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Taking Time to Live Well
Living in a small space is no excuse for not exercising those keen green fingers. These adorable bike planters are so super cute and are the perfect way to jazz up your ride whilst giving back some much needed CO2. The little plant pots from Etsy shop Wearable Planter not only come fit for your bike but can be worn as funky necklaces and brooches.
Colleen says "why keep your plants at home?" and we agree, why not!
This year’s spring has been so long coming, it’s taken us a little by surprise. Now the sun is shining and there’s blossom on the trees, and our pasty arms and legs are nowhere near ready to be revealed to the world.
We’re hoping this citrus salt scrub DIY will save us from a spring spent sweating in leggings and long sleeves. Pop over to the Martha Writes blog to find how to mix up your own batch of exfoliator, which will banish dead skin and give it a zingy lemon boost. Alright sun, we’re ready for you.
The blogosphere is jam-packed full of healthy, delicious, nutrient-filled breakfast ideas. So why can’t we get Sunday Suppers’ ridiculously indulgent recipe for brioche French toast out of our minds?
The ingredients list includes (deep breath) crème fraiche, mascarpone, marmalade, and six whole eggs. Enough to send anyone into an immediate food coma, which isn’t ideal if the clock has yet to even strike noon.
We’re saving this recipe up for a special occasion, or a lazy Sunday (whichever comes first), and planning a light lunch that day!
The National Trust has announced My Great British Day Out, a new competition with a chance to win £2000 towards making their perfect day out happen.
Entrants are being asked to pick their favourite location, from castles to woodland to the home of one of The Beatles (the National Trust don’t just do stately homes, you know!), then get imaginative and dream up their ideal, unique event.
Log on to the Facebook competition page to have a nosey through other peoples’ dream days out and get some inspiration for how you’d like to spend your summer. To give you a little taster, Sam would love a woodland mad-hatters tea party, Rory dreams of a sunrise fry-up on the beach, while Scooby (ahem) wants to spend a night hunting ghosts in a crumbly old castle.
Vote for your favourite idea, or if you think you have a better one, pop your own up – but get cracking, because the deadline is the end of May!
Chalkboard paint seems to be having a moment this season. In a world of laptops and kindles, the combination of white chalk and blackboard has an element of old-school cool.
Our pick of the chalkboard projects is this upcycled wine bottle DIY from craft blog Mary Janes and Galoshes. We're not quite sure what we’d use these for (blogger Taylor suggests wedding table markers), all we know is that we adore the unexpected combination of shape and surface.
Grab an empty wine bottle – we know you have one – and pop over to Mary Janes and Galoushes to see how its done.
We like a bit of nifty upcycling, but we’re even bigger fans when the new product looks even better than the original.
Etsy seller Boots and Gus is an impressive example of how to do upcycling the right way. Designers Jeff and Mark have filled their shop with wonderfully quirky chandeliers fashioned from vintage Mason jars.
If you’re not ready to commit to a full-blown light feature in your living room, Blogger Chez Beeper Bebe has gone for a more toned down approach and transformed her old jars into tea light lanterns for the garden.
Gorgeous aren't they? Want to find out out how she made them? Then pop over to her blog for a printable how-to.
Made this? We would love to see a pic on our Facebook page.
Vintage Scrabble tile magnets - why haven’t we seen this before?! Like those garish plastic letters that have for so long adorned our fridges, except more laid back and much, much cooler.
If you fancy making your own, visit The Ginger Penny Pincher for the simplest how-to ever.
We were so excited by this revelation, we had a hunt round the internet for more Scrabble-design fun and it turns out that those crafty folks at Etsy discovered the retro appeal of vintage scrabble tiles long ago.
Offerings range from jewellery to wedding favours to wine charms, but top of the crafters is Cool Boy Creations, who has knocked up a whole range of Scrabble tile coasters with quirky messages. Our pick of the slogans? The nerd set. Get your geek on!
These days it feels like children are more likely to be found scaling buildings on their Playstation than climbing trees in their back garden. The National Trust has decided to fight the trend by launching 50 Things to do before you're 11¾, a nationwide campaign to get kids off the sofa and into the wild.
The initiative provides a checklist of activities to complete before you hit the grand old age of 11¾. Camp out in the wild, set up a snail race, hunt for bugs or light a fire without matches - there's a whole host of mini-adventures to be had.
Children can pick up a free scrapbook from participating National Trust properties or check off each activity on the 50 Things to do before you’re 11 ¾ website. Here they can also get advice from the Elite Rangers, an intrepid team of outdoors experts including Den-Boy and Captain Skim. Go to www.50things.org.uk to get started!
Vegetable of the month? Rhubarb? Yep. We haven’t cheated, rhubarb is technically a vegetable.
