Missing family when you're away for 7 months, is okay

It's been 160 days I haven't hugged you or gave you greeting kisses. That equals 5 months and 8 days, which it makes it the longest time I have been away from you. I celebrated my 24. birthday without you, but received all your postcards and love. Even though I love my months in France, on a free Sunday it's really easy to wish to be back in our garden just for a couple of hours. We would play board games and cards as always, talk about what's going on in the world and in our lives (and the neighbor's lives and our cats and dogs lives). We would drink tea and coffee and beer as always and the amazing cakes of our grandmas. Can I please be there with you just for a little while to share my love and give you huge kisses? Otherwise I just might explode.

I hear all the news from you and I feel worried or happy or sad, depending on what has happened. And even though I got bad news, I would never change anything. I give you bad news myself.

C'est la vie.

But I miss you. I do. On a cold winter morning, I missed you from behind the frozen windshield of the little white car and I'm sure I will miss you on a sunny summer morning, when my room feels like a sauna. But I will always be there with you and you will always be here with me.

I miss all your personalities, the funny, the caring, the lovely, the sweet, the always busy. The one who's looking for a new job, the one who's calling me in the middle of the night, the one with whom I climb random statues in my hometown. The one who I travel with and the one who was my idol when I was a little girl with short hair, green and blue bruises on my legs and a giant I-have-an-idea smile.

It's about 50 more days until I see you again and I'm so happy about that. And I will give you those huge greeting kisses, you won't miss them! Sorry in advance, not sorry!

My French diet

I don't have a French diet. I'm not on a diet and I don't only eat French meals. But I discovered that my eating habits have completely changed since I moved to France.

First of all, I start the day with eating something sweet: baguette or bread with jam or peanut butter, cereal with ricemilk/ soymilk. Sometimes a piece of fruit, strawberry, banana, or grapes. A fresh brioche or sweet bread with raisins are the best. I used to always eat something salty, mostly bread with salami and cheese.

Since we have a little spice garden in front of the house on the terrasse, I've been preparing mint teas, which is the best thing ever. Everytime I asked for a mint tea in a restaurant in Lille, I was served filtered tea and that's not what I really desired. Back in The Netherlands, they used to have this amazing mint tea in our favorite caffé in Hengelo, where they put the leaves in hot water and there you go! I also started to eat the leaves after finishing the tea, which I know, is a little strange. (I write this sitting next to my I <3 NY mug with mint leaves in there - exception proves the rule). So during the day or whenever I want to, I like to have a cup of this hot mint tea, which some would probably call minty hot water and also there's one kind of filtered tea I can't stop drinking. It's the one on this photo:

For lunch I usually cook myself pasta or rice with vegetables, a salad, or I eat a sandwich. I mix fried bacon and ruccola with pasta, or I just throw a precooked packet of UncleBens rice with dried tomatoes in the microwave for 2 minutes and that's it. I know, it's not healthy, but it tastes good. I used to always cook for myself, but now I absolutely don't have anything against food in packets. That could change anytime again though. I also don't miss eating meat very much at the moment.

a "let's-finish-all-the-leftovers" type of dish

vegetable chips from the market in Nantes

a box of rilette du Mans - with a baguette it is so good!

For dinner some days ago, I had some leftover baked sweet potatoes with ruccola and some dressing on top of that. That was rare, and not what I normally eat, but again, it tasted good.

Buying ingredients, finding a good recipe, experimenting with the spices, cooking for others, is something what I enjoy.

But also I cannot appreciate enough the Sunday food market of Wazemmes, which is a never ending sea of fresh strawberries, grapes, avocados, tomatoes, curgettes and potatoes. The best thing to do after a week of work is to buy a box of paella, patatas bravas or just simply baguettes with some salami and eat it in the park nearby, sitting on the grass while talking to some friends. And sharing the yummy bites of course.

Here's to many more market visits, conversations with good company and nice odours from the kitchen!

this a charlotte, a French cake - it's yummy, although the creme inside was too sweet for me

and this is me, with a glass of wine, just because why not have a photo with a glass of wine?