Bonne fête à toutes les mamans !

Mother’s Day, la fête des mères, is only celebrated on May 26th in France, but one time is never enough to show the appreciation and love I have for my mother, and for all of the things she taught me.

Including bringing me into the kitchen to cook with her.

I wish her, my mother-in-law, all my mother friends, and all of you who are lucky mums, a very happy special day! Tonight, P. is cooking Japanese for me and Lulu.

We are both happy and hungry for a bowl of beef donburi !

Comfort food at its best!

“Moi j’adore le quinoa !” (I love quinoa!) Lulu exclaims as she reaches towards me across the dining table to grab a spoonful of quinoa from my plate.

I am caught off guard as I look at her put the food in her mouth with a smile that tells me she is proud of herself.

“Mais tu en as dans ton assiette !” (You have some in your plate!) I reply.

It makes her laugh even more.

I can not help but feel lucky that it’s happening in that way. Lulu indeed loves quinoa. Red. Black. Or white. P. and I like to joke about the fact that she knows that quinoa comes in three different colors. These days, I’ve noticed, it’s all about red because le rouge, she tells me, is one of her new favorite colors.

It’s cute to watch how changes in her taste happen.

For lunch, for example, quinoa is a staple when I am alone at home and I am craving protein-loaded food.

And I don’t mean to be scientific about it. Others do that much better than me. Yet the truth is that my relationship with quinoa lives there too, because every time I eat quinoa, my body feels comforted and relaxed.

Nourished the right way.

So in the end, I don’t need convincing that quinoa is being good to me.

When I am in a crunch time, quinoa is often my response for lunch.

The seeds (not a grain by the way) are incredibly easy to prepare: twelve minutes to cook is all it needs. I then build the rest around it, according to my time and mood.

At times, I prefer it warm, eaten plain to accompany a plate of sunny face up fried eggs with a salad of mixed greens on the side.

Or, I use it as the basis to a full-flavored salade composée.

Yesterday, as I walked into the kitchen with a hungry belly after a morning spent in the garden to plant, I looked for a quick solution for lunch. I had a bowl of blanched fava beans kept for another cooking project, and local asparagus bought the afternoon before. Quinoa, I knew, would be fast to prepare.

There, I saw the promise of a spring-like salad.

A nutritious one-in-all salad for lunch.

That’s where it started.

And the next day, I repeated it.

Because it left me exactly as anticipated.

Happy and fullfilled.

Ah les fraises !

One of my favorite early summer fruit.

Thinking about strawberries makes me feel mellow and warm inside as I imagine picking them, smelling their sweet aroma, and tasting their delicate juice.

Their beautiful red color invariably inspires my desserts.

But you already know that, n’est-ce pas ?

I remember how my mother always made sure to keep the very first ones of the season for me to taste. Every year in May, including this year, my birthday cake is one that involves strawberries.

No surprise then that I right away suggested that we featured strawberries in a story for Mindful Magazine.

I’ve told you about this magazine before, do you remember? And about how much I enjoy writing and styling recipes for it because they are about foods I love.

In this second issue (June 2013), I share two recipes using these delicious gems.

So there you are.

I hope you will enjoy. The recipes should be on their website soon. If not, inside the magazine for sure.

(And in case you ask, we’ve realized that we left out the quantity of strawberries required for the clafoutis. So sorry about that! Make a note. We are talking of 300 g (10 1/2 ounces) strawberries, hulled and sliced)

I think that I may have had a semblance of writer’s block.

For the past few months, I’ve been looking at this page, wondering how I should start writing on it again.

Ideas have never stopped coming though. Very clear in my head. But somehow, I was unable to translate them into words that would make sense.

Sometimes, P. looks at me with this “what the hell are you talking about?” looks in his face.

I know what he means. That happens when I have more inside than I can express.

I’ve stayed busy.

With work.

And travels.

I still want to share stories and recipes about our visit to Crystal Brook Farm to see cute-beyond-words baby goats; I want to tell you about the ski trip to Canada we took in February with friends, and where we ate tire sur la neige every day after skiing. Why, I wondered, didn’t I know about this before?

I’m also dying to show you the delicious time I had during my recent workshop with Fabrizia in Sicily before heading to France to see my family.

Amongst other things.

I will at least show you glimpses of them all.

Lulu is almost four and a half. She is tall and chatty. She loves to run fast. And cook with me and eat.

She really has an amazing personality.

She and I spend the best times together.

The truth is, she is also one reason–and an excellent one–why I’ve stayed away more than usual.

Mainly, though, I’ve continued to cook a storm, and style and photograph food the way I love it. The way it makes me inspired and happy. Keen to see more dishes be born in my kitchen.

Especially now that it’s Spring, and the days are sunny and crisp.

When I woke up this morning and looked at this page again, it hit me though. I knew I needed to start somewhere.

I needed to show you pictures of the past months. Share a recipe.

Simply write.

It was the perfect Spring day for it. It felt right in the air.

So there I am. And I hope you’ll like my news.

I am writing a new cookbook.

Yes!

I am really excited. And obviously very busy with it.

I couldn’t be happier because I am actually writing this new book with the same publisher (Roost Books) and editor with whom I started a fabulous adventure when we released the first book back in February of last year.

This second book will be very much like me again. Filled with recipes reflecting my style of cooking, my favorite ingredients and inspirations. With the same love for beautiful nourishing foods.

If you’ve enjoyed La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life, you should love the new book.

At least this is my goal: write a book I am proud of.

