Wellbeing: How to embrace idleness

We're afraid of having nothing to do, but being bored is no bad thing - we've just forgotten how to do it properly and how liberating it can be... 

Rachael Oakden explores The Lost Art of Boredom on page 86 of August's The Simple Things. Meanwhile, read her tips on how to embrace idleness.

• Leave your emails unchecked next time you’re waiting in a café. Sit and smell the coffee instead (it worked for J.K. Rowling).
• Go for a walk. Boredom novices find it hard to sit still and stare into space. Repetitive, mindless exercise, such as walking or swimming, leaves your mind free to wander while satisfying your guilt-prone conscience.
• Visit green spaces. The sights, sounds and sensations of the natural world are gentle distractions that encourage the mind to go walkabout.
• Embrace screen-free Sundays. Disconnect from all electronic media for one day a week and reconnect with your inner and outer worlds.
• Listen to your boredom. Is it telling you that you’re unhappy in your job or lifestyle? Research shows that boredom can motivate us to become more altruistic and engage in pro-social behaviour, such as volunteering or donating blood.
   

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Recipe: Raspberry, apricot and orange ice lollies

Soaked cashews are the secret to lovely, creamy dairy-free lollies. Start the night before to allow time for the cashews to soak

Makes 8
6 large apricots (approx 500g), sliced
juice of an orange
125g fresh or frozen locally grown raspberries*
4–5 tbsp pure maple syrup (or honey)
60g raw cashews, soaked overnight in cold water, drained and rinsed
1 tsp finely grated orange zest small pinch of fine sea salt
* If using frozen berries, allow them to defrost a little before using in this recipe

1 Place apricots and orange juice in a medium saucepan, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 mins. Remove lid and cook for a further 8–10 mins, stirring often to prevent the bottom from catching, until thick and pulpy. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

2 Combine raspberries and 1–2 tbsp of the maple syrup in a small bowl and lightly crush with a fork to form a rough paste. Divide evenly between 8 lolly moulds and set aside.

3 Transfer cooled apricots to a blender, along with soaked cashews, 3 tbsp maple syrup, orange zest and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour into moulds (it’s a thick mixture, so you may need a spoon to help), then using a knife, marble the raspberries through the apricot mixture slightly. Insert wooden sticks and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.

4 Run moulds under warm water to help release the popsicles.

Recipe taken from A Year In My Real Food Kitchen by Emma Galloway (Harper Collins) 

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Competition: Win one of three natural skincare hampers from MOA worth £110

Enter our competition to win one of three natural skincare hampers from MOA - Magic Organic Apothecary!

Read our interview with the creators of MOA and find out more about their natural skincare products.

Where and how are your products made? 

We are a British brand, all our products are made in the UK and our signature herb, organic yarrow, is grown in Somerset. We even sow the seeds by hand, at the farm where it is grown. We are cruelty free certified. Our packaging comes from sustainable sources, mostly made in the UK and printed with vegetable based inks, as we try our to make our products as eco as possible.

Why you do what you do? 

It was our mission to make yarrow, our hero herb, available within a skincare product. Yarrow is such a miraculous and healing herb, but not found in many products all, despite being a favourite amongst many herbalists because of its numerous properties. Our original product, The Green Balm harnesses the powers of yarrow in a multi-purpose balm. We enjoy making natural skin care which is affordable and effective whilst also attractive and magical to behold.

What inspires you?  

Nature, magic and folklore, all of which we celebrate in our products, our marketing and our packaging.

What's special about your designs? 

I illustrate the drawings by hand and combine them with vintage apothecary inspired design, so it makes our style pretty unique. Our potions are developed with lots of imagination and care. We’re only ready to sell them when we are truly smitten with the product, and happy that it is both therapeutic and effective. And lastly, a sprinkling of magic makes them very special too!

