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10 recipes to pack on your cherry blossom picnic
Sat, 22 Mar 2025 14:00:05 +0000
Enjoy the beauty of D.C.’s cherry blossoms while they last with a spread of spring salads, pink sweets and more.
Match ID: 0 Score: 50.00 source: www.washingtonpost.com age: 0 days
qualifiers: 30.00 food, 20.00 recipes
Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for roast chicken with butter beans, and potatoes with peppers and garlic
Sat, 22 Mar 2025 10:00:48 GMT
Beans, herbs and peppers add a tasty twist to the classic combination our parents cooked for us
• Read Yotam on ditching fad diets
Cooked slowly in the chicken juices, the butter beans are creamy and rich on the bottom and satisfyingly crispy on top. You can easily swap them with chickpeas or other legumes. Look online for a quick guide on how to spatchcock a chicken. It really is very simple and it makes the chicken cook evenly. All you need is a pair of heavy-duty scissors or standard garden secateurs.
Continue reading...The Jamaican-born author on exploring nature and black identity in his nonfiction debut, his chaotic writing habits, and how the TS Eliot prize changed his life
Jason Allen-Paisant, born in Jamaica in 1980, is a poet, writer and academic. Currently a professor of critical theory and creative writing at Manchester University, he released his debut poetry collection, Thinking With Trees, in 2021. His second collection, Self-Portrait as Othello, (2023) won the TS Eliot and the Forward prize. Through time spent in the north of England and Jamaica’s rural Coffee Grove district, his debut in nonfiction, The Possibility of Tenderness (Penguin), intimately explores ideas around class, leisure, economics and self-discovery, looking closely at the life of his farmer grandmother, as well as the plants and people that shaped who he is today. Allen-Paisant lives in Leeds with his wife and two children.
The Possibility of Tenderness is a departure from your work in poetry. How did you go about writing it?
I started with a mix of poetry and prose. Then I thought to write a series of essays [and] hammer out some of these big questions around leisure and class within nature but I remember thinking: “All of the ideas that I’m talking about in a theoretical way, I can bring them all out if I just tell a story.” My grandma, “Mama”, she’s the protagonist outside myself. I can use the story of her life to talk about planting, food independence, food sovereignty, living with plants, plants as medicine, globalisation and its effects and kinship with the land.
There are times when a bowl of cornflakes is more enticing than dragging ourselves out for dinner. And avocados? Forget it
At a party not so long ago, a friend told me that she was about to leave. “I’m hungry,” she said, her eyes sliding towards the coats. “I’m going home for a bowl of Weetabix.” I greeted this with some surprise, if not outright derision. Wouldn’t she prefer a pizza with me? But already she was entering an ecstatic state. “Weetabix is lovely,” she went on. “Sugar, cold milk … ” Half a century of eating the stuff had taught her the optimum point at which to devour it, a fleeting moment she could judge by sight. Its biscuit-dryness had to be gone, but it needed to be soft rather than soggy. Her eyes half closed, she wantonly mimed pushing a spoon into this late-night ambrosia.
I thought of this the other day, when Alan Titchmarsh, TV gardener and aspirant steamy novelist, informed the nation it should stop eating avocados on the grounds of their environmental impact (to summarise: many of those sold in the UK are grown on land that was formerly rainforest; their cultivation involves huge amounts of water in places where it’s scarce; they must be shipped 5,000 miles or more to reach us). “There’s a lot to be said for cornflakes, Weetabix and Shreddies,” he announced, deploying the homely tartness that made him such a hit on Pebble Mill and Ground Force to deal with the 21st-century hipster breakfast of choice. Ha! Next time my friend refused a dinner date on the grounds that she would rather commune with a bowl of cereal, I would have no choice but to mention him. Several times. In my best (native) Yorkshire accent.
Continue reading...Former heavyweight champion was always more complex and interesting than his contrasting personae suggested
Boxing seems a smaller and darker world now. George Foreman has gone and, with his death, he takes a little more of the fading light and lost glory of the ring with him. My own life in boxing, which stretches across 55 years, can be divided into stages and all of them carry markers Foreman left in the dirt and dust of the fight game.
From the malevolent force he personified when he became heavyweight champion of the world to the lovable old grandad making hundreds of millions as the face of a food grill business, Foreman could be easily caricatured. But he was always more complex and interesting than his contrasting personae suggested.
