Diary Of A Meowing Lushie: Lush Christmas Gift Guide

Meow!

So welcome to another episode of DOAML or Diary Of A Meowing Lushie. As Christmas is coming up soon, I thought that it would be good to do a Christmas Gift Guide/What to buy someone for Christmas from Lush. (All except the logo and Snow Fairy bottles are from Lush's website. The logo is from the US website.)

The first sort of gift that I am going to suggest is for the fans who are addicted to Snow Fairy. Honestly, it makes me feel nauseous when I smell it but that's just my personal opinion. I would get someone who are obsessed with the Candy Floss inspired scent a Magic Wand to begin with for the strongness and design of the product, I would also get them a Candy Mountain just in case because I know from experience that the wand sometimes leaks a lot after being in the water. I would also suggest purchasing a Father Christmas which has a more subtle scent of Snow Fairy compared to the rest of the products. There's also the main star which is a massive 1kg bottle of Snow Fairy and a Snow Angel knot wrap to wrap these amazing products up. If you want to go more out there then I'd suggest adding a cheeky 100g slab of Rockstar for all the year hand washing.

Borrowed from Lush Plymouths Twitter @lushplymouth
1kg is £21.50 but prices start from £3.95

£5.25

If your family are more of a The Comforter fan like I am then I suggest you buy a The Comforter bubble bar, a 100g slab of Reindeer Rock which shares the same fragrance as The Comforter bubble bar. I would also buy a big 500g bottle of The Comforter Shower Cream which is nourishing and conditioning due to the oils within the product. I would also buy either a voucher of The Comforter treatment from the Lush Spa or if you don't have that much money then I'd suggest buying The Comforter Treatment CD.

£3.25 per 100g

£4.95

What I suppose I'm saying is if you're buying for someone who loves Lush and loves a particular product then base a little gift set around it and give it to them in a nice box with a ribbon or get a nice knot wrap and see if the staff at your local Lush would teach you how to wrap.

If you're wanting to buy a selection of Christmas limited edition products then I shall suggest the ones that I would buy. Obviously you don't have to go for these but if you're a bit stuck on what to buy a indecisive Lushie then this may help. I would get a mixture of bath ballistics, maybe a lip scrub and a soap if you're not wanting to go too far into your wallet. It gives a good selection of products, scents and textures. If you know the person that you're buying for only prefers bath ballistics etc then solely buy them,

The first bath ballistic I would suggest for the Christmas set is Luxury Lush Pud due to the sweetness of the product from the Lavender and Tonka Absolute and the spices which make it oh so festive then maybe a Golden Wonder as it gives a citrus feel to the whole cold season. I would also add a So White to give a fresh feel to December. I would also maybe add a Father Christmas if you want to add a hint of Snow Fairy to the whole gift set. If you want to go fully festive then I suggest indulging into a Yog Nog Bath Ballistic because the scent instantly makes you think of Christmas with the spices and creaminess of the ballistic. There is more to the Christmas range so if you want to add anything moneywise then you obviously can.

£3.95

£3.95

£3.95

The last sort of gift set I would do is mainly for the body which I know is a different but I know that some people love to pamper their body so I thought why not? I'd suggest a Celebrate Body Lotion to begin with which is £12 but it is massive. The scent reminds me of Golden Wonder but has nourishing butters in to nourish and help the body during the cold months. I would also add one of the solid scrubs which are Rub Rub Rub which has sea salt in, Rough With The Smooth which is half scrub half moisturiser or the new festive Sea Salt and Peppermint Bark which is meant to remind you of a Candy Cane. I would also add a massage bar when you want to have a little bit of me time without getting the massive body lotion out. The ones that I would suggest are Wiccy Magic Muscles for when you've shopped too much, Each Peach which is very citrus to brighten your day or Shades Of Earl Grey which is quite soothing and a relaxing scent. If you want to go all out then maybe add either a face mask/scrub eg Cup Of Coffee which contains Coffee Beans and Cocoa which will wak you up when you're too tired to get out of that warm bed.

£5.95

Priced the same as the item above

I hope that this has helped you decide on what you want for Christmas and if you love Lush then I hope that this has helped you. I hope that this hasn't came too early Christmas wise and I hope to see you next time for another blog post.

Check out here for Lush's Christmas Range.

