An evening with chocolate

Last night I attended a little party night at one of my Favourite Leeds Restaurants,Roast & Conch, the chocolate restaurant by Hotel Chocolate.  Roast & Conch has been my favourite Leeds Restaurant ever since I was graced with the delight of trying their white chocolate mashed potato. If anyone remembers Bodger and Badger, then I would say my love of the white chocolate mash is on par with Badgers. If you don't remember this then...well...YouTube it. It was a 90s Kids TV show about a badger who loved mashed potatoes, or least that's all I can remember about it. 

Where was I again? So anyhow when the invite landed in my email box to attend a launch night,well I was already scoffing the canopies down quicker than you can say...ermm.....mashed potato. 

Roast and conch has quite a unique concept in that all the food and plenty of the cocktails contain chocolate. Now your most likely looking at the fruity little number thinking WHERE'S THE CHOCOLATE! Well the Northside cocktail, contains none other than, chocolate gin! (cocoa gin, blackberries, mint, line, tonic water). I however only had eyes for the salted caramel soother (aged rum, amaretto,cocoa bitters, coconut milk and liquid salted caramel chocolate). Apparently chocolate heaven comes in chilled Martini glasses.

Those canopies weren't upstaged by the drinks either, despite spending a good 90% of the evening chowing down on chocolate roasted cocktail sausages and my dearest white choc mash, the other samples from the menu were't too shabby. 

spiced aubergine, gin cured salmon with a gin & tonic jelly garnish and a banana bread with a cocoa cream. All with a surprise chocolate (or cocoa gin) ingredient.

 Are you a chocolate lover or curious about the chocolate menu?

Currently you can receive 3 courses at Roast & conch for £25 with Pink Gorilla. 

SAMMIE

bloglovin . twitter . instagram

Glossybox | Pop art edit

When I posted the Iconic Hollywood edition Glossybox I mentioned there was an offer running with Glossy Box UK for two boxes for £22.00. The second of the boxes that arrived was the Pop Art Edit. I don't think I could bring myself to ever throw the box away it's so pretty. I was however quickly over the box and found myself yanking the lid of, pulling the pretty bow apart and diving into the goodies in excitement. 

Flutter so susan mascara 
I can't say I rated this too much, although it's a mascara, I will use it. 

Ciate paint pot, nail varnish 13.5ml
It's bright, it's yellow, it's pop art. Ciate is a popular nail varnish brand and one which is usually well reviewed and known for quality. It took two coats to really make the colour pop, but I liked this. Yellow nails aren't really fitting for my skin tone but a nice product. I just need a tan now to pull it of. This did last a good few days before chipping too.

Nuxe crème fraiche masque 50ml 
A super product for dry skin and creating a glowy fresh face for summer. The product had a floral somewhat overpowering smell which made me feel the product was somewhat "cheap". My skin felt moisturised and supple after which was great but unfortunately the scent was of-putting, for me personally.     

Etrebelle - Liftlip peel 15ml
Essentially a lip scrub and a nice product to have in your beauty stash. Perfect for prepping lips before a bold lippy colour and fighting dry chapped lips. 

Rimmel BB cream, shade light, 8ml
Quite a light product which provides a good medium coverage, defiantly more than most BB creams. Despite the matt finish which I often overlook the product looked fresh and gave a natural looking fresh faced finish. 

Yves Rocher | Quelques Notes d'Amour | L'Eau de parfume 5ml
I actually really really like this it's a similar musky smell (not in a grandma way) to other scents such as Gucci Rush. I'm finding it really hard to find this online to find the prices. I'm not 100% sure if this has been fully released yet. Either way it smells divine and the sample will be a great addition to my handbag until I track down a full sized bottle. 

SAMMIE

bloglovin . twitter . instagram

Nesquick Neapolitan panna cotta

Creating this Nesquick, Neapolitan panna cotta was quite frankly a genius brain wave baking moment (much like all the bakes I've shared on my blog recently). Nesquick quite frankly tastes like childhood and it's a product what still tastes just as good as an "adult". As a child Nesquick was something of a luxury in my house, I'm sure I wasn't the only one whose parents would grumble when there was no milk left, meaning Nesquick didn't always make it into the shopping trolley. 

