The ‘Zadams Family Pumpkin Spice’ Vegan Pizza from Zad’s, Manchester

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The Zadam’s Family Pumpkin Spice Pizza from Zad’s is THE best vegan pizza I have ever eaten!

Not too sweet (like a lot of vegan pizzas tend to be), but savoury, with just a little sweet spice. Perfect balance!

‘Pumpkin, squash and sweet potato puree base, with garlic drizzle, sage, thyme, crispy kale, cheese, red onion, roasted chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, apple chunks and diced walnut coated with cinnamon and dash of chilli flakes to warm your soul’.

The most Autumnal thing I’ve eaten this year!

🦇✨Chrissie✨🦇

Visit to Bundobust – Indian Vegetarian Street Food and Bar – Manchester

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Spot my bloke on the right

I’ve always loved that Bundobust is a no frills, eco friendly canteen and bar (even the cutlery is biodegradable), serving Indian street food.

It’s really spacious but still manages to be cozy and friendly. We reserved a booth because I’m not able to climb into and sit on the bench seating, plus we wanted to be isolated because of Covid.

They have gluten free beer, mango lassi, cocktails, chai tea, the most delicious peshwari paratha (sweet bread) and kulfi (pistachio ice cream).

Saag Aloo (spinach and potato); Paneer, mushroom and pepper kebabs; Peshwari Paratha (sweet bread); Sev Puri (Dry noodle, layers of samosa, yoghurt and tamarind sauce); Okra fries.

🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤

Balm.com & Future Dew Oil/Serum by Glossier Reviews

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Balm.com

This Balm.com by Glossier is one of the best lipbalms I’ve ever used. It leaves lips hydrated and moisturised, non sticky and with a sheer tint of colour. The mango flavour is delicious!

I just wish the tube were bigger and that it wasn’t so hard to squeeze out, maybe a tin would be better and still easily recycled.

Note: Balm.com isn’t tested on animals (otherwise it wouldn’t be on this blog obviously) but it isn’t vegan as it contains Lanolin, which is basically sheep grease (from their wool). Gross but highly effective!

Rating 4/5

Future Dew Oil/Serum

Futuredew Hybrid Oil/Serum (sample) is so similar to the balm at first but then melts into skin making it look naturally radiant and healthy. My dehydrated skin loved it!

Less is more with this as it can feel thick and sticky if you over-do it. I only needed half the sample for both cheeks and my nose.

Rating 5/5

Note: Both products create a subtle sheen (rather than a gloss or a metallic/pearlised looking finish) and even-out pores and dry patches, rather than accentuating them.

🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤

30 Halloween Films For Adult Scaredy-cats 1975 – 2020

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Not everyone likes being scared poop-less by horror films so, in the spirit of things (see what I did there lol) I’ve compiled a list of not-too-scary, scary films.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

A newly married couple get taken in by a very strange ‘family’ when their car breaks down. Bed hopping, singing, dancing and general mayhem ensue!

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Atmospheric, with some gruesomely realistic transformation scenes but also very tongue-in-cheek and funny in places.

Some jump scares, blood and gore and the most realistic werewolf transformation ever!

Gremlins (1984)

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Cute, adorable and deadly if you feed him after midnight

Ghostbusters (1984/2016)

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These films are a massive amount of fun! A group of guys or girls dealing with ghost and slime in New York city.

Slime!

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

A singing, carnivorous plant with a taste for humans.

The Lost Boys (1987)

Cool, funny and creepy; an 80’s classic.

Beetlejuice (1988)

Beetlejuice 1988

Fantasy horror at it’s craziest. If you happen to find you and your partner are dead, then you might need the help of a little goth girl and one crazy (and very un-PC) Beetlejuice.

The Witches (1990)

A young boy discovers Witches are very real and very organised but can he save us all?

The Addams Family (1991)

The Adams Family Values (1993)

Even though every member of this family has a line or a scene that will make you grin. I’d watch it solely for Wednesday Addams!

Braindead (1992)

braindead 1992

Zombie babies anyone? I think this film still holds the award for most amount of fake blood used in a film. It’s gory yes, but every seen is played for laughs and it’s too ridiculous to be scary. Directed by Peter Jackson before he found Hobits.

Ridiculous gore galore!

Hocus Pocus (1993)

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If witches and fantasy films are your thing you will love this.

Casper (1995)

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Yes, this is a kids film with lots of CGI but it’s also a family drama and unexpectedly romantic.

Scream Franchise (1996 – 2011)

I’ve always thought of the Scream films as enjoyable who-dunnits, as they are a satire on the horror genre. However, there are some shocking moments where people get stabbed…a lot.

There will be blood.

