Joe's Southern Kitchen & Bar

Me and my boyfriend, Cardene have spoken about various restaurants and food places we want to try and the list seemed to be getting longer and longer without crossing any off. So recently we actually wrote a few of them down and decided we would make the effort to try and go to at least one place on our list once a month. 

So, with that in mind Friday night was date night. We decided to go to Joe's Southern Kitchen and Bar in Covent Garden. I had heard about it in Shortlist magazine and thought straight away it was right up mine and Cardene's street. It used to be a Mexican restaurant  called Navajo Joe, but keeping up with what London wants right now they changed the place to have a more deep south American feel, where they know how to do good chicken!

Beer & Chicken.... He could not be happier (forgot to tell his face though!!)

Corn bread with paprika butter and green tomato chutney

Coq 'n' balls - Fried chicken and Monterey jack cheese balls with hot sauce

We picked a few starters and nibbles to try which were all lovely but my favourite has to be the wings....

Joe's chicken wings with sticky BBQ sauce

They went quick!

As lovely as the wings are the star attraction at Joe's is their signature 'Beer Can' chicken!! It actually arrives like this...

...and is then carved in front of you on a meat trolley. As you can see it's a whole chicken which has been cooked with a BBQ rub. Cardene said to me when it arrived that it didn't look very big... well as the old saying goes, 'looks can be deceiving'! This is definitely enough for two if not three as the menu suggests especially with sides. The sides we went with were whipped potatoes & chicken gravy and Bibb lettuce & avocado salad.

We were ridiculously full by the end, we even had to take some chicken home in a doggy bag. Well we didn't have to but it was so damn good I didn't want to leave any!
The fried chicken also looked amazing but I really wanted to try their 'Beer Can' chicken and also thought I'd go with the healthier option. I'm definitely tempted to go back to try the fried chicken and lots more from the menu. 

The service was also great, the staff were friendly and attentive. I really enjoyed the whole meal at Joe's Southern Kitchen & Bar. The food was lovely and the portion sizes were good. Its the first time in a long time I was so full I didn't even think about desserts! I guess there's always next time.

Hmmm now to decide where next on the list...?!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Tweet

Gettin' Lippy....

I love my lipsticks and glosses, probably the makeup I love buying the most. I have far more than I will ever need but of course that doesn’t stop me from buying more. Unfortunately I’ve always suffered from dry lips, summer and winter.

In the summer although they aren’t really dry and sore I still get dry skin showing through my lipstick if I don’t moisturise them and cracks in your lipstick is never attractive! In the winter when I was younger I would keep licking them because they were so dry but that would just make them worse and crack, it was a vicious circle. I had no clue what to do other than use Vaseline. Which don’t get me wrong did help and I still use it occasionally now but I have one or two other items that I love for my lip care.

Lush Lip Scrub - Bubblegum £5.25 (25g)

I have to admit I've newly found lip scrubs and thank goodness as my lips are in better condition because of it. To use it you just put a little on your lips and rub it in. The only downside I find is that the consistency isn't great as its quite dry and can be messy when applying. This aside though I love it for leaving my lips soft and smooth. It's great for getting rid of any dry skin or flaky bits on your lips. Lush do 3 different flavours, Bubblegum, Popcorn and Mint Julips. I know these are big within the beauty blogging world but if you haven't already tried them and suffer from dry flaky lips I'd recommend giving them a try. They are also great for just giving you a nice smooth base before applying a lip colour. As I suffer from dry lips I like to apply a lip balm before a lipstick or gloss....

Palmer's Moisturizing Lip Balm £1.89 (4g)

I have used many lip balms over the years and I love this Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Moisturizing Lip Balm (quite the mouthful). Its one of my favourites because my lips feel moisturised for quite some time after applying so I don’t feel like I have to constantly reapply which is great when I want to put a lip stick over top. It really locks in the moisture and lasts. Its enriched with Vitamin E and has the added benefit of SPF 15. This is always in my bag and I'm not sure if I'll find one i prefer. There are definitely prettier lip balms out there but for me this does the job best.


Now I've discussed a couple of my favourite lip care products heres a lipstick and lipgloss i've been loving recently...

Sleek True Colour Lipstick - Fuchsia £4.99 (from Superdrug)

I bought this for Wireless Festival as I wanted a nice bright colour. I'd never tried any Sleek Make up before but I can honestly say that after trying this lipstick I'm eager to try other products that they do (just waiting for pay day)! The packaging is lovely and sleek (I see what they did there) and it makes the range look high end and a lot more expensive than it is. 

The colour is nice and vibrant and I find that its quite lasting so doesn't require lots of re-applying. It's also quite moisturising which is a bonus for me. I have high hopes for the rest of their products.

DiorKiss Lipgloss - Berry Smoothie 

Ok so this isn't exactly new but I still love it! Its great on its own or over lighter pink lipsticks. It does have a bit of shimmer in it so great if you want to sparkle up a matt lipstick. I know Dior lip glosses aren't cheap but I do love them. They always look cute and they do some great colours. I'll be upset when this one runs out.

Have you tried any of these? What did you think?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Tweet

Strawberry Cupcakes

If you follow me on instagram you may have seen I made these little tasty things at the weekend. There aren't any left so I know I did good :) I adapted a recipe I tried a while back from BBC Goodfood.

