Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2025 i Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The concert [with John Lennon joining Elton John on stage] was set for Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving – November 28, 1974. Yoko contemplated attending. She was hesitant but decided to go to see how John was doing. “Everyone was telling me how worried they were about him, so I thought maybe I should go.” She didn’t tell John and requested a seat where John wouldn’t see her from the stage. Before the concert, she sent gardenias but didn’t say she’d be there. “If I’d known she was there I’d have been too nervous to go on,” John said. “I would have been terrified.” In the middle of his set, Elton brought out John. “In my whole career, I’ve honestly never heard a crowd make a noise like the one…

We will never know, most of us, what we are really made of. If we are fortunate, we will never be tested. We will never know what we would do to survive. When something terrible or tragic happens you find your inner resources. Some people, like the Greste family, find fortitude and purpose. Retirees Lois and Juris Greste had no idea that they were campaigners. Or that they could front the media day after day. What they would be capable of if one of their three sons – Peter, Andrew and Michael – were in trouble. At Christmas 2013, they had just moved into a townhouse in Brisbane and were breathing in the tranquillity of their hobby farm in the Laidley valley. Juris and his boys had built the timber…

Dream ON Midnight makeover If crepey skin is giving you grief, pop on Boost Lab Fine Line Rewind Silicone Patches for Neck and Décolletage, $44.95. The reusable patches, which are designed to be worn overnight, work to smooth fine lines, wrinkles and neck creases while you snooze. POWERFUL DUO Say goodbye to dark spots with Elizabeth Arden’s two innovative new launches. Visible Brightening Clearly Radiant Spot Correcting Capsules, $180, and Visible Brightening Clearly Radiant Bounce Cream, $140, harness advanced technology and potent brightening ingredients to visibly diminish hyperpigmentation, correct and hydrate for the ultimate glow. Luxe TO LESS Peptide serums Tackling multiple issues in one bottle, peptides help to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, and improve texture for smoother and firmer-looking skin. Allies of Skin Copper…

Test Kitchen tip For an extra salty kick, add 3 or 4 finely chopped anchovies when adding the garlic. PHOTOCHEF CLARE MAGUIRE. RECIPES JESSICA BROOK. One pan creamy lemon chicken SERVES 4 PREP + COOK TIME 30 MINUTES 1 teaspoon smoked paprika powder 2 tablespoons plain flour 4 chicken breast fillets 40g butter 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly 3⁄4 (180ml) cup chicken stock 300ml thickened cream 150g green beans, trimmed 120g baby spinach leaves 1⁄2 cup (40g) finely grated parmesan, plus extra to serve 1⁄4 cup (60ml) lemon juice 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind 1 Combine smoked paprika and flour in a shallow bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken breasts and dust well to coat. 2 Heat butter and oil in…

Turkish delight pav SERVES 8–10 In each of my books, meringue exists in some form as a nod to my grandmother. She taught me to cook long before I had any inkling of the hold it would have over my life, and the smell of whisked egg whites and sugar is enough to take me out at the knees. I honour her in every book and every meringue. I adore the wild entanglements of Turkish delight running through the peaks and troughs of this meringue. It gives it both whimsy and a sense of occasion. TURKISH DELIGHT SYRUP (MAKES ABOUT ¾ CUP) 170g Turkish delight 250ml (1 cup) water PAVLOVA 8 egg whites at room temperature 450g caster sugar 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste TO TOP…

Entryways provide the important first impression of your home, a glimpse into the world you’ve created. A welcoming entry should greet people, enveloping them warmly into the household. They’re also practical spaces, where keys, shoes and bags are often kept. Victoria Bibby, from Napier interior design firm Bibby + Brady, says decluttering is the first step to a stylish yet functional space. “Arriving home to clutter and mess won’t put you in a good frame of mind, so start by tidying and finding solutions for everyday items that end up in your entrance.” She recommends clearing a space in the hall cupboard or laundry for shoes, bags and other items that often end up lurking near the front door. Smoke and mirrors Mirrors combine aesthetics and functionality in the homeware…

What does inspiration look like for you? A spiderweb in the wind – if you’re not quick, it will float away. Is it more important to be liked or respected? I’m a people pleaser – I LOVE to be liked. What is the meaning of life? Joy. What lesson has been the hardest to learn? You can’t avoid pain forever. Can you keep a secret? No. Don’t tell me tea. I will spill it. What life-changing event have you experienced? Marching at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. When did you last cry? Yesterday. I love crying. I’m an actor. I cry for fun. Must-have handbag item? Crumbs, it would seem. Always need handbag crumbs. How do you stay motivated? My mortgage interest rates. What is your why? I’ve been handed this…

