Table of contents for TAK2435 in Take 5

I don’t know about you, but I can scroll through streaming platforms for ages, before I finally land on something I want to watch. In that time, I could probably have been three episodes into a new series! So now I’ve started going straight to the section on Netflix called Top 10 TV shows in Australia today. I figured if everyone was watching it, you couldn’t get a better recommendation than that! I was so excited when I settled in for Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal. I can remember when the news story broke, about the dating site for married people seeking affairs being hacked. The doco was gripping. In the wake of that, we spoke to Anthony, who worked there at the time, and got his insider’s view…

My little brother just wanted to have fun with his balloon… Kaitlin Barry, 26. Hearing a newborn’s cry, I turned to see a baby boy with jet-black hair held by the midwife. “Wow, he’s huge!” I said, as my brother was passed to our mum Lisa and stepdad, Karl. Once he’d been weighed, Mum smiled at me. “Would you like to hold him, Kaitlin?” she asked. “Love to,” I nodded. Cradling Karlton in my arms, I didn’t want to let go. I felt so grateful for being at my little brother’s birth. I was 19, and when Mum had first told me she was pregnant, it was a shock. I already had two younger brothers, Joe, 16, and Will, 10, and had assumed our family was complete. But as I…

What really went on when married affairs website Ashley Madison was hacked Anthony Macri, 35. In 2015, the world held its breath as infamous cheating site Ashley Madison was hacked and had every user on the website exposed. Ashley Madison’s business model had been simple – a dating site for married people to discreetly have affairs. But when users’ names, addresses and credit card details were publicly released, relationships blew up across the globe. In the wake of the popular Netflix doco about the data leak, Take 5 goes behind the scenes with Anthony Neal Macri, director of digital marketing for Ashley Madison when the hack took place. The year was 2011 and the dot-com bubble was booming. I was unemployed and living in Canada when a job advertisement on…

Cheeseburger meatloaf SERVES 4 PREP 20 MINS COOK 40 MINS 500g pork and veal mince ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs ½ cup caramelised onion chutney 1 egg, whisked 1 red onion, grated ½ cup grated tasty cheese 2 tbsp sesame seeds 2 tbsp hot English mustard 4 hamburger buns, split, toasted ¼ iceberg lettuce, finely shredded 1 tomato, sliced 2 dill pickles, sliced small parsley sprigs, to serve 1 Preheat oven to 200°C. Line an oven tray with baking paper. 2 In a large bowl, combine mince, breadcrumbs, half chutney, egg and onion. Season and mix well. 3 On a piece of baking paper, shape mince mixture into a 15 x 20cm rectangle. Sprinkle cheese and seeds over. Roll into a log shape, sealing well. Place seam-side down on tray.…

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Dad found me a husband at our local pub! Alice James, 32, Melbourne, Vic. Walking arm in arm with my dad, Darren, I was buzzing. We’d just been to see Six The Musical and the show had been a blast. On too much of a high to go straight home after, I suggested a nightcap. “Let’s head to our local,” Dad said. “They’ll have a lovely fire going and it’s near home.” Aged 30, I was back living in Melbourne near my parents after my last relationship had ended. Enjoying a date with Dad that night, I had to admit it had been better than some of the online ones I’d been on over the last 10 months! I’d been documenting my dating journey and some of the disasters I…

My son’s enormous vegetable beat all the records Nicola Law, 36, Balclutha, NZ. In our shed, I laid out four packets of pumpkin seeds on the table. “Take your pick,” I said. Oliver, eight, and Austin, five, took their time before making their selection. My husband Matt and I chose our seeds too, then we planted them in our own seedling pots. It was our family tradition to enter the South Otago A&P Society’s annual pumpkin competition, and I’d bought the seeds from them. We also had our own contest between the four of us to see whose pumpkin would grow the biggest. During the day, we left them out in the sun, and at night we brought them in and placed them on the hearth in the lounge room.…

Sticky caramel walnut scrolls SERVES 8 PREP 20 MINS + PROVING COOK 40 MINS 3 cups bread flour 1 tbsp dried yeast 2 tsp caster sugar 1 tsp salt 1 cup milk 90g butter, melted, plus 100g butter, softened 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped ½ cup brown sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 egg, beaten CARAMEL DRIZZLE ICING ½ cup brown sugar 60g butter 2 tbsp milk 1 cup pure icing sugar, sifted 1 In a bowl, using electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add milk and butter. Knead on low 8-10 mins until dough is smooth and elastic. 2 Transfer to a lightly greased bowl and set aside, covered, 45 mins until doubled in size. 3 Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease…

LEO July 24–Aug 23 Mercury has been retrograde in your sign, so if you’ve been confused about life, that’s why! This cycle ends this week, but before you wish it away think about where you’ve realised you need to do things differently. Start over! ★ Second chances are Mercury retrograde’s gifts. VIRGO Aug 24–Sept 23 If an old fear has resurfaced recently, stay strong. You’re being tested. Sometimes what you fear is something that will never materialise. Go back to spiritual practises like meditation or yoga, if you’ve let them go. ★ Remember to breathe! LIBRA Sept 24–Oct 23 Here comes Venus, the planet of romance and riches, into your sign. Prepare to feel better, more gorgeous and perhaps even a little more abundant as Venus moves through Libra. Love…

Despite her scary battle, we wanted our girl to enjoy being a kid Rebecca Seigel, 32, St Clair, NSW. I sat in our living room watching my two-year-old daughter twirl around to The Wiggles. “Watch me, watch me,” Maddie commanded her siblings, Zayden, 10, and Kylah, six. “My sassy little girl!” I laughed. Maddie loved attention, noisily playing Barbies, cooking in her toy kitchen and being bossy in general. But in June 2019, her sparkle began to dim. For a week, she’d been suffering from flu-like symptoms. She was tired and lethargic and had developed a strange bruising around her eye. When it wasn’t improving I took her to three different GPs, who all suspected it was a virus and gave her antibiotics. But I was sure it was something…

Teriyaki chicken nori rolls SERVES 4 (MAKES 8) PREP 25 MINS + COOLING 2 x 250g packets microwave long grain white rice, heated (see tip) 2 tsp rice vinegar 1 tsp caster sugar 1 cup shredded cooked skinless chicken 2 tsp teriyaki sauce 4 sheets toasted nori 4 butter lettuce leaves, torn ½ red capsicum, thinly sliced 1 cucumber, seeded, cut into matchsticks 2 tbsp salt-reduced soy sauce 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce 1 Place rice in a large bowl. Add the vinegar and sugar; stir to combine. Cool. 2 Combine chicken and teriyaki sauce in a bowl. For each roll, place a nori sheet, shiny-side down, on a bamboo mat, with shortest edge facing you. Using damp fingers, gently press a quarter of the rice over nori sheet, leaving…

Losing my limb made everything better Ainsley Hooker, 37, Giru, Qld. Gripping the rope, I swung across the puddle on the obstacle course. Aged 20, I was in my first year of training for the Australian Army. But landing awkwardly, I felt a deep pain in my right ankle. That was bad, I winced. I quickly tightened my boot laces and continued. Afterwards, I showed a nurse my ankle, which was now red and swollen. “It’s a bad sprain,” she said. “Stick it in some ice.” Once the swelling subsided, I was given an ankle brace and continued training. Whenever I attempted to ditch the brace, my ankle was in agony, so I kept wearing it. “It’ll heal eventually,” the medics assured me. Over two years later, I was transferred…