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Taking Time to Live Well
Plant now and spend future Christmases feasting on homegrown walnuts
Did you know a mature walnut tree can produce 50kg of walnuts a year? Plant a grafted tree now and within a few years (yes it does take a while but all good things are worth waiting for, right?) you'll be harvesting your own Christmas crop of these lovely little fellows. Another inspired idea from The Simple Things expert gardener, Christopher Raeburn. Read more in Issue 18 out now..
WHITE STUFF is a fashion company that believes in making a difference and puts ‘happiness in every stitch’ of what it does.
You might think you’ve seen these prints somewhere before. Maybe on that top you love or that dress you wear everywhere? That’s because the White Stuff ‘Made for Change’ bags use up spare fabric from the same rolls used to make their signature clothing range. And that’s not all. Every Made for Change bag raises money for an educational scholarship scheme, supporting workers’ children in India.
Grace is one of the students on the scholarship; watch how the initiative has helped her.
Although schooling in India is free, workers at the factory in Bangalore can spend a high proportion of what they earn on transport to school and supplies. The White Stuff Foundation works with ID Care (their supplier’s charity) to fund scholarships for children from the poorest families. So far more than 330 children have benefited from the scheme.
All of this wonderful stuff from a bit of excess fabric! The bags will be in shops and online at www.whitestuff.com from November; the perfect time for stocking fillers! For a recommended donation of just £3.50 each, you could even use them instead of wrapping paper to make your other pressies look pretty. Don’t you just love it when simple things make sense?
Read more about this and other projects at www.whitestuff.com.
What do slavery, smoking in restaurants and eggs from caged hens all have in common? Answer: all were once commonplace; all were eventually banned; and none of us can quite get our heads round the fact they ever existed in the first place.
One day, says the Soil Association's Peter Melchett, it will be the same for ethical fashion. It too will become — indeed it must become — the norm.
The Simple Things is at People Tree's Rag Rage event in the aptly-named Fashion Street in Spitalfields. It's an evening of discussion and short films intended to keep the need for change at the forefront of the media's minds, six months after the devastating garment factory collapse at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in which 1129 people died and another 2500 were injured.
Melchett's fellow guest speaker Liz Jones is visibly moved as she talks about her own visit to the "hell" of a Dhaka sweatshop. She is vehement that legislation is the answer; the average British woman shopper, she says, is not encouraged to invest in good quality, ethically-made clothes and will not simply yield her right to a £2 T-shirt. It was not always thus, she says ruefully: "I still wear a pair of trousers from 1996," she says. "My mother owned one handbag. Where did this mania for loads of stuff come from?"
People Tree founder Safia Minney, whose ethical fashion brand has grown 23% in the past year — partly, she says, due to both trade and individual buyers' revulsion at big business — shares her own horror stories of workers' suffering in the name of our throwaway clobber. But a boycott is not the answer, she replies to one question from the audience. The trade unions don't want us to boycott the 'bad' brands, but to force them to give their workers more money and basic rights.
Finally, fluorescent-haired design legend Zandra Rhodes says she wishes The Archers would run a storyline about organic cotton. After all, she says, the show is renowned for introducing environmental issues to a mainstream audience. It's clearly an off-the-cuff idea, and everyone chuckles, but then Peter Melchett chips in. He knows the show's farming adviser well. He will have a word with him.
And suddenly the dream seems a step closer — first we take Ambridge; then we take the world.
Win a £200 shopping voucher! Tell us what you think of The Simple Things. What do you enjoy most? What would you like to see more of? We’d really appreciate it if you took a few minutes to complete our reader survey. And as a little incentive you could win a £200 shopping voucher. (You will need a copy of issue 16 to hand to take part.)
Thank you.
Sharp rhubarb, sweet orange and a hint of warming spice – this is a cake to curl up with on a rainy afternoon
Rhubarb*, orange, pistachio & cardamom cake
150g light brown sugar
250ml sunflower oil, plus a little extra for greasing
3 eggs
1 tbsp orange flower water (optional)
Zest of 1 orange
Seeds from 12 cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 tsp ground ginger
300g self-raising flour
350g rhubarb, cut into 1cm pieces
80g pistachios, finely chopped, plus extra for the topping (optional)
For the icing:
250g mascarpone or cream cheese, at room temperature
50g icing sugar, sifted
Zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp lemon juice
1. Grease a deep 20cm cake tin and line the base with baking parchment. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, oil and eggs.
2. Stir in the orange flower water, zest, cardamom seeds and ginger. Fold in the flour. Stir in the rhubarb and pistachios.
