lifestyle Archives - Fleet, Hartley Wintney, Odiham McCarthy Holden Estate Agents

Serene green: 10 ways to breathe new life into your decor this spring

March 23, 2024 by John Holden

If you long for a sense of being at one with nature, green could be your go-to hue this springtime.

And if you’re looking to give your interiors a quick refresh and switch things up as the seasons change, there really is no more suitable shade than serene green.

Whether you want to create a tranquil scheme to sink into at the end of the day, or breathe new life into your decor for chilled-out get-togethers, here are some of our top picks…

1. Nina Campbell Set of 4 Meadow Pasta Bowls, Green, £45, Next

This eye-catching stoneware with glossy green glaze will make everything look that much lovelier… think creamy spinach pasta sauce for small soirées.

2. Manual Beech Wood Pepper Mill in Fern Green (available soon), and Boreal Manual Beech Wood Salt Mill in Sage Green, £44.99 each, Peugeot Saveurs.

A swanky salt mill and plush pepper mill to spice up your spring tablescape. We’re in – and these soft shades will complement any kitchen style.

3. Totally Tropical Table Runner, £25, Totally Tropical Pack of 4 Placemats, £25, and Perfect Pineapple Pack of 4 Napkins, £15 (items from a selection), Joe Browns

We’ve gone Tropiloco over this exotic tableware collection, with its lush palm leaves, verdant vegetation and prize pineapples to signal salsa dishes.

4. Green ‘Poppies’ 30cm Straight Empire Printed Cotton Shade by Ellen Merchant, £51 (lamp from a selection), Pooky

Even if you think you’re lighting is spot on, the longer, balmy days ahead call for a stylish table lamp to highlight all your details and decos.

5. Graphical Green Gallery Wall – featuring: Il Giardino Dei Sapori Poster (30 x 40cm), Green Colour Blocks Poster (30 x 40cm), Van Gogh – River Bank In Springtime Poster (50 x 70cm), with Dark Oak Frames, currently £113.94 (was £146.65), Desenio

A favourite for feel-good vibes, colour drenching a room in the same green accents and creating a gallery wall themed to botanical plants is a fast route to style and positive energy.

6. John Lewis ANYDAY Spindle Desk in Bowling Green, £159.20, and ANYDAY Whistler Dining Chair in Bowling Green, £99, John Lewis

Whether you’re in the throes of a spring clean and reorganising your WFH space, or introducing a cosy corner aesthetic for managing life admin and hobbies, this bijoux desk will make it all a breeze.

7. Portloe Woven Gingham Green Duvet Cover & Pillowcase Set, from £30-£50, Dunelm

A green gingham check has lots to offer, especially when teamed with co-ordinating solids and matching curtains, against a backdrop of bleached wood and mini olive trees for a dreamy, Mediterranean ambiance. Made from 100% washed cotton.

Caroline Quentin: Being an actor and a gardener is not a happy combination

February 20, 2024 by John Holden

Caroline Quentin Gardening McCarthy Holden

The Men Behaving Badly and Life Begins star, who recently appeared in Sky sci-fi series The Lazarus Project, also offers a wealth of advice and tips to her 150k followers on Instagram (@cqgardens).

Her husband, Sam, does much of the filming when she invites followers into her home near Tiverton in Devon, where she makes all sorts of dishes from ingredients she has grown, and shows us what she’s up to in her two-acre garden – which features an orchard, pond, greenhouse, raised vegetable beds and a flower garden, where the magic takes place..

Now, Quentin has written – and illustrated – a new book, Drawn To The Garden. It’s part memoir, part guide, with chapters on seeds, salads, fruit and veg, water, herbs, pets and pests, memories and anecdotes meandering through each section.

Her garden, she says, is “not immaculate”. Weeds haven’t taken over, but she allows some buttercups and daisies to encourage bees.

“By my nature, I’m quite a chaotic person, so I don’t need things to be immaculate, but my vegetables are in a rotational system. I’ll mow a path through the grass rather than cut all the grass. I garden organically.”

The book also features a chapter on wellbeing, an important element to Quentin, whose mother suffered from bipolar disorder and spent periods in a psychiatric hospital, she recalls in the book.

When she was allowed to visit, she’d spend time in the hospital gardens, surrounded by marguerites, which she still loves.

“I genuinely believe that growing things, watching the birds, smelling the roses, eating the green stuff and drawing and painting, all help keep me this side of sanity and one step away from the big dark house on the hill,” she writes.

Here, she tells us more…

How much has gardening benefited your mental health?

“I consider it responsible for my wellbeing. I am by nature someone who goes up and down. I have mood swings, I get low. And if I do feel low, the first thing I turn to is my garden, or if I can’t be near my garden, the nearest open space or natural environment.”

Did you always have access to a garden?

“As a little girl, we had a long strip of suburban terraced house lawn. It was not really a gardening space. Nobody in my house was particularly interested in gardening.

“I wouldn’t say I was a gardener when I was young but at primary school, I’d put a seed on a bit of blotting paper or a bulb in a jam jar with water underneath and it was fascinating. The whole optimism about growing things is always a good thing.”

What was your garden in Devon like when you first moved there?

“It was a derelict property, with just a field and a trickle of stream at the bottom. There was no garden. That was about 17 years ago.

“I put the pond in first because I knew when you put water into a garden, nature comes, and that was what I was most interested in. It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done with a garden. I swim in it too.”

How do you juggle your acting career with looking after the garden?

“You tend to film in the summer months, and gardening obviously happens a lot in the summer months as well. So I tend to be in the greenhouse in January, February and March, getting everything ready, sowing my seeds, getting the garden ready, and then suddenly the phone will ring and I’ll need to be away from the garden when everything needs to go in and be planted out. Being an actor and a gardener is not really a happy combination. The time balance is somehow wrong.

“I’m filming two dramas this year. I do get homesick. I’m really bad at being away from home, which is weird given that I do it for 90% of my life. But it’s a small price to pay for what has been a very enjoyable career.”

Do you have help?

“Sam will water for me, but he’s not a gardener. Anthony (her gardener) has helped me over the years. He comes in for a morning a week.”

How do you maintain your wellbeing in the garden?

“I hug trees, I talk to trees, I spend as much time as I can in woodland. They call it forest bathing. It’s a deeply rooted human thing to want to be in the shade or dappled light of a tree on a summer’s day.

“I don’t formally meditate, but I do have a process where I try to breathe well when I’m outside if I’m feeling stressed or trying to learn some lines and they’re not going in, or there’s too much to do. I do a little bit of yoga every day. In the summer, I can do that outside and get my breathing organised to just slow my heart rate down and breathe in some good air.”

What’s next?

“I’m planning to downsize and start a new garden (in Devon). My children (Will and Rose) have left home and we have a big house and big plot of land. I’m getting older and maybe it’s time for me to start thinking about a garden for someone in their 60s. I want to make my next garden as well, I don’t want to inherit one. At the moment I’m fixated on having bees. So I’m thinking of an orchard with bees in it, and possibly some wildflowers.”

What will you take from your old garden to your new garden?

“Probably water. What’s brought me the most joy is watching swallows over the pond on a summer’s evening. I would definitely grow apples again and I would have maybe three or four raised beds, and a greenhouse or potting shed.”

Drawn To The Garden by Caroline Quentin is published by Frances Lincoln on February 15, priced £20.

