Recipe: Honey & mustard glazed ham

Serves 8 - 10

7-8kg cooked and cured leg ham
Whole cloves

For the glaze:

180ml honey
100g brown sugar
50g Dijon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 200˚C (180˚fan), 390˚F, gas 6

2. Use fingers to carefully remove the skin from the ham and score a diamond-cross pattern across the fat, about 5mm deep.

3. Place the ham in a large baking dish, lined with 2 layers of non-stick baking paper.

4. Stud the centres of each diamond with a clove.

5. To make the glaze, combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat over a low heat for 15 mins, or until the sugar has dissolved and mixture thickens.

6. Brush 1/3 of the glaze over the ham and bake for 35-45 minutes, brushing with extra glaze every 15 minutes, until golden and caramelised.

7. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

This recipe was first published in The Simple Things Christmas 2013 issue - buy back issues here. 

Recipe: Wassail - Christmas spiced ale

Wassail, from Middle English wæs hæl, means ‘good health’. So, here’s a hearty festive drink to welcome in the season. 

If you don’t have a punchbowl and ladle, improvise with the largest vessel you can find and, if it’s less than elegant, simply wrap it in a white linen cloth or pretty tablecloth, decorate it with ivy and ribbons and serve the ale with a small jug. This is a dry drink that works well with Guinness or stout as well as ale.

Serves 8–12
Handful of sultanas
150ml marsala, sherry, brandy or rum
100ml ginger cordial or 125g caster sugar
Pinch of grated nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon
2 litres ale, porter, stout or other dark ale
Ice, optional
Punchbowl and cups or glasses

1 Put the sultanas in the punchbowl, add the measured marsala (or alternative), plus the cordial or sugar, and the spices. Leave to macerate.
2 When your guests arrive, add ice (if preferred) and the ale. Stir and serve in the cups.

Plenty more festive ideas for gifts, food and fun in December's issue of The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe now.

Recipes and images taken from Artisan Drinks by Lindy Wildsmith, photography by Kevin Summers (Jacqui Small, £25) 

Simple style: Pyjamas

No need to dress up - we’ve got our pyjamas on.

Unlike the nightie, which rucks up around your waist, pyjamas stay put. They ensure that you can face any disruption: whether it’s a midnight trundle to the fridge, a bleary stumble to a child’s bedroom, or a fire alarm. In your jimjams, you will be ready for anything: neither a chance encounter with an elderly relative or a hose-wielding fireman will faze you. Pyjamas are your friend.

Turn to page 22 of December’s The Simple Things for our PJ picks - one classic and two great updates. Buy, download or subscribe now. 

After more winter warmth and winceyette? Try these bedtime accessories.

Left to right:

1. Patagonia slippers, £69, Plumo

2. Aurela hottie cover, £25, Toast

3. Fireside robe, £118, Anthropologie

Want more lounging inspiration?

More Simple style posts

Recipe: Tangerine and nutmeg hot chocolate

Fireside reads

Subscription offer - FREE Hope and Greenwood tea towel

FREE GIFT! Hope and Greenwood tea towel (worth £10) when you subscribe to The Simple Things

Save money: pay just £11 every 3 months and save 26% 
Order by 9 December to receive in time for Christmas
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* Hope and Greenwood tea towels are made by the lovely people at Ulster Weavers and available to buy at their online store, www.ulsterweavers.com.

Give: Pots of joy

Our pick of homemade gifts for gardeners

1. Plant bulbs into pretty vintage ‘tea cup’ planters. Collect single teacups, sugar bowls or small milk jugs from charity shops or car boot sales. Use a ceramic tile bit and carefully drill a hole in the base. Add a thin layer of gravel then a layer of compost. Varieties to go for: miniature daffodils – ‘Tete a Tete’, ‘Minnow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle’; violets – Viola odorata types which are hardy and long-flowering; grape hyacinth – muscari are delicate little blooms with a wonderful fragrance.

