Create your own cards with Donna Wilson

Emails, text messages and phone calls all have their place when it comes to staying in touch, but they’re not the most romantic modes of communication. Simply compare the dull sensation of opening a digital mail with the heady thrill you get from prizing open a beautifully crisp envelope.

Oh yes – bills aside – the doormat is where it’s at, so we’ve decided to luxuriate in five stationery favourites, which any stamp would be ever so proud to adorn. Take a look at these marvellous cards, envelopes and writing paper, which should encourage you to turn over a new leaf and use snail mail to delight your friends and family more often…

Donna Wilson + Noodoll Stationery Pack – The Design Museum

Indulge your inner child with this too-cute-to-be-true collaboration from Donna Wilson and Noodoll. The pack contains envelopes, bookmarks and eight creature notecards, which can be decorated with the wonderfully illustrated stickers provided. The whole set comes in a lovely folio, which will make a fantastically kitsch addition to that bureau of yours.

Union Jack Liberty Print Notecards – Liberty

It’s the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in Britain, so what better way to commemorate it than with some suitably British notecards from Liberty? This set of 12 cards and envelopes soften the standard Union Jack with signature Liberty florals, and as such they’re perfect for adding a touch of class to your 2012 correspondence.

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture Notecards – Designers Guild

Fashion junkies will go ga-ga for these gloriously chic notecards from the Designers Guild. Each one has been laser cut to create an intricate lace effect, features an haute couture fashion sketch and comes with a matching envelope. The set is comprised of four stunning sketches, two of each design. Utterly fabulous but probably not one to pop in the post to a blokey bloke.

Postcards from Penguin – Penguin Books

Presented in a shelf-friendly book cover box, the Postcards from Penguin set contains 100 classic book covers from this legendary publishing house. Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books believed that ‘good design is no more expensive than bad’, a philosophy that permeates each and every one of these iconic covers. Our favourites include the dainty British Herbs by Florence Ranson and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

Birds in Hats – Etsy

Alice Tams is the illustrator responsible for the unapologetically absurd Birds in Hats range of cards, which can be purchased via Etsy. Each item in the collection boasts a simple, flawless finish and combines the sentimental with the silly to wonderful effect. Lovebirds in Bobble Hats is a particular favourite.

Hearty Finishing Touches…

We simply couldn’t resist tacking this heart hole punch on to the list; use on coloured paper for instant envelope confetti!

This marvellous stationery will encourage you to turn over a new leaf and use snail mail to delight your loved ones more often…

Iconic dresses galore in Famous Frocks

Audrey’s LBD, Twiggy’s mod mini and that show-stoppingwhite number worn by Marilyn Monroe: all iconic dresses, all worn by fashion legends. Since these women and their dresses first appeared on screens, posters and magazines around the world in the 50s and 60s, fashion-forward women have done their best to emulate their looks.

The vintage clothing industry is booming but even if you’re lucky enough to find a dress from your dream decade, chances are it will be too small, too worn or too stained to enjoy. This is a frustration that San Francisco based patternmakers and vintage enthusiasts Sara Alm and Hannah McDevitt, the authors of Famous Frocks, are well aware of, citing it as a key factor for creating their vintage sewing manual.

Famous Frocks features ten fashion icons from the last eight decades and the dresses that became notorious in their own right, along with vintage photography, patterns and illustrations by Kerrie Hess. For every classic dress you covet, there is an additional modern design for it, giving twenty patterns in total in this beautifully laid out book.

As an eager but somewhat novice seamstress I decided to tackle a pattern based on First Lady Jackie O’s classic shift dresses, considered to be appropriate for beginners. Pattern pieces are limited to a dress size of 8 – 14 (UK) and are printed on both sides of the pattern paper, which means you’ll need your own lightweight paper to trace off each piece. If you’re a beginner you probably won’t have a giant roll of pattern paper at your disposal but tracing paper or even greaseproof kitchen paper will do the job.

Measurements are listed in metric and imperial units and the clear black and white diagrams aid the written instructions. Even though some ‘Americanisms’ don’t translate well, this doesn’t detract from the information. There is no timescale for how long a dress will take to complete as this depends greatly on the sewing level of the reader. As a result there should be plenty of patterns to keep you busy regardless of your competency with a sewing machine.

