I’ll Never Listen To All I Want For Christmas Is You The Same Way After Learning This Fact

Posted on 21/12/2024 by Boris Clair

If you’ve managed to go this far without becoming familiar with Mariah Carey’s iconic song All I Want For Christmas Is You, then I’d like to apologise for what I’m sure was a difficult time in your bunker.

The song has just achieved a record-breaking 16th week on Billboard’s number one spot, where it’s appeared for the past four consecutive years in the lead-up to Christmas ― some expect the tune will soon exceed $100 million in earnings.

It blasts from shop speakers, car radios, and YouTube ads yearly. “That song is just embedded in history now,” David Foster, 16-time Grammy-winning composer and producer, said. “It’s embedded in Christmas. When you think of Christmas right now, you think of that song.”

But what I certainly didn’t think about while listening to it, because I didn’t know, was this; it only took 15 minutes to write the song.

What?

Yup! Mariah Carey cowrote the festive hit with songwriter Walter Afanasieff in about 15 minutes, per Cosmopolitan.

“It’s definitely not Swan Lake,” Walter said. “But that’s why it’s so popular—because it’s so simple and palatable.”

Speaking to Billboard, Walter said, “It was always the same sort of system with us. We would write the nucleus of the song, the melody primary music, and then some of the words were there as we finished writing it.”

“That one went very quickly: It was an easier song to write than some of the other ones,” he added.

Huh!

I know ― though to be fair, they did tinker with their easy-bake hit for a little while after the first write-up.

“I tried to make it a little more unique, putting in some special chords that you really don’t hear a lot of, which made it unique and special. I think that’s one of the components that made it unique year after year. That part of it took maybe an hour,” Walter told Billboard.

“Then for the next week or two Mariah would call me and say, ‘What do you think about this bit?’ We would talk a little bit until she got the lyrics all nicely coordinated and done,” he said.

So, while the core of the song was written in less time than it takes me to make my morning bowl of porridge, the entire polishing process took a few extra hours. Still, worth it for a record-breaking hit, right?

I’m A Chef — This Simple Recipe Will Level Up Your Carrots On Christmas Day

Posted on 20/12/2024 by Boris Clair

We all know that we’re going to spend Christmas day fighting over roast potatoes with our families and that the meat of choice comes after deep consideration but according to one chef, we’re actually missing a trick when it comes to our carrots.

Yes, that’s right, our collective disregard of the humble carrot has led us astray and we’ve been taking their essential spot on our dinner plates for granted, especially around this time of year.

Outrageous, really, since carrots are the ideal snack for reindeers.

Michael Lawson, head chef at Atlantic Brasserie said: “Carrots are great produce to cook with; they’re available year round and are super versatile.

“For Christmas dinner there are countless ways to elevate this humble veggie into the star of the show.”

How to elevate your Christmas carrots

Lawson promises that this recipe can “transform carrots into a stunning holiday centrepiece, that’s as delicious as it is eye-catching.”

All you need is honey, butter, pistachios, orange zest and, if you’re feeling extra fancy — chives.

Lawson says: “I start with glazing carrots with honey and butter, which gives them a rich and sticky finish.

“My secret ingredient is pistachios – they might not be the first garnish you think of when you’re cooking carrots, but they give the dish a nice crunch and a contrasting savoury flavour which is just mouthwatering. You can also add in some chives for colour and a more complex flavour”

Once you’ve done this, roast your carrots in olive oil for 45 minutes until fully cooked. Then, Lawson advises: “Make a glaze with the zest of an orange and around 20 ml of honey, cover the carrots in this and roast for a further ten minutes.

“Sprinkle the pistachios and chopped chives before serving. It’s a super easy way to level up what can be a basic side – and it’s perfect for Christmas dinner.”

I think it’s fair to say I’ll be tucking into this treat throughout the year, too.

If You Want Crispy Roast Potatoes, Avoid This Common Mistake

Posted on 19/12/2024 by Boris Clair

People, I have been humbled by roast potato facts recently.

I thought my recipe was foolproof until I realised that not only should I be adding Mary Berry-approved semolina to the veggies for an extra crunch, but I should also retire my extra-virgin olive oil additions.

