Blueberries and raspberries : antioxidant and colorful

Look at these berries blue en red in the perfect little bowl, which I brought back from Vietnam. Made from coconuts , these colourful lacquer bowls are superb to serve fruit, olives or like I do as a bowl to serve breakfast treats.

College Application

Jet legged....

We had a night flight back from Dulles Airport in Washington DC and now back home in London.

After a week of driving and visiting around the east coast we are satisfied and fulfilled with plenty of energy and good memories about academia, strong curriculums, endless possibilities, freedom and opportunities for the girls.

University week with our senior. 

And in between touring and listening and making notes we spend time with family : the girls's cousins, my brother and a good friend. Who I met in the mid nineties during our first posting in Beijing, China. Holistic is the one word we will remember. We heard it being pronounced every single day over the last week. Education and the holistic perspective; those seniors who like to get in and consider applying to a twenty-first century learning environment, need to understand the deeper meaning of ''being holistic'. 

Who are we and what do we like to achieve?
What's the student ambition and what does the student plan to achieve?

What is it the student will bring, add to the school?
Why is that the ultimate school for the student? How do these two fit: university and student?
Applying is like the complex matrix of many components and ingredients.
Être et avoir .... 

I am intrigued by the way the liberal art program of universities intends to be a fabulous way to integrate and combine; a pallet of colours. It reads as a compilation of one's own and the university interests, academic choices often on a crosspatch o disciplines. The interdisciplinary aspect of the often rigorous program seems one possible way to create critical thinking and to embrace curiosity. 

Kale and raspberry with yoghurt

Kale;

kale is fashion;

kale is anti cancer;

kale is the food for foodies.

For me kale was kale and one of the favourite vegetables of my mother. In my youth we ate kale in winter every week . The 'boerenkool' today thought as one of the most effective vegetables against cancer. Proved and cherished by researchers in the fight against cancer. Embraced by foodbloggers and high profile chefs.

An antioxidant which boost your immune system and is highly significant to beat infections.

We used to eat kale shortly boiled and mixed with a home made mashed potatoes dish.  Often eaten with sausage and mustard.

I admit I rediscovered kale and I owe my mother. The knowledge about the healthy properties kale was hers, long before the trendy appreciation of kale stole the hearts of so many and researchers proved her massive qualities for a healthy diet. 

Kale salad: fresh washed kale, raspberries, mixed seeds, white cowl, dressing made with honey, oil oil and balsamic oil. I like to serve with plain yoghurt.

Recipe Request

I can be very honest about my feelings over the last two weeks, it hasn't been easy. I realize that two weeks is what it takes, to re-adapt to the city and to get my life back in London. Summer came to an end as prompt as it can be. The rain and London looking grey were simply to much for me and I spent long days inside the apartment...
not my favorite me activity, not much captured my attention or my involvement...

I have been busy though with the start-up of the school-year for the girls. Although they are independent and well organized... 

I still have a role, a final touch and the mother eye.

 All three seem so busy now and London is good for them. They too miss the weather, the light, the evening stroll that make summer the best if season. But these kids are cool in the way they get back to school. Picking up their lives, hanging out with friends. First days of school blossoming with excitement and some anxiety. 

Today I feel good, things have changed over the weekend. My clock is set. Time has come, fall is in the air, a birthday next week for my youngest and lots of other stuff. No way to stick into my off thoughts, time to move on, and no more silliness ... 

In one year there will be a new start and so on for the next years ..

And then there is food! 

 Today there was ta request from my allergy girl for a decent dish, a dish from the provence, a nice taste, a recipe please...we looked up some folders with a variety of sweet and savory collected over the last years. 

A collection of recipes through the years, packed with our stuff in the summer of 2012 when we left Morocco after four years. I secretly wonder how I possibly saved these recipes in the middle of that catastrophic move. 

Together we open some cook books and we found a nice and colourful recipe: 'Daube Provencale'. 

While she went back to school I went out for groceries and a search for a gallery where they do framing. Found one in Fitzrovia neighborhood . I brought three pieces to frame. A child drawing of one of the girls: a little ballet dancer she once drew for her sister . And two paintings , one is a bouquet of wild flowers in dark blue and velvet, the second is a composition of purple plumps and a blue grey ginger bowl. My husband heritated both from is father, who collected art during his short life. He was accepted to the famous Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Due to an allergy of oil paint he left the academy. 

Cooking through French recipes is one way to learn or to keep up with French language.

The recipe: Daube provençale 

4 personnes/ I think you can share with many more!

Ingredients 

800 g de boeuf ( à bourguignon)

3 oignons

5 carottes 

1 branche de thym

2 feuilles de laurier

1 bouteille de vin rouge.'.... De Provence 

2 cuillères à soupe de farine ( maïzena / corn)

4 cuillères à soupe d'huile d'olive

Préparation :

Coupez la viande en petits morceaux, faites le revenir dans une cocotte avec huile d"olive jusqu'à ce qu'il soit bien doré. Pelez et coupez les oignons et les carottes en rondelles .

Ajoutez au bœuf. Laissez colorer pendant 5 minutes.

Verser le vin et ajouter le thym et le laurier.

Laissez mijoter à feu doux pendant 2 heures.

Mélanger la farine avec un peu d'eau froide et versez dans la daube 30 minutes avant les ravir la daube provençale .

Serve with sweet  patotoes and a green salad.