Christmas: Boxing day walks
Cheek-chilling walks, daredevil dips or a day at the races, turn to page 74 of December’s The Simple Things for plenty of energetic ideas to persuade you from your sofa to make a day of it on the 26th
Read on for three Boxing Day walks with a twist.
Go with a guide
Joining a guided walking tour can bring a whole new dimension to your country ramble or parkland stroll. Check out the National Trust (nationaltrust.org.uk). Hinton Ampner in Hampshire,
is holding a four-mile tour around the estate led by the head gardener; at Bodiam Castle in East Sussex a guided walk also offers an exclusive preview of the castle interiors followed by a breakfast bap.
Take to the streets
Explore the urban landscape on your doorstep. You may think you’ve seen it all before, but have you? Stop to read plaques and signs, take the turns you usually pass by, and discover a new-found love for those familiar streets (see our feature on urban walks in October 2016, issue 52).
Set up a treasure hunt
It’s just not Christmas without a quiz. Add a bit of fun and healthy competition to your festive walk by setting up a Christmas- themed treasure hunt. The prize? The last of the mince
pies of course!
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Pukkapedia: Herbs to help rebalance
Many of us take the new year as a cue to give our bodies an MOT, with rebalancing what we eat as good a place as any to start. Nature’s medicine cabinet contains many cleansing plants.
Fennel, a key ingredient of Pukka’s Detox tea, is great for easing nausea and indigestion and can help to reduce the other physical effects of alcohol. A warm cup of fennel tea will help to relieve digestive ailments, making it a handy hangover tonic and a gentle cleanser.
Marvellous matcha
Matcha is made from a special type of powdered green tea. It’s packed full of antioxidants which help to fight free radicals built up by pollution, exposure to alcohol and those not-so-healthy party foods. Sip this tea, perhaps with a squeeze of lemon, the next time you feel the need to rebalance your body. Or try Pukka’s Clean Matcha Green.
Turn to page 15 of January’s The Simple Things for more rebalancing herbs, including Mint, Ginger, Rosemary, Chamomile, Parsley and Turmeric.
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Competition: Win a copy of The Wicked Plants Coloring Book
Some plants are the root, berry and bark of all evil. In January’s Miscellany we take a look at the darker side of horticulture.
In The Wicked Plants Coloring Book, Amy Stewart and Briony Morrow-Cribbs offer up 40 menacing plants in gorgeous, vintage-style botanical illustrations to colour. from the vine that ate the South to the weed that killed Lincoln’s mother to the world’s deadliest seed.
We’ve got five copies to give away. Enter below
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Listen: Scandi playlist
Some are moody – some, poppy: songs with a Nordic soul to make you feel cooler.
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WIN! A walking holiday worth £600
Have a breath of fresh air and head into the hills with a three-night guided walking break with HF Holidays
There’s a drama that comes with mountain ranges and rolling hills. Snowdonia, the Scottish Highlands, the Lakes... the UK is home to some spectacular mountain scenery – close enough to home to be enjoyed in a short break. Walking specialist HF Holidays has teamed up with The Simple Things to give away a guided walking break for two, staying at one of its 19 country houses. Your first challenge? Deciding where to go...
HF Holidays has been organising walking trips for more than a century, so the company knows its stuff. All of its UK guided walking breaks come with a choice of walks each day – easier, medium, harder – which means you can pick a route to suit your mood/the weather/energy levels.
As well as bases at Derwent Water in the Lakes, Glencoe and two properties in Snowdonia, highlights include escapes in the Yorkshire Dales, the Cotswolds and Peak District, and coastal getaways from Northumberland to Dorset. All HF Holidays UK locations are within National Parks or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its country houses can be as sociable or relaxed as you like.
Walk together during the day or explore independently. Meet up in the bar before dining with fellow walkers. Each house offers a different experience; from legendary packed lunches to dedicated boot rooms, maps and books galore… If you’re new to walking, opt for one of HF Holidays’ taster breaks – self-guided and guided walks, from gentle rambles to longer hikes. And there are experts on hand to give advice on everything from boots to routes.
For more info, visit hfholidays.co.uk/taster or call 0345 470 7558
HOW TO ENTER
For your chance to win a three-night guided walking break for two on a full-board basis at a country house in the UK, courtesy of HF Holidays, enter below
The winner gets to choose from any of HF Holidays’ UK country house locations, subject to availability and some peak-season restrictions. You have until 31 October 2017 to take your holiday. And you cannot transfer it or swap it for cash. The closing date for entries is 8 February 2017.
