Bless Summer Series: 4 Le Petit Poucet {Roll the Dough}

 

 

Le Petit Poucet de mon enfance a laissé de belles et alléchantes miettes blondes et chocolatées sur son parcours entre champs, rues pavées et plages, jusqu'à notre bord de mer ; de temps à autre il me permet de me retrouver dans mon univers du tendre groûter. Attention : pour une fois, pas celui pétri par d'aimables mains, mais bel et bien celui tout fait, à l'interminable liste d'ingrédients dont certains plus avouables que d'autres, et reluisant à souhait sur les étalages du supermarché.

 Il faut de tout, aussi, pour faire un goûter et former le goût. D'ailleurs, je ne suis pas certaines que ces sucreries étaient admises dans notre foyer quand j'étais petite ; ce qui est sûr, c'est que leurs noms et leur marque évoquent sans faute une enfance italienne.

Cette petite pause de l'après-midi est incontournable, hiver comme été, mais a fortiori au cœur de la saison estivale et de l'air d'opérette des cigales de la pinède qui nous accueille. Cette pause est devenue le prétexte d'un voyage à rebours main dans la main avec nos deux petites gourmandes.

Alors oui, les fruits et autres fraîcheurs sont là, mais l'indulgence porte aussi vers ces biscuits aux noms évocateurs : Cuore di Mela (cœur de pomme), Pan di Stelle (pain d'étoiles), Mooncake, celui de la photo ci-dessus... (Amis d'Instagram, vous savez de quoi je parle !)

L'été toutes les folies douces étant permises, notre écart très gourmand nous mène vers de nouvelles saveurs tombées de la Voie lactée dans notre assiette en porcelaine, souvenir de la vaisselle de ma grand-mère ou dans notre bol contemporain. Ces petits dômes chocolatés, nouvelle version des historiques Pan di Stelle, renferment en leur cœur de la poussière d'étoiles sombre et voluptueuse, tandis que les plus sobres mœlleux à la pomme ont un petit fond acidulé qui a ravi les grands-parents pris en flagrant délit de grignotage sans complexes sous le ciel du soir.

Qui a dit que le goûter était réservé aux enfants et se limitait à l'après-midi ?

 

 

Photo : TheDaydreamer

Bless Summer Series: 3 Summer Quote {WorldWiseWords}

 

"Non ero né emozionata né nervosa, mi sentivo esattamente come quando ci si immerge nell'acqua alla temperatura perfetta. O quando ci si bagna in un mare tiepido, mentre si guarda il sole scendere lento all'orizzonte. Nell'acqua limpoda del mare svanisce la stanchezza, le spalle si alleggeriscono, e si abbandona il corpo al ritmo delle onde, più rilassante di qualsiasi sorgente termale."

-- Moshi Moshi, Banana Yoshimoto

Credits: TheDaydreamer

Bless Summer Series: 2 Splash! {At the Spa}

The unpretencious green bottle and muslin cloth arrived via regular mail, all the way from the UK. The moment I unzipped the handy bag it came in, the blend of fresh and familiar scents hit me: chamomile, cocoa butter, eucalyptus and rosemary.

That's when I realized the parcel actually contained a message in a bottle; I like to think it is a mermaid dressed with glittering and precious scales who sent it to me: a serene message, one of purifying routine that screamed for splashing fresh water onto my face and feeling truly awake while using gentle ingredients closer to nature. I am not fully ready to prepare my own concoctions, even though I do like to read a post here and there about homemade beauty products and certainly relish the greedy idea to be able, one day, to mix my own creams.

The latest beauty trend calls for leaving water aside to avoid aggressive skin treatment that would in the end damage the derma. I find the workaround interesting as a new spin in beauty, but I cannot imagine washing my face - or my hair, think about "dry shampoo" - without the good old splash of cold or lukewarm water. It is for me the finishing touch that makes me feel truly clean and ready to hit the day.

The message in the bottle I just picked is full of inviting promises for my summer trial while I momentarily stray away from my regular and richer products and textures - tried and tested and unbelievably reliable for me. Summer is a good season to try something new as I feel more adventurous and ready to take on the world with recharged - and refreshed - batteries.

What beauty message did you receive this summer? 

Credits: TheDaydreamer

 

Bless Summer Series: 1 The Excess {Look Around}

 

The Summer Series has become a tradition around The Daydreamer's Diary and it should really come as no wonder that despite the difficulties linked to erratic Internet connection on my side of the European world, I still manage to put together posts about my favorite season of all: summer.

The summer months are all that I crave for all year around. In winter and Fall, I hibernate. Ahead, I know there will eventually be the earthly rebirth of nature and souls, urged on by the warming and comforting rays of our nurturing sun.

In the summer, everything goes full force, pedal to the floor: the light, the wind, the temperatures, the colors, the flavors, the scents, the sea, the waves. It is the season of Mediterranean excess.

I am only too ready to embrace it in real and virtual life (#BlessSummer) alike.

Mimicking nature, I want to dive over and over again to see every little fish, bite into every peach and fresh fig around, pick up a full collection of pinecones for the evening fire, smell every jasmine flower I happen to meet during my ecstatic wanderings around the village - I just feel like there isn't enough time to happily take in all the bountiful wonders around us.

How do you feel in the summer? How do you celebrate the summer months? What are your favorite activities in the summer?

Credits: TheDaydreamer

 

True gems {Look Around}

The Base nautique & By's Café and Restaurant

Open air parties are a different thing altogether: that BBQ smell pervading the air around the KBH Home - a simple yet stylishly solid wooden vessel anchored in the pine wood - and flying away to knock on the neighbors' door and ricochet on every tree trunk to call everyone to join the easy-going feast - now THAT is something to look for all year round and to enjoy like there is no tomorrow, as the saying goes.

When the sun sets on the elegant Le Touquet and lets the cool breeze fly in from the nearby Atlantic ocean, bringing along messages in lost bottles and mesmerizing mermaid songs, it is time to let the birthday party DJ step up and play his tunes, from the highly commercial ones to the unknown voices that will be impossible for us to find once the night is over. The colorful disco lights are free to play wildly against the dark night sky and pine silhouettes: my head spins as I try to follow each of them in their frantic dance, in vain.

That is why they are - and will remain - gems.

Baie de Canche

At least until the next morning, when my fuzzy head full of the night rhythm and the sore feet from the dance floor flurry scan the sun-bathed horizon for a new, breezy destination and invigorating activity: the Baie de Canche. Following the coast path, crossing runners and bikers, we walk peacefully surrounded by nature: dunes and coastal flowers are our natural companions all the way to the base nautique where colorful flags flap playfully in the air and white benches and tables are an invitation to contemplation.

On the way back, we take the less traveled road and go through the pine forest to look for benevolent shade and fragrant pinecones. Precious sand is everywhere, and its every grain permeates my skin to remind me of the beauties of the time spent here in nature's arms and surrounded by friends.

These moments too are gems.

Credits: TheDaydreamerDiary