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Competition closing date: 16 September 2016

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Make: Exfoliating seaweed scrub

Kelp's wonderfully fresh seashore scent makes this exfoliating scrub a summer shower must-have

Exfoliating seaweed scrub

MAKES: 100g
KEEPS: At least 6 months
INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp kelp powder
5 tsp vegetable glycerine
7 tsp sweet almond oil
5 drops juniper essential oil
5 drops lemon essential oil

METHOD:
1 Mix the sea salt and kelp together.
2 Add the glycerine and half the almond oil and mix well. If the mixture is too stiff, add more oil until it makes a thick, gloopy paste.
3 Add the essential oils and stir really well.

Note: this recipe isn’t suitable for dry skins

Courtesy of Lynn Rawlinson. Found in The Domestic Alchemist: 501 Herbal Recipes for Home, Health and Happiness by Pip Waller (Leaping Hare Press). 
 

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Recipe: Coco Cabana cocktail

With 120 fruits native to its rainforest, there’s no wonder Brazilians make a mean cocktail. If watching the Olympics this month makes you pine for tropical climes, mix yourself a jug of this fabulously kitsch cocktail (palm trees essential) and the combination of rum, cachaça, strawberries and coconut will instantly transport you from kitchen to Copacabana beach.

Coco Cabana 

75ml cachaça
75ml Malibu
50ml coconut cream
50ml lemon juice
50ml simple sugar syrup
90ml pineapple juice
180ml coconut water
75ml strawberry purée ice cubes
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced

Pour all the ingredients except the orange and lemon slices into a large jug and stir well.
Fill with ice and stir again.
Top with lemon and orange slices.

Pronounced ka-sha-sa, cachaça is the national drink of Brazil and appears in many of its cocktails. Like rum, it’s a sugar cane spirit, but distilled directly from fermented sugar cane juice rather than from the molasses. It’s now possible to find simple brands such as Sagatiba in larger supermarkets or specialist spirit shops. If you’re at loss or don’t like the taste (some people find it too rough or strong), you can substitute vodka or rum. Oh and Brazilians do really run their cars on it sometimes – if you’re ever crossing the road and notice a waft of sweetness in the air, that’s the ethanol from the sugar cane. Not one to try at home.

Recipe from Carnival! By David Ponte, Lizzy Barber and Jamie Barber (Quadrille)
Photography by Martin Poole  

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Life's perfect moments are now

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Home: Easy alfresco dining

This month in our series about what really goes on in a home, Clare Gogerty grabs a plate and invites us to eat out in the garden.  

Eating every possible meal in the garden is one of the most blissful things you can do during the summer months. The simple act of sipping a cup of tea on the doorstep while listening to the birds and feeling a warm breeze on your face can transform this humdrum activity into something special. Pile a tray with toast and coffee and head outdoors for breakfast and suddenly it feels like you’re on holiday. And a glass of rosé and some nuts dished up on the patio or a balcony becomes a celebration.

Meals in the garden are simultaneously liberating and fun. Entertaining family and friends takes on a more chilled dimension when you sit beneath a tree, children and animals run around your feet and the light gradually dims. The only rules about eating alfresco is that there are no rules: the more relaxed and informal the better. 

“Picnics always taste so much nicer than meals we have indoors”
Five Go Off in a Caravan by Enid Blyton

• Put on a buffet: ideal for larger groups of people who can heap up their plates with your delicious food and then settle on rugs to eat it.
• Use brown paper instead of a tablecloth. Then scrunch up and dispose of it when everyone has gone home.
• Keep tableware relaxed. Nobody wants elaborate settings when they are eating in their shorts.
• Invest in a garden parasol to keep sun and rain at bay.
• Platters of cold meat, bowls of salad, chunks of cheese, bread on boards and jugs of drink (alcoholic and non) are probably all that’s required, food-wise.
• Stock up a drinks trolley with glasses, drinks and trappings, then wheel back in when stocks run low. Have lots of ice handy to keep drinks cool. 

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The Simple Things: an anthology

The Simple Things offers readers a simple promise: ‘to celebrate the things that matter most’. Each issue is a monthly reminder of how good life can be when you remember to take the time to live it well. In this 256-page anthology, we’ve curated our favourite features from the first three years on growing, cooking, making and sharing time with friends and family.

We like to think of it as a ‘handbook for happiness’.

Featuring the best of the magazine, published 26 September 2016 by Firefly Books. Pre-ordered copies will be mailed out as close to this date as possible and each book will be signed by the editor, Lisa Sykes. 

