A 4 Course Apple Dinner with US Apples

My Envy Box June 2017 | Unboxing & Review

My Favorite FBB Femina Miss India 2017 Contestants

Miss India is not just a title but a dream of millions of girls in India. It is not just a recognition but a getaway to splendid dreams and a whole new career path.

Every year, numerous girls across the country participate to win this coveted title. Out of the 100s of contestants, only top 3 gets the prestigious crown. The journey does not just end there. The top 3 contestants that stand shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts across the world to win further crowns that of Miss Universe and Miss World.

India had given quite a Miss Universe and Miss World including my favorites- Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai and Diya Mirza to name a few. Let's see among all participants [state winners] this year, who will stand to win this most desirous title and represent our country at the global forums. 

My rendezvous with Miss India 2017

I have been fortunate enough to meet some of the contestants in person this year [follow me on my social media like Instagram, Twitter to know more wherein I have covered my meet-ups with some of these glorious girls who get a chance to participate in the paegant].

I get to meet/ interact them on not just one but 2-3 occasions. Given my whatsoever limited exposure and interaction, I have made a list of my top favorites contestants who are challenging for the crown this year.

While there were 20+ contestants, these few have enticed me basis their warm personality, striking good features, accessibility, charm and overall presence.

Wanna know who they are? 

1) Manushi Chillar [Haryana]

Sweet, gentle and absolute graceful, Manushi is not just a pretty face but has a lot of compassion too. Her simplicity and that sweet smile [from within] is her biggest asset. She is one of my most favorite contestants.

2) Shrishti Vyakranam [Andhra Pradesh]

Shrishti is not just beautiful but talented and very down to earth. 

3) Vamika Nidhi [Jharkhand]

She is sassy, pert and full of energy

4) Rody H Vanlalhriatpuii [Mizoram]

Rody has a spunk. She oodles oomph and has high chances to stand out as the lovely, fierce contestant from the beautiful state of Mizoram.

5) Mannat Singh [Kerala]
She is tall, very tall indeed! Well not just that, she exhibits a warm personality and a sweet face.

6) Sherlin Seth [Tamil Nadu]

Composed, classy and lots of oomph, Sherlin has it in her to make to the top 3. She is a strong contender for the Miss India crown.

7) Maira Choudhary [Delhi]

Well, those were my top favorite contestants. Not to forget some other names like Miss Assam [Triveni Barman], Miss Maharashtra [a little too overconfident Aishwarya Devan], Sana Dua [ the poised beauty from j&K], a very pretty Miss Telangana [Simran Chaudhary] and Miss Chattisgarh [Vinali Bhatnagar].

Who do you think will win the crown? DM or answer comments and let me know.

The Miss India finale is crowning is commencing on Sunday, 25th June. Let us wait and see who are the 3 winners. I am keeping my fingers crossed and I cannot wait to see the final crowning. Stay tuned to me for some live coverage from the event.

Stay Haute,

Ekta

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Zomato 

My Food Experience of Zaika E Awadh at Baluchi, The Lalit Mumbai

||Attending the Awadhi Food festival||

Baluchi is a melody to ear. By Melody, I did not just mean the soulful live performance of ghazals and old Hindi/Bangla songs at this "designed with subtlety" and "easy on spirits" restaurant at The Lalit.

A Soaked Sunday Soiree at Mirabella Mumbai

It was raining splendidly last Sunday. Being in confines of home for so long, I have been aching to go out. There were at least a dozen plans doyen-ing in my head and I could not wait for my house chores to get completed so I can rush outside. It was a bright morning that was soon to be turned into heavy pitter-patter, making it dreamy and a perfect occasion to pop up a wine bottle and sit by the window with a poetry book in hand.

I was quite lost in my little black book of Gulzar when my smartphone reminded me of my brunch plans. Well, Mirabella is a place that if you visit once, you may not forget it soon. I quickly attended to the guests at home, see them off and booked myself an Ola to reach the place without getting drenched in the rain. 

Not wanting the sweet, earthy petrichor to dazzle my senses, I packed myself inside the vehicle and headed to Mirabella Kitchens at Andheri West. 

If you are from Mumbai, Living in suburbs, you may have heard about Mirabella. If not, how about "He said, she said"? Well, Mirabella, if am not mistaken, had replaced the latter with a little change in the ambience. 

I reached the place at 1 pm and was glad to see some familiar places. It was a new menu tasting. The rain inculcates a different kind of appetite/hunger in me and I could not wait to try their new menu. So without further ado, let us get into the business of food, my experience and overall views.