One that you will go back to, and that keeps you inspired to cook.

These tartines, for example, will most likely go inside the book. When I bring them to the dining table, I know they are “very me“.

They are garnished with homemade labneh and roasted almond and mint-flavored fava bean and pea spread–two of my favorite Spring dishes put together.

Yesterday at lunch, I prepared two of them (with a loaf of bread baked in the morning) and I enjoyed them with a bowl of Lulu’s favorite butternut squash soup and a carrot salad on the side.

It’s cheesy to say, but that food felt completely right for the day I was having.

And then mostly, I was also very glad to have finally come back with a recipe and images.

And a good chat.

I am glad to be back!

Hello everyone,

This is a quick note!

We had a quieter weekend.

It’s a relief!

In the middle of it, there were time slots devoted to gardening and enjoying the awakening of Spring. It is slow to arrive, but it is really coming.

Tonight, I stepped outside by early evening to plant radishes, peas, and fresh herbs. The air was brisk and the earth smelled of heath that made me imagine I could have been in P.’s grandmother back garden in Ireland.

OH! How it felt good to be outside at that time of the day to dig my hands in the cool dark soil.

To start something new.

I also meant to tell you that on Thursday April 25th, I will be at the North End boutique Shake the Tree for a book signing. The event will take place from 7 to 9 PM. I am hearing there will be cocktails from local natural soda wizards, Spindrift, mixed with locally distilled vodka from Bully Boy, and free chair massages by Bodywaves Boston!

With food to sample!
Hope to see you there!

I’ve been meaning to bring you a story for a while now. Come back with recipes too–thinking about it was making me happy and eager.

Until Monday came.

For us like for many in Boston, it had started joyfully. That day in fact, Lulu, P. and I had decided to have a picnic at the beach.

It was a beautiful day.

And then that’s when we heard the news that left us shocked.

It hurt.

I am not yet ready for a story.

I know life will carry on. I know that we will heal slowly from the trauma. I feel lucky that my family and friends were safe.

Not everyone was.

And that makes me sad.

And angry that someone had decided to hurt the life of so many innocent people gathered to celebrate the human spirit.

March 15, 2013.

I am currently in Sicily at Case Vecchie.

So happy to see and hug Fabrizia and Ximena again.

Excited to soon meet of all our students and have a fabulous workshop together.

Despite the rain!

These rolling hills are so green that they make me feel we could be in Ireland!

Canada seems to be everywhere in my life right now.

I love that it’s happening!

So since I was just speaking about Canada, I wanted to tell you about Mindful.

Last year, I was asked to contribute to the food section of this brand new magazine–the magazine is available at Barnes and Noble bookstores and Whole Foods Markets. I wanted to work for them because I loved the ethics of the magazine.

I wanted to be mindful.

Their very first issue is out, and although I have not yet seen the print copy (waiting for it to come), I love what the designer has done with the layout of the food section.

And if, like me, you have an unavoidable weakness for radishes–yes, Lulu and I will be the first to plant them in the garden in our neighborhood–you will enjoy two recipes I developed, styled, and photographed for them.

The first one is a recipe for Radish, Edamame, and Goat Cheese Tartines with Fleur de Sel; the second is a Radish and Potato Salad with Goat Cheese and Tarragon-Lemon vinaigrette. And you don’t even need to wait: they are available on their website by following this link.

Mangez des radis! Ca croque ! Ca pique ! Ca sent le printemps !

Lulu thought we were in the North Pole. Even if we’ve not yet been there, she was right. With its vast landscapes of untouched snow gently lit at sunset, it surely looked like it at times.

It was cold. Majestic. Inspiring. And oh so good for the soul to be there!

“Ce n’est pas le pôle nord,” I told her. “Nous sommes au Québec.”

Once again, we traveled to Canada.

And yes, I will come back to tell you all about it-it’s really worth it!

Registering? Click here !

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READ ALSO:

I promised a little more information about how to register to our exciting workshop in Andalusia!

If you are interested in joining, you will need to pay a US$ 300 non refundable deposit securing your spot to the workshop. We will ask you to sign a contract detailing the workshop terms and conditions (details about payments, cancellation policies, limit of liability, etc). Email us if you want to see it before signing up. It will be emailed to you once you register. We reserve the right to cancel your registration if this document is not signed and returned to us.

Once the deposit paid, the balance due of US $2,350 is due by April 8th, 2013.
Registration to pay for the deposit and secure your spot opens on February 14th at 10 AM EST. Space is limited to 14 students.

To pay for the deposit (and also the balance), follow this link here to get started.

You will use the same link (an access code to enter will be sent to those of you already registered) to pay for the balance (starting on February 21st, 2013, for those who decide to pay early). Any more questions, let us know.

A few practical things to know:

Closest airport is Seville (website here) (10 km west of the city; train station is in the city centre) but we suggest flying to Madrid and then take the train to Seville (Marta tells me that’s what Spanish people do!) If you fly to Madrid, you will need to take the fast train to Seville (AVE train to Seville (SANTA JUSTA ESTATION) from Madrid (PUERTA DE ATOCHA)) if you don’t have a car.

Rooms are single occupancy but if you wanted to bring a companion not taking the classes, you could also do so. The extra charge for the room, food and visits would be US$ 750. Contact us if you are interested. In such case however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to cater for transportation for all, as our current transportation plan is based on 14 students.

Email Marta (info@martamunozcalero.com) for more details on traveling to Spain.

Any other questions, feel free to drop us a line too!

We hope to see you in Andalusia, Spain.