caviar- a thick puree of roasted, eggplant, garlic, red peppers and tomatoes.  Served with crisp oven dried pita- the dip is thick and smoky ready to be dipped and licked.  Then I mixed cumin, garlic, parsley, onion and basil with ground turkey molded them on a stick and seared them in a pan.  The sexy sauce for the Turkey Lu Lu is Tzatziki.  Together it is quite the delectable dinner.  Eating with your hands and fingers is a super sexy turn-on.  Our eyes dart from the plate to the mouth, taking in the teeth, tongue and lips.  The more your mind sets on ruby red lips and pink tongues- the more one’s desire is elevated.  Watch out- a meal like this just might lead to additional cardio!  I suppose my only strategy now is to double up on the cardio!

There is no mystery to the fact that once you reach a certain age, say 30, you spend a good deal of your time trying to get back to the days before. Thanks to the help of many products, one may “zap crow’s feet” or “diminish fine lines” or “have the energy of a teenager”.  You may apply, swallow, eat, drink and breathe whatever it takes to be the younger you.

There is often so much pressure to be “new” that one forgets to remember that which is “old”. Today I lunched with my husband at Le Bilboquet.  A small, unmarked restaurant on the UES, a place where I once worked long before the need to fill any ridges. I entered the small restaurant.  While I looked around, I whispered to my husband “Bilbo has been the IT place for over 24 years”.  We drank wine and ordered.  After a few bites of my frisée au lardon salad and a taste of my husband’s hanger steak with pepper sauce, something inside me shifted.  Each bite slowly exfoliated a layer to my inner being.  That spirit which is adversely protected by trying to be smoother than yesterday.  Then it dawned on me, the red wine was made by vines planted over 300 years ago, and they still did their job; the wine was medium bodied, full of flavor and easily enjoyed.  The Tarte Tatin, an upside down apple tarte discovered in 1898, is to this day one of the BEST apple dishes in the world!  My husband smiled and devoured a fork full of the perfect bite with caramelized apple and vanilla ice cream.  I returned his smile because then I new, like the Tarte Tatin, the Steak au Poivre and Le Bilboquet, it is not always about how “new” and “shiny” you are, but how well you have lived! 

The NOW is what you are living.  I hope to be one of those French or Italian classics in 24 years.  I think today I will spend more time being the best me NOW and less time fearing the future.  Who knows- after 111 years someone might even say I am still one of the best Shani’s to this day!

This week in honor of the “classics” I am perfecting chocolate mousse.It’s my offer of admiration and gratitude for a place that will always be a heavenly institute in my book- Le Bilboquet!

Ladies and Gentelmen, I am BACK!  I took some time to work over the summer and ignore the things I love most in life.  But now, I have returned to the kitchen, to listening to stories of romance and to writing.  So please reach out to me with any of your stories, any recipes or just to say hi!  While I spend my first winter in the cold in two years, I will be working on my cookbook.  So here’s a report from my first week -

New York, the state that brought us Buffalo Wings- from the city of Buffalo.  Although they originated up North, here in the city and around the world for that matter, glowing orange, spicy Buffalo Wings can be a sort-of religion!  You know the scene, you let them cool off enough to handle them, you pick one up, dip it into the blue cheese dressing, wiggling it around so that an actual chunk of blue cheese remains on top and then straight into your mouth!  HMMM spicy, creamy, juicy, yum!  In honor of New York and our Yankees possibly clinching the Series in five, I decide to make them at home.  Not only are they the perfect meal with baseball, making them for dinner would also make me a “Super Star” wife!  

I did all the research, prepped everything and gave it a go!  Monday night I baked the wings perfectly, did my best with the sauce and made the crudite’ with blue cheese dressing.  We had loads of napkins and a 52” screen T.V.  And then… wah, wah, wah.  Just as our team was in for a loss, so was my “Super Star” status.  Rather than feeling dissappointed, I became enlightened!  I realized, sometimes it is best to leave some things to the professionals!  It’s like pizza, we’re all trying to find the best in town, so why compete with the professionals when even they struggle?  So I’ve scratched Buffalo Wings off of my list of recipes for my “Seduction Cookbook” and replaced it with this recipe: 

1. Invite significant other to watch game 6 of World Series.
2. Have him meet at your place an hour before the first pitch.
3. Wear something very low cut, with a super push-up bra- a pair of jeans and some form of heels.
4. Drive, walk, take a cab or subway to the nearest Hooters.
5. Order two draft beers and wings- Hooters Buffalo Style Wings are called Naked Wings- but it really doesn’t matter does it?  Just make sure they serve up enough punch that you will be inclined to drink lots of beer to put out that fire.
6. Lick your fingers often, smile, laugh a lot and flick your hair- remember you are in the Hooterzone- you might think this is a bad idea, but it is not!  With all the fleshy stuffed t-shirts, orange covered ass and poufy hair- your man will be on stimulation overload!  And who will he reach out to touch? His awesome date that had the great idea to bring him there!  (Seduction Achieved!)
7. Cheer on The Yankees!

