By Kate Hodges
16th April 2020
DO Shop Local
In these surreal times, we are attempting to avoid big supermarkets with large crowds and empty shelves, and we are sure you are too. This is our directory of the best small-scale shops, farm stores, grocers, take-aways, and home-deliverers across the country, and would love you to contribute. From national networks to corner shops, we want to know about them all! Let’s pool our knowledge, feed our families and support the good guys. Find it here and let us know your good guys here
RECIPE Going Bananas
Baking banana bread is so on-trend right now; our social media timelines are full of tempting, browned sweet lockdown loaves. Want to join the craze? Here’s a classic recipe, a really simple, one-bowl vegan version
and a totally over-the-top bake with a caramel twist. Alternatively, this peanut butter bread - originally popular in the 1930s - only requires a few ingredients, and no yeast. On a much simpler note, if you’re out of yeast and want to make a loaf, try this vegan beer bread – all you’ll need is a can of cheap lager, and if you’re out of bread flour, try these easy plain flour recipes for flatbreads and more.
DO World in Action
This year’s Earth Day takes place on Wednesday 22. The first Earth Day took place in 1970, and the Earth Day Network’s mission is to build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and planet. This year they’re focussing on climate change, calling for greater global ambition to tackle our climate crisis and for the citizens of the world to seize the opportunities of a zero-carbon future. This year, obviously, the event has gone digital, with an array of virtual activities accessible from anywhere on the planet. Find lesson plans and digital resources here
RECIPE Scrappy Do
Using leftovers to make food go further is satisfying, frugal and means fewer trips to the shops. Love Food Hate Waste has some excellent, tasty recipes using scraps. If there are any eggs left from the weekend (yeah, right), try their clever toast ‘churros’ and chocolate sauce. Or use up bread crusts by turning them into mini pizzas. Ingenious and delicious.
DO and MAKE Chairman of the Board
The long days of lockdown are a perfect opportunity to revisit your favourite board games, and perhaps discover or even invent some new favourites. There’s a great round-up of some of the best released this year here. If your kids struggle with the competitive element of games, or if you’d just like a gentler alternative, we love the collaborative options stocked at Myriad. A fun alternative is to make your own – either based on existing designs, or come up with something totally new. If you get heavily into board games, find friends and more ideas here.
What we’ve been reading this week:
Philosopher in Italian coronavirus lockdown on how to think positively about isolation
“As a philosopher in lockdown in Piedmont, I am trying to take the opportunity to think about what the outbreak can tell us about ourselves – and our planet.
One way to think about the pandemic is in terms of humanity coming together to fight a natural threat in the form of a virus. I find this thought both inspiring and absurd. The reminder that we are all similarly vulnerable, similarly worried, and that we need concerted action across the globe to address this disease, brings some hope.” Read more here
Found something inspirational to read that you’d like to share? Want to share your lockdown creations with us? Have an idea for things to do? We’d love to hear from you. Email Kate
PLUS
Lockdown Life-Savers
This month, the world has become a darker, more intense place. Many of us are now in semi- or total-lockdown, living small-scale, confined to houses and, if we’re lucky, gardens. Testing times, to be sure. We’ve started a list of online resources to help, from how to structure your days, to lesson plans and home-ed resources, online story tellers and ideas for kitchen-table art, front-room workouts, inventive ways to play, stress reducers for the family, fun sites to visit, virtual museums to explore, and the online communities springing up to support us all. Please take a look, share and get in touch if you have any suggestions for more resources
