As of… Wednesday, July 15
At this very moment… I’m listening to a dramatic thunderstorm develop over the mountains and watching all the boats race home before the lightning strikes. It’s like mother nature couldn’t take the heat anymore and unleashed fury.
Preparing for… the Big Hike in August! We took a practice hike up Mont Baron and Mont Veyrier which seemed to be uphill both ways, until the very very end, when we suddenly descended so steeply that my toenails threatened to detach. I took a picture from the top (not of my toenails) which looks like it has some weird filter on it, but that’s just what it looked like.
Here are some other summer snaps from the last few weeks.
Reading... a lot of cookbooks. And A Land and Its People by David Sedaris.
Cooking… as little as possible.
A recent highlight… stumbling into this bookshop that’s been in Annecy since 1731.
Found quote of the month… “People have tried and they have tried, but sex is not better than sweetcorn.” - Garrison Keillor
Heading to… Seattle for the weekend!
A Land and Its People
If you enjoy David Sedaris, then you will love his new book. I think that he gets more curmudgeonly with age. But also, somehow more of a softy? Or maybe he’s just a more concentrated version of himself. Like a gay Larry David. As far as I can tell, that’s the aging process in a nutshell.
Separately, I really love postcards.
Cooking… as little as possible
I’m thinking this might be dinner tonight. via My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz
I’ve been learning towards minimalist cooking for a while now, but the heat of summer has taken my laziness to a whole new level. One night for dinner, I had green beans with salted butter and an enormous wedge of watermelon. Last night - when it was stil 32 degrees at 8:30pm - I had tinned tuna in olive oil and a big bowl of cherries.
This hummus recipe is a little more complicated than that - but I think it’s worth the effort.
Fancy Hummus (adapted from David Lebovitz)
Okay, yes, you can buy hummus at the supermarket. But this is SO much better. And since you’re making it your meal, let’s make it awesome.
The two steps you’ll want to avoid but shouldn’t:
1 - Boil the tinned chickpeas with baking soda. You’re overcooking them - that’s the point. You’re getting them nice and mushy so they will puree smooth. (1 tin of chickpeas + ½ tsp baking soda)
2 - Thin the tahini mixture with ice cold water before adding the mushy beans. The colder the water, the smoother the tahini.
INGREDIENTS:
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
½ tsp of baking soda
¼ cup of lemon juice
1 garlic clove chopped
½ tsp fine sea salt
½ cup tahini
ice water
½ tsp cumin
1 TBL extra virgin olive oil
Garnishes: toasted pumpkin seeds, dukkha and/or chili flakes
DIRECTIONS:
1 - Put your rinsed and drained chickpeas in a pan with ½ baking soda and cover the chickpeas with a few inches of water. Boil for about 20 minutes. Then drain the beans and set them aside.
2 - In your blender: blitz the lemon juice, garlic and salt. If you can let that mellow for 10 minutes, great. Then add the tahini and blend it all together, scrapping down the sides as needed. while blending, drizzle in a few tablespoons of ice cold water until the tahini is light and smooth.
3 - Add in the beans and cumin, combine and then add in the olive oil. Monitor the consistency and add tablespoons of ice cold water until you have a super creamy texture. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
4 - Put into a gorgeous bowl and top with toasted pumpkin seeds, dukkha and chilli flakes.
Mont Veyrier - Mont Baron Loop
So hot. So uphill. Sore toes.
Note to self: Remember to check All Trails. It’s marked “hard.” Had I known, I would’ve brought a sandwich (and left earlier in the day). So tired. And hungry.
Cookbook research
I’m flirting with idea of writing a Lake Annecy cookbook... Here are a few of my early comps!
1) How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry 2) My Paris Kitchen by David Leovitz
1) No-Recipe Recipes by Sam Sifton 2) Savoie by Madeleine Kamman
How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry - My God, I love her writing and visual style. The book itself is fuzzy… like a peach. Such a beautiful book.
My Paris Kitchen by David Leobvitz - This book is as much about Paris as it is about the recipes. That’s what I want to do for Lake Annecy.
No-Recipe Recipes by Sam Sifton - this is how I write recipes. More like a list of ideas and suggestions - not a tedious instruction manual.
Savoie by Madeleine Kamman - The only English language cookbook I could find that is focused on this region. And it’s out of print! But I managed to procure a copy of World of Books. :)
A little bookshop in Annecy (since 1731)
1) Camille Claudel, scultprice, 1864 - 9143, 2) Librairie Le Vieil Annecy, 3) record player in the middle of the store, playing classical music.
You know that scene in Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts goes into the fancy boutique in Beverly Hills and is dismissed by the rude staff? That’s how I imagined it going when I entered this bookshop.
Librairie Le Vieil Annecy has been open, more or less, since 1731. They only sell French books, so I assumed I’d be shooed out the door as soon as they smelled the American on me.
But that didn’t happen! The manager, Mr. Pierre, was so kind and generous with his time and knowledge of books - a true booklover at heart. He let me browse for an hour - and when I became fixated on a portrait hanging on the wall, he gave me an art history lesson on the life and times of Camille Claudel.
I enjoyed our conversation so much that I might just become his penpal.
As of… Thursday, July 2
Recovering - from a week in Indiana - spent mostly inside hospitals and airports.
Highlights - Getting my dad home from the hospital in time to go to his granddaughter’s wedding. xo :)
Reading - I finished and loved Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Then - while being held hostage by United Airlines at the Newark Airport - I hunkered down inside an airport bookshop and added these to my To Be Read list. I started with Homebound by Portia Elan, which I’m loving.
