On Saturday I met the lovely Lee Tran Lam for breakfast at Baffi & Mo on Redfern St. Lee Tran had recommended it some time ago (for those who don’t know, Lee Tran writes a fabulous food blog called the unbearable lightness of being hungry) and she knew from my blog that I love a decent breakfast and  a good, real chai so she was eager for me to try this place out once back in Sydney.

I chose the ricotta hotcakes with fresh figs and honey. It was superb, and as for the chai? It was perfect.

Thank you Lee Tran! It was wonderful finally meeting you, I hope we get to do this again sometime.

xx

Last week I took my mum and french boy to Vaucluse House for lunch in the tearooms.  It is one of my favourite places to go in Sydney for a slice of historial home inspiration. I will share some photos of the house itself soon but for now, I just wanted to show you what I had for lunch…

…aren’t the colours glorious? To me, this epitomises food in Australia – fresh, healthy, creative, inspiring and utterly delicious. I then had some scones with jam and chantilly cream, and a cup of english breakfast tea. What a treat.

Over the weekend I went to a few new places with friends that I thought you might like to know about:

1. Le Pain Quotidien in de pijp. This is a Belgian bakery/café/patisserie that is all over the world, and now Amsterdam. I used to go to the Saint Honoré one all the time when I was living in Paris, especially for Sunday brunch. It’s awesome. The ingredients are always fresh and organic wherever possible, and the bread is delicious. Although I’d already been to this new one in de Pijp the other week, I took French boy there on Saturday. He had a tartine, I had an omlette. We bought a baguette and were pleasantly surprised that it was just like a real French baguette. This one in Amsterdam is at Cornelis Troostplein 4, click the link to be taken to a map of the location.

2. Chet’s. This is an Italian-style wine bar on the Hazenstraat, in the Jordaan. We met some friends there on Saturday night not expecting there would be live music (since we heard it was only on Friday nights) but we were delighted to find out there was a bossa jazz band booked for the night. It’s a wonderful little oasis as these type of places are hard to find in Amsterdam.

3. the lovefood pop up sunday brunch. Brilliant idea founded by englishman-amsterdammer Jason Hartley. A lovely friend introduced me to it yesterday (thank you Leslie!). Basically it’s a pop up brunch, hosted in various restaurants or cafes in the city. Their new location is in the Cafe Bax on the Ten Katestraat. Yesterday was the last one for the year unfortunately, but the next one starts on January 10. The brunch is great – a full breakfast menu that all us expats miss so so much  – e.g.  The Full Mikey which is the American classic breakfast with bacon,  homemade  sausage, hash browns, scrambled eggs;  eggs florentine, benedict etc – every which way you like’em;  a full veggie breakfast;  pancakes, even a mexican style choice – tortillas filled with scrambled organic eggs, spinach, fried potatoes and chorizo sausage topped with grated chedder cheese and baked. Click here to read more about it.

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It’s Monday morning! can you believe I’ve blogged before midday? Well that’s just the start of it. Hold on to your hats, because this week is going to be full steam ahead! I have lots to share this week. Lots. Next up will be the enhance the everyday holiday decorating & gift guide. wehoooooooooo!

So where were we, oh yes, in the val d’amour, nestled up against the jura mountains in the east of France. It’s a beautiful area, no doubt. And on the last morning there I managed to sneak out of the house alone in the early-ish hours and take a walk through the fields and along  la loue. I imagined French Boy as a boy (even though I call him French Boy he is now, I assure you, a man), running through the fields and throwing pebbles into the bubbling river. Oh to be a child growing up in this magical place! No wonder he is always smiling from the inside out, the nature of this land must dwell deep.

Walking through nature seems like such a gift. It is forever changing, forever evolving – to be a part of it in each precise moment feels sacred and inspiring. I crave it daily and when I do get the chance to be part of it wholly I am quiet. Just listening, just being, and soaking it all in. On this particular morning walking by la loue, the sun was shining bright and even though the air was crisp the sun warmed my face quickly. I could see glimpses of the river through the shoreline trees and I could hear it loud and clear but I couldn’t quite see any way of getting down to it’s pebbly shore.

Until finally I saw a gap in the rocky hill and a slightly precarious but not too difficult makeshift pathway. With lenses and camera hanging lose around my neck I didn’t even hesitate. Down I went, making my way to the clearing and sat myself on the pebbles, the water lapping only centimeters away from me. Bliss.

I sat there for as long as I could, which was only about 10 minutes unfortunately, but oh, those 10 minutes were so lovely. I lay in the sun, feeling the river breeze on my skin and the cold hard pebbles underneath my body. The water was absolutely beautiful. I dipped my hands in and brushed some of the icy water against my eyelids and cheeks. I wanted to stay down there all day.

But it was time to go. So I packed up my gear, said à bientot mon amie! and went on my way. While I was walking past the farms I saw a few friendly characters  that I just had to photograph…

This guy on the left stood like that the whole time I went by him, and only moved his head so that his eyes were always in line with mine. His pose was so funny I couldn’t help but giggle…

Beautiful. After a few deep breaths I felt a little more replenished and ready to get back to our life in Amsterdam. It was a long drive home (about 10 hours) but with my traveling companion by my side, it was alot of fun. Au revoir jura, see you again sometime…

Location: Jura, France

On the menu: crêpe with reblochon, sauteed potatoes, and salad served with Brittany cider in bowls. Followed by a sweet crêpe with chocolate spread. Miam.

xx

It’s Tuesday already! Time and how fast it flies never ceases to surprise me. Below you can see some sweet inspiration I plucked from the blogosphere, and from this week’s blogs in the spotlight which you can see in the side bar to the right…

From top to bottom:

• an age old tree (LOVING your polaroid pics ann marie, and your great little stories) (and those apple cider doughnuts you just posted! miam)

• simply breakfast continues to be ridiculously scrumptious, every post. This one I’ve featured above is Jen’s brunch of ranchero and pinto bean skillet with eggs, monterey jack, cilantro, and creme fraiche. Jen has cleverly created a simply breakfast book which you can purchase right here.

• and look at that incredible tapestry work by elana herzog which I found on 2 or 3 things i know. just beautiful.

Also in the (blog)house kitchen is our dearly missed guest, Ms Yvette! She has been a busy bee and tells us all about what she has been up to, all while stirring, slicing and serving us the perfect autumn dish:  classic corned beef with a little twist. Oh it smells delicious. Click here to read her full post which includes Yvette’s  gorgeous illustrations.  Thank you Yvette!

xx

PS thank you for all your ideas, suggestions, and offers for assistance below. I’d be in heaven if you all lived closer. I’m still thinking about it.