But first, the newly proposed menu!

The menu indeed looks palatable and is loaded with varital Italian Delicatseen.

What we Tried

The Lemongrass coriander soup was such a delight. It was simple, sober and had an easy tangy flavour. It was a clear soup that never came across bland and had the bites of veggies done just right. Recommended. Do try it!

In case, if you wonder- here are the veggies that the soup was well-seasoned with. They were neither too crunchy nor too soggy, and blended perfect with the mild and soothing lemongrass.

A good brunch is incomplete without a good drink. Naah! I am not talking about plain vanilla juices but mocktails that have balanced flavours and add to your overall experience. One such mocktail that I would recommend at Mirabella is- Pink Guava Punch. It was mild and refreshing. 

The "Mumbai Masala" veg pizza was superlatively loaded and a great delight to the palate. The sauce, the topping and the cheese was just perfect. 

Pizza Margherita is another good pizza to try at Mirabella Kitchen.

I am not a dessert person but this one stole m,y heart. I loved the combo with strawberry-blueberry sauce and the pastry was quite soft and will melt in your mouth.

The presentation is bang on. Oh yes, I may return to Mirabella for this one.

We ordered Arugula Salad but it never received the same. Our fellow bloggers at next table were kind to share their Citar Green and we loved the dressing ;) 

I am a big fan of Aglio Olio and the one at Mirabella got its recipe right. Do try this one. The portion is decent for one person.

What we liked

Mirabella made a dull brunch turned bright with live Karaoke and popular music. The hospitality team started with the cult classic "Hotel California" and also played some Bollywood Number. I love karaoke but publicly shy about it. They made me sing to one of my all time favourites number- Words along with a beautiful lady- Tara. 

Now I dunno whether I was crooning but Tara was a sport and we happily sailed through the song. 

Apart from the engagement, I also liked the food presentation, choice of cutlery and array of dishes on the kiln.

What could have been better

The menu looked sumptuous but the service was the deal breaker. For instance, we have placed our first order at 1 pm but got the first serving only after 2:00 pm and that too incomplete order. Repeated requests went in vain. Apparently, there were only two-three servers attending to the entire guests. A lot of dishes never turned up especially the main course and the desserts. 

I have been to Mirabella earlier but their service was a lot better. The restaurant had taken quite an effort to host the soiree but service was, unfortunately, a big dampener given the fact that it was an "invite only" session and a little readiness or organisation could have been better.

While a lot of factors played against the experience, there were some that played favourable like the weather, food presentation, music, variety etc.

So, if you are someone who loves Italian, do give Mirabella a try. Like I suggested, do try their pink guava, Mumbai Masala Pizza.

For more pictures, do check on my Zomato profile [ I am not active on zomato though]

Winners for Women's Day YouTube Giveaway

Hola lovelies,

We conducted a massive giveaway on our Youtube channel. Do not recall it? here it is-

It was a massive giveaway and we expected a great turnout. While we had some great number of people participating in this giveaway. Unfortunately, there were some fake accounts that were created to participate in it. It took us some while to skim through those accounts and zero down on the real subscribers/ participants but we are happy that we did it.

We deliberately stretched some time to evaluate between one-time contest player who subscribes only to play the contest and the genuine subscriber. Given the experience, we had with previous giveaways wherein some of the participants would subscribe once and unsubscribe next month once the contest is over, Or some participants who received their prizes signed the PODs and yet denied having received them ever to subscribers whom [recently] we selected but unavailable for any communication.

Why do we conduct Giveaways?

Giveaway, according to us, is a tool to reward our subscribers and their valuable association. It is also a tool to create awareness/information about your channel/social media and entices readership. I would have love to conduct a giveaway every month but given the non-active participation or involvement of several fake accounts, it has become a bad idea of a sort. We have also seen many winners of the past giveaways who have won massive prizes but were never seen/heard back. This breaks our heart and, am sure also of the real participants who are genuine. 

Nevertheless, after a lot of contemplation and thorough evaluation, we have found our Winners for the Women's day Giveaway. The winners are chosen basis-

1) Meritorious Participation 

2) Adherence to giveaway rules

And the Winners are-

1) Subhasini Bose

2) Hamsalatha Pavankumar

3) Quill & Quiver

Congratulations Winners!!! Do mail us your name, address along with an id card at hautekutir@gmail.com

In case, we do not hear from you in next 7 days, the prize will be transferred to next eligible contestant[s].