Latest Property Magazine & Market Insights

February 19, 2024 by John Holden

We are please to create our latest edition of In The Country & Town, providing an opportunity to provide our readers with market insights and also showcase some great properties to buy or to rent for those starting their 2024 property search this month.

In January and early February 2024 the house market has moved quickly with positive buyer activity turning into a healthy amount of new property sales, confirming in our view that house buyers believe that the best in house buying opportunities will be during the first six months of 2024.

For market insight and our advice to buyers and sellers, just click on the image below.

There are many fine properties to see within the pages of our magazine and you will see the wonderful interiors of some of the finest properties on the Berkshire / Hampshire borders, including a preview of the property shown below which is not yet on the open market. If you click on the image you will see more details and a video tour embedded in the magazine.

And here is another magazine preview exclusive, Situated within the sought after village of Herriard.

This exquisite three bedroom detached family home built in 2020 by Forays Homes, is located within an exclusive development of just three detached properties.

Benefits to this property include a detached double garage with ample driveway parking, air source heat pump, dressing room, underfloor heating, and wonderful countryside views.

Click on them image below for more details.

Why not indulge in looking at our 90 pages magazine and see the wonderful interiors of some of the finest properties on the Berkshire / Hampshire borders.

We also hope you will enjoy reading some of the editorial features, including recipes from new chef Big Zuu, Caroline Quentin on her gardening experience, Paloma Faith: Becoming a mum, why going plant-based could transform your health, Michael Sheen on why he hopes The Way ‘gives voice’ to Port Talbot, TV & Film on One Love star Kingsley, how to renovate your kitchen sustainably, and motoring.

Click image below for a full read.

Ella Mills’ creamy black bean and harissa stew

February 2, 2024 by John Holden

Ella Mills Deliciously Ella McCarthy Holden news item

“The best thing about batch cooking is that the flavours of the dish tend to get better the longer they marinate, so the leftovers are always a real treat, and this is certainly the case in this recipe,” says Ella Mills, the brains behind Deliciously Ella.

“It’s hearty and cosy, with lovely spices from the harissa, sweetness from the coconut and maple syrup, and a delicious nutty flavour from the almonds. The aubergine gives it great texture, while the beans ensure it really fills you up. It’s great on its own for a light supper, or for something a bit more substantial serve it with jasmine rice, jacket potatoes or crispy roast cauliflower.”

Creamy black bean, harissa and almond butter stew

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

1tbsp olive oil

2 shallots, halved and finely sliced

1 aubergine, finely diced into 1cm cubes

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 × 400g tin of black beans, drained and rinsed

3tbsp harissa, plus extra to serve

1 × 400ml tin of coconut milk

400ml hot vegetable stock

2 heaped tbsp smooth almond butter

2tsp maple syrup

Grated zest and juice of 2 juicy limes

Sea salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Put the olive oil into a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the shallot and aubergine and a pinch of salt and fry for five minutes, until soft. Add the garlic, black beans and harissa and fry for two minutes, until fragrant.

2. Pour in the coconut milk, stock, almond butter and maple syrup. Bring to a boil, then put the lid on the pan and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

3. Stir in the lime zest and juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Swirl an extra tablespoon of harissa through the stew to serve (if you’d like a little extra spice).

Note: To make crispy roast cauliflower, simply chop your cauliflower into small florets, place them on a baking tray with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and roast in an oven preheated to 200ºC fan for about 20–25 minutes, until golden and crispy.

My girls love this recipe too, so when I’m cooking it for the family I hold off on the harissa and stir it into the adult portions once I’ve served the little ones.

Deliciously Ella: Healthy Made Simple by Ella Mills is published by Yellow Kite, priced £22. Photography by Clare Winfield. Available now.

Ella Mills’ crispy potato and paprika tray bake recipe

February 2, 2024 by John Holden

“Crispy, crunchy, hearty and super-simple, this tray bake is the ideal recipe when you want something satisfying without lots of prep, mess or brain space!” says Ella Mills, the brains behind Deliciously Ella.

“The zesty harissa yoghurt is really versatile too; it makes for a great dip or dressing with any veg.”

Crispy potato and paprika tray bake

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

3 floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper (about 350g), with their skin

½tbsp olive oil

2 red onions, halved and finely sliced

2tsp paprika

1 punnet of cherry tomatoes (about 200g)

1 × 400g tin of butter beans, drained

½ bunch of coriander (about 10–15g), roughly chopped

Sea salt

For the harissa yoghurt:

4tbsp coconut yoghurt

2tbsp harissa

Grated zest and juice of 2 limes, plus wedges to serve

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C fan and bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.

2. Cut the potatoes into one-centimetre cubes then add them to the boiling water. Meanwhile, put the olive oil into a large flat baking tray and place in the oven to heat up. Simmer the potatoes for five minutes, until softened slightly and a knife pierces them easily, then drain well and add them to the preheated tray along with the onion, paprika and a pinch of sea salt. Toss to combine, then bake for 20 minutes, tossing occasionally so that the potatoes cook evenly.

3. Add the cherry tomatoes and butter beans to the tray and cook for a further five minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the potatoes are crisp.

4. Meanwhile make the harissa yoghurt by mixing the coconut yoghurt, harissa, lime zest and juice together in a small bowl, seasoning with salt to taste, then transfer to a small serving bowl.

5. Once the potatoes are ready, remove from the oven, sprinkle over the coriander and serve with the harissa yoghurt on the side.

Deliciously Ella: Healthy Made Simple by Ella Mills is published by Yellow Kite, priced £22. Photography by Clare Winfield. Available now.

Ella Mills’ lemony pea and broccoli pasta recipe

February 2, 2024 by John Holden

“I make a variation of this for my kids a lot, using whatever greens I have in the fridge – green beans, asparagus, spinach etc. It’s exceptionally simple yet super-satisfying,” says Ella Mills, the brains behind Deliciously Ella.

Lemony pea and broccoli pasta

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

2 servings of pasta; I like orecchiette in this dish (about 75g per person)

1 small head broccoli (about 300g) cut into small florets

100g frozen peas

Large handful of cashews (about 50g, see note below)

1 vegetable stock cube

1tsp Dijon mustard

1tbsp nutritional yeast

Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

1 × 400g tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed

Sea salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Cook according to the instructions on the pack, adding the broccoli and frozen peas for the last three minutes of the cooking time. Cook until the pasta is al dente, the broccoli is tender, and the peas are defrosted, then drain and return to the pan.

2. Meanwhile, put the cashews and stock cube into a bowl with 100 millilitres boiling water, let the stock cube dissolve and the cashews soak for five minutes.

3. Put the mustard, nutritional yeast, the juice of both lemons and half the zest, and half the tin of butter beans into a high-speed blender along with the cashews and their soaking liquid. Blend until you have a smooth, creamy sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Pour the sauce over the drained pasta and veg, adding the last half of the butter beans. Stir to combine and top with a little extra lemon zest.

Note: To make this nut-free, swap the cashews for sunflower seeds.

Deliciously Ella: Healthy Made Simple by Ella Mills is published by Yellow Kite, priced £22. Photography by Clare Winfield. Available now.

Jay Blades says Sir David Jason is ‘perfect’ and collaborating on their new show was like ‘working with a teenager’

February 2, 2024 by John Holden

Jay Blade and Sir David Jason McCarthy Holden news item

Before the interview has even got fully under way, Sir David Jason is taking swipes at Jay Blades.