The authors are clearly passionate about dressmaking and offer clear and concise instructions and diagrams, along with a glossary of dressmaking terms and essential tools towards the back of the book. There is also an online gallery where readers can share photos of their finished frocks. Although the book also offers a brief address book of fabric suppliers, all the companies and shops are local to the US, which isn’t great if you’re stitching on the other side of the Atlantic. The staff at my local fabric shop were able to guide me through the myriad of fabric choices the book suggested, and all the materials (including a zip and thread) came to under £15 – cheaper than a similar dress from the high street.

The dress designs aren’t carbon copies of the famous frocks that inspired them, but they are faithful interpretations. The variations allow the reader to update these classic designs and the delicate ink illustrations show how these adaptations could fit in with a modern woman’s lifestyle. I picked a simple, classic dress that I could wear to the office, but there are styles to suit every occasion – from 80s inspired prom dresses to floaty designs fit for a festival. If you enjoy making your own clothes or covet vintage fashion this book will be a great addition to your collection. And if not, well, it will look damn pretty on your bookshelf!

Famous Frocks by Sara Alm and Hannah McDevitt is published by Chronicle Books, and is available to buy online here.

Famous Frocks: the authors are clearly passionate about dressmaking and offer clear and concise instructions and diagrams

A homely, rustic atmosphere at Pip's Dish

Pips Dish is a little bit of barnyard heaven, popped up in London’s Islington. Serving lovingly homemade food on trestle tables, with a BYO policy, this venue feels more like eating in someone’s rustic home than anything else. Housed in a disused barn (yes, there are disused barns in Islington!) the front section of Pip’s Dish is a verdant farm shop, run by Farm Direct, a local seasonal food delivery service. Piles of fresh onions, sturdy green kale, organic eggs and English fruit juices and cheeses greet you as you follow the trail of straw down the cobbled street off Upper Street.

Pip (also known as Philip Dundas) is one of those cornucopian-type hosts; the plate will always feel half full with him around. “This is a three course feast” he explains, smiling with genuine enthusiasm at his hungry guests perched on hay bales, “but I just cook from what I get from the farm shop. So you never know, there may be more; last night I did seven courses by mistake.”

We only had four courses in the end, but they were plentiful and delicious. A sprouted purple broccoli soup, garnished with infused oil, warmed us up as a starter that was followed by an impromptu walnut and apple salad. Main course was farm-reared pork roasted with fennel seeds and served with the most crackling of cracklings and rich potatoes and greens. Dessert was a classic bread and butter pudding, layered with marmalade and dosed with a good ladleful of fresh cream.

Pip has previously run a supper club in his home, and he now finds himself running this event until May 2012 with the view to perhaps opening something more permanent later. An entrepreneur who also manages a social project to train up disengaged, unemployed young people, Pip was a BBC producer before embarking on his culinary career. His recently published cookbook, Cooking Without Recipes, is a recipe book with no recipes at all; instead, Pip gives you the principles of cooking techniques and ideas of what to do with ingredients (“slightly browned in butter and then blended with lemon juice, fennel brings magic to any soup combination”), so that the home cook can experiment with confidence on their own.

As we sit drinking the last of our wine, a trio of fresh faced, bearded young men serenade us with acoustic guitar and violin; we wonder why all Sunday dinners aren’t like this when you eat out. “Some people don’t like the fact that you can’t choose what you eat from a menu,” – but we didn’t even notice the lack of menu! “It’s like being a guest; you just get what you’re given” says Pip. With that in mind, we’ll certainly be going back to get some more.

For more information, see the Pip’s Dish website. You can also follow on Twitter @pipsdish, or see the latest news on Facebook.

Pip’s Dish is open Friday and Saturday lunchtimes 12-3pm, with a policy of pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth. You can reserve a place at the regular Friday or Saturday night Supperclub or at Sunday Lunch with live music (3 courses, £25 BYOB). Pip says that if you want to have a party any other night of the week, he can usually work something out. Email philip@pipsdish.co.uk or call Pip on + 44 (0) 7764 336 220

Piles of vegetables, fruit juices and cheeses greet you as you follow the trail of straw down the cobbled street off Upper Street

A failsafe cure for the dreaded hangover?

