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Taking Time to Live Well
Yes, there's just one day left to buy the July issue of The Simple Things! And it's a cracker.
Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
View the sampler here or head out to get your copy TODAY!
Illustrations: Joe Snow
Today marks the bicentenary of Jane Austen's death (18 July 1817). In the July issue, The Simple Things presents Miscellany: a curious combination of the practical and the playful, circa 1817. Buy July here.
Learn how to make small talk at a ball, make us giggle with a caption for wet-shirted Colin Firth as Darcy, and learn an Austen word for a noble or young gentleman.
Discover a fab gadget (Austen was reportedly a dab hand at this cup and ball game), cast aside your cocoa in favour of a much nicer nightcap, and take a household hint from Northanger Abbey.
Shop three beautiful editions of Austen's classics, learn a classic 18th century card game as played in Emma and Pride and Prejudice, and discover how hard it can be to be an accomplished lady.
Finally, get to grips with Austen's homes in our identifier and learn how to improve your garden, Austen style.
Find out more about talks, walks, exhibitions and performances at janeausten200.co.uk.
Image: Getty
For a truly nostalgic day trip to the seaside, track down a steam train special. On page 60 of July’s The Simple Things, Travis Elborough takes a train to the sea.
‘As someone who grew up by the seaside but has lived in two landlocked cities over the past three decades, I need few excuses to head to the
coast on a whim or having spotted a decent weather report. Like Ishmael in Moby Dick, I am occasionally gripped by an almost uncontrollable urge to ‘get to sea’. And my preferred means of reaching these longed-for shores is invariably a train.
‘Although railway stations can be the stuff of humdrum commutes,disruptions
and disputes, I treasure the possibilities they offer as means of escape to coastal adventure. The destination boards at Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, Chester, London’s St Pancras and Fenchurch Street proffering the options, respectively, of visits to Blackpool or Morecambe, Scarborough, Llandudno, Broadstairs and Margate, Southend and Leigh-on-Sea.
‘Here a railway ticket can serve as a passport to a place of sights (if not actually sun), sea and vinegary fish and chips, where parking is no concern of mine. Travelling light on these occasions only helps to add a certain devil-may-care air of fleetfootedness to the whole affair.’
Read more in July’s The Simple Things.
Photography: Susanna Blåvarg
Coated in sesame seeds and served with soured cream, honey and fresh pomegranate – what’s not to love?
Serves 2
4 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 x 250g pack of halloumi cut into chunky chip ‘fries’
Vegetable oil for deep frying
1 tsp honey
Seeds of 1⁄2 a pomegranate
Bunch of flat-leaf parsley
4 tbsp soured cream
1 In a bowl, combine the flour and sesame seeds. Coat the halloumi fries in the mixture until covered.
2 Place a small, heavy-based pan over a medium-high heat and pour in 2–3cm of vegetable oil. Test to see if the oil is ready by dropping a small piece of halloumi into the pan – it should immediately start sizzling.
3 Carefully place a few halloumi fries in the pan and fry for a couple of minutes on each side until crunchy and golden. You’ll needtodothisinbatchesof4or5soas not to overcrowd the pan. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the fries and drain on kitchen paper.
4 Drizzle the fries with honey, scatter with pomegranate and parsley and serve with a dollop of soured cream on the side.
From Milly’s Real Food by Nicola Millbank (HarperCollins)
Image: Plain Picture
Life coach Lou Hamilton offers the following advice to take the stress out of solo travel
1 Have a sense of purpose. A reason you want to do it that’s bigger than your fear.
2 Be prepared. Double-check everything.
3 Walk yourself through the trip in your mind’s eye and imagine success.
4 Organise the first few trips with a reason to interact with people, such as a retreat or creative course or a family-run B&B or homestay.
5 Don’t spend your time staring at your phone – look up, make eye contact, introduce yourself, and smile.
6 Take safety precautions but don’t let fear stop you taking calculated risks.
Roam Alone, Inspiring Tales by Reluctant Solo Travellers (Bradt)
40 tales of adventure by people who took the plunge and never looked back.
Solitude by Michael Harris (Random House)
Get inspired to set off.
Without Reservations: The Travel of an Independent Woman by Alice Steinbach (Bantam).
An US journalist travels Europe alone after her kids have flown the nest.
Zipskee
The app that connects you with like-minded locals around the world.
Triplt
This clever app replaces the travel companion who reminds you to pack your passport, book that transfer, and so on.
Google Translate
Will encourage you to interact with locals and decipher menus.
See, do, stay, love the UK. This month: Charmaine Beaumont-Hammond heads to Bude for a beachy retreat
Our regular travel series comes from online UK travel guide This is Your Kingdom, whose handpicked contributors explore favourite places, special finds and great goings on.
