Innehållsförteckning för March 2025 från The Simple Things

Morning, you're awake already! My husband, Matt, and I get our sausage dog, Pickle, out early. Then breakfast and a brew. I'm a porridge person – with a peanut butter dollop. I'll usually have green tea. Then it's straight to work. Northern Pasta Co. began two years ago and has recently expanded to a team of five. How did you end up in pasta? I worked at an artisan bakery and discovered incredible Britishgrown grains and flours. We started crafting pasta at home with spelt flour, focusing on creating something delicious, kinder to the environment and easier to digest. We began selling at our local foodie market – and it took off from there. Can we get you a cuppa? An Earl Grey with Oato Oat milk, please. I love…

There's no better way to get to the heart of a city than through the people who live there. We asked travel writer and photographer Jonathan Ramael (@jonathanramael; trotop.be) to guide us around his home city. You may feel inspired to visit one day, but for now, sit back and enjoy some armchair travel. How long have you lived in the city? I grew up in a town a couple of miles outside Antwerp, and moved to the old town when I started university (more than 20 years ago). I've stayed put ever since. Tell us what makes your city unique Antwerp has always been an important port and a major trade hub. This not only left us with lots of historical and architectural heritage, it also made the city surprisingly…

RHUBARB AND BASIL COCKTAIL Serves 6-8 400g rhubarb, washed, trimmed and cut into 5cm pieces 1 tbsp honey 3 tbsp fresh orange juice Large handful of fresh basil leaves 12 ice cubes 6 shots of vodka (optional) 2 x 750ml pink lemonade 2 unwaxed limes, to garnish 1 Place the rhubarb in a medium-sized saucepan on the hob over a medium heat. Add the honey and the orange juice. Stir continuously and cook for about 20 mins, or until the rhubarb has softened and the honey has melted. Allow to cool. 2 Place the rhubarb in a blender and blend until smooth. 3 Saving six sprigs to garnish, cut the basil into ribbons and bash them with the back of a metal spoon to release the flavour, then place in the glasses. 4 Fill six tall…

Looking out on a dreich Scottish night, legs curled under me and dog nosing under my elbow, I settle in with one of my favourite books. The cover image on the slightly tatty, slightly yellowed volume shows a blue-grey mountain scene and the title, A Munroist's Log. It's a journal, of sorts, a record of the ascents of Scotland's 282 highest peaks, all over 914m – some considerably more so. I fondly recall each saga written at the end of a long day on the hills, after the obligatory shower, foot rub and cold beer. It is written as a traditional journal, with my entries often in pencil, but never with photos. I find their absence makes my subconscious work harder, trawling up images and sensations long buried. Written descriptions…

Net curtains don't have to look dated. Choose a modern fabric in a gentle colour and see them glow as the sun shines though. Bookshop browse PASSING ON POSITIVITY Conversations On Kindness by Bernadette Russell ➛ Part art project, part manifesto, and wholly inspiring, Bernadette Russell's year-long endeavor to improve the world, one kind act at a time, is told here. Overwhelmed by a world that seemed swamped in sadness, she began handing out flowers and compliments, helping carry shopping and leaving cards in surprising places in a bid to make things better. It was rewarding and occasionally heartbreaking, but she could feel the difference it made to her and could sense the positive effect it had on those she met; a view reinforced by scientists, artists and activists who…

THINGS TO NOTE AND NOTICE Local lore SHROVETIDE SKIPPING, SCARBOROUGH Forget pancake races; skipping is where it's at on Shrove Tuesday in Scarborough. A mile of Foreshore Road is closed off and when the Pancake Bell is rung, thousands of locals gather to skip over long ropes stretched across the road. It all began back when servants would be given a half day off for Lent and would play football on the beach. ‘Ball Day’ became quite big, and while the adults were having a kick-around, the children would skip The first record of Skipping Day was in 1903, when fishermen gave the kids some ropes to skip with and it continues to this day (with the odd pancake race thrown in for laughs). nature spot NORTHERN GANNETS In March,…

