Posts tagged: Easy Appetizer Recipes

The plan was to spend some time touring with Nutmeg’s parents in early October. The original thought was to explore parts of Hungary and Poland. Then the reality of fitting four people, one dog and luggage into a car settled the holiday plans. Nutmeg made a decision on behalf of the group that a two hour drive was the limit, and booked a guest villa at Domaine du Cayrat located just a few kilometres from Pezenas in the Languedoc Roussillon region.
Jacques welcomed the group, he had stocked the fridge with some chilled wine and provisions for breakfast. It did not stop there, the next morning he arrived with fresh bread and apricot jam “fait à la maison”. Perfect!
Now the hard part, getting four people to agree what to explore in an area that is currently 27,376 (sq) km – Impossible! The region has something for every taste, age and interest. There are sandy beaches, port towns, vineyards galore, medieval villages…

Recipes & Travel:
Easy Appetizer Recipes, French Food, Healthy Zucchini Recipes, Travel in France, Travel Languedoc, Travel Languedoc Roussillon

Nutmeg believes that the celebration of Halloween is perfect timing for this post.
Trust the French to come up with an annual event that is sophisticated, classy, a bit rebellious and a whole lot of fun. Diner en Blanc started in 1988, when a group of 100 friends got together for a reunion in the Bois de Boulogne. The story is that François Pasquier instructed everyone to wear white in order to recognize each other. This was a brilliant idea, given those were the days before fancy cell phones, text messaging, Facebook and Twitter.

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Recipes & Travel:
Diner en Blanc, Dinner Parties, Easy Appetizer Recipes, French Food, Recipes for Savoury Tarts, Recipes for Tomatoes, Travel in France, Travel to Paris

Finally, Saffron got her wish! For years, she has tried to convince Ginger and Nutmeg to travel to Chamonix for Christmas.  Of course that sounds outrageous and decadent, but long ago Nutmeg decided that travel at Christmas time is highly over-rated; crowded airports, busy roads, surly border guards, heavy clothing, excess baggage – you get the idea.  This year, Ginger and Nutmeg really had no good excuse to say no, as Chamonix is an easy 5 hour drive from Aix en Provence.  So they gladly accepted the invitation.
Then the plans had to change, Nutmeg flew to England for a rather sad family event, to celebrate the life of a very special lady.  The game plan was to fly back to Marseille and drive with Ginger and Jade to Chamonix.  So Nutmeg had packed one small carry on bag, with the essentials for a two day trip to the UK.  However, Mother Nature had another plan, she covered the UK…

Recipes & Travel:
Chamonix, Easy Appetizer Recipes, Travel in France

France is known for many things; art, music, food, wine, cafés, diverse scenery etc… As a population, they are very proud of all things French, and if there is one thing that is clearly a huge part of the national culture it is the bread.  This country does not easily cater to those who might require a gluten-free regime, unless you can survive on French fries.  The bread is made fresh several times daily; every small town and village has at least one, or in some cases a few boulangeries.
Ginger of course is in heaven, since every meal promises a basket of fresh baguette or other equally good options.  Nutmeg has found you need to look a bit harder, but there are some options for “7-cereals” and multi-grain.  The Artisanal Boulangeries (fancier variety) tend to have some really decent quiche and/or tarts.  So far Nutmeg has tried quiche with tomatoes and Dijon (yum), quiche with salmon and capers, tarte…

Recipes & Travel:
Easy Appetizer Recipes, French Food, Provencal Food, Recipes for Savoury Tarts, Recipes for Tomatoes, Travel in France