The Hearth and Soul Link Party – Home Recipe and Lifestyle Inspiration

Looking for home, recipe and lifestyle inspiration? You are in the right place! Welcome to the August 2025 edition of the Hearth and Soul Link Party, the place for everyone to find recipe and lifestyle inspiration, and for writers, bloggers and content creators to share content from their blogs.

The Latest

The first part of the month was full of fun, stylish British summer events. We attended The Henley Royal Regatta – I shared a get ready with me reel on Instagram – and we also went to the Henley Festival of Music and the Arts.

Here I am at the Henley Festival, a black tie music festival on the banks of the Thames which is always a lot of fun. I shared a reel about our evening there on Instagram.

Later in the month we visited Hambleton Hall, where we have stayed many times before, on a family weekend away with our son and his partner Hannah. Set in beautiful grounds overlooking Rutland Water in the East Midlands, the hotel is a great place to relax as well as being the perfect base for exploring the local area, where there are so many things to see and do. I am working on an article to share things to see and do in this beautiful part of the world, as well as places to stay and some of the wonderful restaurants we ate in. Whether you are planning a trip to England and the East Midlands or just armchair travelling, I hope you will enjoy it.

My New Amazon Storefront

If you enjoy the things I share, I would love for you to visit my new Amazon Storefront, featuring lots of home, recipe and lifestyle inspiration including my favourite reads, everyday essentials and little luxuries I use at home and on my travels. I will be updating it regularly with new finds.

Home Recipe and Lifestyle Inspiration – New and Popular On The Website

One of my favourite parts of our kitchen renovation is the bespoke bar unit we worked with our home designer to create. With antique glass, subtle LED lighting, and beautifully functional storage, it’s both elegant and useful. I’m sharing the full story of our Bespoke Bar Unit—including tips and lessons learned in its construction—on the website this week.

Figs are just coming into season, so this is the perfect time to enjoy one of my favourite summer suppers.

Pork in a Fig and Port Sauce is a delicious, quick, easy to make main dish that is equally perfect for mid-week meals or entertaining. Substitute chicken if you prefer, and sherry or Madeira work just as well as port!

Maple Gingerbread is a lighter gingerbread cake, paler in colour and more mildly spiced than traditional gingerbread. Perfect for snacks or afternoon tea, it is also lovely garnished with raspberries and served with whipped cream for dessert.

Cherry Almond Loaf Cake is a wonderful traditional loaf cake, chock-full of fresh cherries and garnished with slivered almonds. It’s perfect for snacks, afternoon tea or served with a scoop of ice cream for an easy summer dessert.

Want to Really Keep Up With The Latest?

Why not subscribe to get the inside scoop? I send a newsy newsletter full of the latest news, ideas and inspiration roughly every couple of weeks. You can sign up here.

One subscriber wrote, “Last week, a really brilliant newsletter arrived in my inbox. Most newsletters are not newsy, but April’s is fab! Fabulously written and beautifully presented, it’s always a treat to see.” And another wrote, “April, I loved your newsletter this month, have added a book to my read list, a podcast to my podcast list and a must do recipe to that list – all great de-stressors x”

Why not join us? Plus, you will receive a free copy of my downloadable ebook, 5 Vintage Recipes, Desserts You Are Sure To Love, when you subscribe.

Home Recipe and Lifestyle Inspiration Features from The July Edition of Hearth and Soul

Thank you to all of you who shared inspiring content at last month’s party and in our Hearth and Soul community on Facebook. Here are just a few of the many posts that caught my eye.

From the July 2025 Edition of the Hearth and Soul Link Party

Lots of you have been travelling, and I have enjoyed reading about your adventures! Here are just a few of the travel posts I enjoyed this month – Julie of Julie’s Creative Lifestyle’s shared her family trip to Rome and London – Travel and First Day and Sandra of Dinner at Eight shared England – A Travel Adventure. There are also some beautiful photographs of the Chinese Friendship Garden in Sydney on His Daily Photo. And Cathy and Soko from Life of Two Snowbirds visited The Hubbard Glacier on their Alaskan Cruise. I also really enjoyed Pat of Mille Fiori Favourite’s piece on Deer Creek Canyon and the Wildfire Restoration taking place there.

This Bacon Cheddar Jalapeño Cornbread from Estelle at Homemade on a Weeknight looks so delicious, as do these Maple Baked Peaches from Tracey at The Kitchen is My Playground.

Between The Bookends has a June Reading Roundup with lots of ideas for your reading list. And if you are looking for more summer reading inspiration, don’t forget to download my Summer Reading List too!

From the Hearth and Soul Community on Facebook

Peaches are just coming into season, so it’s perfect timing for Nora of Treat & Trick’s delicious Eggless Peach Cake.

Salad dressing is quick and easy with this DIY Italian Salad Dressing Mix from Carol of Comfort Spring.

Guidelines for The Hearth and Soul Link Party

The Hearth and Soul Link Party is held monthly to give everyone an opportunity to find and share home recipe and lifestyle inspiration. The party opens on the first Sunday of every month and remains open until the 25th of the month, or until 300 entries are reached. 

Please share a maximum of 8 links per month here. Please feel free to share more in the Hearth and Soul Community on Facebook all month long.

Please share the permalink to your blog post, not a link to the home page of your blog. Please do not link to anything except blog posts. You are very welcome to share links to other types of content in the Hearth and Soul Community on Facebook and we would love for you to join us there! 

By submitting a post to the link party here, you assert that you own the content and photographs. You also grant permission for me to share them here on the blog as well as on Pinterest, my own Facebook page,  The Hearth and Soul Link Party page and  The Hearth and Soul Community Facebook Group. 

Feel free to drop me an email if you have any questions.

Okay, on with the link party! I’m looking forward to getting lots of home, recipe and lifestyle inspiration as I read your posts. Have a wonderful month ahead!