My first ice cream recipe for the summer and it won’t be the last.

So we are strolling through one of the markets in Provence and a lady tells my friend about her “ginger beer”. My friend loved the taste and then came and found me and convinced me to buy some also.  My first thought was “now I can make that green apple ginger martini that I had once in Austin”. So I bought it and I have used it on a few things and plan on freezing the remaining liquid before it goes bad.

My friend has used the ginger juice on fish with great results.  I sprinkled some on some grilled steelhead trout the other night and thought it was pretty darn good.

To me there’s nothing better in the summer than a ripe cantaloupe sprinkled with a little salt.  I started thinking about cantaloupe ice cream and sprinkling the top with a little of my fleur de sel (sea salt) I brought back, and why not add some of the ginger juice to the mix as well. Well, why not make it, I have all the time in the world so why not mess up my spotless kitchen that it took me all morning to get clean.

So this is my first ice cream post for the summer months. I will probably have many more to come. There’s nothing better on a hot sweltering day than a cup (or bowl) of some kind of creamy ice cream or sherbet. And, if you make it yourself, it’s even better.

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Colorful appetizer for your summer parties.

Some how I forgot to take a picture of these little peppers after they were plated.

With Memorial Day just around the corner, here’s a new recipe for your grill and appetizer files.

I just love these little baby bell peppers.  I have always loved stuffed bell peppers like my mother use to make with ground beef, onion, rice, some tomato sauce and seasoning. One of these days I’m going to try and make these mini peppers with a meat and cheese filling, maybe just add some ground cooked meat to the below recipe for a start.

There’s just something about cute little vegetables that are so appealing to me. I think for one thing, they have a sweeter taste. And, other mini vegetables like long baby carrots, baby zucchini, patty pan squash and the little fingerling potatoes and of course the cipolini onions just make a plate of food move up a couple of notches on the appealing factor.

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Something I definitely wanted to try in France.

So, before heading off for France I found a “must try” food list while in France. Below was my list I was working from and if I managed to try them.

Baguettes (tried many times), croissants (almost daily), cheeses (many different kinds were eaten), charcuterie (had it), foie gras (yes), steak frites (yes), croque monsieur (twice), crepes (suzette of course),  fleur de del caramels (yes), and quiche lorraine (twice) were a few of the “must try” things and we made it through the list. We can’t forget macarons (made them twice, had them from Laudree), pates (definitely), rilletes (didn’t, but have made one), duck confit (yes, twice).

Ok, so I have either made a lot of these things or have had them before, but it was so much more fun sitting in some little French bistro or brasierres, trying to translate a menu, watching the people go by and toasting our time in France.

The desserts were beautiful (see some of the window shots I got of bakeries). I knew I wanted to try Floating Island and sure enough it showed up on a menu our second night in Paris. A guy next to me ordered it and I looked at it and said “floating island”??? and he said yes. I knew I had to order it. Their meringue was done differently and was baked and then cut into large wedges.

I don’t know about you but I never like my refrigerators (I have three) to be without milk, cream, butter or my pantry to be without flour, yeast, sugar or vanilla. You can make almost any dessert or breads from those ingredients; so I don’t think we will ever starve in this house.

This dessert is such a recipe. A little egg, cream, sugar and you have a wonderful little dessert which looks so elegant served in a martini glass.

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One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating — Luciano Pavarotti

Were those few pounds worth it?

Our first night in Provence, and in our tiny little town of 1,800 (Eygaliers), we had one of our most fantastic meals in France (we had several) – Sous les Micocouliers. What impressed me most about this dish was the way they had the leg cut flat on the bottom so that it would stand up. And, the boneless thigh was wrapped around some sort of risotto mixture. Don’t ask me what the smear on the plate is, I have no idea, just know it was delicious.

Now, were those pounds worth it? Of course they were! Every ounce, and I’m not even sure what the scales would say if I were to get on them. I’m holding off until I can get back in the gym.

We enjoyed all the sights of Paris and so many wonderful meals and experiences. We had an apartment in the 2 arrondissement, Montorgueil area, and had a 15 minute walk to the Louvre. I loved walking down the Champs-Elysées before heading to the Eiffel Tower at dusk — what a sight.

Normally in the morning we would grab something from one of the bakeries in Paris and head out for the day. If we did not stop for lunch we would make an early afternoon visit to a bistro or bar for some wine and FRENCH FRIES. Boy, where those fries good and we did this almost daily. We learned really quick how to say “frites”. And, please, a glass of “vin rouge”. Later in the afternoon we would start thinking of where we were going to have dinner. I had read about Verjus months earlier and made reservations so we knew one night was already planned. Believe me when I say where we eat was just as important as what we saw during the days. We turned our heads at the sight of a McDonalds or even a Starbucks — none of that for us. We were there to enjoy everything French.

We saw many wonderful museums but one of our favorites was the Musee du quay Branley. After all the museums full of amazing art work by some of the most famous artist in the world, I was ready to get to Provence ,and if I had one ounce of “go” left in my knees, ready to see some of the hill towns. Provence was my favorite of the whole trip and I think we had our best meals and wine there. (Update, looks like I have no go left in the old knees, one getting replaced this summer.)

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Inspired by French cooking class to try this recipe.

My favorite part of France was walking around the markets that were in our neighborhood in Paris and also in the small towns we visited while in Provence.

It is hard for me to imagine (except I was there and saw it) what it would be like to shop daily for your food, to see just picked vegetables and know that they probably still have an earthy smell to them. One day we saw the most beautiful turnips (see picture below), they still had green stems attached and looked just minutes picked from someone’s field.

One of the things we prepared in our cooking class was a simple sautéed asparagus (see pictures below) with salt and pepper and when it was done, Erick, our chef teaching the class, took a jar of orange oil (I think this is the kind sold in a pharmacy) and with an eye dropper, carefully dropped just a few drops of the oil over the cooked asparagus.  Having this that day reminded me of a recipe of Laura Calder’s that I had been wanting to try – Asparagus with Orange Sauce. When I saw her make this dish, I wasn’t sure about orange and asparagus but after tasting our dish in our class I thought, why not give her recipe a try.

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