FAVOURITE COCKTAIL BAR Dogma Serves up exceptional cocktails. dogmacocktails.be FAVOURITE RESTAURANT De Arme Duivel You must try their classic Flemish stew – it's the best. armeduivel.be FAVOURITE MUSEUM Museum Plantin-Moretus One of the world's oldest printing houses, plus it has possibly the loveliest courtyard in the city. museumplantinmoretus.be FAVOURITE PARK Nachtegalenpark A huge area outside the city centre with a castle and an open-air sculpture museum. Beukenlaan 1 FAVOURITE QUIET SPOT The old courtyard, Antwerp University It's very pretty – and holds significant sentimental value to me. uantwerpen.be FAVOURITE MARKET Vogelmarkt A famous Sunday market on Theatre Square: there are lots of stalls for drinks and snacks. BEST VIEW From the roof of the Museum aan de Stroom you get great (and free) views over the port and city. mas.be…

Constable is known for his way with oil paint, Barbara Hepworth for how she could chisel stone to her will. The tool of choice for James Cook, however, is the typewriter. In his hands, underscores and hyphens become building blocks of grand edifices; brackets are transformed into facial contours. James discovered the machine's creative potential in 2014 while still at school. Asked to explore artists who experimented with different technologies, James came across Paul Smith, a mid-20th century American artist, who – you guessed it – worked on a typewriter. “I printed out his work and studied what specific characters, letters, numbers, punctuation marks he used for different subjects,” he says. From there, James tinkered on the typewriter while studying for his undergraduate and master's degree in architecture. Graduating in…

Primroses It's easy to think the name of these flowers comes from them being ‘prim’. Although they're neat and petite, the root of the word is actually from the Latin prima, meaning ‘first’, as primroses are some of the earliest blooms of spring. Celebrate the increasingly sunny days by bringing a pot indoors, or pick a few for a small vase. According to folklore, primroses placed in a doorway keep faeries away, but there are few things more welcoming than a bowlful of these sunny little blooms.…

Time to get in training for 4 March Easy wins Use a non-stick pan, and don't add too much oil. Brad Jolly, a chef with the World Record for most tosses of a pancake in one minute (140), says you don't want too thick a batter and should wait until air bubbles form before tossing. Shake or tap the pan to loosen, then slip the pancake towards the side before you flip. All in the wrist Grip the handle close to the edge of the pan. You want a flick of the wrist rather than involving your forearm, or whole arm. Gordon Ramsay says to “push away, and flip back up with your wrist.” Employ science Dr Mark Hadley, of Warwick University's Physics department, estimates that to get your pancake…

Most of the veg patch is empty. That's still the deal at this time of year. Yes, there are a few leeks in one bed, the determined ones that survived my impatiently shoddy transplanting last summer. A single bedraggled tree of kale soldiers on, too, but it bends its head towards the soil, resigned to defeat, as pigeons shred its lower leaves. But that's it. There's really just soil. Bare earth. But, to me, bare earth is beautiful. And that's because the soil has been both teacher and my comfort, as well as an inspiration to me these past few years, so it fills me with hope to see it ready, posed for another year of fruitful growing. Just over a decade ago I was a fully paid-up gold card…

ROASTED RHUBARB AND CREAM CAKE Serves 8 - 10 220g butter, softened 200g caster sugar 4 eggs 200g self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 400g rhubarb, diced into 2cm batons 1 orange, zested and juiced 50g caster sugar 275ml double cream 85g icing sugar 1 Preheat the oven to 170C/Fan 150C/ Gas 3 and line a 20cm round tin. 2 Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl. Finally, sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in until you have a smooth dropping consistency. 3 Transfer the cake mixture to the prepared tin, smooth the top, and bake for 45 mins. 4 Whilst the cake is baking, prepare the rhubarb. Place the batons onto a lined baking tray.…

THIS MONTH WE READ THE LET THEM THEORY BY MEL ROBBINS In a nutshell Instead of living your life worrying about what other people say, think or do, or trying to manage the lives of those around you, focus on yourself and ‘let them’ do and think as they wish. So, it's about letting go of control? Often, yes. Most of us have an urge to try to control the world around us, which comes from a very primal place – fear. Fear of failure, of not being liked, of things falling apart if we're not steering the ship. It shows up in all kinds of ways, from hovering over our kids trying to make sure they make the right decisions, trying to influence our partner's habits, or imposing our…