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

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In the days before Johnny Depp played rather annoying characters he was perfectly cast as geeky investigator Ichabod Crane in this film based on a real folk tale.

Ginger Snaps (2000)

Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004) !Scarier!

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These cult films get progressively darker but the first is the least creepy and has the most wry humour. How would you help your sister if she were slowly turning into a teenage werewolf? Nothing like Teenwolf I assure you.

Some parts are kinda gross.

Ghost Ship (2002)

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Kinda creepy with some unexpected twists but a lot of expected one’s as well to be honest.

A scene of blood and gore near the end.

Dog Soldiers (2002)

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A lycanthropic psychological thriller, set in a cabin in the woods.

Creepy with blood gore but so awesome!

The Haunted Mansion (2003)

A realtor and his family are mysteriously summoned to a mansion, where they learn the true meaning of pulling together as a family.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

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A zom-rom-com, obviously.

Gore, glorious gore!

The Corpse Bride (2005)

A grave misunderstanding! Really lovely film.

My Dead Girlfriend (2006)

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So if you ran over your other half with your car you’d naturally turn to the occult to bring them back right?

Silly blood and gore.

Jennifer’s Body (2009)

jennifers_body_poster 2009

So your beautiful best friend has an insidious appetite for men, literally.

Fright Night (2011)

I loved the original film from 1985 and had a huge crush on the vampire neighbour. It looks quite dated now so I’ve included this remake in the list instead. This feels more like a sexy psycho thriller than a horror film, somehow.

Dark Shadows (2012)

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More of a character driven fantasy than a horror. Slow start but stick with it.

Warm Bodies (2013)

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Just because he’s a zombie doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel sympathy or love even?

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

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Tongue-in-cheek but pretty epic.

Cool blood and gore.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)

There are a lot of zomb-rom-coms out there and this is one of the better ones. Think, Superbad with relatable characters but the shared goal is to kill and escape the undead, rather than bring beer.

Fun blood and gore.

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Four strangers who have move to middle America to battle against evolved zombies and find other survivors, create a wonky makeshift family.

Lots of splattering silliness.

Freaky

When a teenage girl swaps bodies with a wanted psycho killer, only one of them is happy.

Silly slasher flick.

To watch the night before Halloween

The Crow

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People make the mistake of thinking this is a horror film but it’s actually a beautiful tragic love story. A heartbroken man returns from the grave (the night before Halloween) to avenge his fiancés murder. A poignant, violent, noir-fantasy with some dark humour.

Before we share the popcorn, which ones are your favourites on this list? I’ve seen them all so just ask if you want a more detailed scare-factor description.

👻Chrissie👻

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Monthly Round Up – September

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Now the weather has cooled my chronic fatigue and brain- fog has calmed a bit. Unfortunately this makes my ADHD (self diagnosed as a teen but wildly obvious) a lot worse. It’s like I’ve drunk three espressos all of the time. Nice to have some energy and my quirky personality back though! 😄 It took me five six attempts to be able to write this properly. 😆

Style

MY SLIPPERS
CUTE…
CREEPY (but very adorkable)

My ‘sensible dress’ which I hardly ever wear. However, I got so many compliments on it (over on my Instagram) that I’m going to wear it a lot more.

Food

We went to Allotment Vegan Eatery in town, which had beautiful food and cozy decor but would have been too dear if we hadn’t taken advantage of the government ‘eat out to help out’ scheme.

Had a lovely meal at Sai Spice in Chorlton. Here are leftovers of Mutter Panner (peas and cheese which tastes nicer than it sounds), Young coconut and green beans and vegetable Kolpahuri which was really piquant!

Vegan and gluten free cheese-on-toast using Genius bread and Follow Your Heart, Pepper Jack flavour. Wow!

Beauty

After three months of loosely following The Curly Girl Method (but with other products) my hair is shiny and soft, with less frizz AND holding it’s curl shape.

Lifestyle

The most geeky and awesome book I have ever read! This is like the crazy dreams I’d have regularly as a kid in the 80’s.

Still writing down happy things that have happened, as and when they occur, so I can read them back when I’ve been having a succession of shitty mental/physical health days, to give me some perspective.

Watching

Dark – Complex, family oriented sci-fi

Boardwalk Empire – Sprawling 1920’s Gangsta series set in Atlantic City

Hero’s – Series featuring time travel and a big cast of characters discovering they have unique powers.

The Months Most Used Emojis

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Really looking forward to a chilly but beautiful Autumn and Halloween of course. 🦇

🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤

Creepy TV Series for the Spooky Season

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 9 Comments

Van Helsing

A woman wakes out of a coma and slowly realises she isn’t exactly human and hoards of vampires have taken over the country. This starts slow (inside an abandoned hospital) but give it a chance to open up into an absolutely epic adventure.