I knew I wanted to make panna cotta as a recipe for Little blonde Life as it's such a great desert to add your own twist too. My idea originally was a Neapolitan version and the idea of adding Nesquick for flavour and colour worked amazing. I did also toy with the idea of angle delight, but Nesquick worked better. 

To make you will need:
750ml of double cream
750ml Milk (full fat)
3 x 12g sachet of powder gelatine 
2 x table spoons of chocolate nesquick
2 x table spoons of strawberry nesquick
1 x tea spoon of vanilla extract 
1 x table spoon of sugar

Chocolate layer 

1. Bring to the boil 250ml cream and 250 ml of milk together in a sauce pan. (keep stirring with a whisk whilst this simmers) 
2. Dissolve a sachet of gelatine in 2 tablespoons of boiling water (mix together in a seperate bowl until all the gelatine has dissolved). Note here gelatine doesn't smell nice at all.
3. Add the gelatine to the cream & milk, keep whisking.
4. Add the chocolate Nesquick powder and keep whisking. 
5. Remove from the heat and pour into your mould, glass, bowl (basically what ever you wish to use to set your panna cotta in).

Leave each layers to set for around 2 hours each. (I know not the quickest of bakes, but each step only takes around 10 mins).

Vanilla layer

1. Repeat steps 1 - 3
2. Add the vanillia extract and sugar. (There's no need to add the sugar in the Nesquick layers)
3. Top up your moulds of choice. 

Strawberry layer

1. Same as the chocolate layer but add the strawberry Nesquick powder instead of the chocolate. 

The recipe will make around 10 panna cotta's.

Enjoy the fact it's now defiantly ok to love Nesquick as an adult. Just make sure you stock up on extra milk for your tea.

SAMMIE

bloglovin . twitter . instagram

The Fragrance Shop discovery club spring 2015

The fragrance shop discovery club is a brilliant way to sample new perfumes and also receive a discount on some of the newest fragrances. 

The fragrance shop discovery club works by sending out quarterly boxes (spring, summer, autumn winter) containing samples of the latest fragrances. The annual subscription costs £20.00 per year, a one of fee with no commitment. As each box works out at £5 this cost is easily redeemed as the box also contains 5, £5.00 off vouchers and 1 £10.00 off voucher to use towards the perfumes. 

Perfume samples have come a long way since the days of rubbing your wrist against a scented page of a magazine and in fact all the samples are now handy mini 1ml / 2ml bottles. Which is around enough for 5 - 10 sprays so you can really find out how well the scent works for you. Plus the mini bottles are also brilliant for handbags and travel. 

The spring box contain 6 female samples and one male (There is a male version too for the boys).

Hugo Boss, Hugo Woman (£5.00 of voucher) RRP £44.50 50ml
They say: The fragrance opens with top notes of boysenberry and Italian mandarin, with heart of notes of jasmine sambac and fruity black plum, all balanced with a woody base note of sandalwood and cedar, warmed with amber. 

Givenchy, Very Irresistible (£5.00 of voucher) RRP £54.50 50ml
They say: A very dynamic sensual fragrance possessing the elegant floral top notes of rose and the exotic daring combination of peony and rose fantasia. A very appealing feminine scent by Givenchy. 

Guerlain, La Petite Robe Noire (£5.00 of voucher) RRP £51.50 50ml
They say: An absolutely essential and utterly irresistible perfumed creation. The legendary 'heart-shaped' bottle has been boldly reinterpreted with a modern touch. Its crystalline transparency, tinged with a delicate, powdery pink, reveals a sophisticated strapless dress, ready to dance!
Versace, Eros Pour Femme (£10.00 of voucher) RRP £69.50 50ml
They say: The scent opens with Sicilian lemon and calabrian bergamot for a vibrant top note that infuses jasmine and sambac heart notes, finished with creamy sandalwood and musk at the base.  

Dolce & Gabbana, Dolce Floral Drops (£5.00 of voucher) RRP £57.00 50ml
They say: Floral drops open with fresh neroli leaf and papaya flower with a light heart of white flowers and amaryllis, daffodils and water lilly. The base notes are cashmere, musk and sandalwood.  

Stella Mcartney, Stella EDT (£5.00 of voucher) RRP £56.50 50ml
They say: The EDT is a lighter scent with top notes of fresh mandarin and frozen lemon, and heart notes of bulgarian rose, violet leaves and peony petals, finished with an amber gris base note. 

