'Deadpool 3' halts production due to SAG-AFTRA strike
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2023-07-15 00:19
X is letting paid users hide their likes
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'Five Nights at Freddy's' review: Who is this for?
Yes, yes, video game movies are made for fans of the games. And as Scott
2023-10-27 17:16
Hermine Dossou: Being thrifty in the kitchen helped me get on the housing ladder
As a trained accountant and a long-time baking enthusiast, Hermine Dossou knows a thing or two about saving money in the kitchen. “My first breadmaker was from Panasonic – I bought it from Gumtree,” the former Great British Bake Off contestant says. “It was basically somebody’s wedding present that they didn’t want and they sold it half price.” A devotee of Martin Lewis’s Money Saving Expert website, the 42-year-old, who was born in Benin, West Africa, and moved to the UK for university aged 20, tries to avoid ever paying full price for a big ticket item. “If I wanted to buy, let’s say, a mixer, I would go online, and type ‘Kenwood discount vouchers’ and then something always comes up,” says Dossou, who lives in Kettering and came fourth on the 2020 series of Bake Off. But the mum-of-one – whose son Steven is 13 – wasn’t always such a frugal foodie. “That came from that period where I became a single mum on a reduced income,” she says. “I couldn’t work full-time because I had to look after my son, and also I didn’t want him to have the processed kind of bakes.” Whipping up cakes and cookies filled her “empty afternoons” as a new mum and was a lot cheaper than buying ready-made baked goods. “I would cook from scratch and prep my vegetables when I could get them on offer,” she continues. “Same for fruits – they are often very discounted when they become a bit soft, and that’s the best time to make jam.” Even post-Bake Off and her book deal (she works full-time as an accountant), Dossou remains a savvy shopper, knowing that a higher price doesn’t always mean a better product. “Like a bar of chocolate, if it’s the same quantity of cocoa, why are you paying three times the price? Especially if you’re going to bake with it. “Wonky onions at half the price is the same… they all come from the same farm.” Her accountancy skills came in handy, too, and she still uses a spreadsheet to track her income and outgoings every month. “I think generally in life it is important to budget and know where your money goes, because I think it allows you to achieve a lot more than if you were just living freestyle,” Dossou says. “It’s a nightmare trying to get on the housing ladder here in the UK – that’s something I’ve been able to do through being thrifty in every area of my life.” That’s why she decided to call her first cookbook The Thrifty Baker: “I just really wanted to bring that awareness of how we choose what we eat, and how we can save through making little changes here and there.” “Now, more than ever, when people are struggling with the cost of living, I think it’s even more important to go back to those values of cooking from scratch, trying to cook at home, and making meals from, you know, not much.” With lots of advice for beginners, the book focuses on affordable dishes, from basic breads and simple biscuits to special occasion puds and impressive-looking desserts. There’s a distinct Gallic influence (Benin, where Dossou learned to bake as a child, is a former French colony) felt with recipes such as pain de campagne, orange and brown butter madeleinesm and pear frangipane tart. The author points out when a recipe can be cooked in an air fryer – a recent Black Friday bargain she loves because it allows her to enjoy fried Benin delicacies using less oil and without turning on the oven. “Because we have a really small family, just me and my son, you don’t always want to put the oven on just to bake something for two. “With an oven you’ll need to preheat it for a good 15 to 20 minutes before you can even bake in it. With the air fryer you just put the cake in and 15 minutes later it’s out – easy and convenient.” There’s also a section devoted to microwaveable mug cakes, with peanut butter and jam, speculoos (aka Biscoff) and chocolate hazelnut flavours of the cheap and easy-to-make single-serve puds. “In the microwave you can make a cake in five minutes from weighing, mixing and baking,” says Dossou, who loves how kid-friendly they are. “With my son I feel more inclined to let him make a mug cake than maybe something bigger. “Even if it goes wrong he’s not wasting a lot of ingredients and, you know, he’s not turning the kitchen into a bonfire.” ‘The Thrifty Baker’ by Hermine Dossou (White Lion, £18.99).
2023-09-06 13:58
Save 80% on a lifetime subscription to this Koofr cloud storage plan
TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to Koofr Cloud Storage (1TB) is on sale for £131.46, saving
2023-10-29 13:23
Indian movies vilifying Muslims spark fear ahead of polls
With free tickets and false claims, "The Kerala Story" is one of a slew of polarising films sparking concern Bollywood is churning out cultural propaganda to bolster support for...
2023-08-16 11:21
Acer Predator Connect W6 Wi-Fi 6E Router Review
If you're a serious gamer, you probably rely on high-end PC components to gain a
2023-08-07 04:18
This $35 pack of activated charcoal bags fights odors
TL;DR: As of August 20, you can get a five-pack of Clean Air Natural Activated
2023-08-20 17:46
Score These Up-To-35%-Off Away Labor Day Luggage Deals Before They’re Gone
Super Sale Alert: Get up to 35% off Away’s select range of suitcases and travel accessories from now until August 18. No promo code required. Check out Away’s sales page for the full lineup.
2023-08-19 01:28
Woman 'told athletic wear outfit was too revealing’ by airline attendant
A woman was left shocked after being told by airline staff that her athletic wear outfit was "too revealing". Flight passenger Maggi Thorne took a Southwest Airlines flight wearing a pair of Nike joggers and a crop top but was left “just in shock” by the reaction of a flight attendant. According to Thorne, who has seven times competed on American Ninja Warrior, a flight attendant approached her and told her that the clothing she was wearing was “inappropriate” and asked her to cover up. In a post on X/Twitter, Thorne claims she was “shamed” in front of all the other passengers by the attendant “saying my attire wasn’t appropriate”. Thorne continued: “Is this really happening in 2023? The passengers around me were stunned as she shamed me for all to hear.” The interaction took place on Thorne’s journey from Omaha, Nebraska to Nashville, Tennessee. Her trip included a layover in Orlando, Florida and it was onboard this flight that she said the incident occurred. Speaking to Insider, Thorne said: “She came over and asked me about my outfit and said that she thought it was too revealing and not appropriate for the airline.” She continued: “It was incredibly embarrassing." According to Southwest Airlines’ clothing policy, “wearing clothes that are lewd, obscene, or patently offensive” is not permitted on its flights. In response to Thorne’s tweet, a representative from Southwest Airlines got in touch with her to say that a complaint had been filed on her behalf. indy100 has contacted Southwest Airlines for comment. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-09-11 17:20
Some of the best Kindle models are on sale just in time for summer
This is your excuse to have a summer filled with lazy reading days outside. Shop
2023-06-13 05:18
Grubhub is laying off 15% of staff
Grubhub is laying off 400 corporate employees, about 15% of its workforce, amid higher costs and declining orders.
2023-06-13 02:19
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