What's Hot

IN A STEW: As the winter nights draw in, it's time to cook something wholesome and warming to keep you healthy through the dark months. Casseroles have not been trendy since 1970 when it was the hip thing to invite your friends round to join you for coq au vin, but that is all about to change. Stews are the latest must-eat meal - much better than munching on a lettuce leaf or nibbling on some well-presented but unfulfilling cuisine. With a casserole you get all the nutrients and major foods groups you need and you won't leave the table still hungry. From traditional hot pot to more luxurious Moroccan tagines and Thai fish curry, there's no end to what you can cook up in a casserole dish.

And the best thing about stews is they're easy to prepare; just stick everything in the pot, bang it in the oven and wait. A perfect antidote to the winter blues.

SECRET HIDING PLACE: Etam has got a new range of bras that are perfect if you don't want to take a coat on a night out or be stuck dancing around your bulging handbag. The bras have a small pocket on either side where you can keep money, phone numbers or even your keys if you are feeling brave. The idea for pockets in underwear started in the 1990s when someone came up with the idea of making safe sex fashionable by giving women an easy place to keep condoms. But now there's no limit to what you can put in these bras as they have double, deeper pockets.Unlike most functional underwear, these bras actually look fantastic too, so you don't have to sacrifice sexiness for practicality. A must for the party season.

STATUS SYMBOLS: No doubt this Christmas all the old board games will be fished out of the attic and dusted down for their annual outing.

And if you want to impress your family or visitors with a chic version of an old classic, there is a new look for Monopoly. Forget the battered old boot, top hat and car, a new set of solid silver, gold and platinum counters have been created for those who take their board games very seriously. To make them even more special the counters have been redesigned so you can play the game with your very own miniature designer slip-on shoe, a trendy Frank Sinatra trilby or Prada-style handbag. The pieces are pure indulgence and with prices staring at £30 each, few people will be able to buy the whole set but if you want to look flash and money is no object log onto zontal.co.uk to find out more.

What's Not

BOYS WILL BE BOYS: It seems boys will be boys even when they are gorgeous Hollywood heart-throbs. Brad Pitt and George Clooney have been working on a new movie together which will no doubt have women queuing up to get an eyeful of the two hunks. But during the filming of Ocean's 11, the pair showed themselves up as real lads rather than ladies' men. According to scriptwriter Red Griffin, during a flight aboard a jet at 30,000ft the two stars had a competition to see who could create the biggest stink! Brad won the rather unsavoury competition and the pair then allegedly spent the rest of the filming time with fellow heartthrob Matt Damon experimenting to find a lethal cocktail of drinks that wouldn't give them a hangover. No doubt men across the world will be glad that behind the chiselled jaws and perfect smiles, Hollywood men are just human but the revelation of normality will come as a bitter blow to all us women who have dreamt of being whisked away from everyday life by a star.

BANNED SHOTS: Jennifer Aniston has taken it upon herself to ban any pictures showing her with the Rachel haircut that made her famous. Obviously tired of being seen as a walking hair-do, Jenn has also banned profile shots being used in magazines and any pictures that show her smiling. Everyone would love the chance to edit their family album and throw out the embarrassing shots but Mrs Brad Pitt seems to have taken it to extremes. She has one of the most blessed lives on the planet so what has she got against smiling and could anyone that beautiful really look terrible in profile? Jennifer isn't a bad actress but it is her looks that have given her star status. She should stick to what she's best at and stop wanting to be taken so seriously.

WHAT A CHEEK: Talk about spoiling all our fun. The people in the know at Madame Tussauds have decided to put underpants on their kilted model of Samuel L Jackson to stop him being groped! The star's dummy has been reclothed in tartan to coincide with the launch of his new film 51st State, in which his character parades around in a kilt. The museum was given the outfit without pants by the film company because Samuel didn't wear them during shooting, but it was decided the sight of the hunk with no underwear would prove too much for female visitors. So if you get close enough to the model and really want to feel under his kilt, you'll find some Armani boxers, which is bound to be a bitter disappoint to women all over the country. But at least you get to see Samuel's legs which will be covered up again in the New Year when his model is returned to his normal suited look