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[Apricots' time]

Apricots... What to say about apricots?
A golden velvety skin.
A sweet tender flesh.
Really you must love them!

I'm lucky to have an apricot tree in the back of my garden and though the tree is really old, it still produces the best apricots one can have. Juicy, sweet and soft... In one word: the perfect apricot.
It seems the combinations are endless. But with apricots i usually prefer to keep it simple.
Bite in a luscious apricot just picked from the tree.
Or cook them into a compote.
Or mix them with ice, as below, to get a fresh summer drink.
Or slice them finely and sprinkle over a goat's milk faiselle with a drizzle of honey.

Today i'd like to discover something new and i am interested in the ways YOU use apricots.
Do you have a favourite recipe using apricots?
I am looking for a sophisticated dessert that highlights the freshness of apricots.
Any suggestion welcome!

Summer apricot iced drink

This drink embodies the fruit at its purest form. No added sugar, just ice and water.
It is very refreshing, as you may have already guessed.
I love to have this after a hot summer day or even in the morning, for breakfast.

Labels: drinks, garden and campagne, recipe inside

[How come you're bored of eating strawberries]

Sometimes, you've got to face the truth: you're addicted.
I don't know about you, but the less time a product is available, the more I become obsessed with it.
Strawberries are a good example.
They start pointing their nose out around mid-may and disappear by the end of July. Almost three months, you tell me. Yes sure, but I'll answer: only three months!
But I should consider myself pretty lucky to have real-ruby-red-home-grown strawberries as soon as the beginning of May.

It's now accurate that I do love strawberries. Indeed I love them in every single way.
As a fruit, they're just perfect: juicy, tangy, tasty and gorgeous looking.

Strawberries are so versatile: the real food chameleon.
Fresh, I like them dipped in sugar or in melted chocolate, cut into cubes and drizzled with balsamic vinegar…
Other great options are countless: from a mousse to a soup, from a compote to a posh entremet.
Two problems remain:
- too little time
- too many ways to use strawberries

So basically what happens is that you end up making a new strawberry thing everyday and everyone -- except you -- gets bored with strawberries.


Strawberry (soy)milkshake
I love the way the soymilk outlines the natural freshness and creaminess of the strawberries.
This drink is very refreshing and makes a great snack for hot summer days.

Labels: drinks, recipe inside

In class we have a module called de la vigne au vin [from vine to wine] and the aim is to produce your own wine. T
his is actually so very easy.
Last monday we went to a vineyard "Domaine de Candie" where we picked up grapes ( i should say lots of grapes) - truth to be told picking up 20kg of grape was a bit exhausting but i hope my wine will be good.

Anyway after doing all that exhausting work we mashed the grapes to get all the beautifully scarlet juices and we added some yeast so that we'll have a wonderful wine in less than a month.

The wine we'll produce is a Syrah. I'm not a pro about wine but i can tell you it will have delicious flavours like red fruits and banana...

Just a short note : i wanted to excuse myself for not being very active. I'm so sad i missed SHF but i couldn't havbe done something anyway : i don't have a oven.
I'm also sorry for my english : it's not easy to speak in precise words about a subject on which i can hardly speak in french (ie wine).

Labels: drinks, garden and campagne

We had a party few week ago and the theme was "The Caribbean"; so i stocked up lemons and limes and ended up by having far too much.
Then i though a good way of using all these citrus fruits would be to make a kind of lemonade.


CARIBBEAN LEMONADE
makes 1,5L

3 lemons
4 limes
275g sugar
1200ml sparkling water

Take the juice of the lemons and of 3 of the limes; you should get around 250ml juice. Dissolve the sugar in it by stirring for a minute or so. Add the sparkling water and slices of the remaining lime. Chill in the fridge and drink.

Labels: drinks, recipe inside

So here is one of the most delicious cocktail in the entire world, commonly called (actually i think i'm the only one who call it this way) "the quick drunk"; it is made with Pimm's - a gin-based liquor with 25% alcohol-, lemonade, fruits and mint leaves.
I call it so because you can't really feel the alcohol in it and then you drink a lot and get drunk quickly.

The person - to whom i'm really greatful - who made me discovered this drink is no more than my boyfriend's father Peter Insull.


Here is the secret recipe (to have a wild night)
serves 4 (but will be enough for 2 in pratice)
1/2 cup Pimm's
7 cups lemonade
1 apple, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
1 banana, peeled and sliced
5cm cumcumber, peeled and sliced
a handful of strawberries, cut in 4
1/2 cup mint leaves

In a large jug pour the Pimm's and lemonade, add the fruits and top with the mint. Chill for 30 minutes to allow the different flavours to combine.

As you can see the recipe it's very easy, even a drunk person could make it actually... I think i'm gonna make another jug indeed !

Labels: drinks, recipe inside