All posts tagged: Mint

Winnie-the-Pooh and friends star on new Royal Mint 50p

Winnie-the-Pooh and friends star on new Royal Mint 50p

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter The Royal Mint has unveiled a new collectible coin celebrating friendship, featuring beloved characters Winnie-the-Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger. This 50p piece marks the final release in a special three-coin series commemorating a century of Winnie-the-Pooh, developed in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company. The collection, which began with a coin honouring kindness and followed with another celebrating loyalty, now concludes with the enduring theme of friendship. These designs pay tribute to AA Milne’s timeless tales of the Hundred Acre Wood, which have captivated generations of fans. Available for purchase from Thursday, the new coin comes in silver proof colour and brilliant uncirculated colour editions, with prices starting at £15. Lucy Mackenzie, director at The Royal Mint, highlighted the lasting impact of the characters. She stated: “Winnie-the-Pooh has been part of childhood for a hundred years, bringing comfort, warmth and simple …

Linux Mint was throttling my modern hardware by default — 3 changes fixed it completely

Linux Mint was throttling my modern hardware by default — 3 changes fixed it completely

On a modern PC, you expect your high-end NVMe drive and multicore processor to give the best performance. That’s why I couldn’t accept that my hardware was the problem after noticing micro-stutters while heavy multitasking on my fresh Linux Mint install. My curiosity led me to investigate, and I realized that the problem was Linux Mint itself. By default, it uses conservative kernel defaults for broad compatibility, which can unnecessarily limit performance on modern systems. Altering these three system configurations unlocks the device’s true speed. Lower Linux Mint’s swappiness My RAM stopped fighting me Afam Onyimadu / MUO When you switch back to a tab it often has to reload, and minimized apps can take a moment to wake up. You would observe this even if your system monitor shows gigabytes of free RAM. So even though memory is available, it feels like the operating system isn’t using it. The reason is tied to a kernel setting called swappiness. This is a number from 0 to 100 that controls how aggressively the device inactivates processes …

Princess Diana’s Mint Condition “Revenge” Jaguar Heads To Auction

Princess Diana’s Mint Condition “Revenge” Jaguar Heads To Auction

With just 45,000 miles on the odometer, the car’s cream leather upholstery and wood trim are virtually untouched. A vestige of its former status as the Windsor’s official car, a discreet safety button on the center armrest, remains. Mark Livesey, managing director of the auction house, underlines the value of the piece and believes it could fetch well above the £100,000 (about $135K) estimate: “On one hand it’s a 1994 Jaguar, and on the other hand it’s actually an ex-royal car as used by the late Princess Diana,” he told the BBC. “To have, or even own, something that belonged to them, it definitely adds an enormous value.” “She was transported all around London and UK in it and famously popped out of it wearing the black revenge dress after Charles had made a confession to the media earlier that day,” he continued. The interest for Diana’s vehicles is not new. In 2018 the Jaguar Heritage Trust displayed Diana’s Jaguar XJ-S Cabriolet, customized with two rear seats so that a young Prince William and Prince …

I Grew Enough Mint To Last All Summer From A £2 Supermarket Plant

I Grew Enough Mint To Last All Summer From A £2 Supermarket Plant

!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement(‘iframe’);t.display=’none’,t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement(‘script’);c.src=”//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js”,c.setAttribute(‘async’,’1′),c.setAttribute(‘type’,’text/javascript’),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src=”https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”;cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({“playerId”:”8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”,”mediaId”:”4c2615b8-caae-4d5a-bab7-30953fac6785″}).render(“6a18298ae4b0457678e8c528”);}); For someone who writes a lot about gardening, I don’t actually have a garden of my own – in fact, I don’t even have a balcony.  Instead, I’ve got some windowsills, only one of which is sun-facing. For a long time, I thought that meant growing anything bigger than a cactus was out of bounds.  But when I did have a back garden, I remember how rampant mint grew in it. The plant is so unstoppable that some gardening experts say to avoid planting mint in the ground altogether.  So, after the recent purchase of a £1.80 supermarket mint plant, I figured I’d try my definitely-not-green-thumbed hand at propagating it at home. Despite some significant mistakes, a tiny growing space, and some accidental neglect, here’s how it’s going less than a month later (this is the difference from 2-28 May): Supermarket potted mint plant on the left: the same mint plant, but with more growth, on the right How can I grow my own mint from a supermarket plant? 1) Divide or get a …

How to buy the new Royal Mint Pink Floyd coin in the UK today

How to buy the new Royal Mint Pink Floyd coin in the UK today

The queue for the Royal Mint website has now gone down and there’s plenty of availability yet. We all know Royal Mail are the champions of memorabilia, especially when it comes to musical icons. Now, the British coin company has released a special Pink Floyd coin to add to Music Legends line-up, joining the likes of The Beatles, Freddie Mercury and the Spice Girls. The coin commemorates the band’s legacy and the iconic design of The Dark Side of the Moon, originally designed by Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis and drawn by George Hardie. A selection of coins will feature the rainbow prism effect, bringing the iconic design to life in full colour. Rebecca Morgan, Director of Commemorative Coin, The Royal Mint said, “Pink Floyd are one of those truly rare bands whose music and imagery have transcended generations and the moment you see this coin, you know exactly who it celebrates. The iconic prism is instantly recognisable to fans around the world, and Henry Gray has done a remarkable job of bringing it to life …