Pounding headache? Mouth like a cat’s litter tray? Feeling of self-loathing and pity? Vowing never to drink again? It must be December-over-indulgence-hangover-time. To help ease the pain here’s a selection of Europe’s best hangover cures, road-tested and rated.

Italy – Coffee

Is it surprising that Italians have the most stylish hangover cure? After a night on the tiles, a short, strong espresso is an instant pick me up.

The Verdict: The caffeine buzz is fantastic, though the crash is possibly worse than the initial hangover.

UK – Prairie Oyster

James Bond’s hangover cure of choice, the prairie oyster is made from raw egg, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco and tomato juice mixed together and downed in one.

The Verdict: If you possess the mental facilities to knock up this concoction, you are not hungover.

Ancient Greece and Rome – Deep-fried Canaries

Urban legend (i.e. the internet) has it that Romans and Greeks chowed down on deep-fried canaries when they’d over-indulged in the old vino. For those unwilling to shell out £10 for a pet shop canary, the 21st century equivalent – a three-piece chicken meal – makes an ample substitute.

The Verdict: Oh-so good at 2 a.m (isn’t everything), but as a preventative hangover measure, the effects are negligable.

Poland – Pickle Water

Perhaps discovered accidentally by a hungover fool confusing a jar of gherkins for a carton of milk.  Nonetheless, the combination of salt, sugar and water is second to none at replacing those all-so-important electrolytes.

The Verdict: The juice tastes as bad as you would imagine but the pickles are surprisingly soothing.

Scotland – Irn Bru

Anything that was banned in the US until 2002 must be good for you, right? Or maybe processing the colossal amount of sugar and colouring in a 330ml can momentarily distracts the body from its raging headache and inability to stand.

The Verdict: A pleasant alternative to cola. Goes well with crisps.

Turkey and Romania – Tripe

The mere thought of a soup made from cow intestines is enough to have those in a delicate state heading for the sick bucket but the slightly acidic pH aids digestion and it contains essential fatty acids.

The Verdict: Salty, garlicky goodness works a treat. Just try to not think about the ingredients.

Russia – Banya

The Russian take on a sauna, a warm banya comes with the added distraction of birch branches to beat your friends with. If sweating the alcohol out doesn’t work, you can up the ante by rolling around in snow or jumping into an icy river between stints in the sauna.

The Verdict: Top-notch.  Never underestimate the power restorative power of perspiring ethanol in the company of semi-naked friends.

UK and Ireland – Fry-up

Best served in a greasy café or by mum, the gut-busting British and Irish staple includes beans, eggs, hash browns, toast, mushrooms, tomatoes and as many pork products as it is possible fit on a plate, washed down with a mug of tea.

The Verdict: Scores points for flexibility to omit or add ingredients depending on what’s in the fridge/likelihood of vomiting.

And if all else fails? Try ‘hair of the dog’ in the form of a Bloody Mary!

Kusmi Tea Chest – Parisian tea purveyors, Kusmi have been around for 140 years, and the brand’s delicate blends and eye-catching packaging have made them a firm favorite in French store cupboards. This beautifully presented gift set contains 45 muslin tea bags and nine varieties of green, black and herbal teas. Best sipped with a crisp pistachio macaron – or two!

Love Music Love Food: the Rock Star Cookbook – Foodies inevitably have a plenteous collection of cookbooks, with titles by everyone from Mrs Beeton to Mr Blumenthal. This coffee table tome takes a slightly different tack, injecting a litttle rock’n'roll into the kitchen, and presenting insights into the culinary quirks of stars including Noel Gallagher, Kasabian, Siouxsie Sioux and Paul Weller.

Wool and the Gang Snood Dogg DIY wool scarf kit – The knitting collective’s kit contains needles, a pattern and best quality wool from Peru – all you need to fashion a wear-with-everything snood in charcoal grey.

Neals Yard Remedies Energising Aromatherapy Candle – After hours slaving away in the kitchen, even the hardiest domestic goddess can tire. NYR’s pretty candle is handmade in Cornwall, using organic wax which is blended with rejuvenating essential oils of orange, grapefruit and garden mint. The fresh, zingy scent will banish heavy cooking smells, while the elegant glass votive is bound to take pride of place in any domestic setting.

