24 hours in Nice

View from our balcony at Hotel Le Versailles, Villefranche Sur Mer.

One great thing about London is that it is such a great base to travel from. This weekend we spent 24 hours in Nice for a very special occasion. A fuller report will follow shortly. Let's just say we had a pretty nice time for now.

Phase two

This is the last of the oriental poppies, it got to come inside and sit on display for half a day before the petals fell off in dramatic fashion. The garden has just had a serious haircut. Some plants have done their thing and needed to be be chopped down to allow others to take over. I always feel bad doing it, and it is horrible afterwards when instead of lush, gorgeous growth all over the place you have bare patches of soil. But it is necessary to do this sometime after midsummer. Now there will be a funny couple of weeks before the next lot of plants - marigolds mainly - start to fill out and claim their space. Moving on to phase two of the season.

Summer evenings

Summer evening sky and rooftops.

Summer is here, so make sure to enjoy lovely moments like this when they come. It is often said that the British are preoccupied with the weather and yes, they do talk about quite a lot, especially at summertime. My observation is that this is because of their high expectations of the weather. People are so disappointed every year, saying that summer was over before it started and so on. Well, I think that is because they just expect too much. We are not likely to have balmy days week in and week out here, we would have to move to the south of France for that. I guess this is my Swedishness talking - where I am from, we hope for nice summer weather but we never expect it so when it comes, we are overjoyed and make the most of it.

I say, it is all about moments. A still couple of days after a windy week, a warm evening after a rainy day. Make sure to remember them. And occasionally, fingers crossed, a glorious sunny, hot few days when no coats or cardis are required and it  is even safe to leave the umbrella at home when leaving for work in the morning. 

Drama

Crimson petals petals on slate tiles.

Chicken or Steak? Lunch at Tramshed

On Sunday we decided to try Mark Hix new restaurant Tramshed. It is only 10 minutes away from us and it is always fun to try something new. If I had been allowed to take photos inside the restaurant, I could have showed you a picture of the dead cow in a fish tank by Damien Hirst which sits in the middle of the dining room. Instead you get a photo of me outside, happy and replete after a big meal.
The concept is an interesting one. Basically, if you fancy some roast chicken with chips or a big old steak, this is the place to go. If not, try somewhere else because that is literally the extent of the menu. The chicken is served whole, standing up on on it's neck with legs complete with feet and claws sticking up. According to the menu, a chicken is enough to share between two to three people. This seems slightly vulgar to me - when we cook a roast chicken at home for the two of us, that will last for three meals. But, here's the nice bit, we asked to take the leftovers home with us, and they were swiftly packaged up nicely and along with them, we got a recipe for a chicken and mushroom broth.
For pudding we had apple pie and champagne. Lovely.

The Queen

So here she is - Queen of Sweden, the first rose to enter my garden. And I have to say it is quite special to watch those buds swell and unfurl. The petals are the softest pink, tightly packed together. One day soon I am going to cut one and take it into the house so I can look at it up close.

Hazelnut and Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Is it a biscuit, or is it a cookie? Well, I think cookies are round so to me, these are definitely biscuits even though they have that extravagant American thing going on with double chocolate and hazelnuts. They taste great whatever you choose to call them, and are super easy to do - I made this batch from start to finish whilst on the phone to my parents, hand set squeezed between my ear and shoulder. 

115 gms Plain Flour

135 gms Sugar

100 gms Butter

1 Egg

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

2 tbsp Cocoa Powder

100 gms Hazelnuts

50 gms Dark Chocolate

It is a good idea to leave the butter out for a bit before starting this to let it soften. Mix the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients making sure there are no lumps. Add the egg to the butter mixture, then fold the flour into the batter. Chop the hazelnuts and chocolate and add these too. Spread the batter out on a greased baking sheet, smoothing it out until you have a 25 x 25 cm square,  and cook for 15 minutes at 200 degrees. Whilst still warm, cut into 5 x 5 cm biscuits.