Homemade Red Pepper Soup

Hi there,
I thought I would do something a little bit different in this post. I am a lover of  food, too much I think to be honest! My mother is an amazing cook, she can make anything from salmon moose pate to pavlova to cheese cake to a mouth watering beef wellington! But one of her homemade recipes is one of my favourites dishes to eat and that is her red pepper soup! So I thought I would share it with you guys!

This is the type of meal that I will ALWAYS love! This to me is pure homemade comfort! It always makes me feel good, whether I'm sick, sad or just plain starving! It reminds me of cosy nights in by the fire or getting in from a stormy wet night after a long hard days work! Regardless of the time of year, I love this soup and of course eating it with a fresh crunchy baguette!

What You Will Need:
Equipment:
Medium sized saucepan
Blender
Large Bowl
Wooden Spoon
Knife
Measuring Jug
Weighing Scales

Ingredients:
2 Red Peppers
1 Onion
2 Chicken Stock Cubes
3/4 Teaspoon of Oregano
2 Knobs of Butter
Roux:
Plain flour - 1 heaped tablespoon
Butter - 1 ounce & a bit
Half Pint of Milk
Hot Saucepan


Method:
1.) Cut up peppers and onions into medium sized chunks.
2.) Cut out seeds and stalks from the middle of the peppers.
3.) Remove skin from onion. Then top and tale the onion.
4.) Have a saucepan on the hob, add a knob of butter and simmer. Add all the cut up vegetables into the saucepan along with the 3/4 teaspoon of oregano.

5.) Break up 2 chicken stock cubes into 1 pint full of boiling water. Stir the mixture until the chicken stock cubes are dissolved.
6.) Add jug of stock & water to the saucepan full of vegetables.
7.) Simmer for 10 minutes until vegetables are soft.
8.) Place 1/2 the mixture into a blender and blend until all chunks have disappeared.
9.) Add the blended mixture into a bowl
10.) Add the rest of the vegetables into the blender and blend. Add the rest of the blended mixture to the bowl full of the first lot of soup.
11.) Make a roux - see below for details.
12.) Add the bowl of soup that was blended from earlier into the saucepan with the roux, and stir on heat.
13.) I find the soup tastes nicer if you let the soup settle in the saucepan for a little while, maybe an 30 minutes or so before you serve it.


11.) The Roux:
Ingredients Needed:
Plain flour - 1 heaped tablespoon
Butter - 1 ounce & a bit
Half Pint of Milk
Hot Saucepan

Method:
Add butter then flower into a hot saucepan then Stir, Stir, Stir!
Turn down the heat and Add Milk slowly, little by little and Stir, Stir, Stir.
 * The Roux must contain No lumps and must look Creamy Silk by the end.


I really hope you enjoy this recipe and don't find it too difficult to follow. I'm not actually into cooking at all but this recipe actually really raises my interest in food and cooking! So I hope it gets your juices flowing as well! So happy cooking!

Sally Hansen Nail Polish

Hello again,
I'm not obsessed with nail polishes, I just like to have pretty nails! Okay I know I have 4 and maybe a little bit more storage boxes full of nail polishes, now in fairness I do have to do a sort out and throw out a lot of them! (secret hoarder please stand up)

I’m not a massive fan of nail polishes, I like to buy them and hoard them and forget to throw them out. And I get very bored with colours very quickly, and especially nowadays with newer and newer colours and textured and special effects polishes coming out, it can be very easy to become a hoarder! And basically just forget to throw out old ones!

But anyway back to my review, I normally have to gear myself up to paint my nails, it’s a bit of a tedious process, cleaning old polish off, filing them into a shape and pushing back my cuticles if I’m bothered! (I know I should know better) And then base coat, at least two coats of polish and then top coat and then you have to tidy around the nail and then wait for it to dry which means no touching of ANYTHING!

Someone mentioned to me about the Sally Hansen nail polish was a base, colour and top coat all in one and great quality,…so I thought that’s the jobey for me! I bought the colour 'all fired up'. The full name is the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Polish. It claims to have 7 benefits of a salon manicure in one bottle.  

1). A Base Coat. 2). A Strengthener. 3). A Growth Treatment. 4). A Colour. 5). A Top Coat. 6). Chip Resistant. 7). Gel Shine.

All of theses is a lot to claim a nail polish can do, so I was a bit sceptical but I was amazed, the polish is very very good. It lasts up to 5 to 6 days on my nails which is a feat in itself as my nail polish tends to chip after a day or two of wear and tear and working in a salon, working with products that strip nail polish off as well. So I was very impressed with the durability, and it was so easy and fast to apply, no faffing with base, colour and top coat, just apply one or two if you want but not actually needed, and then that’s it! And the brush of each polish is concave so it makes painting the nail incredibly easy, and any nail shape, short and long! And best of all i found it didn't damage or strip my nails, if anything I feel they are getting stronger! 

