Cool, Calm & Collected { & Lavender Peach Ice Cream Recipe Alert! }

Well other than sweltering in the heat, how has your summer been going? I've been busy designing... bedrooms! a master and a guest... and of course how can I not be influenced by the soaring temperatures this exceptionally hot summer here in North America...

So I have gravitated towards all things cool... soft aquas, blues, greens, silver, white. I've been collecting images from all over the internet as inspiration...  irresistibly appealing now and surely will still be refreshing when the winter rains come around again!

Hope these images help you cool off... let me know if you feel a few degrees more chill!

all images via Pinterest except oil paintings and silver, 

which are at auction this week in Provence,

and Benjamin Moore site

Feeling cooler?

Now go have some Roasted Peach & Lavender Ice Cream

and a Pomegranate Cooler

Roasted Peach and Lavender Ice Cream *:

Use any stone fruit you like best. Do not worry if you can't remove the pits before you put them in the oven, both skins and pits will yield under your fingers once the fruits are roasted. Cook, peel, mash and throw in with the ice cream base which is nothing more complicated than milk and cream and a little sugar or honey.

Best is to prepare the fruit and ice cream base the day before you plan on churning it.

Ingredients:

6 peaches

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon dried edible lavender buds

1 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1 cup whole coconut milk

1/3 cup honey

Prepare the ice cream:

Preheat the oven to 400F. 

Cut the peaches in half and remove the pits.

Place in large roasting pan, cut side up. Drizzle with the honey and lavender. Roast until golden brown and soft, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely and peel the skins off the peaches (you can roast them the day before if you want). Reserve.

In a large saucepan set over medium heat, cook together the cream, milk coconut milk and honey until they barely come to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Refrigerate until cold.

When both fruit and ice cream based are chilled sufficiently, mash the peaches with a potato masher or a fork (no need to puree fine), add them to the base and process the ice cream according to your ice cream maker manufacturer's instruction.

Freeze until set.

* this lovely recipe is from the gorgeous Tartlette; I used her recipe to make my ice cream, it was so much fun to make and eat!

The Holiday Weekend Alameda Flea Market Trek...

I got up very early for a Sunday morning, especially one after all the Fourth of July celebrating around here, and drove the 40 minutes across the San Francisco Bay to the Alameda Flea Market. So who needs the Paris fleas if you can just come here? I arrived very early, 6:15 am, and the skies were dark and brooding, the temperature hovering around 50 degrees and a lot of dealers still setting up their wares. Coffee in hand, I headed out to find my old friend Lauren, who was set up at spaces X-5 and X-6... for her colleagues at Patine. Later, I rounded up Therese Long from La Dolfina {her wonderful blog} and we had one wonderful time together!

look at Lauren's pillows, made from antique linens her colleagues find in Europe... 
are they not wonderful!

you can also buy yardage of gorgeous old European linens of every weave 
and suble color changes...

that's the always-chic Lauren showing customers a bowl... you can see how early in the morning it was... and those structures in the background are giant lifts for unloading giant cargo ships that come into the Oakland harbor...

Lauren, remember your good old friend before you sell this... I'll come running... LOVE this old French table and it would be perfect in my garden... should have grabbed it on the spot!

and the little green wooden folding chairs that used to
be seen all over France... I'll take four!

here is a good view of Lauren's French tubs... baby bathtubs on iron stands, a large adult sized zinc tub, a wonderful old rake and a great looking nice tall zinc wine bottle holder for all those empties!

***

a few rows away (there are 800 separate vendors at this monthly flea market!!) I found the wonderful
green-ness of Elsie Green... {rumor has it she once did styling for Pottery Barn}...  what is it about
all that gorgeous blue green paint and jars that stops one in their tracks?

