Global Cool » Christmas

Feeling like a festive fatty? Try out our post-Christmas liquid detox

emily — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:30:15 +0000

Did you have one too many mince pies during the festive season? Has all the partying over the New Year taken its toll? Is everything in life starting to look significantly more round? Don’t panic! We have the perfect post-Christmas detox to get you back into your 2011 dresses (or chinos)…

Note: Liquid diets are only meant to be used as a cleansing process. We would advise speaking to your doctor before going on a detox and using common sense throughout.

Be prepared…
Firstly, you need to decide how long the diet will last. This is entirely personal preference, but don’t try to push yourself too far as a beginner. If it’s your first detox we would recommend between three to seven days. Also don’t start your detox if you’re about to enter into a stressful period of time – it will make it harder!Now get yourself to the shops! You will need to buy lots of fresh vegetables, fruit and herbal teas. We would recommend picking organic produce as this is going to be the only vitamins and nutrients your body will receive during the diet.

Now you’re good to go…
Water is the main component of this detox. We know you’ve heard it a million times before but it is imperative that you’re drinking at least eight glasses of water a day on this diet. You’re allowed three “meals” of freshly juiced fruits or vegetables per day too. This could be a fruit smoothie and two bowls of soup for example. Where possible, use more vegetables than fruit as they are better for you. You can also drink as many herbal teas as you like too.Exercise is not recommended on this detox. You can do a spot of yoga or light walking but so not break a sweat – your body is resting, let it.

Back to reality…
Once your diet is over you will need to carefully introduce yourself to solid food again. Start with warm vegetables and soft fruits, and then gradually work pulses and grains back into your diet. Anything heavy like meat and cheese should only be eaten when you’re feeling back to normal. Good luck!
Pic: Menage A Moi (CC) and PA Images

Cook once, eat twice: using up your Christmas leftovers

Loco2 — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 08:30:18 +0000

Anila Babla from Loco2 will be writing a series guest posts, so make sure you come back next month to find out the latest, or join the conversation on Twitter with @Loco2…

Ahh Christmas, a time for sharing, caring, giving and… feasting! We hope you had a great time yesterday and got a chance to sit down with family friends and enjoy a good hearty meal and great conversation. But think twice before you toss your Christmas leftovers today and save them for these tasty treats…

Mocha mousse
Too much cream and no more Christmas pud? Make our mousse, inspired by Italy’s dedication to espresso! It’s dead simple!

Ingredients
2 tbsp ground coffee
1 tbsp golden/corn syrup
1 tbsp hot chocolate
300ml double cream

How to do it
Use a glass bowl over a saucepan of water to melt the coffee syrup and hot chocolate powder, and allow to cool. Meanwhile, whisk the cream in a big bowl until soft peaks form. Add the cooled mocha mix to the cream, and spoon into espresso cups. Allow to chill before serving. For travel the Italian way, check out our Inspire Me Guide To Italy.

Retro fondue
Fondue: the ’70s classic dish has seen something of a renaissance in recent years with our love for all things vintage. If you have unappetising cheeseboard leftovers and alcohol, don’t worry. With a nod to the Swiss, make a tasty alpine fondue to keep warm and toasty on a winter evening!

Ingredients
250g Emmental
250g Gruyère (traditionally of course, Swiss cheese is used but you can use other varieties for a different flavour)
200ml white wine/cider
1 clove garlic, black pepper, nutmeg
To serve: raw veg, day old bread, cooked meats.

How to do it
Remove rinds from hard cheeses and finely grate using a food processor. With the softer varieties, crush or mash into smaller chunks. Using a glass bowl over a saucepan of water, melt the cheese and cider/white wine, adding 100ml of liquid for every 250g of cheese. Add a little black pepper/nutmeg to taste and the crushed garlic. Stir until smooth and serve immediately with chunks of bread, cold meats, vegetable crudites, or even leftover roast potatoes. Dip in! For Swiss adventures, check out out Inspire Me Guide To Switzerland.

Impromptu tapas
Use your leftovers and your imagination to make these Spanish inspired bitesize morsels of yumminess!

