Stopping To Smell The Roses in Mollans-sur-Ouvèze, Provence, France, Photo by Debbie McGowan

The French love their roses, just like they love their dogs. May is a perfect month to catch France in full bloom and especially the stunning peaking roses that adorn their front homes, gardens, and stone walls. A On a recent trip I tried to capture some of these beautiful roses to share with you all.

I couldn’t identify many of them, but I did see quite a few of the traditional Eden, and Pink Eden. Enjoy these photos, and let them take you to France a moment!

The Village of Siran in Languedoc, France

Welcoming Roses Greet You at a Village Home in Caunes-Minervois, Languedoc

Matching Eden Roses Adorn the Front of a Village Home in Caunes-Minervois, Languedoc

A Fairy Tale Village Home in Caunes-Minervois, Languedoc

Never Mellow Yellow for a Village Home in Trausse, Languedoc

A Beauty in a Garden in Uzès, Gard

Rambling Rose in Caunes-Minervois, Languedoc

Bonus, have you ever seen a field of naturalized poppies blooming. It will take your breath away.

A Field of Poppies Blooming Outside of Uzès, Gard, Framce

Hoping your garden is happy, blooming, and giving you a smile!

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

The Timeless Majestic Roman Pont du Gard

One day planning, and four days later hopping on a plane, my husband, John, and I were off to France in mid-March after nearly four years away. On a whim, and in the midst of the national French strike over pension, we traveled to South France and Paris in the off-season. It was one of our best trips to France yet, where everything seemed to flow effortlessly.

On a blustery day, edging towards sunset we stopped to take in the Pont du Gard once again. We had visited the aqueduct fourteen years ago on one of our first trips to Provence, on a much warmer spring day, approaching it from the other side of the river.

Taller than the Colosseum in Rome, the famed Roman aqueduct, Pont du Gard, in the Gard Department in South France always takes your breath away. Built over the Gardon River, and designed to transport water to the Roman city of Nimes 30 kilometres away, it has remained timeless.

I could go on and on about how incredible an engineering feat it was 2,000 years ago; that it is estimated that it took 800-1,000 workers to construct it over three years; that there was no mortar used amongst the stones; and that it has actually three distinct levels.

It is such a place of reverence and respect. So well preserved. So discreetly tucked away, and one with the landscape. So beautiful, words can hardly describe it. To further heighten the moment, we were nearly the only ones there, just us with our thoughts.

Seeing the Pont du Gard, I felt I was actually seeing time, not experiencing, but actually seeing time. It has such an ethereal aura about it, one can’t help but think of time in many different ways. Why is that 20 years can seem like a blink of an eye, your little nephew is now an adult approaching 30, or you don’t know how you can possibly know a special friend for over 50 years. Yet, in other situations, time seems to stop or become frozen, and you don’t know why. It is our perception of time in relation to our lives.

What also immediately came to me—I was literally seeing time before me, a span of my life in years, a gift, and the sturdy foundation was my values, unshakable and steadfast, always grounding me in life, and keeping me on course to follow my dreams and desires. Gazing at the Pont du Gard, it was an homage to a life well-lived, including the ups and downs, and much more to look forward to.

Past Related Post:
Provence: Roman Marvels Endure

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Stone Fruit Bowl at Winery in Nuit-Saint Georges, Burgundy, France

When I speak about Mediterranean gardens and elements of a Mediterranean garden, I always mention aged stone elements, and specifically, the beauty and timelessness of stone fruit bowls. If you happen to see them in garden centers, antique shops, consignment shops, garage sales, or elsewhere—pick them up. You can’t go wrong with what they add to your garden.

Such an easy way to add a special flair to your garden, with no upkeep. In fact, in the photo above in Burgundy, an aged stone fruit bowl with lichen patina adds garden depth. These fruit bowls can weather the seasons with grace.