Sea Salt Caramel Course Voucher – When it comes to sugary treats, award-winning master chocolatier and patissier William Curley certainly knows his stuff. The course promises over two hours of hands-on fun – resulting in the creation of some very, very moreish salted caramels under the expert guidance of Curley’s staff. And you get to take them home – elegantly gift-wrapped and ready to savour at leisure.

Gifts for the domestic goddess from favourite rockstars, Kusmi Tea, Neals Yard Remedies, Wool & The Gang and William Curley

The Kir Royale Box – What could be simpler and more pleasurable than a sophisticated sparkling cocktail? Fortnum & Mason’s splendid box set offers Brut Reserve bubbles and the finest English cassis, all ready to crack open and serve at festive soirées.

Talisman Hexagonal Sommerso Vase – Fresh flowers are a must-have for house-proud pals, and Talisman’s cut glass vase will certainly show them off in style. The ineffably chic Murano vessel will be an item she’ll want to put on display; the stylish 1930′s design really is indicative of excellent taste.

Incanto Hamper – Natoora’s selection of delectable gifts will have foodies tearing off the wrappings to get tasting pronto. Boasting prosecco, panettone, pork rillettes, a selection of cheeses and accompanying biscuits, this box of wonders really ticks all the boxes!

Queen of Crafts – Too-cool-for-school crafter Jazz Domino Holly’s guide ‘for Modern Girls’ offers tips on how to get creative with a whole raft of hands-on pursuits. If you know someone who might like to try their hand at preserving, knitting, gardening, sewing or baking, this is a brilliant compendium for getting to grips with the basics.

Festival Espresso Set – This espresso set was commissioned by London’s  South Bank Centre to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain. Decorated with abstract motifs in primrose and dove grey, the set may ensure less spending in Starbucks and more at-home invitations,

Creative and culinary goodies from Natoora, Fortnum & Mason, Talisman, Jazz Domino Holly and London's South Bank Centre

Who can resist a sweet, chic cupcake?

When it comes to the trends kicked started by Sex and The City (we’re talking the TV series here) many of Carrie and co’s favoured looks have well and truly fallen by the fashion wayside. The girls’ beloved Red Velvet cupcakes and Cosmos, however, are still very much with us, having long proved their staying power as the chic city girl’s treats of choice. So when RIH was invited to Fancie’s Cupcake and Cocktails evening we couldn’t resist.

The glitter-dusted, pastel pink beating heart of the Sheffield cupcake scene, Fancie offer everything from Raspberry and Almond to MintChoc cakes. Having already run cupcake decorating classes at their Sharrow Vale Road café, combining them with gorgeous cocktails for an indulgent evening seemed like the natural next step.

The evenings themselves are based at The Wig & Pen, in the private dining area and bar, and are a great idea for a hen do, birthday celebration or just a night out with a difference. On arrival everyone gets into the mood with a glass of Prosecco and delicious Wig & Pen cocktails, before dividing into two groups – one that starts with decorating cupcakes and one with mixing cocktails.

Keen to unleash my inner Nigella, I started out with the cupcake decorating. On seeing the table we would be working at resplendent with different couloured icing, fondant, sprinkles, chopped nuts, and most importantly glitter I was forced to stifle a squeal. Set before us were also all manner of tasty toppings and fillings imaginable from caramel to fruit jam, chocolate spread to marshmallows.

With four cupcakes (two chocolate, two vanilla) ready for each of us to decorate, we were given expert guidance from the Fancie girls in how to ice (steady hands needed for that piping bag), cut out fondant shapes and what flavours worked well together. Then came the tricky part – deciding what to go for.

My first creation was a chocolate frosting with peanut butter filling and caramel drizzle. Then I decided to indulge my inner eight year old, and create a concoction Barbie would be proud of – an explosion of jam, pink frosting, cute cut out bows and glitter and err, more glitter. Many giggles and tough decisions later (lilac or baby pink frosting, just how many sprinkles were too much?) it was time for the groups to swap around and we carefully packed our cupcakes away before heading to mix up some cocktails.

