Two Romantic Valentines Day Recipes

In anticipation of Valentines Day I have put together two DELICIOUS recipes for you all. One for the kid in you and one for the adult :) However, BOTH of these recipes are elegant and special, perfect for a romantic night at home or for a dinner party. 

Chocolate Souffle Lava Cake with Fresh Raspberry Puree:

A shout out to my dear friend Lisa for introducing me to this decadent dessert!

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter

                                                                                 • 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

• 2 cups sugar + 2 Tbs

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 Pint fresh raspberries

• 2 TBS raspberry or strawberry preserves

• Heavy whipping cream

• ¼ tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Melt the 1/2 pound of butter and set aside to cool.

Make raspberry sauce by combining berries, preserves and 1 TBS sugar in blender or food processor. Set aside

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. 

Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder, flour, and salt together and set aside.

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla, 1 TBS of the raspberry sauce and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. 

With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into a 2 1/2 quart oval pan and place it in a larger baking pan. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. 

A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out 3/4 clean. The center will appear very under-baked.

Whip whipping cream and add 1 TBS of sugar

                                  Allow to cool and serve with whipped cream and raspberry sauce

French 75 Cocktail:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

2 ounces gin

3 ounces plus 1 tablespoon chilled Champagne

lemon peel for garnish

Combine Lemon and sugar in Champagne Flute

Add Gin

Top off with Chilled Champagne

Garnish with Lemon Peel

(No pregnant women were harmed during the making of this recipe) 

I Hope you enjoy!!!

Free Valentines Day Printable!

I am very exited to introduce a guest with you today.  For quite a few reasons actually.  For one, they are very talented, amazing women.  Secondly, one's my mom and the other one is pretty much my second mom.  So needless to say there is a little bit of an attachment there.  Thirdly, and probably most fun, they have created something beautiful to share with you all today.  Something beautiful and something free!!

First of all, let me introduce them.  Tammi (my mommy) and Rachelle make up the dynamic duo of The Pomegranate Basket!  They create custom invitations for a multitude of celebrations from your baby's first birthday to your grandparents 50th wedding anniversary!  They really are a unique and beautiful talent, if you want to see more of their work, you can check out their website.

Today they are here to give you something.  Just because Valentine's Day is coming up and you should have pretty things to give to others!  So below you will find a free Valentine's Day printable just for you.  All you have to do is print them, cut them, write cute little love notes on them, and give them away!

Click the picture or here for your free Valentine's Day Printable!

Aaaaannnnnddddd because the beautiful ladies at The Pomegranate Basket are so lovely, they are going to give away a beautiful set of note cards to one winner!  All you have to do is go 'like' their Facebook Page and share a status about them!

Aren't they darling?  Head on over and try and win some!

Hope this is a great start to a wonderful week.  

Bises - Natalia

I am linking up to all the fun parties in my linky page and some other great ones here.

4 Reasons to Sponsor MNM

Now I know that there are a million blogs out there that you could sponsor.  Some might even be free or ad swaps.  The options are endless.  I want to take a second and let you know why exactly you should choose to sponsor Ma Nouvelle Mode.

1.) The people that come here to read this little blog in this little corner of the internet are entirely awesome.  They comment, they show the love, they check out other blogs and share the love their too.  I think for the most part the people that 'follow' or subscribe here want to be here.  They aren't here because we begged them or followed them first.

2.) The last giveaway we held got our sponsor (Avery's Loft) from 212 Facebook 'likes' to 320 in the one week of sponsorship with one giveaway.  I'd say those are pretty good numbers!

3.) We're cheap inexpensive.  We are actually not cheap because that implies not the greatest quality.  The prices are low but we are entirely certain that we have a ton to offer you all.

4.) We are moms.  We have kids.  We loves fashion, beauty, hair, makeup, girly things, making our homes cute, cooking yummy dinners.  We can relate to you, and between the two of us, you can find a lot of great stuff here.  Which is maybe we there are so many great people reading!

So if these four reasons aren't enough to get you to at least contact me if you have a blog or shop, then here are a couple reviews:


Elise Ostermann from Hey, Sweet Pea had this to say:


"I loved guest posting on Natalia's blog! She is one of the nicest ladies you will ever meet, but also very creative, driven, and inspiring. She really cares about her readers, the guest posts she has, and the content she posts. I think it's a great blog to buy ad space from,  guest blog on, or sponsor in any way! A couple months ago Natalia allowed me to guest blog and concurrently hold ad space. When checking my FB page stats, a lot of the new likes and referrals I received during that time were from her blog. I would definitely recommend partnering with her blog, because it's the whole package!!"