Continue reading...The broadcaster and Olympic gold medallist on her favourite dessert, batch cooking with her mum and how to make the perfect gin and tonic
I was a naughty athlete. Ask Daley [Thompson] and Linford [Christie]: they didn’t drink, and they still don’t drink. Not a drop passes their lips. Those are the consummate athletes. I was a mischievous athlete. You know the little miniature bottles of Drambuie? My roommates would notice at the end of a competition that Lewis would have a little Drambuie. Delicious! But when I won the gold medal [at the 2000 Olympics] I actually had a bottle of bubbly for that. My roomies must have thought it was going to happen, so they had a little bottle for me.
My early memories are of food associated with my heritage and my mum: a lot of big flavours, a lot of curry chicken. One dish I can actually taste in my mouth now is snapper, which is a very popular fish in the Caribbean. Especially on Good Friday – we only had fish, so she would prepare whole snapper in a pan, with onions, peppers, a lot of black pepper and fish seasoning. It was just heaven. Whether you ate it hot or cold, that snapper would just be exquisite.
Continue reading...Vandals accuse Dusty Knuckle of gentrification in Haringey despite its work with at-risk young people
An east London bakery – as famous for its long-fermented breads as the work it does with at-risk young people – has been targeted by vandals accusing it of destroying their local community.
Ashley Walters, Jamie Oliver and Yotam Ottolenghi are among fans of the Dusty Knuckle’s menu, from its £11.50, two-hander, pilpelchuma celeriac sandwich to its £7.60 egg, pickled green chilli and cheese focaccia.
Continue reading...Which brand makes the cheesiest cheddar alternative? And whose tastes like grout? Meera Sodha samples popular plant-based blocks
• ‘Hands down my favourite bit of kit’: 13 kitchen gadgets top chefs can’t live without
When I was asked to review plant-based cheeses, I thought twice about doing so. Although there are some companies, usually smaller operations, that make non-dairy cheese out of fermented nuts or soya beans, more often than not it’s manufactured by big companies who are adept at recreating flavours, but who use ultra-processed ingredients such as emulsifiers, stabilisers and additives to get there.
I’ve used vegan cheese only a handful of times in the eight years I’ve been writing my vegan column for the Guardian, partly because I like to know what’s going into my body (and, on reading the ingredients, I am often bamboozled), and also because it varies so wildly in terms of how it behaves: does it melt, split, grate and, most importantly, how does it taste? For a food writer, that makes it tricky to use and make sure there’s consistency in the journey between my kitchen and yours.
Continue reading...Unesco report highlights ‘unprecedented’ glacier loss driven by climate crisis, threatening ecosystems, agriculture and water sources
Retreating glaciers threaten the food and water supply of 2 billion people around the world, the UN has warned, as current “unprecedented” rates of melting will have unpredictable consequences.
Two-thirds of all irrigated agriculture in the world is likely to be affected in some way by receding glaciers and dwindling snowfall in mountain regions, driven by the climate crisis, according to a Unesco report.
Continue reading...Thousands of acres of rainforest is being cleared to produce palm oil, used in popular Nestlé and Mondelēz brands
West Papua’s Indigenous people have called for a boycott of KitKat, Smarties and Aero chocolate, Oreo biscuits and Ritz crackers, and the cosmetics brands Pantene and Herbal Essences, over alleged ecocide in their territory.
All are products that contain palm oil and are made, say the campaigners, by companies that source the ingredient directly from West Papua, which has been under Indonesian control since 1963 and where thousands of acres of rainforest are being cleared for agriculture.
Continue reading...From a reading light to a gardening knife, a meditation cushion to a birthstone ring, these fun, and often useful, gifts tick every box
• The best flower delivery: seven favourites, freshly picked
Whether you’re 16 or 60, shopping for your own mum or someone else’s, Mother’s Day gifts needn’t be formulaic. In fact, we’d argue that they should be thoughtful, fun or useful (but possibly not too useful), or provide a moment of escape. There’s no worse gift than one bought out of obligation, unconsidered and, therefore, underused.
We hope this carefully curated guide of 68 presents will spark some ideas for the mothers in your life. Whether she’s in the first frazzle of parenthood, sitting on an empty nest, or anything in between, we’ve got Mother’s Day covered.
Continue reading...Long before this week’s deadly strikes, Israel failed to abide by the terms of its ceasefire deal with Hamas.
The post Israel Violated the Gaza Ceasefire From the Start. Why Won’t the Media Tell You That? appeared first on The Intercept.
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideas
Each week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner.
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Continue reading...Plastics are everywhere, but their smallest fragments – nanoplastics – are making their way into the deepest parts of our bodies, including our brains and breast milk.
Scientists have now captured the first visual evidence of these particles inside human cells, raising urgent questions about their impact on our health. From the food we eat to the air we breathe, how are nanoplastics infiltrating our systems?
