Life & Style news

• Teenagers trade personal stories: 'It's great to find you are not alone'

  08-12-2018 13:00
  These students from Birmingham and Limerick have only just met. What did a weekend of sharing their most intimate stories teach them? In 2012, the Irish author Colum McCann and a group of fellow writers hit on an idea. They were at a festival in the US, and it started with a challenge they set themselves: “What is the highest aim of storytelling, and how can we harness that energy to transform our society?” They believed the stories they told had power – writers are not short o
  
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• Tamal Ray’s Christmas chutney recipes | The Sweet Spot

  08-12-2018 12:00
  This trio of chutneys is perfect for a Christmas cheeseboard and make ideal homemade presentsAlthough I love Christmas, with its twinkly lights, warm mince pies and arguments over that last extra-crisp roast potato, the seemingly endless present-buying can leave me feeling drained. This year I’ve decided to save my money (and sanity) by making presents, so this trio of chutneys will be working their way to friends and family.You could use these as condiments for Christmas lunch or, as I&rs
  
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• ‘The builders thought we were mad’: a Victorian terrace revamped

  08-12-2018 11:59
  How two young designers, inspired by their travels, transformed a neglected houseWhen Magnus Pettersen and Ella Jones visited Japan in September 2017, they were obsessed with the sliding paper walls and wooden partitions they saw everywhere, from Tokyo to Kyoto. These traditional panels have formed the basis of their major revamp of a run-down Victorian terrace, which they have filled with architectural details and finds from their travels. Continue reading...
  
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• Stephen Mangan meets Emily Thornberry: ‘You're facilitating a big British act of self-harm'

  08-12-2018 11:00
  The actor and the shadow foreign secretary talk Brexit, Blair and performance anxietyEmily Thornberry and Stephen Mangan arrive at the Guardian’s London office at exactly the same time, with a similar air of frantic industry. Thornberry, sleep-deprived after a long night celebrating a Spectator award for comeback of the year, is in the middle of a packed day of interviews. Mangan is rushing between a meeting with his production company and another with Sky Arts, for whom he’s present
  
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• Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for whole pumpkin and walnut biryani

  08-12-2018 11:00
  A pumpkin pot filled with spiced rice, sweet onions and walnutsBecause they’re so often associated with Halloween or Cinderella’s preferred mode of transport, we can, perhaps, forget actually to eat pumpkins. In this recipe, it is many things: a delicious ingredient in its own right, a host for spiced rice tangled with onions and nuts, and best of all, a very special dish to share at the Christmas table. Have a magical Christmas one and all. Continue reading...
  
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• Alternative Christmas recipes: Szechuan pepper lamb and potato gratin | Yotam Ottolenghi

  08-12-2018 10:30
  A non-traditional Christmas spread of spicy roast lamb, aromatic potato gratin and a tangy cucumber saladWatch Yotam and Grace Dent’s Christmas dinner video
  In these unusual times, Christmas seems the only ‘safe place’ for custom and ritual. But even this most traditional of feasts cannot escape controversy. Do we celebrate it at all? And, if so, do we do it with any of the usual religious symbols, or in a more general, humanistic way?In our house, now that I, an agnostic Jew,
  
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• Rose McGowan: ‘Which living person do I most despise? I think it’s fairly obvious’

  08-12-2018 10:29
  The actor and activist on working with an undertaker, her relationship with her father and #MeTooBorn in Italy, Rose McGowan, 45, moved to the US at the age of 10. Her movies include Scream, Jawbreaker and Grindhouse, and the television series Charmed. One of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of assault last year, she has published a memoir, Brave. She appears in an immersive art film, Indecision IV, which will be screened at the Institute of Light, London E8, on 15 and 16 Dece
  
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• ‘Passengers treat me like a therapist’: the cabbie, the hairdresser and others on the secrets they get told

  08-12-2018 10:00
  A cabbie, hairdresser and others on the secrets strangers tell themSacha, black-cab driver, 50 Continue reading...
  
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• Are real or fake Christmas trees better for the planet?

  08-12-2018 10:00
  Artificial trees are getting more popular, but environmentalists say they have a downsideIf the surge in sales of artificial trees at John Lewis and other stores signals an attempt by consumers to go green, then they should perhaps think again.With 8m real trees in the process of being purchased this Christmas, the idea of saving one from the axe might be prompting the move to fake ones this year in the belief that they are more environmentally friendly. Continue reading...
  