We were going to blog about asparagus (also in season, also fabulous), but for some reason we kept finding ourselves swayed back towards those bright pink rhubarb stems.
There are plenty of options for this lovely veggie other than rhubarb and strawberry crumble (although that is a classic for a reason – that’s our favourite recipe we’ve linked up). To prove it we’ve lined up a whole day’s worth of rhubarb recipes.
Kicking off bright and early in the morning, we want toast but oh, we’re bored of marmite or marmalade. Fear not, the aptly named Lovely Morning has come to the rescue with her rhubarb jam recipe. Munch it on toast, pop it on some natural yoghurt or wrap a jar up as a gift for a friend, its as versatile as you like.
Next we have a casual garden lunch with friends, which we’ll conclude with a cheeky rhubarb crumb bar from White on Rice Couple. Stomachs were rumbling all round when this recipe popped up on our screens, is it having the same effect on you?
Finally, to round off our tiring rhubarb-filled day, we’ll be knocking up an ice-cold fresh rhubarb cocktail courtesy of Sugarlaws. Phew, we told you we could do it. And not a crumble in sight!
Sallynoodle may be new to Etsy but she has definitely arrived with a bang! Her plant print cushions are printed with digitally manipulated photographs of trees and flowers for an effect that is chic, fresh and not at all cutesy.
When the rain is dripping from our drainpipes and running down our window panes, this is the perfect way to bring a touch of the great outdoors indoors.
Pop over to her Etsy shop to check out her other designs.
As much as we love bunting, for a new party decoration idea we’re big fans of these paper doily pom poms.
At this summer's tea parties, we won't be hiding our doilies underneath the cakes, but stitching them together with neon thread and hanging them from our trees! We also adore the oversized tissue paper versions which will add a burst of colour.
Pop over to Swedish craft blog Pysselbolaget (nope, we don’t know how you say it either) to see how to make your own. Alright, the instructions are in Swedish, but there are photo guidelines. We think that if we can understand it even without instructions, it’ll be plenty simple enough to tackle in the pre-party panic!
We’re struggling a little to know what to eat for breakfast at the moment. Our diaries say May, the never ending drizzle outside disagrees. Surely it’s too late in the year for porridge?
Green Kitchen Stories has come up with the answer in this fruity yoghurt granola recipe in their guest post over at My New Roots . A bit fruity, a bit creamy, and oaty enough to prepare us for the drizzle outside.
Don’t be dismayed by the somewhat extensive recipe on the blog – with the best will in the world, no-one has the energy for that much measuring in one morning! We’ll be swapping in whatever fruit’s in season and raiding the corners of our store cupboards for nuts and seeds for the granola. Yum.
Who says plant pots and furniture need to be separate? Certainly not Matti and Megan, the self-proclaimed ‘plant nerds’ behind gardening blog Far Out Flora. We applaud their innovation in transforming an old shipping crate into a coffee table with built-in leafy decoration.
If you’re short somewhere to rest your coffee and have a spare shipping crate kicking around, pop over to their blog for a photo how to. Alternatively, if you’d like something more dramatic, Matty has knocked up a full-sized succulent dining table which is definitely worth a peek!
Is there anything better than freshly-baked homemade bread? Bakery owners Duncan Glendinning and Patrick Ryan think not.
Champions of all things local, seasonal and foraged, boys behind The Thoughtful Bread Company have written their first book. Bread Revolution is packed with recipes for us to try at home. We dropped into the launch party to sample the recipes and can confirm that these bakers have some serious skills.
In particular, we couldn’t stop nibbling at their mini stone-baked flatbreads, dipped into home-made hummus and zinged-up pesto. We were sure that they’d be too fiddly to achieve at home, but we had a peek at the hummus recipe and it’s only three sentences long! Hardly more effort than buying it at the supermarket and ten times as tasty.
We admit it. We were not overly excited when we discovered the star of the veggie stall this month is the knobbly bobbly cauliflower. With a reputation for being a little pale, nondescript and perhaps even – dare we say it – bland, half the challenge is deciding how to sneak it on to the menu.
Determined not to be beaten we checked out a few of our favourite foodie haunts and were ready to eat our words. First, we found this purple variety at A Cozy Kitchen. Apparently, it’s exactly the same as white cauliflower (it’s colour is caused by anthocyanin, the same antioxidant group found in red cabbage), but so much more beautiful.
Oh, what's that sound?! Our stomachs were definitely rumbling at Sprouted Kitchen’s caramelised cauliflower soup, which combines creamy cauliflower with crunchy nuts. Tasty.
Nicky from Delicious Days has also roasted hers, but she’s added some punchy spices and a yoghurty herby dip, which looks anything but bland.