It is soon evident that this is the pair’s modus operandi. In fact, it becomes rather difficult to get an answer from either of them without the other butting in with a quip or alternative version of events.

Their zinging rapport is part of why the new BBC Two series, David And Jay’s Touring Toolshed, is such a joy. And beneath the veneer of friendly snark, their respect and esteem for one another is palpable.

Case in point: Blades is late to the Zoom call. Asked what his favourite moment from the series was – meeting the crafters, touring the country perhaps? – Sir David responds, “Well, I was going to say it was working with Jay. But now he’s not joining us, I can tell you the truth, that no way was he my favourite person. You can make what you like out of that.”

“Seriously though,” the veteran comic actor, 83, best known for his long stint in Only Fools And Horses, continues, “it was great working with Jay. He’s a super character. Lovely fella. Very, very easy to work with. He’s the sort of person where what you see is what you get.”

Blades appears on screen in a burst of laughter. “You’re not wanted now,” Sir David quips immediately.

“You thought you could get away without me being there, hey?” responds Blades. “David, you rein it in now. You behave yourself. It’s not the David show like you wanted it to be. They didn’t edit me out. I’m in there.”

Touring Toolshed sees Sir David and Blades take to the road, travelling the length of the UK to lend a hand to crafters and makers, both amateur and professional, and learn about their passions and projects. Donning matching blue caps, they visit craft shows, country fairs, steam rallies and engineering fairs. The toolshed – a trailer-come-shed equipped with a plethora of tools – pulls up and Sir David, Blades and various experts help individuals solve tricky challenges.

On working with the comedian for the first time, Blades, 53, calls him “a national icon”.

“It was a real joy working with someone I grew up with,” he continues. “And then you’re working with someone who is perfect in every single way. You’ve got to think, the age this young man is, we’d have done a full day’s filming – 14 hours, let’s say – and we go back to the hotel and have dinner and he’s talking about what we can do tomorrow. It was as if I was working with a teenager.”

Both Sir David and Blades are makers themselves. Blades is a long-time furniture restorer, author and presenter of shows including The Repair Shop and Jay Blades’ Home Fix. Sir David has a long-held passion for inventing and fixing things. Where did that originate?

“I have the ability,” the Del Boy star says, “because going back into history, when I first started work I was an apprentice electrician. When you are an apprentice to any trade, you have to absorb all sorts of traits – you’re bumping into people who are bricklayers, plasterers, pipe benders, plumbers. And if you’re interested in making things, it leaves its mark. You get interested in how a plumber bends a piece of pipe, and that sort of thing is still with me, I still love bending pipes. Well, now the pipe I bend is round Jay’s neck but…”

“Well, don’t tell them about that,” retorts Blades. “But Sir David still makes, and I still make. And what I love about making is the future aspect of it – you never just make something and that’s it. You’re always seeing the next step. Where can I take this? How can I move it forward?

“We had a load of different makers come along and the beauty for me is upskilling, so a lot of the people did have a stumbling block and we teamed them up with an expert who would help them right now with the problem at hand, but also in the future, so when they go off and make something else, they’ll have the ability to do it.

“So there’s a lady on there who made these beautiful puppets, but she didn’t know how to make them move. We had an expert show her how to organise the motor and put the strings in the right place – so when she builds another puppet, she can apply those skills straight away.”

A project that particularly impressed the pair involved upcycling aircraft windows.

“We met a couple of chaps who worked on an airfield,” Sir David explains, “and in the corner of the airfield was a broken-down aeroplane that had been there for months and months and was just rotting away. So the pair of them started to take it apart, recycle and polish the windows, and sell them – and they were going like hotcakes.

“And it was brilliant to see how they were making something out of nothing – that was quite an eye-opener, wasn’t it?”

“They were making rubbish attractive and desirable!” exclaims Blades. The idea has since flourished into a fully fledged small business turning the portholes into mirrors and mosaic tables.

“You’d never believe that something that was rotting in a field could be turned into such a desirable item,” Blades continues. “That’s the beauty of what we found on the show. There were so many people with brilliant ideas.”

Do they hope the show will inspire viewers to start making and tinkering themselves?

“I don’t use the word hope,” says Blades. “I know it’s going to, plain and simple. This show, you’ve got a legend such as Sir David, and someone who knows about making and is as enthusiastic about it as me, and that enthusiasm comes over on screen and people will be inspired to continue making, tinkering and pushing it forward.”

“I’m sure he’s right,” says Sir David, followed by a brief parley between the pair about the shock of finding themselves in agreement about something. “We will inspire people to invent, create, perhaps see something that nobody else has seen. So we’re hoping that what we’re going to achieve is for people to be inspired and get off their…”

Blades, chuckling, adds: “Seats.”

David And Jay’s Touring Toolshed started on BBC Two on Monday January 22.

These are the foods to eat to avoid colds and flu this winter

December 15, 2023 by John Holden

By Lauren Taylor, PA

Nutritionist to the stars, Gabriela Peacock, has revealed the immune-boosting foods to get into your diet this winter, if you want to starve off dreaded colds and bugs.

A lot of people don’t realise just how interlinked winter health and nutrition are, says the 44-year-old, but our immune system “is directly dependant on what we put within the body to create a chemical reaction – it’s really, really important”.

Here are Peacock’s hero foods your body needs this winter…

Fermented food – “Digestion support is incredibly important for immunity – 70 to 80% of our immunity actually lies within a digestive system,” says Peacock, whose celebrity clients include Princess Beatrice, Joan Collins, Jodie Kidd and Amber Le Bon.

She recommends eating live yoghurts, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi and tofu. “They directly increase the beneficial bacteria in your intestine, which supports the healthy microbiome – and the healthy microbiome will in turn support our immunity.” They also contain protein. “Protein is really important for any kind of repair within the body, so when you have a cold, when you scratch your arm, when you need more hormones to be produced.”

How to add it: Peacock recommends using live yoghurt as a base for homemade ice cream with a dash of agave syrup.

“Sauerkraut goes really nicely with any kind of rich foods, which is what we tend to eat around this time, quite heavy and oily meals, sauerkraut cuts through it,” she says. “Kombucha is just a nice alternative when you get a bit bored of drinking water. Most of them are really, really low in sugar.”

Green tea – “This would be one of my one of my hero drinks, especially over this period of the year because tea is nice and warming. Green tea contains catechins which are polyphenols,” explains Peacock.

“Polyphenols are phytochemicals – plant chemicals that have numerous health benefits. One of the main benefits is immunomodulating properties [which] stimulate our immune system and decrease the chronic inflammation. Basically, when you’re looking at the immunity, you want to decrease the inflammation.”

How to add it: If you drink coffee, Peacock suggests sticking to one or two a day and then switching to green tea afterwards.

“A really good to tip is to put lemon in green tea – you increase the absorption of the catechins, plus it gets rid of the bitter taste. Don’t make the tea too hot because the heat will kill the vitamin C.”

Matcha tea – powdered green tea – is another great way to get the nutrients but is higher in caffeine. “I would recommend thinking about it as a caffeine supplement [to coffee],” she says.

Pigmented fruits – “We are looking for the dark pigments, [they] will contain the polyphenols which will directly stimulate the immunity. So think about black blackberries, red raspberries, red peppers, green kale, orange or yellow pumpkins – if and you see these saturated colours, they are really beneficial. “Eat the rainbow – beige food is not good for us. The pigment is the polyphenol.”

