As much as I’d want to be as present as in other seasons on this blog, comes summertime and I always seem to find a tiny bit less time to type things down on here! It’s not that I’m planning to not updating this blog for a month or two, not at all!, it’s just that things are slowing down a tiny bit; I’m working quite hard at a few new projects and in the rest of my free time I’m being busy laying and sunbathing outside, enjoying every single ray of sunshine I can see, picking fresh and homegrown raspberries (this year we’re basically picking up a bigger quantity of what you can buy at the grocery store for a few too many pounds every morning. Smoothies and desserts are tasting quite better too!) and plums (the sweetest, juiciest little plums I’ve ever tasted) from the garden, putting said fruits to use in cakes and summer desserts, topping peaches with ice cream and really having a good time.

I’m finding happiness in the smaller things. Just think yesterday I’ve spent an entire hour with my pizza doughs, just kneading them out a bit more than usual and putting love into rolling out said doughs into the most delicious Saturday pizza I’ve ever made. And that made me very happy. That and the fact everyone noticed there was something different in it, something better.

Here are a few pictures from our latest summer days…

This year Summer seems to be a bit late, and with it peaches seem to refuse to ripen. Nonetheless we started craving summer in food form almost a week ago, and when you want to put together a plate that instantly reminds of summer evenings spent in the garden, under a gazebo and the fairy lights, with the smell of citronella in the air, you try your hands at an impromptu peach melba recipe.

This recipe is literally summer in a bowl. It’s an explosion of summer flavours, with the freshness and sweetness of the peaches and the bittersweet taste of raspberries. It makes even peaches that refuse to ripen taste at their best, sweet and juicy. If you’ve never poached fruit yourself before, I know it can sound intimidating, but it really isn’t! If you are somewhat of a lover of summer flavours, you can’t *not* give this recipe a try!

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Summer in a bowl | Peach Melba Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Serving Size: 4 to 6 Serves

Ingredients

• for the peaches...
• 4 peaches (preferibly hard)
• 500ml water
• 250g brown sugar
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 
  
• for the syrup...
• 3 or 4 handfuls of fresh raspberries
• juice of 1/4 lemon
• 4 tsp brown sugar
• 
  
• serve with...
• 1 tub of vanilla ice cream
• Amaretto to top

Instructions

1 :: Put water, sugar and lemon juice in a large and deep saucepan. Give them a nice stir and then place on the heat and bring to a boil until the sugar has dissolved completely. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

2 :: Meanwhile peel and cut the peaches in halves. Remove the stones if you can - it's surely easier now than after! Then place the peaches in the simmering syrup and poach them for 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Repeat if needed until they feel soft when the point of a knife is inserted in the middle (on both sides).

3 :: Remove the peaches from the syrup and place them in a large plate to cool down completely. Cover them with the leftover syrup it you plan on letting them rest overnight or for a few hours. You can also place the remaining syrup in a freezable bowl and freeze to use again.

4 :: In a blender, blend together the raspberries, lemon juice and sugar until you get a liquid red sauce.

5 :: Assemble by putting the raspberries sauce on the bottom of a gelato bowl, then place one or two poached peach halves on top and top with a couple of vanilla ice cream scoops. Top with a couple more teaspoons of raspberries sauce and a sprinkle of smashed amaretto. Serve and enjoy!

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http://www.miel-cafe.com/2015/06/peach-melba-recipe.html

Not sure I’m ready to say goodbye to springtime and see it in a whole year (Spring is by far my favourite season, and I always feel a bit nostalgic when I see it go to leave place to summertime, with its hot long days and irritating mosquitoes!), but surely I’m ready to say bye to spring dresses, as the weather is becoming too hot to be even bothered with long sleeves. These pictures are probably the last that will see me in a spring dress this year, and come directly from a day spent in busy Milan, hunting down the perfect summer dress and discovering new favourite restaurants and cafés (which is what an average trip to the city usually means to us).

We spotted EATME&GO right after our morning shopping and right when our stomachs started rumbling. Their window filled with what looked like the most delicious toasts and salads, totally called our names and after a quick look that made us realize it wasn’t only a place for bread, but also ice cream, yogurts and coffee, we decided to step in (as if we needed an excuse to make all that goodness look even more delicious). After long deliberations, we ordered two vegetarian croque monsieur, filled with the creamiest softest melted cheese, a mix of courgettes, carrots and probably yellow peppers, covered in a big layer of melted smoked scamorza… can you even imagine?

I’M WEARING :: Dress ℅ Zaful ; Bag – Similar