The joys of summer no. 1: food

Oh, the photos I want to share with you all from Florida! I can hardly wait. But first I want to post some of the food that keeps me so happy during the summer months. I love bbqs, guacamole, fresh salad, quiche: good simple food. Here are some of the things that have made it onto my table and that have made me smile.

Lots of salads! Don't you just love the crisp taste, not to mention the colours?
Summer just makes me want to be healthy, to eat well... let's just sat that that's a relative rarity!

I've been doing easy entertaining and have brought cake along to a number of bbqs. Sadly, the two cakes below, though somewhat pretty, were disappointing in taste. The lemon cake (with berries) I think is a good idea in theory but it didn't pan out for me. It uses shortening and, try though I might, and even if the recipe comes from the most stupendously scrumptious food blog ever, I hate the taste of shortening and it is never masked by the other flavours for me. I also like my lemon cake without rind... so no recipe here. The second recipe was a Betty Crocker - again, disappointing. I'm going back to the old greats for a while now I think.

This Sunday I am entertaining and hosting a Moroccan themed dinner! Stay around for some fragrant delicacies. A part of my heart (the foodie part) stayed in Marrakech!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tomato, mozzarella and basil with virgin olive oil and balsamic.

This is my foolproof, last-minute favourite lifesaver recipe. Couscous, peppers, tomatoes, sweetcorn, mint (oh, how I love mint!), salt, pepper and lots of lemon juice and virgin olive oil

Mt guacamole: avocado, chopped red onion, tomatoes, crushed garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.

And last but not least: Israeli salad. This delicious crispy salad makes its way into pretty much every family meal at my house. Easy, simple. Diced sweet cherry tomatoes and sweet cucumber, olive oil, lots of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Oh, and we dip toasted bread into the juice at the bottom. Mmmmmmmm!