Base

A good base ensures every soup starts well. Begin with a medium onion and chop in a few basic vegetables to give a rounded flavour. A combination of one carrot, one stick of celery and one leek works well. Sweat these off with a knob of butter: that means heating the butter, dropping in the chopped vegetables, stirring to coat and putting the lid back on. Cook, with the occasional stir for 15 - 20 minutes to soften them.

Spice it up

A pinch of spice can work wonders in most soups. Cumin is a great all rounder, giving an earthy taste to pretty much most soups. For a Thai flavour, add fresh garlic and ginger and ground coriander. For Indian, add a pinch of cumin, turmeric, fenugreek or garam masala. Tomato soups can take on a Mexican or Spanish feel with a pinch of sweet smoked paprika. Don't be shy to combine your spices, if you add somewhere between a pinch and a teaspoon, they won't take over but will give you a depth of flavour.

Probably the most efficient Costa I've ever been in. Fast and friendly. Usual good quality food. Hot tuna panini and lovely almond and raspberry slice.

Standard with awesome cappuccino and blueberry cup cake, stretch your legs or take a take away on a sunny day and stretch your legs outside sipping the rich coffee.

Visited on Saturday 30th Jan. Very small for a Costa Coffee, lots of people having to wait for a table because so many tables taken up by people with empty takeaway cups playing on their laptops. I'm not sure if takeaway cofee is cheaper but I noticed that most people were drinking from them and sitting inside. Even the manager was serving coffee to people sitting down with 'takeaway' coffee.

I actually like costa more than most other coffee places - but I was really disappointed with this one - so much so that I had to write a review. I went to visit this branch christmas eve - when i arrived It wasn't closing time, probably just under 5 minutes to official closing time, and I wanted to get a quick coffee to go. The assistant by the door allowed the last few people out of the store, then began to lock up even though she saw me coming through the door way. Out of courtesy I asked if they were closed (at this point I hadn't looked at my watch) and she said "yep yep, sorry. no sorry you can't we are closed" and ushered me out. I felt a bit silly, because the other staff looked ready to serve me. I was annoyed by the time I walked out, I then checked my watch and realised it actually wasn't their closing time. My boyfriend could see that the other staff were asking her - why did she do that? By this time I was already annoyed and tired. It's a shame really because she didn't have to do that at all.

Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do, so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets?
You'll never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow

Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play
Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid
And all that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars break the mold

It's a cool place and they say it gets colder
You're bundled up now, wait till you get older
But the meteor men beg to differ
Judging by the hole in the satellite picture
The ice we skate is getting pretty thin
The water's getting warm so you might as well swim
My world's on fire, how about yours?
That's the way I like it and I never get bored

Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play
Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid
All that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars break the mold

Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play
Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show, on get paid
And all that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars

Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas?
I need to get myself away from this place
I said yep what a concept
I could use a little fuel myself
And we could all use a little change

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do, so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets?
You'll never know if you don't go (go!)
You'll never shine if you don't glow

Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play
Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid
And all that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars break the mold

And all that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars break the mold

“Don’t go to a white girl’s parents’ house!” warns LilRey Howery’s lovable transport security administration officer Rod, conspiracy theorist and best friend to handsome, intelligent Chris (versatile British actor Daniel Kaluuya). “Do they know I’m black?” Chris asks his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), as the couple prepare for a “meet the folks” weekend in her rural family home. “Should they?” she replies, assuring Chris that her neurosurgeon father would have voted for Obama a third time if he could, a claim he duly repeats on cue. “I hate the way it looks,” blushes patriarch Dean (Bradley Whitford), showing Chris around the Armitage estate (“white family, black servants, total cliche”), where groundsman Walter (Marcus Henderson) and housekeeper Georgina (Betty Gabriel) smile like supporting players in Gone With the Wind. Meanwhile Rose’s mum, Missy (a superbly nuanced turn from Catherine Keener), promises to cure Chris of his smoking habit through a single bout of hypnotherapy, triggered by the chiming of a spoon in a teacup.

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 Get Out: trailer for Jordan Peele’s comedy horror

A pre-credits sequence on an upmarket suburban street sees Lakeith Stanfield (who first made his mark in the terrific Short Term 12) being jumped to the bizarrely sinister strains of Flanagan and Allen’s Run, Rabbit, Run. Shortly thereafter, Chris finds himself staring into the eyes of a dying deer, an eerie pre-echo of the antlered head that looks down on him from the wall of the Armitages’ games room. There’s a touch of the trophy about keen-eyed photographer Chris, too, as Rose’s extended family prod, probe and patronise him (“I do know Tiger,” insists one ageing golfer), crooning that “fair skin has been in favour for years, but now the pendulum has swung back – black is in fashion!” Gradually, inexorably, the cringe-inducing “gliberal” awkwardness turns to something more sinister, as rooms are hushed in conspiratorial whispers, cellars are locked against creeping “black mould”, and a game of family bingo climaxes in a silent shriek.