Lined up at the bar with the Wig & Pen’s award-winning Mixologist, we learnt all about the basics of making a good cocktail, before we started on two very quaffable, easy to make drinks. The first was a light and refreshing gin number with elderflower and apple juice, and the second was a classic Amaretto Sours. Both easy to make and recreate at home, both totally delicious.

All too soon, it was time to leave. Slightly tipsy, with four cute cupcake to devour in the morning and armed with plenty of new skills I headed out into the night.

Cupcakes and Cocktails nights costs £35 each and are held at The Wig & Pen in Sheffield on the last Thursday of every month. The evenings also run at Toast in Leeds. For more information, see Fancie’s website.

Working with The Wig & Pen’s award-winning Mixologist, guests learn all about the basics of making a good cocktail...

Dan Lepard's indulgent baked creations

“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”– Queen Marie-Antoinette (allegedly) on learning that French peasants had no bread to eat

In these hard times, the desire to make do and be thrifty is stronger than ever. Given that more and more people are cutting back on luxuries and doing what they can to save money, it’s no wonder that the popularity of baking is on the rise – cake may be a princely treat but there is no reason why the normal folk must suffer under austerity measures whilst the rich continue to gorge on Victoria Sponge and Black Forest Gateau.

Baking, alongside other retro handicrafts like knitting and embroidery, has been enjoying a revival for some time now. Two years ago, the Daily Telegraph went so far as to label it the ‘new rock ‘n roll’ and these days it is something of a national obsession: Fearne Cotton regularly waxes lyrical about her baked creations on her Radio One show, Marian Keyes has a forthcoming book about how making cakes saved her from depression. Clearly, having once been dismissed as old fashioned and unfashionable, baking has been fully embraced by popular culture again. Now, having gone beyond its self-consciously ironic ‘not cool it’s cool’ phase, the question is: can the craft be practical and popular and still hang on to its trendy tag?

Although Dan Lepard laughs heartily at the rock ‘n roll comparison, he happily confirms that, “baking is still cool.” The award-winning baker, author and Guardian columnist, is at the forefront of the craft’s current regeneration in the UK. In person, he comes across as genuinely delighted, if a little surprised, by the rise and rise of the homemade cake. He considers it incredible that there are six books about cake making in the top 100 Amazon bestseller list on the day of our interview.

“At this particular moment, baking is appealing because of the aspect of self-sufficiency, the idea that you ‘do it yourself’,” he explains, explicitly linking the trend to the economic downturn. “This aspect is found more in baking than in other types of cooking because you take very basic ingredients and transform them into something really delicious,” he continues.

Alternative Therapies

The reason baking has such appeal at the moment may, however, have less to do with its economic viability and more do with what it offers from a psychological and emotional perspective. “The transformative quality is inspiring,” Lepard asserts. He goes on to describe the baking experience as “life affirming” and “positive”. The fact that you share your creation with others adds to the thrill: “Cutting a cake into slices and watching others eat it is a kind of therapy. It provides you with a huge sense of achievement.”

Lepard was caught by the baking bug as a child and took it up professionally in the early 1990s, when he started working as a junior chef in a kitchen’s pastry section. He says that one of the things that appealed to him most about the discipline was the vast amount that he needed to learn. “I still am learning, it’s never ending,” he adds with glee. He spends a lot of time walking up and down supermarket aisles coming up with new ideas. “It often comes down to how to use two ingredients together and how the ingredients will change when you bake them,” he explains.

Going back to the ‘cool factor’, Lepard points out that with baking it all depends on what you’re making and how you’re making it. Cake mixes, he imagines, are not cool, whereas birthday cakes, cupcakes and bread all hit the necessary style notes. “I’d also say that baking appeals to young people at the moment because their parents didn’t bake much. Often young people become interested in the crafts that their parents’ generation, in their mind the unfashionable generation, deemed unfashionable.”

You Are What You Eat?

Life affirming, rebellious and cool, baking is starting to sound like a Class A only without any of the nasty side effects. Well, perhaps not completely without side effects… “You only get fat if you eat a lot, not if you bake a lot,” Lepard laughs in his infectious, hearty way. “Besides,” he concludes, “when you’ve made something yourself, you have a relationship with what you’re eating and you therefore do so slowly, thoughtfully, little-by-little and with care. As a result it is a much healthier approach to eating and food.”

