'Still Lifes' around the house

'tis the season for Clementines

19th Century metal letters from an old French pharmacy

Autumn is ..walnuts, pomegranates, chestnuts and clementines...

I picked the walnuts in this pic from trees in our garden...so satisfying!

If you associate walnuts with cinnamon buns and other rich pastries, you might not realize what a healthy food they really are. 

Particularly noteworthy for their omega-3 fats, walnuts are also high in antioxidants. In a recent Spanish study, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with walnuts was shown to significantly lower risk factors for heart disease.

These delicious little packages are dense with nutrients, an excellent source of manganese, copper and tryptophan.

Traditionally is served with ravioli filled with greens. In Turkey, a thick, garlicky walnut sauce called tarator is served with cooked vegetables, much as aïoli is in the South of France.


In France, walnuts are added to salads, breads and many desserts, and they are eaten fresh as well as dried - a great delicacy in the fall, just after the harvest.  Walnuts are used in sweet and savory dishes throughout the Mediterranean. Along the Italian Riviera, a rich ricotta and walnut sauce.

NYTimes HealthyFood 

Village LIfe in Provence

From living in a city where the daily grind takes over all aspects of life to the tranquil ancient countryside takes a bit of getting used to. Probably the most amazing and awe inspiring thing is being constantly surprised by nature and the seasonal art of renewal. Arriving in March to start a new life in an ancient Provencal village the welcome could not have been sweeter than roads lined in irises and fields full of cherry and apple blossom.