After my last post, you can guess that I have been pretty enamoured with Nectarines recently.
And when it comes to desserts. Nothing can really beat a summer tart. So with two Nectarines and some Cherries left in my fruit bowl and friends coming over for dinner there was nothing for it but a Nectarine and Cherry tart.
One of my favourite things about summer is the variety of fruit you can get hold of during this fantastic time of year. Peaches, Cherries, Nectarines, melons, all of the Berries, you name it, its in season and its yummy. And when I say yummy I mean tastes of sunshine yummy. Right now I am having a love affair with Nectarines. They are without a doubt the perfect things to bite into on a hot sunny day.
This week I had to do some last minute baking. You know the sort, where you pull something together in a limited time, based on what you have in your house. I love doing this, as I always seem to find new recipes, exciting combos and usually wind up making something I have never made before.
This week it came in the form of banana, chocolate chip and hazelnut loaf. I know banana and chocolate are a classic combo so I am not really doing anything too revolutionary, but I always use walnuts when baking banana bread or cake. So when I found I didn’t have any in stock, but had a whole load of roasted hazelnuts, the choice was obvious – why go to the supermarket when I could use up what I had.
I just got back from the most incredible Paris mini break and am now completely in love with all things Parisian. Don’t you find that when you are planning a holiday or a trip you ended up craving all of the things before you even go? A few days ago I was already dreaming of Croissants and Chocolate Chaud, Macaroons, Breton striped tops and the twinkling lights along the Seine. I don’t just get this way with holidays though, even watching films or reading books can really put me in the mood for something. For me this always ends up with my taste buds craving something. You know when you watch a great film and wanted to get in the kitchen and recreate the cake you saw them eating or delicious roast. Whatever it is I feel like acting on this inspiration is one of life’s little treats. I completely gorged on Soufflés and am now determined to master the art… so watch this space. Now I have got you all inspired why not try some of these or these french classics.
Bon Appétit!
Now I tried the recipe for this Raw Brownie a week ago. It is so good, it has honestly taken that long for my brain to accept that something without anything bad in, can taste so decadent.
Before you read this recipe and go – yeah Lucy, that sounds ‘nice’ – but let’s face it you aren’t going to make it because you find it difficult to believe that anything with the ingredient list I am going to give you could pass for a good brownie.
Pea and Mint, natures ultimate combo, so sweet, so refreshing, so simple. What a perfect summertime lunch or supper. And even better british peas are in season so you can have freshly picked soup! It’s like waking up in a fairytale where summer is actually real and everything tastes delicious. I new I wanted to do something seasonal, and yesterday I was stuck for lunch and decided to make something out what I already had in the house. You can imagine my joy when I realised I had ingredients for pea and mint soup. If you can’t imagine – let me know put it this way I was pretty darn happy.
What an exciting time of year. Strawberries are in abundance and there is so much sweetness all around.
With the sunshine finally sticking around for a while, this is the perfect time to start experimenting with summer flavours. One of my favourite ways to use Strawberries is blended up and added to Lemonade – boy do I love Strawberry Lemonade. You can also add some seasonal mint, which makes the whole thing that little bit more incredible. Or why not try freezing some and blitzing with frozen banana to make healthy Strawberry Ice Cream. Yummy!
For a while now I have been thinking about broadening the scope for what I write about on this blog. Not because I don’t love food, or because I am getting bored of cooking – I am not sure that will ever happen. But rather because I love writing, and have a myriad of different ideas floating about at any one time and sometimes I get excited over something and want to talk, think or write about that. In the past I have just written it down and left it on my computer because I write a food blog therefore I must talk about food. But I have decided food blog schmood blog. It’s my blog and I will write about whatever I want. So the rules are changing. Don’t worry though this isn’t going to turn into a bizarre vat of my inner thoughts where food no longer exists, it just means if I find something cool and want to share it I am going to regardless of whether it is edible or not. Because who made these rules that dictate what a good blogger should and shouldn’t write about! Enough of that, time for us to broaden our horizons.
One of the best gifts I got this birthday was a wonderful Cook Book from my Sister and Brother in Law. It’s called a Salad for all the Seasons and has a great range of recipes all split seasonally. As a From Scratch advocate seasonal eating is high on my to do list. So this was perfect inspiration for healthy and seasonal culinary yummies.
As a city dweller I always thought I was used to living near big buildings and enjoyed being around them. But New York is a whole different ball game. Buildings are so tall that sometimes you have a clear blue sky but have to go in search of the sun in the shady skyscraper lined streets.
