I have fairly recently discovered this new-fangled invention called "make-up" that has this wonderful ability to make me look fresh as a daisy even when I feel like utter crap.
Veganism does place some restrictions on which products I go for. Beeswax is out, as are products containing things like carmine (that's okay, I don't want powdered beetles on my face anyway). Furthermore, picking a make-up company that is cruelty free can be a bit of a minefield. Thankfully, it's getting easier all the time.
Yesterday I received some samples and brushes I ordered from Lily Lolo, a company specialising in mineral make-up who also stock some synthetic-hair brushes. I've never even considered minerals as an option but found myself drawn to their products. Only a few of their products are not vegan-friendly (some eyeshadows, blushes and lipglosses containing carmine, as well as a couple of brushes) but these are clearly labeled. Furthermore, they have the stamp of approval from both BUAV and PETA, which gives me a great deal of confidence in their anti-vivisection policy.
I've had a play with their products this morning and I am totally sold. I've tried out a foundation (in their lightest shade, "Porcelain", for those among us who prefer to remain pale and interesting), a couple of colour-correcting concealers ("Peep-O" for dark undereye circles and "Blush Away" for correcting my perma-redness) and a matte finishing powder. The application method for minerals is a little different than for regular make-up but it's very easy. The result is absolutely flawless. I'm completely sold.
Their prices are very reasonable and they sell mini samples of their products to try before you splash out. I highly recommend them and shall definitely be using their products for the forseeable future.
Thursday 23 September 2010
Saturday 18 September 2010
Recipe - Sweetcorn with Spiced Butter
We have recently reinstated our weekly veg box deliveries from the lovely folks at Abel & Cole. It's a rather more expensive way of doing things than picking up your bits and pieces at the supermarket, but I really don't mind. It's nice to know I'm doing my bit to support British organic farming, and the produce is always damn tasty too.
We were lucky to enough to receive some sweetcorn last week. I've had corn on the cob before, but had ever even seen it still in its jacket. A&C always send us gorgeously fresh food and I was really excited about sinking my teeth into this.
I decided to do something a bit different with this. The recipe was pinched straight from the A&C website, but I left out a little unnecessary preparation. It was so, so easy and quick to prepare, and so delicious! I'll definitely be doing it again...
Sweetcorn with Spiced Butter
Take one decent sized chunk of your favourite butter substitute (I'm currently on Pure Soya) and add a really good-sized pinch each of chilli powder, ground cumin and ground coriander, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Mix it all together (I found the back of a metal spoon worked best for this). Use it to slather a couple of corn cobs, sling them in a little roasting tin and cook for around 25 min at gas mark 6. That's it. So easy, so tasty!
The original recipe suggested wrapping the corn cobs back up in their many leafy layers after buttering them. I decided this was too much effort and I'd just wrap them in foil... before realising I had no foil. They did just fine with no wrapping though.
We were lucky to enough to receive some sweetcorn last week. I've had corn on the cob before, but had ever even seen it still in its jacket. A&C always send us gorgeously fresh food and I was really excited about sinking my teeth into this.
I decided to do something a bit different with this. The recipe was pinched straight from the A&C website, but I left out a little unnecessary preparation. It was so, so easy and quick to prepare, and so delicious! I'll definitely be doing it again...
Sweetcorn with Spiced Butter
Take one decent sized chunk of your favourite butter substitute (I'm currently on Pure Soya) and add a really good-sized pinch each of chilli powder, ground cumin and ground coriander, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Mix it all together (I found the back of a metal spoon worked best for this). Use it to slather a couple of corn cobs, sling them in a little roasting tin and cook for around 25 min at gas mark 6. That's it. So easy, so tasty!
The original recipe suggested wrapping the corn cobs back up in their many leafy layers after buttering them. I decided this was too much effort and I'd just wrap them in foil... before realising I had no foil. They did just fine with no wrapping though.
Thursday 16 September 2010
Restaurant Reviews
Life has been very full and exciting of late. As such, this blog was sort of put on the back burner a little. Now I'm back, I'm quitting Facebook and I hope to devote a little more time to getting this this up and running.
I'd like to start back with a couple of restaurant reviews.
Eggless Dessert Cafe, Adelaide, South Australia
During my "down time" The Beard and I went to Australia with his family, to visit some of their relatives. A wonderful time was had by all. Australia is absolutely excellent for vegan food. The nearest big city (Adelaide) had a whole tonne of veg eateries and the supermarkets were positively brimming with delicious animal-free goodies.
As soon as it was decided that we were going, we did our usual thing of hopping on to happycow.net to get an idea of where to go. This place really stood out and we looked forward to it for months.
Eggless is a late night cafe that specialises, as the name suggests, in egg-free and vegan-friendly desserts. Its opening hours are listed as "8pm til late" and on the two occasions on which we visited there was a small gathering outside the door waiting for it to open. It is clearly a hugely popular little place (appealing to vegan, pure veg and asian communities as well as anyone else who just likes a good pud) and filled up very quickly. Despite clearly being run off their feet, the staff were very friendly and great at their jobs. They have a menu that changes month-by-month, as well as a short list of asian desserts and savouries that remain on the menu permenantly.
