4 d. ago The White House is getting renovated. Can we do the whole country while we’re at it? | Dave Schilling

Refurbishing the nation should be a collective effort – not the work of a single man with an unmatched taste for the gaudyWho doesn’t love a good home renovation project? Something to take your mind off the humdrum details of life. A fresh start. A dream made reality. I recently repainted my French doors from teal to aquamarine. I felt like a new man, albeit one with all the same problems. Just with a new door color.The average homeowner will always find something to change, tweak or revise – even in the most beautiful property. Don’t like your kitchen sink? Rip it out. Not a fan of subway tiles? Scrap them. Have you ever considered the sublime serenity of a rainfall shower on your body in the morning? All of these amenities can be yours for the price of materials, labor and the psychic distress of a bunch of burly middle-aged men traipsing around your house with large, thick boots. A small price to pay for a bit of temporary contentment. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Rachel Roddy’s recipe for leftover polenta biscuits | A kitchen in Rome

A biscuit crossed with a flapjack crossed with a bread pudding: these snacks are best enjoyed with a hot drinkThis, then, was the situation: it was Friday night after a long week, and having met a friend on the way home for a glass of wine, which arrived with crisps, taralli, dry roasted peanuts and enough salt that we needed another glass, it seemed a good idea to go home and cook polenta – the long-stir sort as opposed to the instant variety, although I always have that in the cupboard, too. Another good idea, which came to me as I pulled a new packet from the back of the dresser and ignored the flutter of tiny wings, was to make more than enough polenta and pour the extra into a Pyrex dish while it was still hot, so it could set into a block to be cut into slices and grilled the next day.I’ve written about polenta before; how the word is ancient and generic – referring to any mushy dish made from cereal flour and water – and how, after its arrival in Europe in the 1600s, it becam...

Politics

7 d. ago 5 simple Halloween snack recipes with just 1 main ingredient for family fun

Why not try these simple but effective recipes that use just one key ingredient in a variety of different ways.

Society

8 d. ago America, there is still so much to love about you but we have to break up. This is why I’m renouncing US citizenship | Anonymous

A menacing portrait of Donald Trump at the US consulate in Sydney is the final push. I know I am making the right choiceAmerica, it’s been 60 years but I’m breaking up with you. I still love you but I’m not in love with you and I’m calling it quits. I’m going willingly although I’m sad because there is a lot that’s wonderful about you.From your magnificent national parks, soaring redwoods and unique wildlife to the magic of fireflies amid the corn fields on summer nights and the vibrant colours of autumn leaves, your natural beauty is stunning. Your capacity to inspire creativity and innovation is boundless, as reflected in the inspirational people I have met who live within your borders. So many of my fondest memories of our time together revolve around the flavours that will always remind me of you – cinnamon, pumpkin pie, grape jelly. But, America, I just don’t understand you any more. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago How to make the perfect strata – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to make the perfect

The classic American brunch dish – ‘the love child of frittata and bread pudding’ – is given the masterclass treatmentAlso known variously as “breakfast casserole” and “egg dish”, strata is an American brunch favourite that, according to the great US chef Sohla El-Waylly, is best described as “the love child of frittata and bread pudding”, while the dish’s name comes from the fact that it’s assembled in layers. Like all the best leftovers recipes, those layers are eminently flexible, but what all strata have in common are stale bread and eggs. The rest is largely up to you.I’ll be honest, rich as it is, strata is not something I’d tackle before lunchtime, so I was relieved to read the late James Villas explain that, “in the South, a strata is traditionally served on an informal dinner buffet or at a casual supper”. Whenever you plan to enjoy it, however, note that, as per America’s favourite cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, if need be the ever amenable strata “can be assembled and refr...

Politics

8 d. ago Inside the Republican network behind big soda’s bid to pit Maga against Maha

A Guardian investigation finds the US soda and snack-food industries, threatened by RFK Jr’s movement to change Americans’ eating habits, have turned to a group of well-connected strategists, shadowy pollsters and ‘anti-woke’ influencersMajor US soft-drink and snack-food corporations are waging a coordinated campaign that aims to pit Donald Trump’s Maga faithful against Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Make America Healthy Again movement, a Guardian investigation in partnership with environmental watchdog Fieldnotes has found. Their goal is to stymie the Maha-led effort to curb Americans’ consumption of soda and ultra-processed foods.To carry out the plan, the companies have turned to a partially formalized network of for-hire pollsters, strategists and political financiers with deep ties to the national Republican party – several of whom have taken steps that obscure their connection to the effort and to one another. In the process, the industry has also been aided less directly by a loose co...

