10 favourite cooking books

As you can see from this photo of me when I was 2 years old, I've always loved food...
Not only that but I love big, happy gatherings with friends and family and I love pinning beautiful imagery of food and food styling and inspiring cafés from around the world on my Pinterest. I started working on a post of my top fav interiors books and cooking books and realised that I had so many cooking books that they deserved a post of their own.

//BOOKS I OWN
It's All Good: Delicious, Easy Recipes that Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great by Gwyneth Paltrow. One of my favourites. Recipes are easy, the whole book has a feel-good happy vibe and it has opened up a lot for me when it came to changing my eating habits and learning more about food allergies like gluten, finding out where our food is coming from etc and taking care of my body inside out. I know some people get annoyed with her, personally I like her very much (like team Vanessa I'm a team Gwyneth too). She is a picture of health in this book and that's all it matters to me.

Marie Claire Seasonal Kitchen: Inspired Recipes and Food Ideas by Michele Cranston. I first spotted this book at my sister-in-law's beach home in New-Zealand (the one who gave me this delicious banana muffin recipe) four years ago and as soon as we were back in the UK, I ordered it. Cranston took over Donna Hay when she left Marie-Claire and I love her relax, healthy approach to meals and family gatherings. After loving my first Cranston's book so much, I also bought Marie Claire Fresh + Fast but I have to admit, I use it less.

Seasons by Donna Hay. I bought mine Christmas 2012 while we were in New-Zealand (read my post back then)...and it blew my mind! I've never seen such wonderful food styling and Donna Hay literally moved my love for Australian cooking to the next level.

Bill's basics by Bill Granger. By then, deeply in love with Australian lifestyle and approach to cooking rather than the traditional French one I grew up with, my next Aussie love was Bill Granger. I have to admit I actually spent more time at his restaurant Granger & Co in Notting Hill than trying his recipes but I love what I'm eating there....fresh, tasty, healthy so I make it my mission to try out his book more over the next season.

Miss Dahl's Voluptuous delights by Sophie Dahl. One that I use more in Winter time, I LOVED her poached eggs on portobello mushrooms with goat's cheese and her Sunday suppers.

Sweet Paris: A love affair with Parisian pastries, chocolates and desserts by Michael Paul. Michael is a New-Zealander Photographer who shot our house in France years ago and most recently our home in London, featured in ELLE DECORATION UK in 2013. He is an amazing Photographer and great stylist too. We've done several shots together and I've learnt a lot of styling tips from him. Last year, he and his wife went to Paris for 6 months to explore the best of our pastries and cakes, came back with a few kilos on and amazing photos of Paris, best places to eat, classic pastry dishes, etc. It's a beautiful book with amazing French recipes, highlighting Paris's architecture - a great gift.

// ON MY WISH-LIST
Honestly Healthy for Life: Healthy Alternative for Everyday Eating by Natasha Corrett (daughter of Kelly Hoppen). Highly recommended by Polly who is coeliac, Natasha's book is all about making better choices and eating healthily. Her website Honestly Healthy is very inspiring and a goldmine of information. 

What Katie Ate: Recipes and Other Bits and Bobs by Katie Quinn Davies. I'm in awe with Quinn Davies' photography and her styling and if you're not familiar with her work, check her website.

Yvestown in de keuken (Yvestown in the kitchen) by Yvonne Eijkenduin. I'm actually featured in this book, photographed and written by Yvonne from Yvestown.
I'm sharing my favourite recipes (chocolate coconut brownie, spicy prawns bulgur salad, etc..). I haven't seen the final copy, only a few spreads but I think it's going to look fab as Yvonne focused on interiors too so you will get a wonderful mix of monochrome, white interiors along with some very Cath Kidston, colourful interiors and some yummy recipes from all around Europe.

Kinfolk Table, The: Recipes for Small Gatherings. I almost got it at Christmas for my sister-in-law but then Steve said she had plenty of recipe books (men!). Yet, anything by Kinfolk is always great and I think this book makes a wonderful gift to any food and photography lovers.