Speaking to this master baker, a man with a genuine love for his craft, it’s easy to understand why more and more people across Britain are waving their wooden spoons in the air with pride. Having recently made Lepard’s Chocolate and Sour Cream Cake myself (imagine gooey, chocolaty heaven), I certainly understand what he’s saying: sifting, beating and baking your own perfect sponge creates an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and wellbeing. As long as it comes out right, of course. And although Marie-Antoinette probably wouldn’t have been much up for making her own cake, I like to think she would have agreed with the sentiment.

Dan Lepard’s Short and Sweet is available to buy online here.

Dan talks about his latest book. Proceed with caution: this video contains images of tasty baked goods…

Unpacking? Romantic? But of course!

Living with your other half is not sexy. It might be to begin with, the romantic first few months and weeks (or, in my case, seven hours) of cosy dinners, cuddles, and playing house. After that, it all goes to pot – literally. There will be fights about pots, forks and dirty pants. You will think about things you previously thought only dullards did, like buying milk. In time, there will be one particularly spectacular battle of wills over something trivial, an occasion so great that your grandchildren’s grandchildren will whisper about it in years to come: the legendary domestic bust-up of their forefathers that means nobody in the family ever buys plum tomatoes for fear that the ghost of the ‘Battle of the Chopped Tomatoes’ may haunt their homes.

That battle was ours, by the way – oh, see what I did there? That’s another weird thing about cohabiting; ‘mine’ becomes ‘ours’, ‘I’ becomes ‘we’ – ‘We’re on Virgin Broadband’, ‘Our sofa smells like baked beans’ – and so on, and so forth. It’s unsettling if you’re used to being independent, but it’s also inevitable, so accept it and move on. This is my first piece of advice for surviving cohabitation. Please see my fool-proof guide for my other top tips, entitled ‘How To Live With Your Partner and Not Kill Them’.

Choose your battles, carefully

If you pick a row over everything that irritates you about your partner’s living habits, you will never have sex ever again (this is a scientific fact). So, in order to prevent this sexual wilderness, choose one or two things to get annoyed about, and hold your tongue over the rest. I refuse to accept my boyfriend’s penchant for leaving tea-bags all over the flat (no, not that kind – naughty), but I can live with his thrice-daily Coco Pops habit. He hates my fondness for strewing my clothes all over the floor (quite frankly I think that’s selfish, but whatever), but doesn’t mind me leaving empty contact-lens packets in the sink. Weird compromises are the backbone of living together. That’s just the way it is.

Choose your chores, carefully

I love to cook; my boyfriend would rather eat cardboard than chop an onion. I hate making beds (I worked in a hotel as a teenager and the memory of the manager making me re-do my ‘hospital corners’ twelve times in a row still haunts me today). He doesn’t mind it – in fact, he finds arranging pillows relaxing. We both hate cleaning bathrooms, and agree that it only needs doing when his grandmother visits, or if the neighbours complain. I take care of food shopping because supermarkets make him nervous, and he does the laundry because I find it so boring it has been known to reduce me to tears. Choose your chores, and never speak of them again.

Be slightly drunk at all times

It’s much easier to forget what’s pissed you off if you’re – well, pissed. So get pissed.

Foods on the menu from The Kind Diet

November 1st is World Vegan Day marking the anniversary of Donald Watson founding the Vegan Society. Born in 1910, Donald became a vegetarian at age 14, but made the change to veganism several years later, stating that ‘our present civilisation is built upon the exploitation of animals’. In August 1944, he decided, along with Elsie Shrigley, that it would be a good idea to coordinate ‘non-dairy vegetarians’, and on November 1st the Society held its first meeting.

Today veganism is slowly on the increase as people become more aware of the effects that eating meat and dairy can have on their bodies and on the environment. What started as a stand for animal rights has now come to be closely associated with the battle to reduce global warming and to educate people about healthy eating.

The China Study, published in 2005 by Colin T. Campbell, looked at the relationship between mortality rates in 6,500 people in rural counties in China. It found that plant-based diets reduce the risk of a number of chronic diseases. There is increasing amounts of evidence that eating more plants and fewer animal products can lower the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and digestive disorders. And of course, there is the environmental impact of intensive livestock farming. Producing one burger emits the same amount of carbon dioxide as driving ten miles. What’s more, cows themselves can release up to 25 to 125 gallons of methane a day – each! Those cows have to eat, so as well as using land to house them, we use land to grow crops to feed them – a major cause of deforestation and an efficient way to feed the world. Bottom line: the meat industry sucks.