2. Herbs: you can’t go wrong giving pots of rosemary, thyme, basil and parsley as they can be used straight away and then planted out in garden in spring.

3. For that rare winter thing – a hit of floral scent – try forcing hyacinth bulbs or buy them forced. They put on a terrific show and smell divine. 

4. Beautiful and rose-like, pot up pretty Hellebores niger (Christmas rose) in an old tin planter to make a striking display that can be planted outdoors once it’s over to flower again the following winter.

Plenty more festive ideas for gifts, food and fun in December's issue of The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe now. 

Photograph: Alice Hendy Photography

Passing on traditions: The emergency present drawer

Kate Pettier explains the art of the emergency present drawer.

Tag-along cousins, pop-up neighbours – surprise guests over the holiday season are as inevitable as leftovers on Boxing Day. And leftovers, in the gift department, are exactly what you need. Not having bought someone a gift is one of those faux-pas that’s hard to laugh off. Emergency present drawer to the rescue!

In essence, it’s a stash of borderline impersonal gifts ready for dispatch. My mum’s was kept in a box in the under-stairs cupboard: gift-wrapped Elizabeth Shaw Mint Crisps, Yardley powder puffs and multipack men’s hankies were its staples. As a child, how I hoped there’d be unclaimed Orange Matchmakers...

The gifts may have changed, but for my own spare-present haul, I stick to Mum’s principle that it’s the thought that counts. Emergency gifts are less a display of wealth, more a social polyfilla with which we smooth over the awkwardness of someone having been overlooked by Santa. Notelets, scented candles, V&A hankies, truffles and gift-set toiletries wait in the wings to be given away at the last minute. And of course, ever the optimist, I leave the Orange Matchmakers till last.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

1. Soy scented candles from Anthropologie, £14
2. Liberty print handkerchiefs, £5.95
3. Belleville Bakery body wash and body Lotion, & Other Stories, £14
4. Matchmakers, widely available, around £2.50
5. Letterpress pencil correspondence cards, Meticulous Ink, £20
6. Black Forest gateau truffles, Prestat, £12

Do you have an emergency present drawer? Leave your top tips for emergency gift ideas on our Facebook or Twitter.

And there are plenty more festive ideas for gifts, food and fun in December's issue of The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe now. 

The Collector: Snow globes

Vintage cartographer Beth Lennon has a love for all things retro that’s reflected in her collection of snow globes - not that she’s obsessive, she says…

If you’re alone in a room with a snow globe, you have to pick it up. “Oh yeah, you’re not gonna let it sit there,” agrees Beth Lennon. “You have to engage.” When you are a woman with approximately 100 snow globes to your name, that’s quite the commitment.

Of all childhood toys, arguably there is nothing as magnetically compelling as a snow globe. What’s not to captivate? Generally accustomed to following orders every waking minute, there you stand, playing god. You have a) the whole world in your hands, and b) complete control over the weather. (Assuming, of course, you want to let it snow, but at this time of year, why wish for anything else?)

Turn to page 111 of December’s The Simple Things for the full interview with Beth. Buy, download or subscribe now.

Want to build up your own collection? Scour junk shops or flea markets for vintage finds, or try online at eBay or Etsy. Want a contemporary collection? Here’s our selection of the best miniature worlds of fun.

Clockwise from top left:

1. Hang this deer snow globe from your tree. £4, Paperchase.
2. Try your hand at a festive paper cut with a snow globe template. £5.50, Pretty Paper Petal.
3. All is calm... This wintry scene is the perfect table decoration. £15, John Lewis.
4. Happy snowmen adorn these gift tags. £2.59, Charonel Designs.
5. Make your own with this snow globe kit. £24.95, Not on the High Street.
6. Arctic owls take shelter in the forest in this tree decoration. £12, Anthropologie.