The food was out of this world. Between us, we powered our way through the Sticky Black Rice Sundae, Turkish Delight Ice Cream, Raspberry and Lemon Quinoa Cake, Chocolate Yogo Cake and Gingerbread Pudding. They were bloody gorgeous and the portion sizes were just right, as well as being very easy on the wallet.
I can't rate Eggless highly enough. If you're ever in the area, just go. You won't regret it.
My Kitchen, Leigh-On-Sea, Essex
Closer to home, My Kitchen is a long-time favourite of ours. We try to head there as often as we can. Thought I'd drop in a quick review as we went again recently and it rekindled my love for it.
My Kitchen is run by an impossibly energetic and slightly bonkers chef. He worked there back when it was still Cafe Pulse and took over to create a completely different beast. The atmosphere now is clean and stylish whilst still warm and welcoming - an ever-changing selection of art adorns the walls and the stereo purrs with delicious rootsy americana. The menu is sufficiently varied to cater to all tastes and frequently changes. Seasonal seems to be the key word here, but at the same time a few favourites pop up all year round.
Last time we went we both had the falafel starter. In a review of this restaurant I wrote for another website I waxed lyrical about the falafel, and I'm pleased to say that the quality of it has been consistently good on each subsequent visit. I don't know how he does it, but somehow it manages to beat the everloving crap out of any other falafel I've ever had (and I'm a girl that eats a LOT of falafel). Just grand.
For mains I had another staple favourite of mine - Mushroom and Ale suet pudding - while The Beard had the Beetroot and Red Pepper burger. The burger was absolutely unbelievable; it sounds like a really odd mix of flavours (especially for a burger) but it worked SO well. The suet pudding... well, it became my favourite for a reason. The pud itself was perfect - crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. The filling was perfectly flavoured and very more-ish.
Everything was served promptly and the staff were as friendly as ever. I'm sure I'll write more about this place in future posts as I'm hoping to go back soon. I absolutely adore My Kitchen and am always extremely happy to give them my custom.
That's all for now. Hopefully now that things are settling down a bit I'll have more time to update. There's a few recipes I'm keen to share soon, so stay tuned!
I'd like to start back with a couple of restaurant reviews.
Eggless Dessert Cafe, Adelaide, South Australia
During my "down time" The Beard and I went to Australia with his family, to visit some of their relatives. A wonderful time was had by all. Australia is absolutely excellent for vegan food. The nearest big city (Adelaide) had a whole tonne of veg eateries and the supermarkets were positively brimming with delicious animal-free goodies.
As soon as it was decided that we were going, we did our usual thing of hopping on to happycow.net to get an idea of where to go. This place really stood out and we looked forward to it for months.
Eggless is a late night cafe that specialises, as the name suggests, in egg-free and vegan-friendly desserts. Its opening hours are listed as "8pm til late" and on the two occasions on which we visited there was a small gathering outside the door waiting for it to open. It is clearly a hugely popular little place (appealing to vegan, pure veg and asian communities as well as anyone else who just likes a good pud) and filled up very quickly. Despite clearly being run off their feet, the staff were very friendly and great at their jobs. They have a menu that changes month-by-month, as well as a short list of asian desserts and savouries that remain on the menu permenantly.
The food was out of this world. Between us, we powered our way through the Sticky Black Rice Sundae, Turkish Delight Ice Cream, Raspberry and Lemon Quinoa Cake, Chocolate Yogo Cake and Gingerbread Pudding. They were bloody gorgeous and the portion sizes were just right, as well as being very easy on the wallet.
I can't rate Eggless highly enough. If you're ever in the area, just go. You won't regret it.
My Kitchen, Leigh-On-Sea, Essex
Closer to home, My Kitchen is a long-time favourite of ours. We try to head there as often as we can. Thought I'd drop in a quick review as we went again recently and it rekindled my love for it.
My Kitchen is run by an impossibly energetic and slightly bonkers chef. He worked there back when it was still Cafe Pulse and took over to create a completely different beast. The atmosphere now is clean and stylish whilst still warm and welcoming - an ever-changing selection of art adorns the walls and the stereo purrs with delicious rootsy americana. The menu is sufficiently varied to cater to all tastes and frequently changes. Seasonal seems to be the key word here, but at the same time a few favourites pop up all year round.
Last time we went we both had the falafel starter. In a review of this restaurant I wrote for another website I waxed lyrical about the falafel, and I'm pleased to say that the quality of it has been consistently good on each subsequent visit. I don't know how he does it, but somehow it manages to beat the everloving crap out of any other falafel I've ever had (and I'm a girl that eats a LOT of falafel). Just grand.
For mains I had another staple favourite of mine - Mushroom and Ale suet pudding - while The Beard had the Beetroot and Red Pepper burger. The burger was absolutely unbelievable; it sounds like a really odd mix of flavours (especially for a burger) but it worked SO well. The suet pudding... well, it became my favourite for a reason. The pud itself was perfect - crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. The filling was perfectly flavoured and very more-ish.
Everything was served promptly and the staff were as friendly as ever. I'm sure I'll write more about this place in future posts as I'm hoping to go back soon. I absolutely adore My Kitchen and am always extremely happy to give them my custom.
That's all for now. Hopefully now that things are settling down a bit I'll have more time to update. There's a few recipes I'm keen to share soon, so stay tuned!
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