my secret heirloom garden

this is the year that my garden will be lush with heirloom vegetables.

to be specific:
christmas pole lima beans
broccoli calabrese
tonda di parigi carrot
lemon cucumber
louisiana long green eggplant
mervielle des quatre saisons lettuce
ananas d’amerique a chair verte melon
chervena chujski peppers
rouge vif d’etampes pumpkin
viroflay spinach
cocozella di napoli squash
cherokee purple tomato

 

jealous? don’t be!
you can order the seed packs from terrain too!

say cheese

it’s no secret that i could probably survive on cheese alone.
when i was living in paris it was not uncommon to find upwards of three different kinds of cheese in my apartment at any given time… and i lived alone.

so wouldn’t it be great to learn how to make upwards of three different kinds of cheese at home?

i agree.

 

image via miss moss

a few things about bruges

there are a few things that come to mind when i think of bruges, belgium.

-waffles
-beer
-windmills
-frites

…and we tried them all.

i highly recommend renting a bicycle, finding your way to the farmers market in the central square and getting a fresh waffle with powdered sugar (they blew all the others we tried right out of the water).  once you are finished debating whether or not to get another one, buy some things for a picnic, strap them to the back of your bike and head out towards damme, a beautiful little town not too far away from bruges.

heirloom tomatoes

this is the place where i talk about a recipe for heirloom tomatoes etc etc…  but really, i could just eat them like an apple.  just sprinkle a little sea salt on them, and you are good to go.

i can’t wait to visit the farmer’s market in santa barbara when i get home… they always have such a wide and delicious variety.

that’s really all i wanted to say about heirloom tomatoes.

picture from cannelle et vanille

the best street food around.

new life goal: try all of the best street food around the world.

now that i have that settled, it’s a good thing the hard part has already been done, the list is already made:

1. banh mi * ho chi minh city, vietnam
2. Tacos * san miguel de allende, mexico
3. tripe sandwiches * florence , italy
4. green papaya salad * bangkok, thailand
5. currywurst * berlin, germany
6. any asian food * singapore
7. bhel puri * mumbai, india
8. frites * brussels, belgium
9. arepas * cartagena, columbia
10. jerk pork and jerk chicken * ocho rios, jamaica
11. sheep’s head * marrakech, morocco

now there are a few additions i would add to this list, but it is a good starting off point… and i have it on good authority that both numbers 5 and 8 will be crossed off next month.

to find out the specific locations where you can find the best food on the street, read the article.

image from conde nast traveler

le cheese challenge

what was that?  did you just say to try as many cheeses as i possiby can this last month i’m in paris?

challenge accepted.

(i forgot to write down the name of this chevre, but i will update tomorrow with the name)

goat cheese season

it has come to my attention, as i passed by my local fromagerie, that it is now la meilleur saison pour les chevres, or the best season for goat cheese.  i didn’t even know that cheeses had a season, so i went in search of why.  apparently, the taste is determined by it’s ripening time, or directly related to the actual seasons. for instance, cow cheeses are determined by whether the cows are indoors for the winter or outdoors for the summer; whether they are eating hay, or grass.

so basically, happy goats make for better cheeses.  hooray! now i have a reason to eat a lot of cheese!  alice waters even teaches that you should eat food when it is in season, and the season is upon us (of course, this only stands until it goes out of season again, in which case… i will still eat cheese).

a brief list of cheese seasons:
goat cheese : from easter to the beginning of november
brie and camembert : from may until december
beaufort : september to march (this cheese is better a bit aged)

two of perhaps the best fromageries in paris:
barthélémy, 51 rue de grenelle (a favorite of the barefoot contessa)
androuët, 41 rue d’amsterdam

if you are now craving some chevre, this garlic, rosemary and olive oil goat cheese spread from eating is art just looks delicious, and so easy!

to read more about french cheese.
to read more about alice waters and her new book.

seasons down under

donna hay (kind of like an australian martha stewart) has come out with a new cookbook all about using whatever ingredients are in season…

and does so in a beautiful way.

you can find it here.

…and while we are on the subject of new books, i am excited about the new martha book, encyclopedia of sewing and fabric crafts, the follow up book to the first encyclopedia of crafts.

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you can find it here.

heath ceramics

these little celadon cups from california based company heath ceramics, would be perfect for spring flowers from the garden.  i know that sounds a little cheesy, but it’s such a beautiful morning here in paris, and while i was drinking my coffee on my terrace (insert jealousy here) i noticed that i need to plant some flowers now that the weather is nicer….  hence the need for something to put them in.  now that you are privy to my whole chain of thought this morning, check out the new summer collection as well:

heath ceramics

a wee dram o’ edinburgh

i‘ve just returned from two weeks of living out of a suitcase, eating delicious food and exploring both new and familiar cities.  new york was my first destination, allowing me to visit friends and favorite places, but more importantly, watch my friend lacey get married to her wonderful dave! (you can see pictures of her wedding on her blog).

the second part of my trip, of which you will see here, was edinburgh, scotland.  it was so refreshing to be surrounded by mountains and green grass and water…. and cheddar cheese, pints of deuchars and english (well, that last one is questionable).  unfortunately, the weather was a complete change from the warm spring sunshine i found in new york, but i wouldn’t give up having seen the city amongst the mysterious fog for anything.

the trip was full of walking around and seeing the historic castles and bridges… but we did our fair share of more kitschy touristy sites as well, which includes, but is not limited to: the city of the dead ghost tour, the whiskey experience, the scottish tartan factory and wait for it… the 3d loch ness monster experience (a little better in name than in actuality, but we had to).

the best of these tours was bar none the whiskey experience.  it consisted of a barrel ride through the process of making whiskey (which was no less than a disneyland ride), a smell and taste test from the different regions where whiskey is made in scotland and a glimpse of their huge collection of vintage whiskeys:

everywhere you went there was tartan…  i’m amazed i made it home without any of it really, but i did manage to take a few pictures of the looms used to make the famous fabric.  the size and speed at which these machines worked was incredible, much different than the smaller moroccan counterpart.