Neelam Tailor looks into the invisible invasion happening inside us all
Continue reading...Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every Thursday
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday
Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you
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Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
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Met Office warns of flooding, as parts of country sees torrential rain after warmest spring equinox in more than 50 years
Heavy showers, hail and thunder are forecast to hit the UK days after the warmest spring equinox in more than 50 years.
There was torrential rain in some parts on Saturday afternoon and National Highways said parts of the M18 in Yorkshire were closed while specialists worked to clear flood water.
It is expected to be a cloudy start to Sunday with rain in the north and east and sunny spells in the north-west and south-east followed by showers, the Met Office said. There will be above average temperatures for most parts of the UK topping 15C in London, 12C in Birmingham and 11C in Manchester.
The Met Office said: “Heavy showers have developed across eastern parts of England this afternoon, with some hail and thunder mixed in. Heavy, thundery showers continue in parts of London and the East Midlands, with some areas seeing 10-15mm of rain in less than an hour.”
The UK experienced its warmest spring equinox day since 1972 on Thursday with 21.3C recorded in Northolt, west London, and Chertsey, Surrey.
Jonathan Vautrey, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “For this time in the year, it is rarer to have such intense storms. This is happening because we have had a lot of warm weather of late and temperatures are notably above average for the time of year.
“We’ve had highs reaching over 20C over the last few days, and we were up to 18.5C as the high today as well, where we should be more around 10 or 11C.
“That sort of heat that we’ve got around at the moment has really helped to spark off some of these thunderstorms, and a lot of moisture being drawn in with this sort of low-pressure system that’s been arriving across the UK.”
Vautrey added that climate crisis is pushing temperature extremes to new levels. “We’re constantly seeing warmer temperatures at earlier points of the year compared to where they normally are.
“These sort of intense summer storms are then increasingly going to happen at more points in the year because we’re getting those temperatures in there to really allow them to start developing.”
Flood alerts from the Environment Agency remain in place for 20 parts of the country including Henley, Salisbury and Hertfordshire.
The Met Office told travellers to “take care” as “there could be some localised flooding in places”.
Miliband said he wanted ‘to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure’
Willie Walsh, the International Air Transport Association’s director general, criticised Heathrow airport in as a result of the disruption, reports the PA news agency.
“This is yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travellers and airlines,” he said. Walsh added:
From that arises the question of who bears the costs of taking care of disrupted travellers.
We must find a fairer allocation of passenger care costs than airlines alone picking up the tab when infrastructure fails. Until that happens, Heathrow has very little incentive to improve.”
I’d like to stress that this has been an incident of major severity. It’s not a small fire.
We have lost power equal to that of a mid-sized city and our backup systems have been working as they should but they are not sized to run the entire airport.”
You can say that but of course contingencies of certain sizes we cannot guard ourselves against 100% and this is one of them.
This has been a major incident. I mean, short of anybody getting hurt, this is as big as it gets for our airport and we are actually coming back quite fast I would say, when you consider the amount of systems that we have to shut down then bring back up and make sure that they’re safe.”
This is unprecedented. It’s never happened before and that’s why I’m saying it has been a major incident.”
Continue reading...Government says lessons need to be learned after the substation fire that caused chaos for 300,000 passengers
The government has launched an urgent investigation into the power shutdown that crippled Heathrow airport, with experts warning it was a “wake-up call” about vulnerabilities in the nation’s critical infrastructure.
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has commissioned the independent National Energy System Operator (Neso) to investigate the incident and assess the UK’s energy resilience. The regulator Ofgem warned it would “not hesitate” to take action if there were any breaches of standards or licence obligations.
Continue reading...Thomas Woldbye says most other airports operate similar back-up power systems to Heathrow, as Ed Miliband announces investigation
The chief executive of Heathrow has defended the running of the airport after a fire at an electrical substation stopped about 1,300 planes and disrupted the journeys of hundreds of thousands of global passengers.
It comes after Willie Walsh, the International Air Transport Association’s director general, criticised Heathrow for the disruption, while the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has now ordered the National Energy System Operator to “urgently investigate” the outage.
Continue reading...Amid angst over the technology, a consensus is emerging about its capabilities – but there is an elephant in the room
In early March, a job advert was doing the rounds among sports journalists. It was for an “AI-assisted sports reporter” at USA Today’s publisher, Gannett. It was billed as a role at the “forefront of a new era in journalism”, but came with a caveat: “This is not a beat-reporting position and does not require travel or face-to-face interviews.” The dark humour was summed up by football commentator, Gary Taphouse: “It was fun while it lasted.”