Escape: Go foraging PLUS natural festive decoration/gift ideas

Carols and hymns are wound through with references to holly and ivy, and the tradition of collecting these intensely green reminders that life does continue year round stretches way back to pre-Christian times. A foraging walk requires a sturdy bag and secateurs and will make decorating your home or creating a wreath an easy job.

Both holly and ivy are easy to find growing wild in Britain – ivy is an important autumn source of pollen for bees and other pollinators, while holly berries, although toxic to humans, are enjoyed by birds and other wildlife. You’ll need to track down a cluster of holly bushes, since only the female produces berries, but both sexes need to be nearby!

Mistletoe also has its parasitic roots in pre-Christian times, but these days gathering some for a cheeky doorway ornament doesn’t require the use of a golden sickle on the sixth day of the moon’s cycle, just good local air quality and a keen eye. Though as the orchards in which it is most often found are now rare and localised you are more likely to find it at a market.

Cone and fir garland

When you’re out on a woodland walk keep your eyes peeled for cones, berries, twigs and leaves to make into homemade decorations. You don’t have to spend a fortune on decorations, there are plenty of things to forage for free that add seasonal sparkle. No need to stick to a natural, Shaker-style Christmas either – use paint, glitter and colourful ribbon to help them work with your chosen colour scheme. It’s a good idea to keep a plastic bag in your pocket so you’re always ready to collect mother nature’s winter bounty.

• Collect 20 cones and several fir tree twigs, needles still attached. Cut the twigs into 5cm lengths and strip needles from one end, exposing about 1cm of bare stem.

• Cut a 1m length of garden string (or ribbon, or twine).

• To make the garland, simply alternate between cones and fir sprigs, tying them onto the string at 2cm intervals. Leave enough string at either end to attach to the tree, mantelpiece or spot of your choice.

A foraged hamper

Been foraging all year to make delicious goodies? Use these to make a foraged hamper of treats - it's a thoughtful, handmade gift idea. 

Follow the instructions over on Wolves in London blog where you'll find recipes, ideas and inspiration for homegrown, foraged and seasonal food, perfect for a foraged Christmas hamper.

Turn to page 66 of December's The Simple Things for more on the walks that make Christmas. Buy, download or subscribe now.

Recipe: Stollen with dark rum and lemon marzipan

Stollen is the German Christmas cake. Dip it in coffee or eat with a piece of Hafod cheese.

The original German Christmas cake was from Dresden. It was a moist heavy bread filled with fruit, and the first recorded mention of it was in 1474. This official stollen is produced by only 150 bakers in the city, is still sold at the local Christmas market and has a special seal. All very interesting, but we bet it doesn’t taste any better than this one.

Stollen with dark rum and lemon marzipan

50g dark rum
75g raisins
75g sour cherries or cranberries 

Vanilla butter:

100g butter
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Marzipan (or buy ready-made): 

100g ground almonds
35g icing sugar
10ml lemon juice
15ml dark rum
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 large egg

Cake:

50g milk (room temperature)
250g strong white flour
5g quick yeast (7g fresh yeast)
25g caster sugar
5g fine sea salt
2 large eggs (room temperature) 
Chopped zest of 2 oranges and
2 lemons
5g ground spice – 50/50 cardamom/ cinnamon
100g butter, diced
Icing sugar to finish