Follow steps 1-7 and you too will win the title of “Super Star”!

The word Spirit can mean so many things… it’s the charged energy you have for something, it’s that ghost you sense under the bed, it’s a lovely intoxicating drink and it is the true you- your soul.

Today I realized that I have been living with lots of Spirit- I am a big cheerleader for my friends, I have an open door policy with the ghostly spirits and let them visit when they want and I often enjoy the Spirit of Stoli.  But somewhere in this hot summer I lost contact with my spirit, my soul.  I honestly do not know what happened.  When I finally realized that I hadn’t seen it in over two months, I went looking for it.  It was a very sad sight, there it was on the floor, shaking curled up in a ball hiding, lost in the closet!  You cannot imagine how terrible I felt.  I had sensed something was wrong, I felt so lost and disconnected.  I have been so unbalanced and even bitchy!

When it dawned on me that my Spirit was lost, scared, unloved and in a dark place- I knew it was time to rescue it and bring us both back to life.  After my super bitchy morning, I called-in sick.  Really I was- one look at my spirit and anyone would say I was sick.  It was time to care and love for my spirit- time to nurture it back to life.  The first thing I did was put on some make-up and a cute outfit.  I headed out to my nail salon and got the mani/pedi works!  I decided that the next hour and half was for total enjoyment.  When they offered the $10/10 minute massage, instead of thinking about my budget, I said yes and I decided to actually enjoy it.

The Color is "Pinking up the Pieces"!

Cindy seriously hit a home run in those 10 minutes.  WOW I was feeling better!  From there I passed by my man’s work to get a real kiss- I owed him, remember I began the day as Ms Bitch.  I was feeling great!  It was time for me to pay it forward and brighten his day.  That was the anecdote to bring the color back into my spirit’s previous gray life.   The next bit of fuel was a yoga class.  I actually KNOW that yoga is not only good for me but that I also feel so amazing afterwards, yet it has been over a year since I have practiced!  After my class, I detected a slight grin on my spirit’s face and felt how proud it was of me and my choice.  A quick stop at Whole Foods and we were ready to put the final touch on the beginning of our recovery.

I made a simple salad of heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and tuna.  Funny how tuna is comfort food for me- guess that’s the California in me.  But the best was yet to come.  I turned on the oven, even in this heat, and baked up some delicious sweet cupcakes!  So far today I pampered my spirit with beauty and massage, I touched my spirit with a long kiss with the man I love, I honored my spirit with a yoga practice, I fed my spirit with a healthy dinner and now I am going to delight my spirit with mounds of vanilla frosting on chocolate cupcakes!

I swear I will never leave my spirit to whither and fade again.  I am back to writing, practicing yoga, dancing and cooking.  I can tell you this: “It is truly imperative to feed that spirit- every day, even a crumb or a leftover”!

Appetite for Seduction

June 2009

Fabulous, Affordable and Sensual

How to Spend the Evening

New York has always been a magical place for me… something a bit like a fairy tale.  I was once again anticipating this feeling from my city that always impresses me.  I was leaving a sun drenched, laid back, beach town.  Life in PV was pretty easy going and simply lovely (Swine Flu epidemic included).  So I truly was quite surprised when I discovered that my social life in NYC was not what it used to be six months earlier.  Oh… BTW… there is a recession going on.  The trickle down effect has effected us all.

So I find myself in a city I love, with less money than usual.  I also remembered that the gluttonous days of taco tasting, Dorito eating, Corona chugging, mango margarita sipping, and cupcake testing just might have caught up with me.  I swear I wore a bathing suit every day!  The truth is… jeans are tighter than a bathing suit cover-up, pencil skirts are less forgiving than flouncy linen dresses and I really should have mastered the kilo to pound conversion.

That brings me to my new life.  Thank goodness I still have a hint of a tan!  I have heard that a tanned body looks 5 pounds thinner than a Casper  white body.  That calculates to a mere 10 extra pounds, a few hundreds of dollars a week less and all the desire in the world to feel great and enjoy any beautiful evening in the city.