While we have got our 3 winners, we want to extend special thanks to all the participants, especially -

1) Navodita Gahlot

2) Simpi Sharma

3) Nisha Kolay

We really liked your efforts and it was a very close finish. However, we can choose only 3 winners. Nevertheless, better luck next time.

Yes, we may come with a new contest, soon.

Stay Tuned!

Love

Best of Fashion On Oscar Red Carpet 2017

It was Oscars night, meant to dazzle, sizzle and swag with style and high couture. Oscars Award is not just one of the most prestigious award but a breeding galore for fashion enthusiasts and star gazers. It is the night when stars come to Red Carpet and everyone waits with bated breaths to check their red hot style on the red carpet.

Millions of women, fans, fashion enthusiasts, critics across the world have been waiting for this day to check what their favourite stars wore for a red carpet and off course, who gets the Oscars.

While it is a very prestigious occasion, with many celebs going nerves about their awards, their speeches and very importantly, of late, the Red Carpet appearance. A lot goes behind their mind, their fashion strategy and designing the final look, influenced or gut chased.

We do not aim to criticise anyone in this post. Instead, we have picked some looks/style that looked beautiful.

Here are some of the best picks that we thought stood out.

1) Naomi Campell 

We loved her 3 tones, sweeping, figure-hugging Versace gown She kept the jewellery game neat with Forever marks jewellery. We loved her short-curly hairstyle

2) Brie Larson wore Oscar De La Renta, channelling Ursula from Disney's The Little Mermaid. I totally loved the neat and well-textured design, making black look as royal, as velvet as ever. Ummm it is indeed a "fashion-gasm".

3) Emma Watson: She won with the feminine simplicity of her dress. We totally loved the black floral lace number there. It was well complimented and contrasted by her Orange, no-frill hair on the top and, the straight cut bottom in net fabric. Classy!

4) Jennifer Aniston: From her cute, girl next door to a glam diva, Friends star- Jennifer Aniston had come a long way. This glittery black, see through gown of hers seals her glam position aptly and to the T. 

5) Laura Dern: There is something about her straight, simple, black strap dress that shines in your mind. The sparkle yes.

6) Taraji: We loved her "every inch talking about the power dressing. She looks like a woman complete in charge, in this black velvet number. She paired it with bling diamonds, stilettos and a plain black clutch, adding more volume to the definition.

Those were our top favorite looks from Oscar Red Carpet this year. I hope you liked our compilation. Do let us know which were your favorite look from this year's Red carpet and why? We would love to hear from you.

XOXO

Video: Unboxing GLAMEGO -Cheapest beauty box in India

Holla Beautiful people!

Want to know about the cheapest Beauty Subscription Box in India?

Glamego Beauty Box

At Rs 299/- month, Glamego is the cheapest beauty subscription boxes in India. However, the products inside are not of any local brand or quality but are quite well-known brands that also figure in some of the other leading beauty subscription boxes in India.

Being an early aficionado of beauty boxes, I was inquisitive enough to try it out. Hence, when the team Glamego approached me, I was all arms.

I was supposed to review the May 2017 box but did not receive my May box due to some unknown logistical management. Nevertheless, the June box was delivered on the 31st May itself. Also, June is one of my favourite months [a month before my birthday], made it even more special.

The Unboxing Video

I was super excited to receive my first Glamego box [PR Sample] and have shot the first impression, unboxing and review video for all my subscribers- existing and upcoming!

What: Monthly Beauty Subscription Box
Brand: GLAMEGO
MRP: Rs 299/ month
Month of Subscription: June 2017
Theme: Extracts of Nature

The video is upload on my youtube channel @ektakhetan.

Well, do watch this video to know more-

Follow me on YouTube

Do let me know your feedback on this box, the video and questions if any!

To Subscribe this box, check the Glamego website. 

My June Glamego Box in Pictures

What I liked about this box

1) Good Stuff at Cost effective Subscription Charges: Dude, you get products worth MRP Rs 1000+ at Rs 299 along with a discount coupon of Rs 200. It is a steal.

2) Well-sized Products

3) Environment-Friendly Packing: Today, 5th June is World Environment Day and I am so glad to receive something that aides to the environment.

4) Lovely Theme: The products has extracts of Argan Oil, Dead Sea Minerals and more. Whoa! That sounds exotic and interesting!

What I did not like about this box

None thus far.

Haute Kutir Verdict

The June box is affordable, Vanity free, filled with good mix of products that you can use and is an absolute value for money. Go for it- Grab one for self and use for Gifting purposes.

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