Have you got a recipe for making a special cauliflower dish? Let us know we would love to hear.
Spring is in the air, and we were daydreaming about picnics and casual al fresco suppers when this recipe caught our eye.
Jennifer from Keep It Simple Foods has breathed new life into traditional lemonade in her blueberry vodka lemonade recipe. The berry vodka gives a vibrant hue and a grown-up alcohol kick to the springtime favourite.
Visit her blog to find out how it’s done. We’re already pondering over which other fruits we can try this out with. All we need now is some sunshine to put our plans into action!
This is the very first post on the blog. Hello. Nice to meet you and thanks for stopping by. Do you appreciate the simple things in life? We do, which is why we hope you'll make the simple things a regular part of your day.
We are going to put our mission statement here, so you know why we exist.
We believe in sharing. Sharing the good stuff and the not so good. All that matters is that you do. Do you know someone who might like the simple things? Spread the word and tell us what you think, we would love to hear from you.
Everyone loves profiteroles but why not try adding a little summery fruity freshness with sliced strawberries and crumbled raspberry cream then drizzle with warm chocolate sauce or a fresh berry sauce – see Cook’s Tip.
Serves 4 Preparation time: 35 minutes Cooking time: 15-18 minutes
Profiteroles 150ml (¼ pint) water 50g (2oz) butter 65g (2½ oz) plain flour 2 medium eggs ½ tsp vanilla essence Sauce 150g (5oz) dark chocolate, broken into pieces 150ml (¼ pint) semi skimmed milk 2 tbsp icing sugar ½ tsp vanilla essence Filling 150ml (¼ pint) double cream 100g (4oz) 0% fat plain Greek yogurt ½ tsp vanilla essence 2 tbsp icing sugar, plus a little extra to decorate 150g (5oz) raspberries 225g (8oz) strawberries, hulled, sliced
1 Preheat the oven to 200oC (400oF), Gas Mark 6. Lightly grease a large baking sheet. 2 Pour the water into a saucepan, add the butter then heat gently until the butter has just melted. Bring to the boil then take off the heat and sift in the flour. Mix together then put the pan back on the heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture makes a smooth ball. Leave to cool for 15 minutes. 3 Beat the eggs with the vanilla then gradually beat into the cooled choux pastry in the pan, or transfer to a food processor if you’d rather. Beat until really smooth then spoon into a large piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm (3/4 inch) plain piping tube. Pipe about 20 balls on to the greased baking sheet, leaving space between them. 4 Bake for 15-18 minutes until well risen and golden. Make a slit in the side of each choux puff to let the steam escape then put back into the turned off oven for 3- 5 minutes until crisp then take out and leave to cool. 5 To make the sauce, add the chocolate, milk and sugar to a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the sauce is smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Sprinkle surface with a little caster sugar if not serving immediately so that a skin doesn’t form. 6 Whip the cream until it forms soft swirls then fold in the yogurt, vanilla and sugar. Crumble in the raspberries and briefly fold together. 7 Slit the choux puffs almost in half, arrange the sliced strawberries over the base of each one then top with a spoonful of raspberry cream. Press the lids back in place then arrange on serving plates. Dust lightly with sifted icing sugar and serve drizzled with warm chocolate sauce.
Cook’s tip The cooked choux puffs can be made the day before and kept in an airtight tin then fill and serve with sauce when you need them.
Cook’s tip For kids or adults who don’t like dark chocolate then use half dark and half milk chocolate for a lighter tasting sauce or why not drizzle with an easy berry sauce made by pureeing 225g (8oz) strawberries and 150g (5oz) raspberries pureed together then press through a sieve before serving.
We're all going on a simple summer holiday with plenty of new adventures in store. What are you looking forward to the most?
This summer Abel & Cole, the organic veg box scheme, celebrates its 25th birthday. It’s come a long way since founder Keith Abel started delivering potatoes in South London after failing his bar exams. With the help of a couple of organic farmers (and his mum), he branched out to create the scheme that now delivers to more than 70,000 homes across England. To celebrate, Abel & Cole have teamed up with The Simple Things to bring you a taste of organic heaven.
Starting this August one winner will receive a prize of a year’s supply of weekly fruit and veg boxes (52 boxes in total across the year), any size up to the largest worth £25 per week. It can include fruit and veg, just veg or just fruit depending on what suits the household. The first box will also include the Veg Box Companion cook book (worth £12.99) with 252 pages of recipes to try.
How to enter First check that you live in an Abel & Cole delivery area by visiting www.abelandcole.co.uk and filling in your postcode then click here for your chance to win.
Enter by 2nd August 2013.
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.