This is what I suggest:

Save your money on buying new clothes to fit your slightly more robust body.  Instead hire a trainer!  Seriously the $75 per hour is WELL worth it!  Once you start pumping it up in the gym, you will feel sooo much better all around!  That’s how I feel!  Not too mention- we’re doing boxing moves that gives me so much pleasure!

Remember that the better you feel, the sexier you are!  If you feel good, you smile more often which is the first and easiest expression of sensuality.

May I also suggest making drinks at home and drinking them on the street?  Times are tough and here in NYC you will easily spend $30 on ONE round-trip cab ride, $12 on ONE drink and $4 on the coat check (Please, it’s still COLD here!).  With 3 drinks and the cab you are out $75.

Aphrodisiac Cocktail the "Ninny Kick"

The other night, my boyfriend and I fought back and made up a batch of Ninny Kicks-  an AMAZING drink with Pear Vodka, lime juice, jalepeno and ginger ale.  We put the cocktail in a large tupperware drink container, grabbed 2 folding chairs, 2 plastic cups, an I pod and the speakers, and walked to the corner of our block.  We do live in a super cool neighborhood so I put on a sexy black wrap dress (the wrap dress can “grow” with you, it is a very sensible buy) a pair of killer bright turquoise heels, did the whole glam make-up, hair thing and we situated ourselves along the side of the building on the corner of 1st and 2nd.  Ok, it wasn’t exactly a night at Pink Elephant, but it was super fun!  We had our own music, a great scene and a killer cocktail!

While you are sipping away… remember that ginger is an aphrodisiac.  Ginger first hits you at your sense of smell.  Its mere scent is commonly recognized as a sexual stimulant. This aroma is beneficial in increasing circulation, which is thought to make erogenous zones hypersensitive.  Use this in your favor by increasing the frequency in which you spend touching your partner.  By the end of the evening the level of sensual stimulation will have increased 3 fold.  First by the ginger’s circulatory effect, Second by the alcohol’s effect and Third by the satisfaction of having a fabulous time drinking a luxury drink while staying on your budget.

Here we are… the beginning of the day, the beginning of the month, the beginningish of spring and we just moved the clocks forward!  Unlike the first of the year, right now is when it really feels like the beginning of things.  So it is also the commencement of my bikini diet!  Let me know if I am alone with this ambitious proposal…”I declare that from this day forward I will get into shape, eat healthy food, and ease off on the booze so that I will be beach photo shoot ready by Memorial Day”.  Just as my decree escapes my mouth- all hell breaks loose! There is no irony that it is the first of April- a fool’s Day.  Or maybe it’s that damn Murphy?!  I’m sure that one of them is to blame for the free cheesecake tasting this morning at Starbucks, they must have also been responsible for my phone ringing with texts and messages inviting me to barbeques, weddings, opening parties, chef tastings, s’more themed bonfires, open bar anniversary parties, French toast brunches, potato chip samplings and the latest street vendor to hit my neighborhood- La Senora Magnifica de los churros!  Come on! To make matters worse, like many women, I am currently experiencing a major craving for chocolate!  With all this temptation and my hormones totally out of whack, I am truly vulnerable.  Like the bold woman I am, I keep telling myself that I am stronger than this.  Now that I know that doesn’t work, I thought to try another strategy, I plan to fool myself.   I’m letting go of the goal, forget about the future, time to be in the here and now.  I asked myself what is it that I want.  I think of the super extravagant, luscious, decadent things that I am drawn to then- I pull the ol “switcheroo”.  This morning, I asked myself what do I want.  Something sweet, creamy, crunchy, ok- Strawberries dipped in sugar and mascarpone topped with pecan-loaded granola oh baby!  As I stirred the Spenda into my nonfat plain Greek yogurt I dipped in my pinky, sucked the rich mixture off of my finger and grinned.  Once I added sliced strawberries and chopped toasted edamame- grabbed a spoon and dug in- I was smiling from ear to ear. I fooled myself once today, but not sure how a prankster can stand up to a woman with a chocolate deficiency.  It’s now much later in the day, my body is warm, I am admiring my glowing bronzed skin, I can still detect the light scent of coconut from my tanning oil, I feel beautiful, but unsatisfied.  I ask myself what I want.  Right away I know I want CHOCOLATE!  I want that euphoria I feel after biting into a dark, intense bar.  I want that endorphin rush that lasts for 20 minutes.  That would make me content.  I know a thing or two and I realized I could have the same sensation and burn some calories!  But I was home alone, so I that wasn’t an option.  Instead of the bedroom, I headed into the kitchen.  Now on a mission, I grabbed an ice tray full of coffee ice cubes, tossed them into the blender with 2 packs of Splenda, a huge spoonful of dark cocoa powder, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a ¼ cup of skim milk.  Within seconds I had a fabulous coffee drink good enough to compete with a Grande Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks.  As I slowly took pleasure in my sensational beverage, a feeling of satisfaction washed over me. My nerves were calmed and although I hadn’t actually burned any calories, I made out with consuming a mere 59 calories compared to the original’s 278 calories. So I made it through the day of fools and I’m sticking with my game plan and I’ll share these recipes with you.   My advice is to take life one day at a time.  Think about what you want- figure out how to have the same experience without all the calories and then go and get it!  As the month moves on and farther away from April Fool’s Day take each day to become a tiny bit wiser.  Adore yourself more and more, eat amazing pure foods, make intelligent substitutions and engage in one sensual activity each day.  By the end of the month, your clothes will be looser around your hips, your confidence will be raised and you just might be burning off an average of 100 calories daily in the bedroom- or twice as many outside of it!  