Usually sold in pairs, I see them single too. I have five throughout my garden, a pair welcoming you at my front gate, a pair in my courtyard, and a single petite fruit bowl as a table centerpiece. Stone fruit bowls come in different sizes and artistry, all are so beautiful. Somewhat neutral to your eye, yet rich in detail and texture. Stone fruit bowls can be heavy, so make sure they are stable and secure in your placement.

Pair of Stone Fruit Bowls in Courtyard at Domaine de Manion

I like it that stone fruit bowls almost tell a story by themselves. You can almost imagine a story of how they were found and placed in a garden, or make one up. Either way, they are in a garden for the long haul.

Stone Fruit Bowl as a Centerpiece In My Berry Room

Bellini Imports is one resource in Encinitas where I found my petite single fruit bowl. Actually, all of the shops in Westlake Design District in Encinitas, might be worth wandering through if you are looking for fruit bowl statuary.

Single Stone Fruit Bowl Graces the Garden at Domaine Dalmeran, St. Etienne-du-Grès, Provence

Related Past Posts:

Haute Halloween Couture

Creating A Bocce Ball Court

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Polished and Ready Jam Copper Pot

Copper pots and pans are one of the essentials in a French Country Kitchen, not only for their glowing beauty, but fine functionality. Copper conducts heat very well, cooks food evenly, cools quickly, and will last forever when properly cared for. Most copper pots are tin-lined, and eventually this tin lining wears out with use, and the piece should be re-tinned by a retinning specialist. Be aware that tin melts at 450 F. degrees, so cooking in tin lined copper pots should be below that temperature. Confiture or jam making copper pots don’t need to be lined, since there’s enough sugar in jam to prevent the fruit acids from reacting with the metal. Always cook your fruit and sugar together, never cook fruit alone in a copper pot. Copper mixing bowls often aren’t lined as well, especially those intended for beating egg whites.

Some people like to keep the aged copper penny patina, and others like their copper bright and polished. It is a personal preference. Wrights Copper Cream is a good commercial copper cleaner. An old standby recipe to clean copper is mix 1/4 cup salt, 1/4 cup cup flour and enough white distilled vinegar to make a thick paste, use a soft cloth to rub the paste on the surface of the copper. Buff the copper pan until it shines. Rinse with warm water and dry thoroughly. Over time your piece will begin to tarnish, and you simply repeat the process again.

You can find new pieces online easily, or if you favor the hunt, search out wonderful pieces at French flea markets. It is usually the vintage, well-worn patina pieces with a history of their own, that are the best treasures to find. I can’t tell you how many copper jam pots I passed up over the years in France. I simply didn’t have immediate needs to be able to ship it home, it was generally took bulky to carry, and I didn’t want to risk damaging a piece checked in my baggage in my cross Atlantic travels.

The universe works in wonderful ways. Recently I was helping my Mom and Dad clean and organize their downstairs kitchenette. What was tucked away in one of the cabinets, was this beauty, a huge confiture copper pot—big enough to hold all of your fruit and sugar for making jam at one time. My Mom gave it to me, and I did get it home safely in my luggage. It is special to me for sentimental reasons, coming from my Mom and her kitchen in Europe, and now passed on to me. It was like finding a diamond in the rough, and fulfilling the dream to have one and display it in my home.

Copper Jam Pot Washed and Ready to Polish

Some Related Copper Websites:

Mauviel

Williams Sonoma

Elsie Green

The Cooks Atelier

East Coast Retinning

Nicholas Retinning, (No Website), 4641 Telegraph Road, L.A., CA 90022, (tel) (323) 263-0028, Est. 1965.

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Tomato Plants Growing Near Potting Shed

I missed the boat on sowing tomato seeds this past February. I did have the chance to round up all of my volunteer tomato seedlings coming up from compost use throughout the garden and transplanted them all in raised beds in my potager. Interestingly, most of these volunteer tomato seedlings are Roma tomatoes.

Green Thumb Nursery in San Marcos, California always has a nice selection of tomato and vegetable seedlings in six packs late spring into summer. I bought six packs of Celebrity, Early Girl, Cherry Red, and Cherokee Purple. Much more than I usually plant, but this year I really wanted to have an abundance of tomatoes.

