It’s week ‘whatever’ during Lockdown 2020. Sometime in April.
I’m not wholly complaining though, because the weather has surely been the most glorious that we have ever experienced in the UK at this time of the year. Perhaps it’s the lack of pollution, the almost-daily clear blue skies, trees and flowers in full bloom, butterflies everywhere and continuous sunshine that makes this whole experience just that little bit more tolerable. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m almost ‘enjoying’ this time. If that makes any sense?
Whilst I’m probably eating too much, I’m also sleeping too much, exercising and not spending any money, so it’s all positive in our household.
My other half has been streaming his live DJ sets from our lounge every Saturday night. We’re now a month in, with hundreds of thousands of viewers every weekend. He has raised a large amount of money for the NHS too, which is basically what this is all about.
Tune in this Saturday from 9pm on my Facebook page, the official JUDGE JULES page and YouTube. We’ll see you all on our virtual dancefloor – from our house to yours.
So far, I have realised that the moral of this whole life-changing experience is that we don’t need as much consumerism as we had pre-lockdown. Plus of course, the importance of human connection.
Onto this week’s Amanda Zips It Up, we have another amazing soup recipe from Chanelle Clarke, which are proving to be very popular during lockdown, the new ‘Spring Collection’ from NEWCHIC.COM and Is This The End Of The FROW?
This a staple of mine, which I often make. Unusually, we all like it, saving the effort of making two different meals, as is often the case! It is a comforting classic with a Thai twist, which takes me back to my time living, as well as subsequently holidaying, in the Land of Smiles.
The Coconut Milk adds a velvety, richness to the soup, and being a “healthy fat” it aids weight loss. Crucially at the moment, it also strengthens your immune system. It is Vegan and only about 190 Kcal per serving too, so let me introduce you to an all-round winner.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 Onion
2 cloves of Garlic
1 kg Pumpkin
1 tablespoon of fresh grated Ginger
500ml Veg Stock
400ml can of Coconut Milk
1 teaspoon of Paprika
1 teaspoon of powdered Coriander (alas I can’t get fresh Coriander but use that if you can)
Half a red chilli (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
To Cook
I always like to do my prep first, in lieu of having a Sous-Chef I like to get this out of the way so I can really enjoy the experience of cooking. So let’s chop our onion and chilli, press the garlic and grate the ginger to start.
Now to the more laborious task of cutting the pumpkin. I buy fresh in a large slice but cubed frozen would be fine too and is of course easier. Remove the stringy pulp, put the seeds aside( * I will expand on this later) and cut as much pumpkin out as you can from the rind.
We are now good to go; heat a large pot on a medium heat adding the oil, onions and garlic. Keep stirring and when they start to yellow( 3 – 5 mins), add the Pumpkin, Ginger and Chillies (if you intend to include them).
Stir the Pumpkin into the ingredients in the pot for 5 minutes.
Next let’s add the Veg Stock and the Coconut Milk and cook for twenty minutes until the Pumpkin is soft.
At this point remove from heat, use a hand blender to blend until smooth.
Put it back on the heat, turning it up a little for another ten minutes.
Your delicious Thai Pumpkin Soup is ready to be enjoyed. I like to garnish with a little left over Coconut Milk ( I leave a dribble in the can) and I add my Chillies. Ideally I would add them at stage 3 but no one else in house likes spicy foods so no can do. Lemongrass & Coriander leaves work well too.
* The seeds stabilise blood sugar levels so are ideal as a snack for those aiming to slim down. Roast them and then you can flavour if you wish with curry powder, chilli powder and the likes, once roasted. Firstly they need to be cleaned and rid of any excess pulp.
Toss a couple of cups of them with two teaspoons Olive Oil, pinch of Salt and bake for about 30 mins at 150 degrees C, stirring occasionally. They are ready when Golden brown. Season to taste or leave plain.
There’s no getting away from it. Life has may have changed forever. Once we embark upon the much-debated “exit strategy” and resume some kind of normal life, it won’t be “life” as we knew it.
Whether it’s new seating arrangements on planes or individual “Perspex boxes” on beaches perhaps becoming the new holiday reality, inevitably fashion will experience changes too.
And I mean sooner rather than later, as discovered this week.
Introducing online fashion emporium NEWCHIC.COM and their ‘Spring Healthcare Collection’. I kid you not.
