Cathy Marston Wine Course: Lesson 1

Last night was the first lesson in my Cathy Marston Introductory Wine Course. Cathy talked a little (a lot) about how exactly to taste wine and what you should be looking for in terms of colour, taste and smell. Cathy is such a great personality and I absolutely love the way she approaches wine: "Whatever YOU taste, is right" and "If you want to know more, drink more".

We got to taste six wines last night; An Unwooded Chardonnay from DeMeye in Stellenbosch and 5 from Oak Valley in Elgin - two wooded Chardonnay's and three Pinot Noirs (including their 5 star 2009 Pinot Noir). You get a folder that includes notes on tasting and sheets for you to make all your own notes on.

As I've said before, the only thing I love more than drinking wine, is learning about it, and this course is such a red environment to learn in. Six glasses in front of you, surrounded by bottles and bottles of amazing wines, Wine At The Mill makes for the perfect venue for Cathy's bubbly personality and the guest winemaker's chat.

We were lucky enough to have Chris from Oak Valley chatting to us last night. I love it so much when the winemaker is so young - it really does embody my whole feeling that wine is not just for people who have been drinking it for 40 years. Wine is accessible and delicious and for everyone. And it doesn't matter if you don't know what the difference between a Pinotage and a Pinot Noir is as long as you're enjoying what you're drinking.

Cathy and Chris 

Follow Cathy on Twitter here and Oak Valley here.
(PS. I suggest this to you now, because Daydrinking Friday is just around the corner...)

I'm In Love With Ombre Hair

Coke Does The Raddest Stuff

I love the Coca-Cola brand. And I love all the stuff they do. Especially because they don't even need to advertise. More people in the world have heard about Coke than about Jesus.

I love this activation they did in Brazil. It brought a little tear to my eye, actually.

Nando's, What Is Up With Your Woodstock Branch?

If you know anything about me, you'll know that I love Nando's. I LOVE Nando's. I'd go so far as to say that Nando's and I are soulmates. Food and woman, together as one. Which is why it pains me to tell you this:

 Nando's Woodstock, is a suckfest.

This is what I went through today:

12:00 Order Nando's for delivery

One hour later...

Call Nando's

(starving)

Nando's: "We thought you cancelled your order?"

Me: "????"

30 minutes later...

Nando's arrives. Delivery guy doesn't have change.

Lose out on R10.

(Total for Rice & Strips: R60)

Sit down to eat.

Chicken is burnt. My extra order of salad dressing is not in the bag. Neither is any salt. 

And the food needed my extra order of salad dressing... and the salt.

This Video Is The Best - SA's Rebecca Black

I found this video on Mike Sharman's blog, and I think he's right. This little lady is def SA's own Rebecca Black.



My favourite things about this video are:

The back-up vocals sung by a pre-pubescent boy/her dad
The pronunciation of the line "when we guhl ge ready to goouh we geeve each other a shouw"
The synch, which is def, 100% not off
The fact that she still believes that "bff's wil never make you a fool" (sweet)
The dog who is 100% comfortable with being flung around under her arm, and having his bum inconspicuously nailed to the table when he tries to escape
The fact that this video was shot almost certainly shot in Sunward Villiage (Boksburg) or Hartebeespoort
When she drives the car even though she is only 13

Love.

Just Working Away

@frangipanies took this picture of me working away yesterday

That's me. Diligent worker. Music listener. Hungry

http://www.positivedialogue.co.za/

WINE COURSE STARTS TONIGHT!

I CAN NOT WAIT 

for my first class of Cathy Marston's Introduction To Wine tonight.

Will give you all the details on Thursday.

Cooking Lessons For Boys: Recipe 6 - Mac & Cheese

Macaroni & Cheese is one recipe that you'll use over and over and get better at every time you cook it. This one is super easy and I don't car what other people say, it's by far the best recipe you'll find. And yes, it is my own personal recipe. Thanks for asking.

What you'll need:

- 1 packet of macaroni

- 500ml full cream milk

- 250g butter

- 4 tbl spoons flour

- 1 tbl spoon Old English mustard

- 1 block cheddar cheese

- 3 rashers bacon

- 1 tbl spoon oil

What to do:

In a big pot, bring half the pot of water to the boil with a pinch of salt and 1 tbl spoon of oil. Once the water is boiling, pour in half the packet of macaroni and put the lid on. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Now grate 3/4 of the block of cheese. Also put the oven on at 180 degrees.

While the pasta boils, put another pot on the stove and on a medium heat (4), melt half the butter. With a big whisk, start whisking the flour, one tablespoon at a time. Once all the flour has been added, keep whisking it and allow it to cook for about 3-4 minutes. Then slowly start adding the milk- but I mean, really slowly. If you chuck it all in at once the sauce will be lumpy and then everyone will hate you. Don't stop whisking until you've added enough milk to form a white sauce that is runny, but when you lift out the whisk, you should be able to make the first letter of your name with the dribbly mixture. Once it has reached that texture, take the pot off the heat and add half the block of cheese (grated). Now stir in the mustard. There should be no lumps in the mixture.