What you'll need;

- 200g Plain flour
- 140g Unsalted butter
- 140g Golden caster sugar
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 3 Eggs beaten
- 1tsp Baking powder
- 1 tbsp Milk
- 180g Strawberries (chopped)

For the icing:

- 140g icing sugar
- 3 strawberries (chopped) plus 6 halved for on top.
- Juice from the lemon we zested (so not a word but sounds better than grated) earlier.


So to start, as always preheat that oven to 180'C. Grease up a muffin tray with some butter/margarine.

Cream together the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest until pale and fluffy.

Add the beaten eggs a little at a time until completely mixed together.

Then sift in the flour and baking powder, fold in quickly until it is a thick batter. Add the milk to slightly thin the mixture.

Fold in the chopped strawberries like so...

Once mixed in divide the mixture into the muffin tray.

Pop in the oven for 15-18 mins. They should be nice and golden.

Once out of the oven pop them to one side to cool down whilst we go ahead and make the icing.

To make the icing, in a bowl mash up the three chopped strawberries with some juice from the lemon we used for zest earlier. Sieve this mushed up strawberry mix over the bowl of icing sugar. This will turn the icing a lovely pink colour and provide enough liquid to make a nice consistency. If you need more liquid add a few more drops of lemon juice. Spoon a little icing onto each of the cakes and top with half a strawberry.

Now time to eat them!! Or if your feeling nice you can share them with others.

Mmmmmm...... Enjoy.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Tweet

What's made it into my skincare routine? #1

I used to be very lazy with my skincare routine in the past, it was very much rushed and routine probably wasn't the right word to even use. There was no wonder my skin would be all over the place. I would sometimes have dry patches, sometimes breakouts and with not having a proper routine it was difficult to always know what caused them. My skin is so much better now and I can't believe I didn't take more care of it before. It wasn't that I didn't have good products, I just didn't have a routine and also didn't take as much notice in what products were right for me. I would assume that if it was a popular product it would be fine for my skin.... which is of course not true because everyone is different and what works for someone doesn't necessarily work for others.


Here are a few products that are part of my current skin routine....

B. Pure Micellar Water (£4.99 for 150ml)

This is a 3-in-1 Micellar water that cleanses, tones and refreshes the skin. I've found it really good for completely taking off my make-up and leaving my face squeaky clean without feeling like its 'stripping' my skin like some very strong cleansers and toners i've tried in the past (Yes i'm talking about Clinique)! Which is why I can believe it really is suitable for ALL skin types including really sensitive skin. It truly is such great value for money especially as it really does do all 3 things it promises on the bootle. The lazy girl inside of me loves this product as its quick and easy to use - just apply to cotton pads and sweep over the face and eye area and no need to rinse. I am quite keen to try out some of the other products in this range from Superdrug.

Neutrogena Multi-Defence Daily Moisturiser (£7.99 for 50ml)

I really like this for an every day moisturiser as its light weight and has the added bonus of SPF 15 which is essential when its as sunny as it has been recently! I use this in the morning and evening (when I'm not using No7 Overnight Radiance Boost - more on that in a moment). You can pick this up slightly cheaper than £7.99 which is the price listed for Boots and Superdrug by visiting cheapsmell.com. 

I'm really pleased with the results of using this product. I do love my Clarins HydraQuench Cream but for a more affordable everyday alternative this is definitely my choice.

No.7 Beautiful Skin - Overnight Radiance Boost (£16.00 for 30ml)

So as you might of guessed from the title, you put this on at night before bed. I bought this about a month ago. I use this instead of a moisturiser but only about 3 times per week. It is a hydrating serum which is also supposed to mildly exfoliate to give you fresher more radiance skin in the morning when you wake up. When I first used it I think I was expecting a more dramatic result. Although my skin felt good I can't say I felt 'wow this product is amazing' and not that different to just moisturising. Although I did hang on in there and carried on using the product around every other night. I can honestly say its grown on me and although subtle at first I do notice the difference. You only have to use a small amount so I can see this lasting even though its only a 30ml bottle. I think I'll definitely re-purchase this when I do run out as its now a firm part of my skincare routine.

Nspa Youthful Eye Cream (£5.00 for 15ml)

I have to be honest and confess this is the first eye cream I've ever used. I'm really pleased with this product so far. Not only is it great value for money but now using an eye cream is definitely something I'll always do as part of my skincare routine.
I'm really impressed with the nspa range, the products are so good and yet so inexpensive for the quality. I also use their Melting Cleansing Gel and reviewed it here if you'd like to  give it a little read.


Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Tweet

Wireless Festival 2013

I'm going to start off by saying..... It was AMAZING!!

I went on Sunday so Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake were headlining. 
They each did some of their older stuff and some tracks from their new albums and also a few songs together (including some cool mash ups). The atmosphere was ridiculously good and the weather was perfect, if not (dare I say it) a bit too sunny and hot. 
I took most of my photos at the start of the day before it got so busy, here are a few....


What I wore...

Denim Shorts - Levis | Top - Bank | Boots - River Island

Yes, this is the band from the Doritos advert!! 

Love this pink lipstick in 'Fuchsia' by Sleek Makeup 

It was a very long day but totally worth being tired all day at work on Monday. I got to see some great artists and even if I didn't see anyone else all day it would still have been totally worth it just to see Jay-Z and JT. I really can't stress how good they both were and how the crowd went wild for them. I was really pleased they both performed some of their classics as well as their new material. My ipod has now been updated with more Jay-Z and JT stuff as it was a great reminder of how many hits they actually both have.


Here's a little snip it of Justin doing his thing...

I wonder who will be there next year....

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Tweet