I hope you enjoyed this. I would love to hear from you and to know which book is your favourite.
I'm sure there is a lot more books out there that are very inspiring and interesting and I would love your recommendations on books about juicing for instance and as I know there is a lot of Australian readers, I would also love your help to discover new Australian cooking books. Have a fabulous Friday and amazing weekend. See you on Instagram. Bises

//(C) Photography by Nicole Franzen with thanks

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BODIE and FOU inspiring cafés: The Grind Coffee Bar, Putney

How is your weekend so far? 
I had a fantastic day yesterday at the launch of the Hush SS/2014 collection which was hosted at the home of Hush's Founder Mandy Watkins. 
I've been a customer of Hush for years so yes I do love the brand very much and the effortless Australian style it conveys but the Summer collection made my heart jumped with joy.
I can't wait to get my hands on this boyfriend's jeans and little blue jacket and these bracelets and scarf. I've already posted a few photos on Instagram but I will do a proper post this week to give you a preview of the collection out on 18th Feb.
Mandy and her team treated us to a very healthy, yummy vegetarian lunch catered by Riverford and we left with a copy of their fab Riverford Farm Cook Book (I love it! so more of this later).

Today, Steve, Mila and I had brunch at this lovely kiwi café in Putney: The Grind Coffee bar. I loved the decor and you can achieve a similar look with these Shoreditch lights. They have a lot of healthy options, sadly no gluten-free bread but I had delicious scrambled eggs with bacon and halloumi cheese.
I'm off baking for the rest of the afternoon.
Have a fabulous Sunday. Bises

© Photography: Karine Kong | All Rights Reserved
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The Boyfriend jeans look | Outfit perfection

One look I absolutely love wearing at weekends, is the combo: boyfriend jeans + white shirt. It's casual but add a pair of stilettos, a pristine fitted white shirt and a Clare Vivier clutch and you're ready for brunch in Notting Hill.Two of my fav fashion sites Coggles and My-Wardrobe have some great boyfriend jeans from Diesel and Maison Scotch. It's a look that Mandy from Hush Homewear wears very well here and Olivia Palermo too here with flat shoes and a white blazer. Sadly, flat pumps don't really work on my short and curvy figure but what works perfectly, is the pair of leopard printed stilettos I got in the Zara sale (here on IG). I think they're all sold out now but Debenhams and La Redoute have a decent collection in the sale. 3 useful links for you...**Fashion: My favourite look by far...option white t-shirt for the beach + pretty necklaces**Food: Steve and I had lunch at Granger & Co last Saturday in Notting Hill. It's one of the restaurants own by Australian Chef Bill Granger. The interior design is not groundbreaking but the food is good, healthy and tasty.**Fitness: Get yours arms ready for the beach with this TA workout for Goop or this one which is the one I'm doing. I've started a couple of weeks ago and I'm up to 50 reps daily and things are looking good!Pssst...I'm selling my leather jacket here

// Photography: 1.  | 2. 

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30-day Birkram Yoga challenge | DAY 14

Via

How are you today? Are you keeping the good work?

Last weekend, Sarah asked me on Instagram, the recipe of the quinoa dish I made on Sunday.

The original recipe was from Gwyneth Paltrow's book "It's All Good" and I just twisted it to cater for our kiwi friends.

Quinoa is becoming one of my favourite dishes. It's a superfood and each time, I had a quinoa salad in a cafe, it was delicious. 

I also discovered that it's super easy & quick to cook so you can prepare a batch for the week and add various ingredients to create different dishes.

How to cook quinoa

1 cup quinoa + 1 3/4 cup water + coarse sea salt

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine-mesh strainer then place it in a pot set over high heat with the water & a big pinch of salt. Bring the quinoa to a boil, lower the heat and cover until all the water has been absorbed. This should take about 12/15 min.

 Turn the heat off and place a dry paper towel between the pot & the lid and let the quinoa sit for 5 min before giving it a fluff with a fork.

Then I do my first dish and store the rest in the fridge.