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Illustration: Joe Snow
Christmas: How to light your Christmas pudding
These methods will set off your plum pudding with aplomb
These two loved and trusted ways of getting a fabulous flame on your pud both rely on the same essentials – that is getting your brandy, your serving implement and the pudding itself warm. Our additional serving suggestions include keeping your audience calm and seated, and moving anything flammable well out of range.
FLASH IN THE PAN
1 Pour cooking brandy into a small pan and gently warm until it begins to start steaming.
2 Tip to the side of the pan, then light.
3 Angle the pan away from you and pour over a warm pudding.
LADLE IT ON
1 Fill a metal ladle or large metal spoon about three-quarters full of cooking brandy.
2 Heat over a flame.
3 Carefully tip the candle flame towards the brandy to light.
4 Pour your flaming brandy over the top of the pudding.
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Illustration: Joe Snow
How to be a better caroller
Hark! The herald angels sing... more harmoniously by following our suggestions
While these tips won’t magically gift you the voice of an angel, they will improve what you’ve got, or at least make you more confident about it.
Take the stand
Singing is a lot about breathing. Stand with legs apart, chest lifted up, and shoulders back to help with air flow.
Stay hydrated
Step away from the egg nog. Water keeps vocal cords hydrated and happy.
Open wide
To create air space within your mouth, your tongue should be forward, touching your bottom teeth; your mouth open (long, not wide).
Tune in...
Singing with others is great for aspiring improvers – listen to other voices to work out when you’re getting it right. Resist the opportunity to belt it out – mid-volume is better.
... and keep going
Stronger voices come with practice, so keep carolling, whether in the shower or the car, and by next year you should be ding donging merrily on high.
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Christmas: Gingerbread tree decorations
Edible tree baubles with built-in festive fragrance, as well as heaps of homemade charm
Makes 20
180g dark brown sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
100g unsalted butter
350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
11⁄2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
For the icing
White icing pen or ready-to-use decorating icing (transferred to an icing syringe) – both available from Lakeland or Hobbycraft
1 Melt the sugar, syrup and butter together in a pan. Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
2 Tip the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon and beaten egg into a large bowl. Add the syrup mixture and stir to combine. Gently knead in the bowl to form a soft, streak-free dough. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
3 Remove from the fridge and set aside to soften for about 5 mins. Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/400F and line two baking trays with baking parchment.
4 Dust a work surface with flour, roll out the dough to around 1⁄2 cm thick, cut out your shapes and place on the lined baking trays. Keep re-working the dough until you have used it all. If you’re hanging the biscuits, make holes for the string – a skewer or chopstick works well.
6 Bake for 8–10 minutes, until a darker brown. While still hot and on the baking sheet, sharpen up the holes with your chosen instrument, before transferring to racks to cool.
7 Once completely cool, decorate the biscuits with white icing, then loop through some string for hanging.
More scents of Christmas on page 24 of December’s The Simple Things, including Orange pot pourri, Filo mince pies, Pine drawer sachets, Chestnut and mushroom pate and Herb smudge wands.
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Recipes: Lia Leendertz, photography: Kirstie Young
Recipe: Fig and pomegranate rum trifle
You’ve got to have a trifle - it’s Christmas!
Serves 8–10
300ml pomegranate juice
3 shots rum*
600g Madeira cake
16 figs
Seeds from 1⁄2 pomegranate
600ml double cream
2 x 500g pots fresh custard
Edible gold leaf, to decorate (optional)
1 Mix the pomegranate juice with 2 shots of the rum in a bowl. Chop the cake into chunks and dip briefly into the rum and juice mixture before layering into the bottom of a glass trifle bowl. Halve six of the figs and arrange, cut side facing out, around the side of the bowl.
2 Scoop out the flesh from the remaining figs and chop finely, before mixing with the last shot of rum. Spoon the mixture over the sponge and top with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds, reserving enough to decorate the trifle.
3 Just before serving, whisk the cream to soft peaks. Use a little of the whipped cream to create a thin barrier over the boozy fig mixture. This will keep your decorative fig halves free of custard.
4 Spoon over the custard, followed by the rest the whipped cream. Sprinkle with the reserved pomegranate seeds and some edible gold leaf, if using.
