Category Archives: Life & Style

What Do Women Want? The Ideal Man Revealed.

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Forget Tom Jones, meet – the latest over-40s pin-up.Hugeremy Claurie

The 6ft 3in bearded ‘hunk’ has been voted the ideal man in a survey of middle-aged women.

He is said to possess the most attractive features of all male celebrities including “piercing” blue eyes, “kissable” thin lips and “sexy stubble”.

But on closer inspection, the greying 51-year-old may appear rather familiar…

In fact, Hugeremy isn’t even a real man – he’s a digital mix of actor and comedian Hugh Laurie, 52, and Top Gear frontman Jeremy Clarkson, 51.

Experts combined the blue eyes, forehead, mouth and trademark designer stubble of Laurie, with the ears, nose, bushy eyebrows and greying hair of Clarkson.

The result is the ultimate virtual heartthrob, according to a poll of 1,000 single women by mature dating site www.footloosedating.co.uk.

Its members said Hugeremy would be a “dream date with good looks, a big personality – and plenty of cash under the bed”.

Site co-founder Eleanor Selley said: “Hugeremy has all the characteristics of the ideal man. He’s tall, handsome and clever, and has bags of sex appeal to boot.

“Both men are attractive in their own right, but the idea of rolling the two of them into one sexy package is more than enough to raise a pulse.”

Site members aged between 40 and 65 were given a list of 10 “charming but not necessarily beautiful” middle-aged male celebrities and asked to pick the two celebrities they would most like to date.

The list included BBC news anchor Huw Edwards, broadcasters Phillip Schofield and Chris Evans, racing pundit John McCririck, chef Antony Worrall Thompson, comedian Hugh Laurie, journalist Ian Hislop, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, singer Mick Hucknall, and Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis.

Edwards and Schofield picked up six and seven per cent of the vote respectively, primarily for their “lovely personalities”. Radio 2 DJ Evans, and entrepreneur Paphitis, took nine and 10 per cent of the vote – primarily because of their “millions”.

Only four per cent picked Worrall Thompson for his skills in the kitchen.

Unsurprisingly, McCririck’s trademark side-burns put off virtually all members. Only two per cent picked him as their ideal man.

Simply Red frontman Hucknall fared little better. He was chosen by just eight per cent because of his “silly” red locks and diamond-encrusted front tooth.

Meanwhile, some five per cent were attracted to Hislop’s “cheeky smile” and “quick wit”.

But both Clarkson and Laurie were clear favourites, scooping 24 and 25 per cent of the votes respectively.

Respondents listed Clarkson’s height – he is 6ft 5ins – and Laurie’s “chiselled chin” among their best attributes.

Eleanor Selley, of FootlooseDating, said: “Hugeremy Claurie is the combination of these two men. To put it simply, men will want to be him, and women want to be with him.”

Sophie Mitchell Summer Recipes: Thursday

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THURSDAY
Pomegranate, Papaya, Raspberry and mint yoghurt bowl

Serves 4
Prep time 5 minutes
500ml 0% Fat Greek yoghurt
250g raspberries
1 papaya peeled, de-seeded and diced
Small handful of fresh mint leaves
1 tsbp of agave syrup
Squeeze of lime
200g pomegranate seeds
100g pistachios
1. Chop the mint leaves and mix with the raspberries, lime juice and the
agave syrup.
2. Take four bowls and divide the raspberries between each bowl, then add a layer of papaya, then
top with the Greek yoghurt and sprinkle over the pomegranate and pistachios.