1. Warm the rum and mix it with the dried fruit, cover and leave at room temp for 24 hours. To make vanilla butter, melt 100g butter and sprinkle with vanilla pod seeds; leave to infuse. 
2. The next day, make marzipan. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, cover tightly and place in the fridge.
3. Warm the milk, add 25g of the flour and all the yeast. Mix well with fingers and cover tightly. Leave for 45 mins.
4. Add the rest of the flour, sugar, salt and eggs and mix it with the foaming yeast. When all flour is incorporated, turn dough onto the table and knead for 4 mins, cover tightly and rest for 30 mins.
5. Uncover dough and press out into an oblong. Put zest and spice on top of the dough, along with the butter. With your fingers, massage it all together. It’s very loose at this stage – almost a batter. Massage until the dough becomes a consistent colour. Scrape together into a ball, cover well and leave to rest for 30 mins. Use a very small amount of flour on your hands and work surface while shaping if you need to.
6. Add soaked fruit and massage into dough to combine. Sprinkle some flour on the table, scrape up dough, place on the flour and top with another sprinkling of flour. Stretch dough to create four corners and fold them in on themselves. 7 Turn dough over, bottom side up, shape into a ball and put back in the bowl. Cover tightly and leave for 2.5 hours.
8. Scrape dough out onto a well floured surface. Halve dough and gently press down to create 2 oblongs, arranged with one of the longer sides towards you.
9. Divide marzipan into 2 and roll each half into a sausage shape. Place each in the middle of a dough oblong, leaving a 2cm gap at either end. Fold the side nearest you over the top of the marzipan and tuck in on the far side. Then fold the side farthest away over the top of the marzipan and gently press the seam in. Make sure the seam is totally sealed by pinching with your fingers if necessary. 
10. Lift stollen carefully onto a baking tray covered with baking parchment. Bend it slightly so you’re left with a semi circular shape. Leave for 90 mins.
11. Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/400F. Bake stollen for 25–28 mins, then remove from oven and leave to cool on tray for 30 mins.
12. Melt vanilla butter and pour evenly over the stollen. This will help to lock the moisture in when it cools down. Leave the stollen on the tray for 1 hour.
13. Cover stollen all over with a thick layer of icing sugar. Ideally place the stollen in a tin and leave until the next day to eat so the flavour can develop.

The stollen should last two weeks kept in a tin.

Turn to page 24 of December's The Simple Things for our baker, Alex Gooch's other Christmas recipes, including potato and onion bread with pickled chilli and Hafod cheese, and toasted hazelnut, apple and prune loaf. 

Buy, download or subscribe now.

Write your cards (well)

Timely advice to improve your handwriting from lettering artist Cherrell Avery.

1. Find a good handwriting pen, a roller ball or fountain pen that grips the paper.
2. Sit right. Bad posture equals bad writing. Make sure your legs aren’t scrunched up, your back is straight and hold your pen with a loose, relaxed grip.
3. Keep your fingers flexible, not rigid. Try doodling to practise mobilising your digits.
4. Spend five minutes writing, being mindful of what you’re doing, of how your writing looks, the speed and the shapes (not what you’re writing).
5 . Inspect your writing. Is the scale and proportion of your letters consistent? Are you forming your letters correctly? Many people miss the backbone in the letters n, m and r. Misjoining letters is also common. When writing at speed, n, m and h deterioriate quickly. Get to know what your habits are and practise slowing down to correct them. 

Cherrell teaches Transform your Handwriting courses at London’s Idler Academy, www.idler.co.uk.

Give someone The Simple Things this Christmas

Buy a subscription to The Simple Things and save 26%.

To see all our offers for UK and overseas subscriptions, visit www.icebergpress.co.uk/christmas or call 020 7415 7238. We are a small team, so at busy times we may be an answer phone - leave a message and we promise to call you back.

Terms and conditions: Saving compared to buying 12 full priced issues from the UK newsstand. This offer is for new UK print subscribers only, check online for overseas prices. You will receive 12 issues in a year and the subscription will start with the next available issue. Prices correct at point of print and subject to change. For full terms and conditions please visit www.icebergpress.co.uk/tandc

December cover reveal

Joy is in the detail... the spice in your eggnog, grass sparkling with frost. There is happiness in moments - of quiet by the tree, in a distant peal of bells. Acts of kindness capture it; family traditions preserve it. Savour it your own way, perhaps curled on the sofa, making decorations or stepping out in the wintry air. Christmas is complete when you celebrate The Simple Things.