2 cups of quinoa will easily cater for 6 people

Perfect comforting dish

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + 1 garlic clove, finely minced + 2 large leaves of kale finely shredded, your quinoa + coarse sea salt + freshly ground pepper + 1 scallion finely sliced and poached or fried eggs.

Heat the oil and garlic over medium heat in a frying pan until the garlic softens(1 min), add the shredded kale and cook, stirring now for 2/3 min. Add the quinoa and cook for another 2 min. Place  the mixture in your serving dish and top up with the eggs and scallions.

As we had 4 New-Zealanders at home on Sunday, we added roasted sweet potatoes.

Today, I have a meeting with Apple to discuss this, then I'm off shooting our new linen collection and our new decorative animal head: Mister Hare (coolest bunny in town I've seen besides this one!)

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30-day Birkram Yoga challenge | DAY 4

Photo: North

I have too much on today so I went to my Bikram class at 6.30 am today and you know what? It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. There were a lot less people in the room which made the heat more bearable and I feel quite content now that it's out of the way and I don't have to think about it for the rest of the day...Food for thought

Breakfast:

1 glass of lukewarm water + lemon on an empty stomach (good for digestion) + 150g St Helen Goat Yogurt and 120g of blueberries

Morning Snack: banana Afternoon Snack: 2 nectarines + plenty of water throughout the day

Lunch 

I'm catching up with an old friend from Universal Music today so it will be sushi1

Diner:

Nicole from Grey heart suggested a nice recipe with asparagus last night on IG so tonight it will be  asparagus with roasted cashew nuts, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper.

Have a great day!

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30-day Birkram Yoga challenge | DAY 3

How are you today!? Isn't this weather just A-MA-ZING today!? 
It finally feels like Summer and a very good reason to push forward and keep focused on our goals so today is DAY 3 of my challenge and my body is feeling VERY stiff.
I was told today by my yoga teacher that it was normal and that I should see my 30-day challenge as a journey, without expectations (yeah right! If I don't lose a bit of weight, I'm going to be well pissed off) but all I need to focus on tomorrow is to turn up to the class and can do that.
While my body feels very stiff, my mind is very very focused so I'm going do this...day after day.

This morning I got a direct message via Twitter from someone who was thanking me for inspiring her to start eating healthily and for kicking off her weight-loss to lose 2 stones and this really made me happy
I have equal admiration for the women out there who have a super fit yoga body and the years of commitment and dedication this must have required and for those who want to lose weight.
Losing weight is super hard. It requires a huge amount of commitment and focus but I think if we focus on feeling good and eating healthily, the weight loss will come and all we need to do is to focus one day at the the time.

Breakfast:

150g St Helen Goat Yogurt and 120g of blueberries

Morning Snack: banana Afternoon Snack: 2 nectarines + plenty of water throughout the day

Lunch (on the go)

175g cooked Kings prawns + half an avocado + 1 spoon of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Comment ca va aujourd'hui? Il fait un temps de rêve aujourd'hui à Londres!!!

On dirait que l'été est enfin arrivé, ce qui nous donne une super raison pour rester focaliser sur notre but. Aujourd'hui est le 3ème jour de mon challenge et j'ai mal partout! Enfin non ce n'est pas vrai, j'ai surtout mal derrière les jambes et j'ai l'impression d'être raide comme un piquet.

Mon prof de yoga m'a dit que c'était normal et que je devais aborder le challenge comme un voyage perso, sans attente (c'est ça oui! Si je ne perds pas quelques kilos au bout des 30 jours, je vais être super excédée) mais bon, le but demain est d'aller au cours de yoga et ca, je peux le faire.

Malgré les courbatures, je suis super méga motivée et je vais y arriver...un jour après l'autre.

Ce matin, j'ai reçu un message via Twitter de quelqu'un qui me remerciait de l'avoir motivé à manger sain et équilibré et que cela l'avait encouragé à perdre les 12 kilos qu'elle a en trop et cela m'a fait super plaisir.

J'ai autant d'admiration pour les femmes qui ont un magnifique corps de yogi car je suis consciente que ce sont des années passées à manger équilibrer et à prendre soin de soi que celles qui ont beaucoup de kilos à perdre.

