Peaches are out there now and I am so loving the sweet taste these summer days. Peaches are definitely one of my favourite fruits and I cannot get enough when they are in season. I prefer peaches pure or in a fruit salad or dessert.
Combining the sweetness of peaches with a savoury dish was something that reminded me of 70s cookbooks, when using fruits in a meat dish was considered to be “exotic”. We all know Toast Hawaii. But then I was taught better.
Spring has finally arrived! The weather is beautiful and everybody is spending time outside. Time for a spring tart.
I saw these beautiful purple baby artichokes on friday afternoon at a greengrocer in our neighbourhood. The people at the shop are so sweet. All the vegetables look so good and they are nicely arranged on box shelves. If you want to buy something they assist you pick the greens and put them in your produce bag. No self-service. Quite old fashioned like back in the mom-and-pop grocery store days but I find this very sweet.
This weekend is all rainy. So I decided I want to try some new things in the kitchen. Pumpkin is kind of a new territory for me that needs to be discovered and the Hokkaido was waiting in the kitchen for more than a week now until this morning I decided to make a pumpkin Quiche. A spicy orange and yellow Quiche.
Sicily is beautiful. We spend two great weeks, driving around the island, relaxing and having good food and wine. I really enjoyed the city of Marsala, the baroque villages in the Southeast and the “dolce vita” on the Aeolian Islands. Sicily has many facets and I wish we would have had more time to discover them.
We have so many tomatoes – it’s crazy! Despite the bad weather and all the rain in the past weeks, our balcony looks like a tomato garden. I picked all the very red ones on Saturday and today there are new red ones ready to be picked again. I love it! And the summer is back!
Pizza! Italia! I am really looking forward to go to Italy at the end of August. And since it is only raining in Germany lately, I am creating Italy at home, by having an Aperol Sprizz, some antipasti and mediterranean dinners. Sicily it is now. We have booked the flights and I can’t wait to go.
Our sundays are very lazy lately. I am listening to the latest album of one my favourite bands called Malajube. My good friend Pier-Luc from Montréal recommended them a couple of years ago. They were in Germany in 2007 and so I saw them live and totally fell in love with their music. If you like francophonic indie rock you should definitely check them out.
I really enjoy having just grilled vegetables. And at the moment with the E. coli outbreak in Germany having salad and raw vegetables without a weird feeling is quite difficult. I was standing in the vegetables section last night starring at the super juicy tomatoes but still not feeling ready despite the rescindment of the official warning. I went for the aubergines and courgettes in the end.
Today was a beautiful night and although I came back home quite late because of my Wednesday Mandarin class, I still wanted to make some food and sit outside. I guess it is really inspiring to see all the fully packed restaurants with people sitting outside when coming home.
Making oven vegetables is a quick and easy thing to do and it’s healthy and super yummy. My adivce is to use different fresh herbs based on availabilty and a lot of good quality olive oil. And give it up for GARLIC!
What you need for a pure vegetable bliss:
Three easy steps: