Rhys Barrington's Masterclass Review

After 6 long years of studies, I finally finished! I've been racking my brain for the past few days trying to plan my trip to try various cuisine of the world (kidding just two)! Which ties in with this post...

My partner and I were invited to Rhys Barrington's Masterclass a couple of weeks back.
Rhys Barrington is a domestic masterchef trainer previously worked at Four in Hand  - he will also provide you with one on one cooking training and coaching in the comfort of your own home.

We had a wonderful fun-filled night! It's relatively similar to the masterclass on "Masterchef" where judges would provide cooking demonstrations and the guests would receive a little samplers for tasting. However, at Rhys' Masterclass, you'd be seated as if you're at a restaurant with wine, a full 3 course meal and and cooking demonstrations.

Cutlery and a menu booklet was placed at each table. I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to cooking, my mum was a chef, so I do a lot of food tasting and eating instead. It was fantastic to  learn cooking techniques.

White wine to go with the entree

Prawn Salad, with Tomatoes and Asparagus

We were served with this sumptuous dish shortly after been seated. Looks like a simple dish doesn't it? I couldn't believe the variety of flavours. The tomatoes, olives and prawns complimented each other really well. The prawns were fresh and tasty. I was thoroughly impressed with this entree.

After our entree, Rhys did a step-by-step cooking demonstration for the entree.  This included prepping, cooking and plating.

 

Rhys moved onto demonstrating the main after the entree.

 Braised Beef, Carrots, Fennel and Aioli

This dish was impeccable. The only braised beef dish I've had was of this quality was at Quarter Twenty One. Delicious pickled carrots  and home made aioli - I will definitely be making my own aioli from now on!

Red wine to go with the main

 

And of course... the most anticipated dessert!

Chocolate and Summer Berry "Crumble"

Unbelievable healthy and delicious! I am a milk chocolate person, but the dark chocolate ganache was smooth and went well with the oats and berries. Another dish I would like to make at home!

This masterclass is highly recommended - this is coming from a very picky eater! If you're a little tight on budget, I'd recommend it for a special occasion with your partner ^_^

Other than the masterclass, Rhys will do one on one coaching for you and a friend, private home dining, cocktail functions, cooking demonstration events and other functions. I went to a wedding a few weeks ago and the food wasn't half as nice, if you're holding a function and you would like some food that will please your palate, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Rhys.

For further information or bookings:

http://rhysbarrington.com/
rhys@rhysbarrington.com

Jasmin 1 Lebanese Restaurant @ Bankstown Review

I purchased a meal deal from Groupon for Jasmin 1. I've gone past it on the train so many time and have always been curious. I was blown away by the generous reviews on Urbanspoon and decided to give this meal deal a go. I prepared myself for some true, authentic Lebanese food!

The deal was approximately $23.

The staff were friendly, the interior was quite nice and spacious... but most importantly, food came out quickly with generous portions.

We both got a vegetarian plate each. The sauce, pickle and bread were complimentary.

Vegetarian Plate: Deep fried egg plant, Cheese sambusak (the pastry/turn over thing, it had cheese inside), falafel hommous, Baba Gannouj (mash egg plant dip), tabouli and herbed bread.

Complimentary dips and sides
Lebanese bread, pickle, tomatoes and olives.
Chili dip and garlic dip.

So the aim is to make your own mini wrap with all the fillings (eggplant, falafel etc) from your mixed plate dips etc included with pickles.


The following two sides came a bit later on.

Kebbeh - Minced meat with blend of nuts with hummous

 This might have been Meat Samboosik - a deep fried doughy outer with minced lamb in the inside.

Full table...... for two! we had more than enough, so much we had to ask for 2 takeaway boxes!

And of course Baklava for desert!

This was probably one of the best voucher I have ever purchased!! I'd say give Jasmin 1 a go, you'd be stunned by the quality. I've seen countless pseudo-lebanese restaurants around selling small portions of unauthentic over priced platters. Jasmin 1 is worth the travel!

EpicNail - "Essential" Nail Foil Kit Review {Pic Heavy!}

Epic Nail emailed me and asked if I would like to try and review their nail foil - I was extremely curious, I've never heard of nail foils before. I  browsed through their site (ended up being on the web page for most the morning - I got caught browsing through their huge range of nail products!!!).

There were three different nail foil kits - $36.99 per kit (6 designs each foil is 4cm x 100cm, cuticle sticks and nail glue. You can do up to 60 manicures with each kit. 

Essentials  -

Kaleidoscope

Wildlife

If you want ALL the designs + more... there's an Ultimate kit!!

 

I picked Essential  because I like the lace patterns. This post is a little over due, but I wanted to be really detailed!

Here's the cuticle stick, I use the pointy end to pick out unwanted foils.

Application

1. Apply base coat (optional)
2. Apply nail polish (optional)
3. Cut your foils into small square pieces to fit your nails
2. Apply a thin layer of nail glue onto each your nails on one hand
3. Wait for approximately 1- 1.5 minutes, until the glue become transparent (if you stick the foil on too soon, the glue will be tacky and you will not get your foil onto your nail)
4. Press the nail foil (coloured side up) onto your nails

5. rub the surface (you should be able to see the foil sticking to your nail) peel off gently.
6. Apply top coat (optional)

 

Now to the foils!