Duck, lentil flat leaf parsley and apricot salad
Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
200g puy lentils
400ml vegetable or chicken stock
4 duck breasts scored
1 red onion
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
25ml white wine vinegar
57ml olive oil
1 small handful of flat leaf parsley
2 ripe apricots
1. Place the lentils and the stock in a saucepan, bring to the boil and then turn down and simmer for
30 minutes or until cooked. then drain and cool.
2. Heat a frying pan up to medium heat and the season the duck breasts on both sides. Lay the
breasts, skin side down in the pan and slowly cook. You don’t want to cook them too quickly; you
want to render the fat out. So cook them skin side down for about 10 minutes. Draining the fat off as
you go along. For the last 2 minutes turn up the heat to crisp the skin up. Then flip over and brown
the flesh side, cook for 5 to 8 minutes this side then take off the heat and rest.
3. When then the lentils are cool, mix in the mustard, vinegar, olive oil and parsley, season and stir
well. Then de core the apricots and slice.
4. To serve pile up the lentils on four plates then add the sliced duck and apricots.

Quinoa, broad bean, pea and radish salad with pan-fried lamb fillet
Serves 4
Prep time 20 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
200g Quinoa
400ml water
4 lamb fillets (approx 6oz per person)
3 cloves garlic
1 lemon
150g frozen peas, de frosted
4 spring onions
150g pink radishes
2 tsbp olive oil
Juice of one lemon
Small handful of mint
1. Pour the quinoa and the water into a saucepan and then bring to the boil and cook for about 30
minutes, or until cooked according to the packet instructions. The water should be evaporated, but if
not cook off the rest and then cool.
2. When the quinoa is cool, slice the spring onions and radishes, then add along with the peas, mint,
lemon and olive oil. Mix well and season.
3. Then heat up a frying pan and add some oil, season the lamb fillets and then add to the pan along
with the garlic cloves, squashed. Cook for about 10 minutes on all sides until golden brown, add a
squeeze of lemon then take out of the pan and rest for 20 minutes.
4. Slice the lamb and serve with the quinoa salad.

CLA Game Fair Report – GunMakers Row

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The Blenheim CLA was generally judged to be a success by all who attended I think. I got there a bit late but went to an excellent dinner party at William Evans with Charlie Jacoby and his banjo in attendance. It was, as ever, great fun and wonderfully organised by Sally et al.. I did not do the cocktail party circuit this year because I missed most of them on Friday. I am not really a social animal in that way anymore (boring old bugger). If someone is offering bubbles, however, I will occasionally make an exception! [There was one year when just about everyone in Gunmakers Row offered me a drink of some kind and I never did make it to the end – I woke up the next morning on a collapsed papering table looking at someone’s canvas ceiling – never again.]

So, while others were having – “partying the night away” – I was primarily interested in catching up with old chums and keeping an eye out for what was genuinely new. First, though, I want to thank my mucker Mark Curtis of Pigeon Mania for being an all-round nice guy and for putting up with me camping on his stand yet again (damn this business of getting on site by 7.30 now – hell, one has to get up early). Mark’s business, meanwhile, is deservedly going from strength to strength – pigeon magnets at just over 50 quid, flappers, some fantastic, well-priced, rechargeable hand lamps for foxing and similar. He has got his act together and sold a huge amount of kit.

I also want to thank Mike Ladd who offered space for my gunfitting service but which I did not take up this year (but which I may take to the Midland and/or Bisley Live). As well as the usual massive stock, Mike had his new range of Turkish made true sidelock over and unders on stand which look good and cost under 4K. He also had some presentable Turkish boxlocks – these guns get better and better although there are still a few details to work on. Mike also had a beautiful handling Abbiatico and Salvinelli 20bore over and under which caught my eye. It had a titanium action which gave it a similar magic quality to the Kemen titaniums.

Boxall and Edmiston launched their sidelock gun which looks great for 25K or thereabouts. Peter Boxall, their engineering genius, is ex Holland & Holland and Jaguar, and is a perfectionist. His firm’s guns are extremely well made and now offer exceptional value whether boxlock, side-plated or true sidelock. I am working on a new gun project with this company and details of it will be announced in due course. It just might have another barrel configuration and it will be English made.

Anglo-Italian Arms (formerly Guerini UK) had their new Fabarm range on stand. But, the gun that really excited me – and upon which there will be a full report somewhere very soon – was the round action 32” 20 bore over and under – the first specimen of which was on display. It felt spendid. I shoot 32” Maxums at the moment and this felt as good as better.