Meow!
Jamie x

New City Soul | The Broadway Bradford VIP Opening

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Stage setting up before the talks.
Has The Broadway all over so made sense for the feature image.

I was invited to the VIP preview launch of The Broadway Shopping Centre in Bradford a few hours before it opened to the public and I thought I would tell you guys about it.

The Broadway is a shopping centre that has took various years to build within Bradford due to many reasons such as the recession. The Broadway finally started construction over a year ago and with the commitment of builders has become a hub for many shoppers within Bradford and West Yorkshire. It has cost around £260M to create and will be the one of the central features of Bradford for many years to come. It contains stores such as H&M, Next, shops from The Arcadia Group (Topman, Topshop etc and many many more.

When I got the email saying that I had been invited to the VIP event I was excited not just because it was to a shopping centre but more to the fact that I live in Bradford and I spend Monday-Friday in Bradford Town Centre due to going to college there so being invited to the most anticipated and talked about thing within Bradford made me very excited to go.

When myself and Luke arrived, we talked to the security staff that were outside. We explained that we had been invited and were escorted throughout the centre to a place where we were given a map and a Press badge. We then decided to roam around the shopping centre taking photographs of most of the stores. They were shut as they were getting final things ready so they could release the store to the public. (I did go in after college as well so when I go a bit into detail about stores then its because I went in then as well as before it opened to the public.)

Debenhams is the first store that we passed due to the stand with the press badges were outside the store. The store is one of the anchor stores within the shopping 'mall' which means that it's quite a large store. The first floor that you can enter is massive and contains beauty stands such as Bobbi Brown, Illamasqua, MAC and many many more. I can imagine that on a Saturday this floor will be full of people getting their beauty product favourites for the months ahead. The second is more clothing which at the minute contains everything festive from casual jumpers to party dresses. The third floor contains more home things such as cushions etc, gifts including food gifts from brands such as Nandos and others, kids clothing and a restaurant. I can imagine Debenhams doing very well on it's very first store within Bradford.

The second store that I'll talk about in detail is H&M. If you have seen my latest hauls or anything like that then you will know that I love a good look in H&M. The store looks massive even though it's not one of the anchor stores. The lighting is amazing and I only had a look for a couple of minutes so sadly I couldn't see if they had the new Balmain collection. The mens stuff is upstairs and I can see myself popping in now and again to have a look/a naughty purchase after a long day at college.

We then passed the food court after passing the cinnamon scented stall which is Mr Pretzels which is on the other side of the centre. The food court contains some massive franchises such as Subway, Burger King and Taco Bell. It's the first time that Taco Bell has even been in Bradford/West Yorkshire as the nearest one is Barnsley from what I know. The court has sectioned out seats for different vendors and has a casual attitude such as Trinity Kitchen does within Trinity Leeds. I can see myself going in for a Burger King when I need a fix of food after college or something like that.

After having a roam about and finding fellow amazing blogger friends Kellie and Laura, we were told to go to red carpet section within the centre. We were then treated to speeches from the CEO of Westfield, Councillor David Green and the Lord Mayor Of Bradford which were exquisite and interesting to say the least. We were then also treated to a casual interview with X Factor & The Bodyguard Musical star Alexandra Burke who then cut the ribbon of the shopping centre and sung for us. She's an amazing singer!

Myself and Luke then rushed to Costa due to their Christmas range coming out earlier that day. Luke was obsessed with the Black Forest Hot Chocolate so he knew what he wanted and due to myself having no clue what other drinks they had brought out I decided to go for the same. Costa Hot Chocolate with an added shot of Blackberry flavoured syrup, topped with cream, cherry sauce and a sprinkling of chocolate curls.

There was a friendly barista at the door that greeted us which I loved. I ordered, paid and then found some seats which I sat myself and Luke down at. I brought the drinks over and realised that behind every chair there was a tote bag embossed with a message from Costa and their logo which I was allowed to take. We chatted about our thoughts of The Broadway whilst being disappointed that there was no Wifi accessible within Costa which felt weird due to the general coffee shop stereotype of typing things up whilst drinking an artisan coffee. I drank the drink which is amazing. I'm not a big fan of Cherries but the Blackberry syrup made the cherry flavour a bit more subtle and kind of reminded me of The Comforter within a drink. Sounds odd but was delicious. There was also another barista that came round to ensure that everything was great. I doubt that they will do this often but its a great feature for an opening day thing. He was kinda cute and was interesting as we had a conversation about the fact that the drinks had changed this year including the Black Forest Hot Chocolate.