3. Pour into the tin and even it out. Bake at 180°C for 1-1 1/4 hours on the middle shelf, until a skewer comes out clean. Keep an eye on it as it cooks and cover loosely with foil if it’s turning too brown.
4. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
5. To make the icing, beat together the mascarpone, icing sugar, orange zest and lemon juice.
6. Spread over the top and sides of the cake once it has cooled completely.
7. Sprinkle over some chopped pistachios, if using.
Find more yummy ideas in issue 16 of The Simple Things, which is on sale now.
BRINGING THE HANDMADE back into our fabrics and homes.
We sent textile designer and stylist Manisha Harkins to the Design Centre in London's Chelsea Harbour to hear a fascinating talk by Helen Cormack owner of Tissus d'Hélène. Helen, who started the company in 2006, has a passion for prints, most of which are hand-blocked or hand-screen printed.
Helen welcomed Carole Langton and Sophie Paget Steavenson of Langton Textiles, who offered an insight into Kalamkari Indian block printing and Juliet Cornell of Pukka Print who discussed her print journey from Hampshire to Mumbai and back.
Their first collaborative collections are hand printed on linen. Sophie Paget Steavenson, formerly based in Mumbai, with her own line of block-printed scarves, helped bring Carole Langton's prints to life. Back in the UK, Carole first drew Indian inspired motifs "before skilled craftsmen carved detailed wooden blocks. Colour-wise, Helen was instrumental," both explained.
Also in Mumbai until recently, Juliet Cornell realised her dreams through talented Indian designers and craftspeople using traditional wood and brass blocks. "That's something I'm really proud about: It's really the finest quality Rajasthani block printing -- plus the authenticity of Indian pattern with very English colours." Cormack, whose showroom is a natural home for these complementary collections, reflected, "It is vital that these crafts continue."
Find both Langton Textiles and Pukka Prints stocked at Tissus d'Hélène 421 Design Centre East, Chelsea Harbour, London SW10 0XF.
Love fabric? In the November issue of The Simple Things we have an extract from Cassandra Ellis' latest book, Cloth (Kyle Books £25), which explores the history and significance of natural fabrics and contains more than 30 beautiful projects for wool, linen cotton, silk and hide.
Claim £20 off! We've teamed up with Hello Fresh to provide you with an exclusive offer on a delivery of fresh ingredients and recipes.
Hello Fresh deliver recipes that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less, with all the required fresh ingredients in the exact quantities, direct to your door.
'We source the highest quality, freshest ingredients the UK has to offer and bring it all to you direct from the very best independent suppliers.' Patrick Drake, Head Chef.
Maryam Montague invites us into the souks, cafés and alleyways of the city she adores
Maryam’s private tour of Marrakech.
1. Favourite restaurant
Al Fassia
9 bis route de l’Ourika
This is my favourite restaurant for authentic Moroccan home-style cooking. Delicious! It’s also a woman’s cooperative, so you can feel especially good about going there. Make sure you make a reservation, though, because others are onto this secret too!
www.alfassia.com
2. Favourite shop
33 Rue Majorelle
33 Rue Yves Saint Laurent
A concept store that carries wares from over 200 designers – from homewares to jewellery to clothes. This is fresh contemporary Moroccan design at its best and a great one-stop shop. You can also pick up a signed copy of my book, Marrakesh by Design, if you’re so inclined.
www.33ruemajorelle.com
3. Favourite Gallery
Galerie 127
127 Avenue Mohammed V, Guéliz
Marrakech’s gallery devoted to contemporary photography. There’s always something interesting to see. I saved up to buy my own birthday present here – there are so many images on my covet list!
www.galerienathalielocatelli.com/galerie127
4. Favourite café
Kaowa
34 Rue Yves Saint Laurent (opposite Majorelle Gardens entrance)
If you’re tired of heavy food and want a quick, healthy bite, this is the place to come. A great spot for vegetarians and vegans with salad and juice bars, as well as an outdoor terrace.
www.tinyurl.com/m765d7s
5. Place to see by night
Jemma el-Fnaa (just at dusk)
Medina
This might just be one of the planet’s best places for people watching – host to a variety of characters, from snake charmers to henna painters to fortune tellers to musicians. And the visitors are almost as intriguing.
6. Place for souvenirs
Spice souk
Medina
Ask for the “Souk des epices” once you’re in the old city, known as the medina – most people will be happy to direct you. Stall after fragrant stall awaits you. Pick up some ras-el-hanout – a blend of 12 or more spices that’s a mainstay in the Moroccan kitchen. Mix it into rice or meat dishes, or into a stew for a taste of North Africa.
