GlobeTrotteuse

As a continuation of our healthy days I cooked today wok with scallops. At the bottom of the plate and below the vegetables and scallops is a pile of whole grain rice. All seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce, grated ginger, garlic, roasted sesame seeds and garnished with coriander and spring onions.

As I said earlier my brother is visiting us in Provence. The days begin with long breakfasts, followed by long lunches and long dinners. He is also a fan of healthy eating so the food is very easy....Yesterday we went to our village and then we watered our lavender bushes as it is still hot and dry. After the dinner we sat with a cup of tea on the terrace talking, laughing and having good time........

I love the combination. It gives the salad an extra edge, particularly when seafood is involved. I served today yesterday's leftovers (salmon burgers) with a plenty of vegetables and salad leaves. Instead of any sauce I added the grated beetroots and horseradish. I always think about the colors of vegetables....more deep color and many different colors gives more protection.

A young couple visited us today. We haven't seen them since long and therefore I was happy to arrange a lunch. As you know lunches in Provence are serious venues and take time. When our friends left I started to prepare tea for our dinner.....so you can imagine the time perspective I am talking about. It is always so refreshing to meet young people particularly those with positive attitude and a lots of humor......so inspiring....thanks D&J for taking your time to find us and to spend the whole afternoon with us. Here are some pics from the day.....

Yesterday I bought a new book about Anti- aging. It was not only for the subject, I bought it, but I thought it might be easier to read French if you have some interest in the subject. And I was right .... now I have enhanced my collection of healthy books with French one.....and to tell you true I already have many of them in 3 other languages. Anyhow, in this book I have found a salad recipe with my favorite ingredients as fennel, prunes, orange juice, olive oil and nuts (pinenuts or walnuts).....easy and delicious summer food. I served it with few fresh grilled sardines. The fennel is thinly sliced on a mandolin, the prunes are soaked a few minutes in the orange juice and then cut in small pieces. Olive oil and the remaining orange juice are combined into a dressing and the nuts are sprinkled over just before serving.....I have not even used any salt or pepper, it was not necessary.

As the heat continues we are moving out from the house :). The books, agendas, notebooks and whatever is needed is now moved to the terrace at the poolside. The area includes also the "cuisine d'ete" which means that we also can prepare simple food or make a BBQ there. It is like a camp and a wonderful refuge for the coming hot summer days.

It is only May but we already have a heat wave 30°C in Provence and without rain in the last two weeks. It is nice for the swimming in the pool and for the warm evenings when we sit outside but there is also a pitfall with this type of weather....the garden. Although we have automatic watering system but not everywhere. Our lavender plantation (400 plants) is without watering and under normal conditions they are very resistant bushes and manage dry periods in summer but in the spring they need water. So today we spent some hours to water all those plants. And in spite of the heat we fell so lucky and privileged about our lives.

We are finally home. After having visited the market in Coustellet and refilled our fridge we undertook a big cleaning.

Today I leave our paradise for a trip to Sweden. Most of all I am looking forward to see my daughter. I will also take opportunity to see some movies, drink coffee and watch people from cozy cafes. This time I don't take even camera with me so it will be quite on the blog. Have a nice week and...... AU REVOIR.

This week we are again between two journeys and on Monday morning we are going to Sweden. In the middle of all planning...garden, pool....my husband celebrates his birthday. We decided to stay home and only have a dinner for us two. Usually it is the best solution although after 22 years of marriage :) So I cooked a dinner for two. Before that we were on the market and bought a lot of wonderful food. Here are some sneak peaks of the day:

We took a walk today in spite of the heat. I knew that after the walk I would be rewarded when diving in the pool. But there was also another reward along the hiking trail......cherries and in plenty.

Some weeks ago we planted a few petunias in old pots. They did not look remarkable, but now they have really developed into a tremendous beauty. They look like snowmen during the day and in the night they iluminate the darkness. For many years we have tried with more expensive and noble beauties but never succeed and now this little ordinary flower has really proved its future in our garden........

Yesterday I tried another recipe from my favorite food blog. I have always liked eggplants and are searching for new creative recipes......but no, moussaka is not for me. This antipasti has a mediterranean flavor and I can imagine a lot of utilisations as together with bruschetta, pasta or as taste agent in a salad. So I tried to cut some pieces into our evening salad.....a little bit garlicy..if you like it.

I have found recipe of my favorite summer dish "Chicken Escabeche" which is a chicken (could be also fish or pork) marinated in an acidic mixture before serving. It is a simple dish which feeds many and fits very well for informal summer meals. You can cook it a day before, keep it in the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 2 hours before serving.

Just wanted to share some pictures from today afternoon....in the summer time we rather spend our days around the pool and on the terrace. We have still not arranged our outside furniture due to the large amount of pollen coming mainly from the oak trees and covering everything with their yellow dust.  It takes another week until we fully open our Summer season :))

After our morning French lesson we stopped at the supermarket in order to refill our fridge as it was almost empty. Tuesday is the day when the fresh fish arrives so I took the opportunity and bought some rougets which we like so much. I just roasted them in butter and served them together with fennel-betroot-harricot verts salad. We eat now all our meals outside as the weather is warm.... in the shadow of the grapevine pergola and to the sound of our fountain.....now the lazy days begin.....

Yesterday I returned to my beloved Provence. After I left my sister on the Nice airport I went to the railway station and boarded the fast train to Avignon. My husband who arrived earlier from Stockholm was already there waiting for me when I arrived. We drove home along the meadows full of poppies and stopped at a stand to buy some local vegetables and fruits. The young man in the stand recommended ancient type of tomatoes for a salad so I bought it together with basil and cherries and strawberries. I made a simple salad for the dinner as we have both  been nourished on sandwiches the whole day. We sat outside and enjoyed the view and being together again.....

After the breakfast we decided to walk the Sentier du Litoral or coastal path from Nice to Villefranche sur Mer. It winds its way up, down and along creeks, cliffs and pebbled beaches. Unfortunately it doesn't go the whole way so partly we needed to walk along the road. Villefranche sur Mer is a lovely small village compared to Nice and the life is very much slowed down there. We enjoyed a lunch in the harbor and returned home by bus. For tonight I bought tickets to a baroque concert.

Today we took the train from Nice to Menton. We wanted to discover the city of Menton which is famous for their lemons' cultivation. As all cities along the Côte d'Azur also Menton is a tourist city. However the old centrum is still authentic. Menton is situated only few kilometers from the Italian border and the city has a strong Italian flavor. We strolled around, lay on the beach and returned back to Nice exhausted but happy....and wondering what will we do tomorrow?

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild is a French seaside palazzo constructed between 1905 and 1912 at Cap Ferrat. We spent 2 wonderful hours visiting the house and the unbelievable gardens. It helped that the day was beautiful also we could enjoy the views in all directions. Today we travelled first time the bus along the coast and we found it as a very efficient public transportation...and it costs only 1€.

My sister has a pain in her knee so we decided to take it easy today. The HI Beach, a popular place for the younger generation :), became our home for the whole day. The restaurant there serves international and modern food which I appreciate more than the traditional French dishes. So I enjoyed sashimi with soba salad and my sister vegetarian pasta....and one glass of rose wine diluted with a lot of ice...:)) My sister and I don't see each other very often therefore we have so much to talk about. Such a wonderful day with a lot of chat and laugh.

In spite of several delays I am finally in Nice. I have also collected my sister from the airport and we have enjoyed the dinner on a restaurants closed to our apartment. And guess what...seafood again. Now we are back in our flat, drinking tea and planing the next day.