IN THIS ISSUE

HAPPY EASTER! I love this time of year, as it usually means we’re past the worst of the dark evenings and finally on the road to summer. As Easter falls so early this year, we’re not quite through the worst of the weather yet, but you can definitely see the stretch in the evenings so I’ll take that for now! Easter Sunday was always as big a deal in our house as Christmas Day and I’ll be heading to my mam’s this year for dinner as usual. She’s an absolute goddess in the kitchen so needs no help from me, but if you’re in charge of the festivities and don’t know where to start, Catherine Fulvio has it all worked out for you on page 40. From tasty starters to a beautiful lamb and an easy ‘to die for’ dessert that can be made today, it’s the fuss-free way to impress your guests. Speaking of family gatherings, on page 32, we hear from a mother who is fearful about her son’s intention to move back to the family home – he’s part of the generation known as ‘bounce-back kids’. While she’d be happy to see more of him, she doesn’t want to return to the nagging mother/lazy son relationship they had before he left for university. It’s clear he needs to grow up or they’ll end up at loggerheads again but how can she – and the thousands of other parents in this situation – make this clear? Lastly, our cover star today is the lovely Lisa Riley – we all remember her fondly as the bubbly, vivacious Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale. She’s had a very well-documented battle with her weight throughout her career, but now, having dropped to a size 12, she’s keen to move on and become a mum. On page 20, she tells us how she lost the weight sensibly, not through fad diets or bootcamp-style fitness regimes, and how she plans to not only keep it off but to share her new-found happiness with her boyfriend of four years, and hopefully have a baby with him via IVF. We wish her all the best!