Glow-in-the-Dark Jello (with Gin and Tonic!)

Glow in the Dark Jello?! Perfect for Halloween! This amazing little food invention was discovered by British food-design / architecture team Bompas & Parr who worked with an explosives expert to create this luminous, super cool Halloween treat for the big kids. The explosives expert came up with an edible ingredient that when added to Jell-O, it would cause this eerie glow. It turns out, when you add TONIC WATER to the jiggly-wiggly dish, it will appear to glow under the black light because of the quinine which is UV reactive! Scary and totally awesome!

Here’s Bompas & Parr’s yum-yum recipe:

INGREDIENTS
• 150 milliliters gin, such as Hendrick’s
• 300 milliliters Indian tonic water
• 50 milliliters Simple Syrup
• Splash of rose water
• 5 gelatin leaves
• UV black light

INSTRUCTIONS
Combine gin, tonic water, simple syrup, and rose water in a large heatproof measuring cup; set aside.

Cut gelatin leaves into fine pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Add enough gin and tonic mixture to cover and set aside until gelatin softens.

Place softened gelatin mixture over a pan of simmering water and heat until gelatin leaves are fully melted.

Remove gelatin mixture from heat and stir in the remainder of the gin and tonic mixture. Strain back into the measuring cup. Pour into a jelly mold or bowl and refrigerate until set.

Unmold jelly by briefly immersing the mold or bowl in a bowl of hot water, then invert over a serving plate. For maximum effect, turn off all the lights and switch on a black light, then serve the glowing jelly to thrilled diners.

Ta-dah!

Total: 20 mins, plus time to set
Active: 20 mins
Makes: About 3 servings

Source: www.chow.com

Cute Izakaya in LA

At LIVINGcute, we like to share cute, cool things. So why not share yummy food at a place called “Musha”!

Cindy talks about our mini get togethers called GNO a.k.a. Girls Night Out. It’s so much fun to round up the bunch for a night to gossip and laugh at our (sometimes) extremely stupid jokes. Add a pitcher of beer to that equation, and the stupid jokes become even funnier.

Quite a few of our GNO’s have been held at a cute restaurant called Musha in Torrance, CA. Musha is an izakaya, a Japanese version of the tapas bar. There you order various plates of food to share and its super fun because everyone can try a little bit of everything! We probably don’t even need a menu because we almost always order the same things – M.F.C a.k.a. Musha’s fried chicken, crispy chicken served with ponzu (soy sauce with a hint of citrus) and grated daikon radish; Ebi Mayo Mayo, deep fried shrimp with a creamy mayonnaise sauce (pictured above); the house salad; and the cheese risotto. Don’t get scared by the hunk of cheese that the cheese risotto comes in. (You’ll know what I mean when you order it!)

So if you ever see a group of four tipsy girls being a teeny bit too loud, giggling away and not acting their age at all…come over and say HI!

It’s probably us..

Tip: this restaurant gets packed real quick! So get there early!

Musha
1725 West Carson Street
Torrance, CA 90501
310.787.7344

Mon-Sat 6:00pm-11:30pm
Sun 6:00pm-10:30pm

How to Make a Cute White Gummy Bear Cocktail

LIVINGcute is definitely huge a fan of Gummy Bears (aka Gummi Bears). It’s a cute, mini, colorful bear treat that we all grew up with and love indefinitely. And of the entire bunch, isn’t the very best flavor the mysterious tropical WHITE bear????

Well, Mari, our very own cute beverage specialist, was informed by a little bird, a fantastic concoction that tastes exactly like the white gummy bear candy. No exaggeration. The recipe is unique and it will definitely taste better and more accurate than any you find on Google.

Required Ingredients:

• 1oz raspberry vodka (or a bit of white cranberry for a virgin drink)
• 1/2oz sweet and sour
• 1/2oz peach schnapps
• Splash of sprite

Mix!

The great thing about this mini-cocktail is that you can adjust to your liking and it will pretty much taste the same. Of course we like our drinks on the stronger side…maybe that’s why I can never wake up after our GNOs…

Enjoy! It’s a cute drink to start any night out!

GNO4Life

GNO stands for Girls’ Night Out, and I strongly believe it’s something every good group of girlfriends should have in order to stay sane.  My friends and I all have full time jobs, live in different cities and have many personal time consuming activities including boyfriends, babysitting, cooking (not me, hehe), family affairs, working out etc etc.  Sound familiar?  I’m sure a lot of you can relate to this: the older you get, the harder it is to make time for each other, and that’s extremely unfortunate.

With that said, it became mandatory that we have GNOs.  Especially when one of the girls are stressed, had a horrible week, lost a boyfriend or just because we miss each other.  It’s definitely not easy and we go through about 30 emails just to set up a time and place.  But it’s so worth it.  We’re all not going to be young forever, but when the four of us get together, it’s as if we’re teeny boppers all over again, and that’s how it should be. Again, I must reiterate that yes, it’s hard to set up sometimes, and simple dinner plans have to be made 2 months in advance, but laughing with your girls over a glass of wine and tapas is like pressing the reset button in your life.  Stress is reduced and you definitely feel the sisterhood.  You’ll go to work or school the next day feeling so much better.

So stop making excuses and start making time for your very own GNOs with your bestest friends.  It’s for your sanity.