This could be the new norm. If masks, visors and gloves become mandatory on public transport and in public, why not look as stylish as possible? All of this has been born in Asia, paving the way for us Europeans.
Hats and visors
Gloves
Masks
All you need to do next is wait for designer boiler suits and aprons. Let’s hope it doesn’t go that far though.
This June, London Fashion Week is going digital and gender neutral for the first time ever, due to lockdown restrictions and general pandemic craziness.
Usually, the British Fashion Council’s quarterly event is divided according to season and gender – ie. Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2020 and LFW A/W 2020 etc.
But in June, when the London Fashion Week Men’s SS21 show is usually held, a digital event will be held instead, hosted on londonfashionweek.co.uk, meaning fashion fans won’t require a ticket or a coveted invite. Plus, it won’t be a “who’s who” of celebs on the front row.
It will be open to a global public and trade audience, and will work as a meet-up point, offering interviews, podcasts, designer diaries, webinars and digital showrooms. It’ll give designers the opportunity to generate sales for both the public (through existing collections) and the retailers, through orders for next season’s products.
London Fashion Week has always been a platform, not just for fashion but for its influence on society, identity and culture. The pandemic is leading us to reflect more on the ‘new’ society we inhabit and how we want to live our lives (plus how to restructure our businesses when we get through this).
As we know, fashion in 2020 craves sustainability and creativity. And now we can add “digital, non-gender defining and equal”.
LFW in September (traditionally for women) – which I always cover – will now also be gender-neutral.
London’s upcoming fashion week will not be the first to be held digitally – Shanghai hosted an online show earlier this month, while Tokyo livestreamed its fashion week shows in March.
However, London will be the first city on a major fashion circuit to adopt an online-only model. The industry has taken a battering as a result of the pandemic, with fashion weeks in Paris and Milan cancelled or postponed in March.
Key events such as the Met Gala, the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards and the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers have also been shelved.
Yesterday it emerged that designer Stella McCartney has furloughed hundreds of her staff and asked those who remain working to take a pay cut during the coronavirus crisis.
Stella will use taxpayers’ money offered as part of the Government’s job retention scheme to pay salaries, similar to Victoria Beckham, who has been slammed for furloughing people despite her £335million fortune, which I discussed on my socials this week.
Welcome to mid-April and mid lockdown (says she, hopefully).
Last week, it was all about the dress up to take your bins out challenge. On Wednesday, I published the brilliant pictures I received. I want to thank all of you for rising to the challenge and creating a real buzz. It made many people very happy on Facebook.
This week, it’s all about Instagram and The Quarantine Pillow Challenge.
It seems as if some people have more time on their hands than others during their lockdown. Fashionistas have been stripping naked except for teeny bits of bedding in the #QuarantinePillowChallenge And this challenge is slightly trickier than donning a gown or tuxedo.
The most stylish participants have been belting their pillows around their waist so that it resembles a minidress. Make that a Gucci belt too.
Many have chosen to style-up their looks with designer accessories – including sunglasses, heels and handbags, as well as full make-up and a blow-dry. Others, however, have finished off their DIY outfits with cosy isolation-appropriate head towels, eye masks and slippers.
It has been an opportunity for many social media fans to show off their bedding – which as well as classic white, also include some very colourful, fluffy designs.
Again, it’s all a bit of fun during lockdown and let’s hope we only have a few weeks left of this.
This week, we have another recipe from my contributing Ed Chanelle Clark, how to deal with brows and nails during lockdown and some incredible sunglasses by Hathor.
Some of my regular readers will remember my feature on festival, wedding queen and Balearic accessory dream designer Laura Reynolds with her label Hathor last year, featuring her incredible and unique sunglasses and hats.
I know the likelihood of social gatherings, let alone festivals will be doubtful this year but we can always plan for summer 2021 and the sun will always shine. Laura is too talented not to feature in the blog this summer, even if we are engulfed by a pandemic. So, I caught up with Laura to discuss her current design status and Hathor collection update.
Laura:
Like everyone, I had a great many plans for this year which have been ground to a halt due to the pandemic. And like everyone, I have been trying to find ways to navigate our new ‘normal’ in isolation. Handmaking Hathor’s ‘Hedonistic Headgear for the Ravers and the Brides’ has been my normal for a decade. Creating isn’t just therapeutic, it’s empowering; and of course – the most important part – it’s fun!
