A could-do list for April

Things you might want to do this month (no pressure!)

• Choose one thing you’re going to make and not buy this month
• Rediscover qualities you had as a child (like spontaneity or fearlessness)
• Feast on homemade hot cross buns
• Switch everything off and get used to silence
• Make a list of the niggling jobs in your home and get them fixed
• Learn how to do a headstand
• Write down the things you miss most when you’re away from home

What would you add? Come over and tell us on Facebook or Twitter. 

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Growing: A city allotment

Bloggers and enthusiastic veg growers, Ade and Sophie Sellars tell us about the joys of harvesting their own and life on their plot

Sophie and Ade took on their allotment three years ago to grow more veg. Little did they know that it would change their lives. Sophie used to organise film shoots but now writes about gardening and cooking, and Ade used to work in TV but is now a photographer and horticulturalist. Together they produce a blog Agents of Field, which won Blog of the Year 2016.

“If you are interested in taking on an allotment, contact your local council and see what the situation is. You might be lucky like us, and not have to wait. But even if you do have to wait, try growing things at home first. We still grow herbs and berries in our back garden, along with rhubarb, which we grow in pots. You can easily grow tomatoes on a sunny balcony, and a windowsill is great for herbs and microgreens.

“In January, when there was the big furore over the salad shortage because adverse weather conditions had affected supplies from Spain, Sophie planted some pea shoots on the windowsill in our living room, and we were harvesting our own salad three weeks later.

“Don’t be discouraged if something fails, there’s always the following year to try it again. I’ve grown most vegetables by now, to be honest, but it’s always exciting to try something new. See what takes your fancy and give it a go!

“We’ve had our allotment for three years, and it has become such a central part of our lives. I jokily refer to it as my ‘fortress of solitude’ – it’s where I go when I want to escape the bustle of London life. It’s taught me so much, and I have a real passion for growing things now, something I wasn’t remotely interested in only a few years ago.

“Since taking on the allotment, we’ve launched an award-winning gardening and food blog, I’ve retrained in horticulture with the RHS at Capel Manor and Regent’s Park, and I’m now embarking on a new career in garden writing and photography. It’s totally changed my life and I love it!”

Turn to page 108 of April’s The Simple Things for more of Sophie and Ade’s allotment advice, plus their recipe for Rhubarb and banana squares.

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Competition: Win with Nature's Path Organic cereals

No need to keep a beautiful sunrise all to yourself: photograph one and share for your chance to win Nature’s Path Organic cereals

With winter comes a handful of treats in nature: grass silvered by frost, trees at their most bare and dramatic, and magnificent sunrises. Through crisp, clean air, winter sunrises arrive in full colour, their vibrant spectrum unhindered by the haze and higher pollution levels of warmer mornings. And with shorter days, you needn’t get up quite so early to catch one either.

CELEBRATE AND WIN
To celebrate this simple pleasure, Nature’s Path wants you to share your pictures of a sunrise for the chance to win a year’s supply* of its organic cereals and granolas. All of Nature’s Path products are organic and do not contain artificial additives or GMOs. Its cereal range includes the UK’s bestselling gluten-free cereal Mesa Sunrise, deliciously indulgent organic granolas and child-friendly breakfast cereals Os and Munch. Every recipe contains a range of wholesome and nutritious ingredients, diverse in taste and texture – great for starting the day with.

HOW TO ENTER
For your chance to win, share your sunrise picture (from your walk to work, an early run, or wherever you start the day) by tagging @naturespathuk and using #simplesunrise. There’ll be a prize a month* during February, March and April.

START THE DAY WELL
Mesa Sunrise is a nutritious combination of flaxseed, buckwheat flour and quinoa. It’s also organic and gluten-free and is the ideal way to start your day. You can find it in the Free From section of all leading supermarkets and a selection of health food stores.

Find out more at naturespath.co.uk and @naturespathuk

* Each of our 3 winners will receive a selection of 6 boxes of cereals and granolas each month for 12 months. Prizes are not for resale and you can’t swap them for cash. A winner will be picked from all entries submitted each month during February, March and April 2017 and notified shortly afterwards. You can find all our terms and conditions on page 129 and online at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules

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Escape: A light-filled wooden cabin on Skye

See, do, stay, love the UK. This month: India Hobson and Magnus Edmondson experience a window on wildlife in Scotland

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 80 of the April issue for more of this Scottish adventure – and plenty of others at thisisyourkingdom.co.uk.

India Hobson and Magnus Edmondson are contributors to thisisyourkingdom.co.uk. Their findings on travel, lifestyle and design are at haarkon.co.uk and on Instagram @haarkon_ 

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Recipe: Rosemary orangeade

This is a fruity and herbal drink, and beautifully refreshing. Make the syrup ahead of time and store it in the fridge, and then you can make the orangeade up as you need it.