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• The best grooming gifts for men | Sali Hughes

  08-12-2018 09:00
  Beauty present ideas including luxury shaving cream, men’s fragrance and a grooming kitEven as a former grooming editor, I remain horrified by the cost of razor blades and can’t understand why any man with choices would pay a supermarket premium when subscription schemes are much more affordable. Harry’s subscriptions start from just £14 for a regular delivery of high-quality German blades, though if Santa needs something more tangible to bung under the tree, they also ha
  
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• What links dwarf lemur, cane toad, lungfish and crocodile? The Weekend quiz

  08-12-2018 08:00
  From penguins to Pangaea, test your knowledge with the Weekend quiz1 In 1812, who “awoke one morning and found myself famous”?
  2 Deuterium is an isotope of which element?
  3 The Sun of May appears on which neighbours’ flags?
  4 What group founded Swan Song Records?
  5 Le Jules Verne restaurant is 125m up what?
  6 What touched down for the last time on 26 November 2003?
  7 What begins alif, ba, ta…?
  8 What is the only penguin living north of the equator?
  What links:
  9 Constanc
  
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• What Christmas gifts should I get for nieces and nephews?

  08-12-2018 08:00
  It’s getting pricey to buy presents for all of them and I’m wondering if I can stop when they’re 16Every 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.My partner and I both come from large families – and now have more than 20 nieces and nephews. Our £20-a-head Christmas gift habit is now proving pricey. Is it reasonable to stop giving
  
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• ‘Mind-blowingly gorgeous Georgia’

  08-12-2018 08:00
  A mix of traditional, Soviet and modern styles, Georgia is a tricky place to pin down. But that’s half the fun of it for Suzanne Moore and her friend
  Tomorrow: Georgia on my plate – a culinary journeyWe are on the midnight plane to Georgia. In various stages of inebriation, me and Dave WhatsApp this to our grown-up children. It’s not our fault. Nothing ever is. Our Georgian Airways flight, the last one out of Gatwick, is delayed. What else is there to do but dutiful duty free?D
  
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• 'I got into alcohol addiction and debt, but with help I turned things around’

  08-12-2018 08:00
  Barry Deacon, 39, on how faith changed his life – and how he came to meet David HasselhoffName: Barry Deacon
  Age: 39
  Income: £16,000
  Occupation: Nightshift support worker for youth housing programmeWhen I was 18 I started drinking alcohol because all my friends did. I started drinking on weekends, then weekends turned to days. When my mother died of cancer, I started drinking more. Continue reading...
  
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• Four recipes for Christmas parsnips | Nicholas Balfe

  08-12-2018 08:00
  Roast parsnips are a traditional side with Christmas lunch, but they’re also sublime with blue cheese salsa, sauteed with mushrooms or in a gratinPrep 15 min
  Cook 30 min
  Serves 4 as a side or as a light main course Continue reading...
  
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• Fit in my 40s: ‘Touch rugby is like tag for grownups – so why did I find it so hard?’

  08-12-2018 07:59
  Anyone who can’t throw, catch, or touch someone without crashing into them like a concussed bull can derail the whole thing. I was that personThere is an elbow of the Thames that is so full of sporty types – towpath riddled with joggers, hockey clubs to the left of you, rowers to the right – that by the time I reached the rugby club, I was sort of done with fitness. It’s 8pm on a Wednesday, I thought; when I was the age of these rugby players, I’d have been out drin
  
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• Fowl fare

  08-12-2018 07:42 via winnipegfreepress.com
  You may find this surprising, but I am not one of those exceedingly festive people with tons of holiday traditions.No, I pretty much just do the same old things year ...
  
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• Don't waste roast vegetables - make this leftovers recipe | Tom Hunt

  08-12-2018 07:00
  Don’t chuck out those sprouts and potatoes. Turn them into a tasty vegetable frittataOver Christmas, our kitchens go into hyperdrive. Out come the oven mitts, turkey baster and probe. Potatoes are peeled en masse. Supermarkets open late so we can buy even more food. And our homes fill with aromatic wafts of deliciousness.At the same time, according to Love Food Hate Waste, we waste the equivalent of more than 4m Christmas meals, including 17.2m sprouts, almost 12m carrots, untold numbers o
  
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• Quick crossword No 15,160

  08-12-2018 01:00
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• Prize crossword No 27,687

  08-12-2018 01:00
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