PRESERVE YOUR PUMPKINS with pride by curing them. Look out for when the stalks are ready to wither and die, and the skins go a bit tougher. They’re now ready to cure. This process will harden the skin further and keep the flesh fresh for up to six months, meaning you can enjoy them for a lot longer. Just cut away the stems (leaving them at least 10cmlong), then lay them out in the sun for three to four weeks turning them over every week or so, so they develop a tan and continue to toughen. Nowstore them away in a single layer somewhere frost-free, such as in a shed or even your spare room, with a little newspaper nest to rest on. And if they look like they might turn, be sure to eat them up straight away (a ‘1001 ways with pumpkin’recipe book is recommended).
Visit Kirsten's Flickr page here.
Discovering and curating our favourite things through NEW Etsy Pages.
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Food writer Giulia Scarpaleggia shares her favourite spots in Florence, Italy, the place she calls home.
Giulia Scarpaleggia is an Italian food blogger, food writer and freelance food photographer. She loves her dog Noa and her cat Wolfi, enjoys her walks in the countryside and can’t say no to anything with chocolate.
Favourite shop Bizzarri Via della Condotta, 32 A charming and mysterious century-old shop with wooden shelves and big glass jars that preserve the ancient apothecary’s wisdom. You’ll find spices, essences and tinctures, as well as supplies for restoration, painting and photography.
Favourite café ChiaroScuro Via del Corso, 36 Pop by at breakfast for a cappuccino and a tiny rice tartlet, or enjoy a chat over a cup of your favourite coffee in the afternoon. Wide selection of coffees and teas. www.chiaroscurofirenze.it
Caffetteria delle Oblate Via dell’Oriuolo, 26 Inside the Oblate Library, this is the place to be if you want to take some time for yourself, enjoy a cultural event or try the excellent food in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. Superb view of the Duomo. www.lospaziochesperavi.it
Favourite market Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio Piazza Ghiberti Fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, clothes and flowers. You’ll meet lots of locals here! Buy a panino and some fruit and enjoy your lunch in the nearby Piazza D’Azeglio.
Mercato di San Lorenzo Piazza San Lorenzo Food, fruit and vegetables in the indoor market, clothes and leather products outside. More touristy but just around the corner from the Duomo. Don’t miss lunch at Nerbone.
Place for a souvenir Flea market Piazza de’ Ciompi Tiny flea market with old jewellery, pottery, second-hand clothes, hats, pieces of furniture and chandeliers. Buy an old Tuscan postcard or black-and-white photos from big paper boxes.
Best view Basilica di San Miniato al Monte Via delle Porte Sante, 34 An elegant Romanesque church perched atop a hill overlooking Florence. It’s one of the highest points in the town, and quieter than the underlying Piazzale Michelangelo. Enjoy the view and the fresh breeze.
For more inside information on places to go and things to see in Florence, read the full article in issue 14 of The Simple Things.
Scatter the cushions and get on the floor for a zesty, aromatic supper that’s made for sharing. Food stylist and photographer Chantelle Grady produces exclusive recipes and sumptuous photography for a ten page feature in the magazine this month. Try her spiced coffee and almond fekka recipe tonight.
SPICED COFFEE
Your cafetiére won't know what's hit it when you concoct this warming, perky after-dinner brew .
Serves 4-6
3 whole cloves
5 cardamom pods
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
25g espresso beans, ground
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 litre boiling water
Warm milk, if desired
Sugar, if desired
1. Place cloves, cardamom pods and black peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. Grind until cardamom pods split open, and remove papery shell. Grind seeds and cloves into a fine powder.
2. Transfer to a bowl. Add the ground coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and mix to combine.
3. Transfer coffee mixture into a cafetière, add boiling water and steep for 5 mins. To serve, add sugar and warm milk if desired.
ALMOND FEKKAS
These crisp, just-sweet-enough little dainties are Morocco's answer to biscotti.
Makes about 40 biscuits
85g raisins
145g unsalted butter, melted
220g caster sugar
3 eggs, plus 1 egg lightly beaten
2 tbsp orange-blossom water
1/2 tsp almond extract
320g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp aniseed
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
160g whole almonds, toasted, roughly chopped
1. Preheat oven to 180˚C (160˚ fan), gas 4, 350˚F. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Place raisins in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to soak for 10 mins, and then drain and set aside.
3. Place the butter, sugar, 3 eggs, orange-blossom water and almond extract in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir until all ingredients come together. Add the aniseed, sesame seeds, almonds and raisins and mix to evenly distribute. Cover and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.