Versace, Eros (Male) (£10.00 of voucher) RRP £47.00 50ml
They say: With notes of green apple, Italian lemon zest and mint oil at the top, heart notes of tonka bean and geranium flower, that all sit on a madagascan vanilla and cedar wood and oak moss base, creating a luminous aura.  

My favourite from the box this month is the Versace Eros Pour Femme, however at a RRP of £69.50 for 50ml, even with the £10.00 voucher the fragrance is still on the pricey side. However it does feel a perfume I would wear for best and since it's the same price as my current favourite fragrance Dior Addict EDP which is running low, the voucher will defiantly come in handy this month. 

Have you tried The Fragrance Shop Discovery Club?

SAMMIE

bloglovin . twitter . instagram

Pretty in prints with Bonmarche

Bonmarche recently got in touch with me, to ask how prints inspire my day. With spring here and the shops now a wash with colour & pretty prints and flowers beginning to blossom in the garden, I'm sharing with you a few items from my wardrobe with inspiring prints. 

To help me with the campaign Bonmarche also kindly send me a wonderful array of gifts with an assortment of pretty spring prints. I love the French chic print the journal, for me the print is perfect as a blogger as just looking at it fills me with inspiration of travel, French cookery and make's me want to up my home wear game. 

My current favourite print comes from my new fiesta smock dress. As shown in my latest outfit post here. The wild horses and Aztec print inspires me of Mexico and travel and maybe a summer BBQ or two. 

This geometric print on one of my all time favourite jackets is so bold. For me this always inspires me to think about the 80's and power dressing. 

What could make you want to book a summer holiday any more than the stunning woven print on my summer clutch. Clutch in one hand, ice cream in the other. Perfect. 

I would love to hear how prints inspire your day. Whether this be the perfectly painted nail art, new spring bedding, the cover on your favourite book or even a spring themed phone case. 

Why not check out more from the Pretty in Prints Campaign at Bonmarche and see what inspires you? 

SAMMIE

bloglovin . twitter . instagram

Bar Soba Leeds | Restaurant review

Last week Leeds saw the launch of a new restaurant. Bar Soba. Finally a new eatery which isn't a burger bar. Bar Soba is the newest edition to Merrion Street along side, the not long opened Manhatta and The Pit and old classics such as Verve and Mojos. 

With the perfect location selected Bar Soba offers a downstairs bar space, serving cocktails and a range of around the world beers then upstairs a modern dining space. I'm really quite impressed with the interior and the vibe Bar soba has created. Serving up pan-Asian style street food, the bar is unlike any others in Leeds. After attending the launch last week I was keen to actually sit down and enjoy just what Bar Soba had to offer. 

To start my friend Kel ordered the Thai sticky pork ribs £5.25 (sang som rum and lime marinated pork ribs finished with a sticky hosin glaze), I choose the char siu pork steamed buns £4.50 (with ginger plum). My starter didn't come across as very well executed, the sweet sticky pork filling was lost I the mound of "steamed bun" which engulfed any chance of flavour the meal had. I'm not sure if the bean sprouts were simply there to fill the plate, as they added nothing. Other than  making an already dry meal...well worse. I would of like to to have seen some dressing on these to add another flavour. Even my efforts of trying to drizzle a little soy sauce to the meal to add flavour was laughable when it simply seeped through the basket onto the table. The two pieces of ginger plum was nice but not enough to added a "sauce" to the dry meal. 

I had a sample of Kels pork ribs, which looked meatier than my meal and more flavoursome however the pork was greasy to say the least and any hosin glaze that may have been there was masked by the film of grease which filled my mouth. 

Forgetting the mediocre starters we moved onto the main courses. I finally decided on the Miso beer fillet with a honey glaze £15.95 (with pickled shitake mushrooms, tempura vegetables, rice and ginger soy dip) after lusting over most of the menu. 

My views on the restaurant quickly changed when I tried the beef which melted. It was a shame the plate was cold (although it did appear some mild attempt had been made to warm it) as everything cooled rather quickly. I usually expect this when beef is cooked pink in the middle (as I like it) it isn't going to stay warm for long, but I expected the tempura vegetables to be fresher and crisp. It seemed they had no crisp fresh texture and tasted again a little greasy. The rice was plain and had no fragrance or taste which didn't add much to the meal, other than bloat me, which patted down onto my plate also cooled pretty quickly. The ginger soy dip wasn't doing much either. By the time I had enjoyed the beef I was left with a plate of plain cold rice and greasy battered veggies, twiddling my thumbs. 

