Pasta, the carbs of happiness. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love pasta (well, unless you live a Gluten-Free life!). My favourite? Tagliatelle, Linguine & Penne. So when the chance came up to transform myself into a pasta making Italian Goddess, I snapped it & headed to The Restaurant Bar & Grill in Princes Square for the evening. Slightly ignoring the fact that I am neither Italian or a Goddess, but my very vivid imagination allowed me to dream!

I arrived with my friend with no idea what we would be doing (or let ourselves in for!) & sat down with a complementary glass of Shiraz Mouvedre Percheron Red Wine from South Africa (small glass £4.25, large glass £5.75 & entire bottle for £15.50). I took one sip of it & I fell instantly in love. I rarely drink alcohol but my oh my if I could have hugged that glass of wine, I would have. My love affair with that wine began.

We were then shown into the function room with 7 other class members and met by the Head Chef & his Boss who was here for the occasion. Tables were laid out with the key ingredients for our pasta adventure along with aprons and paper chef hats. The chefs then spoke about the history of pasta and discussed various types of pasta before demonstrating how to make the dough for pasta. It was then left up to us to make our own! Scary thought!

The ratio that they use to make Pasta is 100g strong flour to 1 egg, pretty basic. Flour was poured onto the table, a well made & egg cracked into the middle making a well. The mixture was then worked on a flour bench until it all comes together resulting in a smooth ball (same texture as a boob, according to the chef!). The dough is then cut in half, patted with flour with the palm of your hands then you are ready to pass it through the pasta machine changing numbers from the highest to lowest passing it through several times on each number. We were told that some places pass it through the machine around 20 times which seems a little excessive but I’m sure the pasta would have been so smooth and silky! Stephen and I opted for 6 times. Passing, folding, passing again, dusting with flour, passing, folding on repeat until we got the pasta as thin as we wanted. I decided to make ravioli whereas Stephen decided to make Spaghetti, Tortellini & a letter P for Pasta with leftovers. My ravioli was stuffed with Ricotta Cheese & Spinach, cut & then folded over. Egg yolk was then used to stick the ends together before using a cutter to make little wiggly corners. That is when it got a little difficult! The room was so warm that the pasta started being sticky so we had to keep flouring the table to rescue our pasta. Thankfully it was all in 1 piece and we put it onto our trays for the judging panel! Nerve racking getting our pasta judged by appearance, consistency & texture when it was the very first time we EVER made pasta.

While the judging was taking place, we all sat down to dinner. For appetizers, Bread with Olive Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar dip and Olives in Garlic & Herbs. For main course, I decided on Linguine ai gamberetti (Sauteed king prawns, chilli, garlic & parsley). Stephen had Tagliatelle alla Bolognese (Slow-cooked beef & tomato ragu). Both dishes were amazing. I’ve always loved eating at The Restaurant Bar & Grill but this was the first time I ever ate pasta there. I was not disappointed at all. The king prawns were cooked perfectly, the pasta so soft and silky & the herbs complimented it all. Stephen’s ragu was the perfect mix of beef, tomatoes, garlic & herbs. I kept stealing some of his it was that good! After the main course we had a little break before dessert & I abused my love of Shiraz Mouvedre Percheron ordering a few LARGE glasses of it. It is the type of wine that is rather dangerous because it is so easy to drink. I loved it so much, I had to ask Rosanna the Events Manager to send me the name of it the next day as there was no way I would have remembered it. Tipsy on red wine is so much fun! I still have a love affair with that wine, every time I go to the restaurant, I have to have a glass of it with dinner. But enough about that wine, the dessert needs to be discussed! I had the Summer Fruits pudding with clotted cream & Stephen had the Limoncello Cheesecake. Aaah puddings how I adore thee! I think that is the quickest I’ve ever ate something & wish I ate it all over again. The meal as a whole was superb & I couldn’t shut up about it for days afterwards!

The entire event was a huge success. Sadly Stephen & I didn’t win first place in the judging competition but we all left with goodie bags which had an apron, a recipe guide on making pasta at home, a £10 voucher to use within the restaurant & a little box of chocolates. I had an amazing time at the event put on by Rosanna & would recommend it to anyone wishing to do something different one evening! The event & dinner lasted around 4 hours and cost £30 which is a bargain if you think about it! The food within The Restaurant Bar & Grill is by far my favourite in Glasgow & even if you can’t make it to any of the events they put on, I would recommend that you have dinner there at least once. I found the restaurant by chance & haven’t looked back. To die for.

I have to say a huge thank you to Rosanna & the chefs for putting on a great event! Can’t wait until I get to the next one…. cocktails anyone? *hiccup*

Finally! It’s taken me forever to upload the videos from Adele in concert but at long last they are all up! I added them up on my YouTube page for you all to listen to & enjoy! I also created a playlist of the videos I took as it’s easier to showcase them here instead of embedding a million videos!

Hope you enjoy the videos as much as I loved the concert

P.S: That isn’t my crazy singing in some of the videos, it was some annoying girls standing next to me who I wanted to hit with my handbag to make them shut up.