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Sharply written by Peele (who teamed up with Keegan-Michael Key, his co-star in hit US sketch series Key & Peele, for last year’s patchy feline action spoof Keanu), Get Out is at its best when hinting at horrors hidden beneath the genteel facade. From the toe-curling “my man!” chumminess of Dean to the blank stares of the domestic staff and the barely suppressed violence of Rose’s “douche bag” brother Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones), the Armitage home leaves us unsure whether to laugh, cry or scream. A night-time sequence, in which Walter runs out of the darkness towards Chris, has the same sense of American gothic dread as David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows, while the humour vacillates between the broader strokes of Rusty Cundieff’s underrated Tales from the Hood and the insidious cruelty of Lars von Trier’s Manderlay.

Inevitably, the thematic rewards lessen somewhat as suspense turns to revelation, but Peele knows how to orchestrate an arresting set piece, and doesn’t skimp on cathartic spectacle in the third act. There’s a crowd-pleasing logic at work here even as credibility wobbles (an issue with which Levin wrestled repeatedly), and you’ll be too busy digging your nails into the arms of your seat to worry about distracting implausibilities. Crucially, the ensemble cast keep the energy levels high enough to prevent disengagement – to stop us from snapping out of the film’s hypnotic spell.

“It’s such a privilege to be able to experience another person’s culture,” coos Dean, showing off the multicultural trinkets of his travels, flaunting his ethno-friendly credentials. As for the film’s title, it can be read as either a threat or a warning, a duality emphasised by Michael Abels’s rich and deceptively complex score. From creaks and whispers to crashes and bangs, the soundtrack guides us through this strange creepy-comic land. The next time you hear a silver spoon on bone china, you’ll want to run for the hills.

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to support it, our future would be much more secure.

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“Don’t go to a white girl’s parents’ house!” warns LilRey Howery’s lovable transport security administration officer Rod, conspiracy theorist and best friend to handsome, intelligent Chris (versatile British actor Daniel Kaluuya). “Do they know I’m black?” Chris asks his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), as the couple prepare for a “meet the folks” weekend in her rural family home. “Should they?” she replies, assuring Chris that her neurosurgeon father would have voted for Obama a third time if he could, a claim he duly repeats on cue. “I hate the way it looks,” blushes patriarch Dean (Bradley Whitford), showing Chris around the Armitage estate (“white family, black servants, total cliche”), where groundsman Walter (Marcus Henderson) and housekeeper Georgina (Betty Gabriel) smile like supporting players in Gone With the Wind. Meanwhile Rose’s mum, Missy (a superbly nuanced turn from Catherine Keener), promises to cure Chris of his smoking habit through a single bout of hypnotherapy, triggered by the chiming of a spoon in a teacup.

Play Video

Play

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration Time2:34

Loaded: 0%

Progress: 0%

Fullscreen

Mute

 Get Out: trailer for Jordan Peele’s comedy horror

A pre-credits sequence on an upmarket suburban street sees Lakeith Stanfield (who first made his mark in the terrific Short Term 12) being jumped to the bizarrely sinister strains of Flanagan and Allen’s Run, Rabbit, Run. Shortly thereafter, Chris finds himself staring into the eyes of a dying deer, an eerie pre-echo of the antlered head that looks down on him from the wall of the Armitages’ games room. There’s a touch of the trophy about keen-eyed photographer Chris, too, as Rose’s extended family prod, probe and patronise him (“I do know Tiger,” insists one ageing golfer), crooning that “fair skin has been in favour for years, but now the pendulum has swung back – black is in fashion!” Gradually, inexorably, the cringe-inducing “gliberal” awkwardness turns to something more sinister, as rooms are hushed in conspiratorial whispers, cellars are locked against creeping “black mould”, and a game of family bingo climaxes in a silent shriek.

Advertisement

Sharply written by Peele (who teamed up with Keegan-Michael Key, his co-star in hit US sketch series Key & Peele, for last year’s patchy feline action spoof Keanu), Get Out is at its best when hinting at horrors hidden beneath the genteel facade. From the toe-curling “my man!” chumminess of Dean to the blank stares of the domestic staff and the barely suppressed violence of Rose’s “douche bag” brother Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones), the Armitage home leaves us unsure whether to laugh, cry or scream. A night-time sequence, in which Walter runs out of the darkness towards Chris, has the same sense of American gothic dread as David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows, while the humour vacillates between the broader strokes of Rusty Cundieff’s underrated Tales from the Hood and the insidious cruelty of Lars von Trier’s Manderlay.

Inevitably, the thematic rewards lessen somewhat as suspense turns to revelation, but Peele knows how to orchestrate an arresting set piece, and doesn’t skimp on cathartic spectacle in the third act. There’s a crowd-pleasing logic at work here even as credibility wobbles (an issue with which Levin wrestled repeatedly), and you’ll be too busy digging your nails into the arms of your seat to worry about distracting implausibilities. Crucially, the ensemble cast keep the energy levels high enough to prevent disengagement – to stop us from snapping out of the film’s hypnotic spell.

“It’s such a privilege to be able to experience another person’s culture,” coos Dean, showing off the multicultural trinkets of his travels, flaunting his ethno-friendly credentials. As for the film’s title, it can be read as either a threat or a warning, a duality emphasised by Michael Abels’s rich and deceptively complex score. From creaks and whispers to crashes and bangs, the soundtrack guides us through this strange creepy-comic land. The next time you hear a silver spoon on bone china, you’ll want to run for the hills.

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to support it, our future would be much more secure.

Topics