Life & style

The best places to buy Christmas trees in Glasgow and Edinburgh

Real Christmas trees, fake trees, wreaths, firewood and flowers

Caring Christmas Trees has outlets for their sustainably-farmed Nordmann Firs in various locations around the country, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Musselburgh, Paisley, Livingston and Fife. The ‘caring’ part of the title comes from…

Streetsmart's annual campaign urges restaurant diners to help feed the homeless

£1 added to restaurant bills over Christmas raises money for local charities

The List is pleased once again to be lending its support to Streetsmart Scotland, the initiative which encourages restaurant diners to add a voluntary £1 donation to their restaurant bills over December in aid of local homeless charities. Now in its…

The best takeaway food in Glasgow

We review the take away and home delivery meal options in Glasgow

We called it the Big Takeaway but it was a big ask: 100 meals from over 50 takeaways in Glasgow and Edinburgh in just two sittings. Fortunately the reviewers from our Eating & Drinking Guide team were on hand and up for a challenge. This is the verdict…

The best takeaway food in Edinburgh

We review the take away and home delivery meal options in Edinburgh

We called it the Big Takeaway but it was a big ask: 100 meals from over 50 takeaways in Glasgow and Edinburgh in just two sittings. Fortunately the reviewers from our Eating & Drinking Guide team were on hand and up for a challenge. This is the verdict…

Festive Food - Griottines Clafoutis

The L'escargot Blanc owner shares his recipe for an ideal festive dessert

Ingredients 50ml milk 2 vanilla pods 3 eggs 80g caster sugar 30g crème fraîche 50g Maizena 100g ground almonds 50g melted butter 6-10 griottines (cherries) 50g flour pinch of salt Preparation ‘Split the vanilla pods in two. Bring the milk…

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PS3/Xbox 360/PC)

Criterion's solid, engrossing racer combines panache and technical bravado

It’s over a decade since British developer Criterion made their mark with Burnout, a technically solid but otherwise unremarkable racer on PS2. Over the course of four sequels the series increasingly fused combat into the mix as aggressive driving was…

Festive Food - Roast venison loin with a juniper berry sauce

The executive head chef at the Gleneagles Hotel shares his Christmas dinner recipe

Roast venison loin with a juniper berry sauce (serves 10) For the venison: 1.5kg venison loin, to be fully trimmed 10 juniper berries 30ml extra virgin olive oil or extra virgin rapeseed oil seasoning 30g butter For the sauce: 4 shallots…

Five great Christmas markets in Edinburgh and Glasgow

The Lighthouse, Summerhall, Hillhead Book Club and more host festive markets this winter

Design Supermarkets A city centre market, upstairs at The Lighthouse. These two events will feature a range of sellers from the worlds of art, design and fashion, giving you two December dates to make a dent in your Christmas shopping list. The…

The Skylark's Nina Taris recommends some festive winter warmers

Recipes for a sparkling Elderflower spritzer and whisky-heavy Athol Brose included

Elderflower spritzer 80ml elderflower cordial Champagne (or sparkling wine) Perrier Ice ‘Pour the cordial with a couple of ice cubes into a glass. Add Champagne (or sparkling wine) and top up with ice cold Perrier. Et voila!’ Athol Brose A…

Spotlight: Starter for 6 - MakeThatMove

Starter for 6 is an enterprise training programme run by Cultural Enterprise Office

MakeThatMove is a dance video platform that allow dancers, choreographers or simply dance video owners to upload and share their video clips for free. This platform is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android Smartphone and Tablet.

Review: Wii U - Playtest of new Nintendo gaming console

New touch screen gamepad console is sophisticated and fun but no game changer

In recent years Nintendo has avoided the techno wars by taking a sidestep into imagination rather than battle for technical supremacy. While Microsoft and Sony have launched ever more powerful gaming consoles Nintendo have given us the Wii and 3DS.