*To make your trifle family friendly, replace the rum with an extra 75ml pomegranate juice
Turn to page 36 of December's The Simple Things for more of our pot luck pleasures feast, including:
Rosehip and blood orange punch
Red onion, goats’ cheese and walnut tart
Chicory, pear, stilton and pecan salad
Salmon en croûte with dill sauce
Honey and sage roast root vegetables
Clementine and chocolate bread and butter pudding
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Photography: Getty Images
Think: The gift of goodwill
Giving and doing good helps others while making you a happier person too. but only if you do it for the right reasons
December's The Simple Things looks at how giving can be good for you, as well as your cause. Or read on for a quick guide to being kind.
Altruistic could-do list
Show kindness
Give unwanted warm clothes to a homeless person, offer the toys/bike you were going to put on Ebay to a family who might appreciate some help this Christmas.
The Salvation Army, for example, runs a Christmas Present Appeal, salvationarmy.org.uk.
Donate
Many of us have a cause that’s close to our hearts, but if you want to donate to charity and feel bewildered by the choice of worthy recipients, GiveWell (givewell.org) is an independent evaluator that rates charities in terms of lives saved or improved.
Volunteer
Type your postcode in to do-it.org, a national volunteering database, to find opportunities in your community, from dog-walking to admin.
Be neighbourly
More than one million elderly people in the UK regularly go a whole month without speaking to anyone. If you don’t know a person who needs befriending, ageuk.org.uk can put you in touch.
Turn to page 90 of December’s The Simple Things for more.
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Image: Unsplash
Christmas: Juletid in Norway
The Norwegians are big on Christmas (Juletid) with celebrations starting on Christmas Eve at 4pm and lasting until 13 January. Here are some highlights:
- Santa Claus (Julenissen) delivers presents to children on Christmas Eve helped by a troupe of small gnomes (Nisse). Decorations are hung, the Christmas tree is lit and rice porridge served with butter, sugar and cinnamon is enjoyed.
- The Julebukk (Yule goat) is a leftover symbol from pagan traditions – some people wearing goat masks and costumes (Julebukkers) still go from door to door singing songs.
- Each city puts up a huge Christmas tree, usually on the first Sunday of Advent when local people hold hands and dance around it in celebration.
- On the 13 December schools celebrate St Lucia Day, when a pupil, wearing a crown of candles, represents St Lucia and leads a procession of children, handing out Lussekatter (edible treats; see our own cake tribute, saffron bundt cake).
Turn to page 96 of December’s The Simple Things for a Norwegian family enjoying the snuggest of Christmases in their alpine timber lodge - think crackling fires, twinkling lights and lots of tasty treats to savour.
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Photography: Peter Cassidy
Recipe: Saffron bundt cake with pears
Saffron-flavoured buns, for St Lucia’s Day, are a December tradition in Norway and Sweden. This saffron cake with pears is a twist on that
30g breadcrumbs
50g butter
100ml whole milk
0.5g ground saffron
2 large or 3 small pears
A little lemon juice
325g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp salt
50g Greek yoghurt
Icing sugar, for dusting
1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F. Grease a 25cm Bundt or ring pan and dust with breadcrumbs, tipping out the excess.
2 Melt butter and add milk and ground saffron. Stir and set aside to infuse.
3 Peel and core pears and cut into bite-sized chunks. Add lemon juice, stir and set aside.
4 In a mixing bowl, beat sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until thick, light and fluffy using a balloon or hand-held electric whisk. Mix the remaining dry ingredients and sift into the egg mixture. Fold in until incorporated.
5 Add the yoghurt and saffron-milk mixture and fold gently until completely combined. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Add pear pieces – they’ll sink during baking.
6 Bake for 30–35 mins until a skewer comes out clean. Cool before turning out. Dust with icing sugar and serve with whipped cream.
Recipe from Scandikitchen: Fika & Hygge by Bronté Aurell (Ryland Peters & Small).
Turn to page 59 of December's The Simple Things for more Christmas Cake in the house, including:
Cinnamon Danish pastry swirls
Cranberry, sherry and vine fruit cake
Mocha roll
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Sponsored post: Pukka's herbal encyclopedia – cinnamon
Full of sweet and stimulating essential oils, cinnamon is a long-time favourite for invigorating and warming the whole body, while generally making life more delicious. Cinnamon’s sweet spiciness comes from a combination of potent compounds including cinnamaldehyde and coumarin which gives this herb its distinctive flavour. Pukka teams cinnamon with star anise and ginger to create a warming, deeply spiced tea.