Perdre ses kilos est super difficile et cela demande beaucoup de motivation sur la distance mais je pense que si l'on se focalise sur notre bien-être et une nourriture saine, équilibrée mais bonne, la perte de poids viendra toute seule. One day at the time....

Petit Déj:

150g St Helen Goat Yogurt & 120g de myrtilles

Morning Snack: banane Afternoon Snack: 2 nectarines + 2 lt d'eau dans la journée

Lunch:

Salade de crevettes épicées avec du boulgour (voir la recette ici) Super facile à faire et délicieux! + une moitié d'avocat, 1 cuillère à soupe d'huile d'olive et de vinaigre balsamic.

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Inspiring table settings to share with friends

Since we didn't get the chance to celebrate Mila's birthday last month, we are doing it this weekend. 
Last year, it was a pink themed party, the year before it was a Mustache birthday party, this year mon bébé doesn't want a themed party but she wants a sleepover party with 5 of her friends so OUT my master plans to decorate the house and IN, spare & inflatable mattresses spread out in our guest room to welcome a bunch of excited girls.

As usual, we've invited a few of our friends around a BBQ for moral support around and since I can't have fun with a themed party, I'm going to try to create a nice table with the new Nelson Sepuvelda ceramic collection and make use of the fairy lights I bought ages ago (like the one featured on photo 3).

As Mila wants me to make pizza, my plan is to prepare some dough in the morning and to have the girls make their own pizza when they arrive.
Topped up with a gluten-free chocolate cake or banana cake + a bit of dancing + a girls movie + lots of fun until they fall asleep...they should have a good time!
And as I'm writing this, I just realised that I totally blanked the party bag issue :-(
Honestly, who invited this thing!? When I was a child, it was the birthday girl who was getting presents not the guests....

Vu qu'on a pas eu le temps de fêter l'anniversaire de Mila le mois dernier, nous allons le faire ce weekend. 
L'année dernière, le thème de la fête était rose, l'année d'avant, nous avions organisé une moustache party, cette année mon bébé ne veut pas de thème mais elle veut une pyjama party donc on vire mes plans de décoration et on va installer plein de matelas dans la chambre d'amis pour accueillir un groupe de petites filles super excitées.

Comme d'habitude, nous avons invités quelques amis autour d'un BBQ pour nous aider  à traverser cette bruyante mais fun expérience et puisque je ne peux pas m'éclater avec la déco, je vais essayer de créer une chouette table avec la nouvelle collection de Nelson Sepuvelda et la guirlande lumineuse que j'ai acheté il y a plusieurs mois (voir photo 3).

Comme Mila souhaite que je fasse ma pizza maison, mon plan est de préparer la pâte le matin afin que les filles préparent leur propre pizza quand elles arrivent. 
En finissant avec un gateau au chocolat sans gluten + une petite boum + un film de filles + et beaucoup de rires jusqu'à ce qu'elles s'endorment....elles devraient passer un bon moment!

Et là...alors que je finis cet article, je viens de m'apercevoir que j'ai totalement zappé les party bags! :-( 
Franchement, je me demande qui a inventer ce truc à la noix! A mon époque, c'était la personne qui fêtait son anniversaire qui recevait des cadeaux pas les invités....

// Credits: 1 Photo take from a teasheet pinned in our kitchen at work | 2. Photography by @Teresa Renaud Reynolds Hitchner |3. Karen Mordechai Sunday Suppers | 4. Kinfolk

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30-day Birkram Yoga challenge | DAY 2

How are you this morning?
I'm feeling very inspired by this photo to get mine/our flat tummies back!! 
I know mine seems to wander off each time I eat carbs and gluten but a week of healthy eating & bikram should help me to come closer to my goal and hopefully yours.
Make sure you take your body measurements in the morning to compare them in a week time so you can see the difference as sometimes the scales are not accurate

I'm very pleased to hear that Simone (Style Life Home) from Australia and Justine in France (the talented designer behind Une Sardine à Rio) are joining me in my 30-day Bikram yoga challenge*

Measurements:
Waist: 71 cm
Stomach: 82 cm
Thigh: 55.5 cm
Arm: 30.5cm

Have a fab day! xoxo 

Breakfast:

1 large glass of fresh orange juice + 150g St Helen Goat Yogurt and 120g of blueberries

Morning Snack: banana Afternoon Snack: 2 nectarines + plenty of water throughout the day

Lunch:

Spicy Kings prawns salad with bulgur wheat (see full recipe here) Super easy & quick to make and delicious!

