No bake chocolate cake

We had a friend over for dinner last night; instead of cooking up several courses, I served a number of small plates. The spread included roasted red peppers with garlic and basil; a mozzarella, tomato, and strawberry salad (from Dorie Greenspan's Around my French Table); tomato-chèvre tartlets with homemade pesto (also from Dorie Greenspan's Around my French Table); a simple lettuce salad with balsamic vinaigrette, and plenty of crusty baguette to mop up the juices.

Heidi's No Bake Chocolate Cake made for a wonderful close to the meal. I kept it simple, and left out the allspice and espresso. I also replaced the heavy cream with crème fraiche, and was tempted to arrange some sliced strawberries on the top but ultimately went with some chocolate curls instead.

It was a simple and delicious meal, focused on fresh, quality ingredients. I will definitely be making all of these dishes again!

Sorbetto top

The Sorbetto top from Colette Patterns was perfect for the one-meter piece of cotton fabric that a friend gave me. I cut out the smallest size and lengthened the blouse by several inches so that I could finish it with a wide hem. It is loose and comfortable, and it made for a quick and easy addition to my wardrobe. As for the black linen skirt, I made it using the pattern I drafted last year to make this skirt.

I made this top a couple of weeks ago but today is the first day I was able to wear it without a cardigan. I wore it to the park for a picnic lunch date with my husband, who kindly took this photo!

Salmon cakes

Salmon cakes with a yogurt-mayo-dill sauce, lemony spinach and pan-fried garlic potatoes.

Before I forget, here's what I did:

• Mix cooked salmon, minced onion, minced garlic, lemon zest and juice, mayo, fresh dill and ground pepper together in a bowl. I also happened to have some sweet relish in the fridge so I put some in but capers or minced pickles with a pinch of sugar would taste equally good.
• Add a lightly beaten egg. Mix.
• Shape cakes with hands, coat with bread crumbs (I was out of panko), and fry in batches till golden brown on both sides.
• For the sauce, mix yogurt, mayo, fresh dill, a wee bit of relish and harissa. Season with salt.

Enjoy with a nice glass of white wine from the Loire Valley!

Eats

Pea-mint pesto with spaghetti.

Channa masala and chapattis.

Alphonso mangoes. Although we didn't make it in time to buy a box from one of the grocery stores near Gare du Nord, a friend from India was kind enough to share a few that were shipped to her from Bombay! Yes, these mangoes are that good.

Last-minute picnic. We didn't have much at home that day but enough for a few sandwiches. Jambon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Homemade ricotta gnocchi using the same recipe I used before.

Masala omlette with onions, red and green peppers, tomatoes, chillies, and fresh corriander. With crusty baguette and Bordier butter, naturally.

Parsley pesto rice pilaf with peas, sardines, and sauteed veggies.

Lemon bars using this recipe. Very, very good but not the best.

Roasted peppers with capers and mozzarella also from Smitten Kitchen.

Almond flounder meunière (except it wasn't flounder; the fish monger recommended something else) with a side of braised fennel; from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table.

Treats from Aux Merveilleux de Fred. Check out David's review here.

Refashion

For several years now, I have been wanting to refashion one of my husband's shirts into a dress for me. I have a small pile of his shirts that have either shrunk in the wash or that never fit him well to begin with, slowly accumulating in India and the US. Since storage space is notably scarce in our rented Parisian apartment, there really is no room for piles of anything. So I finally gave it a go, taking inspiration from Antoinette and her clever refashions.

I was working with a large-tall Eddie Bauer shirt, so I had quite a bit of fabric to work with. I started with ripping out the collar and the shirt pocket. I initially wanted to keep the collar stand but it was much too large, and it had to go. After I cut along the side seams on the body and sleeves, I converted the box pleat on the shirt back to gathers.

I used a self-drafted pattern to cut out the shirt fronts and back, and the sleeves. The sleeves are my favourite part!

I also sewed the original pocket back on the right front of the dress.

I added small gathers to the shoulders, which you can't see very well in these photos, and I left the back of the dress longer than the front (inspired by Wiksten's Lissa dress).

I finished the entire dress with french seams, and I had enough fabric left over to make bias tape, which I used to finish the sleeves and neck. I wore it the day to wander around Paris!

Thanks to my husband for taking all the photos of me in my new, refashioned dress.

Fête de la Musique

The first official day of summer started off rather gray and cloudy but the sun made a brief appearance before the day was up. We spent the evening wandering about the city and listening to music. Without a pucca plan, we were able to stop at street corners, in front of cafés and mairies, and at various parks to listen to whatever caught our fancy. We returned home with exhausted feet, tired and weary but we had a good time! Here are a few photos from the evening:

World Wednesdays: Vientiane food edition

We enjoyed our first meal in Laos on the outskirts of Vientiane. It was a Sunday and most of the preferred noodle shops were closed, but we eventually found a bowl of steaming hot noodle soup.

This photo takes me right back - I remember perspiring from eating too many chilies, and worrying about the water used to wash the fresh herbs. I remember chasing away flies with a flick of my wrist and trying not to step on the matted dog under our table. I remember children lazing in hammocks and chicken scratching the dry dirt. I remember vividly, the excitement from being in a new place.

Thum muk hoong, Lao papaya salad. Bursting with flavour and fiery hot (by far the spiciest thing I ate on that trip). The Thai version, som tam, is much sweeter than the Lao version.

My first taste of dragon fruit, a perfect respite to all the spice.

Grilled fish along the banks of the Mekong.

We were also lucky to be part of a baci ceremony, where we got to try some expertly prepared traditional Lao dishes by our friend's family. A few food photos from the ceremony:

The spread included,

beef laap,

a delicious soup (that I can't remember the name of),

fresh vegetables and herbs, and sticky rice (that I don't have a picture of).

Of course, there were crates of warm Beerlao to wash down all of this delicious food.

The aftermath.

Thanks for indulging me as I reminisce on this especially grey day in Paris.