How to add it: “I would recommend doing smoothies because you are keeping the fibre inside [as opposed to juicing]. If you’re doing smoothies I always recommend adding some greens that are lying in your fridge. You will not taste it at all but you increase your colours, you increase your fibre,” Peacock says.

“I don’t dislike juicing but I would never have juice on an empty stomach. You should have it with foods or have it after foods. Think of it as more of a vitamin boost – as apposed to food.” You can buy supplements of red and green superfood powder too, which she recommends adding to smoothies, live yoghurt or soup.

Omega-3-packed fish, nuts and seeds – “Essential fatty acids are incredibly important – the reason they’re called essential is because your body cannot produce them by itself, you need to obtain them by diet,” says Peacock. “Omega-9 and omega-6 we tend to be OK with [obtaining] but most people struggle with omega-3 because we just don’t eat enough of it. This would be oily fish; salmon, mackerel, sardines, a bit of tuna, also a vegetarian source; nuts and seeds.

“We need to at least three to four portions of oily fish per week in order to cover your basic baseline.”

Seeds, in particular, are really high in omega-3, says Peacock. “Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, also a nice variety of nuts is really important. Omega-3 is directly anti-inflammatory. They’re [also] really important for our skin, our hair, our hormonal balance, for the way our cells communicate with each other. But the prevention of chronic inflammation is one of the main benefits.”

How to add it: “You know what’s really good and really cheap – mackerel and sardines in a can. They’re kind of unattractive but I absolutely love them. You can get mackerel in a spicy tomato sauce [in a tin] – absolutely delicious.”

She suggests tinned sardines on toast, keeping bowls of seeds on your kitchen counter to add to everything (especially soups and porridge) and carrying nuts in your handbag. “Food source would be preferential but you can get supplements of omega-3 – 99% of my clients need supplementation.”

Garlic – Garlic contains sulphur (as do onions, leeks and eggs). “Sulphur is incredibly important because they stimulate the liver detoxification processes and that in turn will have a really positive effect on immunity.” Peacock says.

How to add it: “I would add it into everything really – include it as much as possible. With garlic, you only release the sulphur-containing compounds when you crush it, so it does need to be crushed down and not cooked for too long. Add garlic very last minute. The cooking process helps for the absorption but if you overcook it, if you deep-fry garlic, it will definitely reduce its properties.”

Cruciferous vegetables – Including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussel sprouts and kale – are really important for immunity, Peacock says, and it’s “probably the best liver-supporting group of vegetables”. They contain liver-friendly sulphur, polyphenols and are high in fibre – which is “fantastic for digestion” (immunity and digestion are very much linked).

How to add it: Include different kinds in your Sunday roasts, she suggests. “If some clients of mine don’t like the taste or texture of cabbage or kale [I suggest] cutting them into really small pieces – you get exactly the same benefits and you don’t [notice] the texture.”

Citrus – Vitamin C is very important this time of year. “It’s a direct antioxidant, in order to fight free radicals, which is essentially what makes us sick. If you increase antioxidants in your diet, you’re increasing the protection, you’re giving your immune system protection,” Peacock says.”Grapefruit is high in vitamin C.”

How to add it: “If you want to increase your hydration (because not many people drink enough water), add a teeny bit of grapefruit juice to a lot of other water,” she suggests, “I use it for the kids’ water bottles. It’s important for it to be fresh [citrus] so you can get as much vitamin C as possible.”

These principles are incorporated in Gabriela Peacock’s latest book, 2 Weeks to a Younger You, (Kyle Books, £25). Supplements are available at GP nutrition.

Three Recipes From Mary Berry

December 14, 2023 by John Holden

Mary Berry’s easy-peasy one-pot chicken

By Katie Wright, PA

“A whole spatchcock chicken with Mediterranean-style vegetables, this is a healthy and hearty all-in-one dish made in a casserole or deep saucepan,” says iconic TV cook Mary Berry.

“Removing the backbone of the chicken makes it a spatchcock and it is easier to arrange in the pot and to carve or joint. Double up for eight people, if you wish, and arrange two chickens in a large roasting tin, covered in foil.”

Easy peasy one-pot chicken (Serves 4-6). Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 red pepper, deseeded and diced

3 large garlic cloves, finely grated

100ml (3½fl oz) white wine

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 small whole chicken (about 1.25kg/2lb 12oz)

5 bay leaves

1 lemon, thinly sliced into rounds

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp runny honey

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6.

2. Heat the oil in a deep lidded casserole or large, lidded, ovenproof frying pan over a high heat. Add the onion, fennel and pepper and fry for about 3–4 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Pour in the wine and boil to reduce by half.

3. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, sun-dried tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce, and season with salt and black pepper.

4. Meanwhile, put the chicken upside down on a board. Remove the backbone by cutting either side of the bone with scissors. Turn over and press down on the breastbone to flatten the bird; it is now a spatchcock chicken. Arrange the lemon slices and bay leaves over the chicken.

5. Put the chicken, breast-side up, on top of the vegetables in the casserole or frying pan. Season and bring up to the boil. Cover with a lid and transfer to the preheated oven for about 35 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and sprinkle the paprika over the chicken and drizzle with the honey. Return to the oven, uncovered, for about 30 minutes to brown and finish cooking.

7. To serve, spoon the vegetables on to a hot platter and joint or carve the chicken before arranging the chicken on top of the vegetables.

Mary Makes it Easy is published by BBC Books, priced £28. Photography by Laura Edwards. Available now.

Mary Berry’s Somerset cheddar cheese straws

“Cheese straws are so delicious, but can be tricky to make if the proportions are not quite right,” says iconic TV cook Mary Berry.

“We tested these every week for a month, just to make sure they were perfect – and because they are so moreish, too!”

Somerset cheddar cheese straws (Makes 50)

Ingredients:

250g (9oz) cold butter, cubed

55g (2oz) semolina

400g (14oz) plain flour

1 tsp mustard powder

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

150g (5oz) mature Somerset Cheddar, coarsely grated

150g (5oz) Parmesan, coarsely grated, plus about 4tbsp finely grated, to garnish

1 egg, beaten

A little milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Line 2 large baking sheets with non-stick baking paper.

2. Measure the butter, semolina, flour, mustard powder, cayenne pepper and a little salt into a food processor. Whizz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

3. Add the Cheddar, Parmesan and egg and whizz again for a short time, just until the dough comes together.

4. Remove the dough from the processor, divide into two equal pieces, and shape each one with your hands on a floured work surface into a rectangle. Roll each piece of dough to a rectangle about 46 x 16cm (18 × 6½in) and about 8mm thick.

5. Brush the milk over the top of the dough and sprinkle with the finely grated Parmesan. Slice each rectangle into roughly 25 strips.

6. Carefully lift each straw on to the prepared baking sheets and bake in the preheated oven for about 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to cool on the baking sheet until the straws have hardened and are easy to handle.

7. Serve cold.

Mary Berry’s red velvet sandwich cake

“An impressive, but easy cake,” is how iconic TV cook Mary Berry describes this bake.

“Use a professional food colouring paste, if you can; a natural liquid colouring won’t work and may turn the sponge green,” she recommends.

“For a particularly elegant finish, you could make extra icing and crumb coat the sponge before applying the top layer of icing.”

