Colour lovers: melon-choly

Not only great on a hot summer day this palette is all about the colours of a freshly cut watermelon with it's smooth exterior rind and the juicy, sweet interior flesh. colourlovers

Tea and greens

Mini quiche with asparagus

With asparagus in season right now you should try this super easy recipe. I have made mini ones but for a larger tart you will only need to adjust the quantities (roughly times 3-4) and bake longer.

QUICHE WITH ASPARAGUS

Shortcrust dough (home-made or store bought)
1 bunch apsaragus
1 egg
1 small tub yogurt
handful of grated cheese
1 twig fresh thyme
salt and pepper

Blanche the asparagus to be still al dente and keep heads aside for later. cut the ends in small rings. Blind bake the dough in your pastry shells and set aside to cool down slightly. Whisk the egg and mix with yogurt, the spices and the asparagus rings. Fill the shells with the mixture and add the asparagus heads and bake until golden brown.

Colour lovers: London Underground

This palette is based on colours used by the London Underground for some of their tube lines: Jubilee (Pantone 430), Metropolitan (Pantone 235), Northern (Pantone Black), Piccadilly (Pantone 072) and Victoria (Pantone 299). colourlovers

The first diagrammatic map of the Underground was designed by Harry Beck, an Underground employee, in 1931. He drew up the diagram in his spare time while working as an engineering draughtsman at the London Underground Signals Office. London Underground tentatively introduced it to the public in a small pamphlet in 1933 and it immediately became popular. The Underground has used topological maps to illustrate the network ever since.

Vintage postcards

Souvenirs from the Isle of Wight

Cheers!

Smoked garlic

I found this smoked garlic on the market recently and can't wait to try it in a pasta dish or maybe mixed with butter to go on crostini. Mmmmmmmmmm. Anyone got other ideas?

Colour lovers: English breakfast

Food can be a great source of inspiration for colours.
Colour and the appeal of food is closely related. It can indicate types of flavor, degrees of sweetness, ripeness or decay. The most appetizing colours are green, brown and red and the least appetizing are blue, black and purple as they are rare in nature. colourlovers

Greetings from the seaside

Put a smile on my face

Homemade ice cream

VANILLA ICE CREAM

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup double cream
1 vanilla pod

In a bowl mix the sugar and the egg yolks. Slice the vanilla pod lengthway, split the pod open and scrape out the pulp onto the tip of your knife and transfer it to the milk. Gently heat the milk without letting it boil. Remove from the heat and slowly pour into the egg and sugar mix and whisk until it becomes a smooth paste. Return to the heat and remove before it boils. Strain through a sieve and leave to cool.
Whip the cream lightly and fold into the vanilla mixture. Set in a large container and put in the freezer. To stop ice crystals forming, remove every few hours and mix vigourously for a perfectly smooth ice cream.

Colour lovers: Dutch spring tulips

These colours are inspired by a bouquet of parrot tulips I have seen in combination with rosemary twigs. Unusual but great combination. colourlovers

Illustration

I made these illustrations a while ago and they were created with different coloured nail varnish. The house smelled like a beauty parlor for weeks but it was worth it.

Colour lovers: ice cream

This colour palette is the essence of spring with pastel shades like cherry blossom pink, primrose yellow, wisteria purple and magnolia. They are also sweet childhood memories in sugary shades that remind us of candy floss, marshmallows, bubble gum and lemonade and that makes them all the more tempting. colourlovers

Inspired by... religion

I have always been fascinated by religious items, anything from Virgin Mary statues, Byzantine iconography, holy water and rosary beads and it was a great source of inspiration when we found these religious charms in a monastery in Quebec which we then worked into chunky bracelets.

Vintage advert postcards

Charming vintage adverts from times before MAC OS and DTP.

Colour lovers: lemon denim

Indigo blue is a pigment historically extracted from plants and was mainly used for the production of denim cloth for blue jeans. Nearly all indigo produced today is synthetic.
"I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes." – Yves Saint-Laurent
Denim blues mixed with fluorescent yellow and grey has a great contemporary edge and I love the combination. colourlovers

Postcards from Lisbon

Souvenir from Lisbon.