Hogmanay holidays in Scotland

New Year breaks and getaways in Perthshire, The Borders and Dumfries & Galloway

If you’re looking to escape the Hogmanay street parties or simply get away over the winter break, Scotland has opportunities galore. Whether you want to bring in the New Year in a West Coast castle or snuggle up in a Perthshire log cabin, Scotland is…

Museum Explorer iPhone App

A fun, interactive way for kids to engage with the National Museum of Scotland

Scooshing round the Museum of Scotland is a major weapon in the armoury of any Edinburgh-based parent. It’s indoors, fascinating, huge and diverse. What, possibly, could make it better? 'Museum Explorer', a new free smart-phone app published by the…

Emerging fashion designers from Scotland

Tessa Hartmann, Bebaroque, William Chambers, Euan McWhirter, Common People and Rebecca Torres

Tessa Hartmann. Founder of the globally recognised Scottish Fashion Awards and newly announced WGSN (Worth Global Style Network), Hartmann truly deserves a mention on this list. She judge has worked tirelessly over the past decade to give Scottish…

Batman: Arkham City leads Golden Joystick Awards 2012 winners

Batman, Civilization V, Angry Birds Space and Minecraft among award winners

Batman, Civilization V and Angry Birds Space were among the award winners at the 2012 Golden Joystick Awards, held earlier today. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the UK’s Golden Joystick awards, with the winners of that inaugural year including…

Essential autumn fashion purchases

Orkney-based knitwear designer Hilary Grant shares her fantasy autumn shopping list

1. Hello Jenuine’s notebooks are as beautiful as they are functional. The illustrated covers are screenprinted and hand bound. etsy.com/shop/hellojenuine, £7 2. Ally Capellino bags and leathergoods are produced in London and with responsible…

Hallowe'en pumpkin gallery

We asked some local creative types to carve up some Hallowe'en pumpkins - here are the results

Sophie Cooke, writer and journalist We think Sophie may have been watching Village of the Damned before she started on this work of art. We’re still having nightmares. Lari Don, children’s author Lari was inspired by a character in her latest…

The List's Big Takeaway 2012

Tell us your suggestions and win a chance to get involved in our massive takeaway project

Later this month, The List is going to order a takeaway. Not just one, but 100: 50 in Glasgow and 50 in Edinburgh. All will be delivered to the same venue on the same evening, at which The List's Eating & Drinking Guide team will be ready and waiting to…

Dundee's NEoN Digital Arts festival develops movement theme for 2012

Among the artists exhibiting are Jaygo Bloom, Peter William Holden, Matthew Collings and Erik Parr

Four years ago, NEoN (North East of North) was launched by Interactive Tayside – a body created in partnership between the public, private and academic sectors in the city of Dundee – to promote the region’s activity in the field of digital media.

Forget the groan-worthy name, Thairiffic's food is worth shouting about

New Thai restaurants in Glasgow are like buses. You wait ages for one to come along then two turn up. So it is with Chaophraya arriving in Nelson Mandela Place in early summer, closely followed by Thairiffic in Sauchiehall Street. And, just as with…

Top five: Scariest video games of all time

Featuring Doom 3, Silent Hill 2, Dead Space and Thief: Deadly Shadows

5. Doom 3 (2004) The original Doom (1993) popularised the first person shooter, now the single most successful game genre, currently dominated by the ever-decreasing Call of Duty series. Developer id went back to Mars a decade later and remade their…

Tasting Scotland - a food tour around Fife

East Neuks and Crannies

What’s next after you’ve dined out, eaten in and shopped local? Hannah Ewan became a food tourist for a day in Fife with Tasting Scotland

Distant Worlds aims to bring the music of the Final Fantasy video games to Edinburgh's Playhouse

Strings stir, cymbals clash as before us an epic battle unfolds as good once again fights the forces of evil. This isn’t an opera or a big budget movie but a scene from Final Fantasy, one of the longest running and most respected RPG videogame series.

Create:Eat puts a creative spin on the communal dining experience

Two years ago, Aoife Behan was into organising home supper clubs, sporadic events where keen cooks turned their homes into restaurants for the night. It was the hot new dining trend in town for a while but Behan quickly understood that while there was a…

Andrew and Lisa Radford's new venture Timberyard showcases their singular vision

Discovered by Andrew and Lisa Radford after they’d drawn breath from the closure of Atrium and Blue in early 2011, the old Lawson’s timber store near the art college has been coaxed from dusty obscurity in the past few months. An intriguing warehouse…