Red velvet sandwich cake

Ingredients:

(Serves 8)

Butter, for greasing

250g (9oz) plain flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

250g (9oz) light muscovado sugar

200ml buttermilk

150ml (¼ pint) sunflower oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp red food colouring gel or about ¼ tsp food colouring paste

2 large eggs

8 white chocolate truffle balls, to decorate

For the buttercream icing:

250g (9oz) butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla extract

300g (10½oz) icing sugar

250g (9oz) full-fat mascarpone cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line the bases of 2×20cm (8in) sponge sandwich tins with non-stick baking paper.

2. Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sugar into a bowl and mix well.

3. Mix the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, food colouring and 100ml (3½fl oz) water in a jug. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. The mixture should be bright red; it will get a little darker as it cooks. If it’s not as vivid as you’d like, add a touch more colouring.

4. Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared tins and level the surfaces. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25–30 minutes, or until well risen and shrinking away from the sides of the tins. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out, peel off the paper and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

5. To make the buttercream icing, place the soft butter and vanilla extract in a large bowl and sift in half the icing sugar. Mix with an electric whisk until smooth. Sift in the remaining icing sugar and mix again. Add the mascarpone to the bowl and gently stir with a spatula until smooth (don’t beat with a whisk as it may split). Put a fluted nozzle in a piping bag and spoon about 150g (5oz) of the buttercream into the bag.

6. To assemble the cake, sit one of the sponges on a cake plate and spread a third of the buttercream over the cake, then sit the other cake on top. Ice the cake by first spreading a thin layer of icing – a crumb coat – over the whole cake before chilling for 30 minutes. Then pile the remaining icing from the bowl on top and spread over the top and around the edges to completely cover the cake. Make sure that the icing is smooth around the edges before starting to create lines up the sides. Using a small palette knife, make wide lines up the sides and swirl the top. Pipe a rope design around the edge of the top of the cake and decorate with the eight chocolate truffles to finish.

Dame Mary Berry at 88: ‘I don’t want to retire at all – I love what I do’

December 14, 2023 by John Holden

Mary Berry says she still has a “passion” for cookery and isn’t planning to hang up her apron any time soon.

“I don’t want to retire at all. I have a passion for what I do and I love teaching,” says the former Great British Bake Off judge, 88, who began her TV cooking career in the early 1970s.

“I mean, I’ve got wonderful health… I’m really lucky. I love what I do.” Born in Bath, she moved to London aged 21 and studied part-time at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, alongside jobs, doing cookery demonstrations and recipe testing.

“I’ve always worked very hard, early on taking any work that came my way,” says Berry, who married Paul Hunnings in 1966. The couple have two children, Annabel and Thomas (their other son William died aged 19). “I worked in a butcher, I worked in a fishmonger, I worked during the night when I was on a holiday in a bakery that made wonderful bread. My husband was with the two children while I worked.”

After becoming food editor at now-defunct Housewife Magazine, then Ideal Home (which is still going strong), Berry published her debut cookbook in 1970 and landed her first TV gig shortly after.

“My first TV cooking was with Judy Chalmers on Good Afternoon and I did farmhouse cooking,” Berry recalls.

“I like to think that television is the best way of teaching to a very large audience. I want to inspire people to enjoy cooking more.” Quickly proving popular with viewers, she remained a fixture on TV screens over the next four decades, joining Paul Hollywood as a Bake Off judge from 2010 to 2016. “Of course you need the backup of a book,” Berry continues, nudging the conversation back to the topic at hand, her latest recipe book, Mary Makes it Easy.

“I like to feel that with a book I’m holding somebody’s hand who is a little bit nervous and trying a recipe the first time, and I want them to have real success.” Something in the region of her 96th cookbook (the exact total appears to be lost in the sands of time), it’s all about simplicity, with a focus on one-pot wonders (like chicken tartiflette or meatball toad in the hole), quick dinners you can prepare in advance (veggie bolognese; humble pie) and freezable sweets (elderflower and lemon traybake; maple and orange pudding).

“We all want something easy, don’t we?” says Berry, who admits even she still has the occasional slip-up in the kitchen.

“I forget to put the timer on, I take things out too soon, all the things a housewife – or whoever’s doing the cooking – [might do]. We all make mistakes.” Having experienced times when cash was tight, the frugal foodie has lots of advice for home cooks who want to cut costs. “It’s all about planning,” says Berry, who is a big fan of doubling up on recipes and freezing half for a later date.

“The freezer is like a second larder if you label things properly. I write, say, ‘roasted vegetable lasagna, very good’ and I may even put in my diary when I’m going to use it.”

As well as a culinary career spanning six decades, Berry – who became a Dame in the 2020 Birthday Honours – has been happily married for 67 years. What’s her secret to a harmonious home? “Well, you know in my day you got married for richer or for poorer, till death us do part, which to me is very important,” the octogenarian says.

“We don’t have arguments, I just go in the garden or the greenhouse if he’s annoying me. Try and never go to bed on an argument,” she advises. And count your blessings: “I’m immensely grateful still to have him. Many of my friends haven’t got their husbands.”

Recently, some of Berry’s 1970s TV demonstrations have found a new audience on TikTok, with quaint clips showing her making the trendiest dishes of the day, like chicken stroganoff, ox tongue (“such a lovely idea for a picnic”) and sherry trifle – not that she would know.

“I have no idea. I don’t do social things like TikTok, I don’t do Twitter,” says Berry (her assistant Lucy runs an Instagram account on behalf of the pair.) “It’s very nice that people are enjoying the early ones.” She gently admonishes me when I confess that I’ve never sampled tongue: “You can buy it ready sliced in the supermarket. Have you never had it? You’re a foodie…

“I like it very much, my husband does, too. We have it occasionally. It’s more reasonable than having ham.”

Having seen many a food fad come and go, the one she struggled to get on board with the most was nouvelle cuisine, aka “little bits of something on a plate”.

“All the chefs were doing it and I remember well my mother, I think it was her 100th birthday, and we went to a very posh restaurant, it was nouvelle cuisine,” Berry recalls.

“I can remember the plates arriving for my brothers and my cousins. My mother got hold of the waiter and said, ‘That’s not enough for a man!’ And she was quite right.”

Mary Makes it Easy is published by BBC Books, priced £28. Photography by Laura Edwards. Available now.are available

Five minutes with… Hannah Waddingham for Home For Christmas

December 4, 2023 by Sam Holden

As Hannah Waddingham’s glitzy, musical show lights up homes and gets everyone in the mood for Christmas, we discover the behind-the-scenes fun.

If you were looking for something to get you in the Christmas spirit, look no further.

Hannah Waddingham’s Home For Christmas, an all-singing, all-dancing, high-octane special on Apple TV+ has all the festive ingredients you could ask for.

Sparkles, numerous dazzling outfit changes, an 18-piece band, glittering Christmas trees, wide smiles, nostalgic teary-eyed moments, comedic skits and countless festive musical numbers.

There are even cameos from Waddingham’s Ted Lasso co-stars.

Best known as a West End star in musicals including The Wizard Of Oz and for her Emmy-winning stint in Ted Lasso, Waddingham’s latest endeavour sees her front a dazzling Christmas special at the Coliseum theatre in London.

The location holds particular significance for Waddingham: many a childhood evening was spent in one of the boxes, bewitched as her mother, Melodie Kelly, a mezzo soprano in the English National Opera, performed on stage.

