The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

This all-day Essex cafe next to a garden centre is a scone-fuelled delight A tipoff to try the Tin Roof Cafe in Maldon came with prior warning: I wouldn’t get a table easily as this all-day spot serving brunch, lunches and sweet stuff from the in-house bakery is constant, scone-fuelled bedlam. Red brick walls, greenery throughout, alfresco spaces, allotments growing fresh veg and herbs.

Capacious, family-run, dog-welcoming, pocket-friendly. There’s bubble and squeak with hand-cut ham, Korean-style chicken burgers and a vegan burger called, rather brilliantly, “Peter Egan” after, I’m guessing, the animal-loving actor who played Paul in Ever Decreasing Circles.

Could this place be any more adorable? No, but still, brace yourself.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Your famous Scottish suet pud, not unlike spotted dick – wonderful for Burns Night and beyond, with a spot of ice-cream or fried up in butter the next day Clootie dumpling is, let’s face it, a much better name than spotted dick, but if you were fond of the latter at school, you’ll probably enjoy this very similar, classic Scottish steamed pudding. Not too sweet and, thanks to the apple and carrot, lighter than it sounds, this is a proper winter dessert and the perfect end to a Burns supper, especially when served with custard or ice-cream.

Prep 20 min Cook 3 hr 15 min Serves 8-10 Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Mediterranean chicken meatballs with feta and black olives, Persian-style saffron chicken and rice, and a garlicky, Korean-inspired chicken and potato traybake When it comes to traybakes, chicken is the undisputed hero, because it’s endlessly adaptable and perfect for carrying bold, global flavours. First up, some eastern Mediterranean chicken meatballs, flecked with feta and black olives for a sharp, savoury punch.

Then a Persian-style saffron chicken and rice; the rice cooks with the chicken, absorbing all the flavours of the sunshine-yellow saffron and crisping up at the edges. Finally, a Korean-inspired chicken and potato traybake in which gochujang and soy create a deeply savoury sauce that elevates a simple midweek meal.

Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

There’s lots of deep umami flavour in this crunchy, rubbly side or salad Brussels sprouts are for life, not just for Christmas. They’re still making a regular appearance in our house, from shredded and stir-fried with chilli and spice, to roasted and dressed, as in this salad.

And what a salad it is: with a caesar-esque dressing, it is crisp, salty and crunchy, and hits all the right notes. You can bulk it out, if you like, by topping it with a few soft, jammy boiled eggs cut into wedges or some shredded leftover chicken.

However, it is pretty perfect as it is, as a light lunch or side. Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Hunkering down in January; hiking boots for outdoor adventures; and cold-weather beauty essentials • Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Congratulations, you’ve made it through more than 75% of January, Blue Monday and all.

Extra kudos if you got through it without booking a holiday amid the onslaught of sun-soaked adverts, although I confess I’m not tempted. Would I rather spend hours on a plane with 200 strangers who had prosecco for breakfast, or hibernate until spring?

I’ll take hibernation, thanks. Especially now that I’ve learned to do it properly.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

The distractions of daily life can make writing a book a frustrating task, so I sought boltholes offering creative support and solitude in inspiring landscapes The idea for my novel came in a rush: as I walked over the Thames on the Golden Jubilee Bridge in central London, the scene at the heart of it leapt out of the deep blue dusk and clung on to me until I committed to writing it into existence. A few months later, it became depressingly clear that the half-hour snatches of writing at the end of my working day just weren’t going to get me over the finish line.

Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

While there may be benefits to the treatment, anti-ageing probably isn’t one of them – which is something better left to the professionals ‘Red light therapy, where LED lights are shone on your skin, has been around for a while,” says Afshin Mosahebi, a professor in plastic surgery at University College London. But what was once an expensive treatment you’d go to a professional to receive is now becoming widely available in the form of light-up masks you can wear at home.

“ Reasonable reports show that the treatment is good for wound-healing,” says Mosahebi. This is why it is recommended for inflammatory skin conditions such as acne, dermatitis and psoriasis, as it increases circulation, decreases inflammation, and improves cell regeneration.

Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Unlike journalling, sticking glossy pictures and ribbon scraps helps me explore how I’m feeling in in a language only I can decipher Read more summer essentials I had always associated scrapbooking with grandmas and bored children, so, imagine my surprise when – as a twentysomething with a Big Girl Job – I found myself enamoured of printing, cutting, and sticking random bits and bobs into a book. If, like me, you’ve racked up a disconcerting amount of screen time, you may have stumbled across a multitude of craft-inspired social media posts made primarily by young women.

Described as “junk journalling”, the hobby is distinguishable by an affinity with collecting and storing physical mementoes, such as tickets, receipts, packaging and Polaroids. Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Despite living on an island, David Warr avoided the water for five decades – until a swimming teacher made the link between his fear and a childhood trauma When David Warr was 11 he thought he was dying. At his school swimming lesson, he jumped in and swam – then realised with horror that his feet couldn’t feel the bottom.

He recalls his teacher, standing on the side of the pool, shouting at him to “just swim” and his own immobilising fear. “I thought, ‘I can’t.

I don’t know what to do.’ I started to panic hard. I thought, ‘She’s going to let me die.’” Warr, 61, has blocked out how he reached safety, but for five decades he refused to go out of his depth again.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Holding multiple jobs without your employer’s knowledge has boomed in the age of hybrid working. Is it a canny response to job insecurity – or a fast track to getting fired?

Name: Polygamous working. Age: It’s really a post-pandemic phenomenon.

Continue reading...

Sidebar

Paste your ad here.