Comment ça va ce matin?

Aujourd'hui cette photo et surtout ce ventre plat m'ont filé la pêche et m'ont donné envie de retrouver mon ventre plat. Je sais que le mien se cache sous des couches de carbs et gluten mais une semaine à manger équilibré et à faire du yoga quotidiennement devraient nous aider à retrouver la ligne très vite.

N'oubliez-pas de mesurer votre corps pour comparer les résultats dans une semaine, le pèse-personne n'est pas toujours idéal.

Et je suis super contente que Simone (Style Life Home) en Australie et Justine en France (la désigner douée de Une Sardine à Rio) se joignent à moi pour le 30-day Bikram yoga challenge*

Je vous souhaite une bonne journée! Bises

Petit Déj:

1 grand verre de jus d'orange frais + 150g St Helen Goat Yogurt & 120g de myrtilles

Morning Snack: banane Afternoon Snack: 2 nectarines + 2 lt d'eau dans la journée

Lunch:

Salade de crevettes épicées avec du boulgour (voir la recette ici) Super facile à faire et délicieux! 

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Gwyneth, Quinoa, banana cake & the Kale project | FOOD

After being proud of myself for making all theses healthy changes to my diet without too much of a struggle (I actually felt my new way of eating was better and tastier), I was told yesterday that I had to leave dairy out for a while which really p$$&8*d me off.
Luckily I received some great advices on Twitter (thanks Tina) and Instagram and managed to find some nice alternatives so I'm all set for this week before heading off to New-York (read comments here if you want more info on alternatives).
To cheer myself up, I baked this gluten-free banana cake for the second time:

300 g (10  1/2  oz)  smashed ripe banana
3 free range / organic eggs
60 g ( 2 oz / 2 tablespoons) raw honey or organic maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
60 g (2 oz/  1/4 cup)  macadamia nut oil or cold pressed olive oil
half teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2  tsp baking soda ( bicarb soda) + 1 tbsp lemon juice
200 g ( 2 cups/ 7  oz) ) almond meal (I still don't have almond meal in my panty so I've replaced it with Doves Farm gluten-free flour)
25 g (1/4 cup / 3/4  oz)  ground flaxseed (linseed) or chia seed. Preheat your oven to 160 C.

Combine smashed banana, honey, oil, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, bicarb and lemon. ( the lemon activates the bicarb). You can do this by hand in a large bowl or with a good blender such as a Vitamix.
Add the almond meal and flaxseed and mix well.
Lightly oil one loaf tin and then coat liberally with extra almond meal or desiccated coconut – this will prevent the cake from sticking. The size I used was: 10 1/2 cm wide and 26 cm long.
Spoon batter into the tin and bake for  45  minutes to 1 hour ( a skewer inserted into the centre should come out dry).
Cover the top with foil if over-browning.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before turning out the loaf.
Makes 1 loaf serves 12 (if you follow Weight Watchers Propoint, it's 4 points/serving)
Keeps in the fridge covered for up to 1 week.

I didn't have chia seeds the first time I made it and Mila preferred it without and I kind of agree with her.... Without chia seeds, version 1 was nicer and tastier but I have  a healthy snack option for the rest of the week and if you have kids, banana cakes are a great recipe to do something with all the bananas going black that the kids won't eat!

