My friend Tereza is the best kind of visistor you can get. Every summer we try to spend a few days together, the last few years usually at my sister’s house: three moms and six kids of all ages. Tereza…
Savory strudel with chard and blue cheese
Categorie: Summer
Seasonal bouquet-for-a-day
Between our week in Oslo and visiting my parents in the Czech Republic, we spent two days at home. To do the laundry, have a break from driving and most importantly, check on the garden. Going to the allotment was…
Dark chocolate pudding with strawberries in red wine syrup
At my parents’ house, when I was growing up, everybody had their task in the kitchen, one that was playing to their strength. My mom would make the soup because she can make a soup out of anything and it…
Garden jobs in July
This post is a part of a series about the things I usually do/sow/harvest in my garden in a given month. I post at the beginning of each month and at the end of each month I check in to…
Milk chcocolate sesame cream tart with cherries
From the time Esther and Sebastiaan were quite little, as a way of playfully teaching them about food and taste, we used to organize little family tastings. If we grew three different varieties of strawberries, we would have a tasting…
Seasonal bouquet – end of school
Today is the last day Sebastiaan will ever attend primary school, so pardon me if I get a little sentimental. After the summer holiday, he’s starting high school and it will be a different building in a different part of…
June in rearview mirror
Last week the stars aligned and both our children left for a three day school trip – for the same three days! That’s something that happens just about never and we were a little overwhelmed by the unusual freedom –…
Broad beans and peas salad with basil dressing
Broad beans take a pretty long time to arrive – they are just about the first vegetable I sow outside (this year it was as early as the end of February) but it takes until June before we can harvest…
Garden Connect – June update
Garden Connect is a project that we’re participating in this year where gardeners from around the world grow identical 2 by 6 foot (60 x 180 cm) gardens, compare and share growing methods. Here’s an update of what’s happening in…
Berry and mascarpone tartlets in hazelnut crust
It may not be fair but cute always wins. A case in point: these berry tarts. I made them for our tea party on Sunday, but there was lots of other delicious stuff too. There were 32 of these tarts…
Seasonal bouquet – midsummer abundance
Maltese Cross (Lychnis chalcedonica), Musk mallow (Malva moschata “Alba”), Heliopsis scabra “Giant Double”, Veronica longifolia “Blauriesin”, Silene coronaria, lovage (Levisticum officinale), Anthemis hybr. “Wargrave”, Canterbury Bells (Campanula medium), Verbena bonariensis It is easy to get wrapped up in the garden…
Chinese noodle salad with citrus, snow peas and spicy cashews
Being a freelancer and working from home most of the time can get a little lonely. Nobody to discuss ideas with, drink coffee or gossip. Little feedback too: I send my articles out into the world or give a lecture…
Seasonal bouquet/ mid June
There was a time when I did not like peonies. Nowadays, I don’t really remember why, but probably because I considered them old fashioned and too showy? When we bought our house, there was a well established clump of peonies…
Chickpea, spinach and feta parcels
Though it’s still more than a week till summer officially starts, you wouldn’t know it by looking at the thermometer. The days are hot interrupted by a few storms, a walk through the garden yields a handful of assorted ripe…
Garden jobs in June
This post is a part of a series about the things I usually do/sow/harvest in my garden in a given month. I post at the beginning of each month and at the end of each month I check in to…