Holland & Holland had their centenary take-down .375. It was a wonderful gun, I have always wanted a Holland bolt rifle, but I would make do with a straight .375. It would genuinely be a gun that one could do just about everything with. It is no secret that I have a lot of respect for this grand old firm and the shooting qualities of its products. I also managed to have a fascinating discussion with David Little of Kynoch about why some old H&H .375s seem so soft in recoil in spite of their light weight – David believes it is because of two things – their slender, steeply angled, stock shapes and the progressive lead into the rifling. The former is an interesting point because I usually feel it has a negative effect in shotguns – David’s opinion is that it may work on a rifle because the time pressure curve is different. He also favours light long barrels.

Alan Rhone had a very interesting new straight-pull rifle from Finland – the Lynx. It felt really solid. It appears extremely well engineered too and the cycling is very quick. The Lynx is available in various forms including a laminate model (my favourite), standard hunter, and a deluxe model with all the bells and whistles of special engraving and gold inlays. Price from about 4K. Alan also has some excellent new QD mounts on offer made by a firm called Ziegler. These offer repeatable zero “again and again.” They’re neat, extremely well designed and available for a wide variety of guns. I am sure he is destined to do well with them, and I am having some fitted to my Sako 85 in .375 H&H.

Anderson Wheeler of Mayfair impressed me first because they are a young company with lots of ideas and energy, but also because they have created such an impressive product line so quickly. They make a good 20 bore side by side based on an AyA action, they have an over and under built on an Italian action, but these guns have a lot of London finish in them. A&W also offer the normal bespoke big bore double rifles (they had a .470 which was a beauty) and bolt guns as well as London made shotguns. Just to see two tables crammed with so many new made rifles and shotguns shows how much effort they have put it.

I had fun seeing Ian Tomlin of Traditional English Gun Cases and bought a beautiful 250 cartridge magazine from him. Ian has a great range of cartridge bags too. Bill Blacker was not far away, being his normal inimitable self. And, I also enjoyed stopping in on Croots who seem to be going from strength to strength with their bags and gun-slips too. They made a canvas safari bag for me last year which has proved to be invaluable – like the brilliant Barbour canvas shoulder bag (and they make something similar too).

Browning did not have a great deal of new product this year (2012 is rumoured to be their big launch year). One exception, though, was the wonderful, well priced, 525 Sporter (which I choose to call a MK2 because of its radically changed handling qualities thanks to the new lightened, Investor Plus back-bored, barrels). It might well be my gun of the year. I also really like the Winchester ‘Red Performance’ semi-auto. This is simply one of the best handling guns that I have ever shot – soft in recoil, relatively light in weight, and natural pointing.

Beretta have their new Silver Pigeon 1 which is Opti-bored and another performer as noted on this site recently. And, at the CLA, they launched a new small bore range of Silver Pigeon 1s, a new Beretta Jubilee, a Help for Heroes EELL (at £5,995 with a £100 going to this magnificent charity), and no less than 2 new A400 semis. These included the Action which is available with a Gun Pod ‘on board computer’ which notes the number of cartridges fired, their power and temperature, and, a blue actioned Excel (also available with the Gun Pod gizmo not mention Kick-Off recoil reduction). There is a Silver Pigeon 1 with game scene engraving as well, and, a new version of the Benelli Vinci.

ASI now have a round bar boxlock on offer – Edward King has a fondeness for better quality boxlocks – and, a deluxe model of the popular No.2. There are also a couple of new Rizzini Artimis sideplated guns. These are available in proportionately scaled 12, 16, 20, 28 and .410 actions, all with selective single trigger and multichokes as standard. Edgar Brothers had lots of new stuff. I saw the Remy Versalite shotgun for the first time and the new Zoli Black Magic rifle. Viking Arms have the Ruger Gunsite Scout rifle in .308 with a detachable box mag and various extras except the flash hider (which current US law does not allow the export of in our all too mixed up world).