Serves 6–8

500ml water
400g granulated sugar
About 4 good sprigs of rosemary
Fresh orange juice
Sparkling water

1 Put the water, sugar and rosemary into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Once all of the graininess has vanished, bring to the boil and then simmer for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool, leaving the pieces of rosemary in the syrup to infuse. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until needed.

2 To make up the orangeade, combine one part cooled syrup with one part orange juice and one part fizzy water. Pour over ice cubes and garnish with a sprig of rosemary. 

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Recipe: Spelt with chorizo, sweet potato, red onion & spinach

One-tin wonders… Not just for Sunday lunch, a good roast can be anything from a fish supper to tasty spiced veg. Simple to prepare (and light on washing up), turn to page 54 of April’s The Simple Things for roast recipe including Sea bass & asparagus with jasmine rice & ginger lime dressing, Roast chicken with fennel, lemon & shallots, and Ras el hanout slow roasted mushrooms. 

Spelt with chorizo, sweet potato, red onion & spinach

A hearty, substantial dinner – any leftovers will make for a proper next-day lunchbox. You can use pearl barley as an alternative to spelt if you prefer it.

Serves 4

Prep: 10–15 mins
Cook: 1 hour
150g spelt or pearl barley, rinsed
350g chicken stock
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 21⁄2cm chunks
1 red onion, peeled and quartered
5 cloves of garlic, skin on
225g cooking chorizo, cut into 2cm chunks
1 tbsp olive oil
300g spinach, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon

1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ 350F. In a roasting tin, mix together the spelt or pearl barley, chicken stock, sweet potato chunks, red onion and garlic. Rub the chorizo chunks with the olive oil and scatter over the pearl barley mixture.
2 Cover the dish tightly with foil, then transfer to the oven and cook for an hour.
3 Remove the foil and stir in the spinach. Season to taste with the lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper, and serve hot. 

Recipes from The Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer (Square Peg).

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Competition: Win the entire range of Pukka teas!

Tea is the world’s second-most- consumed drink – after water – and there are more blends and more styles of drinking to explore than ever before. The key to a great cup of tea (or mug – you won’t find any receptacle-ism here) could be water quality, it could be brewing temperature, and it’s certainly about the ingredients contained in those little bags of flavour.

Pukka Herbs prides itself on not using any synthetic flavourings in their range of 40 teas, only sustainably sourced, organically grown and fairly traded tea, herbs and fruit, which is of real importance to Sebastian Pole, Pukka’s master herbsmith and co-founder. For Sebastian, creating a Pukka blend is about capturing the vibrancy of the tea, herbs or fruit – an appeal that is reflected not just in the taste, but in its aroma, look and feel, too. Each of Pukka’s organic teas comes jam-packed with nature’s finest ingredients that smell mesmerising when you open the beautiful packaging and translate into taste with delicious depth. Wellbeing is high on the agenda, too, with teas such as Detox and Night Time blended to give specific physical benefits.

Green teas – particularly matcha blends – are increasingly popular. Reflecting this, new additions to the Pukka range include matcha greens blended with ginseng or mint. New Turmeric Gold is a blend of whole-leaf green tea with queen of protective spices turmeric, plus cardamom and lemon. Find your favourites blends online at pukkaherbs.com.

HOW TO ENTER
Enter our competition for your chance to win the entire range of Pukka organic teas. One lucky winner will receive one packet of each tea currently available at pukkaherbs.com. 

ENTER NOW

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
There is one prize of the full range of Pukka teas delivered to your door. No cash alternative is available and the prize cannot be transferred. The competition closes on 17 May 2017. The winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries after this date and notified soon after. You can find full terms and conditions on page 129 of the April issue and at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules.

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Belong: April cover reveal

Where you belong is not about race or politics. It’s a sense of contentment, of inner peace. Cherish that feeling and build your life around it. In a complicated world, it is the simple things that matter most; sharing a cake, making a meaningful journey and growing something yourself. For some, it is the comfort of things – belongings are named for the way they evoke place and time – treasure them and tell their stories. One day, maybe they’ll let someone else know where they belong. 

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Buy back issues, subscribe or try our sister mag, Oh Comely

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March issue: One day left to buy!

Yes, there's just one day left to buy the March issue of The Simple Things! And it's a cracker.

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View the sampler here or head out to get your copy TODAY!

Want a look at what you're missing? Here's some of what you can expect to find inside the pages of our EVERYDAY issue:

Garden hacks: DIY seed tapes

Seed tapes – biodegradable strips with the seeds spaced at regular intervals – make planting a little easier. Simply bury the tape rather than faffing with fiddly individual seeds. Make your own and put aside for planting later.