4. Turn dough out onto prepared baking sheet and divide into 2 balls. Moisten hands with water and form 2 loaves about 5cm in width, allowing space between each loaf. Brush with egg wash and bake in oven for 30 mins, or until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
5. Once cool, use a serrated knife to cut into 1cm slices and lay out on 2 baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake for a further 8 mins, flip slices over and bake for another 8 mins, or until golden on both sides. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Serve with spiced coffee.
Editor's letter. Issue 14, September 2013. “The snake in our digital garden of Eden has been hyper-connectivity with technology” Arianna Huffington
No mobile phone, no email, no Twitter, no Facebook, no Google this weekend. How does that make you feel? Are you instantly coming up with excuses as to why it would be a great idea in theory, but actually I need to check this and I couldn’t relax without knowing that? Me too. I find it an amusing irony that we now have to be given permission to turn off our digital devices and go on an official digital detox retreat before we can switch off guilt-free.
Many people are beginning to question the pressurised world we have created for ourselves. At the end of July Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, chaired their first women’s conference, ‘The Third Metric: Redefining Success Beyond Money and Power’.* As Arianna says, “It’s time for a third metric – one founded on wellbeing, wisdom, our ability to wonder, and to give back. The motivation for these events is that it has become increasingly clear that the current model, in which success is equated with overwork, burnout, sleep deprivation, never seeing your family, being connected through email 24 hours a day and exhaustion, isn’t working. It’s not working for women. It’s not working for men. It’s not working for companies, for any societies in which it’s dominant or for the planet… It’s no longer sustainable for human beings or for societies. To live the lives we want, and not just the ones we settle for, the ones society defines as successful, we need to include the third metric.”
One of the panellists was Mark Williams, whose book Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World claims that “more happiness and joy are attainable with even tiny changes to the way you live your life”. Another interesting book, Get Some Headspace by Andy Puddicombe, demystifies mindfulness through his accessible writing and presenting style and the website he co-founded, Headspace.
So take some time out this weekend, disconnect if you feel the need to, find a comfortable place to relax and lose yourself in the magazine, and when you do connect again make sure it’s at your own pace.
Jane
Jane Toft, Editor-in-chief
* Listen to Arianna Huffington’s inspirational Smith College commencement speech about The Third Metric.
Relax, recharge, unwind. Spend a long weekend in a forest hideaway, Hunters Moon cottage in Godshill is the perfect setting for a weekend getaway...
As the summer holiday season draws to a close we’re already dreaming of winter breaks in unspoilt countryside: watching the sun rise across misty fields, warming our toes in front of an open fire. So we’ve teamed up with New Forest Living to give you a chance to win a three night weekend break in a rural idyll.*Click here to enter now before 30th September 2013!
* The prize is a three-night self-catering weekend break at Hunters Moon cottage in Godshill (from Friday to Monday, accommodation only) for four people plus one dog, worth up to £775. The break must be booked before 14th October 2013 and taken between 1st November 2013 and 3rd February 2014 (excluding Christmas, New Year, school holidays and bank holidays), and is subject to availability.
To book a relaxing break call 0845 680 0173 or visit www.newforestliving.co.uk
Our top books to help inspire you to get crafty inside the home.
A Place Called Home Jason Grant Hardie Grant)
INSPIRED BY AN OUTDOORSY Aussie lifestyle, Jason Grant’s guide to home decor is a breath of fresh air. This laid‑back book takes a tour around 12 stylish homes. Grant supplies snippets of advice, but the focus is on the photographs, with gorgeous shots of whole rooms and the details that make them special, such as stacked crockery, mismatched cushions and even the stripy towels in the bathroom. Vintage and making-and-mending may be Grant’s passions but there’s nothing twee here: just simple, offbeat style.
Decorate Journal Holly Becker (Jacqui Small)
Nearly 50,000 people visit Holly Becker every day, as her design blog Decor8 continues to be the go-to site for creative ideas and e-courses. She is also the author of 2011’s Decorate, which offers ‘1000 professional ideas for every room in the home.’ With her latest book, Holly guides readers through an eight-step process to transform our living spaces. This starts with seeking inspiration, inviting readers to think about their favourite smells, movies and cities even. It ends at decorating, with plenty of ideas drawn from Holly’s experience, as well as from stunning photography by Debi Treloar that peeks at interiors from different homes. And in-between is the transformative journey – chapters on identifying projects, translating ideas and finalising schemes, all with advice and checklists with space to write notes. It’s a happy and thoughtful way to style our homes.