We then went around and had a look at the inside of The Body Shop and Boots as I have a feeling that I will be in there a lot after college or when I need something beautywise and then we headed home as I had to get ready to go back out to college and then go back to The Broadway with friends

I think that The Broadway will do well in Bradford and bring in a lot of customers and income especially with shops that used to only be in Leeds such as Debenhams making it an easy pit stop for people who live in Bradford and want to grab something. I think The Broadway will do well and even though the wait has been long and anticipating it was completely worth it when I was there on Thursday.

Have you been to The Broadway since it opened? If so then let me know down below! I hope to see you next time for another blog post! Thanks to the staff who invited me to the event!

If you want to check out The Broadway Bradford's New Website then click here.
If you want to check their Twitter then click here.

Meow!
Jamie x

Getting Hot Hot Hot With Spice | Bundobust Menu Tasting - Leeds

Meow!

I got invited to try out Bundobust's new menu this week and I thought I would tell you guys all about it.

Bundobust is a vegetarian Indian restaurant. There is one within Leeds and one within Manchester that I know of. The whole concept is based around casual indian food that caters for the people within the world who doesn't eat meat.

It was our first time within Bundobust and after some great directions from Kel as it has become a tradition that I end up getting lost when it comes to trying to get to events from Leeds Train Station. (We realised that it was literally about a two/three minute walk from the station...) We had no clue what to expect when we finally came to the restaurant but out expectations were met via the sheer beauty of the interior of the restaurant. The glass doors that you entered via, the seating, the candlelights, the wallpaper, pictures, everything just looked so beautiful especially at night which is when we went.

We were allowed to try all five new dishes which are also gluten free and a cocktail each (myself and Luke went like per usual) but also like per usual we didn't really know what was fully going on so we got told something totally different (it got sorted out as we talked to a lovely member of staff who I can't for the life of me remember the name of) so I ordered a Mango Lassi for myself and Luke. I love mango anything including mango body butter so I knew that I would instantly love this. It was like a mango milkshake which would be great with the dishes as lactose/dairy is meant to cool you down after anything with a good hit of heat in. The pistachios that were on the top of the drink gave some texture to the drink which was lovely. I think if anything flaws had to picked out then all I could say is maybe some pieces of mango to make extra amazing!

The first dish that we tried was Paneer and Mushroom Tikka. This consists of Paneer, Mushroom and Peppers marinated in yoghurt curd and tikka masala which is then barbecued and served with a combo of a unique ketchup and a spinach chutney. If you don't know what Paneer is then the best way to describe it is the cousin of Halloumi. It's one of those cheeses that doesn't melt due to the water content and instead browns when it has been cooked. I loved the look of this dish when it arrived at our table. The paneer gave a slight salty edge to the dish where as the peppers contrasted this via their sweetness. The textures within this dish were amazing as well as the softness of the roasted pepper against the crispy edges of the paneer were amazing. I love Mushrooms and I think that their texture being very close to meat makes any meat eaters that go very very happy. I nearly ate it all but due to my stomach not liking lactose a lot couldn't cope eating any more of the Paneer after a while.

The next dish that we had was Tarka Dhal with Rice. This dish consisted of a mixed lentil curry cooked with an oil tempered with cumin, garlic and chilli which is served on basmati rice. I'm not a big fan of lentils but it gave such a good texture to the dish which meant you got a little bit of a bite with the smoothness of the oil tempered sauce. The heat was there but it wasn't too much for me but I love Fresh Ginger and Garlic so that's probably why. It was definitely warm but a dish that is amazing for when it's cold outside. The rice gave a fluffy texture to the dish and honestly if you didn't have the rice with the dish then I don't think it would be as good. It's infused via the curry and is just delicious.

The next dish that we tried was the Punjabi Kadhi. This is a warm Yoghurt soup cooked with Onions, Coriander Seeds and Ginger and served with Gobi Bhaji Dumplings. I loved this. The coriander seeds gave a distinct flavour to the soup which made me love it. I graze on a full bunch of Coriander when it's in front of me because I love it that much. The Onions and Ginger were there but it was an overwhelming sense of them. It just gave a subtle hint to the dish. I'm not used to a Yoghurt soup but it's something different but at the same time I suppose it's just like having coconut milk in a curry dish. The dumplings gave some texture to the dish and I loved them. I think that they might have been a bit better on the side rather than on top just because different people (me and Luke) have different opinions of how much of a dumpling should be submerged in a dish.

