Happy Summer to the Northern Hemisphere :)

If there is one tiny thing I miss about Provence, it's this wonderful beverage.. Schweppes Agrum'. LOVE it!! can't get it here in America... so far my search has yielded nada. Can you not tell just by looking at this bottle that it is very delicious, a little bitter, a little citrusy and altogether refreshingly thirst quenching? To say nothing of how beautiful their ad campaign is!

Here then is the perfect pairing for hot summer lunch: Chilled Shrimp Salad (below) and ice cold Schweppes Agrum' (I wish!)

Just for the record, this is no lame shrimp salad recipe.. it contains both watermelon and heirloom tomatoes just for starters. It is fab*u*lous! Enjoy!

done up in this ad campaign like Our Lady, this drink is
so popular it turns out it has
its own Facebook page... and I am a fan!

also very delicious

a little mocktail from their ad campaign..
so adorably delicious looking!

ridiculously delicious shrimp salad contains watermelon,
hierloom tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, feta
and is the perfect summer luncheon treat!

recipe here

Happy First Day of Summer to the

Northern Hemisphere!

(it's about time!)

***

Dessert Blanc Bleu

***

HELLO EVERYONE!

{Blogger has been driving me crazy lately. What is UP with Blogger? anyone else having nightmares with fonts, formats, etc?}

This evening is the first real summer one we've had. All summer long we have been freezing as soon as the sun goes down. But this evening... at le crepescule, it was lovely.

How could we NOT have dessert in the far back corner of the garden? How could we not use the beautiful hand-stitched blue and white throw over the table? how could we not cut dahlias and roses from the garden and toss them into a silver pitcher? and of course we had to bring out the beautiful Rosenthal bone china we use so infrequently. Then we realized we must bring out the old French fauteuil that is covered in needlepoint blue & white by Chris's own grand-mere with her own two hands. Incroyable!

The result is this little vignette that will forever remind me of our first warm evening of 2011.

merci pour la visite! ... Kit

I'm linking up with Between Naps on the Porch

for Tablescape Thursday!

Midsummer in the Forest

She had always wanted a home of her own, a sweet sanctuary she could furnish with lovingly chosen things that didn't cost the earth. She wanted to create a small visual feast just for herself and to have things exactly how she wanted. So she found an old hunting cabin deep in the forest and transformed it into her little haven:

once a neglected old hunting hut, now

transformed with Victoriana and white paint

she made every square inch count, from the

bookshelves under the eaves to the

wire-front cupboards

a downy sleeping loft under the rafters

the simplest of arrangements: foliage from the

forest tucked into clear glass containers of all kinds

those raspberry colored mud boots could not be

more charming on the little front porch

see the enchanting story of how she used salvaged, found

things to create her tiny Victorian cottage in the Catskills on

a shoestring..it's a fascinating story!

The New York Times

perhaps a midsummer's celebration

in the forest? what shall we

choose for dessert?

apricot ice cream with

nut crust?

violette cassis ice cream?

petits choux?

berry meringue tarts with mint?

rhubarb sables with strawberries

and orange?

recipes here at Marie Claire Maison

(in French, you'll have to get

Bardot in Blue to translate them, she just finished school

in Paris last month!!)