Out of room in my potager, I planted the six pack seedlings in a row near my potting shed, using a curly rod for support that I initially saw in Provence, Tomato Staking Technique. I haven’t looked recently, but I got my stakes at Dixieline Lumber, and I have seen them at Home Depot. As my tomato plants grow I wrap them carefully around the stakes, and also use gardener’s green tape for more security. For irrigation, and with my sandy soil, I installed a versatile 1/4” soaker hose, you can find at Home Depot, which has worked well.

Back to Basics.

1) Fertilize your tomato plants when they begin to flower, and monthly or more thereafter. I use GroPower Plus fertilizer, available at local Grangetto’s.

2) Water your tomato plants to 1” deep, and as frequently needed, if you have sandy or clay soil. Do not let your plants dry out and wilt, and do not over water when summer hot spells hit.

3) Tomato plants thrive with heat and sun, at least 6 hours or more. If you are coastal, tomato plants don’t really like ocean breezes and benefit from a protected sunny spot around your home that shields your tomato plants, possibly incorporating a house wall or fence. My west hedge and macadamia trees give my row of tomato plants some shielding.

4) Keep your tomato plants cleaned up, off of the ground, and opened up for air circulation and sunlight.

5) Indeterminate tomato varieties have a vining tendency. They can produce fruit until the plant is killed by frost. They bloom, set fruit, and ripen fruit all at the same time. These varieties need staking, and attention to removing suckers off of their main stem.

6) Determine tomato varieties are also called bush type, and are compact in form. They stop growing when fruit sets on their top bud. Their crop ripens all at once within a two-week period, and then the plant dies off. Ideal for use in containers, and don’t require staking, or pinching, and trimming of suckers.

7) Heirloom tomatoes or open pollinated varieties are generally considered 50 years or older, produce a true seed every year, and are known for their outstanding tomato flavors.

8) Hybrid tomato varieties are created from seeds produced by different plants that were crossed with each other to obtain certain desired characteristics. These varieties will not produce a true seed, and sometimes these tomatoes are considered to be slightly inferior in flavor and texture.

Years ago I interviewed Del Mar landscape designer, Linda Chisari, who is well known for her vegetable and tomato growing finesse. Linda back then grew over 30 different tomato varieties each year and shared, “the ones that do best for me are varieties that tolerate cool, overcast summer weather.” Linda’s “short list” then, was Juliet and Enchantment for eating fresh or in sauces. Green Zebra for it’s slightly acidic flavor and appearance. Dona, a small yet delicious French variety. Carmello for fabulous taste and appearance. Celebrity is a large flavorful tomato, and great when our summers are warm. Sun Gold, an outstanding orange cherry tomato. Of course, San Marzano for making sauce.

Growing tomatoes is all about preferences. What tomatoes you like to grow, and for what culinary purposes. Where you live and grow your tomatoes, be it coastal or inland, in the ground or in containers. How you prefer to support your tomatoes in your garden. Tomatoes are one of summer’s best experiences, sun-ripened mouth watering homegrown tomatoes, you won’t want to miss out on! Thyme for tomatoes is just around the corner.

Please share your favorite tomato varieties, and how you like to grow them.

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend….Bonnie

À Kathy’s Maison

I have a dear friend who exudes “joie de vivre” whether she is here in San Diego, at her little stone house in Provence, or anywhere in the world. Ma Amie, Kathy Hurder. We are both Francophiles, and share the love of French country cooking, the wine, the copper, the markets, the brocantes, the lifestyle, and the beauty in the simplicity and quality of life.

With France opening up once again to tourists and foreigners, I remember with fond memories our last trip to France in 2019. Kathy and her charming husband, Ron Lauderbach, graciously invited us to their special corner of Provence. My husband, John, and I in turn invited them to share a weekend in Beaune, Burgundy, France, together a week later. We had so much fun, and yes, it was cherry season!