The Weight of the World Oh, how they blew like vast sails in the breeze, my mother's wet sheets, pegged hard to the rope of her washing line. There was always hope of dry weather and no need for a please or thanks between us as we hauled them down. Whether to make the fold from right to left or left to right, to tame the restless heft? My job to know. I won't call it a dance but there were steps to learn and cues to read, the give and take of fabric passed like batons in a relay race. She was my due north. Her right hand set west, mine tracing the east, we closed the distance, calmed the wayward weight, bringing order to the billowing world. This…

“Mum refused to throw things out. For ages I thought that everyone had seven spinning wheels in their home” Growing up in a bungalow in Dorset surrounded by canvases, sewing machines and stacks of fabric, Zosia Brett – an artist, naturalist and workshop leader – didn't think anything of the craft materials she played with. Nor the way her mother refused to throw anything useful away, or how they never moved. “For a long time, I thought everyone had seven spinning wheels in their home. Looking back, I think my mum had such a transient start to life, she needed to stay still and to keep things.” Born in a Polish air raid shelter seven days after the Second World War broke out, Zosia's mother, Barbara, had a traumatic start…

When growing up in Cameroon, central Africa, Professor Rose Leke fell ill with malaria several times a year. It was normal. It gave her a curiosity about medicine. “I became interested in learning more and helping to reduce suffering,” she says. Encouraged by her parents, she studied biology at Cameroon's first secondary school for girls. But her path wasn't straightforward. Though she was the only girl to pass an exam to study in the US, cultural pressures meant her application was rejected. However, the programme's director intervened, travelling 400km to offer her a scholarship. She's since gone on to lead pioneering work against malaria, particularly in pregnant women, and played an important role in the eradication of polio. Last year, she won a L'Oréal–UNESCO For Women in Science International Award…

Chicken & mushroom pie A classic, best served with potatoes, veg and lashings of gravy. Serves 4-6 1.2 ltr vegetable stock 1 bay leaf 2 fresh thyme sprigs 1 small garlic clove, crushed 1 lemon slice 2 large chicken breasts (around 550g), each cut into 4 equal pieces ½ small brown onion, finely sliced 300g small mushrooms (such as button or baby portobello), sliced 25g butter 25g flour 200ml milk 1 sheet ready made puff pastry 1 egg, yolk and white separated ½ tsp poppy seeds (optional) 1 Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ Gas 6. Pour 1 litre of the stock into a pan and add the bay, thyme, garlic and lemon slice, then bring to a boil. Add the chicken and as soon as it comes back to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 mins. 2 Leave to…

Wednesday is Lou Richardson's favourite day of the week. It's market day in Berkhamsted and, along with many other basketwielding shoppers, Lou enjoys nothing more than selecting her ripe veg, fresh fish and artisan bread from the stalls on the High Street, then strolling back along the Grand Union canal's towpath as narrowboats chug slowly past. This connection with nature fuels her day with inspiration as she heads back to her Scandinavian-inspired garden studio where she designs beautiful bespoke wedding stationery. Having lived and worked in London for many years, Lou was ready for a change and a slower pace of life. When she met her now husband Steve, a photographer, who already lived in the town, it was an easy decision to make the move. “Berkhamsted is only a…

Everyone is instantly drawn to the piano and can't resist a little play – no matter their skill level. My husband is a professional musician and has played the piano for over 20 years, while I have very fond memories of sitting and playing the piano with my Grandma when I was a little girl. I'm very lucky that beautiful music fills our home daily and I love that this will one day become a family heirloom. Kim Usher, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear @home.sweet.victorian This corner is a mix of all the things that I love: music, ceramics and plants. I love how changing the records changes the look and feel of the room. I use my record player a few times a week and enjoy drawing while listening. Thilde…

THE EURASIAN MAGPIE The Romans believed the magpie was lucky, and quickly noted its intelligence, attributing this gift to the sun god, Apollo. The bird was thought to have magical powers and the ability to see into the future. In ancient Greece it was associated with the god of pleasure, Dionysus. Later, however, an abundance of narratives spread that marred the magpie's reputation – beliefs likely down to its pied appearance, considered evil at the time. A common superstition was that it carried a drop of the devil's blood in its tongue. Cut the tongue in two and release the blood and the magpie can speak like a human. The sight of magpies also gave rise to the popular ‘One for sorrow’ rhyme. With regional variations throughout the UK, the…