December's The Simple Things is out today - buy, download or subscribe now.

Recipe: Chicken and quince tagine

Pumpkins are plump, orchard fruit is ripe. Lia Leendertz knows just what to do with quince and medlar.

‘I first came across the idea of using quince as the fruity element in a tagine in Mark Diacono’s River Cottage Handbook: Veg Patch, and it seemed just right. Quinces originate in the Middle East and sit happily in a tagine. I’ve used chicken, flavoured with saffron, ginger and cinnamon.’ Lia Leendertz

Serves 4
8 chicken thighs
3 tbsp olive oil
3 red onions, sliced lengthways 
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 small winter squash (I used uchiki kuri)
2 red peppers
5 dried apricots, chopped 
Small bunch coriander
Small bunch parsley
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp saffron, in warm water
1 cinnamon stick
4 tbsp black olives
2 tbsp honey
1 preserved lemon
2 quinces
Juice of 1 lemon

1. Brown the chicken thighs all over then set aside. Take a large, heavy dish with a well-fitting lid and add the oil, red onions and garlic. Place over a low heat. Chop and add the other vegetables and the apricots.
2. Finely chop the herbs and sprinkle over, reserving half of the coriander. Add spices, olives and honey. Remove and discard the pith from the preserved lemon, finely chop the rind and add to the pot.
3. Arrange the browned chicken on the top of the vegetables, add 175ml water and set over the heat. Bring up to a simmer, cover with the lid and turn down to the lowest possible heat. Simmer for 45 mins.
4. In the meantime peel and quarter the quinces; drop into a pan of boiling water, with the lemon juice, and simmer gently for 30 mins. Drain and, when slightly cool, remove the cores and slice each quarter in two. Add to the tagine for final 10 mins of cooking. Sprinkle over the reserved chopped coriander before serving.

Turn to page 44 of November's The Simple Things for the full menu, which includes Khobz (Moroccan bread), a quince & medlar cheeseboard,  buttery baked medlars, spiced pickled quince, and quince brandy. Buy or download your copy now.

Competition: Win a week in the snow with Inntravel (closed)

WIN! A HOLIDAY WORTH £2,450

Our Christmas present to you? The chance to win a week of fun-packed, snow-filled activities in the Austrian Tyrol, courtesy of Inntravel. 

Reposing on the shores Lake Achensee, where the bright waters never entirely freeze, the Tyrolean village of Pertisau offers scenic cross-country trails and downhill skiing, along with a host of other snow-based activities on the ‘quiet side of the mountain’.

We have teamed up with Inntravel to offer one lucky reader and their companion a week’s holiday at their most consistently and highly praised hotel. The Wiesenhof has belonged to the Entner family for generations and is a ‘4-star superior’ hotel. Inntravel customers rave about the warmth of the welcome (“a great balance between 'big hotel' facilities and 'small hotel' service”), the attention to detail and the excellent food – breakfast, a light lunch and dinner are included each day, as well as afternoon cakes.

Besides the skiing, there are miles of winter walking trails to be enjoyed here, plus ice skating, curling and tobogganing – or even a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the snow-covered valleys. But there is plenty of time to take it easy, too: admire Christmas card-worthy views from your spacious balcony, relax with a drink and a good book by the bar’s open fire, or loll around in the large, state-of-the-art spa.

Enter now!

Notes on olives

So much more than a martini accessory, this savoury fruit will pimp up salads, egg soldiers and more. It’s olive harvesting time. But do you know your amphissa from your arbequina? Our guide will make you a master of olives in no time.

Bella di cerignola
Stunning on a sharing plate, these ample Italian beauties are antipasti favourites. Their mild flavour and firm bite make them ideal for olive beginners.

Kalamata
The olive lover’s olive is rich with a bittersweet, chocolate aftertaste. They add greek sunshine to pot-roast chicken.

