Street & Rail

Winter seems to have blind sided my immune system, hitting me with a double whack of infection these past weeks. Sadly that means a week of tracksuits, pyjamas and my dressing gown, so nothing to report of the fashion front.

Nestled between a mountain of pillows and the cosy grips of my duvet, sipping slowly at a ginormous mug of streaming herbal tea and dreaming about all things edible, I got one of my sudden urges to bake. Obviously in no fit state, its was time for the next best thing.....sharing with you guys of course!!!

If you follow me on Instagram (@streetandrail) you will already know I love good food and cooking, but more specifically baking (specially sweet treats). Throughout my childhood, and even to this day, mum is forever in the kitchen cooking up all kinds of goodness and I guess that's where it all started...

Palmiers are a firm family favourite, especially with my may cousins, and not to worry if your not a fan of spending hours in the kitchen because they are super easy, super speedy and SUPER Delicious ;)

Ingredients:

500g Puff Pastry Block

4 Tablespoons Sugar

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 200 c.

Cut your pastry block in half and roll out into a square, or if your feeling lazy you can buy a ready rolled pastry sheet.

Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the pastry and gently run the rolling pin over to press the sugar in.

Fold in both side to the middle and repeat the last two steps until you have what looks like a sausage.

Cut into even strips and spread over the baking sheet lying each flat so you can see the fold in the pastry. Remember to leave space for each palmier to rise.

(In the photo I have flattened mine before baking. Me and my sister used to do when we were little so we could lick the oozing sugar syrup off our fingers so it is now a force of habit, however it is best you don't. Leaving them will give a better, even rise and save you the sticky mess left behind.)

Repeat this step for the second half of pastry if you are using the pastry block, then bake until golden.

(approx 20 minutes)

Wait to cool, then devour!

See like I said super easy, and you can have plenty of fun with these, there's no need to stick to a plain sugar filling! Why not add cinnamon or vanilla to your sugar, or maybe replace the sugar completely and use chocolate spread?! Savoury palmiers also work a treat. Pesto, olive and cheese are amongst some of the ones I've tried. I would love to hear about some of your inventions so don't forget to let me know in the comments below.

Enjoy,

Tan xx

P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos, I didn't know this would become a post.

Covering the classics this weeks with a red lip and red nail.

There's a shade our there for everyone, so here goes with a small selection of my Essie fave's, ranging in shades and intensity. I have applied two even coats of each colour to my nails, finishing with Seche Vite top coat.
(starting from the lightest on my thumb, to the darkest on my little finger)

Russian Roulette //

A light, bright, vibrant shade, with a slight coral/orange undertone.
I'm not sure how I feel about the formula on this one. Mildly translucent, but rich in colour meaning two coats may be ok, although three is best. Application is ok, but personally the colour is on the light side for me, probably better suited to lighter and tanned skin tones best.

Really Red //

Very similar to Russian Roulette, although I can't really decided whether its sits on a warmer or cooler scale. Maybe it's both! A classic 'red' red, that seems season neural, making it suitable for everyday of the year.
Really red is semi-creme, semi-jelly consistency....a crelly ;). (Creme's are essentially the basic formula used to make up most polishes, minus the shimmers, glitters and effects) Crelly's are therefore creme's with a hint of transparency. It goes on even and almost completely opaque after the first coat, however you will need two coats for optimum coverage.
It glides on the nail easily and it has just enough of a gloss to get away with no top coat (but only if your in a rush mind).

Twin Sweater Set //

One of the colours from the last A/W collection released. A blue based, rich crimson red. Heading into darker territories with this one. It goes on almost magenta in the first application, becoming more red with the second coat. While it leans to cooler shades, this shade is versatile and would suit pretty much every skin tone, through every season.
We have another Crelly. Twin sweater set has achieved total perfection in regards to the formula: self-levelling, ultra-high gloss, easy flow and minimal staining are just bonuses for a colour with this level of saturation.

Fishnet Stockings //
A classic red creme.
Fishnet stockings is richer, deeper and ever so slightly warmer that twin sweater set, whilst still maintaining the blue undertones.
There's nothing particularly unique about the colour or formula, but remains to be a great basic if ever there was one for such deeper darker shades.

Tomboy No More //
Love. Love. Love
My favourite of them all...can you tell?!

A winter colour if ever there was one. Almost jewel-like, this is the deep red of all deep reds!
With a definite jelly consistency, the formula has pretty much achieved total perfection, like that of twin sweater set, however will require three coats of optimal coverage due to its translucency, but I also love that about it. Its rich without being too bright, bold enough to make a statement, and best of all suits my skin tone.

Would love to know some of your favourite reds so I can give them a try?
Let me know . . .

Enjoy your Sunday

Tan xx

P.S Sorry for the lack of look posts, my wardrobe is currently going through rehab, but I'll have one up for you soon ;)