And now, it seems I’ve been making another mistake on my way to crispy, fluffy perfection ― turns out it’s important to cool your parboiled potatoes before cooking them.

Why?

According to Marc Williams, cookery school director at The Grand in York, it’s all to do with moisture.

We’ve written before about how applying low-moisture semolina to the outside of potatoes can ensure they crisp up as they cook rather than steaming their skins to softness.

Well, the same philosophy applies here. When you parboil your roast potatoes, you infuse them with water (no shockers there). And the steam puffs out from the exterior of your potatoes for a while after removing them from the water.

This can interfere with the potatoes’ interaction with the hot oil you should be adding them to after roughing up their sides and adding seasoning. And if they’re seriously steamy, or even wet, you can get some dangerous splashback.

You should “strain them and wait until the steam stops,” William shared. “You’ll never get a crisp result if they are full of water.”

In fact, Joe White, head chef at 10 Tib Lane in Manchester, even goes so far as to say “For the perfect roasties make sure to steam or boil them the day before and let them air dry overnight in the fridge. It will make the outside extra crispy when you roast them.”

What’s the right method, then?

According to Williams, “To get the perfect potatoes, peel them, add to cold water and bring to boil. Boil for around six minutes until the edges soften.”

Shake them in the colander while hot to provide rough, textured edges, and apply semolina and seasonings while the spuds are still hot. Freshly-boiled potatoes will provide fluffier outer layers, and ingredients stick better to hot food.

Then, strain them and cool them. When you’re ready to cook them, place a fat of your choice ― duck fat if you want to be luxurious, though sunflower and vegetable oils are great options ― in a baking tray to get hot before adding the spuds.

“Roast for around twenty minutes in a hot oven before turning them over; this allows a crust to form underneath, so you won’t leave half the potato stuck to the tray,” Williams recommends.

Bon appetit!

The Holiday: 21 Behind-The-Scenes Facts You Never Knew About The Festive Rom-Com

Posted on 14/12/2024 by Boris Clair

The Holiday may have received mixed reviews upon its release in 2006, but over the subsequent years it has firmly cemented itself as a modern Christmas classic.

A mainstay on late-night ITV2 and one of Netflix’s big hitters during the festive season, it’s hard to avoid the Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black-led Christmas rom-com each year – not that we’d want to, of course.

Sure, it’s packed with clichés and schmaltz, but there’s something about it that is always guaranteed to give us a festive glow (and no, it’s absolutely got nothing to do with Jude Law’s eyes, ok?).

No matter how many times you’ve seen The Holiday though, we’ll bet you didn’t know all these behind-the-scenes facts…

1. Rose Cottage is not real

It might have looked like it had stood there for a hundred years, but in fact Iris’ Surrey cottage was purpose built for the film (but that seemingly hasn’t stopped people looking for it all the same…).

According to The Telegraph, the production team scoured the Surrey countryside to find the perfect cottage, but ended up building their own on a hill overlooking the town of Shere.

2. It only took four days to build the house

However, set dressers spent two weeks making it look old and authentic.

Director Nancy Meyers told ComingSoon: “It was really an amazing process to build a cottage because the people that lived there couldn’t believe that people from Hollywood were coming and building this cottage, but they did a magnificent job. We built the road, the wall around it, put in the trees.”

3. The Rose Cottage interior scenes were shot on a soundstage in LA

The inside of the cottage was built on a sound stage

According to IMDB, the scenes inside the specially-built cottage were actually filmed thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, where sets were built on a soundstage.

4. Exterior scenes were shot in Godalming and Shere in Surrey

According to Surrey Live, Jude Law and Cameron Diaz filmed scenes on Church Street in Godalming, which was dressed with Christmas decorations and fake shops for the movie.

The pub in which Graham and Amanda meet again is also a real pub called The White Horse.

5. There was real snow in Surrey during the week of filming

Cameron Diaz said the snow was fully degradable

It reportedly snowed three times in Surrey during filming, but the crew had already hired a snow machine because they hadn’t counted on any of the white stuff falling.

According to Cameron Diaz in an interview with Vulture, the fake snow that was used was all “totally biodegradable”.

