Yearly Archives: 2021

…………………………I found this receipt in the April 2021 “bon appetite” magazine. If you like corn bread you’ll love this. I have made this cake three times to spectacular accolades. I highly recommend it. Bon appetite calls it the “Strawberry Snacking Cake”. Trust me it will be hard passing it without sneaking a piece.

The Ingredients: 8 oz of strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced lengthwise. In order to get a goodly amount on top of the cake don’t get big berries……..3 Tbsp plus 1 cup [238 g] sugar, divided plus more for pan…..1 tsp kosher salt, plus more…………1/2 cup LIGHT Virgin Olive oil, plus some for basting pan……..1 1/4 cup all purpose flour…….3/4 to a 1 cup of fine-ground cornmeal…..1/2 tsp baking soda…..1/2 tsp baking powder…..3 large eggs…….2 large egg yokes……..1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sour cream……..zest of 2 lemons…….3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice……2 tsp. vanilla extract 3/4 cups strawberry jam [preferably Bonne Maman INTENSE!!!} You can add more if you like [I found I needed to increase it from 1/2 cup]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees……Gently toss strawberries 1 Tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt in a med. bowl, let sit and toss occasionally until ready to use……….Lightly coat a 13 x 9 pan with olive oil. Line with parchment paper leaving overhang on the long sides. Coat parchment paper with oil. Generously sprinkle with sugar and tilt pan to coat evenly….tap out excess………Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking power, baking soda, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp salt in a med. bowl…………………Whisk eggs, egg yokes, sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla in a large bowl…….Add dry ingredients and whisk gently to combine……Gradually add olive oil a little at a time folding in with a rubber spatula until incorporated and batter is smooth. Scrape batter into prepared pan, and spread evenly to edges. Smooth surface using a small spoon. Dollop jam on top in rows.. Gently swirl jam into batter with a butter knife. I spread it horizontal and then vertically to get an even distribution, but you may have your own method……Arrange cut strawberries on top in even rows then sprinkle entire top with remaining 2 Tbsp of sugar……….BAKE cake until golden brown, and use a tester inserted into the center to see if it comes out clean. 40 to 45 minutes is recommended, but I had to cook it longer to get it golden brown………..Let cake cool in pan before slicing. If you’re having a party this cake can be made up to four days before lightly wrapped in the pan……..I like to serve with fresh cut strawberries, and strawberry ice cream…………..I guarantee a big hit.

…………………July is always a hard time of year to sell new apparel. It’s too late to sell summery clothes even though it’s only July, but it is also too early to sell true fall apparel. No one wants to think of fall clothes when it’s 80 plus degrees and humid…….It’s a dilemma…..We added four styles for July that would be good transition pieces. The first was a brushed stretch cotton jacket with all of the Linea touches. The fabric had a warm  hand with the touch of suede….perfect for the cool days of autumn right through winter…It had body darts and body seams all top stitched on each side of the seam. Flap pockets with half ball gold buttons and down a two button front along with gold zippers added sparkle. There were inseam pockets just below the flaps and exposed zipper pockets about the flaps. The sleeves had three gold buttons which could be unbuttoned so the sleeves could turn back. I often sent detailed drawings called “flats” with all the measurements to China so they would know exactly what I wanted the jacket to look like.The colors were an olive and a black….There was also an ankle pant in the same fabric and colors to coordinate with the jackets. These pants were also great separate pants to wear with many things including the peasant blouses in the group…..The next two pieces were in crinkle georgette, same as the boho skirt and safari shirt with tank. One was the boho skirt and the other a peasant blouse with a piped scoop neckline and long sleeves with a circular ruffle at the bottom. There was an elastic between the ruffle and the billowy sleeve so it could easily be pushed up. The two pieces were in a beautiful, colorful, and intricately detailed paisley print. One had an olive ground and the other a black ground so they worked with the new cotton jackets as well as many many Linea pieces that had already been done and many to come… They were both multi color and looked very different from each other. They were perfect to wear right then . They were also wonderful with sweaters and boots in the fall and winter. These may be 10 years old, but I’d repeat them today!

……………………….Another print I absolutely loved was the “CHAIN PRINT”…….The Chain print was as Iconic as any Leopard or animal print. European companies like Hermes, Gucci, YSL, Dolce & Gabanna had been doing their versions for years……I created my version by taking two different sizes of curb link chain and placing them randomly on a printer machine. I did a few versions until I decided on the one I liked. I then took it into the Lai Apparel office and worked with the print person. She put it into the computer and worked on the proper repeat. Then we worked on the colors. The chains would all be in shaded of GOLD. The background would be ivory, perfectly pink and blue. Then shading was added under the chain to give dimension…..and voila….a chain print was born. I printed the design on a beautiful quality of stretch cotton sateen for the jacket and skirt, and a cotton lawn for the shirt. On trips to Italy I had purchased cotton lawn shirts for myself in a wonderful men’s store in Florence. They were thin, light weight and comfortable in the humid heat. I decided the short sleeve shirt would be perfect in this fabric….similar in weight to a handkerchief linen. There were some women who thought the fabric was cheap because the fabric was thin! First of all I would never deliberately use a cheap fabric, and second of all they obviously knew nothing about fabrics. To make a lawn fabric, which is thin on purpose to keep the wearer cool, the cotton yarn must be of the fines quality….or when it is woven slubs and knots would appear as damages, and the fabric would have to be discarded. Now that I’ve cleared that misconception up I can move on after 10 years…LOL….The cotton knit Tee shirt had a short sleeve, almost a cap sleeve, and it had a scoop neck. For the gold piping I used a very expensive bathing suit fabric in metallic gold. No one swam in these suits…they just wore them around the pool or as body suits. We were only going to use it as a piping so Elaine said we could afford it…..YEAH!……It was with this collection that I introduced the “Wind Chime Necklace and Earring”, and the multi Chain Necklace, Chain Hoop Earring and Bracelet………..The prints at the lower left were the reorder colors for the crinkle georgette Boho skirt.

…………………………..In addition to the chain group there were seven other new styles for June. From the top left, the sleeveless tunic,  crop pant and the sleeveless swing dress. The fabric had a two tone linen look like a chambray linen. The tunic and crop pant came in blue and green and the dress in green and toasted almond. The following picture of Jac and Angela is in this dress. I originally did this dress for Anne Klein in silk linen. It came in vivid tropical colors……The short raglan sleeve peasant top with the elastic neckline and the short ruffle skirt were in the crinkle georgette. They were light and breezy and perfect for the summer. The came in yellow, aquamarine and black……The stand collar shirt/jacket was in the Pebble Crepe It had a military look due to the collar and the two patch pockets and flaps,. It had a straight 3/4 sleeve and a curved bottom…..The colors were white, light tan and aquamarine.

…………………..Jac and Angela during one of my QVC shows wearing the new sleeveless dress in the toasted almond and green. Jac has it on with the coffee bean cotton/span legging. After so many years of working together, Jac and Angela became BFF! We still are!!