Sainte-Cécile-les Vignes Morning Market

No need to buy cherries this morning, as Kathy and Ron have their own happy cherry trees in their “petite jardin.” When it is cherry season, you enjoy them fresh, but also make a Cherry Clafoutis.

Cherry Clafoutis is a very popular French dessert, simple and seasonal, in which you can easily exchange seasonal fruit of the moment. If I remember correctly, we made Mimi Thorisson’s Cherry Clafoutis from her first cookbook, A Kitchen in France, and in her 2013 blog post, which she shares the recipe along with her complementary Duck Burger recipe. Yum!

Kathy and Ron, in Medieval Village, Séguret, Provence and overlooking Sablet, Provence

One of our incentives for a rendez-vous a week later in Beaune, besides the incredible Burgundy wine and regional food, was taking a “Day in Burgundy Cooking Class” with American ex-pats “mother daughter duo” Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini, at The Cook’s Atelier. Planned well in advance, Kathy and I were lucky to land the last two spots in a Saturday June cooking class. While at our cooking class, our fellas were happy to further explore Beaune and dabble in some wine tasting. Needless to say, it was an incredible day and experience, full of special memories. For more info on The Cook’s Atelier see below.

I can’t say enough about Beaune, Burgundy, and highly recommend spending some quality time there. It is really worth it to bike or hike into the surrounding world famous vineyards. There is a real sense and spirit of place, and the terroir is immaculately managed and revered.

Past and Present Merge in these Vineyards

A Special Burgundy Birthday for John

It is a real gift to have “joie de vivre” and the ability to put a spark in other people’s lives, just by being your passionate self. Merci Kathy and Ron!

Well Fed and Content in Beaune

French Fabulous!

The Cook’s Atelier, by Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini, is one of the best cooking classes I have been to. From start to finish, it is a whirlwind for your senses. I often thought about them, through this pandemic. Was this small family business surviving, with no classes, no brick and mortar storefront retail? Were they writing a new cookbook? Well, good news, yes, and yes, and yes.

The Cook’s Atelier hosts regular one day classes, and also offers week long master classes. The Cook’s Atelier has taken this gift of time to expand their country home outside of Beaune, creating a large potager and teaching kitchen. They are now growing most of their own fruit and vegetables for their culinary classes, and in the week long master class will be bringing the class to their country setting for more culinary instruction and Burgundian experience. Adding to this, they have expanded into custom copper gardening tools, found on their website. Amazing.

Another Related and Past Blog Link, The Cook’s Atelier

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Our Gite Patio Overlooking Sablet, Provence

Back in 2007, my husband and I rented a gite outside of the medieval village of Sablet in Provence, France. A gite is a small furnished vacation house in France, usually in a rural setting. I rented it online, and was drawn to the spectacular setting nestled amongst the grapevines with the stunning lower Rhône Valley before our eyes.

Once a bachelor farmer son’s small stone home upstairs, and where livestock often were conveniently sheltered on the ground floor below, this beautiful little property had been lovingly restored and transformed into a very comfortable gite. I will never forget walking into the stone home and kitchen for the first time, finding a waiting bottle of Rhône wine on the wooden kitchen table, a huge bowl of fresh ripe cherries, and a note to enjoy our stay. I was in heaven.

Since we usually travel to France in the spring, I now always associate Provence in the spring with the fabulous seasonal cherries. So sweet and delicious, perfect fresh or in a light dessert.

Cherries at Apt, Provence, Saturday Market

Experiencing fresh cherries in Provence, I wanted to grow spring cherries in our orchard, but cherries typically need a cool climate, abundant chill hours, not normally trees for Southern California. A few years ago, I found cherry trees suitable for Southern California at Green Thumb Nursery in San Marcos, a retailer for Dave Wilson Nursery.

I bought a Minnie Royal and a Royal Lee, two great Southern California cherry trees necessary to pollenize each other. For some reason, I kept losing the Royal Lee tree, twice in fact, and then once with the Minnie Royal tree. Graciously, Green Thumb Nursery replaced each tree for me. I was beginning to doubt it was possible to grow cherry trees in Southern California.

