Food: Cassia Bark

Munching on some seriously good Indian food and I bit into something that looked like tree bark, I was about to start cursing the chef when I decided to smell the item in question to see if in fact it was a herb or spice. It smelt like a sweet cinnamon...but I wasn't sure if that was another herb or spice.

I headed over to google and found out my tree bark was actually Cassia Bark or Cinnamomum Cassia which is said to have originated in south China but is widely used in southern and east Asian cooking, including; Indian, Indonesian and Thai. 

I was right from the first unexpected bite, it was bark!

(what did we do before google?)

Cinnamon is said to have some great health benefits.

@MsShayDivine

Fashion: Choker necklaces

 

The 19century choker is back in stores. 

At first ,I wasn't into it as I remembered the plastic black beaded choker I used to wear when I was around 14 or 15. 

I loved it until one day it snapped and the beads bounced off my neck into my ex-boyfriend's face. lol

Anyway, I am over that now and I'm loving the choker trend all over again, especially as they have come a long way since the black plastic chokers of the 90's.

I recently was given a lovely black velvet one as a gift. I was so excited to wear it that I didn't try it on, I mean one size fits all, right? 

NO! lol

One size does not fit all! 

The day came to wear my new choker and instantly I felt like someone had me in a choke hold (pun intended). I checked the clasp and tried again...nope, it was not happening...Do I have a fat neck? I know it's short but I had never thought of my neck as fat...Oh lord please make it fit!

 I was determined to wear this choker, so I used my creative skills and decided to add a few extra links to the chain, it was perfect.

Check me out!

3 styles of choker I am loving right now....

The gold metal 

The Black Velvet

The Lace

For the fuller figured fashionista, Asos and Evans have some nice chokers.

£5.00 Asos Curve

£7.50 Evans

@MsShayDivine