Photo diary of a perfect summer night's BBQ

The other week we were invited by our friend Cleo to come and BBQ at her mother's beautiful house.

Anne & Cleo really spoiled us with great food and refreshing drinks: we had great dips with red beet, eggplant and sardines. Mussels cooked in the Green Egg, super tender chicken skewers and then the bbq had not started yet! Let's say it was great - and that's an understatement. We hung out, played games, Petti socialized with everybody and I'm always so happy when I see my friends bonding with our daughter. Of course she did not leave her little baby friend's sight. We watched the sunset and then the fire pits were put on for extra good vibes. It was a perfect, perfect evening.

(... Until our kid vomited..., but hey-that's life)

Strawberry Tartelette

The smell of strawberries is summer for me. We have been eating strawberries for dessert almost every day since they are in season. So when I saw this recipe for Strawberry Tartelettes and how easy it was to make, I wanted to try it for a sunny afternoon. We had them as an afternoon delight with some rose lemonade with lemon juice and extra ginger.
Here's the recipe of you want to make them:
(Recipe found in the Delicious magazine Nederland - june issue)
500 gr of strawberries
180 g of sifted flour
65 g of sugar
A pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
100g unsalted butter
In a large bowl, add the flour and make a well in the center.
Add sugar, salt, egg yolk and mix slowly.
Add butter and mix well, until a smooth and homogeneous paste.  Form a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Roll the dough on a floured surface and cut out 6 circles.
Fill the tartelette pans with the dough and place them in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Bake blind for 12 min on 180° degrees.
Leave to cool on a wired rack.
5 tablespoons of cranberry or red fruit jam
1 tablespoon of water
Warm the jam with the water and brush the bottom of the tartelette with the jamArrange the strawberries and brush some over the jam over for that lovely shine.

Food lately

First week after the holidays is always a bit difficult to get back into the rhythm, but the sun was shining and we tried to eat healthy again, after the burger and fries diet of the last few weeks.
Here is what we ate this week:

Homemade granola with Greek yoghurt and New Hampshire Maple Syrup (the real stuff) / Figs filled with gorgonzola  & ricotta / In green chilly salsa marinated monkfish and salmon skewers with the figs and â pear salad / Penne a la Jamie with almonds-cherry tomatoes-basil-anchovies-garlic-chilly / home made gastric for béarnaise sauce and frietjes / berry coulis from self picked berries / Barbecued ribs with a green asparagus-beetroot-radish-pomegranate-baby spinach salad with a reduced beetroot coulis & mozzarella / asparagus & mushroom carbonara style pasta with barbecued pork and grilled chicory, drizzled with the beetroot coulis / Raspberry cake with whipped vanilla cream/ Petti ate the rest of the cream / Spanish salmorejo (gazpacho) / watermelon and feta salad with Greek yoghurt