Elementary OS vs. Linux Mint: I compared my once favorite distro to the Windows alternative

Elementary OS vs. Linux Mint: I compared my once favorite distro to the Windows alternative

Linux Mint and Elementary Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Both elementary OS and Linux Mint are great for new users. Each distribution appeals to a different type of user. You can install and use both for free. Linux has more different distributions than a puzzle has pieces. They number in the thousands, and range from the very easy to the incredibly complicated. Clearly, if you’re new to Linux, you’re going to want to start with something that can painlessly introduce you to the open-source operating system. Every Linux user has an opinion on which distribution is best suited for new users, but I would argue that the choice depends on where you’re coming from. I want to address two different distributions that make sense for users coming from either MacOS or Windows. Those who are new to Linux probably don’t want to migrate to an operating system that looks nothing like what they are used to. Ergo: elementary OS and Linux Mint. Let’s see which one is right for …

Elementary OS vs. Linux Mint: I compared my once favorite distro to the Windows alternative

Linux Mint vs. Elementary OS: I compared both distros, and here’s my advice

Linux Mint and Elementary Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Both elementary OS and Linux Mint are great for new users. Each distribution appeals to a different type of user. You can install and use both for free. Linux has more different distributions than a puzzle has pieces. They number in the thousands, and range from the very easy to the incredibly complicated. Clearly, if you’re new to Linux, you’re going to want to start with something that can painlessly introduce you to the open-source operating system. Every Linux user has an opinion on which distribution is best suited for new users, but I would argue that the choice depends on where you’re coming from. I want to address two different distributions that make sense for users coming from either MacOS or Windows. Those who are new to Linux probably don’t want to migrate to an operating system that looks nothing like what they are used to. Ergo: elementary OS and Linux Mint. Let’s see which one is right for …

Meera Sodha’s recipe for chopped broad bean trofie with mint and lemon | Vegetables

Meera Sodha’s recipe for chopped broad bean trofie with mint and lemon | Vegetables

What are your simple pleasures in the kitchen? The sizzle and spit of a fried egg? The smell of buttered toast, or putting on an apron to mark the end of a day? I like podding beans. I enjoy how it involves hands but not much brain, and how it makes time feel slow and good, like drinking a cup of tea. I also like that it reminds me of my Gujarati aunties doing the same (but with valor beans). And I love not always cooking so much, as in this recipe, where you pod and chop the beans, then mix them with pasta to reveal a simple good meal. Chopped broad bean trofie with mint and lemon To save on time, cook the pasta (pop a timer on) while you’re skinning the broad beans. Prep 10 minCook 30 minServes 4 650g frozen broad beans80g extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling80g vegetarian parmesan, finely grated¾ tsp salt, plus extra for the pasta water1 unwaxed lemon, zest finely grated, then juiced to get 1½ tbsp⅛ …

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for spring chicken thighs with spring onions, mint and peas | Food

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for spring chicken thighs with spring onions, mint and peas | Food

The weather lately has been as temperamental as peas in pods. But peas are even harder to read than the sky: some pods contain sweet things no bigger than peppercorns, which explode when you bite them; the contents of others, however, are closer to small ball bearings, their size very likely a sign that all the natural sucrose has been metabolised and transformed to pea starch. The best thing for the tiny ones is to snack on them alongside a bit of cheese, whereas the path for big ones is the same as for dried peas, so pea and ham soup or a long-simmered puree. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Prepared for all the above, I first checked that there were frozen peas in the freezer. It was a packet I used to take for granted until my son, aged 14 (and having finished all the biscuits, crisps, cereal and milk) decided that peas were a decent late-night desperation snack. Fortunately, …

Watching the Kentucky Derby from home? Here’s how to make a perfect mint julep

Watching the Kentucky Derby from home? Here’s how to make a perfect mint julep

Sign up to IndyEat’s free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free Get our food and drink newsletter for free Kentucky Derby weekend is a spectacle of tradition, where thundering hooves, elaborate hats and the refreshing chill of a mint julep converge. As America’s most famous horse race unfolds at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, the sheer scale of mint julep consumption is staggering. More than 125,000 of these iconic cocktails are consumed annually during the two-day festival. This monumental feat requires an estimated 10,000 bottles of Kentucky bourbon, 2,250 pounds of freshly harvested mint, and a colossal 475,000 pounds of ice, according to the event’s website. Yet, enjoying this classic American libation doesn’t necessitate a trip to the track; its simple elegance, a mix of sugar, water, fresh mint, crushed ice, and bourbon, makes it easily replicable at home. While mint juleps have been a fixture at the Kentucky Derby since its inception in the late 19th century, their status as the race’s signature …