Minnie Royal Cherries in My Orchard

With persistence, both trees are doing really well now. Last year was my first crop, and now this year, an even bigger cherry crop. I eat them off the tree when gardening. I don’t think they will see my kitchen for a couple of years.

Garden Design Tip: I always enjoy spring nasturtium that reseed and self-sow in my orchard which adds a little color and interest. This year I planted multi-color sweet peas at the base of many of my orchard trees, providing a few small stakes close to the trunk of each tree. The sweet peas responded well, climbing up the stakes, some onto the trees, and sprawling around the base of each tree with pretty color. I was pleased, and will continue to do it next year. You can also plant a climbing rose at the base of your fruit tree, and the rose will use the tree as support as it grows. These ideas are simple, add interest, and dress up an orchard or focal fruit tree.

Royal Lee Cherry Tree on the Left, Minnie Royal Cherry Tree on the Right

Do you have a success story with a fruit tree, or your backyard orchard? Please share!

Bon Appétit and Bon Holiday Weekend….Bonnie

Driveway and Sign for Domaine Tempier

My husband, John, and I visited Domaine Tempier winery on a stunning spring day in May of 2015. It seemed a bit surreal to be walking down the tree-lined driveway and to be on this hallowed ground making our way up to the tasting room. I had read so much about the story of Lucien and Lulu Peyraud, who founded Domaine Tempier, after Lulu’s father gave the young couple this property as a wedding gift.

With a lot of hard work, the exceptional vineyard terroir, the beautiful wines, and seven children later, the legendary life of Lucien and Lulu Peyraud grew and grew. Lulu was not only a mother, but a wine ambassador and marketed Domaine Tempier wines traveling extensively. Her cooking became legendary, pairing the simple gastronomic Provence flavors and foods found at her local markets, which perfectly complemented their wines. The Peyraud’s often hosted, cooked, and feasted with culinary royalty and friends such as Richard Olney, Alice Waters, Fanny Singer (Alice Waters’ daughter), David Tanis, and many more. For an up close look at Lulu’s kitchen and sharing of some of her recipes, David Tanis wrote a beautiful article for Saveur for their special France Issue, May 2016.

A young Kermit Lynch, in the 1970’s, out of Berkley began importing wines from small family wineries in France, also became a lifelong friend and ambassador of Domaine Tempier wines. Today, Domaine Tempier rosé is the gold standard for rosé in Provence, and also their Mourvèdre driven reds.

John Amongst One of Domaine Tempier Vineyards

When we visited Domaine Tempier in 2015, Lulu Peyraud was 97 years old. We certainly did not see or visit with her, but her presence was felt. Last month, on October 7, 2020, the world lost Lulu at 102 years young, just shy of her 103rd birthday. Her passing was felt all over the world, and you can read more about remembering her, and her life in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

I have always looked up to Lulu Peyraud, because of a similar heartfelt passion and connection with Provence, the wines, the food, the “joie de vivre,” celebrating the simple everyday life. How incredible to experience that much life over time, as well as the unfolding of so many generations of your family. She had recently become a great, great grandmother.

It is also Lulu’s story, her authentic self, humor, and sharing at the table, how one woman could make such a difference in this world, one dish and one glass of wine at a time. She is a shining example, that each and everyone of us is unique, have so much to offer the world, and can make a difference in the world.

Richard Olney Insisted Lulu Write Down Her Recipes

Richard Olney was an American expat neighbor who lived nearby Domaine Tempier, in a run down cottage, and did not drive. The Peyraud’s would gladly pick him up and return him home after their get togethers. Richard Olney was the author of eight books on French cooking, and was also the Chief Consultant to the Time-Life Good Cook series. The friendship he had with the Peyraud’s was special, and because of him, Lulu Peyraud shared her recipes with the world. You can find Lulu Peyraud’s cookbook on amazon.

Every time I have a glass of Domaine Tempier, or a bit of olive tapenade, or a slice of onion tart, I will certainly think of Lulu Peyraud, a life well-lived, and all that she shared with the world. Salut!