I had heard about Mercer Kitchen, so when we were in Soho and looking for a place to have lunch, Mercer it was. The two level restaurant is cool and unpretentious, and serves delicious seasonal food. Above, is our lunch: crunchy squid, sea scallops with peas and grilled pizza.

We liked it so much, we came back again, a week later!

Brooklyn and New York City.

is bright colours, friends and dinners of cheese, baguettes and patés and warm nights.

are two of my favourite things

This past June, we stayed for a few days in Paris, at a friend’s house, in Marais. I had already gone to Paris a couple of times, but this was special: I wandered the city alone and did absolutely everything I wanted to do: peek inside shops, sit on the street cafés and, as you might imagine, check out the farmers markets.

The photos above are from the market just outside Les Halles and it was bursting with fresh produce, flowers and people.

Pedro and I got married on a beautiful warm July afternoon, surrounded by all our loved ones: friends and family. It was even more beautiful than we had anticipated and we were filled with joy to see everyone so happy, during the day.

We started planning the wedding in January and from the start we knew we wanted to keep things simple and personal. So, Pedro designed the invitations and the thank you cards. Since we got married in a botanical garden, that was the major source of our inspiration.

Above you can see some of the things we did:  two days before the wedding I baked a few batches of cookies, that were placed in jars, for all our sweet-toothed guests.

As both our families take cooking and food in general pretty serious, we decided our wedding favor should be something sweet and something savory and should represent both sides of the family. So, what’s best than homemade tomato jam made by my mother and olive oil that comes from Pedro’s parents hometown? We thaught it was pretty perfect and our friends and family agreed.

For the party, we wanted something fun and that really set the mood for the night. So, we took on the task of making different shapes of moustaches on a stick, that were quickly coveted by everyone – and we have hilarious photos to prove it.

It was a long day, but it was rewarding to see everyting we dreamt really come together – it was a special day that we’ll keep in our hearts for a very long time.

My mind has been elsewhere and so the blog has been (really) neglected. It’s only four days till the big day and I can’t seem to find the time to blog..

As the blog, the kitchen has been quiet – no big and fancy meals, no new recipes, just a few reliable, easy and quick recipes. The picture above tells it all – I can whip this pizza in about 15 minutes and not feel that guilty about not cooking a proper meal in weeks.

In other news, I’m beyond excited about this next few days. A bit nervous too, but I guess that’s normal.

In a week, we’ll be leaving for New York, where we’ll stay for 3 weeks, including a small road trip to the Hudson Valley.

In New York, we’ll be joining Karen Mordechai and a small group of other food-loving people, on a Sunday Suppers class with chef Vincent Rotolo, all about grilled pizzas and cheeses. Can’t wait!

filled with flowers.