Ingredients
200g leftover turkey
100g leftover ham
Leftover veg e.g. spinach, peppers
Aioli (garlic mayonnaise)
Cooking sauces
Salt/pepper

How to do it
Lightly toast one inch chunks of leftover bread. Add a blob of sauce/condiment of your choice, and then top with a thin slice of ham and turkey or finely chopped vegetables. Aioli works well with the meat, while leftover tomato/bechamel sauce works nicely with the vegetables. Add a little pepper, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and toast further if you want to add a little crunch. Drizzle the plate with a little olive oil – yum! For more Spanish inspiration, check out the Loco2 Inspire Me Guide To Spain!

Are you a genius when it comes to using up odds and ends? If you’ve been cooking up a culinary storm let us know in the comments box below…

Pics: theAtlantic and Lauri

How to light up your Christmas tree with a bicycle

Global Cool — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:00:03 +0000

A Christmas special brought to you by Going Going Bike

Pedal power electricity generation isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when you think of Christmas. Take a bunch of bikes, start pedalling and generate enough electricity to light the Christmas tree. Seems such a simple idea and something that authorities in the Mexican city of Puebla have been keen to experiment with as part of their sustainable Christmas campaign.

The local town council there have put up a Christmas tree at the city’s main park whose 8,000 lights get their electricity from the kinetic energy of people riding 15 bicycles. Each bike has a generator attached to it that feeds kinetic energy into two big two batteries that provides the electricity for the lights on the tree.

Light up
Each generator attached to the bike delivers 100 to 350 Watts. The batteries can light the Christmas tree for 45 straight minutes. The bicycles must be pedaled at a speed of between 20 kph and 30 kph for about eight hours to charge the batteries for the lights to stay on all night.

The Christmas tree is the centrepiece of “Navidad Sustentable” (Sustainable Christmas) fair at Puebla city park. Visitors to the park are encouraged to do their bit and pedal to keep the lights going. LED fairy lights are so energy efficient that it’s possible for one bike to power as many as 3000 LEDs in case you want to do this at home.

Cycling is also a great way to shift some of those Christmas dinner pounds, but you can worry about that after the weekend…

For more great cycling news and stories follow us on Twitter or Facebook

Pic: PA Images

On the first day of Christmas, Global Cool brings to you… Robbie Savage’s dodgy tan, Kelly Rowland and a pig

emily — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 10:00:55 +0000

Happy Christmas! We know you’ve been getting your fill of presents and Christmas treats all morning and we hope you’re having a great time. We’re still counting down The 12 Days of Christmas, bringing you our best features of the year. Each week we’ve dished the dirt on the worst programmes on the telly box in our TV Turn Off feature. No piece of TV trash has been spared from The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, to some very strange pig-based entertainment.

We hope we’ve encouraged you to turn off your TV and while you’re at it make sure you do it properly. Turning your TV completely off rather than leaving it on standby might be a pain in the arse (given that you have to actually get up out of your chair to do it), but it will save you loads of cash and help preserve your TV for longer.

Tell us what you think of TV Turn Off in the comments box below or on Twitter @global_cool…

Pic: PA Images

Music In Public: Take the train home for Christmas with The Beatles, Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson

emily — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:30:42 +0000

Music insights brought to you by MusicMagpie…

It’s going to be a great holiday, and the only thing you have left to do now is to get back to mammas roast turkey, Christmas pudding and of course the all important mulled wine! If you’re lucky enough to sit back and relax on the orient express (failing that, the great British rail network), consider catching up on some of rock and roll’s most beloved tunes while you Do It In Public. The time will pass much faster with this list of classic songs that any self-respecting rock fan should have at the ready…

1. The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night – No rock and roll play list can be complete without at least one tune by the fab four, and if your holiday with the family comes after a last-minute, end-of-year rush at the office, you’ll fall right in line with this track. Tap your foot along to the harmonies of the legendary foursome to take the edge off.

2. Prince, Kiss – When it comes to blurring the lines between rock and soul music, Prince remains unrivaled. Kiss is an amazing musical feat in any terms, but it becomes especially mind blowing when you consider all that he was able to accomplish with a just a few instruments and a sexy falsetto. Turn it up and wiggle a little just to get your point across.

3. Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody - Exuberant melodic movements aside, Bohemian Rhapsody completely rewrites the definition of a rock song. Gleaned from the band’s 1975 history-making album, A Night at the Opera, this six minutes of wonderment showcases Freddie Mercury as the rock legend he’ll always be, able to glide through the contemplative big ballad opening before skipping through a staccato opera turn and ending with a rock section that defines the music in its purest form.

4. Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson, Valerie – This remake of the Zutons strikes up mid-century nostalgia and realises all the potential left behind by its first cut. Winehouse’s raspy voice rings true to tell the story of a charismatic ginger, while your heartbeat is sure to quicken in pace with the bass percussion. The inevitable finger snapping that this song induces is liable to get on your fellow passengers’ nerves, but it’s hard to care when listening to such musical perfection.

5. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, I Love Rock and Roll - A straightforward and no-nonsense song: Jett gets straight to the lyrical point with this worldwide smash by professing her love of the musical genre that made her famous. The song is actually a remake of the London-based rock band Arrows, but Jett makes it her own as she coaxes a boy to move with her on the dance floor over the unmistakable guitar riff.

6. The Rolling Stones, Wild Horses – When it’s time to slow things down a bit, you can lull yourself to sleep in your seat with this classic by the Rolling Stones. Mick’s anguish-filled vocals tells the story of a relationship turned sour, but it’s the lazy guitar strumming that strikes a chord that can be felt across generations of great rock.

7. Elvis Presley, Jailhouse Rock - Leave it to the United States’ professed King of Rock and Roll to make incarceration seem like the cool thing to do. From its stirring baseline to the simple dual-note progression of the electric guitar, this is one of the most recognizable songs in modern history. But none of that will matter while you’re thumping to the beat.

8. Franz Ferdinand, Take Me Out - Give your classic travel soundtrack a little modern influence with this Glasgow-based band. From the moment they deliver the well-known guitar chords underlying this song’s conspicuous opening line, you know something major is on its way. The fast paced strumming of a rock guitar doesn’t disappoint, as it leads into a more hesitant but steady 4/4 tempo that will make you want to hit repeat a couple of times before moving on in your play list. Enjoy your journey home and happy Christmas Eve!

Are you bored of your music collection? Recycle and sell CDs with MusicMagpie!

Tell us your own top 10 in the comments box and Twitter @global_cool…

Pic: PA Images

10 reasons to love Santa even more

emily — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 08:30:56 +0000

Global Cool are super excited that it’s Christmas Eve and we want to get you in the festive mood too. We’ve been thinking about how much we love Santa for never driving or flying a plane anywhere. But we love ol’ Saint Nick even more after spotting him out and about Doing It In Public on the bus, train and tube. So here’s our gallery of that tubby old guy with white hair making the most of public transport (and we’re not talking about Boris Johnson)…

What’s the weirdest costume you’ve seen on public transport? Tell us in the comments box below or on Twitter @global_cool…

Pics: PA Images

MUST-HAVE WINTER WOOLIES: Get in the festive mood with Christmas jumpers from Urban Outfitters

emily — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:30:10 +0000

We want you guys to Turn Up The Style this winter in gorgeous cosy jumpers so that you can Turn Down The Heat at home. We’ve hunted for our favourite winter woolies around so you can kit yourself out in the best knits…

If Christmas is your favourite time of year, you’re going to want to look the part. Really get that festive feeling in this Renewal Christmas Jumper from Urban Outfitters. The thick wool will keep you warm all winter, and it comes in red or blue patterns. This jumper is only £55 as an online exclusive.

Do you like this week’s style? Tell us in the comments box below, on Twitter @global_cool or send us a picture of your favourite jumper…

GREEN SCREEN: How to escape your life for a week like Marilyn Monroe

emily — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:30:35 +0000

Global Cool’s expert film writer Charlotte Harman brings you Green Screen – our reviews of the latest movies in the cinemas, and what we would do to make them a little more eco-friendly…

My Week With Marilyn

Starring Michelle Williams and Eddie Redmayne
Directed by Simon Curtis

Since the winter weather has well and truly set in, a Monday night escaping the bustling city streets to run to the cinema seems the best way to spend your free time. My Week With Marilyn is definitely an indulgent Christmas treat. A period drama full of lavish sets of English gardens and quaint countryside homes, all paints a wonderful backdrop for the equally beautiful Michelle Williams (Marilyn Monroe).

