Archives for category: Food

L’été

July 21, 2015 //

I find myself back in Paris once again. Thus the lack of posts lately – my apologies – as I’ve been rather wifi-less of late. Our week in Paris at the end of June involved lots of summer fruits, flowers and food and sun.

We ate at Clamato, Bones, Le Verre Vole, saw an amazing Charles-Edouard Jeanneret exhibition at the Pompidou and spent the afternoon in the garden of the Chateau du Versailles. We wandered through the Parc de Belleville, the Jardin du Luxembourg, and bought some begonias at the Marché aux Fleurs. Then we left for a beautiful little farm in Italy – more on the farm to come.

Tags apricot tart, beech, begonias, bones, bones paris, Chateau du Versailles, clamato, clematis, foxglove, harles-Edouard Jeanneret, hollyhock, hydrangea, jardin du luxembourg, marche aux fleurs, parc de belleville, paris, roses, verre vole

Categories Art, Flowers, Food, Garden, Photos by Sophia, Plants, Travel

Urban Growers

October 26, 2014 //

I met these guys last week when they were installing a green wall at OzHarvest‘s new Sydney warehouse/ office. I love their philosophy for urban gardens – that they should be both edible and medicinal, along with bountiful and beautiful. Check out some of their work below at Kitchen by Mike and Three Blue Ducks. They’ve also just launched their website so be sure to check it out here.

All images from Urban Growers.

Tags bees, edible garden, edible plants, kitchen by mike, medicinal gardening, medicinal plants, ozharvest, three blue ducks, urban garden, Urban gardening, urban growers

Categories Food, Garden

Adventures in Cooking

June 22, 2014 //

Adventures in Cooking, a blog run by the very sweet Eva, is a goldmine of gorgeous recipes and food styling. Here are two recipes of hers that use edible flowers. Check out the full article here.

Peach & Rosemary Blossom Lemonade

6 cups water

1 cup honey

4 ripe peaches, cut into 8ths
1 and 1/4 cups fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup rosemary blossoms, plus a few rosemary sprigs for garnish

Combine all ingredients.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Toasted Hazelnuts and Lavender

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

1 and ½ lbs Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon brown sugar

Toasted Hazelnuts & Lavender

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup hazelnuts
1 teaspoon dried lavender
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
parchment paper

For the brussel sprouts, I tossed them with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper before roasting. While they were baking away in the oven, I toasted some hazelnuts on the stovetop and added a bit of dried lavender at the end of the cook time, giving it a good stir. Once the brussel sprouts were finished, I tossed them all together and the resulting dish was one full of flavor, texture, and a wonderfully intoxicating aroma.

All images and recipes by Eva Kosmas.

While we’re on the subject of edibles, be sure to check out 101 Cookbooks simple tips for drying herbs.

Tags 101 cookbooks, adventures in cooking, brussel sprouts, cooking with flowers, drying herbs, edible flowers, eva kosmas, hazelnuts, lavender, peach, recipes, rosemary

Categories Flowers, Food

Phytology

March 17, 2014 //

Phytology is a great botanical project opening our minds to plants which are commonly labelled as weeds. Their website explains that the project “brings artists and botanists together to explore the medicinal properties of plants that are common to derelict urban environments… (and) aims to challenge ideas of use, value, resilience and the function of wildness within our urban ecosystem”.

The team (including Dr. Peter Giovannini, the International Projects Officer for Kew Royal Botanic Gardens) are busily preparing for the opening of a medicinal field in late April at the Bethnal Green site. Visitors will be able to explore the field, learn about the plants and harvest them for medicine and food. Here are a few of the plants that will be found on site.

Wild Garlic, which can be used:

As treatment of colds and bronchitis1
As treatment for indigestion and as anthelminthic1
Can reduce high blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels

Marsh Mallow:

It is often used to treat bronchitis1 and sore throat
Decoction of the Marsh Mallow roots is traditionally used for pharyngitis
The leaves are used for urinary tract infections

St Johns Wart:

Minor wounds and burns
Symptomatic relief of mild gastrointestinal problems
The treatment of anxiety, low mood, and ‘to strengthen the nerves

Purslane

To treat fevers
To treat skin disease and wounds
To treat digestive complaints
In Arabian countries is used as anti-scorbutic, diuretic, and antispasmodic

Illustrations by Talya Baldwin. Be sure to check out their website and Facebook page.

Tags bethnal green, botanical illustrations, botanical project, dandelion, march mallow, medicinal plants, peter giovannini, phytology, purslane, st johns wart, talya baldwin, the secret garden blog, urban plants, wild garlic

Categories Food, Nature, Plants

OzHarvest

January 14, 2014 //

Recently I spent a morning in the OzHarvest garden harvesting herbs and veggies. The garden is run by Sarah of Grow Eat Enjoy, and was overflowing with goodies like flowering thyme, rainbow chard, basil, cavelo nero, cucumbers and kale.

OzHarvest All photographs by Sophia Kaplan.

Tags basil, beetroot, cavelo nero, community garden, cucumber, harvest, homegrown, homegrown vegetables, kale, ozharvest, ozharvest garden, rainbow chard, rainbow spinach, squash, the secret garden blog

Categories Food, Garden, Photos by Sophia

The Edible Garden

January 7, 2014 //

I dream sometimes of having my own gardening show, wouldn’t that be cool? One of the shows I’m inspired by is the BBC’s The Edible Garden. In this program, horticulturalist, journalist and author Alys Fowler attempts to live a more sustainable life by transforming her Victorian terrace backyard into a beautiful edible garden. She delivers growing tips, recipes and interviews with other likeminded gardeners.

My ideal garden would be one like Alys’s where almost everything is edible, with flowers and foliage for cutting filling up the spaces in between. Her wild design is also a much admired aesthetic. Check out episode one of The Edible Garden below.

Tags alys fowler, bbc, edible garden, edible plants, sustainable gardening, the edible garden

Categories Food, Garden, Plants

Sunday Supper

October 8, 2013 //

Cute use of flowers by Laila Gohar at Sunday Supper. I will be copying the clover ice cubes.

All photographs by Sunday Supper.

Tags edible flowers, flower ice cubes, Flowers, laila gohar, lavender, roses, sunday supper, zucchini flowers

Categories Design, Flowers, Food

New York

September 14, 2013 //

We are about to venture into the California desert but while I’m still sitting in a nice hotel in my robe in Las Vegas, I can post some pics from New York. As per usual we basically just ate our way through the city. We stayed in a beautiful apartment in Soho with giant palms, caught up with loads of friends, visited Union Square Park Market, went to a few shows at New York Fashion Week, partied on rooftops, and visited a bunch of little gardens.

All photographs by Sophia Kaplan.