Essie Nailpolish Review: Cute as a Button

It's Essie nailpolish review time! My current obsession has to be Essie's 'Cute as a Button'. It definitely lives up to its petite name, and is an instant win-over for any skin tone. The nailpolish itself is a vibrant coral colour with a hint of pink and orange tones to it. Despite the fact that it is peak Winter here in Australia, I thought it would be fun to add a little colour pop to this monotonous weather in the hope that it would provide some cheer. I placed two coats of this nailpolish followed by Essie's top coat known as 'No Chips Ahead' and it provided a perfect glaze to the nail. Do you have any colours from Essie that you're in love with? If so drop a comment below,

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Jam Buttercream (Eid Celebrations)

It's been a hectic past month with Ramadan, the annual month where all Muslims around the world engage in fasting from sunrise to sunset, so I barely had time to accommodate for my blogging. However with the conclusion of Ramadan comes Eid Al-Fitr, another annual celebration that marks the end of Ramadan and festive treats are consumed and everyone dresses in their best suits to greet family and friends. It is tradition to make sweets pertaining to your cultural heritage however I decided to sway from tradition and opted to bake moist chocolate cupcakes with strawberry jam buttercream. Let's just leave it at that there were no crumbs leftover and smiles left, right and centre once everyone had consumed these petite treats.

Notes:

• In order to substitute buttermilk you can simply add tsp of white vinegar to 1 cup of normal everyday use milk and let it sit for 5 minutes so that it slightly froths from the top.
• To make the coffee as required by the recipe, simply add 1 tbsp of Nestle instant coffee granules to 1 cup of hot boiling water and stir.

Ingredients:

Makes 12 cupcakes

(Moist Chocolate Cupcakes)
75 grams butter
½ tsp vanilla powder
3dl flour
1dl cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 ½ dl white sugar
1 large egg
1 dl hot strong coffee
1 ½ dl buttermilk

(Strawberry Jam Buttercream)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Strawberry jam

Method (Cupcakes)
1.        Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake liners.
2.        Melt the butter, add the vanilla essence and let it cool.
3.        Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder and sugar into a large bowl.
4.       Light whip the egg together with the buttermilk.
5.        Mix the coffee with the butter.
6.       Add all liquid ingredients to dry ingredients until a smooth, liquid-like batter forms.
7.        Divide mixture between the cupcake liners and make sure to fill only up to 2/3 in each liner.
8.       Bake for 18-20 minute or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre of any cupcake. Let the cupcakes cool for a good 2-3 hours before frosting.

Method (Icing)

1. Place butter and jam in a mixing bowl or an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream until well incorporated, about 2 minutes.
2. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until you reach desired consistency. If frosting gets too thick you can add a little milk to thin it out. Pipe onto cupcake using a Wilton 1M piping tip.

Book Review: How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia

Genre: Drama
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Pages: 240
Year: 2013

According to Mohsin Hamid there are 9 steps in order for one to get filthy rich within Asia.

With instructions ranging from moving to a big city to getting an education, not falling in love and using violence where necessary and always having a aptly timed exit strategy.

The story as written by Hamid is of one man’s journey into the cut-throat world of business, childhood infatuations lost and the innate human greed for more. On first instance, the context seems simple. However, as you slowly peel away the surface layers and delve deeper into Hamid’s literary genius mindset you begin to realise this fictional piece of work isn’t just a mere parody of a get-rich-quick type book one finds in the wealth and finance sections of bookshops.  Rather, the story as written by Hamid is of one man’s journey into the cut-throat world of business, childhood infatuations lost and the innate human greed for more.

This rags-to-riches story is set in an unnamed country with Hamid cleverly providing no indications as to whereabouts the story is actually set and removes any preconceived ideas that this tale is crafted within the author¹s homeland, Pakistan.

Upon indulging in the first few pages one might be mistaken that this was just another Slumdog Millionaire akin story about a paupers turning into a prince. Conversely as Hamid weaves his storytelling magic the reader finds it hard to put down the book as we follow the unlikeliest of heroes, an unnamed boy who moves from a small village to the big city in his quest to transform a small bottled water operation into a hugely successful company at the price of foregoing some dreams.

The particularly fascinating feature of the book perhaps is the conclusion chapter titled Œ”Have an Exit Strategy” which strangely gives off F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragic befallen hero Gatsby vibe.  The focus turns to the unnamed boy turned corporate mogul sitting in a hotel room alone accompanied solely by his thoughts of the past half century to provide him solace.

After shedding a tear or two one begins to realise at the core of this novel the quintessential lesson being taught besides the overarching one of how to get filthy rich.

(originally published here on Zardozi Magazine)