Red CARPET Spotted at the premiere Naomi Watts wore spots to match her co-star, Bing the Great Dane, for the New York premiere of her new film The Friend. “One of us has got to change!” she wrote on photos of her posing with her co-star. Also starring Bill Murray, The Friend is based on the 2018 bestselling Sigrid Nunez novel of the same name. Bing’s handlers said he was “pawsitively excited” about the film. Royal NEWS Princes on patrol “A memorable two days!” Prince William said after training with the Mercian Regiment in Estonia. In Denmark, Prince Christian has been serving as a military officer in the town of Slagelse. It’s tradition for members of the Royal House to serve in the armed forces. Mediterranean monk seals once on…

As the Duchess of Sussex returned to Netflix earlier this year, cooking and entertaining in her series, With Love, Meghan, another duchess was planning a low-key approach to a milestone in the less glossy surrounds of Surrey. The Duchess of Edinburgh turned 60 on January 20, a birthday she spent “privately” at Bagshot Park, the home she shares with Prince Edward, her husband of more than 25 years, and their three dogs: A cocker spaniel called Mole, and two black labradors, Teal and Teasel. Their children, Lady Louise Windsor, 21, and James, Earl of Wessex, 17, sent birthday wishes – she from St Andrews University, where she is in her third year studying English, and he from boarding school in Oxfordshire, where he is studying for A-levels next summer. Beyond…

Want to know how to age well? Jenny Pattrick is doing it better than anyone I know. At 88, she has just published her 11th novel, Sea Change. The previous 10 were all bestsellers, following her first blockbuster, an historical tale, The Denniston Rose, back in 2002, when she began her writing career in her sixties. Cheerfully ignoring what she calls her “creaky knees”, she’s still intent on pushing through and weeding the garden of her hillside villa in Wellington’s Northland. “It’s good to go out for a potter, good for the soul.” She’s lived there for 50 years and isn’t planning on leaving any time soon. In fact, she’s recently welcomed a flat mate. “My grandson Will. He’s not boarding with me – we’re flatmates,” she insists. She’s created…

Ann Jarvis was dynamic, opinionated and generous – a woman of passion and principle who lived through the troubled times of the American Civil War. She was also the woman who inspired Mother’s Day. Ann was a mother of 13, though she lost nine children to disease, rampant during the war. In spite of that heartbreak, she devoted her life to good works, largely around educating women and honouring the work of mothers. In 1858, while pregnant with her sixth child, Ann founded Mothers’ Day Work Clubs all through West Virginia to bring women together and combat soaring infant and child mortality rates. When war broke out, the clubs turned their attention to nursing and feeding wounded soldiers, and at her insistence, did not differentiate between Confederate and Union men.…

For many, when our doctor warns that our cholesterol is on the higher side, we half-heartedly promise to cut down on dessert and go easy on the bacon. However, it usually slips down our priority list, becoming a humorous point of contention when our partner gives us a knowing look as we reach for the ice-cream after dinner. While we try to adopt healthier habits to lower cholesterol levels, the fact it has no noticeable symptoms makes it easier to ignore. Even when your cholesterol is high, you can feel perfectly fine, leading to a perception that it isn’t a significant health concern – that is, until a major event like a heart attack happens. “Cholesterol that’s marginally over the upper limit might not seem like a big deal, but…

Sticky aubergine noodles SERVES 1 HANDS ON 7 MINUTES COOK 20 MINUTES 1 DRAWER 1 aubergine (eggplant) (250g) 1 clove of garlic 1 pak choi 1 tbsp unsalted roasted peanuts 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce 150g straight-to-wok thick udon noodles 4 spring onions ½ a fresh red chilli ½ a little gem lettuce 2 sprigs of mint or coriander 1 tbsp crunchy peanut & sesame chilli oil 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 Slice the aubergine lengthways 1cm thick, then into long 1cm-wide strips. Remove the air-fryer shelf, scatter the aubergine into the drawer and cook for 15 minutes at 200ºC, shaking halfway. 2 Peel and finely slice the garlic. Quarter the pak choi lengthways. When the time’s up, pull out the drawer, scatter in the garlic and peanuts, spoon over…

“A dozen or so gondolas roped together for the night are bobbing boisterously.” It’s a drizzly winter Monday night in Venice and it feels good to be alive. The bracing wind gusts have whisked away our jetlag, we’re chilling under the umbrellas of a quiet wharfside cafe enjoying the scenery while being serenaded by a 10,000-strong male choir. In front of us, a dozen or so gondolas roped together for the night are bobbing boisterously on the agitated waters of the lagoon, like over-exuberant chorus members in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers dancing “a cachucha, fandango, bolero” having drunk too much Xeres, Manzanilla, Montero because “wine, when it runs in abundance, enhances the reckless delight of that wildest of dances”. We’ve been on the go for 30 hours, flying or…