The next dish that I had was Biryani Bhaji Balls. Make all the innuendos you want because I know what you readers are like! Arancini meets biryani. Fried rolled rice flavoured with whole spices and rose served in a richly spiced tomato sauce. Oh my god, I loved these balls. The crispiness of the outside contrasted with the fluffiness of the inside. Just bliss. Luke doesn't like Arancini so he tried and then went nope but I kept eating them. The spiced were there but they weren't in the face and nor was the rose. (If it was then it would have probably reminded me of a bath bomb and I love bath products but not that much to start eating them for tea.) The sauce was incredible. The spices in the sauce made it incredible. I could have eaten more and more of the balls and the sauce. A great hybrid of dishes and cultures.

The last dish of the new menu that we tried was Chole Bhatura. Chickpeas in a rich onion and tomato sauce which is served with a soft Indian flatbread. The chickpeas were gorgeous in this dish. They gave the dish its filling nature. The sauce was delicious but it had a lot of spice which after all the other dishes meant that I could only eat so much of it. I love a good onion and tomatto sauce though. I seriously do. The flatbread was amazing though. I think I could have eaten loads of this for the whole night. They were the perfect thing to dip into the curry as it was just soaking up all the gorgeous juice.

All of the dishes were amazing in their own right and honestly they will all warm up you during the colder months even if its just via the warm tomato sauce thats served with the Biryani Bhaji Balls which could be shared between two with drinks for a catch up. Bundobust is an amazing place if you want something warming, love Indian food or are looking for something new and exciting, It has a great price range for food and drinks.

Have you tried any of the new dishes at Bundobust? Have you ever been to Bundobust before? Let me know in the comments down below! I can't thank the staff at the Leeds branch enough for being so kind and amazing. I hope to see you next time for another blog post.

Meow!
Jamie x

I Have No Clue Anymore | My Mental Health At The Minute

Meow!

http://www.mind.org.uk/

As you can tell by the title of this post, it's going to be about mental health. Due to the topic of the post, I feel like I should warn you of things that may trigger you whilst reading which include mentions of anxiety, depression, suicide, self harm. There may be other things that may be triggering within this post and I'm sorry if they trigger you. If you don't want to read this then that's fine as I shall be back tomorrow with a review sort of post which may be more up your street. 

So the whole point of this post is to try and tell you how I'm doing and probably to make myself aware of how I'm feeling at the minute but as it's complicated I may end up rambling. Mental health is something close to my heart and everyone should openly talking about it which would someday hopefully remove the stigma and taboo behind mental health.

I started college again a few months ago after redoing my GCSE's for various reasons and as every other student within the world, going back to college/education is a struggle. I found that I had to completely stop posting blog posts for a bit whilst I sorted my bearings out which meant everything within my life got a bit haywired, Due to college, I got stressed easily and quite anxious as I had to connect with new people, talk to new tutors, find out how much work I could handle as it was completely different from the year before and try to juggle writing posts with figuring out what I'm meant to repeating again and again in my head to ensure that I'm learning it,

My depression has also been making appearances lately but I think its mainly due to the fact that I have felt quite lonely just due to the friends that I completely adore being on the other side of the UK, not knowing a lot of people within this year of college and other various reasons. I lost a good chunk of friends due to things happening this year who I could see on a daily basis so being on my own has made me kinda worthless as I thought no one gave a shit for a while.

Having quite bad anxiety has also made me wonder how the hell am I coping most of the time as well (I think I'm meant to be the one who knows the answer to that...) ,My anxiety has made life kinda hazy? One of the weird/bad points of having anxiety is trying to explain that you have memory loss to some degree as they wonder how you can remember the most random things possible when you can't remember other things. My memory loss has gotten worse as I genuinely have started to forget what happens the day before or the morning before which is quite bad when you're meant to be a student who's learning and studying. I think that having a blog and dragging someone along to things helps that as I can look back at things and remember via the words and pictures or if I'm finding it hard to remember what happened at an event.