Amy from Avery's Loft had this to say:


 It was a great experience working with Ma Nouvelle Mode and after looking at sources of likes I got at least 50 new Facebook likes from you in one week.  I love working with you and your followers are great. I also appreciate the support through Facebook status updates, tweets, etc.  

And by-the-by I wanted to also say that you are gonna want to get in while the prices are low, because in April we have some monster things planned and a guarantee there will be lots of traffic flowing 'round here.

Hit me up at Natalia{at}manouvellemode{dot}com for more deets!!

Fun & Easy Nail Art

Good Morning everyone! 

I just got back from Sweden yesterday and it was a beautifully wonderful trip.  I got to spend some time with my good friend who lives there.  She is American, speaks English, her husband plays basketball, and travels with her hubby!  If you are a fellow expat, you completely understand how much those things mean.  If you aren't, let's just say, I don't have too many English speaking friends here in St. Etienne.  

Now before I left, of course I had to get all girlied up.  Aside from my sweet little Tae, who always notices when 'mommy looks pretty,' most people 'round these parts don't really notice.  I particularly liked these pretty little nail decals because I rarely do my nails.  I can't do them nicely, they take too long to dry, and inevitably I always mess them up!  I also have big, ugly man-hands, but that's another story.  Enter in these beauties:

They are so easy to use.  I must admit, I was a little skeptical at first, but I thought I would give it a try.  Glad I did!

 You just peel the sticker off, which is a type of nail polish sticker or something, and press it to your nail.  If it isn't perfect you can lift it up and apply again.  It won't affect the stickiness of the decal.

Once you have it one the way you want it, you can tear off the access and voila!  You just painted your nails! With pretty bows at that!

 No smudges, no mess ups, no redos, and no messy left hand!  Does it help the man-hand problem?? #notsomuch

What do you think, would you rock these?  They have quite a few options, french tip, polka dots, flowers.  As a matter of fact, if you keep and eye on our Facebook page today, you could win a pair!! (Giveaway closed)

Linking up to all the parties in my link page and some other great ones here.

Happy Friday!

Creamy Potato Soup

Good Morning everyone!  I have an excellent recipe to share with you.  So excellent, in fact, last time I made it Tae said, and I quote, "I want to have this every night, mommy!"  If my dinner-hater little boy loved it, then it's a winner.  Trust me.

I got this recipe a while back that is similar to Panera Bread's potato soup.  Now, I know that if there is a Panera Bread near you, and you've eaten there, then you love it.  It's just a fact, people.  So you will, in turn, love me for bringing you this super simple, delicious meal.  You're welcome.

Now here is the problem with my recipes: I don't follow measurements.  I just throw in what I think is going to work and somehow it just does.  I will do my best to make up measurements for you, however, I think this one is pretty hard to mess up.  

First you cut up your potatoes and put them in about 4 cups (double it for a big family or party) of chicken broth.  Water is fine too, either way.  I don't really know how many potatoes, but make sure the water/chicken broth is decently covering the potatoes.   

The great thing about this recipe is that you can change it up to your liking.  I add about 2 cloves of garlic; however, if onions are more your thing, then they work too.  I happen to just love garlic.

 Let the potatoes boil until tender, maybe 15 minutes or so.  Then you want to start breaking up the potatoes by mashing them onto the sides of your bowl until the soup is thickened.  Don't worry about smashing all of them, it gives it better texture to have both.

Add the cream cheese, I use a whole package of about 300 grams, shown in the picture.  Stir the soup until the cream cheese is melted.  At this point you can also add spices of your choice.  I add salt and pepper (white pepper is fabulous in it), and paprika.  You can add some red pepper if you want it to pack a punch.

Once you taste it, you will see the many places you can take it.  I have thought of adding bacon or crabs or clams to make it more of a meat-lovers type of soup.  I would love to hear if you make it what kinda spin you put on it!

Well there you have it! super easy, right?  As you might have noticed by most of the recipes I post on here, I am no chef.  There isn't anything really super special about the recipes except that they are easy and fast and yummy.  I have three boys in my family and saying they like to eat is an understatement.  I need to be able to whip out a substantial meal at a moment's notice!

I hope you get a chance to make this delicious soup on a cold night, it will warm your belly!

Here's the recipe written out:

4 cups chicken broth

4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes

2 cloves of garlic

½ teaspoon seasoning salt

½  teaspoon of paprika

¼ teaspoon white pepper

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (I leave this out, but great if you like more spicy!)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese , cut into chunks

1. Combine broth, potatoes, onion, and spices.

2. Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender.

3. Smash a few of the potatoes to release their starch for thickening.

4. Reduce to low heat.

5. Add cream cheese.

6. Heat, stirring frequently, until cheese melts.

Have a great day!