Aix-en-Provence, France, July 1944 I hear their boots first. Ack-ack-ack, like machine guns firing in the stairwell. Then the roar: “Gestapo! Aufmachen!” That’s when I remember – I forgot to lock the door. I’ve run so often these past four years that I think I can make it; that if I fling the bolt into place, I’ll have time to escape out the back. And I do make it. The bolt is in my hands, but the door is bulging from the force of the bodies trying to break in, and my fingers are hysterical with adrenaline and can’t make the lock catch. The wood cracks. The door shudders. It flies open. Two dozen Nazis burst in. This is the moment everyone in London warned me was coming. Capture. Torture.…

I am a data-driven person, and nothing about what I was going through was factual, rational or had any set path. No data points could be allocated, and no goals could be set to strive for. But I realised in the first couple of weeks that numbers meant the future for me – they represented progress, goals that I didn’t need to strive for because the universe inevitably pulled me forward, and small notches that got me further away from the impact zone. First, I needed to survive a period of time. I needed to get to Sunday, the day after Jock’s funeral. I had naively thought it would mean that no more decisions needed to be made and that the phone would stop, but that wasn’t to be. I…

A huge portrait of Carla Zampatti is on the wall behind a grand piano. Painted by Swedish-Australian artist Danelle Bergstrom in 2009, it is almost life-size, highlighting Carla’s unflappable gaze and impeccable style. She is also pictured from the back, full-length, almost as if reflected in a mirror. Carla’s three children – Alex Schuman, Allegra Spender and Bianca Spender – are arranging themselves at that piano as they pose for The Weekly’s photographer. And the subtext of the set-up isn’t lost on Bianca – that Carla’s presence continues to loom large in all of their lives. “It’s not a subconscious presence right now,” she says with a laugh. “It’s a very physical presence.” “It’s got a good sense of her, actually,” says Allegra of the painting, adding that Bianca had…

HAIR AND MAKE-UP BY NICOLA JOHNSON USING HOLME BEAUTY AND ORIBE. MODEL: ROBYN KEMP @ SCOOP MANAGEMENT.…

I didn’t know quite what to expect but it wasn’t exactly this: Reclined on a couch, tucked beneath a fluffy blanket, I’m visualising myself in a place that fills me with joy. It’s not that I was expecting clock swinging or party tricks but this feels more like I’m drifting off for a power nap in the presence of a stranger – a little awkward at first but, as I listen to her voice and focus on the details of my daydream, I get swept up in the moment in much the same way I might get lost in a good book or film. Essentially, I’m slipping into a flow state, which is really an induction process that serves a specific purpose: To silence the conscious, thinking mind – the…

Our family loved going to Nark's for her delicious stroganoff. My earliest memory of eating stroganoff was at Nan’s house. I think it was probably memorable because Nan wasn’t known for her experimentation with spices, or exotic cuisines, so I think my young tastebuds would have been quite surprised by the flavours of paprika and sour cream. I am not even sure if, at that early point in my life, I would have eaten too many mushrooms either. All I know is I was enamoured with it. My boys have always loved it as well and it became part of the dinner rotation in our house. Beef is the traditional meat for this, but my chicken version makes it even more economical and I reckon just as tasty. It’s quick,…

From their home for all seasons in the Byron hinterland, Maggie Dylan and Julian Kelly have had a profound impact on Byron Bay’s café culture. “We have lived in a beautiful barn in Coorabell for about four years, which we found by chance in the local paper,” explains Maggie. “It’s been a special place for us and its walls are filled with many memories. We cook here, play music here, read and riff on all things art, business, love and life. We feel very lucky. Our landlords are amazing, and the property is a bit of a mix of wild beauty and considered design. We live together with Cohen our dog and his cat brother Len.” Their space embraces the duo’s artistic nature, and provides a backdrop for gardening, cooking…

One of a KIND Mother Tongue by Naima Brown, Pan Macmillan The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposes that the language we speak influences and shapes our perception of reality. This theory is at the heart of Mother Tongue, a daring new novel by American-born, Australian-based author Naima Brown. The premise: Brynn, a suburban mother, wakes up from a coma with the ability to speak fluent French. She seizes the opportunity to leave Midwestern America and start a new life in Paris, leaving behind her MAGA-voting husband and fiveyear-old daughter, Jenny. If you recoiled in shock and horror at the thought of a mother abandoning her young daughter, you’re not alone. That was my initial reaction too, but as I dove deeper into Brynn’s story, I started to understand and empathise with her…

Taurus Apr 22 -May 21 This month’s best birthday present to yourself? The practical magic of taking “you time” every day, even a few minutes. To ditch devices, step out of routine obligations and tap into deep inner calm. During the middle two weeks of May, the sun, executive Mercury and innovative Uranus synching up in Taurus could bring a breakthrough in your work or finances if you’re willing to think outside the box and experiment with new methods. Plus, they’re pushing for a wardrobe refresh to start your new astrological year in suitably fine style. Gemini May 22 -Jun 22 May 22 -Jun 22 This month’s energetic upsurge in your sector of social groups – known in traditional astrology as the house of joy – is about networking, Geminis’…