The other quite shitty parts of anxiety are obviously anxiety attacks and honestly I can't count on how many I have had but I wouldn't wish them on anybody I hate because they're that bad, Not knowing anyone this year or not knowing the tutor makes it quite hard to explain when you're having an anxiety attack as you don't get to plan them they just kinda happen. When your tutor doesn't even know you makes it harder as well because you don't trust them enough to confide in them and tell them so you just let them question why you've ended up spending 20 minutes in the bathrooms...

If I typed about all the things to do with anxiety that are in my life then I would be here for a coupleof days just typing but there are other things in my life which make me wonder what my mental health is like and I'm going to try and explain them in the quickest way possible without getting into too much stuff.

The other things mentally that I felt like I need to talk about is how I've kind of being a lot more suicidal lately and it's mainly for many many reasons. I doubt I would ever do it even though I have planned it all out within the past. I just feel like sometimes the world would be a lot lot better off without me but then I end up sleeping due to tiring myself out and realise that this little blog is kind of my legacy at this point and to make this the most perfect it can be I have to be alive to do that.

Leading on from above I also have had quite strong thoughts about self harm. I am over two years clean and thats a massive achievement for me. It's just sometimes I remember that feeling that you'd get after you had cut and how great it felt at the time and I just feel like sometimes I need to do that just so I can feel like I can try and cope and I know that sounds so stupid and silly but self harm is an addiction and it becomes your life and I just sometimes feel like I want to go back to how I feel when I was in that time period. I thankfully realise how far I have gotten since I last cut and then I remember that when I got my piercings I said I wouldn't ever do it again and I stick to my promises.

I have no clue what I feel like or am like anymore but I suppose the best thing is to just try and carry on every single day and take it as it comes everyday as some days will be more difficult than others and that I do have friends no matter how far away who care and love me and who I can talk to when things get really really shitty.

I'm sorry if this post has been rambly or very distressing, I just felt like I needed to get it off my chest. I hope that you've found this post readable and interesting. I hope to see you next time for another blog post. If you want comment down below about how you feel and hopefully we can all help each other.

Try and go to your GP if that is possible for you and check out Mind (an amazing charity) for advice and help.

Meow!
Jamie

Come And Join The CommYOUnity! | CommYOUnity Media

Meow!

So I thought I would do a short blog post today (I say short but I will still end up rambling a lot)...

If you were reading my blog about a year ago then you will remember Aaron from my Lush Christmas Blogger Event post which I shall link heren case you wanna read it. Well he has created a new blog post and I thought I would talk to you guys about it today as it's an amazing project and Aaron is an amazing person so I thought why not?

Aaron has created a new project up which is called CommYOUnity Media. CommYOUnity Media is essentially a promotion environment where people can promote their things such as blogs, YouTube channels etc to other members who will promote it and give something back. Essentially it's a helping and giving back platform. It's also about nurturing said content creators who may be creating alternative content or independent things and helping them blossom into amazing people who therefore create amazing content. (Plus as it's based via YouTube, the pun CommYOUnity is a great one.)

Aaron has started the project via YouTube where he has started a series called Rise and Shine where essentially he talks about inspirational and motivating topics and ideas and makes sure the audience can do the same thing which lets the audience and himself rise and shine as people. The first and I think second one have gone up on the YouTube channel which consists of Aaron sharing his ideas for the project and what some of his friends wanted to do within the future. The second one is about a Chubby Bunny and something to do with satan but I've not had time to watch it yet due to writing blog posts, college and blogger events.

The whole other point of the YouTube channel is that other creators who are Aaron's friends shall be uploading their original content so the audience of the channel will get a varied amont of different content and also will be able to support and watch some amazing creators. Aaron is also doing sketches and certain things for the channel. He is also writing up what happens in every episode which shows dedication and gives a more in depth description of the video in a sort of council minutes sort of form.

If you want to check out the channel, click here.
If you want to go onto the CommunYOUnity Media Twitter then click here.
If you want to check out Aaron's Twitter, click here.
If you want to check out the CommYOUnity Blog then click here.

If Life Was So Simple | Simply Nigella Review

Meow!

I hope that you are having a great Monday and a good start to the week! This week shows the start of Nigella Lawson's new series Simply Nigella. You probably all know that I adore Nigella Lawson as a person and her cooking style so I thought I would tell you about the book which goes along with the series in the blog post today.