6. Amanda’s LA mansion is also real

Amanda's LA home from The Holiday — Amanda’s LA home from The Holiday

Well, the exterior is anyway.

The property, located in the wealthy city of San Marino, California, was built in 1928 by architect Wallace Neff.

Like with Rose Cottage though, the interiors were all sets built on a soundstage, and according to IMBD, they cost approximately $1million to build.

7. The scene where Amanda runs through the snow took a week to film

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In an interview with Vulture, Cameron Diaz revealed the scene snowballed (no pun intended) during filming, having not even been in the original script.

“That whole scene took a week to shoot. That wasn’t even in the script,” she said, telling of how it had been just “four lines of description” in her script.

“They only used two shots, but we shot like ten shots of me running across ten different fields. And I’m wearing that Valentino cashmere, wool trench coat, a turtleneck cashmere sweater.

“Literally, I was so fit by the end of that week. I ran probably seven miles a day in those heels. Through mud and hills. It was so hilarious.”

8. The director’s attention to detail was something that was famed on set

According to IMDB, Nancy would make the actors do many, many takes of certain scenes, including the one set at the newspaper’s Christmas party.

Kate Winslet reportedly got a laugh from those on set when she dropped to her knees to jokingly pray it was the last time she would have to do it, after a long series of takes.

9. Cameron Diaz also recalled Nancy’s desire for repeated takes

She told Vulture: “She already knows exactly how she wants to see it, but she needs to see it first to make sure that it’s what she’s seeing. And once she sees it, it’s almost like she has to see it, I’d say, seven times consecutively. If she saw it exactly the same seven times, then she felt that she had it. And then when she had it, she had it. And then she’d want to see it differently. And then if you do it differently, you’d have to do it another seven times exactly the same.”

Sounds exhausting to us.

10. There’s an Easter egg hidden in Amanda’s film collection

In a cheeky nod to Kate Winslet’s film career, when Iris arrives at Amanda’s and notices her film collection, one of the movies is Enigma – a picture that Kate actually starred in five years prior to The Holiday.

11. The film was written with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet in mind to play Amanda and Iris

Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet played Amanda and Iris

Nancy admitted she knew she wanted Kate and Cameron “during the writing process”.

Speaking to ComingSoon, she said: “You know, I think a screenwriter would lie to you if they said, “I don’t think about anybody when I am writing.” I can’t imagine it, you know somebody has got to say it and do it. It’s natural to start fantasizing about who is going to be in it and I think Cameron is a great comedienne and I thought about this before I cast her and once I cast her she continued to thrill me in that area.

“Cameron’s really a girl’s girl and boys adore her obviously. She seemed absolutely the right choice for a California girl.”

She added of Kate: “Then, if you’re writing a 30-year-old woman in England you obviously think of Kate Winslet, she’s just one of the great actresses.”

12. The character of Graham evolved the most during the writing process

Nancy revealed to ComingSoon: “I sort of put him through some twists and turns that you don’t expect. Then, when I was done, of course you think of Jude Law. He’s so handsome and he’s really such a terrific actor, but I wasn’t immediately sure that he was going to fit into the genre and do this kind of work.

“So I met with him and we went through the script together and he just got it. You know, he just hasn’t had a chance to do it before.”

13. Cameron Diaz and Jude Law never really interacted with Kate Winset and Jack Black

While both sets of interior scenes were shot in LA, that didn’t mean there were many times where the two couples crossed paths while filming.

Cameron told Vulture: “I did a lot of acting on my own, and just with Jude. Because we only had one scene with Jack and Kate. Our characters never crossed over. Basically Kate and Jack did their movie; Jude and I did ours. We only had the one scene at the end, where we all came together.”

She added: “Jude and I had a lot of fun shooting our bits.”

Kate Winslet said that the moments she and Cameron did get to film together were “really, really fun”.

“She’s extremely hard working and she’s a great team member,” she told Collider. “But our paths would cross, you know, sometimes we’d be shooting, for example, the scene with Jack and I in the video store. Cameron sort of happened to be around in the area and she came by, and she was there for sort of, half of the shooting day. And she was just giving support and making us all feel that we were a part of the same thing together, you know, she was very aware of that. And she’s a truly fantastic person.”

