Author Archives: Frostie

Celebrate World Gin Day With Charlotte’s Bistro Cocktail

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Flickr_-_cyclonebill_-_Gin_^_tonicWorld Gin Day was founded by Neil Houston of ‘Yet Another Gin’ in 2009. What started with a few Gins has turned into a worldwide celebration. This year our friend Emma Stokes of Gin Monkey takes over the reins.

All over the world, in different time zones obviously people will be celebrating the beautiful spirit of Gin.

Our love and borderline obsession of Gin began with the introduction of our “Gin Wall” in August 2013 followed by the introduction of Monday night Gin School (@GinSchool) in November. Brainchild of Charlotte’s owner Alex Wrethman, our bar team Fredi, Ted, Nicholas and host Matt Mawtus have continued to grow this Monday night institution. Charlotte’s Bistro has become a secret hideaway for all Gin aficionados. They serve 40 different European gins in constant rotation, taking into consideration seasonality and personality.

Fredi and his bar team have created something unique for #WorldGinDay the ‘Charlotte’s Cup’ – based on the basic Summer Cup recipe with our personal twist, and feel it’s pretty darn good. It will be served in true British style with our homemade lemonade. The ‘Charlotte’s Cup’ will be launched officially on Saturday 15th June – #WorldGinDay.

 

The Recipe

 

Charlotte’s Cup       Lemonade

1500ml Gin – use simple based gin     25ml Gomme

750ml Sweet Vermouth      25ml Lemon Juice

3 Cucumbers       1 spoon Vanilla sugar

4 Punnets of Strawberries      2 mint leaves 75ml Sparkling water

700g Coriander Seeds

1 Vanilla Pod

1 Cinnamon Stick

 

After 3 days add:

100g Lemon Thyme

300g Sugar

 

 

Chop all your Charlotte’s Cup ingredients and snap cinnamon stick. Strain all ingredients and macerate in a sealed container (we recommend using a large 3ltr Kilner jar) for 3 weeks in a cold area.

After three weeks add your Lemon Thyme and sugar and leave for a further three days.

To make your homemade lemonade just put all the ingredients in a clean bottle and shake!

 

Serve long with lots of ice, strawberries, cucumber, mint and of course your homemade lemonade.

 

#WorldGinDay, @GinSchool, @CharlottesW4, Saturday 15th June 2013

 

Dads Get Short Changed

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SBRP2080UV_BreakingBadS5_UK_BD_STD2_ST_2DDads are being short changed when it comes to gifts, new sales figures from retailer Debenhams reveal.

Kids are spending on average £4 less on Father’s day gifts than they were last year, in 2012 the average spend for gifts was £16 and this has now dropped to a measly £12.

However, whilst Dads are still getting a rough deal, the retailer has seen a 7% increase in people buying Father’s day gifts compared to last year but are just being more thrifty.

 

Mums are still coming out on top; with the average spend for a Mother’s Day gift this year coming in at a generous £21.

 

Says Disa Blackburn, Head of Gift Buying at Debenhams; “It seems poor Dads are getting a raw deal when it comes to Father’s Day gifts and the gap in spending is only get bigger.”

 

“After years of Dad duties, such as being a living, breathing cash point and a 24 hour taxi service it’s time we make an effort at making our fathers feel special.”

 

“Dads are notoriously hard to buy for and our research shows that this is often the reason why they are forgotten – Mum’s on the other hand have a much more diverse range of gift options.”

 

Debenhams personal shoppers are offering complimentary Father’s day gift consultations and aim to give customers a helping hand when it comes to choosing the perfect present for their Dads.

 

It seems sons are the biggest culprit for not showing appreciation for their Dads, the survey revealed that men were much more likely to buy a Mother’s day present than they were to buy a Father’s day present, with 27% saying they bought a father’s day present vs. 53% for a Mother’s Day gift.

 

Women seem to be fairer when treating their parents, 56% buy Father’s Day gifts and 61% of women will buy a Mother’s Day present.

 

Topping the list of Father’s day gifts this year are:

 

1. Socks.

2. Slippers.

3. Pyjamas.

4. Aftershave.

5. Leather goods; wallets, belts etc.

 

Debenhams has also seen geographical trends in Father’s Day gift spending. People in the North of England are three times more likely to buy a Father’s Day gift than the south, and the average gift spend is much higher at £19. Hull has come out on top as having the biggest spenders.

