November
Taking time to live well
JEWEL
Chilli tacos for chilly nights • Gemstone stories • Why we feel the way we do Scandi slippers & dip dye candles • How to be a modern grocer
Black garlic marmite • Appreciating fog • Bedtime cake & much-loved mugs
LET GO OF AUTUMN MELANCHOLY WITH A SPICY MEXICAN-ISH GET TOGETHER ROUND A GARDEN FIREPIT
Recipes & styling: AMY MOORE Photography: JONATHAN CHERRY
Cosy up your space with lanterns and a firepit and dig out your warmest woollies to make the most of crisp autumn evenings
When the air smells of woodsmoke, the nights crackle with fireworks and the time for scarves and gloves has most definitely arrived, choose vibrant, soul-warming foods, hang some lights and bright decorations and turn your garden gathering into mini fiesta!
Tacos are just the thing for a hungry bunch on a cold night. Whether it ’s pork or mushroom, the heat of smoky chipotle chilli in these spicy and crunchy toppings is a winner. Meanwhile, the creamy mac ‘n’ cheese is sure to go down a treat. Lay everything out on the table so that everyone can dig in before serving up sweet churros and sipping on creamy horchata.
If you have a fire bowl with a grill that can be placed on top, it’s a good way to keep you and the food warm while you catch up with friends. Have the horchata gently simmering, ready to ladle into mugs as friends arrive, and pop the mac ‘n’ cheese in a cast iron skillet on top of the fire bowl grill so it keeps its heat while you tuck into the tacos. All in all, a great way to toast the season and say farewell to short-but-sweet autumn with a bit of spice and a lot of warmth, all under a starry sky. »
FLAT OUT
POEMS, PAINTINGS AND PEOPLE OFTEN CELEBRATE ROLLING HILLS AND SOARING MOUNTAINS, BUT TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT LEVEL LANDSCAPES AND YOU’LL FIND MUCH TO ADMIRE
Words: RUTH CHANDLER
There’s nothing quite like being raised in low-lying land, with its sharply drawn horizon, to foster a love of trees and big skies. The willow has towered over me – on and off – since I was small. Growing up, there was a field of lofty cricket bat willows opposite our home. Aged eight, I was stunned to wake up one October morning to find that they had been felled by what would become known as the Great Storm of 1987. The view from our kitchen table was never the same. I returned to the flatlands of rural Essex after a time in Scotland and London, and settled in a house with a plantation of the same trees skirting my garden. How beautifully their silvery-green leaves catch the light and, as they begin to fall in autumn, handily indicate how blustery it is. If I look past them, the sky becomes the principal character in the theatre of low-lying countryside. It’s particularly vibrant at this time of year; as the humidity drops and the air becomes clearer in the colder weather, the colours of the sky and sunset become showstopping.
ON THE LEVEL
Parts of the country known for their flatness appear empty and contourless on an OS map. They include a generous slice of East Anglia, in particular the Fens (a man-made watery landscape, drained in the 17th century to be cultivated), much of Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Then there’s the Somerset Levels (by definition), also reclaimed from their watery state by man; the Severn Estuary; West Lancashire, with Morecambe Bay home to Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape between the limestone hills; Newcastle’s Town Moor (around 1,000 acres of common land – larger than New York’s Central Park); East Lincolnshire and various islands. Their countryside may be low in gradient, but these areas have an abundance of character.
LOWS AND HIGHS
Our emotional response to a particular kind of landscape can reveal much about our personality and experiences. In her memoir A Flat Place, published
The Fens near Cambridge on a misty morning. Above right: St Benet’s Level Windpump in Norfolk
Winter wellness
AS THE SEASON TURNS IT BRINGS COUGHS AND COLDS, BUT WITH A SMALL DOSE OF WISDOM WE CAN FEND OFF WINTER BUGS NATURALLY USING RECIPES THAT NOURISH AND PROTECT
Words: RACHEL DE THAMPLE Photography: ALI ALLEN
Our lower resilience in winter is abetted by the hum of our 24-hour society, which drives us to keep moving against nature’s will. We might not be designed to retreat into a full hibernating slumber when the sun is shy, but our bodies – in the same way as plants – crave a period of dormancy… or at least a little slowing of the pace. Wellness, in all respects, springs from winter’s rest. These recipes are a replenishing repertoire of culinary treasures to both seduce the taste buds and fortify the immune system when we need it most, without sweating it out in the kitchen. By honouring food as both medicine and a nourishing bridge connecting us with the sun and the soil, we can be more in control when illness strikes, empowered by knowledge of remedies in the form of delicious food.