Elsie's chocolate jars from Paris, wire baskets from France, beautiful dahlias...

look at this wonderfully casually chic table setting... old tin cake molds
hold old glasses that hold a place setting of silverware.... rustic runner
on wooden table, more white dahlias in big chocolate jars, and look...
she clothespinned the napkins to each chair! could anything be
more charmingly summer-fresh?

and speaking of cool, what about these Paris park chairs, in varying shades of
mint and citrus greens.... love! someone snagged these eight...

from Elsie Green's charming website!

***

of course, I had to stop over at Trinidad's to see what the
latest container from France contained....you know his
shop, Atelier de Compagne... check out the number
of followers on his FB page!

Trinidad's collections before the sun came up (top) and after it
is beginning to blaze down on us marketeers... don't you love that
bust? and those mirrors,  fabulous!

be sure to check Atelier de Campagne's website...

***

no visit to the Alameda Flea would be complete without checking out Big Daddy's
latest offerings... and his merchandising is so much fun.... love them or not, these
old green chemistry jars with red wax seals have tons of panache... and his
version of the painted-board-strips-turned-art is quite sophisticated, non?

you know me... if there is a sunburst mirror within twenty miles, I will find it and I will photograph it.... Big Daddy has a huge one in gilt wood mounted on old rustic grey boards, the ultimate in chic!

this wonderful huge old Coca-Cola sign will make quite a statement in a large, airy loft
in San Francisco somewhere....

this is from Big Daddy's website... love the old yellow olive oil jugs and all that white & gray...

***

had to drop in on this shabby chic set up.... love the ticking bags she is selling... and all the painted furniture.. greys, whites, creams.... and of course all the silver.... and yes, that lady is wrapped in a small blanket, it was very chilly in the morning before the fog burned off....

I  still go weak in the knees for silver... always have loved it .... 
it's the Southern Girl in me.... 
and her display is quite charming....

***

***

Come on, let's go....

...prowling through one of the most fabulous vintage Provençal fabric shops in all of Provence, if not all of France... la Boutique de Francine in Isle sur la Sorgue is a thrilling find to those of us who adore the gently worn and immensely appealing look and feel of these beautiful, venerable old textiles. 

Madame's shop is huge, a storefront which at first glance looks pretty modest and unassuming.  Once you enter, you are captivated by the sheer volume of fabrics, arrayed by type and color, and punctuated by antique glass and housewares. 

Linger long enough and you will find...nearly hidden between huge shelves bulging with bolts... a small doorway that leads to an enormous warehouse in back, packed to the rafters with vintage fabrics, linens, quilts, bolts, pillow cover, clothing. Madame has spent a lifetime amassing an enormous collection... much to the delight of our designing hearts!

this little area holds some delightful toiles de jouy, some made into small pillows

even a small fragment of this stunning
antique jacquard is frame-worthy

this little pillow is made to showcase a wonderful fragment of 18th C. toile de jouy

beautiful old quilts, laundered and folded are casually displayed in the shop and welcome 
your touch... aren't they inviting? 

every here and there Madame breaks up the oceans of fabrics with lovely
antique glassware, dishes and household things from bygone eras

ribbons and trims are everywhere!

vintage night gowns in cottons and linens

antique hand made lace crocheted and tatted

lovely sight in the back warehouse room, old basket next to stacks and stacks
of vintage linens of every size

these old fabrics have been over dyed in modern colors
to a wonderful, fresh effect!

These books below will help you make great use of these wonderful old French fabrics (and even give suggestions on where to find fabrics that just look old & French) and are great gifts for your Provence-loving friends or for a special someone who loves to sew and craft beautiful things...perfect!  Enjoy!

for inspiration in how to use these wonderful fabrics,
try Kaari Meng's gorgeous books... this one is
French General Home Sewn, available HERE

another French General book,
try Kaari Meng's gorgeous books... this one is
Treasured Notions, available HERE

and Kaari Meng's signature book complete with inspiration and
practical advice and tools... this one is
The French-Inspired Home, available HERE

Come with us next time!

for info click HERE