 

Disa Blackburn continues; “We are predicting we’ll see a splurge of generous Father’s day shoppers this weekend, all Dad’s deserve a treat after all.”

 

Debenhams men’s gifting is available in all stores nationwide and online at Debenhams.com.

Dads deserve a rest this Fathers Day as survey shows they spend over 50 hours a week helping out at home

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– Dads spend 53.5 hours a week helping households run smoothly

– Value of a Dad’s domestic contribution is £24,000 per year

– Fathers in the West Midlands and Scotland do the most washing up at 3.5 hours a week.

Who said men don’t help out around the house?  Apparently dads spend seven and a half hours a day helping households run smoothly according to a study from Legal & General Life Insurance, This equals an impressive 53.5 hours a week.

The total includes time spent cooking, cleaning and looking after children. If families had to pay for this work by employing cleaners or child minders they would have to find an extra £23,971 a year showing Dads are helping cut down on household bills. The figure is up 13% from when the survey was last carried out in 2011, when a father’s help was worth £21,306.  As a contrast the survey also showed the day to day cost of raising a child has risen to £8,580 per year since 2011, meaning parents now spend £154,440 on each child by the age of 18.

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Dads who live in the North East are the most valuable to their households contributing £33,925 a year in domestic duties. Dads in the South West spend the least amount of time with their children at 18.5 hours a week.  Fathers in the West Midlands and Scotland top the tables for washing up spending 3.5 hours a week doing the dishes.  Dads across the UK do between 5-7 hours of cooking each week.

Despite the heavy costs of bringing up a child the research showed that many parents do not have adequate protection in place should they or their partner become ill or die.  Only 31% of parents have a will putting their children at risk of financial insecurity should the worst happen.  Similarly only 29% of parents have critical illness cover in place and a mere 14% have income protection.

 

Glenfiddich, The Most Awarded Single Malt Whisky, is the Perfect Gift for Father’s Day

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glenfiddichStill stuck for father’s day? Celebrate Father’s Day by giving him a bottle of exquisitely smooth Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky. For over 125 years, Glenfiddich has distilled whisky deep in the rolling hills of the Scottish highlands, with uncompromising quality making it the perfect gift for any whisky drinker.

With a variety of expressions, Glenfiddich have a bottle for every type of father, so with his personality and style in mind it is easy to find the right expression for him:

The signature expression from the World’s Most Awarded Single Malt Scotch whisky,* the Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky is an exceptional whisky. Carefully matured in the finest American bourbon and Spanish sherry oak casks for at least 12 years, before being married and mellowed in oak marrying tuns for complete harmony of aroma and flavour. This whisky is perfect for traditional fathers who take their whisky with a little water, and will relish the signature Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, with its distinctive fresh pear, creamy with subtle oak flavours and a long smooth and mellow finish

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, ABV 40%, 70CL, RRP £34.59 from Tesco.

Fathers who love adventure take their whisky on ice, and enjoy the bold taste of Glenfiddich 15 Year Old
and its intriguing aromas and flavours. Tradition and innovation collide to give this whisky great depth
and consistency with notes of sweet heather honey and vanilla fudge combined with rich dark fruits.

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, ABV 40%, 70CL, RRP £38.59

 

Wise fathers savour their whisky neat and appreciate the distinguished finish of Glenfiddich 18 Year Old.>

This intriguingly fruity and robust oak expression has a remarkably rich aroma with ripe orchard fruit,

baked apple and robust oak and taste of luxurious dried fruit, candy peel and dates.

Glenfiddich 18 Year Old Single Malt Whisky RRP £50.59
The Glenfiddich Single Malt Whisky mini set – which includes the 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old and 18 Year
Old single malts – provides the perfect introduction to whisky for new fathers celebrating their first Father’s Day.

Glenfiddich Miniature Single Malt Whisky Gift Set, ABV 40%, 3 x 5CL, RRP £14.99 from Waitrose. 

and two daughters, they created the first batch of what has become the world’s most awarded single malt

Scotch whisky: Glenfiddich. William’s passion, determination and pioneering spirit continues to guide the

family and Glenfiddich is one of the few single malt distilleries to remain entirely family owned and is now

the World’s Most Awarded Single Malt* Scotch Whisky, a true reflection of our founder’s integrity and innovative spirit, passed down through the generations. Now 125 years on, Glenfiddich the next generation

crafting a wide range to suit all palates and pockets.