As a hedonist myself, fun is pretty essential to my well-being; so, it made sense to continue with Hathor in these uncertain times and keep the fun in my days where possible.
I thought long and hard about whether to just keep making and leave my latest collection sat on a shelf collecting dust for the foreseeable. I often share behind the scenes snippets on my @hathor.co Insta story and I’d had quite a lot of interest in this first pair of sunglasses from my new collection. I just suddenly thought, why not!
If my creations brighten my days at home, then maybe they could brighten up somebody else’s? Of course, it’s very frustrating and a tad embarrassing that (as a result of having to cancel my Ibiza shoot) instead of my sunglasses adorning a beautiful Balearic goddess of a model with an Es Vedra backdrop and that famous sunset… they’re on me in my back garden in Norfolk! I’m currently attempting to get product shots in a lightbox with my mobile! This really wasn’t the launch I’d planned: with jaw dropping images and professional promotional videos, a new website, re branding and amazing packaging… but do you know what? This is where I’m at, so I thought I’d get over myself and get real. The time is now!
Surely these are the lessons we are all learning right now? To make do, to make the best of what we have, and to find enjoyment where we can!
I am loving the amazing ways we are all connecting online to keep each other’s spirits up and to fund raise for those in need. On Saturday Fat Girl Slim played the grand finale of her DJ debut wearing the hat I made for her Dad Fatboy Slim! It made my Easter! 10-year-old Nelly Cook dropped the megachoon Love is in the Air to close her set for Camp Bestival’s Stay At Home Easter Sleepover, to raise funds for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and the Trussell Trust. It’s still possible to donate via campbestival.net/sleepover
Alongside creating, I’m absolutely loving connecting online with @hathor.co followers – now more than ever(!) so I thought why stop doing what I love because the branding isn’t perfect and my website isn’t live?! Perhaps most of my creations will sit on the shelf until the Ibiza/festival and wedding season is back in full swing… but I’m still putting my work out there because it brings me joy in lockdown.
On Saturday I wore my Luna Third Eye Shades in the garden and danced in the midday sunshine to sundown to the various awesome DJ live streams (including your husband Judge Jules!) with a G & T in hand. It was exactly like Blue Marlin but on the back of an estate in Gorleston-on-sea! 🙂 ‘From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads!’
The Rock N Roll Bride featured vendor’s latest Luna Third Eye Shades include a detailed gold crescent moon embellished with white gems and removable gold chains. Currently priced at just £35, including free UK shipping. Available to purchase via her instagram: @hathor.co and Facebook Page: Facebook.com/hathor.co – where Laura will be launching the rest of her collection over the coming weeks to lighten up lockdown.
Following the massive success of her Celery Soup recipe in last week’s Zips It Up, my contributing lifestyle Editor Chanelle Clark is back with another healthy lockdown dinner delight, all the way from Italy, to keep us healthy and super slender throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.
Over to you Chanelle.
“This recipe is healthy, plant-based and a regular go-to for me as it takes, quite literally, five minutes.
Many of my favourite recipes include chickpeas as they are a brilliant meat replacement for Vegetarian and Vegan diets, although in this recipe they are being used as an alternative to eggs; A Vegan Huevos Rancheros if you like! Chickpeas are high in protein, aid weight management and improve digestion.
There is just so much goodness in this recipe; the fat content is minimal and it’s very filling. The ingredients are cupboard staples, so if you can’t face the Corona V induced queues, this is a very handy dish to have in your arsenal.
Note, you can opt to have a non-spicy version by swerving the Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder and Fresh Chillies. OK, let’s prep guys…”
Ingredients
1 medium sized Onion
½ cup of Water
Tin of Chickpeas 400g
5 Cherry Tomatoes
Handful of Spinach
½ an Avocado
½ Green Chilli (Optional)
Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
½ teaspoon of Salt
½ teaspoon of Pepper
½ teaspoon of Coriander powder (Optional)
½ teaspoon of Chilli Powder (Optional)
To Cook
1) Chop Onions, drain Chickpeas, quarter the Tomatoes and cube the Avocado.
2) Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat, add in The Onions, Water & Garlic Powder.
3) When Onions are translucent (about 2 mins) add the Chickpeas and Seasoning.
4) Roughly mash the Chickpeas with a fork then add the Tomatoes and half of the chopped Chillies.