What I wore, south of France

Okay, so I know what you are probably thinking... 'she is really dragging out this south of France vacation!'  But honestly, there were so many pictures and it was such a beautiful, inspirational place, I just want to share. I don't want to bore you with a post of a million pictures, so I'm milkin' it baby! 

These pictures are from Eze.  This city has got to be one of the coolest I have ever seen.  It was a castle on a hill literally hanging over the Mediterranean.    

However, this particular post is just my outfit.  You know, the important things!  I wasn't feeling so hot, so it was comfy cute all the way. 

These pictures were taken in the middle of an old Roman amphitheatre from the first century.  Just next to it were old Roman baths.  I don't know about you all, but I am such a history nerd, I love this stuff.  Just standing where the Romans ruled around 2,000 years ago, that's incredible.  Let me stop before I go on a Wikipedia rant...

Headband: La Luce // Scarf: The Sunshine Stitch // Shirt: gift // Shorts: H&M // Tights: Target // Boot Cuffs: Avery's Loft // Boots: Steve Madden

So there's my little secret, I'm a total history nerd.  In fact, I went to Shakespeare and Company in Paris while I was there and bought an over 500 page biography about Marie Antoinette's life from when she was born till her tragic death in France.  So excited to get into it!  #nerdalert I'll stop.

Have a good day!

Boyfriend Jeans, Babies, Getting my Groove Back

We are expecting baby #3!!!! Phew glad that's out of the way! I have been sucking in my stomach in all my pictures! Does the idea of a 3rd baby leave you stricken with fear and panic? No? Really!? Well, I guess I am the only one :)

1. I am currently 9 weeks pregnant 2. I decided not to photoshop my previous stretch marks out because I want to be real, yikes! 

But before I can even think about the sweet baby we will be having, I have to survive this pregnancy and more specifically the FIRST TRIMESTER.....uuuuuuggggghhh! Right about the time Natalia asked me to join her blog I found out I was pregnant. I will be honest when I say I am feeling pretty crummy now and not too cute (not to mention the unfortunate task of growing ones hair out and landing in the mullet stage!) So let's just say, I am in a funk. You know the kind I mean.....insert image of yourself looking forlornly into a mirror. But I have decided enough is enough! By golly I will beat this funk, for myself, for my husband, for my unborn baby!!! (did I mention yesterday I can be a little dramatic??) So here's my plan: This next week or so I will be posting 3 different smokin' hot Valentine's day outfits, new hairstyles, and makeup. I would love it if you would let me know which look you like the best. My husband promises to take me out somewhere fancy so I can wear the winning look. YAY!

In the meantime, I leave you with a cute and comfortable look showing you how I wear my boyfriend jeans (which are awesome when trying to ignore an expanding tummy!)

Jeans- Joes, Sweater- Anthropologie, Shoes- Steve Madden

I have an exciting announcement!

I'm not pregnant.

But I have some other super cool news to share with you!  If you follow me on Twitter or like Ma Nouvelle Mode on Facebook you might have seen me talking about some fun and exciting things coming in the new year.  Well, there are quite a few and I am bursting at the seams to tell you about them.  Unfortunately, I can't reveal them all, so I thought, why not just one?

Do you remember my friend Christie who posted with me a few days back?  She rocked some pretty hot red tights and most recently showed us a lovely and comfy Disneyland outfit.  Well, Christie is going to be hangin' around these parts more often and is going to be the other half of Ma Nouvelle Mode!  We have been brainstorming and brainstorming to bring you the best of the best!

This might not mean as much to you now as it does to me, but trust me, it will.  Christie is one of the most stylish, beautiful (inside & out), fun, outgoing, clever, godly women I know and I know that she has a ton to bring to the blog.  Without further adieu, I have put together a little interview with Christie so you can get to know her a bit more.

Tell everyone here a little bit more about yourself!
Hey! I am a Southern California girl born and raised. I met my husband while attending college in Indiana. We have been married 7 1/2 years and we have two amazing-ly crazy kids. I am very outgoing, I cry easily (animals, children, wars, and widows are all movie topics that have been banned in my presence). I love fiercely and I can be a little too fiery at times. Singing is  a normal part of my life and my kids have learned that impromptu dance parties and singing princess songs on the top of our lungs (yes even my 2 year old son) make the day just a little bit better. Needless to say my husband just enjoys being entertained!

What makes you excited about being a part of this blog?
Oh my goodness I am SOOO excited about being part of this blog for so many reasons! First of all, with two little kids I sometimes forget to take time for myself (can you relate?) This will be my motivation to get back to what I love (and what my husband loves about me!) Secondly, I love working with Natalia. She has become a true kindred spirit and we are going to be a fabulous team! Finally, and most importantly, I know my identity is in Christ Jesus. I know that he made me with the personality, passions, and skills that make me who I am and that He loves me this way. I am excited for this amazing opportunity to focus my creative energies. I feel blessed by this blog and I hope to be a blessing to others.