With Father’s Day on the horizon, giving the gift of Glenfiddich is a great way to honour the values held by the Grant family.

This year the premium and most prestigious Scotch whisky brand in the UK will continue to honour William
Grants pioneering spirit by supporting Team Glenfiddich UK in the Walking With The Wounded South Pole
Allied Challenge which will see teams of wounded servicemen and women from the UK, US and the
Commonwealth race to the South Pole under the patronage of Prince Harry.
*The Glenfiddich range has received more awards since 2000 than any other single malt Scotch whisky in
two of the world’s most prestigious competitions, the International Wine & Spirit Competition and the
International Spirits Challenge

Documentary Film Project “Kickstarted” Gives Back to Crowdfunding Community with Original Video Series

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It has been a very exciting week for LA filmmakers Jay Armitage, Jason Cooper and Chris Gartin since their own Kickstarter campaign began for their documentary feature film “Kickstarted,” the first documentary feature film for, by and about the crowdfunding revolution.  Their goal is to raise $85,000 to complete the film they’ve been working on for the past year, where they have interviewed crowdfunding newsmakers like Zach Braff, Amanda Palmer, Maxwell Salzberg, Lisa Fetterman, John Vanderslice, Brian Fargo and many others. 

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Shrewdly, before launching their Kickstarter campaign on May 27, the trio released part of their Zach Braff interview on May 8, and that video was included in a feature story on Mashable that introduced the project to the world.  To date, that video has generated well over 50,000 views per week.  The filmmakers are shaping-up all this content which in Cooper’s words, “Tells the inspiring and dramatic stories of artists, makers and entrepreneurs who are harnessing the crowd to achieve the impossible,”  and they are also continuing to colorfully share their key findings and insights with the growing international community of makers and crowdfunding enthusiasts.

In their introductory and trailer video, Armitage says, “We’ve taken this film as far as we can with our own resources and now need your help to complete it.”  Since Mashable’s Eric Larson wrote his follow-up story on “Kickstarted” on May 30, the project is now 18% funded.  Braff himself recently appeared on the cover of Variety with these words: “Go Fund Yourself: Zach Braff made finding financing on Kickstarter look easy. But is it?”  That’s the exact type of question that Cooper, Armitage and Gartin have set out to answer with their project, and along the way, they are sharing their knowledge in the hopes of raising the money to finish their film.

Earlier this week, they released the first two in a series of original “Funded in 60 Seconds” episodes, presenting crowdfunding tips, insights and best practices from people who are using crowdfunding to pursue their dreams.  Episode one features Lisa Fetterman of Nomiku, who had a goal of raising $200,000, and raised nearly $600,000, while episode two features musician Amanda Palmer, who raised almost $1.2 million to launch her new album.  Also this week, in association with Indiewire, they kicked-off an original “Top 5” series with their first release, “Five Controversial Crowdfunding Moments.”  These videos and others to come are currently available in their entirety for free on the Kickstarted YouTube channel.

 

As the excitement builds, instead of watching the funds come in, the “Kickstarted” filmmakers are seizing the opportunity to meet, network with – and often, film – others who are making headlines with their own crowdfunded projects.  Naturally, “Giving back” is a big part of this project’s DNA: “We are a participating member in Kicking It Forward and pledge to give five percent of any profits back to other crowdfunding projects,” Cooper has said.

“We’re hoping that our efforts to help educate and cross-promote our colleagues will make it clear that the more people put into our project, the more they and others in the community will get out of our efforts,” added Armitage. 

To learn more about the project please visit http://www.kickstartedmovie.com. 

Trend Alert: Big Sunglasses

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Summer is finally here and we can wear our summer wardrobe at last. The big sunglasses trend is a must this season. The gold trim at the top of the frame is a big favourite this season with celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Coleen Rooney, Lauren Conrad and Millie Mackintosh all sporting the look. What do you think?

oTTo_Watson laurenconrad milliemackintosh collenrooney

Get the look with these GUESS Sunglasses which are exclusively available from House Of Fraser for just £85.00. Available in brown and black.

bigsunglasses

Risk of heart disease reduced when saturated fats are replaced with unsaturated fats.