After reading It's all Good by Gwyneth Paltrow, I felt inspired to try her quinoa dish which is pretty basic (kale, salt, quinoa, garlic, fried egg) and was surprisingly very tasty! #perfectcomfortfoodforwintertimeorinMaywhenyoustillhavetowearajumper #crazyweather

Great thing is that I have some quinoa left over which will be perfect to accompagny Steve's roast today. Another thing I wanted to share with you is The Kale Project (thanks Chantal for the tip) which is a page set up by an American lady who lives in Paris and is on a mission to introduce kale to the French. I couldn't find it at the street market nearby our Summer house last time we went. The guy and my mum thought I was talking of coleslaw...

Kale is sold in 3 markets in Paris: the bio market in the Batignolles, the Bio Sunday market Blvd Raspail and at the market on Blvd Wilson. Kale looks like salad, a bit coarse, full of antioxidants and delicious. I mostly eat raw Kale now in my mixed salads and I can guarantee that is very tasty. Have a great, healthy Sunday xoxo

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Tips for a healthy, happy weekend

Hello Everyone, I hope you had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend! 
We escaped to the Bay of Arcachon* and stayed in our small house. 
I have a soft spot for this house...It's where I broke my waters while standing on top of a ladder painting our kitchen wall (as you do!) and then I stayed there with Mila until she was old enough to keep her eyes open for the passport photo so we could head back home in the UK.  The weather was amazing like last weekend and with the beach 10 min away, it was pure bliss.

The downside for me when we are in France is that I usually binge on French baguettes, pain au chocolat, biscuits and cheeses (and God knows we have heaps in France!) but this time, I was determined to stick to my healthy diet so as soon as I arrived I went to buy a 40 euros blender and plenty of fruits and vegetables to keep on track.

Having been very ill recently, I made some drastic changes to my diet to ensure I would feed my body the right nutrients. 
As a result to the same changes I've made, I have also lost 1.8 kg in four weeks - which is a major bonus for me since I have been trying to get my pre-maternity figure back for the past 8 years :-(
When  I was pregnant, I ate for England and France together and put on 15 kilos!!  I eventually managed to lose 7 but the remaining 8 were are a real pain in the bum!
I think apart from a few lucky ones who managed to get their figures back within weeks, we've all been there. It is a frustrating, painful road paved with obstacles but I feel I'm finally turning a corner. 

I don't know if this would help anyone to know about the changes but for me the major positive trigger was starting Bikram Yoga and then completely changed my diet 

{Small changes I made to improve my diet}

- Go to yoga 3 times/week (I feel not only relaxed, stretched but cleanse inside/out and more focus). As a result, my cravings for carbs and sugar have disappeared.
- Drink 2 Lt of water. It's a pain to start with but if you always have a 50ml bottle of water on your desk, it becomes quickly a habit to take a sip every now and then.
- Replace brown toasts in the morning by low-fat, organic vanilla yogurt + fresh blueberries (never thought something like this would taste so nice!)
- Replace sandwich at lunch time by mixed salad. My favourite one is mixed salad with low-fat, organic mozzarella, one soft-boiled egg & parma ham for proteins, tomates, avocado (for my skin), cashew nuts, olive oil & balsamic vinegar (it's surprisingly filling and delicious!)
- Snack on fruits rather than biscuits
- Listen to my body (and drink first before reaching out for food)
- Always prioritise taste. I'm an emotional eater (sad, happy, bored, excited you name it, I eat!) so for me it's super important to really enjoy the food I'm eating.

You can check my Instagram for inspiration on what to eat. Have a fantastic day!
*45 min drive from Bordeaux Airport

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Awesome spicy prawn salad | Healthy eating

Yesterday Francois & I was styled & photographed a collection of prints for a client in my home so I made sure we had a healthy, filling salad at lunch time.
Once recipe I have been doing for a long time (long before embarking on this healthy eating journey) was the Spicy prawn salad by Michele Cranston from her Seasonal Kitchen book. 
Her book and Donna Hay's Seasons are by far my two favourite cooking books (the styling in Donna's book is amazing) and as general rule, I'm much prefer the relaxed approach of Australian Chefs than French Chefs. I'm not much of a cook and for me, cooking is all about entertaining, having friends and enjoying good foods so I like it when it's all relaxed, easy to make and super yummy.