What have I forgotten? The new Powell Marquis – a sub 3K, hand engraved, Spanish sidelock made by Arrieta (though my favourite in their line is the Lindhope high bird gun coming in over £7,000 mark which is based on an old pigeon gun). There is also their ‘Juvenis’ sidelock for (better off) young shots. E.J.Churcill have an extensive new line of over and unders inlcluding some finished in France, and, a 32” Churchill badged Perazzi. Finally, my thanks to Fiona Eastman for getting my Press Passes through in the nick of time. Without her effort, I would not have got to Blenheim at all.

Have Fun On The Cheap

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In this economical climate you would be foolish to pay full price for anything. However, it can be hard to find inexpensive stuff to do now that the recession has kicked in. The answer is to have fun on the cheap. There is still fun to be had, and relatively cheaply if you look around. Frost has done the searching for you and has come up with a number of things to do without breaking your budget.

You can buy Peter Pan Tickets. I have seen it and it is an amazing experience. If you are a sports fan you can get San Diego Chargers Tickets at a reasonable price. There are few things more fun than a night of American football.

If sport is not your thing, music fans can get Celine Dion Tickets
Celine is quite the performer and that will be an experience you will never forget. If Celine is not your cup of tea you can get Rascal Flatts Tickets

If you are feeling more cultured then you can get Trans-Siberian Orchestra Tickets cheaply.

Everyone deserves to have experiences they will never forget, so just buy them at a price you can afford. Have fun!

Sophie Mitchell Summer Diet Recipe: Wednesday

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Frost is doing a recipe everyday for Sophie Mitchell’s Tweet yourself thin summer diet. Happy cooking.

WEDNESDAY

Smoked salmon and avocado rye toasts
Prep time 5 minutes
Cooking time 5 minutes
Serves 4
4 slices of rye bread
2 avocadoes
4/8 slices of salmon
1 lemon
Black pepper
1. Toast the bread and then top with the slices of avocado and smoked
salmon.
2. Finish off with a squeeze of lemon and black pepper

Beetroot, goats cheese and mint Quesadillas
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
200g cooked chicken breast (optional for meat eaters)
4 spring onions
200g goat’s cheese
150g cooked beetroot
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
4 soft tortillas (I love the wholemeal ones or seeded kind)
250g salad leaves (rocket is great here)
Lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1. Shred the chicken and finely slice the spring onions and beetroot. Lay a tortilla flat on a board or
clean surface, and spread half of each tortilla with some of the goat’s cheese (divide between the
four)
2. Then sprinkle with mint and spring onions, and lay on the sliced beetroot, chicken and fold over.
3. Heat a frying pan up to a medium heat and lay a tortilla in the pan, with no oil. Cook slowly until
it’s golden and crisp, and then flip over. Repeat with all of the tortillas, and keep warm in the oven if
wanted.
4. To serve cut the Quesadilla in half, dress the rocket with the lemon and oil and then plate.

King prawn and Asparagus rice
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
400g cooked wild and basmati rice mix
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
300g cooked king prawns
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed
25g butter
1 lemon
Sea salt and pepper
1. Cook the rice according to the instruction on the packet. As a rule I cook rice with one and half
times the liquid, covered until the water has evaporated, but wild rice can take longer (so therefore
needs more water) and can vary more.
2. When the rice is cooked, cool it. Bring a pan of water up to the boil and then blanch the asparagus
for 3 minutes, and refresh under cold water.
4. Dice the onion and mince the garlic, fry both off in the olive oil, you can get colour at this stage,
but do not burn. This should take about 8 minutes. Then add the prawns and the asparagus and cook
for 4 more minutes.
4. Add the butter, melt, then add the rice, cook until

Fate on the London Fringe

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‘As Fate Would Have It’, produced by LittleBerry Productions, is the debut play of up and coming playwright Phoebe Hunt. It follows the two possible lives of a couple, Damien and Grace, who agree to toss a coin to decide whether they stay together or break up. The story unfolds with episodic scenes following both strands of possibility. In one strand, the couple stay together, continuing the increasingly unhealthy habit of making decisions by the flip of the coin. In the other strand, they break up, setting Grace free, while Damien continues to allow the coin to decide his fate.