Soothing and nourishing
In traditional medicines, cinnamon is thought to benefit a cold and sluggish digestion, metabolism and circulation. In Ayurveda, India’s ancient health system, the bark of the tree is used as a major digestive herb. It is wonderfully warming, sweet and pungent. Additionally, cinnamon appears to strengthen nutritional absorption as well as playing an important role in balancing blood sugar and reducing insulin resistance.
Some history
Until the 16th century the origins of cinnamon were a fiercely guarded secret; global trade was controlled by wealthy Arabs who protected their monopoly and justified exorbitant prices by fabricating extraordinary tales, including how cinnamon was only found in giant birds’ nests perched on insurmountable mountain peaks, or in deep canyons guarded by flying snakes! To produce the traditional spice we see today, the bark is harvested and then either powdered or rolled into characteristic quills. The making of cinnamon quills is a traditional art in some countries.
Turn to page 23 of December's The Simple Things for this month's Pukkapedia and more on spices.
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Recipe: Beetroot cured salmon with horseradish crème fraîche
Curing your own salmon really isn’t as difficult as it sounds. It’s an immensely satisfying job and the finished product looks and tastes amazing. The colour of the beetroot doesn’t quite seep into the centre, giving a lovely colour contrast, while the delicate flavours of the dill with the pink peppercorns and vodka really come through. A special starter for Christmas dinner which, thankfully, must be prepared in advance*.
Beetroot cured salmon with horseradish crème fraîche
MAKES 18–20
500g piece of salmon, pin-boned and scaled (skin on)
1 tbsp grated fresh or preserved horseradish
175g crème fraîche
6–8 thin slices rye bread
50g butter
Fresh dill or watercress, to serve
BEETROOT CURE
2 raw beetroot (about 200g)
1 tsp pink peppercorns
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp juniper berries
60g coarse sea salt
50g golden caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1⁄2 orange
2–3 tbsp freshly chopped dill
3 tbsp vodka
A baking sheet lined with three layers of clingfilm
1 To prepare the beetroot cure, peel and coarsely grate the beetroot into a large mixing bowl. Lightly crush the peppercorns, fennel seeds and juniper berries using a pestle and mortar. Add them to the bowl with the salt, sugar, citrus zests and half the dill.
2 Scatter one-third of the beetroot cure over the prepared baking sheet and lay the salmon on top, skin-side down. Cover the salmon with the remaining cure, pressing it into an even layer over the fish. Spoon the vodka over the top and wrap the fish tightly in the cling film. Lay another tray or tin on top of the salmon and weigh it down with something heavy. Set in the fridge for at least 2 days to cure.
3 Take the salmon from the fridge and unwrap it over a sink to catch the juices. Using your hands, scrape off as much of the cure as possible and pat the fish dry with paper towels. Finely chop the remaining dill and press into the top (flesh side) of the salmon. Using a very sharp knife, cut the salmon into wafer thin slices – cutting down to, but not through the skin, so you can transfer it easily to a serving platter.
4. Mix the grated horseradish with the crème fraîche and season. Thinly butter the rye bread and cut into bite-sized pieces. Spread with the créme fraîche and lay the salmon slices on top. Garnish with a little dill or watercress and a twist of freshly ground black pepper.
* The salmon needs at least two days to cure in the fridge
Recipe from Afternoon Tea at Home by Will Torrent, photography Matt Russell (Ryland Peters & Small)
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Jolly: December cover reveal
Let the revelry begin! Time to pour the punch, dust off the decanter and lay a lavish table. There’ll be parlour games, perhaps a quiz and of course some festive telly. Tis also the season for revelations. Santa is real – Rudolph, pure fiction. Pickled walnuts are chic, and colouring is all grown-up. Gifts come in many guises; the sprouts you grew, a cake you baked or an hour of your time. Wishing you a very jolly Christmas. With love from The Simple Things
Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
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Escape: Island Adventure
An island adventure on Tresco, Laura Pashby holidays at a seaside cottage on the Isles of Scilly
Our 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 64 of the November issue for more of this Cornish seaside adventure - and plenty of others at thisisyourkingdom.co.uk.
Laura Pashby is a contributor to thisisyourkingdom.co.uk. She shares her photographs and snippets of her life on her blog circleofpinetrees.com. See more of her photographs on Instagram, @circleofpines
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Black Friday: Alternatives to the shopping frenzy
This Friday is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the US that has become the biggest shopping day of the year.