Chinese chicken soup
This soup is crafted to nourish and protect, and it also tastes heavenly. Comfort food at its best, it’s a classic example of the power of chicken soup. Soups are a crucial element in Chinese cuisine. They’re valued for their flavour, of course, but also for their ability to soothe the digestive system and prevent or cure illness.
Serves 6-8
500g–1kg chicken on the bone (you can use a whole chicken, jointed pieces such as legs, wings or thighs, or chicken carcasses)
2 leeks and/or onions
Large thumb of root ginger, sliced into 1cm pieces
100g fresh shitake mushrooms (or 40g dried shitake)
Handful of fresh thyme sprigs
1–2 heads of pak choi, cut into wedges (or ½ green or white cabbage, finely shredded)
Sea salt, soy sauce or tamari, to season to serve:
Raw carrot ribbons
Julienned root ginger
Fresh herbs, such as coriander or thyme leaves
1 Place the chicken in a pot large enough to hold it fully – if it’s peeping out of the top a bit, that’s okay
2 Quarter the leeks (halving both horizontal and vertically), then clean well, and/or quarter the onions. Add them to the pot, along with the ginger, mushrooms (left whole, or halved if large) and the whole thyme sprigs.
3 Pour over enough water to cover the chicken or come most of the way up the pot – you need to leave about 3cm headroom to accommodate the broth bubbling and to make sure that it doesn’t boil over.
4 Place the pot over a medium-high heat initially, to bring the water up to a gentle boil. Once it’s bubbling away, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently, basting the top of the chicken if it’s peeping out from the broth. Alternatively, cook in the centre of an oven preheated to 160C/Fan 140C/Gas 2-3, basting the top with the broth every 30 mins or so. Cook for 1.5-2 hrs.
5 Once cooked, remove from the heat and let it rest for a further 30 mins, then transfer the chicken to a platter. Strain the broth from the solids.
6 Many Cantonese people consume the broth without the meat, but you can shred the chicken and stir it into the broth with wedges of pak choi or shredded cabbage. Season with salt, soy sauce or tamari. Simmer to warm everything through before serving.
7 To serve, spoon the soup into bowls and garnish with ribbons of carrots, julienned strips of ginger and/or a handful of fresh herbs, such as coriander or thyme. »
A SPARKLING HISTORY
OBJECTS OF GREAT BEAUTY, DEEP SYMBOLISM AND SIGNIFICANT VALUE – AND SUBJECTS OF FIERCE COMPETITION AND TRADE. GEMS ARE THE ULTIMATE MEETING OF SCIENCE AND STORIES
Words: HELEN MOLESWORTH Illustrations: KAVEL RAFFERTY
CAKE
IN THE HOUSE
Add a nostalgic bedtime drink to a traditional party cake and you can enjoy this on a dark night
CARROT AND HORLICKS
TRES LECHES CAKE
Serves 6-8
270g plain flour
2 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp fine salt
4 eggs, separated
240g caster sugar
240ml vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
240g carrots, peeled and finely grated
For the milk soak:
300ml whole milk
6 tbsp malted milk hot drink powder, such as Horlicks
340ml evaporated milk
397ml can of condensed milk
to decorate:
400ml double cream
2 tbsp whole milk
1 tbsp malted milk hot drink powder, such as Horlicks
40g icing sugar, sifted Rainbow sprinkles (optional)
1 Preheat the oven to 190C/Fan 170C/ Gas 5. Meanwhile, grease and line a 24cm x 33cm baking tin.
2 Combine the flour, baking powder, spices and salt in a bowl and set aside. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl until thick and pale.