5) When cooked to taste ( another few minutes) serve it on the Spinach and top with the Avocado and in my case the rest of the Chopped Chillies.
Quarantine Routine!
During these challenging times I think I little T.L.C. and self-kindness goes a long way.
Personally, if I start the day well, it tends to progress well so I thought I’d share a little of my morning routine:
To flush out all those nasty toxins and ensure my system isn’t sluggish, I turn to the failproof two cups of hot water and lemon with fresh grated ginger. It’s hydrating, gives you a Vitamin C boost, supports weight loss and improves your skin as well as helping protect us from numerous diseases. An absolute must for everyone.
I follow this with Bootea. I do a 28 day course every few months and find that it kick starts weight loss in an effortless way. All you have to do is drink of cup of Bootea in the morning and every second night (one before bedtime). It’s the best slimming tea on the market. I eke it out, using the tea bag twice in the morning, thus with the hot water, ginger & lemon combo and the Bootea you have consumed half of your daily 2 litre recommended water intake already. Genius ,huh?!
As well as the above, I have been doing HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions with LiveLikeLiv at 8.15 a.m. GMT Mon/Wed and Fri mornings. The sessions are brilliant, free and when you are time pressed, as I am (with little Oliver to entertain, Students to teach and you lovely lot to write for), getting a “quick blast” to fit into my schedule is essential. I am salivating at Liv’s abs and If joining her in-session helps me achieve even some of her toned, lean physique then I am a convert. Find her on her Facebook page. Great tunes too!
So, let’s all start as we mean to go on, remerging butterfly-like from this enforced chrysalis state.
With the UK currently on lockdown, of course most businesses have shut – regrettably including our go-to beauty salons.
As the solitude continues, some across the country are starting to feel pretty desperate for an eyebrow wax and a fresh set of nails. And while admittedly there certainly are more important things to be worrying about right now, a hairstylist from Florida, posted a manicure trick on IGwhich quickly went viral.
As your nails grow through and the gap between shellac or acrylics begins to show, she discovered the trick of applying glitter to the regrowth at the bottom of her nails, right down to the cuticles. This hides regrowth and looks like an entirely new manicure. You could even to go a little further up the nail, creating an ombre effect.
If, like me, you need help in the eyebrow dept, then before you go reaching for the tweezers or trying an “at home” waxing kit, you might want to read of some expert advice.
Beauty pros from Cosmetify have been sharing their top tips for doing your own eyebrows. The advise letting your brows grow out fully, before doing any grooming. And while this might not sound ideal, what better time than to let your brows get bushy then whilst stuck at home and not seeing anyone?
They explained: “It’s best to allow your eyebrows to fully grow out in order to figure out their full, natural shape.”
Then once your brows have grown out, you can determine how long they should be and where the shape starts – and to do this, all you need is a pencil.
“To determine the length, hold a pencil up to your left/right nostril and point it straight up towards your forehead,” the pros instructed. “This indicates where your brow should start. Turn the pencil diagonally, still holding it in line with your nostrils to figure out where your brow should end, ensuring it is past your eye’s outer corner.”
When it comes to working out the length, you’ll be using that same pencil once again. However, this is where it gets a little more complicated. Hold the pencil next to each nostril at a 45-degree angle. According to the experts, your natural arch should begin wherever the other end of the pencil lands.
The pencil should be going just past your pupil.
Once you’ve worked out where exactly you need to be grooming/shaping, it’s time to get going with the tweezers or wax. Make sure you’re starting with a clean, dry canvas and that means no traces of brow pencils, gels or powders and try to avoid applying anything that’s oily or greasy beforehand, such as self-tanners or serums.
And it’s important to remember that brows should be sisters, not twins, as focusing too much on making them identical could lead to over-plucking.
Try not to get too “tweezer happy” and pluck everywhere. Instead stick to rogue hairs in the middle of your brows, under the brow bone and around the eyelid.
You also shouldn’t be plucking your brows every day, instead they suggest doing it every three days or so, depending on how quickly your hair grows back.
And if you’re really worried about being precise, you can always use an eyebrow pencil to draw your preferred shape onto your brow and use it as a guideline when tweezing.
Any mistakes you make aren’t the end of the world, as you can always just fill your brows in with a product – plus you’ve got plenty of time to kill while the hair grows back.
