It doesn’t necessarily come down to last minute planning

One of the most valuable wisdoms I gained when we started growing our own food as much as possible taught me that the miraculous marriage between effort and commitment in its preparation remains harmonious, even after the last bite at the dinner table. Also, in focusing on the best taste for a dish it helps enormously to realize that every step is cumulative and it doesn’t necessarily come down to last minute planning.

Don’t worry, I won’t preach about upcoming catastrophic disasters, apocalypse now, stockpiling food or other supplies. I won’t even point out that the current worldwide economic collapse is a sign for things to go even more sour soon; I’m not that doomsday-kinda-guy. I used to think I was the opposite, always prepping to the max for celebratory events like scheduled visitors, bulky groups of dinner guests and spontaneous social gatherings, which worked out great for everybody including me and spread a lot of joy.

But we live in French countryside now, where quality food is available and enjoyable all the time, so we have taken those parties into daily life at Les Pierres while trying to shape a creative lifestyle for us both. Hereby I truly perceived the stitches I dropped by looking down on day-to-day cooking operations as a boring and senseless waste of my time.

French food culture is really one of this country’s greatest contributions to our world. Even though there are many rules in France about eating and drinking, half of which we are probably unaware of and we need to keep it that way in fear of disgust, French food is always meant to be enjoyed and shared with others. Not necessary with many though, I recognize now. Why show off for others if you can’t show off for yourself? Our party of two will do just as well most days.

My preferred way of dealing with the inevitable excess of zucchini in summer is to turn them into this very slowly cooked, very tasty and creamy soup that for keeping sake freezes well too and is easy to brighten up with our homemade feta-like-cheese, a few wisps of fresh basil and some cheerful marigold leaves. Serve hot or cold.

Starting points to follow soon.