You can read about one we love each month in The Simple Things – turn to page 68 of the July issue for more of this seaside adventure – and plenty of others at thisisyourkingdom.co.uk.
Charmaine Beaumont-Hammond is a contributor to thisisyourkingdom.co.uk and is a writer, photographer and co-owner of wealdstore.com. She blogs at wealdblog.co.uk; follow her on Instagram @wealdblog.
Image: Catherine Frawley
Photography: Steve Painter
This traditional Iranian cake has all the moreishness of a drizzle cake, topped with an indulgent cream-cheese frosting, carrot cake-style. Doubly delicious
POMEGRANATE CAKE
200g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1⁄2 lemon
240g self-raising flour mixed with 1 tsp baking powder, sifted
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
50g fresh pomegranate seeds
for the syrup
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
Freshly squeezed juice of 1⁄2 lemon
80g granulated sugar
1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
150g fresh pomegranate seeds for the frosting
250g full-fat cream cheese
50ml double cream
80g icing sugar
1 Preheat oven to 160C/Fan 140C/325F. Grease a 23cm round loose-bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment.
2 Place the butter and sugar into the bowl of the food mixer and beat on a medium speed until fluffy. With the speed set on slow, add the eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go. Add the vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice and the sifted flour/baking powder and blend until just mixed. Add the pomegranate molasses and pomegranate seeds and carefully mix until just combined.
3 Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 45–50 mins until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin slightly while you make the syrup.
4 For the syrup, place all the ingredients except the seeds into a small pan along with 80ml water. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat to high and boil for 5 mins until slightly syrupy. Spoon half of the warm syrup over the warm cake and set aside to cool completely in the tin. Add the fresh pomegranate seeds to the remaining syrup and set aside to cool fully.
5 Place all the frosting ingredients in a large bowl and beat using a balloon whisk or hand-held electric whisk until thick and creamy.
6 Turn out the cooled cake onto a plate. Spoon over the frosting and use a palette knife to smooth it to the edges in rustic style. Carefully spoon the remaining syrup and seeds over the frosting and allow it to drip down the sides of the cake. Slice and enjoy!
Recipe from Lola’s: A Cake Journey Around the World by Lola’s Bakers and Julia Head (Ryland, Peters & Small).
Image: Audrey Fitzjohn
Burgers can be special, grilled outdoors and topped with crisp leaves, crunchy pickles and melting camembert
Serves 6
450g beef mince
1 camembert (approx 250g)
6 ciabatta buns
6 tbsp readymade aïoli
Handful of baby spinach
Gherkins
1 Shape the minced meat into 6 round patties, each roughly 1cm thick, and cut the camembert into slices.
2 Cook the patties on the barbecue,
3 mins on each side for medium rare (or cooked to your liking).
3 Cut the ciabatta buns in half, spread aïoli on one side of the bun, top with baby spinach leaves, a cooked patty, two slices of camembert and a few slices of gherkin.
Turn to page 24 for the rest of our beach barbecue menu, including:
Green summer salad
Pesto and sun-dried tomato pasta
Prawn kebabs
Pineapple coconut juice
Fruit salad
Photography: Nassima Rothacker
Serums can feel like an expensive luxury but they don’t have to be.
Used before applying moisturiser, they give a boost to your skin and this homemade version uses vitamin C for its antioxidant properties and its role in repairing collagen.
Great for sun-stressed skin, it’s quick and easy to prepare – just make it when you need it...
1 tsp vitamin C powder (available from health food shops or online. Just make sure you buy a natural one)
2 tsp filtered water
Stir the vitamin C powder into water until fully dissolved. Use before bed after washing your face and before applying moisturiser. Smooth onto your face in a circular upward motion and let it sink in.
From The Art of the Natural Home by Rebecca Sullivan (Kyle Books).
Image: Karly/Unsplash
Things you might want to do this month (no pressure!)
What would you add? Come over and tell us on Facebook or Twitter.
Image: Katarzyna Kos
That moment when the sun shines brightly enough to justify wearing a favourite pair of sunglasses is a moment to lift the heart. Snap open the case, slip them on and it’s like saying hello to an old friend.
Of course they offer welcome protection from harmful UV rays but that’s just the start and, to be totally honest, comes quite a long way down the list of priorities when choosing a pair. The right pair of sunglasses provides an instant and easy way to lift your look from normal to almost glamorous. Take a cue from Jackie Kennedy Onassis, whose over-sized pair not only shielded her from public and paparazzi scrutiny but helped to endow her with iconic fashion status.
