Three for One - Love, lots of love

My little fella, also known as No. 2, has now turned 1 (hear the nostalgia in my voice).
Three parties for just one, the Big One. As much as I loved making three cakes and other treats for celebrating your first year in our lives, it would never be enough tell you how much I love you, my little bubba.

There is so much ahead of us, but please darling don't grow too fast. It's been only few days since you turned one, but in few days so much happened: your very first steps, getting down the stairs (climbing up was never an issue), singing and dancing, babbling your own first name - so sweet -. Happy birthday happy little fella.

Love. Je t'aime.
Maman

Daycare party - a tiny bit worried my little boy

Family's after dinner party - a bit more relaxed

Friends' party - Easy!

Friends' party - no touch! :)

Where I can find the recipes? coming soon... keep in touch!

Pork loin and lemon tajine-style

This recipe could not be a proper tajine recipe. To my knowledge, tajines come from North Africa where most people are muslim and thus do not eat pork. And I don't have a tajine dish. But this dish has some tajine-ish flavours and is baked into the oven. This experimentation using pork loin, summer veggies and lemons was stunning. We loved it!

Alright... I am not very happy with the pictures (well that's a good reason for replicating the recipe again and making new pics! yay!). Trust me it tastes much better than it looks. Plus it is a very healthy option, full of flavours and veggies, that you can serve with couscous for a complete meal. The sauce is awsome - rich but made out of the veggies and the lemons, with just a little bit of fat from the meat and the olive oil. Quite a healthy and addictive sauce. Believe me when I said that I loved this dish!

Even No.2 (nearly 1!!! yay!!!) loved it. The mix of veggies is perfect, the kumara and the tomatoes bring a little bit of sweetness to balance with the lemon. The veggies can be pureed, but they are so soft that it's easy for babies to eat in chunks.

Grapefruit and coconut chicken salad

Another great spring day - Summer is just around the corner! Here we are like busy bees in the garden: we started the herb patch, strawberry flowers are turning into small fruits, the raspberry plants are reviving and the earth of the veggie patch ready to get new seedlings. We already sow cucumber, zucchini, sweet basil, and lettuce in trays. Every day No.1 water his tray of veggies. I really enjoy watching him so excited about the sowing/growing vegetable process.
And you know what? while we were digging the ground, my little paleontologist even found a dinosaur bone. Yes a real one! He said that it would probably be a T-Rex arm. I did not make a picture so I was overwhelmed by the little stars in his eyes... love...

The garden kept us so busy all week end that I had very little time left for the kitchen. After a busy week end in the garden, nothing much was available in the pantry or the fridge. Leftovers of roast chicken, some grapefruits kindly given by a colleague - thanks! - and a need for raw veggies, all in a fresh mix that would suit an 11 month-old. Half an hour later we were all enjoying a fresh grapefruit and coconut chicken salad!

Lentil and ham hock spring salad

What a wonderful spring week we had! This has tickled my taste for salads. But my pantry is still full of winter-ish food like lentils and ham hocks. And veggies like capsicum and tomatoes are not exactly of season yet, so still a bit expensive.

Not a problem, lentils and ham hock gives you a nice end of Winter - early spring salad dinner, and you just need a little bit of capsicum and tomato.
In my native region in France, Alsace, we often eat cured meat like ham hocks (although we don't use this cut of the pork, but rather fillets, belly and shoulder). I love them, they are so flavoursome and require very little preparation as they just need to be boiled up. With a dash of mustard or horseradish, this kind of meat, warn or cold, is delightful! Here in NZ, ham hocks are what you can find at the butchery, although it is very tasty, it has not as much meat as on another cut like fillet or shoulder. And you better don't eat all the ham hock skin and fat, otherwise it is not as healthy - it's just a matter of being reasonable!

And the best? If you have lentil leftovers or cans, then it will take you less than 30 mins to make this nice meal for your family. Enjoy your spare time in spring!

Ingredients (6 servings)

- 2 ham hocks
- 600 g brown lentils, cooked, cold (dry or can)
- 1 large red capsicum
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 shallot
- 1 or 2 tbsp grainy mustard (to taste)
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 3 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp water
- greens
- salt, white pepper

Preparation (30 mins)

1. Wash the ham hocks under cold water. Then put them in a large pot, cover with water and bring to the boil for 10 mins in order to wash all the impurities.
2. Dice the tomatoes, chop the onion and the capsicum. Mix with the lentils.
3. To make the dressing, mix together the mustard and the oil. Then add the vinegar. If the dressing is a bit too vinegary to your taste, then add a dash of water, but not more oil. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in the salad. You can either this salad on the top of some green leaves or mix them in.
4. Carve thin slices of ham hock to serve with the salad. Or if you prefer dice the ham hocks and mix in the salad.

Bon appetit!

Creamy couscous pudding

Today I want to show No.2 my genuine gratitude for the extra 2 hours of sleep we are all getting since Sunday! MER-CI! Loving daylight savings!!!
I don't write often about my very little one. It's probably because somewhat we don't know each other as much - as compared to his big brother -, yet. But we make progress every day.

I now respond to two very familiar, but distinct and how charming, voices when they say 'Maman'.
My No.2 is very cheeky: he crawls away as soon as he sees me around the corner; and he knows that I can be quite impatient, when it has come to cuddle times!
My No.2 is so charming: since very little, he waved bye-bye at people; a bit more recently, he sent flying kisses to his close circle; he is now kissing maman in exclusivity! I am so in love with my almost one-year-old bubba that I have already forgotten the poor nights of last months and the grumpy week-ends... and all the rest!... not so far from feeling ready to take the next step in my mum-career, which might be the nightmare of another Big Dinosaur...

Let's focus on the present step, and the present has come to me feeding 4 dinosaurs, all at the same menu - very important detail! No. 2 is ready to eat by himself what's in our plates. So I decided to focus even more on healthy meals for the whole family - this doesn't mean no more treaty recipes here, we have some parties upcoming so I need to do a bit of testing/experimentations in the next few weeks -.
In order to thank my very little one (I did not write 'to fill him more and more and to get him asleep longer in the morning), I prepared a healty pudding special for him but also for the whole family! Jackpot!

This couscous pudding is inspired by some French couscous gateau, but creamier, egg-free, just slightly sweet thanks to the addition of sultana and dry apricots. It is smooth, full-filling and health. Not only it is yum, but it is looking great! Don't you think?

I prepared this kind of pudding for my children since they were around 8 months. I prepare 5 to 6 little jars for the whole week (can be kept in sterilised jars in the fridge for up to 5 days), when it has been devored before by some bigger dinosaurs.