Oh and I almost forgot!! 
Here is an example of how I use cotton bags to store Mila's things as mentioned in my post yesterday.

{Spicy Prawn Salad recipe}
20 cooked prawns (shrimp), peeled and deveined
1 large red chilli, seeded and finely chopped (this is too hot for me so I replace mine by Light Sweet Chili sauce in a bottle)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper*
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger*
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons lime juice
4 tablespoons olive oil
a handful of coriander leaves*
2 small avocados (sliced)
Steamed couscous (I swap couscous for Bulgar Wheat)

Put the prawns in a bowl with the chili (or sweet chili sauce), cayenne pepper, cumin, ginger, Spring onion, lime juice and olive oil. Toss to coat the prawns well, then add the coriander and avocado and season to taste. Lightly toss again and serve on a bed of steamed couscous or bulgar wheat (and I'm pretty sure it would work with Quinoa too).

*items I usually don't add and it still tastes delicious

// Recipe from Michele Cranston's Seasonal Kitchen | Photography by me

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BODIE and FOU Gift Guide | Gifts for foodies & bon vivant

Today, I've put together a little selection of great gifts for foodies and bon vivant. I don't know about you but I have quite a lot of those around me :-)
Our best-selling Cognac glasses are the perfect gift for Dads, father-in-law, brothers and friends. 
They always go down a treat and their shape is not just gimmicky, they've actually been designed to enhance the bouquet, temperature and volume of a fine spirit. They also exist in a smaller version here for women.
My favourite gift this year is this beautiful stonewashed linen apron which comes in blue grey, soft grey and dark grey. It's a very nice, unusual and stylish gift which I will offer with a jar of this Dijon Basil mustard Steve always uses for his kiwi roast. Last time, we were invited to diner to our friends', they required we brought the jar we had in the fridge with us to go with their roast - crazyfoodies!

Cognac glasses | Whisky glasses | Butterfly tin opener | EAT metal red letters | stonewashed linen apron | Eva Solo Cheese slicer | Normann Copenhagen wine pourer | Rubber washing-up bowl (available in 5 colours) | Set of 4 rocking glasses (great for friends!)

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Inspiring diner curated by KINFOLK | Food styling

As mentioned here, KINFOLK is a community of artists with a shared interest in small gatherings. My favourite shot ever from these diners is still this one taken by Leo Patrone in the Green Building in NYC.
Last September, they met on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island to share a dinner. The night was hosted at the historic China Town loft of local florist Erica Smolders of Rook & Rose and curated by herself and designers Ellie Chapple and Tara Hurst. 
I''m always in awe with the photography of their gatherings. I wish we could do the same in London. Well, as usual...when I have something in mind, I just act upon it so I have contacted them to see how we could make one happen in London....
You can order KINFOLK Vol.5 here, it's the perfect read to embrace the beauty of Autumn...

Photography: Ameris

Comme je l'ai mentionné ici, KINFOLK est une communauté d'artistes qui aime se retrouver régulierement autour d'une table et d'un bon repas. 
Ma photo préférée de ces soirées est toujours celle de My favourite shot from these diners were celle-ci prise par Leo Patrone dans the Green Building a NYC.
En Septembre dernier, ils se sont retrouvés sur l'ile de Vancouver. La soirée s'est déroulée dans le loft de la fleuriste Erica Smolders dans le quartier de China Town, qui s'est occupé de l'organisation et décoration de cette belle réunion avec les désigners Ellie Chapple etTara Hurst. 
Comme d'habitude, je suis admirative de leurs soirées qui respirent la simplicité et la joie de se re retrouver. J'aimerais bien des petits repas comme cela a Londres. Rectification, comme toujours quand j'ai quelque chose dans la tete, j'agis donc je les ai contacté pour voir si nous pourrions en organiser un a Londres....
Vous pouvez commander le KINFOLK Vol.5 ici, c'est un beau magazine pour apprécier le début de l'Autumne....

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