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The Fat Information Service reveals the facts behind the headlines…

Lululemon_Yellow_Yoga 

Fatty acids continue to be the subject of ongoing academic research and media attention. In this bulletin, brought to you by the experts behind The Fat Information Service (FIS), we discuss some recent findings regarding different types of fat and risk of heart disease.

Get to know your fats

Dietary fats are classified by their chemical composition, and can be either saturated (found in animal products such as meat, cheese and butter) or unsaturated (found in oils, seeds and spreads).

When choosing fats, we’re advised to choose unsaturated fats over saturated fats, as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle1.

Sorting fact from fiction

Recent coverage of the role of fats in the diet has made for confusing and alarming reading as well as being based on unreliable evidence. So what should we believe?

 

In response to a new review paper just published in Nutrition Bulletin2, Dr Carrie Ruxton from The Fat Information Service notes: “This latest release successfully challenges the recent media frenzy which followed publication of a BMJ paper on heart disease risk and polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in  margarine and spreads.

The evidence shows clearly that the risk of developing heart disease is reduced when saturated fats are replaced with unsaturated fats3. By highlighting this robust evidence base and outlining the inaccuracies surrounding interpretation of the BMJ study4consumers are urged not to shun the government’s dietary guidelines on the basis of spurious media reports.

The Nutrition Bulletin study confirms that advice for the general population should still be to choose foods with a lower saturated fat content and to opt for fats that are primarily unsaturated, supplying a range of omega 3 and 6 polyunsaturated fats. 

 

 

Fat Information Service tips

 

As with all aspects of a healthy diet, balance is key and dietary fats are no exception.

 

While polyunsaturated fats offer numerous health benefits, getting too much of any type of fat can be damaging to your health. Present guidelines suggest that no more than 35% of your overall daily energy intake should come from fat (with no more than 11% from saturated fat)5,6.

 

So while it’s not desirable to increase the total fat content of the diet, replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats will help you achieve a better balance for your heart and overall wellbeing (as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle).

These tips will help show you how:

ü  Switch to lower-fat dairy products e.g. low fat yogurts, and skimmed or semi-skimmed milks to reduce your intake of saturated fats. Eat less cheese.

ü  Swap butter for small amounts of spread or margarine as this can help reduce your saturated fat intake. Spreads are also fortified with other vitamins and can help supplement your diet with key nutrients. Additionally, spreads made from seed oils  contain essential fats, omega 3 & 6; these are fats that your body cannot make and must be taken in via your diet

ü  Choose lean cuts of meat, poultry or oily fish rather than fatty or processed meat products. Make sure you trim any excess fat and remove the skin from chicken or turkey before cooking.

ü  When you do roast or fry food, try using a lower saturated fat spread or oil product

Liz Earle Launches ‘Second Chance’ Charity LiveTwice

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Liz Earle MBE writer, broadcaster and entrepreneur who co-founded the Liz Earle Beauty Co. has launched her ‘second chance’ charity LiveTwice.

The charity works with disadvantaged people of all ages to offer opportunities for skills training and personal support. As well as funding skills training, LiveTwice also fund community centres in areas of social need, as well as a respite home-from-home for children with disabilities in a rural Dorset community.Liz Earle and Hannah White

 

The charity gives a hand-up not a hand out

LiveTwice helps empower those in need to make the most of their lives, helping to break the cycle of poverty, abuse and unemployment that destroys the individual and leads to the breakdown of families and society.

 

LiveTwice is all about offering opportunity in a practical way.

LiveTwice also offer a match-making service which give donors the freedom to donate to a specific project or place that interests them, in a very easy, safe and rewarding way. A new way to encourage global philanthropy.

 Jasmine Guinness

Liz Earle MBE said: ‘LiveTwice already does a lot and there is a lot to do!  Over the years, my research and filming travels have taken me to people and places far and wide who are in desperate need of a helping hand.  LiveTwice provides just that-with a hand-up, not just a hand out.’

Liz’s daughter, Amaryllis Earle is a Founding Trustee of LiveTwice with a focus on working with children and young people.

For more information on LiveTwice, please visit: www.livetwice.org or follow twitter.com/LiveTwiceOrg