My own path to veganism took a rather slower route than Donald Watson’s. I have been a vegetarian for over a decade and, hand on heart, I have never once missed meat. But I never really considered veganism. I like cheese, I love cream and a world without egg custards is not a world I want to live in. Plus, didn’t vegans all wear odd clothes and sensible shoes?

Turns out the answer is no. Natalie Portman was vegan even before her pregnancy, Glee’s Lea Michele is vegan, and for any men who need convincing there are Mike Tyson, Woody Harrelson – and even Bruce Lee. It is no longer the sole domain of hemp-wearing hippies.

Add to this the compelling health and environmental evidence and I made the leap to become 80% vegan (give or take). Yes, 80%. That’s allowed now. Modern veganism is no longer about denying yourself unequivocally – it has loosened up to become more inclusive. Just as ‘Meatless Monday’ allowed people to experiment with vegetarianism rather than commit, outspoken vegan campaigners such as Alicia Silverstone are advocating starting with veganism in moderation in order to make the switch less daunting. Because no matter how virtuous you are, sometimes it is hard when the cheese, or the cream or the easy way out whispers your name from the fridge.

So, no rules as long as you give it a go and join the movement towards a healthier diet, a healthier earth and, if you make sure what meat or dairy you do eat is free range, more humane farming practices.

However, while no one ever questioned my vegetarianism, family and friends still to look at me slightly askance when I mention the other V word. How do you get protein? Isn’t vegan food brown and boring? 80%?! What do you do when you go to a restaurant?

Ok. Deep breath. Let’s take these one at a time.

How do you get protein?

The body needs 20 different amino acids to function properly (twelve made in the body, eight from food). Meat contains all eight of those we need to ingest – but it is by no means the only way to get them. Quinoa is also a ‘complete’ protein and many beans and vegetables contain a mixture of those 8 amino acids. Protein is not a problem. The two things you really need to watch out for are getting enough B12 and iron. Iron is found in foods such as tofu, pumpkin seeds, lentils etc, but B12 is little trickier. The best thing to do is to take a daily supplement.

Boring, brown and bland? Far from it!

Isn’t vegan food brown and boring?

How does this sound: mango for breakfast (colour: orange), beetroot humus and crudités for a snack (pink, orange, green), tomato soup for lunch (red) with green leafy salad and a dinner of Mexican fajitas with avocado salsa and kale (red, orange, green). Finish with some dark chocolate, which is, admittedly, brown. You will be surprised how much of what you already eat is vegan, or how easy it is to substitute. The growing interest in vegan cooking also means that there are lots of recipe books out there to help you. Check out the list below for ideas.

80% Vegan?!

Sometimes a girl’s just got to have an egg custard. And every so often, why not? There are no rules and no one is judging, I simply try to be as vegan as I can. Every meal I manage without animal products is a step in the right direction. If that’s seven days a week, fantastic; if it’s only five days, it’s a good start and I’ll try harder next week.

What about when you go out?

Don’t be afraid to ask what they can substitute in a dish. Combine side orders, or take your friends to a delicious veggie restaurant. Thai food is often vegan, as is a lot of Indian and Japanese cuisine. And if it just seems too much, have whatever you want on that evening and be good the rest of the week. No rules, remember.

So go on, give it a try. Here are a few helpful sources to get you going…

● Chef Chloe – Chloe Coscarelli won the Food Network Cupcake Wars – against non-vegan chefs.

● The Kind Diet -  Alicia Silverstone’s book is a compelling argument for veganism and a gentle introduction to 80%. The accompanying website is a good source for vegan products and tips.

● Abel and Cole – UK veggie box people Abel and Cole have lots of recipes that’ll have you getting inventive with your vegetables

● Skinny Bitch – If you need more of a push than a gentle shove, Rory Friedman and Kim Barnouin’s no-nonsense book tells it like it is.

● Vegan Diner – Who knew that a burger and chips could be deliciously vegan? Or hollandaise sauce and scrambled ‘eggs’. Julie Hasson has all your comfort foods veganised!