£19.95 + free UK p&p* Order here

* Check online for overseas postage prices
 

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Recipe: Toasted basil and blackberry brioche with summer berries

Try this berry harvest bake from Lia Leendertz

'A berry- and herb-studded brioche is a great way to celebrate this moment of wheat and berries, but to say making brioche is a bit of a faff would be quite the understatement. It’s a fun project but this dessert will work beautifully with thick, toasted slices of a good-quality bought brioche loaf if you don’t have the time to make your own. The brioche recipe is based on a recipe from River Cottage Baking, with a few additions of my own. Ideally, start making this the day before you need it, as the dough benefits from spending a night in the fridge.'

Makes 2 small loaves, serves 4-6

For the basil and blackberry brioche

400g strong white bread flour
5g powdered dried yeast
10g salt
90ml warm milk
2 tbsp caster sugar
100g butter, softened
4 eggs, beaten
a handful of blackberries per loaf
basil leaves

To glaze
1 egg
2 tbsp milk

For the fruits
210g blueberries
170g blackberries
4 figs, quartered
a few sprigs of thyme

1 For the brioche, put all of the ingredients except the basil, the berries and the glaze ingredients into a large bowl and bring it all together into a dough. Knead for ten minutes (or put the dough into the bowl of your food processor and use the dough hook on it for ten minutes). Place it in a bowl, cover, and chill overnight. The next morning, remove it from the fridge and shape it into your loaves – I put mine into a round cake tin or small loaf tins – then leave them somewhere warm to prove. This could take several hours as the dough will be starting from cold.

2 Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180/400F. Once the loaves have doubled in size, decorate them by pushing the blackberries into the surface and laying the basil leaves across it, then beat the egg and the milk together and paint it across the surface. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the oven setting to 180C/Fan 160/350F and bake for a further 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

3 Place the fruits and thyme into a saucepan and simmer gently until the berries have burst, the juice is released and the figs are turned the colour of the blackberries. Slice the brioche and toast a piece per person. Serve each person a small bowlful and a piece of toasted brioche to scoop up the warm, herby fruit and to dip into the juices. 

Lia Leendertz is a freelance gardening writer and the author of several books, including My Tiny Veg Plot and My Cool Allotment. Her first cookery book, Petal, Leaf, Seed: Cooking with the Garden’s Treasures is out now.  

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How to talk like Roald Dahl

Don’t be biffsquiggled – the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary decodes Dahl’s brilliant word play

With the new Spielberg BFG film getting rave reviews, we thought you might like to learn to talk like the big friendly giant and co. Here goes!
 

phizz-whizzing (adj): splendid

plussy (adi): full of life and energy

rommytot (noun): talking nonsense

rotrasper (noun): horribly mean or nasty person

scrotty (adj): when you feel sad and gloomy

swashboggling (adj): unusual

whoopsy-whiffling (adj): splendid or marvellous 

hopscotchy (adj): happy

horrigust, muckfrumping (adj): unpleasant, unwelcome

lickswishy (adj): a delicious taste

biffsquiggled, gungswizzled (adj): confused or puzzled

buzzwangle (noun) – a silly or far-fetched idea

delumptious, delunctious (adj): very tasty, delicious

dogswoggler (noun): someone who is very silly

gropefluncking (adj): something difficult to explain

grunion (noun): grumpy person

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Recipe: Pea, mint, spinach and goat’s cheese quiche

This quiche is simple to make and packed with summery flavours

Turn to page 34 of August's The Simple Things for the full riverbank picnic menu: Pork and egg pie with a lattice top, Pea, mint, spinach and goat’s cheese quiche, Potato salad, and Meringue kisses. 

Pea, mint, spinach and goat’s cheese quiche

280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting the work surface
140g cold butter, cut into little pieces
6 tbsp cold water
300g frozen peas
handful of mint leaves
3 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
284ml double cream
200g goat’s cheese
handful of baby spinach, wilted and water squeezed out in a tea towel

1 In a blender, combine the butter, water and flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Roll up in to a ball and cover in clingfilm and rest in the fridge until ready*.