But while many fight it out in the aisles, there are alternative ways to spend your day
Want to join them? Here are some ideas for alternatives to Black Friday:
- This Friday, The Wild Network is challenging us to #OptOutside and get some #WildTime as an antidote to the spendathon of the busy shopping day. Here are ten ways to get outside.
- How about making Christmas the homemade way? Head to our Pinterest board for some handmade decoration ideas or browse our making projects.
- The Simple Things Sunday Best campaign celebrates quiet ways to reconnect with friends, family and home. Try one of our ideas.
- If you are shopping, opt for local, independent makers rather than the big stores. It really makes a difference.
Do you have alternative ideas for Black Friday? Join the conversation over on Twitter and Facebook.
Christmas: Make papercut star decorations for your tree
If paper chains feel passe and you're a bit bored with your baubles, try a DIY papercut tree decoration for a feelgood festive craft
The appeal of papercutting is the simple satisfaction of creating something from nothing. Starting literally with a blank sheet of paper, a drawing can become an intricate work of art. And like many other creative pursuits, it’s a meditative process, requiring your full attention.
Papercut artist Poppy Chancellor says, “We all need time to be artistic. It’s good for your brain and soul. There is something very soothing in this art of taking your time. When you patiently follow the lines with the knife, you will start to see elegant artistry emerge from a single sheet of paper. The hours slip away and all those daily worries start to dim. You don’t need much skill to cut along a suggested line but practice and patience are essential. Anyone with a scalpel and a steady hand can give it a try.”
If you’ve tried cutting a few designs, the next step is to draw your own, either by hand or digitally (just remember to flip your image once you are done and trace or print this mirror image on to the back of your chosen paper). Start by following paper artists and other creatives on social media to feed your mind. Share your own creations online and ask for feedback.
From Roman statues to Greyhound buses, there seems no subject too obscure or too tricky for papercutting. But some things are easier than others; Poppy’s drawn us a beginner’s papercut star tree decoration*, for example – well, it is Christmas!
This beautiful 3D Christmas scene is practically a paper sculpture and not a project for beginners. But see where having a go at our paper star template could take you (find it in the December issue of The Simple Things). You can also download her paper snowflake design. We’d love to see pics of them hung on your tree @simplethingsmag
Our template design features in Poppy’s book Cut it Out! 30 Designs to Cut Out and Keep (Virgin Books).
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Competition: Win a wintry weekend in Wales worth £940
Enjoy a gathering of friends or family on us… Fforest is giving away a two-night stay in its fantastic farmhouse in Pembrokeshire
The festive season serves as a reminder of the simple pleasures of getting together with family or friends. Enter our Christmas competition and you could be doing it all over again, only this time in luxury in west Wales.
Tŷ Fforest is a Georgian farmhouse, restored in 2015 with a swish, ski lodge-style interior. This is a luxurious retreat for families, full of cosy corners and gathering spaces, wrapped in thick slate walls. It has a large slate-floor kitchen with massive inglenook fireplace and a woodfired oven. Its suite, two doubles, family room and bunkroom sleeps up to 14 people.
Out in the country
The farmhouse is the newest addition to Fforest farm, a 200-acre estate bordering the Teifi marshes nature reserve and Teifi gorge, and a few minutes’ drive away from the town of Cardigan as well as the wilds of the Pembrokeshire coast.
Fforest farm has lots of accommodation, sleeping two to 14, from domed tents to cosy crog lofts – all designed to engage with the delights of outdoor living. In Cardigan itself, there are one- and two-bedroomed granary lofts. These smart apartments border the river, with views across to the castle.
The properties lend themselves to cosy gatherings: no wonder, then, that Fforest is offering hygge weekends, seizing on the Danish idea of simple, everyday happiness and togetherness. Blankets and logs for the fire are provided, and you can order a hygge hamper, full of local produce. The Simple Things readers can save 10% on a hygge weekend, too.
coldatnight.co.uk, 01239 623633
HYGGE WEEKENDS FOR LESS
10% exclusive discount at Fforest: To book a hygge weekend in Tŷ Fforest, use code SIMPLETY.
To book a hygge weekend in any other Fforest accommodation, use code SIMPLE10.
COMPETITION DETAILS
Competition closes 21 January 2017. The winner can take a two-night break at Tŷ Fforest in February or March 2017 or from 1 November to 18 December 2017, if available. The prize doesn’t cover any travel, expenses or insurance, and you can’t transfer it or magic it into cash. Now all you need to decide is who to take.
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