14. The ending was actually one of the first scenes the cast filmed

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Cameron told Vulture that the New Year’s party where Iris and Miles join Amanda and Graham at his cottage in the final moments of the film were actually shot “kind of at the beginning of the shoot”.

15. Dustin Hoffman’s cameo happened by pure chance

Dustin Hoffman made a cameo in The Holiday

The acting legend features in the scene where Iris and Miles are in the video store, but he was actually never supposed to be in the film.

According to the film’s DVD commentary, Dustin was having lunch nearby and noticed all the cameras outside where Kate Winslet and Jack Black were filming and popped in to see what was happening.

Having already known director Nancy Meyers, they facilitated a cameo, which made the final cut.

16. Lindsay Lohan’s cameo also came about because of the director

Lindsay Lohan and James Franco also popped up in a film trailer Amanda was working on

Lindsay popped up in The Holiday in the film trailer Amanda was editing at the start of the movie.

Her cameo came about as Nancy had previously directed Lindsay some eight years earlier in her breakthrough role in The Parent Trap.

Nancy told ComingSoon: “I told her she owes me everything so I made her do it. I called her and said, ‘You have to do this for me,’ but she was sweet about it, she was totally there.”

17. Kate Winslet already had a personal connection to Rufus Sewell

Rufus Sewell and Kate Winslet pictured together at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997

Iris spends a lot of time in the film trying to get over her love-rat colleague Jasper, who is played by Rufus Sewell.

Kate and Rufus had some history of their own, having previously been in a relationship back in the 90s.

18. There’s a factual error in the film

Arthur and Iris discuss the fact Cary Grant is from Surrey, but actually, they’re wrong as the acting legend is originally from Bristol.

19. The director had to keep reminding Eli Wallach to act older

In an interview with Collider, Kate recalled how the acting legend, who portrayed Arthur, was much more sprightly than the character who he was playing, despite being 90 when the film was made.

As a result, the director would have to remind him to play “older” than he felt.

Kate said: “He has this incredible energy and Nancy [Meyers] would say to him all the time, she’d say, ‘Could you act a little more seventy?’ He’s just he’s like a sixty year-old. He moves around much, kind of, freer than you would expect a person at the age of 90 to, he was just incredible… incredible.”

Sadly, Eli passed away in 2014 at the age of 98.

20. Eli had just as many anecdotes as Arthur too

Kate told Collider: “He would sit me down between takes and he say, ‘I’m gonna tell you another story.’ And he would sit me down and he’d say, ‘Now the thing about Marilyn [Monroe]…’ And I’d be like, oh [expressing excitement] and he’d just come out with these glorious anecdotes. Just fantastic stories of experiences that he has had that were directly useful in playing Iris, because she had that level of fascination with Arthur, and I just had it, I just had it. It was there everyday with Eli.”

21. The director added in the ‘boob graze’ moment after something similar happened on set

Remember the bit in the Sushi bar where Miles accidentally grazes Iris’ breast? Well, Nancy Meyers added that in the film after a similar thing happened with her and Jack Black on set.

She told ComingSoon: “One day on the set he bumped into me and said, ‘Oh, sorry about the boob graze,’ and I just laughed so hard because men bump into women all the time like that and act like they didn’t do it, but he immediately said sorry about the boob graze so I wrote it into the next scene he did.”

This Common Mistake May Be Ruining Your Poinsettia Before Christmas

Posted on 11/12/2024 by Boris Clair

Poinsettias weren’t always a common Christmas flower in the UK ― but flower company Bloom & Wild say they became that way thanks to their festive colour and star-like shape.

So if you’ve got one in your home, chances are you’re trying your hardest to keep it fresh throughout the festive season.

Thankfully, David Denyer, an expert florist at Eflorist, told HuffPost UK that there are some surefire ways to accidentally kill your festive plant before it’d otherwise fade ― including some “people often overlook.”

What could cause an early plant death?

“Pests are a big issue that people often overlook. Aphids, whiteflies, and mealybugs are drawn to the fragile leaves of poinsettias,” David told us.

“If the leaves appear curled or feel sticky, it’s often a clear indication of a pest problem,” he added.

