Constance Craig Smith

Jan 18, 2025 | dailymail.co.uk | Constance Craig Smith

What I Ate In One Year Stanley Tucci Fig Tree £20, 368ppThe American actor Stanley Tucci has appeared in some excellent films (Big Night, Julie & Julia, The Devil Wears Prada) and some pretty awful ones (Captain America, Space Chimps, Burlesque). Slightly built, bald, bespectacled and in his 60s, Tucci is not an obvious heartthrob, yet he has a large and devoted following of fans who think he’s far sexier than George Clooney or Brad Pitt.

Jan 9, 2025 | dailymail.co.uk | Constance Craig Smith

In autumn 1939, 12-year-old Ninette Dreyfus was given a red leather diary embossed with her initials. Her first diary entry, on September 3, read: ‘At eleven o’clock, the newscaster announced war between England and Germany. ‘At five o’clock, France was at war, which gave me a strange feeling, it was very stirring.’ She continued writing her diary throughout the war years.

Nov 30, 2024 | dailymail.co.uk | Constance Craig Smith

Showcasing food that is both ‘creative and comforting’, the recipes include jacket potatoes with aubergine and green tahini, sausage and lentils with mustard creme fraiche, and a delectable apple, blackberry and ginger crumble cake. As ever with Ottolenghi, there’s a rather daunting list of esoteric ingredients, but these dishes are worth the effort.

Nov 30, 2024 | dailymail.co.uk | Constance Craig Smith

This is an absorbing account of photographer Mark Bolton’s efforts to turn a neglected plot in Devon into a flower-filled ‘cottage garden with a modern twist’. His pictures show the garden as it develops through the year, with plenty of useful advice on both gardening and garden photography.

Nov 7, 2024 | dailymail.co.uk | Constance Craig Smith

The Place of Tides by James Rebanks (Allen Lane £22, 304pp)The Shepherd’s Life, which told the story of one family’s hill farm in Cumbria, was a surprise bestseller in 2015. Writing in spare but beautiful prose, James Rebanks described a way of life that is increasingly rare nowadays as agriculture becomes ever more mechanised and large-scale. Now 50, his latest book, The Place Of Tides, finds him at a crossroads after the death of his father. ‘It wasn’t just that I was tired,’ he writes.