● The Leon cookbook is not strictly vegan, but has lots of vegan-friendly recipes helpfully labelled.

Chloe Coscarelli’s Avocado Pesto Pasta

A Stitch n Bitch meeting in progress...

In pubs, cafes and living rooms across the UK – and beyond – a revolution is happening. You may have seen these radicals – spied them through the window hunched over their projects or spotted them on the streets proudly flaunting the handmade fruits of their labour. Chances are, you’ve been won over to the cause yourself – tempted by the beads, ribbons and scraps of floral cotton that float in its wake.

I am, of course, talking about the craft revolution. In the past few years stitching and making of all varieties has become fashionable, desirable – even vaguely rebellious. Where once taking up a needle and thread might have been seen as a betrayal of the feminist cause, it’s now OK for girls to admit that, yes, they enjoy emancipation, equality and having their own career – but they’d also quite like to be able to knit themselves a hat.

Twenty-something women have reclaimed the art of making it themselves from their grannies and they’re finding modern ways to indulge in these old-fashioned pursuits. This can be seen in the rising profile of movements such as Stitch n Bitch – the umbrella organisation for knitting groups made up primarily of young, urban women. The groups began in New York but soon spread to the UK and Europe, spawning offshoots and imitators along the way. While many women would balk at the idea of a knitting group or sewing circle – imagining white-haired old ladies sitting around in a draughty church hall sipping weak tea – when the same principle is transferred to a trendy East London pub or a chic boutique it instantly becomes cool.

Stitch n Bitch and similar groups have caught people’s imagination because, in a world increasingly centred around technology and the internet, they tap into a desire to get back to simpler pleasures and human, social interaction. That’s not to say that the internet and social networking sites haven’t played an important role in the rise of craft. There are now countless blogs where professionals and amateurs share their homemade projects, and online communities have helped draw craft enthusiasts together.

The London Stitch n Bitch (now known by the friendlier-sounding name of Stitch London) describes itself as a “global stitching community” and “possibly the biggest stitching group in the world”. It organises meet-ups in London but anyone in the world can join to receive patterns, news and take part in discussions through Facebook, Twitter and Ravelry – an online site for knitters and crocheters. Founded in a South London pub, Stitch London aims to “take over the world one stitch at a time”, and it seems to be succeeding – in September the group hosted a “graffiti knitting” workshop at Tate Britain.

 That’s right, graffiti knitting. You see, it really is a revolution and it’s being taken to the streets. Graffiti knitting, also known as yarn bombing or yarn storming, involves “tagging” the public environment – railings, street lamps, statues – with knitted goods, such as scarves and animals. Magda Sayeg, a shop owner from Houston, Texas, is credited with starting the movement when she knitted a cosy for the handle of her boutique door, followed by a knitted sheath for the stop sign pole across the road. Encouraged by the enraptured responses from passersby she began spreading her woolly tendrils further afield. Others took up their needles to do the same and yarn bombing was born.

An example of graffiti knitting in situ

Yarn bombing is about making otherwise sterile personal spaces feel more personalised – in an industrialised, over-developed world there is something comfortingly nostalgic about the sight of a hand-knitted cosy tucked around a parking meter. It is for much the same reasons that people are drawn to other, less anarchic forms of craft. You could buy a complete outfit from the heaving rails at Primark and still have change from £50, but there is little joy in the transaction. And you’re likely to spot three girls wearing the same thing on the commute to work the next day.

Making something yourself takes time and patience but at the end you have something that is truly unique – and ethically produced. We all know that fast, cheap fashion often comes at the price of Third World sweatshops but the only sweat, tears, and pricked fingers over a homemade skirt are your own. And even the pricked fingers are part of the enjoyment. Many of us now spend much of our lives in front of a computer screen, toiling away in desk jobs that seem to exist mostly in the ether and don’t necessarily produce anything tangible.

We’ve lost that sense of accomplishment that manual work gives us. But knitters, sewers and other crafters still know the sweet satisfaction of making something from start to finish, standing back to the admire their handiwork – and then using it. So shut down your laptop, arm yourself with needle and thread, and join the revolution.

Telephone Box Cosy image courtesy of Knit the City.