As we’re all in lockdown, we have a lot of time on our hands. Last week, Amanda Holden posted a very funny picture of herself dressed up to the nines, taking her bins out.
For those of you in Spain or Italy, you’ll appreciate that taking the bins out has become the highlight of the week.
For all of us who love to dress up, I thought this woud be a great challenge – to dress up and take the bins out. I started with a picture of me in a flash gown and was then completely overwhelmed by the response from girls and boys across the UK. I have been inudated with your pictures and decided to dedicate this special ‘mid-week’ installment of Amanda Zips It Up to all those people who have risen to the challenge.
Hopefully your pic is in here. If it isn’t, send it to me again and I will add it to this collection.
Thanks you all so much and I hope this brought a smile to your faces.
Feel free to send me some more pictures which will be added to this and kept forever. One day we’ll look back at this with nostalgia and say “Remember when we dressed up to take the bins out during lockdown 2020?”.
In a world in lockdown, key dates and celebrations don’t seem the same. Nevertheless…
HAPPY EASTER.
Some of you might have seen how we’re keeping ourselves busy in my household. My other half, Judge Jules, streamed a couple of live DJ sets from our lounge last Saturday night, attracting an incredible 250,000 viewers.
I have also been busy, getting dressed-up to put the bins out. An idea started by Amanda Holden – you basically get as glammed up as possible, posing for a picture next to your wheelie bin on collection day.
It’s all a bit of fun whilst we whittle away the hours during isolation. I have had some brilliant pictures sent through, to be published in next week’s blog.
What isn’t fun though is how fat some of us are getting whilst ‘staying in and keeping safe’. Especially with this weekend consisting mostly of chocolate.
With snippets of news starting to emerge regarding a possible end in sight, now seemed like the time to ‘up the ante’. Yes, it’s an hour run each day, plus a diet of celery soup, produced by my friend and Guest Book Editor Chanelle Clark.
She lives in Italy, so is an absolute expert regarding all things Coronavirus, lockdown, keeping busy and eating healthily. Here is her Celery soup recipe, guaranteed to keep your immunity strong and your belly flat.
Over to Chanelle…
Simple Celery Soup
The only thing of a domestic nature that I remotely enjoy is cooking. On the bright side, of late there has been much more time to do it.
My diet is vegetarian (32 years & counting) and often plant based/vegan. Not entirely though, as I just can’t resist Italian pizzas! A delicious perk of living in Italy.
The recipe below can be tweaked to make it plant-based, if you so wish. It is quick and extremely simple, allowing even beginners to cook up a storm.
Celery hosts so many health benefits. It is super high in antioxidants, lowers cholesterol and is even a “negative calorie” food, thus boosting metabolism and aiding weight loss. What’s not to love?
This recipe that follows is super low fat, healthy & appetising.
It takes about 15 mins prep, 20 mins to cook & serves 4. So without any further ado…
Ingredients
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion – finally chopped
3 fat Garlic Cloves pressed
6/8 sticks of Celery & the heart also if you like
3/4 cups of Veg Stock
½ cup of Natural Yogurt, Sour Cream or Vegan Yogurt
Salt/Pepper/Cayenne Paper to taste
2 cups of sliced Potatoes (optional – I prefer without, my husband with)
One handful of Spinach (optional but I prefer with, for both the colour and the nutritional benefits)
To Cook
1) Prep all ingredients
2) Heat Oil in a large pot, add Onions, cook on a medium heat until golden, approx. 5 minutes. Then add Garlic and stir for 1- 2 minutes.
3) Add Celery, Potatoes (if you wish), Seasoning and then enough Veg Broth to just cover the veggies.
4) Cover and bring to the boil.
5) Then turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes ONLY if you have added Potatoes otherwise skip this stage.
6) Use a blender until fully blended. Add a handful of shredded Spinach at this point if you desire and again blend.
I garnish with a drizzle of Chilli Oil and some fresh Chillies (I add spice to everything to boost my immune system and metabolism) or you could use the Celery Leaves and a drizzle of Yogurt; entirely your choice.
Voila, your yummy, flavourful soup is ready to be enjoyed. Buon appetito!
In this issue we check out Men’s Summer Fashion – for that late summer holiday, bored Instagram models designing ‘Quarankinis’ and the ultimate Summer Shoe – for that moment we can step out in the summer sunshine.