Overall I was really impressed with this polish that I have now bought three more in three different colours,…..a girl’s gota have variety! The two red polishes are my favourites! 

Colours shown above are:
All Fired Up - darker red
Kook A Mango - lighter red
Blue Streak - green
Commander in Chic - grey

These polishes retail at €8.95 and is available is selected chemists all over Ireland and in Boots as well.

Brunch on a Saturday Morning

It's very rare that I get a weekend off,  so when I do I have to make the most out of it! I am a lover of brunch (and baths too,..cough,.... first post) Now unfortunately the area that I live in in Dublin doesn't do a lot of nice brunch menus, just the usual full irish breakfast! Now I have no problem with the full irish breakfast but when it comes to Gotham South in Stillorgan which is local to me,....I love their brunch menu!! It is only on from 11am to 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays, so a little bit limited if you work most weekends.

But the menu has a brilliant variety of mouth watering hang over cures or its just a really nice place to go for chats with great food! My favourite is the cinnamon and vanilla french sour dough bread with fruit and rashers and of course maple syrup, and of course a pot of tea! They also have pancakes with various fillings and toppings, bagels, eggs Mexican and scrambled and all sorts of yummy things I have't yet tried. But the variety is fantastic, any one can find something on their menu! The atmosphere goes with the food as well, very warm and welcoming and chilled out and the staff you cannot fault them, they are attentive and friendly but not overly, which I like!

All in all, I am a little bit of a fan of Gotham South! I have been to the other Gotham Cafe's in Dublin but I  do find this one is the best. And you can't beat a yummy brunch on your day off with great company!

If you would like to go and try the french toast and bacon, I will leave their contact information below.

4 Kilmacud Road Lower,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Tel: 01-2122505
www.gothamcafe.ie

Kevyn Aucoin Eye Pencil Primatif

Hello again, me again with another lovely review for you! I wasn't very familiar with Kevyn Aucoin products, until I bought the sensual skin enhancer, which is fantastic. That was the only products I ever bought or ever heard about until one Christmas when my mum bought me a few bits from the range. I received the eye liner primatif and other lovelies. I tried them all out immediately and fell in love with them especially the eye liner.

The price for the eye liner is £21 or €33 and it is available in Harvey Nichols in Dundrum and Space NK on Grafton St in Dublin city centre.

I received the eye liner in December and have only just bought a second one now in September, which to me I find amazing for the durability of an eye liner that I basically have been using every single day since I got it!

What I love about this eye liner is that it's durability is fantastic, it lasts all day, which for me is a working day, 8am to 8pm! It has a smudger sponge applicator on one end and the eye pencil on the other, which means you can have a nice smoked out eye or just a simple nice subtle line of liner. It sharpens perfectly, none of that breaking or sharding away of the pencil. It will also fit any make-up sharpener, so no need to go and buy a special sized one! I still have a tiny knub left of the old one which I will still use until it has completely disappeared! So all in all It's a definite stable in my make-up bag!

www.harveynichols.com
www.spacenk.com

Neom Body Scrub

If anyone knows me, you know I'm OBSESSED with bath and bath products! So I have been coveting Neom bath products (or just all their products) for a long time! So I finally bit the bullet and purchased a candle and the infamous body scrub!

I bought the scrub in Brown Thomas on Grafton St in the city centre last Friday and the minute I got home, I jumped into the shower with my new scrub and it didn't disappoint!

First of all I will say that, up to about maybe two months ago, Neom body products were not available to buy in Dublin apart from their candles in Brown Thomas, you had to buy online in the UK, and pay extortionate delivery prices which surprising for me I actually never did! So the minute a lovely client of mine told me the body scrub and bath & shower oil were being sold in Brown Thomas I went down and bought myself the body scrub (and candle too but let's not mention that hit to my bank account).


So back to the shower, the minute I opened the scrub, the smell was beautiful, very zingy which normally I'm not a fan of, but I actually liked this one. It reminded me of a mix of coffee and wood. But the ingredients in this are jasmine, lavender and fireside rosewood which is what gives you the warming zingy feeling and smell. You only need a very small amount of the product, it is very oily but not in a greasy way what so ever! A little goes a very long way and the crystals in it are lovely, not sore or scratchy on the skin but very exfoliating and exhilarating! And once you wash off the excess from your skin, oh wow, you're skin feels amazing, so moisturised yet smooth as a baby's bottom! So there is no need for a body moisturiser after your shower or bath, which is a plus for me as I'm always too lazy to do this.

This is definitely a very expensive body scrub, and at €41 it sure is but it is a lovely treat for your skin! Very much a luxury product. So if you want to treat yourself, go for it, if not then maybe try a less expensive body scrub, but if you're like me and love your luxury products,.....DO IT,......BUY IT!

www.brownthomas.com
www.neomorganics.com