So just to sum up Nigella if you've been living under a rock for quite some time or something like that, she's a woman well known for her cooking shows and books on various channels such as BBC and Channel 4. Nigella is also a freelance journalist and has written for various newspapers and some magazines. Nigella has also been a mentor on The Taste (which was shown on Channel 4) and The Taste USA. She has that much of a love for Italian food that she wrote a full cookbook on the cuisine of Italy which is called Nigellissima which was then later created into a show on BBC.

If you read my post on Nigellissima or if you check Social Media you will know that I adore Nigella so when I knew that I could get my hands on her newst book that I could add to my collection I was thrilled. I instantly went to Waterstones and preordered it. A week passed and I went back in to collect this cooking bible. I took it home with me and took a few pictures which I uploaded to Instagram as I wanted everyone to see what I had bought and more so buy it themselves.

I handled this book with care as I knew that in months to come I would be cherishing this book to make most of my meals out of. The book contains 8 different chapters offering their own uniqueness to the book which makes it an amazing book. They all have one thing in common which is simplicity hence the title of the book.

The first one is an introduction to the book. It also is the chapter where if you were to meet Nigella you would instantly realise how amazing she is before going into details about her life or details about her day etc. The chapter talks about how to get things that are slightly hard to purchase in your local shop which I think is great as you don't have to google some complicated ingredients and spend two weeks tracking it down so you can use it in one recipe. Nigella also talks about what cooking means to her personally and why she created this book. She wanted a book that would fit in with life as she believes that what cooking is all about. It's making food that suits you when you need it and something that isn't a chore.

The first recipe based chapter is called Quick and Calm. The chapter kinda explains what it is in its own entirety but I think that the chapter is all about food that is quick time wise which may mean cooking time or prep time and calm to cook so you're not making 20 different dishes that all need to be cooked in 15 minutes for a party but you're cooking something quick to satisfy your hunger needs.

This includes recipes such as Feta and Avocado Salad with Red Onions, Pomegranate and Nigella Seeds. This is a quick recipe but its calm at the same time. You're not trying to fry something within 5 minutes but instead you're just making a calm salad and making it luxurious with Red Onions, Pomegranate and Nigella Seeds. (Sidebar, if I shared a name with a seed and I was a cook, I would have it scattered on top of every dish because well the seed shares the same name as me.) There's also things such as Miso Salmon which may take some time roasting in the oven but its a quick dish to prepare as you only need to do a few things and then leave the fish in the bag to marinate and become succulent before cooking it. There is also dishes such as Prawn and Avocado Lettuce Wraps which are a modern twist on the infamous Prawn Cocktail which means all you have to do is calmly prepare a few things and then there you go a dish is ready to eat which you haven't stressed about.

The next chapter is all about bowlfood. I don't think I really need to explain what Bowlfood is. Nigella thought it would be good to create some recipes which need to be served in a bowl and enjoyed in bed or on the sofa where you can enjoy the food and yourself at the same time. I am partial to a good helping of bowlfood every now and again especially when it gets even colder and all you want to do is stay in your bed and watch TV/YouTube/Netflix. There is a good amount of bowlfood recipes such as Shepherds Pie and other amazing things but I've read my way through the book and chose three great recipes.

The first one is Thai Noodles with Cinnamon and Prawns. I believe that this is a great recipe for when it gets colder or you want something hearty but doesn't take too much time. I love Thai Noodles, I love the scent and taste of Cinnamon as the warmth from the Spice instantly reminds me that the colder months are just around the corner and Cinnamon does amazing things for your body such as muscle spasms, your immune system and much more.

The second recipe is Sweet Potato Macaroni Cheese. Macaroni Cheese is a comfort soother but is also made for bowlfood. The addition of Sweet Potato makes it vegetarian but it also gives it a nice Sweet yet Savoury taste to the dish which also cuts through the creaminess of the Macaroni Cheese. I probably would eat it all in one go from the bowl I cooked it in but it is instantly something I would cook when I need a little soothing. If you add a little spice to it then it would be amazing for the Winter months.

The last bowlfood recipe is Pasta alla Bruno which is based off her sons favourite dish. In my opinion any pasta dish is amazing in a bowl in my opinion but this pasta will be fit for queens,

There is other chapters including Dine, Sides and a few others. There are some amazing recipes such as Short Ribs, Sake Drumsticks, Chicken Cosima (based off Nigella's daughter), Leek Pasta Bake and a few other savoury dishes. I also love the Cookie Dough Pots and Nutella Brownies which only have four ingredients. I'm planning on doing a few of these for my food series which will be coming soon. There is another chapter which is based off mornings which has the cult classic Smashed Avocado's On Toast.

