Celebrating Diwali Festival with Sainsbury's

Indian cuisine has to be one of my favourite type of dish to eat - it's ranked at the top with Caribbean. I like my food to have a bit of a kick! To help celebrate the Hindu Festival of Light Diwali on November 11, Sainsbury's invited me down to have a curry masterclass with Masterchef winner Dhruv Baker and show off their range of Indian ready made dishes. How could I resist?

Sainsbury's has a whole range of different, delicious Indian ready made dishes. From crispy onion bhajis to spicy chicken biryani, the range is all made by hand in one factory. Amazing right? I know I'm guilty of assuming any type of fast, convenience food is mass produced without a care in the world. But Sainsbury's try really hard to ensure their food is of a high standard. As always, it's so interesting to hear the process behind how the dishes are created and how passionate the chefs and product developers are.

After sampling the yummy Taste The Difference Chicken Biryani above, it was time to save some room for one of Dhruv's dishes. This I was looking forward too. After stuffing myself on many poppodoms as I watched the demonstration, I very nearly didn't have enough room to sample his curry. But of course, I took one for the team!

The okra and baby aubergine curry was fantastic. Usually vegetarian curries are a let down. But this was rich and creamy with just the right amount of spice. The unusual okra really gave it a certain something. I may have had two helpings of this before squeezing in the mango sorbet.

Thanks for such a great evening Sainsbury's!

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OOTD: Purple glasses

Outfit:
Khaki trench coat: Primark (similar)
Blue soft jeans: George At Asda* (similar)
Orange bird print chiffon shirt: River Island (similar)
Grey leather ankle boots: Office (similar)
Red and navy checked scarf: Accessorize (similar)
Purple cat eye glasses: London Retro*
Black leather Bayswater: Mulberry

As a glasses wearer since the tender age of 11, I appreciate a good pair of specs. I like to have a few on rotation at once. After all you wouldn't wear the same t-shirt everyday right? They have to stand out, have a slightly retro shape and thick rimmed to get my seal of approval. That means the Bakerloo frames from London Retro tick all the boxes. I'm on my third pair of glasses from the brand and I really can't fault them at all. The delivery is always impeccable and they have such a gorgeous selection of glasses.

November is looking to be a busy month. Just how I like it. I've got a good chunk of freelance work scheduled in, lots of fun events planned, exciting things happening with the blog and of course, Christmas shopping to start. The dreaded C word has started to take over my life. How on earth is it that time again?

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Exploring the UK: Loch Ness, The Highlands, Scotland

Another post about my trip to Scotland! We arrived at Inverness Airport around 11am and after picking up our hire we drive into the city for a city bite to eat before meeting our friend. After stuffing our faces at The Filling Station - similar to Frankie and Bennies - we hit the road in search of Loch Ness.

Loch Ness is the second largest Scottish loch by surface area but thanks to it's sheer depth, it's the largest one in volume in the British Isles. Safe to say, it's pretty impressive to see in the flesh. It's most famous for its mythical sea creature that's said to loiter in the water - the Loch Ness Monster. Known affectionately was Nessie, there have been many reported sighting over the years. Sadly she stayed hidden whilst we were there!

While we were there, we hopped on a Jacobite Cruise* to help us see the loch in all its glory. We boarded the boat at the Clansman Harbour before being take on an hour long cruise around the loch. Despite a drizzly day, it was brilliant. The information on the loudspeaker was top notch - they even threw in some traditional Scottish music for good measure! The boat sailed over the ruins of Urquhart Castle so we could have a closer look and learn about its turbulent history.

A great way to see the sights of Loch Ness!

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