Sunglasses also have great concealing powers: whether it’s to hide a lack of make- up, laughter lines or baggy and bloodshot eyes. Wear a pair and you can pretend that you are a wasted rock legend or a jet-lagged film star rather than someone who had a little too much prosecco the night before.
Safe behind the tinted lenses and the cheekbone-flattering frames, you can be anyone you choose, or at least a boosted version of yourself. Bono, that inveterate wearer of tinted, wrap-around shades (Emporio Armani, if you’re curious) knows this only too well: without them, he confesses, he would look like “an ordinary little Irish man”.
Read more on the history of eye protection on page 22 of July’s The Simple Things.
THE CLASSIC
Ally Aviator sunglasses | £10
A little bit Top Gun, a little bit Wag, but the teardrop shape is always cool.
topshop.com
TWO GREAT TWISTS
Gracie sunglasses | £59
Brushed stainless steel and pink enamel. Lightweight and with 100% UV protection.
jigsaw-online.com
Rectangular wrap over-sized sunglasses | £9.50
Channel the spirit of Jackie O in these.
marksandspencer.com
To wander is to stray from the path well trodden. But it is also about discovering the unexpected, experiencing the new and noticing the little things, wherever you may be. Remember the moment; take and print out photographs, send and save postcards, learn from songs and sayings in foreign lands. For a more mindful adventure, let wandering be your travel guide this summer and go your own way.
Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
View the sampler here, buy back issues or try our sister mag, Oh Comely
Strawberries and pasta? Why not! This fun and colourful salad has a bounty of fresh fruit and veg and the pesto avocado dressing is creamy yet light. Enjoy in the sunshine with a glass of something cold.
300g dry pasta
1 broccoli, head and stalk
2 carrots, tops removed and peeled
250g fresh strawberries, hulled
1 nectarine, sliced
1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
1 handful fresh basil leaves
Pesto and avocado dressing:
75g homemade* or shop-bought pesto
1 ripe avocado
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
To serve:
Shavings of pecorino or parmesan
Toasted pine nuts
Extra virgin olive oil
1 Cook the pasta until al dente.
2 Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into small florets, trim and roughly chop stalks and place in a sieve over the pasta water during the last few minutes of cooking. Drain pasta and broccoli and set aside.
3 Place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, season and mash until combined.
4 Thinly slice the carrots, quarter the strawberries, slice the nectarine and halve the tomatoes. Transfer the pasta and broccoli to a large serving bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and dressing and gently toss to coat. Add a dash of water if you need to loosen the dressing.
5 Serve topped with pecorino, a sprinkling of pine nuts, seasoning and a drizzle of oil.
*To make homemade pesto, you will need:
100g fresh basil, leaves and stems picked
60g grana padano or parmesan, grated
50g pine nuts, toasted
80ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, peeled
Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender, season to taste and blend until well combined. Store the pesto in the fridge in a sealable glass jar and it will keep for about a week. Alternatively, roll it into a log using a sheet of greaseproof paper and store it in the freezer.
Taken from Green Kitchen at Home by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl (Hardie Grant).
Songs to inspire meandering and wanderlust in equal measure.
Listen to our songs for wandering playlist now
Cornwall, tranquillity, coastline, countryside, luxury: is there anything in this list not to like?
On page 68 of July's The Simple Things (out 28 June) we visit Bude Hideaways, tucked into the Cornish countryside. Fancy a visit yourself? Entering this prize draw to win a three-night stay there is a good place to start.
The winner will stay in Red Barn, which sleeps up to four guests and a baby in one double and one twin room. One of two contemporary conversions on site, it features white walls, bold art, Eames chairs, Orla Kiely homewares, underfloor heating and wood-burners. Everything you could possibly need has been thought of.
Owners Conrad and Karen live nearby and are warmth itself – totally discreet if you prefer to be anonymous, but there if you want tips on all the quaint villages, great eateries and beaches it has to offer.
Best of all, their gorgeous seven-acre smallholding is an enormous, safe haven for kids, with large lawns for kicking a ball around, free-range chickens strutting around, even a woodland den to discover – all of which gives parents the chance to relax, read books, admire the wildflower meadow, or simply do nothing at all.
Bude Hideaways is part of i-escape’s hand-picked collection of boutique hotels and stylish self-catering rentals. i-escape’s passionate team is dedicated to helping you find and book unforgettable places to stay, and all the properties in its portfolio are visited and reviewed in honesty.
Enter online at thisisyourkingdom.co.uk/competition/bude-hideaways before the closing date, 9 August 2017. The winner will be chosen at random and notified after this date. The prize does not include travel, food, drink or any extras aside from your three-night stay, which must be taken before 1 August 2018. Some weeks are excluded; find full terms and conditions online.
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.