On Sunday night, I finally got to see one of my favourite singers; Adele in concert. I’ve been dying to see her in concert since her debut album came out however I was never that lucky! Way back in February when I knew she was coming to Glasgow in April, I tried to get tickets but they all sold out. A few weeks later, they released tickets for her September show & I woke up really early to get the pre-sale tickets to ensure I got them! For months & months I waited, finally the show date came around at Glasgow’s O2 Academy & she didn’t disappoint. She is flawless!

Before she hit the stage, two support acts; The Civil Wars & Amos Lee entertained the audience. I had never heard of either of them before Sunday but they impressed me. The Civil Wars consist of Joy Williams and John Paul White who sang songs from their album Barton Hollow which was released in February in the States. I loved their voices together, great soulful voices & harmonies. They also sang a cover of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean with a country feel to it which was amazing! Amos Lee to me sounds like a black soul singer from New Orleans in a white guys body. His voice is insane! He sang songs from his album Mission Bell which debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts the week it was released. My favourite off his album is Flowers which is really soulful (a must must must hear!). He also sang a cover of Ain’t No Sunshine which is one of my all time favourite songs originally by Bill Withers (but I like the Al Green version!). One thing I hated though was the fact that most of the crowd were talking really loud during their performances. I’d say 80% didn’t really care they were up on stage & to me, it was pretty rude of them but I guess all they were interested in was Adele.

Adele came on stage at 9pm opening with Hometown Glory from her album 19, she sang a range of songs from 19 & 21 including, Chasing Pavements, Make You Feel My Love, My Same, If It Hadn’t Been For Love, Rolling In The Deep, Someone like You & a cover of one of her favourite songs I Can’t Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt & Love Song by The Cure. I wish she sang for longer & longer. I could honestly listen to her on repeat all day long & not get sick of her.

Even though she had to cancel dates at the beginning of her UK tour due to another chest infection, she didn’t let that phase her. Instead she laughed & joked about it with the crowd saying “I had to cancel six of the dates on the tour. I won’t bore you with the details but I had to phlegm all over the audience in Leicester”. Her infectious laugh made everyone laugh along with her while sipping warm honey throughout, even if she wished she had a large glass (bottle!) of red wine!

Throughout the concert, she took the time to chat away to the crowd, told us how much of a w*nker her ex-boyfriend was, how she has started slowly becoming friends with her ex for the best & the stories behind some of her hits. She was so down to earth unlike other “stars” in the music industry & it was really refreshing to finally get the chance to see her like that, live.

Her voice was incredible live, it was breathtaking. You have to see her live in concert if you haven’t already because it is completely utterly unbelievable the powerfulness & soulfulness of her voice that leaves everyone with goosebumps & in awe of her. My friend Gillian & I were lucky that we got to the very front of the stage before the concert started so got an amazing view, wish we were a little more to the centre of the stage rather than to the left but at least we were front row & not all the way back in amongst the crowd.

The best part of the concert was when she sang Someone Like You, she started singing, then stopped a few seconds into it saying “sorry, my first ever sing-a-long to this was in Glasgow’s ABC in April, so do it louder, let’s do it again…”. The entire crowd then sang throughout the song, it was insane! The atmosphere was indescribable. At points, she stopped singing, letting the crowd take over & you could tell she was totally overwhelmed at everyone singing her song. When the song finished, everyone was clapping like crazy, cheering, banging their feet & she started crying saying “Thank you very much Glasgow, you’re so kind, thank you! I couldn’t hear myself throughout that”

I did nothing but snap photos & take videos of her so I could watch it all back again & again. I’m so glad that the majority of the photos came out really well. I’ve posted the photos I took at the concert below & the videos will be uploaded in another blog post because there are so many of them, don’t want you all overdosing!

Adele is hands down amazingly beautiful both inside & out. Fact.

A former Artist in Residence at the world renowned Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Connecticut, is hosting a premier solo show at the Offshore Gallery in Glasgow’s West-End.The gallery will display a compilation of the ink work, illustrations, and drawings by Newton Mearns artist Craig McIntosh at the end of August.

It is an exhibition of the work created and inspired from 80 days McIntosh spent isolated in a log cabin, deep in the wilderness of New England at the peak of winter during his residency in the US. McIntosh said:

My illustrations, drawings and prints come together in a very organic fashion. I don’t set out to produce art about one subject or another. I simply start with a line or shape my work evolves as I create it in to subjects, objects and patterns. I am constantly drawing I love to sketch on abandoned pieces of paper like envelopes, old news print and cheep printer paper, some how the more worthless the paper the easier it is to explore the marks and lines that are made on them developing them into more intricate and detailed drawings.

McIntosh has produced work for Eoin McGoniga (on the board of directors at the Irish Institute of Modern Art), Helen Collins on the board of the Skibbereen Art Centre, and is a graduate from the Duncan of Jordanstone Art School in Dundee. He is originally from the Southside of Glasgow, and has displayed his artwork across Europe and North America for the past three years.

This free exhibition is at Offshore Gallery, 3-5 Gibson Street, G12 8NU, on 26 August – 9 September 2011. There’ll be a display of McIntosh’s art and, of course, the customary complimentary booze for all attending.

McIntosh’s work will be on sale throughout the exhibition, with prices ranging between £30 for small prints and up to £500 for larger works, inclusive of framing.