As Grace, Phoebe Hunt made the most of the challenging transitions between depression (when with Damien) and glee (when set free from his ever increasing evil clutches). Her bright-eyed smile allowed the audience some breathing room, giving us a break from the relentless tension, and the pathos of her alternate situation. Jamie Hutchins, playing Damien, gave a very specific performance, in both vocal quality and physicality. The way he tossed a coin to make a decision for the very first time, uncertain and tentative, said a lot about his journey when contrasted with his eventual habitual attachment to the ten pence piece. Dinarte Gouveia (Michael) delivered his frequent comic lines from the heart, without force, and Jamila Jennings-Grant (Agatha) gave the audience a voice of reason, with her powerful portrayal of the best friend a girl in a bad relationship could have.

The entire play was accompanied by the composition and live performance of Matt Gaydon on the guitar. Whilst the music added a lot to the moments of heightened emotion, I personally found it occasionally contrasted the feelings expressed by the actors, and needed more variation in melody. Saying that, it served an important purpose when signifying to the audience that we were now changing episode from one strand of reality to its alternate, and back.

The script is cleverly written, though sometimes merging style between naturalism and poeticism, occasionally making believable delivery difficult. Though I admired the unrushed scene changes upstage, the activity downstage could have been more engaging in order to distract us from the movement of furniture. Otherwise, Cat Robey’s direction encouraged high stakes, and a gradual build towards a thoroughly gripping climax.

“As Fate Would Have It’ plays at The Space, Isle of Dogs on the 10th and 11th August, and at The Lion and Unicorn on 14th and 15th August. It is definitely worth a watch, but if you can’t make it, keep an eye out for future productions by LittleBerry Productions.

Sophie Michell & Ocado- Tweet Yourself Thin-recipes for summer: Tuesday

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TUESDAY

Coconut, Mango and banana smoothies

Makes 4
Prep time 5 minutes
300ml of natural coconut juice (like Vita coconut)
1 ripe mango
3 ripe bananas
1 lime
1. Peel and roughly chop the mango and bananas.
2. Place the fruit and the coconut juice into a blender and blitz until smooth,
then add the lime to taste and serve!
Sweet chilli and soy chicken wrap
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 1o minutes
3 chicken breasts (approx 180g each)
1 tsp soy sauce
2 step sweet chilli sauce
½ cucumbers
2 spring onions
2 carrots
Handful of rocket
4 flour tortillas
1. Cut the chicken breasts into strips and then mix with the soy sauce and a table spoon of the chilli
sauce. Leave while you prep the veggies.
2. Cut the cucumber into strips, and then do the same with the spring onions and the carrots.
3. Heat up a frying pan and then pan fry the chicken strips for about 10 minutes, turning
occasionally. Make sure the chicken is cooked throughout.
4. Then build the wraps, by piling up some veggies, chicken strips and rocket, in a tortilla with an
extra drizzle of chilli sauce if wanted.

Pecorino, Pear and watercress salad with char grilled turkey breasts
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
4 turkey breast steaks (approx 180g per steak)
4 ripe pears
2 celery sticks
150g pecorino cheese
150g watercress leaves
50ml olive oil
Squeeze of lemon
Sea salt and pepper
2 tsp thick balsamic

1. Heat a griddle pan up very hot and then oil and season the turkey steaks. Then lay each steak
down on the griddle and cook for about 5 minutes each side.
2. Finely slice the pears and the celery (on an extreme diagonal looks great) then using a peeler add
shavings of the cheese and add the watercress. Mix with the lemon and the olive oil, and then
season.
3. Pile up the turkey breast and salad on the plates then drizzle with a little balsamic

Sophie Michell and Ocado: Tweet Yourself Thin – Summer Recipes

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Sophie Michell will be doing recipes every day for Frost. Perfect if you have to fit into a bikini or some swimming shorts soon. Yum!