This famously British star cast, offers an insight to the missing week in Marilyn’s diary when she spent her time romping around the countryside, skinny dipping in lakes with Colin (Eddie Redmayne), a lowly third assistant director. This film really demonstrates the cracks in her personality and dependence on drugs, illustrating the woman behind the photographs.

The spotlight may always be on her, but you can live her international starlet lifestyle without harming the planet. Naturally the stunning starlet would need some time at her dressing table getting dolled up, but you better be using energy saving lightbulbs! We dread to think what the electricity bill would be like without them. Taking a Traincation like Audrey Tatou is a far more elegant way to travel than flying, and you won’t end up drying out your skin with re-circulated plane air either. And if you want to make a fashion statement like the glamourous Marilyn, try out the Fashion Conscience website – it’s full of gorgeous and unique designs that are also green.

Check out the trailer for My Week With Marilyn here…

Which movie would you like to make a bit more green? Let us know in the comments box below or have a chat with us on Twitter @global_cool…

Pic: Cea. (CC)

APPS: Doing It In Public just got Christmassy

emily — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:30:24 +0000

By Emily Rycroft

Fed up with reading the Metro cover to cover in five seconds flat on the way to work? Fear not, we know you’re all big kids at heart so we’ve got all the best iPhone apps to help keep your pecker up while you Do It In Public…

Christmas Sudoku – £0.69

Get really Christmassy on the bus, tube or train with this fab festive-themed game…

This app means you can play the classic Sudoku game with either numbers or Christmas goodies. There are three modes – easy, medium and hard – and 30 levels in each mode. Choose from an array of festive themes including ‘Santa Red’ and ‘Merry Green’. Connect with friends and challenge them to a Sudoku duel via Bluetooth. You can even create your own Christmas postcards to send to friends. Get Christmas Sudoku on iTunes here.

Seen a better app? Tell us all about it in the comments box or on Twitter @global_cool…

Pics: PA Images and iTunes

COMP: A modern day fairytale of the 100-stone sleeping beauty plus win a free copy

danielle — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:00:41 +0000

Global Cool’s resident bookworm Danielle brings you her favourite reads, inspiring you to ditch the car and the stress of the morning commute and bury your head in a great book on the bus or train instead…

We’ve all gawped in horror at the gossipy true-life tales that feature in those weekly magazines you’ve been secretly reading. But this week’s book brings you a tale stranger than real life, but just as juicy…

Bed is the darkly funny, surreal debut novel from David Whitehouse. It speaks to today’s readers who can relate to the appeal of staying warm under the covers for a little longer, but poses the question of what would happen if we were to remain there indefinitely in a meditative, but also vegetative, state? If this festive season makes you dread returning to the claustrophobia of enforced jollity, paper-hat wearing and turkey-stuffing with Aunty Nora, then this novel knows how you feel. Whitehouse explores in heart-warming fashion, the love-them/hate-them hormonal yo-yo of family life.

Tell me more…
Bed is the gotta-read-it-to-believe-it story of the world’s fattest man who is trapped in a cage of his own making, the metal bars substituted for pillows, and cellmate monochrome stripes for soft cotton pajamas.

For no apparent reason, Malcolm Ede makes a decision on his 25th birthday to retire to his bed and stay there. Twenty years pass as Mal grows to the size of his soft confines. Meanwhile, his dutiful family, attempting to get on with their daily lives, are forced to whirlpool around his demands like satellites in orbit.

We are told the story from the point of view of Mal’s younger brother who understands his older sibling’s wild lifestyle-choice, justifying to the reader in fraternal awe: “It’s about doing nothing but doing something incredible at the same time”. But now, in his ’40s and mysteriously injured with broken legs and a broken heart, he has returned home to sleep in the bed next to him.

Bed is a touching and warm story about the shock-topics of obesity, celebrity, depression and the unfulfilled expectations of adulthood. And if you love the author, you can follow David Whitehouses’ every move here.

THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED – THANKS FOR ALL THE ENTRIES AND WELL DONE TO HOLLY GREEN, WHOSE ANSWER WAS CHOSEN AT RANDOM TO WIN THE PRIZE

You can also have a chat with us on Twitter @booksinpublic…