Joining Waddingham in this extravaganza are the likes of Hamilton’s Leslie Odom Jr, British singer Sam Ryder, Beauty And The Beast’s Luke Evans, the English National Opera, London Gay Men’s Chorus and The Fabulous Lounge Swingers.

We sat down with Waddingham, 49, to talk glitz, glam, outfits and performing alongside her special guests.

FIRSTLY, HOW WAS PERFORMING AT THIS FESTIVE SPECIAL? WHAT DID YOU LOVE ABOUT IT?

It was amazing. I was expecting it to be really exhausting but it just turned out to be completely thrilling, even though it was hours and hours long to film.

I hadn’t prepared myself for the moment when we weren’t on camera, having to sit back and talk to my director, Hamish Hamilton, in my ear and having to kind of hold the audience – that was actually the most tiring part of it, just trying to keep the energy in the room up. But I absolutely loved it.

THERE ARE SO MANY SPECIAL GUESTS, NOT LEAST YOUR TED LASSO CO-STARS. HOW WAS IT HAVING SO MANY LOVED ONES THERE WITH YOU?

Well, I found it a bit overwhelming really that so many of my Ted Lasso pals said ‘yes’. I thought maybe one or two would. But to literally have an embarrassment of riches from AFC Richmond was incredible and they tip it into something quite extraordinary.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DUETS. DID YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR FAVOURITE?

No, genuinely not – that’s why I chose who I chose. They all have their gifts. They all have their magic. And every single person brought it.

WHAT WAS THE REHEARSAL PROCESS FOR THOSE PERFORMANCES LIKE?

It was brief. Particularly people like Leslie Odom Jr, you know, he’s a busy man. He flew in, his flight was delayed. We literally sang the night he arrived. We went through it once and then we went through it again around the piano, and then the next day we did it. Just insane!

But musicians globally have a shorthand. So once it was myself and David Tench, my musical supervisor, and whomever of my guests, we literally went, ‘Right, shall we do it? Are you happy with that? What are we doing there? How do we get into that? What should we do there? Should we slightly change the harmony?’ And we feed off each other. It’s a real tribe.

WHAT WERE THE KEY ELEMENTS IN THE SHOW THAT MADE IT FEEL REALLY FESTIVE FOR YOU?

I think I wanted to create that kind of thing of everybody coming round to our house – like coming round for a Christmas party. I wanted people to feel like they could kick off their shoes, even if they were in the auditorium that night.

And even if you look at things like my duet with The Fabulous Lounge Swingers and Phil Dunster, we purposely put in that concept of Phil being in the auditorium and us being around the piano and that kind of ramshackle feeling, people thinking it was just discovered on route.

Even the cameos, the inserts that we put in there, I wanted people to be able to see everything – that kind of 360 of the whole venue, the backstage, on stage… all of it.

YOUR OUTFITS WERE INCREDIBLE! HOW DID YOU FIND WEARING THEM? DID YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE?

Well, we made them from scratch. They were very, very carefully created. Myself and James Yardley, my stylist, sat down together months and months ago and decided that we wanted to create as much of an emotional arc with the clothes as with the music.

So that first gold dress: I wanted it to be sparkly, I wanted it to be festive but not a punch in the eye in terms of being overtly Christmassy per se. And then I wanted it to be something that wouldn’t be distracting and would look very elegant and simple to go into that number that I dedicate to my mum and my daughter.

And then I wanted the second outfit to be more playful for my song with Sam Ryder: a bit more of a rock chick with a miniskirt but still the train to add the drama of theatre. And then of course, the last outfit, we needed something that was romantic and old school, like the time of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.

Autumn décor ideas for a seasonal refresh

October 29, 2023 by John Holden

With a nip in the air and change in seasons comes a new dawn – and a natural desire to create a comfy, snug space ahead of the cooler months.

Alongside sumptuous textures, polishing up warm woods and ambient lighting, now’s also the time for seasonal candles.

Here, experts share their top tips for an autumnal aesthetic…

Forage for farmers’ market-style floral displays

“As we prepare for colder, darker months, it’s all about getting cosy and adding some extra touches that will make you feel cocooned and comforted,” says Charlotte Reddington, one half of styling and organising duo, Style Sisters. She says one of her favourite things things about autumn is the rich variety of textures and tones, from crunchy leaves to the abundance of changing colours in parks and gardens.

“Be inspired inside your home and think about how you can weave these elements into rooms,” suggests Reddington.

“This can be through the addition of a statement autumnal floral display, including a rich array of crimson reds, dark greens and burnt orange.”

And with pumpkin season in full swing, don’t forget this colourful squash can be styled with foliage, berries and autumn wreaths.

Embrace cosier fabrics

“Shorter daylight hours mean only one thing – cups of guilt-free hot chocolate and plenty of movie marathons,” says Dani Burroughs, head of product for Snug.

“To get into the autumnal spirit, start by swapping out summer fabrics for cosier ones, like soft velvets or fuzzy boucle,” enthuses Burroughs.

“Bring in warm, inviting colours – think rich browns, deep reds and rustic oranges. Not only will they help transition from summer to autumn, they’ll also create a relaxing and warm feeling that’s perfect for those lazy evenings on the sofa.”

Introduce ambient lighting

Clever lighting can totally transform a room and the overall atmosphere, highlights Reddington.

“A harsh overhead light isn’t always the cosiest for an autumn evening at home on the sofa! Think about placing a large floor lamp or table lamps for some mood lighting, which will create a calming ambience.”

She continues: “And with darker evenings as the clocks go back, it’s an important factor to consider for maximum home comfort.”

Dec out your dining room to combine function with beauty

Look to Scandinavian-inspired styles for a mindful, minimalist and meaningful take on autumn decor, suggests Francesca Hadland, interiors expert for Bridgman.

“Choose linen tablecloths and napkins, cutlery in classic styles and simple crockery while keeping to a colour scheme of just one or two main shades that imbue your space with warmth,” says Hadland. “Whether that’s a rust red or forest green.”

Ahead of the festive season, she says to make sure your guests feel comfortable with upholstered dining chairs – a personal favourite.

“Whether modernised by a metal frame or softened by a wooden leg, an upholstered chair is a beautiful way to ensure a sublime seating experience, while also adding an extra pop of colour to your dining room décor scheme,” notes Hadland.

Embrace the biophilic trend

“Bring some new life into your home ahead of the colder months by incorporating air-purifying houseplants into décor,” says Rikki Fothergill, bathroom expert at Big Bathroom Shop.

Especially in bathrooms and kitchens, which she says is hugely beneficial for improving the quality of indoor air, regulating humidity levels and reducing the risk of more serious problems, like damp or even mould.

“Look to include species like ivy and fern as these are known to be great for maintaining air quality”, suggests Fothergill. “Spider plants are perfect too, and make for a great addition to any bathroom touching on the biophilic trend.”

Scent the season

One of the very first things you notice (sometimes unknowingly) when you enter a room isn’t just how it looks, but how it smells, notes Reddington.

“Scent can evoke memories, elevate an atmosphere, and help to change your mood – from energising and lifting, to relaxing and even aiding sleep… we really think it’s one of the most important aspects of a home.”

Candles and diffusers are the most popular and easy addition, says Reddington. “Not only can they smell amazing, but the design can add a stylish decorative touch to a mantlepiece or coffee table.