MONDAY

Bircher Muesli with Almonds and Agave Syrup
Serves 4

Prep time 10 minutes, plus overnight soaking

Ingredients

200g rolled oats
400ml apple juice
100g natural yoghurt
1 green apple
1 tbsp Agave syrup
Handful of almonds (that have been soaked overnight in water, as well then washed clean)
Handful of raspberries
1. Mix the oats and the apple juice together, then cover in clingfilm and leave overnight.

2. When you are ready to eat it, coarsely grate the apple and mix in along with the yoghurt. Add more apple juice at this point if you want the mix looser.

3. Then spoon into individual serving bowls and top with the raspberries, almonds and a little drizzle of agave syrup.

I soaked the almonds overnight to neutralise the enzyme inhibitors. This makes the nuts easier to digest and the nutrients easier to absorb.

Char-grilled Halloumi, Aubergine and Courgettes with Tomato Vinaigrette

Serves 4

Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

250g halloumi
2 courgettes
2 medium aubergines
2 tbsp olive oil
Dressing;
2 ripe plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
75ml extra virgin olive oil
25ml white balsamic
1 pinch of caster sugar
1 tsbp of chopped fresh mint

1. Slice the halloumi, aubergine and courgettes into ½ cm slices. Then switch the oven on at 180C. Heat up a large frying pan and add some of the oil (approx a tbsp full) and then season the aubergine and courgettes. When the oil is very hot, fry the aubergine and courgettes off, until golden brown in batches, make sure the aubergine in particular are cooked well. Then take out of the oil and place on a baking tray in the oven while you cook the rest.

2. While the veggies are cooking, make the dressing. To do this, add the garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, mint, sugar and seasoning to a blender and blitz until quite smooth, but with a little texture.

3. Then heat up a griddle pan and oil the halloumi on both sides. When the pan is smoking hot, lay the halloumi slices on the griddle and cook for 3 minutes each side. Then plate the courgettes,
aubergine and halloumi on to 4 plates and drizzle with the dressing.

Parmesan, Paprika and Cornmeal Chicken escalopes with French Bean, Avocado and Cherry Tomato Salad
Serves 4

Prep time 30 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (approx 180g per breast)
250g fine cornmeal or semolina
50g finely grated parmesan
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp dried oregano
2 eggs
20ml milk
100g flour
Salad;
300g trimmed French beans
250g cherry tomatoes
4 spring onions
1 hass avocado
1 clove of garlic, minced
Small handful of de-stalked fresh coriander
1 juicy lime
1 tsbp olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

1. Take the chicken breasts and cut in half width ways. Then take two large bowls. Mix the egg and milk in one bowl and the cornmeal, parmesan, paprika, celery salt and oregano in the second one.

2. Dredge the chicken through the egg wash, dropping off any excess and then through the cornmeal, patting the extra on to the chicken. Than place them on a plate and repeat with all the
pieces of chicken. Preheat the oven to 180C.

3. Place a saucepan of water on to boil, when boiling rapidly add the French beans and cook for 4 minutes, then drain off and refresh under cold water. Pat dry, then adds to a large bowl. Halve the
cherry tomatoes and add to the same bowl, along with sliced spring onions, and the peeled and diced avocado. Then add the minced garlic, whole coriander leaves, squeeze in the lime and season.
Trim the little gem lettuce and break into its natural leaves and arrange on a platter, arrange the French bean salad in the middle.

4. Heat up about 2 tsbp of olive oil in a large frying pan and then fry the chicken breasts off in batches, for about 4 minutes each side or until crisp and golden. When done, pop in the oven for 5
minutes, and then serve.

I often serve this with sweet potato wedges and chilli cornbread for a more substantial meal.

‘Tweet Yourself Thin’ with @sophiemichell for @ocadoUK