YOU WILL NEED:
biodegradable unbleached loo roll
3 tbsp unbleached flour
1.5 tbsp water
toothpick
small spoon
pen
ruler
seeds

1 Pull off a few lengths of the loo roll. 
2 Fold in half length-wise to create a fold line. Unfold.
3 Mix flour and water into a paste. 
4 Dip the toothpick into the glue paste, before dabbing onto a seed. 
5 Place the seeds into the middle of the paper on the fold, spaced per the packet instructions.
6 Once all seeds are in place, paste along the paper edge with the spoon, before refolding to seal. 
7 Roll up, then store somewhere cool and dry in a sealed container. To plant, prepare the soil, according to packet instructions, and unfurl the tape. Cover over with soil and give it a good water.

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How to stop procrastinating

Here’s how to knuckle down, focus and really get the job... ooh look, a badger!

Everyone is prone to a spot (or several hours) of procrastination. While there’s no magic fix, these strategies may help you tackle it. Start: the bigger the task, the more likely we’ll procrastinate. Just making a start makes stress levels fall. Break the task into small ones to tick off as you go.

Remove distractions: browser plug-ins such as StayFocusd can block distracting internet sites. Try working on your task in dedicated chunks. The ‘Pomodoro Technique’ advises doing one thing only for 25 minutes before a break.

Be answerable: procrastination increases with self-imposed deadlines, so ask your boss/a friend to give you one. Failing that, website stickK lets you set yourself a goal – if you fail, a pre-pledged amount of money is donated to something you don’t like. It claims to increase success by up to three times. 

Forgive and forget: studies show people who forgive themselves for procrastinating go on to do it less. To lurk on Facebook for 37 minutes is human; to forgive – divine!

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Listen: Songs of belonging

Surround yourself with friends and family and this month’s playlist

Listen now

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Recipe: Charred brassicas with tahini yogurt & sumac

Everyday veg get a fiery makeover fit for a feast. This tangy recipe works with broccoli, cauliflower or any other brassicas you care to dress

Serves 6
Pinch of saffron
1⁄2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 heaped tsp dried oregano
1⁄2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (a mixture of black and white if you can get both)
1kg brassicas (such as broccoli and romanesco cauliflower)
Olive oil
250g Greek yogurt
2 tbsp tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
1⁄2 garlic clove
1⁄4 tsp sumac

1 Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ 400F. Place the saffron in a small bowl or teacup and cover with 2 tbsp of just-boiled water. Give it a stir, then leave to one side.
2 Using a pestle and mortar, bash together the chilli flakes, oregano, sesame seeds and 1 tsp of sea salt until you have a finer-textured salt.
3 Slice your veg up into a mixture of florets and slices, including the stalks, so that they are evenly sized, and spread them over a couple of roasting trays. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle all over with flavoured salt. Toss everything together, then spread out into one layer.
4 Pop into the oven for 25–30 mins, and roast until the veg are just cooked through but lovely and charred at the edges.
5 While the brassicas are in the oven, make the yogurt dressing. Spoon the yogurt and tahini into a mixing bowl and squeeze in the lemon juice; mix until smooth. Peel and finely grate in the garlic and season well. The saffron water should now be cool, and a vibrant gold colour. Pour the liquid – saffron threads and all – into the yogurt, and stir it through.
6 Spread the yogurt on your serving platter and, when the veg are ready, arrange them on top. Finish by sprinkling over the sumac, and serve. This is delicious served at room temperature, too, making it a great get-ahead side dish.

Turn to page 24 of March's The Simple Things for more from our Cookbook Club Gathering, including recipes for Herby puy lentils, greens and smoked mackerel, Roast harissa butter chicken with cracked wheat, Creamy rice pudding with sherry and rosemary poached prunes and Special mint tea. Recipes from Stirring Slowly by Georgina Hayden (Square Peg). 

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Stressed is just desserts spelt backwards

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Escape: Shed heaven beside the sea

See, do, stay, love the UK. This month: SarahLou Francis stays in a farmhouse nestled in Devon's coastal hills

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 60 of the March issue for more of this seaside adventure – and plenty of others at thisisyourkingdom.co.uk.

Sarah-Lou Francis specialises in storytelling photography (sarahloufrancis.com). She’s on Instagram @lapinblu, and also contributes to This is Your Kingdom.

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Simple style: The pinafore dress

The pinafore dress is just right for this time of year when there is still a nip in the air and the threat of chilliness is afoot.

Its bib provides an additional layer, like an external vest, under which garments of varying thickness can be worn. Try it with a T-shirt, a polo neck jumper, a blouse – they all work. Plus you can throw an additional layer of cardigan or jacket over the lot for extra warmth if required. It is what the fashion press would call a ‘transitional garment’, and who are we to argue with that?

Turn to page 22 of March's The Simple Things for more on this classic look.