Kel ordered the Lemongrass and coconut chicken £12.95 (with a light green curry sauce and indonesian fried rice). Kels not as harsh as me when it comes to critiquing food, she did say the chicken was really nice, although she did look a bit taken a back to find prawns in her rice. I'm not sure if it's common knowledge Indonesian fried rice will contain prawns. This could maybe be explained on the menu or by the waiter. Again like the bean sprouts, the salad accompaniment was "undressed" sat looking a little shy on the side of the plate not adding the greatest amount of flavour. 

The one redeeming factor of the restaurant was the staff, attentive always smiling and generally an asset to the place. Don't get me wrong the restaurant is an amazing designed space in a brilliant location,  but far more attention needs to be paid to details...and the bean sprouts. Even the cocktails lacked ambition with what looked like fruit juice poured over cubes of ice, this is a picky one, but when I order a cocktail I want crushed ice. 

There is currently 50% of main courses vouchers at Bar Soba running on Pink Gorilla voucher website. 

SAMMIE

bloglovin . twitter . instagram

Scheduled post *currently away on holiday*

Luck Lust Liquor & Burn review | Manchester

When I recently ventured across to Manchester for the day, one thing on my mind was trying out a new place to eat. I had been recommended Luck Lust Liquor and Burn by Terri and since it was a sister restaurant of one of my favourite Leeds burger joints Almost Famous, I couldn't wait to see how Luck Lust Liquor &Burn compared.

Located in Manchester's Northern Quarter Luck Lust Liquor & Burn is a Mexican american eatery. I've found it fairly uncommon to every come across a restaurant which serves up both good quality Mexican food along side great burgers. Usually it often feels burgers are just added onto menus to please the masses, with little though or creativity going into them. 

As expected the restaurant serves up great cocktails, although I boringly opted for a glass of white wine, my friend kel was more in keeping with the theme with a glass of beer-garita. 

For starters me and Jess shared some of the chips and dips options. I choose the Bleu cheese and bacon dip and Jess the smashed guac. The guacamole arrived with all the fresh ingredients in a bowl and the waiter "smashed" this up to create fresh guacamole. I was kinda peeved that you wasn't able to do this yourself. It killed the concept really by watching someone else essentially play with your food. If anyone is playing with my food, i would like this to be me. The guac did taste lovely and fresh in fairness. The Blue cheese was far less exciting. The Blue cheese tasted like it was straight from a jar, if anyone remembers the ranch dressing from the Pizza Hut buffet it was basically the exact same. Both "chips" were less exciting. The guacamole came with basically Doritos and the Blue Cheese what looked like straight out the bag pop chips. I would of loved to have seen, crisp , home-made tortilla chips. 

The restaurant did redeem it's self....a lot, with the main courses. I opted for the taco roulette and other's burgers and burritos.

The taco roulette, consisted of  6 fish and chicken tacos, one loaded with damn hot sauce! Fun with your food theme continues. I actually loved this concept, it made me actually think about the flavours of the food and eat slower...you know just in case I need to reach for the wine water to put my mouth out. The tacos were all well thought out and a nice mix of flavours across the board with the chicken and fish both cooked well. I'm not sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate but I never noticed the hot sauce. Maybe this was a blessing. 

Overall despite a few grips about the "chips" I did really like Liquor and Burn, the fusion of Mexican and American worked well and creates a great menu to choose from. The quirky taco roulette is something a little different and works well to incorporate something fun into the menu without the need to start adding random ingredients *cough, the oreo ice cream topped burger* *cough* *almost famous*. 

I also thought the food was good value. starter £4, Tacos, £13. 

SAMMIE

bloglovin . twitter . instagram

Glossybox | Iconic Hollywood edit

I'm not usually one for subscribing to beauty boxes, but I landed myself on the glossy box mailing list after I purchased the limited edition Harvey Nics box some time ago. I purchased that box purely because it contained a full sized product from my favourite hair brand show beauty. Anyhow I noticed an email with regards to their current special offer of two limited edition boxes for £22.00 and thought I'd treat myself.