As the relentless march of artificial intelligence continues, newsrooms are wrestling with the threats and opportunities the technology creates. Just in the past few weeks, one media outlet’s AI project was accused of softening the image of the Ku Klux Klan. AI is also playing a part in some British journalists recording more than 100 bylines in a day. Amid the angst over the technology, however, a broad consensus is beginning to emerge about what the technology is currently capable of doing accurately.
Continue reading...Westerners increasingly hesitant to travel to US out of fear of arrests and detentions as Trump enforces crackdown
A string of high-profile arrests and detentions of travellers is likely to cause a major downturn in tourism to the US, with latest figures already showing a serious drop-off, tourist experts said.
Several western travellers have recently been rejected at the US border on increasingly flimsy grounds under Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, some of them shackled and held in detention centers in poor conditions for weeks.
Continue reading...Boat carrying 13 people capsizes in rough seas while travelling to island of Nusa Penida
A snorkelling boat carrying 13 people, including 11 Australian tourists, capsized in rough seas off Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Friday, killing a woman and injuring two others, police said.
The Sea Dragon boat was on its way from a port in Bali to Nusa Penida, a popular tiny island near Bali, when it was overwhelmed by high waves, local police spokesperson Agus Widiono said.
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Continue reading...Travel advice updated amid reports of ordeals at US border after Trump said country would only recognise two genders
Denmark and Finland have updated their US travel advice for transgender people, joining the handful of European countries that have sought to caution US-bound travellers in recent weeks as reports emerge of ordeals at the American border.
Denmark said this week it had begun advising transgender travellers to contact the US embassy in Copenhagen before departure to ensure there would be no issues with travel documents.
Continue reading...Our beauty expert’s top space-saving travel minis and pots for decanting and reusing, from perfumes and SPFs to shampoos
• Refillable beauty is the future. Here are my favourite products
Holidays are approaching and, naturally, we want to feel as good as we can and take all our favourite beauty products with us. But who can – and wants to – lug around all that weight? Enter travel minis and decanting your full-size products into bag-friendly pots.
Whether you want to pack light to make room for holiday shopping, or you have luggage restrictions, getting your beauty bag whittled down to a good size is a fine art. One tip is to pack products that have several uses, such as a cleansing balm that removes makeup; and a makeup setting mist that also works as a hairspray.
Continue reading...Peter Reynolds, 79, and wife, Barbie, 75, expected to appear in Kabul on Thursday after detention last month
A British couple in their 70s imprisoned by the Taliban are due in court in Kabul on Thursday but have not been informed of the charges, their family has said.
Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province.
Continue reading...The arrest of a midwife for allegedly providing illegal abortions is the latest attack on reproductive care.
The post Texas Starts Arresting Abortion Providers appeared first on The Intercept.
National Park Service workers who care for the White House were exempt from a wave of mass firings that gutted the agency.
The post Trump Fired Park Rangers — But Not the Ones Who Tend to the White House appeared first on The Intercept.
Peter Reynolds, who runs a business in Afghanistan, was held along with his wife last month and needs heart pills, says his daughter
The life of a 79-year-old British man imprisoned along with his wife by the Taliban is in serious danger, his family have warned.
Peter Reynolds and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province.
Continue reading...We would like to hear from parents about their children’s experiences of getting NHS dental treatment
According to a government report, nearly 50,000 tooth extractions took place last year in NHS hospitals in England for 0 to 19-year-olds, with 62% of those having a primary diagnosis of tooth decay.
We would like to hear from parents in England about their experiences of accessing NHS dental services for their children. Were you able to find somewhere locally or do you have to travel further afield? How easy have you found it to access care? We’re also interested in hearing from those whose children have had hospital tooth extractions recently.
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A group of volunteers is spending two months lying in bed—with their feet up and one shoulder always touching the mattress—even while eating, showering, and using the toilet. But why? This extreme bedrest study is helping scientists understand how space travel affects the human body and how to keep astronauts healthy on long missions.
Microgravity causes muscle and bone loss, fluid shifts, and other physiological changes similar to those experienced by bedridden patients on Earth. By studying volunteers here on Earth, researchers can develop better countermeasures for astronauts and even improve treatments for medical conditions like osteoporosis.
In this study, participants are divided into three groups: one stays in bed with no exercise, another cycles in bed to mimic astronaut workouts, and a third cycles while being spun in a centrifuge to simulate artificial gravity. Scientists hope artificial gravity could become a key tool in protecting astronauts during deep-space missions.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.
You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
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