“An absolute autumn home essential,” she adds.

Five minutes with… Mary Berry for Mary Makes It Easy

October 29, 2023 by John Holden

By Rachael Davis, PA Entertainment Features Writer

For some of us, cooking can be a real chore. You might feel like you’ll never understand how to put together a nutritious, delicious dinner for your family, or you might think you simply don’t have time to get into the kitchen after a long day at work while juggling after school clubs, homework, and all the rest.

In her new programme for BBC Two, Mary Makes It Easy, former Bake Off judge Mary Berry gets together with celebrities with various levels of cooking experience to teach them exciting dishes that don’t take a lot of time, effort or skill.

She joins her famous friends Mel Giedroyc, Jordan North, Anton Du Beke, Lorraine Kelly, AJ Odudu, and Michael Ball to guide them, and us at home, through some scrumptious recipes that even those who’ve never made toast without burning it will be able to whip up in a flash.

Let’s hear more from Berry, 88, about what she gets up to in the kitchen.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO SHOW PEOPLE HOW EASY COOKING CAN BE IN THIS SERIES?

I’d listened to what people say, and they want easy recipes, things that don’t take too long, too many ingredients, and perhaps, from ingredients that they (have) got in their cupboard. So Makes It Easy was good for me to do, because I knew everybody would love it. Nice shortcuts as well.

WHAT DO YOU THINK PEOPLE FIND HARD ABOUT COOKING?

I think they find it difficult because time is short, and they’re cramming so much into their lives… It’s the decision making.

I say: don’t make it complicated, make it on the simple side and follow the recipe. First of all, follow it exactly as it is written, read it through two, three times, and then place yourself thinking how it’s going to work… Choose a recipe that your family are bound to enjoy, and that’s achievable in the time that you’ve got.

I love a one pot dish. I’ve got a recipe that has a couple of chickens that have been spatchcocked – that means the backbone’s taken out. You can buy them already prepared, if you like, and put everything in one dish, all the roasted vegetables around it. Absolutely delicious.

HOW WAS IT WORKING WITH THE CELEBRITIES IN THIS SERIES?

Well, all the people that I had wanted to learn to extend their repertoire, or to do something a little bit different.

Lorraine (Kelly) is not an experienced cook, at all. And she likes healthy food. I did a vegetarian mixed bean and red pepper chilli and thought it was lovely, and her daughter enjoyed it too.

Mel (Giedroyc), she’s already a good cook and just wanted a few more to add to her repertoire. She did a veggie ragu, which was all sorts of different vegetables, but all sorts of things that you’ve got to hand – who hasn’t got a bottle of red wine? And we’ve always got things like tomato, tinned tomatoes and tomato paste, and mushrooms. You know, not too unusual vegetables.

And some like cakes. Now, Jordan (North), not a very good cook, but was dying to make a cake.

His idea of a spread was something he called “picky tea”, and he just emptied all different bowls on the table and put the cubes of cheese in, peanuts, crisps – so this was stretching him!

I made, with him, a red velvet sandwich cake… It had a delicious texture which was given by buttermilk – that was a new thing for him, and a buttercream icing. And on the top, just bought truffles, the sort that I like, the white chocolate ones – that was delicious. He seemed to enjoy it.

I had Anton Du Beke, also. When I spoke to him, I said: “Well, what do you already cook?”.

He said: “I do eggs. I do boiled eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, omelette”.

“Can you do anything else?”

“No!”

So it was perfect to show him how to do a chicken escalope with tzatziki. We always buy chicken breasts, don’t we? And to make them cook quickly, you just can beat them out, which is very, very simple.

You just put the chicken breast on a board and put some baking paper on top, and then bang it with a wooden rolling pin. And it will be double the size – well, not quite double, but a nice escalope.

We fry it with mustard, and parsley on top and chopped dill, and that goes into the pan with it. And it is delicious.

YOU MENTIONED MEL THERE. OF COURSE, PEOPLE LOVE SEEING THE TWO OF YOU TOGETHER, BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU’VE COOKED TOGETHER, AND YOU GO CAMPING! HOW WAS THAT?

It was just as much fun as playing cards with her, we used to do that…

We think alike. We have great fun. And of course, she is very bright and took to camping. I mean, she does camp with her family in the Lake District, and so she was certainly guiding me with putting up tents and things, and I would tell her all about cooking.

WHAT’S YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR PEOPLE STRUGGLING WITH COMPLICATED MEALS, OR WITH TIME TO COOK?

Well, don’t choose complicated recipes! Choose simple recipes. And it’s very important that you take on board the sort of food that your family enjoys.

Check that you’ve got all the ingredients together, and perhaps choose something that you could cook double the amount of and put some in the freezer for next week. It’s nice to look in your diary and say: “I’ve made a note that I’ve already cooked that, and it’s beautifully cooked, in the freezer – all I’ve got to do is reheat it!”

Mary Makes It Easy starts on BBC Two at 7.30pm on Thursday, November 2.

Wildlife presenter Kate Humble on what really makes a house a home

October 26, 2023 by John Holden

What makes a house a home? Is it the building itself, the possessions inside, the people that live there, the location or community?

It’s probably all of these to some degree, says Kate Humble, who delved into the topic for her new book, Where The Hearth Is – sparked by the TV presenter’s own quest to understand why a London Victorian terraced property she thought would be her ‘dream home’ never really felt like it, but the Welsh farmhouse she later moved to did.

“Before I moved to Wales, my husband and I had bought a derelict house in London. We spent 18 months sleeping on kind friends’ sofas, giving everything we earned to the builders to try and make it un-derelict and create what we thought was going to be our absolutely perfect house, with a lovely kitchen, all our bookshelves and pictures on the walls, and all the elements we believed would make it the perfect, happy home,” explains Humble, 54.

“And what was really odd and actually rather distressing was the day we moved in and unpacked, we thought that instantly it would be home. It wasn’t. And it never felt like home, and I couldn’t work out what we’d done wrong.”

She repainted walls, moved pictures, furniture and even walls in a bid to fix the issue: “I drove my husband completely mad. For the whole seven years we were there, I basically battled to try and make this house a home.”

She eventually realised the problem wasn’t so much the house, but the location. “The reason that poor house was never going to be home was that I wanted it to make me believe London was home, and it couldn’t do that.”

Humble’s TV career has always focused on the countryside and nature, with shows like Springwatch and Countryfile, and for a long time she’d harboured a desire to live in rural Wales.

“I was never a city girl, I was brought up in the countryside,” she explains. “I had for quite a long time wanted to be back in the country, but because of my job, doing things like Springwatch, lots of wildlife programmes and programmes that took me out into the countryside, I could manage coming back to London. But it just ceased to feel like home.

“I had this weird, inexplicable – and I still haven’t worked out why this was the case – longing to live in Wales, even though I have no family history in Wales or heritage, and I hadn’t even really been on holiday there. I didn’t really have a connection. But for some inexplicable reason, I really, really wanted to live in Wales.”

Then, “completely out of the blue” in 2007, Humble’s TV producer husband Ludo was offered a job in Cardiff. “It was like fate was intervening.”

The couple bought an old stone farmhouse with four acres of land in the Wye Valley. “As soon as I got there, I knew I had found my home,” she recalls. “There are many elements of that, but I think it was instant because I was back in the countryside, and those were my roots, even though it wasn’t geographically where I’d grown up, I had grown up in a rural area – and I was back in a rural area and suddenly I felt like I belonged again.”