Feeling Alive

For the first time in years I am celebrating Valentine’s Day with an actual, real life, Valentine. Many people have come to believe that it is a day exploding with commercialism and a poor excuse for celebrating one’s love for another. I do admit, I am the first to promote romance any given day and a big fan of Vday, but this year I feel different. I’m not against it, not by any means, but I am celebrating (with my love) through a new color of lenses.

This Valentine’s Day I’m honoring the life I’m living. What I’ve learned in the past few years is that the person one must love the most, each and every day is himself or herself. So, on this Valentine’s Day, I’m partaking in everything that I love! I want to experience the things that make me feel alive! I hope that you take one day to do the same for yourself.

The day begins by opening the shades, breathing in the fresh air and blasting Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4″ (it’s an oldie, but check it out on youtube!) immediately followed by Sergio Mendez “Mas que Nada”. My blood is pumping and I’m ready for breakfast. A key to my pleasure and the one thing that makes me feel SO alive is the smell and taste of a rich, full-bodied cup of coffee. OOH, things are looking good and I can hear Tom Jones in the background swooning “It’s Not Unusual”. Since it’s Vday, I want to travel in my mind to the birthplace of sexy lingerie and Moulin Rouge in “Gay” Paris. The perfect compliment to my huge cup of coffee is a darkly toasted baguette with cold sweet butter and organic peach preserves. As my love awakes, breakfast is served to the tunes of Barry White’s “Just the Way You Are”.

Thanks to the music, sun and caffeine, there seems to be true signs of life. Our next step is sun and water. After an exhilarating romp in the ocean, only a lunch guaranteed to keep my engine revved up will do. I would like to introduce to you “Tortas Ahogadas”. This is a hard and crispy salted roll filled with carnitas (savory tender pork), a very healthy dose of super spicy arbol chili salsa all drowning (ahogada) in a thin, room temperature, tomato sauce. This sandwich (torta) is so spicy that it turns on every switch in your body like a 100-volt electrical shock. I am now alive and screaming! Thank goodness for Corona! When one experiences extreme situations (as trust me this is) our reaction will be either to panic or laugh. If you yourself don’t laugh, the person with you will. In addition, the pain the chili causes releases so many pain fighting endorphins that you get the added fun experience of feeling light headed, dizzy and the sensation of flying.

My day of feeling alive has so far been filled with music, strong coffee, sun, swimming, travel, spicy food, cold beer, laughter and French kissing. (that is a secret story).

What is missing? A gourmet, multi course dinner with an hour of cocktails, bottles of wine and a bunch of friends to share in the fun. Dessert is some kind of decadent, dark chocolate extravaganza! (Such a fun word!) The cherry on top of this lively day is initiated with a shot of tequila preceded by a heartfelt toast, followed by DANCING!

Ladies and Gentlemen, now I am truly alive! The bass is pulsating through my veins and the percussion is tickling the bottoms of my feet, my hips sway as if they are absorbing and releasing the energy the DJ is cultivating. I’m smiling like I just won the lottery. My love grabs my hand and pulls me towards him. As our bodies take our first steps together, his smile is full of sparkling teeth and he whispers into my ear “let’s show them what it’s like to be alive!”