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If you haven’t picked up a jigsaw puzzle with your issue of Take 5, try scanning the QR code on the page opposite to find your nearest newsagent. We had all three designs delivered to the office, and they are the perfect size for a stocking filler. The Bluey puzzle is the most popular so far, and makes a great gift for the kiddies. There’s still a chance to subscribe and go into the draw to win $50,000 (p56). Consider it as a Christmas pressie to a loved one (or yourself!). It really is the gift that keeps on giving all year round. Don’t miss next week when we launch our brand-new comp – Win a stocking stuffed with cash! Why should kids have all the fun?! You deserve…

I loved Ed Sheeran so much, I married his doppelganger! Amanda Jones, 40. My mobile buzzed, and my best friend Charlotte’s name popped up. “You’ll never guess who I’ve just met,” she giggled down the line. “Who?” I demanded. “A bloke called Ty – and he’s an Ed Sheeran lookalike!” she said. “He was at the park with us.” “Does he really look like Ed?” I asked. “He’s amazing. It’s like I was with the real Ed!” Charlotte replied. Her words gave me the shivers. I’d been Ed Sheeran’s number one fan since he’d hit the music scene back in 2011. I knew every song, had been to heaps of his concerts, and had pictures of him plastered all over my walls. And when I moved into my new house,…

I was sitting in church playing the keyboard, when my husband, Bernard, suddenly barged inside with a policeman. It was 1996 and the look of horror on Bernard’s face as he raced towards me has never left me. “Come with me now,” he said urgently. “Danielle has been murdered.” I slumped in my seat, unable to comprehend what he’d said. My beautiful 22-year-old daughter was dead. It took me a second to realise the bloodcurdling scream echoing around the room had come from me. We arrived at our home on the Sunshine Coast, Qld, where our son Jamie, 20, was waiting. “We need to get to the children,” I said. Danielle had travelled to NSW with her kids, Lysinda, two, and Jesse, one, to visit a friend, after she’d…

Pea & fetta dip SERVES 6 PREP 10 MINS COOK 10 MINS 2 cups frozen peas 200g smooth fetta 2⁄3 cup Greek-style natural yoghurt ¼ cup mint leaves 2 tsp lemon juice ¼ tsp ground cumin (optional) 3 wholemeal Lebanese breads Cooking oil spray 2 carrots, cut into thick matchsticks 2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into thick matchsticks 250g cherry tomatoes 1 Cook peas in a saucepan of boiling water for 5 mins or until tender. Drain; refresh under cold water. Reserve 10g fetta to serve. Place peas, remaining fetta, yoghurt, mint, juice and cumin (if using) in the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth. 2 Preheat an oven-grill on high. Line an oven tray with foil. Cut bread into quarters. Place bread on prepared tray. Spray with…

EDITORIAL Editorial Director Kate Kirsten, Editor Rachel Williams, Deputy Editor Kim Bonett, Art Director Fiona Parsons, Picture Editor Vanessa Mckenzie ARE MEDIA Chief Executive Officer Jane Huxley, Director of Sales Andrew Cook, Director of Content Sally Eagle, General Manager Entertainment Susan Armstrong, Commercial Brand Manager Jessica Ashworth, Head of Consumer Marketing Louise Cankett Subscription enquiries: Customer Service 136 116 (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST) International +61 2 9692 3535 Email magshop@magshop.com.au Website www.magshop.com.au Advertising enquiries: advertising@aremedia.com.au Published by Are Media Pty Limited (ABN 18 053 273 546), 54-58 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. ©2024. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without prior written permission. Take5 is a…

I discovered a new side to myself after my divorce Torrey Lisa, 54. I pulled out a steaming hot chicken pot pie from the oven. “Dinner’s ready,” I shouted to my family. At 40, my days consisted of juggling side businesses and caring for my husband, Billy*, 47, and our sons, Drake, nine, Talon, 14, and Dakota*, 19. I’d met Billy, a soldier, at university. We were together for 10 years before I grew unhappy and we divorced. But the next year, Billy was shot in Iraq and lost the ability to walk. It gave the boys a scare, and wanting them to have their dad back in their life, we remarried. Then I was hired as his full-time caregiver. I did all the shopping, cooking and made sure he…

I’ve been rattlin’ and clatterin’ in my coach for 42 years Stephen Ralph, 70, Glass House Mountains, Qld. My mate Bruce tried not to laugh. “What d’you want a horse for?” he asked. “To pull this coach I just bought,” I replied. I showed him the wooden Cobb & Co Coach I’d bought for $100. Tears of mirth streamed down his cheeks. “What were you thinking?” he said. I scratched my head. I wasn’t quite sure myself. It was 1982, and I’d divorced from my wife and left the key making business where I’d worked. When a friend told me someone was selling an old coach, I bought it on a whim. At 28, I’d never ridden a horse in my life, let alone had one pull a coach,…

