Thursday, July 14, 2011

Lavender and Mint

I was doing some weedin' the other day, it had rained earlier so the evening was marvelous and I decided to work in the garden a little.... or a lot

My lavender was blooming....


The mint smelled fantastic.....

So I thought why not combine both and make a little bouquet....


Which I brought inside the house....

My kitchen smelled fresh and clean, loved it.



French word of today:
Mint = Menthe (mahnt)

Ido

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Bedroom makeover last sneak peek

I promise this is the last sneak peek, will try to finish those pillows today, yesterday the grasshoppers and weeds were calling my name.


I took this picture at the beginning of spring, my garden looks bare without any flowers










Until next time mes amies.

French word of today:
bedroom= chambre (shambr)

Ido



Friday, July 8, 2011

To wine or not to wine

You must be thinking by now that I'm an alcoholic.  No! I love wine, yes I do, but it's because when I hear the word wine, I think of France, Italy and elegance.  I can't really drink, at the first glass I'm already dizzy and want to go to sleep.

Image bonjourparis.com

There is something about those wineries that I love, when we go to Colorado, on our way we find a few and we stop by for wine tasting and may be buying a bottle or two.

 
Image recipes.howstuffworks.com 
 
 I had a problem with bringing food upstairs, so I decided to make a tray that way is just one trip to the kitchen and not four. (You must be asking, what does that have to do with wine?)
 Well, I wanted my tray to look like this:
Image vie blog.foreignpolicy.com

 But instead it looks like this:


I know it's not the best painting in the world, but I'm happy with it, it has the wine theme I was going for and I made my tray "from scratch" cutting the wood and everything


French word of today:
Obviously Wine = Le Vin (le vuhn)

Have a wonderful weekend, will come back with the bedroom make over next week, until then au revoir.
Ido



Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Almost done

Yes! I'm almost done decorating my bedroom, just a few more pillows to sew and will be ready for the reveal.

and then to the next project:
Image eclecticrevisited.wordpress.com
The bathroom!!!

French word of today:
 salle de bain (sal duh bahn)= bathroom

Joining Kathleen for White Wednesday!
Ido

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Crème Brûlée with lavender and honey

I found this recipe at From Paris to Provence
and I wanted to share it with all the lavender lovers.


Here are the instructions:
2 cups heavy cream 480 ml
½ stalk fresh lavender or
3 T dried cooking lavender 45 ml
6 egg yolks
¼ cup honey 60 ml
¼ cup granulated sugar 50 g

Serves 4-6
Method
Preheat oven to 275º F (135º C).
In a small saucepan bring the cream to a boil, but don’t let it boil over. Remove it from the heat, add the lavender and infuse for 1 hour at room temperature. Using a fine sieve or cheesecloth, strain the mixture and return it to the same saucepan. Heat to a simmer and then remove from the heat immediately. Stir in the honey until dissolved.
In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk the yolks until they are combined. Continue to whisk while slowly adding a small amount of the warm lavender cream. Add a little bit at a time so the yolks don't cook, until all the cream is mixed in.
Divide the liquid custard among 6-ounce (175 ml) ramekins. Place them in large baking dish. Fill the baking dish with hot water to halfway up the sides of the ramekins and put the baking dish in oven. Bake for 40 minutes and then check every 5 minutes. When fully baked the brûlées will be almost firm but will jiggle just slightly when shaken. Remove the ramekins from the water bath, let them cool and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
To prepare for serving, sprinkle each dessert with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Next, brown (brûlée, or broil) the sugar using a kitchen torch. Sugar can burn quickly, so use the torch carefully until the top is a deep golden brown. Serve immediately.
This is a recipe that I will definitely try today!
Enjoy!
Ido

French word of today: 
du miel ( d(eu) myehl) = Honey

Friday, July 1, 2011

Viva La Liberté

Happy 4th of July everybody!!!


Please ignore the dead bush on the right















French word of today:
La liberté (la libertay)= Freedom

Joining Debra for Vintage Patriotic Party

Ido

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Snow in summer

No, it isn't snowing here, thank goodness! that's the name of this beautiful plant with tiny flowers


Is a ground cover, spreads fast!




I like to bring little bouquets inside the house


It blooms at the beginning of June and lasts throughout the month


it smells de-li-cious








Do you have a special flower in your garden?

French word of today:
Brouette (broo-et)= Wheelbarrow


Ido