Researching - How to write cookbook proposals… Also searching for a food/lifestyle photographer who can work in the style of How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry, but set in the Haute Savoie. Suggestions?
All the books I picked up at the airport when my flight was delayed five and a half hours
I started listening to Homebound by Portia Elan and was immediately hooked. Love it so far! I also started reading David Sedaris’s new book, The Land and Its People.
Indiana
mom’s house
So much to say about this trip, but no time to write it! Here are the bullet points:
I spent the first three days in the hospital with my dad, who is doing much better now that his appendix has been removed. He even made it to the wedding! During the ceremony, he sat precariously on a folding chair with his eyes closed, sweating and swaying in circles while I strategized about how to catch him if he fell over. (Happy to say, he did not.)
The wedding was beautiful, of course! The bride was preceded down the aisle by a 9-month old riding a remote-controlled 4-wheeler that sprayed bubbles out the back.
Dan and Sasha flew in for the wedding! They were only there 36 hours, but it was great to see them. (Sophia’s at NYU Amsterdam for the summer term.)
My mom was a star, as always. Unfortunately, I missed the campfire cookout because I was at the hospital with dad. What will she do with all those veggie hot dogs?
Last meal before I left for the airport: nachos and leftover wedding cake.
I took so few photos that I hardly have any to post! But here are a few snaps.
Before the wedding! my sister (mother of the bride), my niece (the bride) and my niece-in-law (sister-in-law of the bride)
I mean, really.
cutie patootie!
Haras, Annecy
Haras eateries are now open! Annecy turned the old horse stables (haras) into eateries, cafes, bars, museum and exhibition halls with a courtyard in the middle. It’s gorgeous. Annecy is really upping its game… now if they can only solve the traffic/parking issue.
Watching the sunset from my bedroom.
As of… Sunday, June 21
I finished my french intensive course! Maintenant je parle couramment français. (Ha ha ha! More like, Me Talk Pretty One Day.) It was a great course and I thoroughly enjoyed the week. I have a second “super intensif” week booked for July.
Disappointed that… I haven’t had taken more hikes. I had french class most of the day - plus it’s been way too hot for Míša to take hikes so we are swimming instead. That said, I’m getting nervous about my Big Swiss Hike in August and need to take some higher elevation practice hikes.
Reading: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke which is hilarious and much better than expected!
Eating: a lot of Salade de Chèvre Chaud.
Looking forward to: Indiana! I’m going to my niece’s wedding next week! xo
Annecy Festival
They’ve taken over the city! Pop up venues everywhere and excitement is in the air.
Granola Bars (with 10 grams of protein)
A few years ago, I would’ve questioned the rationale behind making your own granola bars. It seems like a lot of work when you can buy “healthy” granola bars at every convenience store… right? Unfortunately, most of these options are not nearly as healthy as you might think. Most are highly processed and contain buckets of sugar.
So one rainy afternoon I made these granola bars and I’m never going back. They’re made with whole foods, no refined sugar and have 10 grams of protein in each bar. Keep them in the freezer and throw one in your bag before you leave the house.
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats (porridge oats)
1 cup natural peanut butter (just peanuts + salt)
1⁄3 cup honey or maple syrup
1⁄2 cup hemp seeds
3 tbsp ground flaxseed
1⁄4 cup pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp almonds, finely chopped
1⁄4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
Combine the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another.
Mix everything together - I use a spatula first, then my hands.
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Then press the mixture into the pan, cover and put in the fridge to harden for a few hours.
Cut into 10 bars, wrap each in plastic wrap and keep them in the freezer. (I don’t love using the plastic wrap! It’s fiddly and well, plastic-y. But I haven’t found a better solution just yet. I don’t want them to stick together or loose their shape. Suggestions welcome.)
As of… Monday, June 15
I just got back from a weekend in Holland - Amsterdam was great but Woudsend was a surprising delight.
Nervous/looking forward to: A week intensive course at L’ecole de Français in Annecy.
Nervous/looking forward to: Riding my bike there everyday! It’s a 25 minute ride and it will be extremely hot. But it’s better than sitting in traffic. I think.
In the kitchen: prepping a week’s worth of my little nut pots and granola bars.
Woudsend, Friesland
I've been to Amsterdam a few times, but honestly (embarrasingly?) it never occurred to me to visit the countryside. But as luck would have it, some friends won a free stay at a cottage in the small village of Woudsend and they invited us to join them. How could we say no? And what a surprising delight it was to explore the countryside, farm lands, canals and windmills.
I never harbored a secret desire to learn how windmills work, but our village had two working mills, both open and giving tours. One mill was grinding flour, the other sawing wood - both were utterly fascinating! I took way too many photos and videos, but I’ll spare you. Just know that if you’re ever given the opportunity to tour a working windmill, you should do it!
The food in our little village was equally delightful. The croissants in the bakery were made using the flour from the neighboring windmill! For lunch, I had maybe the best turkish eggs of my life at Cafe de Watersport. And we had an excellent dinner in a old mennonite church-turned-restaurant called ’tPonjke. The name translates “church collection bag” in Friesland - which is exactly how the bill was delivered to our table! So clever.
One last thing - as luck would have it, we were there for the annual village summer party. All the locals were out enjoying live music and playing games like Stack the Beer Crates (?)! The whole place felt like a dutch Stars Hollow.
What a great weekend - and a refreshing change from my usual city escapes!
One day in Amsterdam
A few snaps from museum hopping…
A typical scene in Amsterdam: the canal, a boat, a bike and a beautiful building.