Winter is Coming 

I thought this was absolutely gorgeous, but once I applied it on my nail, I as convinced. It's was really down to personal preference, I don't think pretty pearly white goes too well with olive skin.

I Heart You

Kawaii! I think this is good for valentine's day. I wasn't too sure how I felt about all these hearts so I tried it on my toes first (Sorry to make you guys look at my toes)... well, guess what, I love it! I'll definitely be using these on my fingers :)

All Laced Up 

This was my favourite design when I opened the box to look at everything. I wore this to a recent wedding (perfect timing!)

 In the Jungle

I'm not too much of an animal print person, and I ran out of fingers to try the foils on so I tried it on my toes, again. They applied really well and my toes never looked so funky! (sorry more toe pics)

I painted a coat of red polish and applied the foil on top.

Pipe Dream

You can either apply the foils on by stamping or full application. Since this was such a colourful design I thought I might ruffle it up a little by dabbing the foil onto my nails, I was a little hesitant about applying this particular design because it was so colourful! I couldn't believe how much I loved the colours once I applied it. I think this is my new favourite!

Although, I'd probably suggest to apply your nail polish prior to application, not sure how I feel about my dabbed look.

Nautical

I applied a coat of baby pink nail polish underneath

Pros
My parents hate like the smell of nail polish inside the house, so I usually do my nails in the garden on a sunny day. It hasn't been particularly sunny lately and I've been pretty busy during the day so i haven't really been able to paint my nails. My nails are often neglected because of this. I was amazed that the foil didn't have any scent, I was able to do my nails while watching tv and not have my parents complain!!!

It was really quick and easy to apply, I didn't have to wait for 5-10mins as I would after applying nail polish. I get very impatient and start doing things with my fingers to ruin the newly applied polish.

The gorgeous designs were definitely a huge plus, probably a good idea to keep a few designs in your draw for special occasions! I've had quite a few people commenting on how much they loved my nails with the foils.

This is great for people who like to change their nail design every couple of days.


Cons

Some of the foils are really easy to apply, some were a little stubborn. Quite often, the edge of my nails may not transfer as smoothly, but once you apply a coat of nail polish as the base, it's not so obvious. Unless you have time to fix up the edges by re-stamping, it would probably worth to paint your nails first.

The only other con I can think of is that it doesn't last as long. Make sure you apply a generous top coat, that'll prolong the life a little. My top coat was a little flimsy so It started to chip after a couple of days. However, the one roll of foil will last you for quite a few applications (especially if you have small nails like me).

   ***

Overall I really enjoyed using the foils, it was fun and novel. The fact that the foils have no scent was a HUGE bonus for me, I would honestly use the foils more than I would paint my nails. The products in this review were kindly provided by EpicNail. Thank you! ^_^

In addition, Epic Nail is offering all readers free shipping for purchases $30 or over. Just enter the following code: BLOGLILYNLOUISE

Check out their website:  http://epicnail.com.au/

Have you tried nail foils before? Which design is your favourite?

Lust Have It! - November 2013

It's almost christmas! I've been trying to gather little bits and pieces I can put in my traveling kit.. super excited to receive a box full of goodies (literally box full).

May Kay Brow Definer Pencil

$17

FULL SIZE

I only do my brows when I over pluck, I have a lot of eye brow lol. This is a nice dark brown colour that would be useful when I over pluck. Otherwise I'll give it to my mum. She needs more brows.

Davroe Wellbeing treatment Replenish

$11.95

FULL SIZE

This is made for damaged hair, I'll try it out. Although, I'm not much of a hair conditioning person. My bf would like this :)

 Lonvitalite C3 Collagen Firming and Moisturing Facial Mask

$32 for pack of 5

1 mask

WOOHOO! I've seen this floating around previous boxes. Apparently the mask will fade wrinkles and regenerate damaged cells.

Aveda Botanical Kinetics Gel Cleanser and Lotion

 Samples

Never tried Aveda but heard many many good things about this brand. I gave some hair samples to my bf and he loved it. Looking forward to try these!

Palmer's Cocoa butter formula gentle exfoliating facial scrub

$9.99 for 150ml

 Sample Size

 Mary Kay Soothing Foot Balm

$38

Not sure if it's full size or not

Perfect for my dry feet :)

Benefit They're Real mascara

$38 

Sample Size

Dying to try this mascara, very happy to receive it! yay!

Mary Kay Thinking of You Eau De Parfum

$30 for 29.6ml

Sample Size

Hello Fresh $30 Gift Voucher

I was really excited to see this, I've been curious to try their boxes out.... so I jumped onto their website... and it's a little outside of my price range... $64 for 3 meals....... even $34 for 3 meals is a bit too much. I've made a week's worth of tuna pesto pasta for under $10. I think i'll stick with home cooking and doing my own shopping for now.

Here's the code if anyone is interested though:  HFY57051

A very full box this month, not too bad. Although, a few products I wouldn't use or would pass onto family members. Perhaps, LHI can look into personalising profiles in the near future?