Yet although Humble, her husband and their dogs have lived happily in the farmhouse in Wales for the last 16 years, running the Humble by Nature working farm and rural skills centre nearby, they may still not be in their ‘forever home’ – which is what sparked the idea for the book.

“For a long time, I’ve wanted to build a house of my own,” she reveals. “I’ve got the design in my head – I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of creating the place that I end up living.

“But the thing that worries me is, I might build this house one day that I think is perfect – but what will it be that turns it from a building I’ve imagined in my head, a physical thing, into the nebulous but nonetheless essential thing that makes it a home? What will shift it from simply being a building with furniture and a bed, into the place where you feel safe and secure and at home? What do I need to do to make sure that I don’t repeat the experience I had in London?”

Humble was so worried about this, she wrote long lists of the sort of people that might be able to give her insight into what makes a house a home. “I started off by thinking that would help me build a thesis, a kind of Humble theory of what makes a home, if you like.”

She spoke to many people, compiling stories for the book – ranging from brother and sister Willie and Ruby Brown, both in their late 70s, whose home (a 150-year-old family stone croft on the west coast of Shetland, where they’d been born and raised) was struck by lightning and destroyed, to a Syrian woman who lost not just her home in the war, “but her community, her culture, her language, everything she knew”, explains Humble.

“She had to start from scratch, trying to make a home in a country that wasn’t hers, and the thing she said made the UK feel like home was the kindness of people.

“What I learned was home doesn’t stop or start when you walk into the front door – it’s more than that,” Humble adds. “And for a lot of people – and I would include myself in this – community is really important, what’s around you, what do you look out at through your window?

“Of course, there’d be things that all of us, if they were lost through fire, flood or whatever, we’d probably mourn. But ultimately, possessions are ephemeral – one day they’ll fade, fall apart, or get lost. Whereas the people in your life are the fabric of your home. When I walk around my house and think what would I grab if the house was on fire, I think, well I’d grab my husband and my dogs,” Humble reflects.

“What I discovered is what makes a home is incredibly personal and individual to each person. But if you have a place you can genuinely call home, where you feel safe and secure and it’s your refuge, actually, you’re very lucky.

“Through talking to all these people and putting this book together, I realised how precious home is.”

Where The Hearth Is: Stories Of Home by Kate Humble is published by Aster, priced £22. Available now.

Mini though the ages – the evolution of a motoring icon

September 10, 2023 by John Holden

The word ‘icon’ is overused in the automotive world, but it’s most certainly suitable to describe the Mini. It’s been a true trailblazer in the small car class for decades, successfully evolving with the times as well.

From dinky ‘60s car to a modern electric hatchback, the Mini has done it all, while never losing its focus as being an affordable and fun car in the process.

(Motoring feature by By Ted Welford, PA Motoring Reporter)

With the British firm just revealing its new Mini Cooper, it’s time to take a walk back down memory lane and look back at the history of the Mini.

1959 – The original Mini

In the late 1950s, fuel prices skyrocketed as a result of the Suez Crisis, and that meant that suddenly the idea of a gas-guzzling large car fell out of fashion. It prompted the Morris Motor Company to challenge its top engineer, Alec Issigonis, to create a small, fuel-efficient car capable of carrying four adults but at a low price that many could afford.

The result was the aptly named Mini – a true marvel in engineering and packaging. With the wheels pushed out to the far corners, the engine was put in the car sideways, helping to improve stability and free up more interior space. It was British through and through, being built at Longbridge, Birmingham, and also at Cowley, Oxford.

1961 – Racing success

The public was a little baffled by the Mini at first, but it quickly grew a fanbase, and by 1962 the British Motor Corporation (BMC) had manufactured 200,000 examples.

Its popularity also came down to Mini’s success in racing. Its lightweight and agility made it a prime candidate for modifications, not least with John Cooper, a British racing legend. This led to the introduction of the Cooper, featuring a more powerful engine and other tweaks. An even hotter Cooper S would follow, with the Mini chalking up some impressive racing victories, not least three wins at the prestigious Monte Carlo rally. By 1965 the millionth Mini had been produced.

1970s and 1980s – the Mini would just keep plodding on

It’s a testament to just how brilliant the original Mini’s engineering was that the firm just kept producing them as the years rolled on.

Helped by rising inflation and increasing petrol prices, demand for the small Mini was relatively sustained, with cumulative Mini sales passing three million and four million in 1972 and 1976 respectively, helped by the addition of new versions such as the Clubman estate and a pick-up.

1994 – BMW buys Mini and the final Classic Minis are produced

Mini came under the Rover Group in 1986, and in 1994, BMW acquired the firm. Though it would also own Land Rover as part of the deal, this was sold to Ford in 2000, but BMW retained Mini and continues to do so to this day.

The original Mini would continue to soldier on, helped by lots of special editions, until 2000, when it was finally discontinued. More than 5.3 million classic Minis were produced.

2001 – The New Mini

Reinventing a car like the Mini, especially when it was in production for more than 40 years, was always going to be challenging. But Mini presented its ‘New Mini’ at the 2000 Paris Motor Show, with production at the firm’s Oxford factory and sales beginning in 2001.

It was quite a lot bigger than the original, which proved controversial, but it sold well, with the 100,000th model being made just a year later. A Convertible version followed, as did sportier Cooper S and John Cooper Works models. A special edition ‘GP’ also arrived in 2006, with the rear seats removed and power increased to 218bhp, making it the most powerful Mini ever.

2006 – The Second New Mini

Following the success of the New Mini, the firm didn’t deviate far from its proven formula with this second-generation model, which looked quite similar.

But it was larger, better equipped and featured new engines as well. This new model would also serve as the basis for the reincarnated Mini Clubman, introduced in 2007. This generation of model is also noteworthy as providing the setup for the ‘Mini E’ in 2009 – an electric Mini trialled for 12 months to evaluate the user-friendliness of EVs. Though it would be another decade before buyers could choose an electric production Mini, these prototypes helped pave the way for BMW to introduce its electric i3 in 2013.

2014 – The third innings

In 2014, a brand-new Mini was launched. Though sharing a clear lineage with its predecessors, it was based around a new platform and was noticeably more modern to look at. A broad range of new engines were available, while it was also available with a range of new features, including a head-up display and LED headlights – both fairly advanced technology at the time.

Though revealed in a three-door guise, Mini would introduce its first five-door Hatch shortly after, helping to improve interior space further. In 2020 we saw the launch of the Mini Electric as its first EV, boasting a range of around 145 miles. In the same year, Mini also pulled the wraps off its latest John Cooper Works GP – an aggressive-looking 302bhp hot hatch that remains by far the most powerful Mini hatchback ever made.

2023 – A simplified, digital Mini

Mini has just revealed its new Cooper, as it will now be known, rather than Hatch. Offered in just a three-door guide, it gets a modern, simplified design that makes it look quite different to the outgoing model.

The plastic wheelarch trim is gone, as are the questionable Union Jack rear lights, and in place is a modern-looking Mini that will exist for many years to come. Inside there’s a new circular touchscreen display and a simplified layout. Only revealed in eclectic guise so far – petrol versions will join the line-up at a later date – the Mini Cooper can now travel up to a claimed 250 miles on a charge, considerably more than its predecessor.

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