3 Add the oil and vanilla to the egg yolk mix and beat, then fold in the carrot, followed by the flour mixture
making sure it’s really well combined – it will be thick.
4 In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Use a large metal spoon to fold a quarter of the whites at a time gently into the cake batter. Once well combined, pour the batter into the tin and bake for 40-45 mins.
5 Meanwhile, prepare the milk soak by gently heating the milk in a pan over a low heat until just steaming, then whisk in the malted milk powder. Remove from the heat and whisk in the evaporated milk and condensed milk. Pour into a jug and set aside.
6 Once baked, leave the cake to cool for 10 mins, then turn it out and remove the lining paper before returning it to the tin. Poke holes all over the surface, then pour enough of the milk mixture over the top to cover it. Let it sink in, then add more. Repeat until it’s all gone. Chill overnight.
7 At least 2 hrs before serving, whip the cream, milk, malted milk powder and icing sugar together. Spread over the cake in a thick layer and chill for 2 hrs to set. Decorate with sprinkles then cut into squares ready to serve. Cook’s note: Try adjusting the spices – nutmeg and cardamom work well.
Taken from Good Time Cooking: Showstopping Menus For Easy Entertaining by Rosie Mackean (Pavilion Books).
Photography: Sam Harris
THE ART OF LIVING
IN THIS HISTORICAL EDINBURGH TOWNHOUSE AND FAMILY HOME, THE ARTISTIC HERITAGE OF THE BUILDING INFUSES EVERY ROOM
Words: KAY PRESTNEY Photography: NANCY STRAUGHAN
Open shelves allow the family to turn everyday items into art, which also complement the gilt-framed works on the walls
The
corners of our homes that mean the most. This month:
M y place
Compiled by: LIZ BOYD
KITCHEN STORES
I love this corner because of its simplicity, but also its functionality. I get a lot of compliments on how well organised it is. Old jars and vintage wooden crates work so well for storage but also give a homely, traditional feel. I put the healthy snacks in a lower drawer so it’s easier access for the kids. And our dog Chester likes to hang out here, too. Annabelle Rogers, Newark, Nottinghamshire @designermumetc
I grew up in a house that had a TARDIS-like food cupboard. We called it the pantry and it was full to the brim of food supplies. This set up feels like home to me, so being able to recreate a smaller version of it just felt right. Leila Talmadge, Glasgow @leilatalmadgeinteriors
This is possibly the most used corner of our home. We carved this space out of our open-plan kitchen, but by adding vintage doors and custom-made shelves, it makes it feel like it’s always been a part of the house.
Leanne Kilroy, north London @goodboneslondon
I collect patterned French and Eastern European enamelware. I love to be surrounded by pre-loved, faded and slightly chipped interiors. Lots of people say it makes them smile, which means my job is done.
Natasha Martin, Albourne, West Sussex @lella.life.photography
The kitchen is the heart of my cottage and these shelves are where the fireplace used to be. I have great fun filling jars with colourful pasta and pulses. It’s right by the back door, so is often used as garden storage, with stray gloves and seeds often also finding a home here.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE SPOT IN YOUR HOME? If you have a desk you work or create at that deserves showing off, or an armchair that you love to curl up in, get in touch and share your best picture at: thesimplethings@icebergpress.co.uk
Rosie Louise, Bath @byrosielouise
COLD FRAME
Tales from a veg patch
MAKING THE MOST OF THE HARVEST AT HOME, KATHY SLACK COOKS UP A SEASONAL FEAST AND SHARES STORIES FROM HER BACK GARDEN AT THE END OF THE GROWING YEAR
A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE
This season is all about pumpkins, aka edible winter squash (as opposed to gourds which are not edible and distinct from summer squash, which have soft skins).
Pumpkins are for so much more than carving. I always feel sorry for the poor Jack o’Lantern pumpkins that are left to rot on doorsteps. Although, they’re generally now bred for shape and colour and can often be a bit watery and stringy when cooked. Pick the smaller varieties, however, in all their shapes and colours and you’ll have great culinary potential. They love salt and spice. Salt might be bacon, feta or halloumi. And spice could be warming ginger or curry spices like coriander, cumin and chilli.