Amphissa
These greek all-rounders shine when soaked in extra virgin olive oil infused with lemon zest, garlic and herbs. Just add warm pittas for an instant lunch.

Extra virgin olive oil
A store-cupboard staple with 6,000 years of history behind it. Swirl it round a glass and sniff deeply to savour its fruity complexity.

Arbequina
These diminutive Spanish spheres are best picked blond – halfway through ripening from green to black. Prized for their earthy flavour and silky texture.

Tapenade
Use this mash-up of olives, anchovies and capers as a sultry dressing for new potatoes or on soldiers for a grown-up boiled egg brunch.

For more on olives, turn to page 34 of November's The Simple Things. Buy or download your copy now.

Renegade Craft Fair

The Renegade Craft Fair heads across the pond and returns to the Old Truman Brewery on November 22 + 23, 11am-6pm. Buy direct from over 100 of the best indie makers from the UK and beyond, selling outstanding handmade goods at the Fair – from holiday inspired stationery and gift wrap, unique and one-of-a-kind jewellery, children’s toys, apparel and shoes, to illustrated prints and posters, housewares and much more.

Come and enjoy the festive atmosphere while you shop among holiday tunes, decorations, garlands and an art installation wall; a perfect photo backdrop for shoppers wanting to commemorate their visit. Check out fun workshops such as Prickle Press‘ DIY letterpress postcards, and a pom pom bauble workshop with Pom Pom Quarterly.

The Simple Things Magazine is the Official Media Sponsor of the Renegade Craft Fair London, so make sure you come and say hello.

Make: Bug hotel

Build a bug hotel for your garden. This multi-storey insect hotel will soon fill up with guests, from ladybirds to lacewings.

You will need:
24 old bricks
Some old curved roof tiles
10 short pieces of wood
Corrugated cardboard, bamboo canes, drinking straws, old pots, logs, egg boxes, pine cones, and dry leaves
A selection of hollow tubes, such as empty cardboard tubes, loo rolls, plastic pipes and bottles

1 Find a quiet, sheltered spot in the garden and make sure that the ground is flat. Lay two rows of bricks, two bricks long and two bricks high, so that they are the same width apart as the length of your pieces of wood.
2 Put a curved roof tile between the two rows as a shelter for toads and frogs.
3 Lay three pieces of wood, spaced evenly, across the lines of bricks. Add another one or two courses of bricks and some more wood to build up the storeys. 
4 On the top layer, add an extra piece of wood at the back of the stack to make the tiles sit at an angle, so the rain runs off. 
5 Roll up pieces of corrugated cardboard, slide them inside the cardboard tubes then put these inside the hotel. Fill the other tubes and plastic pipes with a selection of hollow stems like bamboo and drinking straws. These make perfect winter ‘rooms’ for small insects.
6 You could also drill holes in the ends of logs or add other materials such as egg boxes, pine cones, and dry leaves.
7 Place more tiles on top of the final layer to form the roof of the hotel.
8 Find a flat tile or piece of slate and write the name of your hotel on it with chalk.

Nest: Interiors tips from Lilli Toukolehto

Lilli Toukolehto jointly owns interior and lifestyle shop and café Moko Market & Café in Helsinki (www.moko.fi/en) with her sister. By layering fabric and being unafraid of colour, Lilli has given her Helsinki apartment real personality. Turn to page 90 of November’s The Simple Things for the full home tour, or read on for Lilli’s top style tips.

LILLI’S STYLE
1. Don’t be afraid of colour, I love to mix rich crimsons and pinks with yellows and purples – the combination always lifts my spirits.

2. You can never have enough cushions. I am always buying and making more so that I can change them from season to season to freshen up my interior scheme.

3. Keep an eye open for neglected furniture. If it was well made, it will have a good, solid frame and can be reupholstered.

4. Display mirrors and pictures in groups to  create an area of interest.

5. Mix furniture and other pieces from different eras: the joy of vintage is that it works across the decades.