2 Cook the peas for 3 mins in boiling water, then drain and chill under the cold tap. In a hand blender, whizz together the peas, mint and olive oil, and season to taste.

3 Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/400F.

4 Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to a circle about 3cm bigger than a 25cm tin. Drape the pastry over the tin and gently push the pastry into place using a little scrap of pastry. Leave a little pastry over the edge of the tin; this can be removed later. Chill in fridge for 10-15 mins.

5 Lightly prick the base of the tart and line with baking paper and ceramic baking beans. Blind bake for 20 mins, then carefully remove the beans and bake for a further 5-10 mins until lightly browned.

6 While the pastry is baking, beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the cream and season.

7 When the case is ready, spread the pea mixture over the bottom of the tart case. Pour over the egg mixture. Scatter the crumbled goat’s cheese and wilted spinach over the top of the quiche.

8 Bake for 20-25 mins until set and the top is browned. Trim the edges of the pastry off and leave to cool on a wire rack. 

*Or buy shortcrust pastry readymade from the supermarket if you’re short on time or inclination. 

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Slow: August cover reveal

...and breathe. Summer holidays are here. But why wait to go away? Ditch
the to-do list, assemble your favourite people and bag a brook for a shady picnic. Anyone for a blackberry shandy? Eat outside and greet the wide world from a deckchair. When you can no longer resist, take a trip to the sea; for a swim, to gather seaweed or ponder on mermaids. While you enjoy the hot yellow of sunflowers, let your mind wander on, well, nothing in particular. See where slow takes you. And on the way, linger over The Simple Things 

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Listen: Sea songs playlist

It’s time to pack a bucket and spade and head to the coast with our sea songs playlist!

Listen now 

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How to stop your plants getting thirsty

A recycled plastic water bottle is a good way to ensure plants won't wilt in the summer sunshine. While herbaceous plants, annuals and crops in your garden will be crying out for a drink in the summer, chances are you will be out and about making the most of the gorgeous weather.

Most delicate or container-grown plants will cope with a decent glug every morning (before the sun gets too strong and can burn wet leaves) or in the late afternoon, but left any longer, can experience problems. The solution is fairly simple - once you've quenched your own thirst with a bottle of water, save it and use it to ensure your plants don't suffer in the sun.

1. Use a 1-litre plastic bottle if possible, though 500ml is fine too. Wash it out if it's had any liquid other than water in it and replace the lid.

2. Remove the bottom of the bottle with scissors.

3. Pierce a hole in the lid with a skewer to allow water to slowly drip out.

4. Dig a hole next to the plant or container you want to keep hydrated. Make it deep enough for the water to directly reach the plant's roots (but be careful not to disturb them). 

5. Insert the bottle lid first and backfill the soil around the bottle. The end of the bottle should stand proud of the ground, or soil if in the container. 

6. Fill with water and keep an eye on it; fill as and when needed for happy plants.

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Competition: Win a cool new wardrobe from Great Plains CLOSING DATE 5.9.16

Cosy separates, snuggly coats and warming knitwear - win a Great Plains wardrobe just in time for autumn.

There’s something lovely about being well-prepared for the start of the new term. How smug would you feel to be ahead of the autumn game, with a row of new outfits hanging tidily in the wardrobe, awaiting the turning of the leaves and the first hint of a chill in the air?

We’ve teamed up with Great Plains, renowned for its simple styling and high-quality fabrics to give one reader a brand new autumn wardrobe.

The timeless new collection includes lots of cosy outerwear, investment knitwear pieces and soft jersey separates. Key looks include ’70s Parisian styling and soft, contemporary Scandinavian looks.

The collection focuses on a transitional palette of warm neutrals, from caramels and cognacs to zinc and dove greys, offset by brights such as turmeric yellow and magical ‘Northern Lights’ shades.

HOW TO ENTER

The prize includes £500 to spend on Great Plains’ new Autumn/Winter collection. You can see Iceberg Press’ full terms and conditions on page 129 of the August issue and at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules. For more inspiration, visit greatplains.co.uk - closing date: 5 September 2016.

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