More Popular than Ever? Beards and Masculinity in History.

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Dr Alun Withey

This week came the startling revelation that, in the past year, manufacturers of razors and related goods such as shaving foam, have seen a drop in sales of more than £72 million pounds. Market analysts IRI noted that men’s shopping habits were changing and, even though the total market still accounted for 2.2 billion pounds, this was a substantial dent. The cause of this change? Beards.

Beard
Image from: https://gdblogs.shu.ac.uk/b0027028/2013/12/28/what-is-a-beard/

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/511579/Beard-fashion-shaving-products-sales-drop

Nobody can have failed to notice in recent months the ubiquity of facial hair. Keep your eyes open as you walk down your local high street and you will probably notice a variety of styles, with the ‘Amish’ style seemingly especially popular. It is also interesting how newsworthy beards are. Just look at how often they have appeared as a topic for discussion in recent months. The furore caused by Jeremy Paxman’s beard for example. There were lengthy discussions about…

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Napa Valley – Wine Country

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I'll Sing, I'll Code, I'll Build Things!

A weekend trip to Napa Valley with my buddies Vincent, Chao and Youcef. Going to Napa Valley is an easy and relaxing trip because its only about an hour of driving from San Francisco. When you’re reaching Napa,  you’ll see acres of vineyards spread across the fields and on the terraces.

The Napa Valley downtown has a peaceful and quaint vibe from it that I really like. There is also that endless clear blue sky that adds to the calmness in the atmosphere. In the downtown, the parking situation isn’t too bad and you should definitely visit the information centre beside the Napa Valley Historic Mill. There are throngs of great restaurants lined up along the street and we settled for the French Laundry for dinner. I had cream pasta served with huge prawns and wild mushroom. Overall I felt that the food and service is pretty good!

The volunteers from the…

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London Adventures – Alexandra Palace Farmer’s Market

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This maybe the sumday morning date with my lady.

Well this is fun. The new wordpress editor DELETED my original post. Ho hum. Let’s try this again shall we…

farmer's market sign

My local farmer’s market takes place every Sunday in Alexandra Park (right by the Muswell Hill entrance).

I live close to the Alexandra Palace Station entrance, which is around a 10 minute walk to the market.

The market is a slightly boosted version of a typical market, (there’s a pub, some hot food to-go and local crafts amongst the fresh produce). Vegans also get well fed here.

I think the champions of this market are the meat and cheese sellers, everything is fresh and local, and there’s an amazing pie stand. We call him ‘the pie man’ – he also sells amazing croquettes and these incredible looking scotch eggs.

scotch egg farmer's market

I think the one in the picture is a chorizo one, but I definitely couldn’t resist picking up a regular one. That…

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Tequila Lime Chicken Sandwich

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Im in love

v58

INGREDIENTS
  • Buns
  • Cilantro, to top
  • Monterey Jack cheese
  • 8 strips bacon
For the Chicken:
  • ¼ cup tequila
  • Juice of 3 limes
  • Juice of 1 orange
  • ½ tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
For the Guacamole:
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 1 small red onion, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Chipotle Mayo:
  • ¼ cup chipotle sauce
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
DIRECTIONS
  1. Combine all of the chicken ingredients in a large container or freezer bag. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight, or for at least an hour.
  2. While the chicken marinates, make the guacamole and chipotle mayo in 2 separate bowls. Make each by combining all of the ingredients and mixing well. Wrap the bowls and set in the…

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Sausage Gnocchi Soup

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Wow 45min but it looks so good…..

“Honey, what’s for lunch tomorrow,” is probably the statement I hear most in the last two months of marriage! Either that, or it’s some other version that deals with food and or groceries. While I adore my husband and love playing little miss housewife, I am particularly awful at whipping something up. Last night around 11 in the evening, I heard that exact phrase; as tired as I was, I couldn’t bear thinking about Kyle eating another meal at a fast food restaurant. It’s so unhealthy and expensive. I decided to make for the very first time, sausage gnocchi with a little help from Jaimie at :http://jamiecooksitup.net/2012/03/chicken-gnocchi-soup/ Keep in mind, I tweaked the recipe to use what we had in our refrigerator: sausage, a pack of frozen vegetables, and random odds and ends. photo 7Total Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1/2 a chopped onion
  • 1 bag of…

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