A wee snapshot of Gay Paris in Summertime!

As a break from the routine of daily life Oscar and jumped on the opportunity to head to Paris to drop Amelia off to the Eurostar where she was heading to visit a friend in London.

 No time for anything but a bit of 'drive by shooting' en route to and from home via Gare de Nord but enough of a city fix to amuse and enlighten us as we sat in hideous traffic trying to exit the city...Sad but true that it sometimes nice to immerse yourself into the madness of city life after spending many idyllic weeks in the country...

 

We were to return again to Paris the following week to greet Amelia after her wee city fix...we stayed longer and wondered the streets of Paris with our dear friends Gerard and Helen on a gorgeous summer afternoon eating delicious food and ice cream and whiling away the hours in Luxemburg Gardens people watching furiously...very amusing....

Muffins....same in French!!

I have a very special friend...you know the sort that kinda knows you better than you know yourself! She lives on the opposite side of the world so we do not see each other hardly at all BUT that is just somehow irrelevant...she is always there when I need her and when we do get the chance to hang out together it is just so easy...we have been through a lot together and I do not doubt that we will continue to do so over the course of our lives...

On her last trip Karen came armed with a bunch of her person perfect pressies....she is one of the best present buyers I know and my house [and my childrens bedrooms!] are adorned with her quirky arty treasures that are so very personally selected with the recipient in mind.....one always feels so lucky to have such a friend and be able to unwrap the handmade paper and read the carefully crafted card and discover the treasure inside...she is such a generous special lady who is so mad busy with her family but always takes the 'time' for others....

So off the plane she gets footloose and fancy free into Paris and out pops this gorgeous book 'Marvellous Muffins' by New Zealand cook Alison Holst...inscribed with a hand written personal note 'a must have muffin book'.....so I make these muffins for my guests fresh in the morning served on the lovely pansy cake stand that my mother sent for my birthday....just gorgeous!! Always greeted with lots of Ohhhs and Ahhhs and devoured warm from the oven with only a sprinkle of icing sugar to dress them up!

I promised this recipe to Patti who stayed with us recently with her husband, daughter and son and in law to celebrate her lovely daughters 30th birthday....as summer is here it has been mad busy at the house BUT at long last Patti here it is!!

Funky Fruit muffins...original recipe by Alison Holst...
2 cups flour
4 tsp Baking powder
a sprinkling of cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup caster sugar

100 gms butter
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 - 1 1/2 cups of chopped fruit...use what you have and take Karen's advice and double the amount of fruit or berries...no harm done! I use all sorts of berry fruit and sliced peaches and nectarine is also a summer favourite!

Preheat oven to 200 deg
1. Mix the first 5 ingredients into a large bowl
2. Heat the butter in a pot and then add the milk and gently whisk in the egg
3. Chop and prepare the fruit and add to the bowl with the dried ingredients mixing gently to coat fruit in flour
4. Add the egg mixture and very very gently mix to combine....the odd lump is fine...smooth is not the aim...and do not smash up the delicate berries!
5. Line a patty tin with muffin cases [makes around 24] and carefully spoon mixture into cases...
6. You can top the muffins with a little caster sugar mixed with cinnamon before baking if you like
7. Bake in oven for 12 - 15 mins...muffins made with frozen berries with take 5 mins longer...
8. Place onto a lovely plate and sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm or cold...with a fresh flower to the side...

Enjoy for breakfast, morning or afternoon tea or just for a treat anytime you fancy...

Sunflowers and a Grasshoppers/Tournesols et une sauterelle

 Oscar and I headed off in the 2CV to do a quick mad dash of a shop in Sezanne and en route were lured into the fields to pick a few sunflowers.....

 But we got more than we bargained for when we discovered a huge grasshopper was also in the boot!!

 He jumped further into the car and remained illusive....so he then joined us in our journey....

Rescued upon our arrival home he now lives in our garden....

Bastille Day!

Last night there were big Bastille Day celebrations all over France....we went to our local village Sezanne with friends once dark to see the fireworks display....it was absolutely fantastic!! For a small village of 6,000 inhabitants the effort and expense was just staggering...we were able to stand SO close to the display in an uncrowded area and that the normal jostling for a spot was absent and the experience made so much more pleasant due to it! The display lasted for half an hour and was accompanied by theatrical classical music and plenty of appreciative OWW's and AHHH'S from the audience...the children were entranced and we all went home to bed with a feeling of wonderment!

School Holidays / L'ecole Vacance

 So the exams are all over and the sun is shining and the kids are all running barefoot and fancy free as the school year ends and the holidays begin....

Time for the normal routine and structure of the week to disappear and the chaos of free play to spill over into the daily lives of one and all...

Our home becomes a playground and we get the pleasure of letting the children stay up with the sun and sleep in to make up the difference...children of different nationalities come and go from the house and our children enjoy the opportunity to swap notes, share their toys, fun and laughter with children from afar... friendships blossom and while some may return another time for most it is a temporary inclusion into a world different from their own...parents are happy to sit and sip in the menage while they hear the happy play of their offspring in the distance.

Liliana is a superstar hostess who enjoys the company of many young ones of all and varied ages...different languages are spoken, and often not one that she understands, but this is treated as a minor hitch and off they run...

Lately to keep these small ones cool after dinner I have been making different fruit ice creams which, rolled into a cone, are very well received by all....simple, fresh and delicious...

STRAWBERRY ICECREAM....Liliana's Favourite!!

350 gms of Strawberries
100 gm caster sugar
juice of half a lemon
200 ml of cream

1. Blend fresh or frozen strawberries till smooth.
2. Add caster sugar, lemon juice and cream to strawberries and blend again.
2. Pour into your ice cream maker and churn then freeze till ready to eat.
3. Roll into a cone with a scoop and lick and enjoy!!

These photos were taken by Ashley Coombes...a professional photographer who was staying with his wife and children from Scotland....check out his website as below...

www.epicscotland.com