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Think: Women and the census

The census, taken on a spring night every decade since 1801, is a record of both everyday sexism and the emancipation of women

When the idea of a national census was first championed in Britain, it was argued that, “the intimate knowledge of any country must form the rational basis of legislation and diplomacy”. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t always so “rational”, especially when it came to the female proportion of the population. Each decade’s census gives us a – sometimes unintentional – glimpse into society’s attitudes towards women.

In 1811, the second time the census was taken, households were asked to give only their chief source of income. In most cases, this this overlooked the contribution of women who, while likely not the primary earner, frequently did odd jobs, such as selling handicrafts, that kept the family from the breadline. Twenty years later, it changed so only adult male employment was registered, with the exception of the 670,491 female servants in England, Scotland and Wales, once again completely ignoring the long hours put in by women.

Turn to page 76 of March's The Simple Things for more.

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Learn something new: Dog agility

Training a dog for most of us never goes much beyond ‘sit’ and ‘stay’, so how wonderful it would be to have a dog that can obediently fly over jumps and dart through tunnels. Dog agility is basically an obstacle course for dogs and a test of the handler’s ability. Agility pros claim most dogs naturally love it and it is a fun and friendly way to keep you and your dog fit.

To see if you can teach an old dog new tricks, try it out first in your garden: it is as simple as setting up some (low) jumps with garden canes and buckets and bringing out a bag of dog treats. Entice your pet over and pretty soon they’ll get the idea and jump without even being asked just to get the tasty treat over the other side.

You don’t even need your own dog – schemes like borrowmydoggy.com will loan you one to exercise. Puppies and young dogs that aren’t fully grown can’t do agility, so it’s a good way to bond and train with older or rescue dogs (top agility dogs peak aged 4–6).

It’s easier than you think to get started – there are hundreds of groups and clubs around the country, not all of which involve competing, if that’s not your thing. But if the bug (as opposed to the dog) bites, then there are plenty of competitions to choose from, at every level. Breed doesn’t matter a jot, but if you do take it seriously, you probably need a border collie – they nearly always win! 

See how it’s done at Crufts (9–12 March at The NEC Birmingham and on Channel 4 and More 4; crufts.org.uk).

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Recipe: Kedgeree

The days are getting longer, hens are laying again, and suddenly getting up and preparing a special breakfast on a weekend doesn’t feel like an effort, more a pleasure. There’s something very satisfying about a savoury breakfast, but of course these little bowls of goodness would be equally suited to the lunch or dinner table.  

MAKES FOUR BOWLS
300g undyed smoked haddock
570ml full-fat whole milk
60g butter
1 onion, finely diced
2 tsp light curry powder, plus extra
to garnish
60g plain flour
200g basmati rice*
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 eggs, softly boiled for 7 mins, peeled
Small bunch coriander, roughly chopped

1 Gently poach the haddock in the milk for 8 mins. Remove the haddock, reserving the milk. Cover and set aside.
2 Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the onion and curry powder and cook gently with a little salt until the onion is soft.
3 Add the flour and cook briefly to form a roux. With the pan off the heat, add one ladleful of the warm poaching milk to the roux, stirring constantly. Return the pan to a gentle heat and continue to add the milk gradually, stirring all the time. Once the milk has been incorporated, leave to simmer for 5 mins.
4 Meanwhile, cook the rice in a steamer or in boiling water, then drain. Season to taste. 5 To serve, spoon the rice into four bowls. Halve the boiled eggs and place each half in a bowl. Spoon the sauce and flaked smoked haddock into the centre and garnish with chopped coriander and a sprinkling of curry powder.

Recipe from Spoon by Annie Morris and Jonny Shimmin (Hardie Grant).

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The Herbery: A grower's guide

In a new series, Lia Leendertz picks herbs from her garden to cook in her kitchen. Could it be simpler? To begin, try these unusual ways with herbs:

• Plucking the leaves and chopping them into food is not the only way you can use herbs: when you grow your own, other possibilities open up.
• Many herbs have edible flowers that taste like a slightly honeyed version of the leaf. Basil, oregano and thyme flowers are all ambiguous enough to use as garnishes for sweet or savoury food, and chive, dill and sage flowers are beautiful scattered over savoury dishes and salads.
• Make use of seeds, particularly in their young and green stages, when they are like nothing you will ever be able to buy. Green coriander seeds in particular are pungent little flavour bombs and green fennel seeds are sweet, crunchy and aniseedy.
• Buy a packet of seeds (or, even better, collect your own) and you can sow them thickly and harvest within a week or so as micro leaves, to provide little punchy and flavourful garnishes. Basil, dill, chervil, fennel and chive all make excellent micro greens.

Turn to page 33 of March’s The Simple Things for more advice on what to grow and where.

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