Bella Rae Seachrist was born in August 2016 , and, in what sadly would become a theme throughout her short life, love had nothing to do with it. Her mother Nicole Seachrist had been having an affair with Bella’s father, Jose Salazar-Ortiz. He was in a long-term relationship with Laura Ramirez, with whom he had three sons. Nicole Seachrist was also a drug addict and on May 31, 2017, authorities took Bella away from her mother and put her into foster care. The next day, a caseworker contacted Jose regarding Bella, and he agreed to supervised visits with his daughter. On June 28, 2017, child protective services deemed Jose’s household “proper and suitable for a child” and by July 9, Bella had moved in with her father, her brothers…

Biscoff fudge SERVES 10-12 PREP 25 MINS + COOLING 2 x 395g tins condensed milk 4 x 180g blocks of white chocolate, finely chopped 1⁄3 cup (100g) Lotus Biscoff spread 1 cup white chocolate melts 60g Lotus Biscoff biscuits, broken into large pieces 1 Line a 20cm x 30cm slice tin and baking tray with baking paper. 2 In a medium saucepan, melt condensed milk and 4 blocks white chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly until well combined. Pour into prepared tin. Drizzle melted Biscoff spread (see Tip) across surface and swirl with a skewer. Tap lightly on bench to even out. Put in fridge to chill 2 hours or until firmly set. 3 Meanwhile, melt chocolate melts in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering…

Reaching the front of the line with my new boyfriend, Danny, 18, we approached the roller-coaster. I hope I’m allowed on, I thought nervously. Weighing over 130kg, I’d been turned away before. Danny climbed in first, but as I tried to squeeze in beside him, my thighs wouldn’t fit. “We can’t let you on,” an attendant apologised. Danny hopped off with me. “There are other things we can do,” he said, putting his arm around me. At 16, I felt lucky to have a guy who loved me despite my weight, but I wished my body didn’t hold me back. It had been an issue since I was a child. We didn’t have much money and Mum would serve us cheap, processed meals. Unsure when my next meal…

My ex’s new girlfriend slashed me with a per fume bottle! Amelia Duckworth, 22. Through the crowded dance floor, I locked eyes with a tall, blond, blue-eyed guy, and my stomach did somersaults as he walked over to me. “Hi, I’m Matt*,” he said, smiling. “Amelia,” I blushed. We chatted for the rest of the night and after that we were inseparable. “I’ve never met anyone like you,” Matt told me, making my heart burst. In time, I trusted him enough to confide in him about my childhood. “I was adopted as a baby,” I said. “I’ve never met my biological parents.” From the anguish on his face, I could see he cared. “You’ve got me now,” he said, squeezing my hand. In 2020, just six months into our…

I put down the phone and turned to my husband. “Duty calls,” I said. “See you later,” Tim, 56, replied. In the five years since becoming a bird coordinator for the wildlife rescue organisation FAWNA in 2014, I’d rescued thousands. Now, I was responding to a call from a woman who said a large bird had been in her yard unmoving for a few hours. “It’s over there,” she pointed when I arrived. “Oh wow, it’s a white-faced heron,” I said, identifying the poor creature sitting near the road. He didn’t flinch as I carefully bundled him into a special crate and drove him home. Examining him, I could tell that his long yellow legs weren’t broken, and he didn’t have any wounds, but for some reason, he was reluctant…

Peppermint ice-cream cake bombe SERVES 12 PREP 30 MINS + OVERNIGHT FREEZING 250g pkt Nice biscuits 165g pkt white chocolate Tim Tam biscuits 125g butter, melted, cooled 2 litres vanilla ice-cream 1 cup frozen raspberries, roughly chopped 8 large candy canes, chopped, plus extra, crushed, to decorate ¼ cup finely grated white chocolate 4 egg-whites 1 cup caster sugar 1 Grease a 22cm round springform pan. Line base with baking paper. 2 Place both biscuits in a food processor. Process until coarse crumbs. Add butter and process until mixture just comes together. Press evenly over base and side of prepared pan, and refrigerate. 3 Stand ice-cream at room temperature 10 mins or until softened but not melted. Fold in raspberries, candy canes and chocolate. Spoon mixture into prepared pan,…

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 – Dec 22 The December New Moon is in your sign which means it’s time for you to start all over again. However, Mercury retrograde, also in your sign, is demanding you slow down and reassess… everything! ★So how to combine this? Use this week to reflect and reset. CAPRICORN Dec 23 –Jan 20 Take time to contemplate life now. Old fears or hidden emotions could resurface – it’s a chance to release them. Now’s the time for rest and spiritual growth, not action. Allow space for solitude and healing. ★Trust your intuition. AQUARIUS Jan 21 – Feb 19 As your life changes, so too can the circles that you choose to belong to. You will find you want to cut out any friendships or situations that…