Politics

1 week ago Tomahawk missiles are Trump’s ace card for Ukraine – Zelensky says it’s time to play it

Trump has shown he loves to back a winner - especially one who uses American weapons - which means Zelensky must convince him that he’s the one to back with Tomahawk missiles, writes Sam Kiley in Dnipro

Events

1 week ago Relatives of Salvadoran family slain in Georgia crash left reeling from tragedy

The relatives of eight Salvadorans who died in a fiery crash of a semitrailer and a van in Georgia struggled to wrap their minds around the tragedy on Wednesday as they hoped that the bodies of their lost loved ones would soon be repatriated to the Central American nation

Events

2 w. ago American man tries Sunday roast in Wales and issues honest verdict

Many of us love a Sunday roast and an American man visiting Wales indulged in this classic British tradition at a popular restaurant. Now he shared his honest verdict on the meal

Politics

2 w. ago Everyday ingredient in snacks could be triggering childhood asthma, scientists claim

A new study found that everyday additives in common snacks and drinks could be altering the immune pathways in children

Events

2 w. ago Fat jabs take the fizz out of Pepsi sales: Health aware consumers cut back on snacks and drinks

PepsiCo, which owns Walkers, Doritos and Pipers Crisps, said the volume of goods sold by its food and drink arms fell 1% in the third quarter.

Events

3 w. ago American visits smallest house in Britain and Welsh property blows him away

Kalani Smith is an American who loves exploring the UK. He recently ventured to Wales to visit the smallest house in Britain, and he was left blown away by the experience

Society

3 w. ago ‘Politics is nasty. And it’s getting worse’: Lionel Richie on his worries for America, his friend Michael Jackson – and why he still believes in the power of love

He’s known for his ballads and winning smile – but the singer has also had a ringside seat to history, from the civil rights battles in his native Alabama to the rise and fall of pop’s biggest superstarLionel Richie walks into the hotel meeting room at 6.20pm and stretches his arms out wide. “Good morning, everybody,” he says in a southern drawl as smooth as whipped cream. He’s not joking. Richie, 76, is touring here in Budapest, and he’s on rock’n’roll (well, legendary soul balladeer) time. The singer-songwriter, who has sold more than 100m records over his six decades in the business, has just got up. “That bed was saying to me, ‘Stay here, Lionel, you’re looking goooood.’”He introduces me to his girlfriend, Lisa Parigi, a Swiss entrepreneur. Parigi is in her mid-30s, gorgeous, friendly, and young enough to be his daughter – or granddaughter at a push. To be fair, though, Richie looks fabulous. As a young man, he was all chin and tache. Now he’s just regular handsom...

Politics

3 w. ago America’s most loved snacks and drinks are changing color. But it won’t happen quickly

PepsiCo is looking at purple sweet potatoes and carrots to color drinks like Mountain Dew and Cherry 7Up

Politics

3 w. ago 'I'm an American living in the UK and there are four things I love about it'

An American ditched her life in Wisconsin for a new life in the UK - and hasn't looked back after dreaming about the move for years. She has now shared her top reasons for loving her new home

Politics

4 w. ago Americans left 'baffled' by Britain's love for Jaffa Cakes which are in 'every' TV show

Reddit users have trying to work out what’s so special about Jaffa Cakes after they appeared prominently in hit Apple TV spy drama Slow Horses

Culture

4 w. ago We Americans love remaking British TV. Must the UK remake our odious politicians? | Dave Schilling

A recent trip to Britain from my native California presented some worrying truths about our shared political futureI’ve always wanted to visit the UK. This might sound absurd to you, considering I’m from California – home of sunshine, half-naked bodies and the studio where they film Jeopardy. What could possibly pull me to the cold, damp, gray shores of England? The oppressively brown food? The dodgy colonialist history? Tesco? No, it was the glowing box that vibrated with whatever passed for culture in my small town: television.British TV was an obsession in my house, via those purveyors of affordable, exotic entertainment at PBS. We’d get classy fare through the Masterpiece Theatre series, but also more downmarket comedies like Are You Being Served? (a variety of sexually obsessed retail clerks trip over each other) or Keeping Up Appearances (lower-middle-class oafs desperately wish they were posh). I had no concept of what people were saying in their thick accents or most of the ...

Politics