You can protect other surrounding plants by removing the affected plant from their area and treating it with insecticide or neem oil.

“Another comment problem is people often believe that yellowing leaves are solely due to overwatering, but in many cases, it could also indicate low light or a lack of nutrients,” David continues.

Poinsettias do need a bit of extra care in terms of nutrients, especially after they’ve been moved from one place to another or after Christmas. A slow-release fertiliser can make a difference in terms of overall health.”

How should I take care of poinsettia?

Even if you’re not worried about murdering your flower entirely, David has some tips for keeping it at its best.

Most of us over-water our poinsettia, he points out: “You have to focus on not letting the plant sit in water,” he stresses.

It’s an easy trap to fall into because people often water their poinsettias frequently, but they don’t check if the soil has good drainage. The plant’s survival is more about the quality of the watering routine than the quantity.”

Misting the leaves with water is a much better option than drenching the leaves ― you shouldn’t leave droplets on the bracts or they’ll “develop unsightly spots,” David warns.

You might want to move your plant from that spot by your window too, the flower expert says.

“Poinsettias are incredibly sensitive to changes, particularly temperature fluctuations. Avoid placing them near places where drafts or sudden warm air from vents can affect them,” he told HuffPost UK.

“The changes in temperature can be subtle but enough to cause them to shed their leaves.”

And “While they enjoy bright, indirect light, some people make the mistake of giving them too much direct sunlight, which causes the leaves to burn.”

Looks like I have a plant pot to move…

A Record Number Of Children Will Spend Christmas In Harmful Accommodation This Year

Posted on 10/12/2024 by Boris Clair

While this is said to be the happiest time of year, with many of us putting up our Christmas decorations and enjoying a festive night out or two, it doesn’t quite have the same magic for those in poverty.

In fact, the latest government figures show that 159,380 children across England are spending this winter in temporary accommodation – the highest number on record.

A figure that is a 15% increase on last year.

Housing charity Shelter says: “The figures also show that there are 9,550 families with children stuck in B&Bs and hostels. Government rules say families should only be put in B&B accommodation as a last resort and only for a maximum of six weeks.

“B&Bs and hostels are considered some of the worst type of temporary accommodation as families are often cramped into one room, forced to share kitchens and bathrooms with strangers and where children have no space to play and are unable to have friends over.”

“They had cockroaches, mice, beetles, bedbugs and a bee infestation”

As part of Shelter’s collaboration with B&Q, people who have stayed in temporary accommodation shared their stories, which inspired a range of charity baubles.

Lauren, who was made homeless with her three sons says: “It was one room with one double bed and two single beds. It had a tiny fridge freezer, which kept defrosting and you couldn’t really store anything in it, and a microwave which was absolutely filthy, and we didn’t use”

Aimee and her two young children faced similar issues of cleanliness in their hotel room. She explains: “On the day we moved in we found old chips and ketchup stuck to the windowsill. They had cockroaches, mice, beetles, bedbugs and a bee infestation. The water came out of the tap a dirty colour and the toilet backed up.”

Sam and his family were actually placed in a flat but it was overrun with rodents and wasn’t fit to live in. He says: “We’ve got mice. We’ve got rats in the ceiling – running, fighting in the middle of the night. We had no electricity for two weeks, had no shower for about a month. It feels like I’m in a prison sometimes.”

Temporary accommodation is often unsanitary

Shelter’s ‘Living in Limbo’ report surveyed over 1,000 people living in temporary accommodation.

The report found that a devastating four in 10 reported problems with damp, mould or condensation, over a third had issues with insect or animal infestations and over half of parents say that living in temporary accommodation has harmed their child’s health.

“Utterly unacceptable”

Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter, says: “It is utterly unacceptable that so many families will spend the festive season homeless and trapped in overcrowded, damp, unsafe temporary accommodation.

“Sky high private rents combined with a dire shortage of genuinely affordable social homes has caused homelessness to spiral and sadly it’s children who are paying the price. Too many are growing up sharing beds with siblings, in one-room hostels infested with cockroaches, bedbugs, and rats, in conditions that harm their health and futures.”

To find your nearest B&Q to purchase your tree and help donate towards B&Q and Shelter’s shared mission, visit their website.