Machine wash, delicate Those two lines underscore the need to employ a gentler cycle. Washed up on labels in 1986, but still one of the least understood symbols. Non-chlorine bleach One of the newest laundry symbols, introduced in 2012. If you are bleachy keen, this indicates that you should use the non-chlorine type. Dry flat And in this case, the vertical lines may remind you of the top of a clotheshorse, because this item (likely knitwear) needs to be laid flat to dry. Handwash One of the oldest but perhaps least welcomed symbols, likely suggesting a lengthy stint in the laundry pile before you get round to a handwash. Tumble, medium heat Ready to tumble? Look for the circle within the square. The dots show maximum heat – three is…

Down jacket If it's got a hole in it, don't be tempted to pull the down out, gently work it back in. Duct tape is a quick fix, but Gorilla Clear Repair Tape or Gear Aid's Tenacious Tape is longer lasting. Wipe the surface with an alcohol-based cleaner, then make sure it's laid flat with the gaping of the hole minimised as much as possible. Cut the tape into a circle so it's less likely to peel off, then leave 2.5cm of tape around the hole, advise outdoor clothing experts, Ellis Brigham. This also works on your sleeping bag, while the tape is worth trying on holes in Gore-Tex, too. Fleece Fabric glue can work on a small hole. For a larger one, try a patch or a darn (see…

Object of the game Pass a message along using only body movements How to play • Pick 4-6 people to perform. Everyone else will act as the audience. • Ask the performers to stand in a line. • The audience comes up with an activity (such as grocery shopping or eating dinner) and whispers it in the ear of the person at the back of the line. • The first performer taps the shoulder of the person in front, who turns to watch them act out the scenario. • Continue through the line with each player acting out their version. • The front person then guesses the activity. • Correct answers are rare but wildly distorted interpretations will keep everyone entertained. Taken from Campsite Games: 50 Fun Games To Play…

I'm Sorry Brenda Lee All Apologies Sinéad O'Connor So. Central Rain R.E.M. I'm Sorry I Love You The Magnetic Fields I Said I Was Sorry The Dave Clark Five Sorry Suzanne The Hollies Ms. Jackson Outkast Baby Can I Hold You Tracy Chapman So Sorry Feist I'm Sorry About That Wilson Pickett Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home) The Impalas Desculpe, Babe Os Mutantes Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word Elton John Silver Platter Club John Grant Sorry If I Hurt You Charli xcx Take a listen at thesimplethings.com/blog/sorryplaylist stop look listen “Sorry Is all that you can say Years gone by and still Words don't come easily Like sorry, like sorry”…

Chai pancakes Light, fluffy and gently spiced, these are just too tasty to only eat on Pancake Day*. *Pancake Day falls on 4 March this year. Turn to p118 for some more pancake flipping know-how. Makes 10-12 250g plain flour 2 tbsp sugar 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 1 large egg 60g butter, melted and cooled ½ tsp ground cardamom 1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for dusting 1 tbsp ghee FOR THE KARAK CHAI: 500ml whole milk 1 cinnamon stick, halved 4 green cardamom pods 5 black tea bags 100ml condensed milk TO SERVE: 150g clotted cream 1 tbsp cocoa powder Honey or syrup of your choice 1 Begin by making the chai. Bring the milk and 500ml water to a boil then add the cinnamon, cardamon and tea bags. Remove from the heat and leave to steep for 5 mins.…

The river Weaver laps quietly as Fred meanders down Bradford Road, eyes noting debris among the waterways and culverts. He's just turned sixty and moves slowly, admiring the snowdrops that rise along the thicket, pausing as a kingfisher's feathered brilliance of blue, cyan and copper arrows in the morning sunlight. He turns onto a quiet residential street, removes leaves from a drain before heading towards number 47. Towards Lisa. The door has been freshly painted, daffodil-yellow – bright in the cold March air. Fred knocks. He hears movement inside. His heart eddies. It seems a world away from last autumn when he was out here amid the fear and worry as the rain fell and fell. Alerts issued, roads closed, trains cancelled. And Fred, local warden, speaking to neighbours, giving…