What kinds of things do you think you will be blogging about?
1) Fashion (of course!) focusing on the attainable fashion that ANYBODY can have and feel amazing and adorable. You won't be seeing a ton of "look at my new Jimmy Choo shoes" because I can't afford Jimmy Choo! So let's figure out how to look awesome, and still be respectful of our bank account and our priorities (which in my case is making sure my family does not go naked and starving).
2) Entertaining/Homey comforts- I love to cook, I love to entertain, I love to decorate my house. All of these things don't happen as often as I would like (in a perfect world). But as often as I can, I will be blogging about my love for this area of my life.
3) This one is hard to explain, but let me do my best: I am going to be regularly encouraging all the lovely women reading this blog to use their feminine powers to ENCOURAGE other women, to use their words to BUILD UP not TEAR DOWN and to be PROACTIVE when cattiness ensues. I have seen and taken note that one of the biggest strengths this blog and all of its followers have is kindness! I have been so impressed! Because you all know what normally takes place when you get a group of women together! Let's make this what sets us apart from other women, yes!?

Describe your style.
wooo! This one is hard! I feel like "eclectic" would sum me up the best, haha. I would mostly say that I like to feel soft and feminine. I lean more towards flowy (sp?) than tight and I am drawn to vintage pieces. However, I own my fair share of tight black dresses and short skirts. So maybe, as you get to know me, you can give me a title for my style?? I would love to put a label on it! Something crazy like: Boho-romantic-classic chic HA!

Anything else you would like to share?? ;)
There is way too much I want to tell you! So I will say no more right now. But make sure you check out my post tomorrow and I will share a secret with you! Thank you so much for welcoming me! And I am so excited to be a part of this community of women!

Eze, France

Last post of my Cote d'Azur vacation, I promise!!  But I just couldn't resist sharing this perfect little city with you.  You might have heard of it, it was most certainly in most tourist books we saw.  It is small and not entirely well-known but oh so worth it.  I am so glad we took the time to visit this beautiful little city.  To catch up on my little vacay here are the posts: Cannes, Nice, and Italy & Monaco.

I will try to explain how enchanting it was through the pictures.  So come, take a mini-vacation with me to the south of France, a little city perched high up on a mountain top, overlooking the French Riviera.

The town of course has a little church like most, if not all, French towns.  This particular church was rather old and the outside was rather plain.  However, when I walked inside, I was mesmerized by its beauty.  And after being in the Notre Dame in Paris this past weekend, as far as the inside goes - Eze takes the cake.

Now come take a walk with me through the narrow, cobblestone streets that were here when the Romans were.  The city was actually established close to 2000 BC.  That's B.C., people! The castle or fortress was built in 1388 AD and the church {first pictures} is the oldest standing building from 1306 AD.

Isn't this city fabulous?  I feel like I am living in medieval France and my knight in shining armor is going to show up any minute.  Except, of course, for the restaurant in the picture on the right.  I am sure that is from at least 1500 AD.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention, people actually live in this little fortress.  Amazing!  I don't think I would actually dig something like that, so many tourists all over the place, but so cool to live somewhere with such rich history.

This is the walkway to someone's home.  

View looking out from the fortress looking down on Nice.

A view looking up to the fortress.  As we were driving towards it, we saw the castle perched out there on a cliff and we all thought 'what the heck is that and how do you even get there!'  Thanks to our sometimes trusty GPS we made it and I am so glad we did!

There it is, just sitting out there about to fall off a cliff or something.  I stood on that edge!  Yikes!

The fam bam walking the many stairs.

Then we made our way to the old Roman ruins in Nice.  This was our historical day.  So stinkin' beautiful.

This ampitheatre is from the first century.  So incredible so much has lasted.  And no, I don't know that couple that is posing for this picture... whoops!

The funny thing about this place was that there was this beautiful park right next to the ampitheatre and the old Roman baths (which were next to this, I didn't get a picture) and people were in the park like it was nothing!  I mean maybe that is weird coming from an American, from California no less, where the oldest thing is my grandpa.  He's like 86 and has some great stories....

But as much as I love my grandpa and his stories he's told {many times} this trip was one of a lifetime and I feel so blessed we got to go!

On that note, I left for Sweden yesterday!  So I might be a little MIA next week, hang in there with me!  I will still have posts scheduled, etc. but just maybe a little slow on comments and things like that.

I have never been to Sweden, any must sees while I am there?