Pretty Pastel Style Selina Lake (Ryland Peters & Small)
The queen of gorgeous interiors, Selina Lake takes pastel colours out of the nursery and proves that they can be bright, versatile and edgy. She mixes and matches the sweetie shades in Modern, Vintage, Retro and Simple schemes across paints, fabrics and furniture, combining handmade with thrifted and shop-bought. Primrose yellow shelves zing against mint‑green walls, while pink tissue-paper flowers bloom in a pistachio jug. As with her other books, this is bursting with good ideas that will have you reaching for the paint pot.
Happy Home Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau (Jacqui Small)
“Give me more colour”, implores Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau. The founder of Danish homewares company Rice knows her colours – and how to make them part of a liveable environment. Happy Home is a romp through her ideas about ways to make your house colourful, quirky and joyful, from painting your front door yellow (to match the solar plexus chakra) in order to ensure a good mood for the day to livening a dark corner with a neon-painted chair. Gueniau is a fan of a “mixy‑matchy” look, jumbling up natural textures with bold ceramics or plastic toys, or crochet with velvet. The book is divided into chapters including “entertaining, unwinding, dining” and “sleeping, bathing, dreaming”, with advice on every room of the house. A visual and heartwarming feast.
Reading the extensive list of food items categorised as dim sum – dumplings, spring rolls and spare ribs, sticky lotus-leaf rice and mango pudding all feature – it’s easy to wonder exactly what differentiates it from, well, Chinese food in general. Here’s a simple rule of thumb. If there’s a teapot on the table, you’ve gone out for dim sum. If there’s Tsingtao beer, then it’s a regular Chinese.
That’s because the tradition sprang out of yum cha, the teahouse pit stop enjoyed by rural farmers and Silk Road travellers for hundreds of years. Steamed or fried buns stuffed with meat, seafood or vegetables would be served alongside green, Oolong, Pu-erh and floral-based teas such as jasmine and chrysanthemum. It was the Cantonese who developed dim sum from a daytime snack into what 21st century Western urbanites would describe as a “dining experience”. Though etiquette dictates you should still tap the table with your fingertips to express gratitude to whoever’s playing mother.
Originally featured inside issue 07 which is still available to buy on our online store, and download through Apple, Zinio and Google Play.
In an exclusive new series River Cottage's head chef Gill Meller invites us to his summerhouse hideaway and shares his delicious seasonal recipes.
So what can you expect from your trip to the Summerhouse Kitchen this time around? We talk seaweed-hunting and patrolling rock pools to create some tasty savoury buns and whip up a fragrant late summer pudding adorned with dark, ripe, raspberries and sorrel. All in issue 13 of The Simple Things magazine on sale now.
Catch up with this month's cover star Lucy Clarke as we talk beach huts, traveling and old journals.
What inspired you to become a writer?
It was a decision I made when I was 23, I'd studied English Literature at University and always loved reading, but it was only after I went traveling and had some space to figure out what I wanted to do I knew, though it took until I was 30 to get my first writing deal.
How did the idea for The Sea Sisters come about?
The book was inspired by my own travel journals, I always keep one when I go away and thought it would be interesting to base a book on finding someone else's and the reasons why.
Where's your favourite place to work?
By the beach, my family have a beach hut in Dorset you can stay in until October, I spend all summer writing there, even on the rainy days when it's not so nice. Though it's been lovely in this weather!
What do you love most about writing?
This is an easy one for me, the absolute freedom. I travel a lot and can write anywhere but even more so it's the freedom I have to create something I imagine.
When you're not working would you prefer to spend your time growing, cooking, making or traveling?
What has been your favourite place you've traveled to?
Tazmania, I went there two winters ago - it's a really beautiful wild and rugged little island and the set of my next book.
What's your simple thing?
A really beautiful journal, my favourite is an old brown leather-bound Mulberry one with thick pages.
Lucy's new book The Sea Sisters is part of Richard & Judy's book club this year and is available to buy here.
Follow Lucy on Twitter: @lucyclarkebooks www.lucy-clarke.com
A round-up of products we love from around the web inspired by the new issue of The Simple Things.
Column one: fishing hook bracelet UGothooked, weird fish notepad Jaquelinafreitas, column two: fish bowl Clayopera, abstract tiles Tillissimo, catch of the day mugs Not On The High Street, column three: star fish pillow ChloeandOliveDotCom, whale t-shirt CandyBarrel
Don't forget to pick up a copy of issue 12 inside which River Cottage's Head Chef Gill Meller give us the low down on sustainable fish.
We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.