Whichever you choose, pumpkins do well in a hot oven, roasted until charred and caramelised. My squash harvest has not been good. They require rich soil and I perhaps failed to add enough compost. I’m also a pumpkin optimist. I allow the squash plants to ramble, sending out shoots and tendrils all over the garden and producing 8-10 fruit per plant. If I was wise, I’d prune off the side shoots and focus the plant’s attention on 2-3 fruits. But because I live in hope that all the baby squash will reach maturity, and am too soft to dispatch any little tiddlers, I’ve ended the season with several small, unripe butternut squash. My Crown Prince plants (a beautiful blue-green pumpkin) have fared better, so I do have some to pick and enjoy. »
Words & recipes: KATHY SLACK Photography: KIRSTIE YOUNG
Basil Cucumbers
Edible flowers
Courgettes
Spring onions
lettuce
kohlrabi
Carrots
Brassicas
Corn Peas
Sweet peas
blackberries, damsons, cobnuts
Pumpkins
Let me show you around my garden in the Cotswolds. Here I grow fruit and veg for my recipe writing and also for my soul, because I have found growing food – reconnecting with the soil – to be a powerful restorative in rough times. All this abundance, all this nature, is what inspires my cooking and my way of life. I stand in the kitchen, looking out on the three raised beds, the herb patch, the tomato pots, the fledgling orchard, which are packed into the back garden of our stone cottage, wondering what to cook. I’m never sure where the growing stops and the cooking starts, which is just how I like it. I hope that these simple recipes and the stories behind them inspire you to get your hands in the soil, too.
AN APPREC I AT I O N OF PINK-FOOTED GEE S E
Words: CAROLINE BUTTERWICK
Naturally, I hear them before I see them. Squeaky honks reverberate through the dark sky, and I grin as I step out of the car, clutching a flask of coffee. It’s early morning on a crisp autumn day, and I’m at Martin Mere Wetland Centre in Lancashire especially to watch pink-footed geese flying through the dawn. I join around 40 others, who’ve also travelled here ridiculously early to see these brilliant birds. Silhouettes of geese flying in small groups dart across the orange sky, and we wait patiently, hoping for a flurry of activity. After around an hour, suddenly, thousands of them take flight, and it’s wonderfully noisy: the beat of their wings, the cacophony of their cries echoing all around.
Gatherings like this happen across Scotland, North West England and East Anglia. Dawn and dusk are the best times to see pink-footed geese en masse, with some roosts hosting up to 30,000 birds, before they disperse into nearby fields on the hunt for food. They forage for crops, like barley and wheat, but also grass, clover and veg. Some wild geese – such as Canada geese and greylags – live in the UK year round, but pink-footed geese are one of the seven species that arrive here each autumn from Scandinavia and the Arctic for a warmer winter. Pinkfooted geese nest in Iceland during the summer and then, one autumn day, as food becomes scare, and when the wind is in the right direction, they begin their migration.
It’s a six-hour flight for them to the Faroe Islands, where they spend a day, before taking to the skies once more and reaching the UK a full day later.
Around 400,000 of them make the journey, travelling in extended family groups.
They stay in the UK until April, but don’t remain in one place, flying between wetlands and coastal roosts from Scotland to East Anglia. So, wherever you live, keep an eye out for chevrons of geese in the sky during the winter. They fly in a distinctive V shape to help conserve energy, with the lead bird lessening the wind resistance for the rest. I always smile when I hear them overhead – pink-footed geese have a distinctive, particularly loud honk that helps them stay together. You can also tell them apart from other wild species by their pink feet and legs, and a pink splotch on their bill. They’re quite small, too (for geese, anyway – their wingspan can still be more than 5ft) with a relatively short neck.