The series shall be starting tonight and hopefully includes a few of the recipes mentioned above. If you have some tonight then watch it if not then you will be able to watch it on BBC iPlayer at a later date. If you adore Nigella then don't forget to comment down below. I hope that you are having a great day and I hope to see you next time for another blog post.

Buy the Simply Nigella book here
Simply Nigella is on Mondays at 8:30pm on BBC2. .

Meow!
Jamie x

Fluffier Than Any Cloud In The Sky | Boomf Marshmallow Review

Meow!

So a while ago, I went to NW meet which you can read about here. I won some Boomf marshmallows which I am going to talk about today,

Boomf are a business that started up a couple of years ago. The whole concept of the business is that you can order bespoke marshmallows which you can personalise with whatever pictures you want. For example, pictures of you and your partner for an anniversary or of yourself and your friends for a friends birthday etc etc. Kate Middleton's brother owns the company which surprised me when I found out. The flavours that you can get are either Double Vanilla or Strawberry and comes at a price of £15 for 9.

I spent a long time choosing which pictures I wanted on top of my marshmallows. In the end I decided to choose a mixture of selfies, Lush products and pictures/selfies with a couple of people from a while ago. I also decided to get a personal message with my package just in case my day wasn't going that well when I received them. I then punched in my code and then clicked Done. As it was a free code, this stopped me from needing to punch in my card details which is always a bonus when it comes to ordering things online. I then got a few more emails which said that if I wanted to change anything then I had 15 minutes to do so before the website finalised my order.

Fast forward to a few days later, I get in from college and see that there is a parcel on the side for me. I open it and instantly realise that it is my Boomf package. The box was packaged in a sort of cardboard photo frame which I think is a nod to the photos on the marshmallows. The box had a cute design on it. I open the box and see that the photos I had chosen were printed as a collection of actual photos which means that I can keep this as a memento and just to have a look at now and again and then below this was the actual marshmallows which looked exactly the same as the photos. The colours of the photos on the marshmallows were as bright as the actual photos and as they were on instagram they looked exactly the same on my Instagram account.

On the website, they say that they can be kept up to three months if you don't take them out of the packaging that they come in or a few days when you do take them out of the packaging. I left them a week until I decided to finally open them and eat one whilst I was doing a blog post in college because well I need energy especially to write and especially to even get up to travel to college.

The texture of them are fluffy and spongy. Texture wise you get your moneys worth. The taste of them was very vanillary. It reminded mainly of a Vanilla Cupcake candle from Yankee Candle which sounds weird but they did. If they had flecks of Vanilla Bean in then I think they would have been the absolute king of marshmallows. I even put one in with a hot chocolate before bed and it gave the drink a luxurious feel and gave off its vanilla aroma to the drink.

On the whole, these are an amazing gift to give someone if they love marshmallows and you want to celebrate something big. They taste amazing and are such a personal gift to give someone. It's also quite fun to get one of someone and then rip it apart but thats just me. I personally wouldn't pay the price they are but I understand why they are the price they are. I would give them an 8.5/10 if I was rating them.

 I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post. If you click on Boomf throughout this post then it will send you to their website. Have you tried Boomf before? If so then let me know down below! Do you enjoy me talking about food/food reviews? If so then let me know down below so I know to do more food orientated posts. I hope to see you next time for another blog post.

Meow!
Jamie x

Cider Tasting Event | Blind Pig Event at The Maven Leeds With Michelle & Luke

Meow!

Last week, I brought my friend Michelle and Luke to an event that was in Leeds. I thought I would tell you all about it and mention my friend Michelle a good few times as she takes some amazing photos. If you click on Michelle's name throughout the post then it should send you to her Flickr where you can check out her photos.

The brand's concept is all about bringing the 1920's to the current era (a quote says that its based on 1920 speakeasies) via influencing the drinks on what would be the sophistication of society back then or something along those lines. The brand consists of three different ciders which all have other spirit flavours within the drinks but doesn't contain said spirit. The bottles of the cider are 500ml vintage brown bottles which may be a nod to back then and are priced at £4.95. The brand name is apparently to do with the whole 1920's concept but don't quote me on that.

