Life & Style news

• Saving Britain’s food supply: a manifesto to keep food on the table

  29-07-2017 22:25
  Brexit imperils the health of a nation whose food supply was already under threat from climate change and shifting global markets. Here, the Observer’s restaurant critic outlines how we might avert disasterA few weeks ago, I was approached by an official at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She told me the secretary of state, Michael Gove, was holding a round table discussion for ‘innovative thinkers’ on 25 July to give him ‘food for thought in the e
  
  Read more

• China mall offers 'man pod' havens for husbands wary of shopping

  29-07-2017 20:52
  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - At a Shanghai mall, rows of "man pods" equipped with video games are proving a big hit, providing a refuge for hundreds of weary husbands and boyfriends as their other halves...
  
  Read more

• 'Most relaxed' hot air balloons lay back over Italy's wine valley

  29-07-2017 15:26
  GUALDO CATTANEO, Italy (Reuters) - Around 30 hot air balloons took to the skies in Italy on Saturday as part of what organizers refer to as the "mostrelaxed" event on the international ballooning...
  
  Read more

• Jon Ronson on bespoke porn: ‘Nothing is too weird. We consider all requests’

  29-07-2017 11:00
  Turned on by gremlins? Excited by ketchup or rare stamps? There’s a porn film for that. Inside California’s new growth industryI am on the set of the porn film Stepdaughter Cheerleader Orgy. There’s a little trouble outside. The director, Mike Quasar, is trying to shoot an establishing scene – cheerleaders arriving home from practice – but even though we’re in a secluded house (in the San Fernando Valley, southern California), some neighbouring teenagers have
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Yotam Ottolenghi’s summer courgette recipes

  29-07-2017 10:00
  It’s time we gave courgettes the praise they deserveLooking back on what I’ve written about courgettes in the past, I see that I’ve been too apologetic. I’ve always loved these baby marrows, but for some reason have felt the need to justify them. For example, my adoration of stuffed courgettes, which would definitely feature in my final meal, seems always to come with a disclaimer that they’re no thing of beauty once that vibrant green skin turns a dull grey after t
  
  Read more

• What I’m really thinking: the mobile phone refusenik

  29-07-2017 10:00
  I don’t consider myself odd. I simply don’t see the appealI am part of the tiny minority of people in the UK who choose to live without a mobile phone. You probably think I must be old, anti-technology or just plain weird, but I am none of those things.I’m in my 30s, use a computer (desktop) and don’t consider myself odd. I simply don’t see the appeal or advantages of a mobile phone. I had one once, 19 years ago, which came free with a bank account. I never used it
  
  Read more

• Beauty: is there really such a thing as a ‘masculine’ scent? | Sali Hughes

  29-07-2017 09:00
  Surely there are just pleasing smells and displeasing smells, and this varies from person to person, regardless of genderA recent survey in which 66,000 participants were asked to rate hundreds of perfumes showed that 70% of those favoured by women were “masculine-smelling”. I’m not even sure what this means, but suspect that, by “masculine”, the report meant things that smelled spicy, sharp, smoky or earthy, and not like candied rose petals and cupcake frosting. It
  
  Read more

• Whose residence is the Palazzo Chigi? The Weekend quiz

  29-07-2017 08:00
  From Bologna to Brian Harvey, test your knowledge with the Weekend quiz1 Songwriter Robert Lopez is the 12th person to complete which quartet?
  2 What is the UK’s smallest carnivore?
  3 What “war” lasted from 3 September 1939 to 10 May 1940?
  4 Who published only 10 poems, anonymously, in her lifetime?
  5 Which test identifies 16 personality types?
  6 Whose residence is the Palazzo Chigi?
  7 Which Asian country has the world’s only non-quadrilateral flag?
  8 Who is friends with
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Is bulk-buying food worth the extra effort?

  29-07-2017 07:59
  We could use lower food bills but are worried we’ll just end up with loads of tinsEvery week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.This week’s question: Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• My two-legged children refuse to help with my four-legged ones

  29-07-2017 07:45
  Getting a dog was the children’s idea – provided I looked after it. Now, my live-at-home kids still adore our pets, but on exactly the same conditionTen years ago, I gave in to the children’s pleas and promises and acquired a small dog. I’d never been a dog lover and hadn’t owned one before, but the vet assured me that a border terrier was a safe bet. We called her Maisy and the children loved her very much, but never took her for walks or fed her or picked up after
  
  Read more

• A letter to … My mother, who is terminally ill

  29-07-2017 07:45
  The letter you always wanted to writeWe’re not a family that finds communication easy. When I was a child, if I became upset, you’d tell me not to cry, because it upset you so much. Even now, you’re still putting on the bravest of faces. Only once, the last time you were in hospital, did you let your guard drop. The tears came, and you said you’d tried so hard to be brave – I hugged you and wanted to say that it was OK to cry, and to let the tears come – but a
  
  Read more

• So it turns out I'm a bit of a slob

  29-07-2017 07:39 via winnipegfreepress.com
  There I was, sitting in my office cubicle, preparing to write yet another thoughtful column about my relationship with my ever-expanding stomach, when, suddenly and without warning, I received an ......
  
  Read more

• Blind date: ‘She thinks I’m a sad, naive hipster’

  29-07-2017 07:00
  Did 24-year-old student Tom and headhunter Willow, 23, hit it off?What were you hoping for?
  A story for my friends to embarrass me with at parties. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Sudoku killer 564

  29-07-2017 01:01
  Normal sudoku rules apply, except the numbers in the cells contained within dotted lines add up to the figures in the corner. No number can be repeated within each shape formed by dotted lines.
  For a helping hand call our solutions line on 0906 200 83 83. Calls will cost £1.03 per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge. Calls from other networks may vary and mobiles will be considerably higher. Service supplied by ATS. Call 0330 333 6946 for customer service (charged at stan
  
  Read more

• Quick crossword No 14,735

  29-07-2017 01:00
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Prize crossword No 27,262

  29-07-2017 01:00
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

Follow @NL_LifeAndStyle on Twitter!