Back at Martin Mere, the pink-footed geese are circling the lake in a cloud of honking, and it’s a delight to hear. For me, geese are a beautiful, misunderstood animal. I love that they can be a little obnoxious, and are full of character. They’re loud, tenacious travellers, but they stick together with their family. The sound of them brings to mind the turning seasons, it reminds me that summer has come to a close, but that winter – and all the geese it brings – is welcome and full of spectacle too.
You’ve got mail
WHETHER YOU’RE
LOOKING FOR INFORMATION, INSPIRATION, COMFORT OR DISTRACTION, THERE’S A NEW BREED OF E-NEWSLETTERS DELIVERING GOODNESS STRAIGHT TO OUR INBOXES
Let’s be honest, not many of us think fondly of our email inboxes. But they can become happier places if you sign up to some of the new breed of newsletters. In September 2018, we shared a selection of writers who were using emails in a fresh new way to share passions, personal writing and pieces of curios. Since then, the format has boomed – mainly thanks to the growth of the platform, Substack (see over the page) – and now there’s really something for every enthusiasm, be that recipes, growing, wellbeing, creativity, or more, in a format that feels more intimate than a blog or Instagram post. You can even sign up to dispatches from the likes of Patti Smith ( pattismith.substack.com) and Nick Hornby (nickhornby.substack.com). These are emails that make you smile, rather than groan, when they hit your inbox – here are a few of our favourites…
Life
and style
You’ll find lots of names you recognise on Substack, including India Knight. In Home By India Knight (indiaknight.substack.com), she shares her enthusiasms and reliable life enhancing recommendations of books, homes, telly and so on. Or if you were a fan of the blog The Frugality, Alexandra Stedman is back with THE R.U.E. (alexandrastedman.substack.com), standing for ‘The Really Useful Edit’ of all things home, style, life – it’s a favourite of our Sub editor, Abbie. Our Wellbeing editor, Becs, meanwhile, enjoys Sam Baker’s The Shift (theshiftwithsambaker.substack.com), a celebration of women in ‘midlife’ and Sophie Heawood’s The Sophist (heawood.substack.com) and her very funny snippets on life, especially the snoop around what’s on sale on Rightmove. Interested in responsible, sustainable style and slower living?
You’ll likely enjoy Hannah Rochell’s Slowette (slowette.substack.com) (see Hannah’s home in our September issue). And for a slower start to your Sunday, sign up to Jane Brocket’s weekly Yarnstorm (yarnstorm. substack.com): be she writing about tulips, quilting, buns or provincial art galleries, there’s always gentle pleasures found inside. And, of course, there’s our very own The Simple Things fortnightly newsletter, with tasty snippets inspired by the magazine – sign up at thesimplethings.com/newsletter
Food
You’ll be hungry (in the best way) when these food favourites arrive in your inbox. Come For Supper By
Alexandra Dudley (alexandradudley. substack.com) is another of Abbie’s favourites: encouraging you to gather people together to eat – and, crucially, what to make them. Our Editor-atLarge, Iona, meanwhile, recommends Mark Diacono’s Garden To Table (markdiacono.substack.com), which links growing and cooking – as well as recipes, he also hosts paid subscriber events. With a similar emphasis are the Substacks from two of our contributors: Kathy Slack’s Tales From The Veg Patch (kathyslack. substack.com) and Lucy Brazier’s Honesty Box (lucybrazier.substack. com). You can get seasonal recipes from Anna Jones (annajonesfood. substack.com), as well as interesting links to click through, while more than 300,000 subscribers await the missives from American recipe writer Alison Roman (anewsletter. alisoneroman.com). If you want food for thought, Vittles (vittlesmagazine. com) covers all aspects of food culture – how it’s cooked, sold and eaten – with a variety of contributors.
Home truths
Kate Watson-Smyth of Mad About The House is another blogger who’s shifted to Substack (katewatsonsmyth.substack.com), where she offers the same useful mix of advice and home inspiration. Meanwhile, The Dispatch by Matilda Goad (sign up via matildagoad.com) is a dose of domestic delight from the homeware brand. And if you’re a vintage lover, Tat London (tatlondon. substack.com) comes from the online antiques store of the same name. Owner Charlie Porter shares her know-how, interviews others within