Despite not subscribing permanently to any subscription boxes, I do still love the excitement of surprise parcels.  Plus at £11.00 a box it was highly likely I would get my money worth from something inside the box...if not just from the excitement of waiting to find out just what the box would contain alone. 

The box contains: 

Lord and Berry, lipstick pencil in kiss, full size product £10.00

A classic orange-red lipstick would be an essential for creating any iconic Hollywood look. Unfortunately the Lord and Berry lip pencil doesn't exactly seem to provide the luxury expected from Hollywood as the fact it smelt like an actual pencil, was well, of-putting.That aside the colour was nice and it did last on the lips. The colour doesn't exactly suit me but a colour fitting for the iconic Hollywood theme. 

Pop Beauty, Kajai eyeliner pen, full size £6.50

Eye liner, I would guess is something nearly every girl has in her make up bag. So from the point of glossybox a full sized eye liner is playing it pretty safe. The eye-liner is a soft pencil, ideal for smudging (with the little smudger on the end) into a smoky eye look. The eye liner doesn't seem to last long though and in fact the "smudger" on the end seems to wipe it clean of your eyes. 

Darphin, Exquisage beauty revealing cream (sample size), full size £65.00 50ml

It's always hard to review a moisturiser, there are very few which I think wow! Plus it's always a little unfair to post a review after a few weeks. For the full size price tag I want a product that makes my skin glow after one use. Ok so the price tag is in line with many good quality moisturisers, but if I'm honest although the product certainly felt luxurious I don't plan on spending that kind of money on moisturiser until I feel I need wrinkle cream... 

Color club, barley there nail polish, full size £4.10

A nice nude colour and again in keeping with the Hollywood classic theme. The nude colour isn't anything I own in my nail polish collection (there's so many!) so it will be a nice edition. 

Nougat london soothing bath pearls £6.00 for 35ml

Due to only having a shower I couldn't try these. I do also feel bath pearls, bath salts and all that jazz looks a little old fashioned and I know it's something I would never purchase. My box contained the scent cherry blossom, although I couldn't smell anything, not sure if it would react better in water. 

SAMMIE

bloglovin . twitter . instagram

Home made coffee body scrub with Pre Loved UK

This Saturday I was invited to a little blogger event with Pre-loved UK. Held at Ziferblat in Manchester. 

Ziferblat was quite a confusing concept to me, a place almost set out like a fancy tea room crossed with your own living room,kitchen and dining room. Where you can eat cake all day, make yourself tea in their kitchen, drink pop from the fridge, sit on the sofa and play board games and all you pay for is your time there, £3.00 an hour. Such a cool concept and one that was a little confusing to me. Although not as confusing as spending all day thinking the ice machine in the kitchen was a bread maker. All round I was amazed. 

Pre Loved UK, is a is market place (online and app coming soon), to sell your unwanted furniture, unlike auction sites there are no listing fee's so it's completely free (and more profitable) to give your goodies a 2nd home. I also found you can search by area. Handy if you wish to collect items instead of waiting for the postman. Since browsing the site I've noticed so many pieces perfect for a summer up-cycling projects. Decoupage chair anyone? 

In keeping with the up-cycling DIY theme, we tried our hand at some DIY beauty projects. The first was making out own coffee body scrubs. I always have problems with buying body scrubs as there usually not "scrubby" enough, what's that word...ermm...gritty. The ones that are, are usually fairly pricey too. It never really occurred me to make my own. The coffee body scrub was super easy to make and smells amazing. Plus it was scrubby very gritty, yet with nourishing coconut oil to also sooth the skin,  perfect for getting your legs ready for summer. 

Coffee Sugar Scrub

2 scoops of coffee

1 scoop of sugar

1 glug (or if in a solid state, one scoop) of coconut oil

Add the coffee and sugar into a bowl

pour in the coconut oil and stir

(If the coconut oil is in a solid state a warm spoon with help scoop it out, plus a creaming motion (like your making a cake) will help mix the ingredients together until the coconut oil melt. 

Next we transformed old keys into necklaces. A very simple idea to create a new piece of jewellery. all you need is nail polish to paint the keys and some ribbon. You could also pick up some chain from craft shops.  

Over all a delightful way to spend my afternoon, thank you to Pre-Loved UK for the invite. 

Have you tried any DIY / Up-cycling projects?

SAMMIE

bloglovin . twitter . instagram