I met my friend Michelle on the day and we made our way to the train station to catch the train to Leeds. Myself, Michelle and Luke ed and slightly ranted about anything and everything as we normally do when getting on a train to Leeds. We got into Leeds and made our way to Roast + Conch as we had came into Leeds a bit too early. We looked at the new Halloween range and tried the taste of the month which is a Butterscotch truffle with a red oozing centre for Halloween. We exited the store and made our way to Lush as Michelle hadn't smelt the new things. Let's just say we spent a lot of time and Michelle spent a lot of money restocking her Lush collection...

We made our way to Corn Exchange as The Maven's twitter had told me where to go to find them. We still got lost trying to find it which ended up in Michelle wandering to find it. Whilst she did that, we found Kariss and her friend who sadly I can't remember the name of because my memory isn't that great when it comes to new faces. (Sorry!)

We instantly realised that it was straight behind us which then led to us going 'ohhhhh' and making our way up the stairs to the venue space that the event was in. I said my name and got given a leaflet which was essentially a press release telling me about Blind Pig and what to expect throughout the night. There wasn't that many seats/tables for the amount of people that were in the room so we kind of felt quite lost where to sit or what to really do. The lighting was quite dim which may have been to do with the 1920's theme. The music that was on in the background proved this theory but was quite loud which made it near impossible to network or socialise.

We thought that it would be best to just spend our time at the bar. We read the press release to ensure we knew what the flavours consisted of. I ordered Bourbon & Blueberry, Luke ordered Rum and Poached Pear and Michelle chose the one that was remaining which was Whiskey, Honey and Apple. By the end of the night we had tried all three each.

The Bourbon and Blueberry was served in a green glass which was Blind Pig branded but was also served over ice with a handful of blueberries that were dispersed throughout the drink and with a twist of lemon peel/zest on the rim of the glass. The bourbon was distinctive but didn't take centre stage with the drink therefore letting the blueberry do all the talking. I love blueberries so I knew that I would love this one. The sweetness of the blueberries were complimented well with the Bourbon which made a great mixture but Blueberries are naturally quite sweet sometimes so if you don't like your cider on the sweet side and prefer a sharp drink then this one might not the best Blind Pig Cider for you.

I then had the Whiskey, Honey and Apple. This was served in the same glasses as above. This one was served over ice with wedges of apple and a drizzle of honey. An orange wedge is served on the side of the rim to add to the drink if you feel like it needs a citrus kick to it. I ended up eating/licking the orange wedge because I'm normal like that. I shall provide the picture to that below. The Whiskey takes most of the attention on this one. The honey isn't really a distinctive taste but adds sweetness to the drink which slightly takes the edge off the drink leaving it sharp but not to the point where its too much after two gulps of the drink. The apple adds a slight bit of freshness to the drink but takes a while to be detected when drinking. I think this is one of those every now and again ones for me.

The last one of the three is the Rum and Poached Pear which I enjoyed last. This one was amazing! It was served with the regular ice but had Lime and Mint running all the way through it to echo a modern mojito. I love Mojitos so I instantly loved this. The rum did take most of the attention again but the Pear added that slight tang of sweetness needed. I could see myself enjoying this one a lot with friends as it's probably as lovely without the Mint and Lime running throughout it which steeped some of its flavour into the drink. I literally did save the best till last.

Throughout the night me and Michelle took many pictures and had such a laugh. We talked about everything over the loud music and enjoyed a lot of giggles. I also talked and met The Dress Diaries and even though I only chatted to her for a sec she seemed so lovely! Myself, Luke and Michelle made our way to the train station where we enjoyed a McFlurry and enjoyed the quieter atmosphere and talked about anything and everything until I hugged and said goodbye to Michelle and got on my train home.

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post. If you've tried any of the ciders then let me know down below. If not then tell me if you would try them or not. I hope that you like the pictures that Michelle took. If you want to see her stuff then click on Michelle's name on any of the paragraphs above this one. If you want to check out any of the people that I have mentioned then click on their names on the paragraphs above this paragraph. Thank you to the PR and Blind Pig who put this event on and I hope to see you next time for another blog post.

Thanks to Michelle again for taking the pictures. All of the pictures are hers.

Kind Regards
Jamie x