Graphic violence and gore.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Less of a remake of the 90’s show Sabrina The Teenage Witch and more faithful adaptation of the original 50’s comic by Archie Comics.

Drama with jump scares, a little gore and the odd murder.

Supernatural

Two brothers follow in their father’s footsteps as hunters of the supernatural. They fight ghosts, monsters, demons and gods that roam the earth.

Some episodes are atmospheric, some scary and some are more tongue-in-cheek or emotional.

A Discovery of Witches

What happens when a young witch and an older vampire fall in love, when it is forbidden by both of their kind?

This is so dramatic and emotional you’ll be on the edge of your seat, rather than hiding behind a cushion.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

A teen discovers that she’s a vampire slayer and has a Watcher to guide her. She also realises some vamps are seriously hot.

Dry humour, so many quotable lines, satire on US society/pop culture and a lot of fun!

Stranger Things

A pre-teen escapes from a facility and is saved by a cop and a group of kids. This is the least strange occurrence in the show as much creepier and stranger things are yet to come.

Great drama about a small town under threat, with a lot of atmosphere and some fun scary parts.

The Strain

A virus outbreak which unleashes a very old sort of evil, one which can’t be contained. Eventually, an unlikely bunch of people come together to fight back but first they need to understand what exactly is hunting them.

This is creepy as hell and also gory and graphic in places. Monster based, rather than psychological scares.

Light as a Feather

A group of teenage friends play Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board for a laugh but don’t realise just how much the new girl has invested in it…until they start dying in turn.

A creepier version of Pretty Little Liars, this is perfect to binge watch over a weekend.

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Instagram Quiz Answers

I’m asking my followers on Insta if they can guess which series is which, just from the below images, even if they haven’t watched some of the them.

1, Supernatural; 2, The Strain; 3, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; 4, A Discovery of Witches; 5, Van Helsing; 6, Light as a Feather; 7, Stranger Things; 8, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤

The Allotment Vegan Eatery – First Impressions

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 4 Comments

The Allotment Vegan Eatery, located on Lloyd Street, makes fine dinning simple and relatable (and gluten free too). As soon as you walk in it feels welcoming and cozy, even though it’s quite spacious.

We visited early on a rainy Monday to take advantage of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, which they are continuing through September. I really liked the simple and natural feel to decor and layout. There is an extensive drinks menu offering juices, bottled soft drinks, beer, teas, cocktails and wine.

Small Plates

My bloke’s tiny dish was too tiny to eat out of properly but he found the Edamame Salad, with kale, chilli, spring onions, soy and tamarind dressing was really refreshing.

I found the little boats made from Chicory leaves to be the perfect way to eat tenderstem broccoli with black olive tapenade, toasted hazelnuts and pumpkin and pomegranate seeds. A unique combination which worked really well.

Large Plates

My bloke likes a good risotto but he’d never tried a beetroot risotto with ricotta before. This dish had a lovely flavour but both the maple glazed beetroot and the ricotta were similarly sweet, so it needed another salty or sharp flavour to break them up and help define them both.

I ordered the ‘fish’ and chips. Wow, we’re those chips big and crispy! The minted peas had a subtle flavour which was just right and the homemade tarter sauce was a perfect accompaniment. The ‘fish’ was made from banana blossom which had a texture similar to shredded duck and tasted strongly of lemon. The batter had a nice crunch but the fish was crying out for some kind of salt but there was no salt and pepper on the table, a trend which is becoming more common I’ve noticed.

Dessert

There were only two desserts so we ordered one each to share. Blueberry Cheesecake and a Hazelnut Slice.

The hazelnut slice base was made of crushed hazelnuts, with a thick layer of salted caramel praline, topped with solid Belgian chocolate ganache. The portion of this delicious desert was so big I was glad I was sharing it.

The base of the blueberry cheesecake was made of crushed pea cans and almonds, topped with a vanilla and blended cashew filling, topped with blueberry and chai seed compot. Such skill must have gone into making this as it was wonderful!

The inclusion of fresh fruit and ice cream with both deserts was a nice touch and lifted their flavour, rather than just being sweet deserts.

One thing I have to mention is how uncomfortable the wooden chairs are if you don’t have any back fat. The next day a part of my spine actually felt bruised! There is a settee (which was taken) and I noticed other metal chairs when we were leaving.

Service was timely and friendly although we did arrive early and it got a lot busier later. We wouldn’t eat there again unless it was for a treat like a birthday as we found it to be too pricey for our budget but I can understand why, as it’s evident a lot of thought, skill and care goes into the food.

🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