By now the pasta should be cooked. (It should be soft but not squishy) Take it off the heat and drain the water out. Mix it into the cheese sauce. Now pour the pasta & sauce into an oven safe dish (that means no plastic). Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top of the pasta and lay the three bacon rashers over the top. Place it in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the bacon is cooked.

Good luck not putting on 15 kilo's this winter.

Creepy Cat Lady Post #3

Shut up. I HAD to post this one.

Creepy Cat Lady Post #2

I wish Maru could be my cat.

Bangersandnash OR Bruno Mars?

Can you tell the difference between Nash and Bruno Mars? No. No you can't.

REVLON PHOTOREADY RANGE

REVLON has just launched a new range of products here in SA under the PHOTOREADY brand.  The range PhotoReady range includes:

NEW Revlon PhotoReady Colour Correcting Primer
NEW Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer
NEW Revlon PhotoReady Eye Primer & Brightener
NEW Revlon PhotoReady Airbrush Mousse Makeup
NEW Revlon PhotoReady Sculpting Blush Palette
NEW Revlon PhotoReady 3D Volume Mascara
as well as the Revlon PhotoReady Makeup

I got a whole bag full of these awesome new products delivered to my desk last week to try out and get to know. Obviously, I spent the weekend playing makeup-makeup and trying the various blush palattes & foundation shades to find what suited my skin tone. As someone who is relatively new to REVLON's products, I can honestly say that I am very impressed.

Lets start with the range of Primers.

A primer is not something that everyone has in their personal makeup bag, but once you've used it, you'll understand the hype. The Perfecting Primer gets applied after your moisturiser/sunscreen, before your foundation, to create a flawless canvas for your makeup to be applied to. It minimises the appearance of pores and fine lines and gives your skin a matte finish. It's pretty much like the base coat of paint an artist applies to his canvas before he starts his masterpiece. It helps keep your foundation in place and is a great base to apply the rest of your makeup to. It can also be worn alone to give your skin an amazing all-over smoothness. I really really like this product.

The Colour Correcting Primer has a slight purple tint to correct uneven skin tone and minimise redness, pigmentation and blemishes. You can wear this primer alone too, for added brightness and to minimise any discolouration.

The Eye Primer & Brightener reduces the appearance of fine lines around your eye and brightens the whole eye area. It creates a great base for your foundation & eye shadows, so the products last longer on your eyelid and don't collect in the crease of your lid as easily.

The Airbrush Mousse Foundation is another product that has really impressed me. It's super-light formula feels like I'm hardly wearing any foundation at all and blends really easily. Just a small pump is enough product and its mousse formula means your skin can still breathe. The foundation contains photo-chromatic pigments, which reflect and diffuse light, so your skin looks perfect in any light. So basically, you look great in indoor light, outdoor light and on camera (super important in my line of work-obvs). It's oil-free and fragrance-free too.

The Airbrush Mousse comes in these 8 shades: Vanilla, Shell, Nude, Natural Beige, Medium Beige, Golden Beige, Rich Ginger and Caramel. As a makeup artist, I can easily identify which foundation colour would suit someone's skin tone just by looking at them, but it's a bit trickier whenever you start using a new brand. I tried a couple on myself, and found that the Medium Beige was actually my perfect match.

I love the Sculpting Blush Palette. It comes in four sets: Pink, Peach, Neutral and Berry. The blush palettes also contain photo-chromatic pigments that bend and reflect light to highlight and contour all angles of your face in different light. Each palette contains three colours: a contouring colour; to add depth and sculpt gorgeous cheekbones, a blush; for a beautiful colour on the apples of your cheeks, and a highlighter; to reflect light off your skin creating a luminous effect above your cheekbone, accentuating the contours of your face and opening up your eye area. (I like to use the highlighter on my brow bone too, and I suggest trying the contouring colour over your whole eyelid as a great, natural looking eye shadow)

These palettes are perfectly put together for every skin tone and are so easy to use that anyone can look like they've had their makeup done by a professional. They are a super affordable way to get three essential products incorporated into your makeup routine.

The 3D Volume Mascara is one of my favourite products in the range. The brush lifts and separates every single lash and applies an individual coat to every one creating awesome volume. I added three coats 'cause I love super lashes and every coat applied easily and didn't clump. After I'd done my makeup, Nash looked at me and said "Your eyelashes look so long". Pretty much all the convincing I need. I am a huge fan.

I'll be working with REVLON on Facebook as they launch this new range. On the 2nd of March 2012 I'll be answering any questions you might have about makeup, the PhotoReady Range, or how to use any one of the products. Anyone can log into Facebook and click onto REVLON SA's Facebook page. Post your question on their Wall between 12:00 and 13:00 and I'll answer them real-time.

I'll also be doing a little give away later this month, so definitely keep your eyeballs on the blog.

Thanks REVLON! I'm really excited about your range!