Painting, setting a beautiful table ... and eating well !

Beginning my new painting: 'Wolf's Tomatoes'

Aha ! Voila ! It is completed

'Wolf's Tomatoes'

Preparing the table for dinner with Wolf, Isabelle (daughter) and me

Dinner is served

You know when you have one of those 'great' days ... and each hour of your day is wonderful. Well, that's my life here in the beautiful French Riviera. But, this day in particular was sooo simple and nice. I enjoy painting 'en plein aire' and it just so happened that Wolf brought home a large crate of tomatoes nestled in raffia. What better still life than that I say ! So, I painted on a 10" x 10" canvas, listened to music, poured myself a healthy cocktail of pink grapefruit juice, lemon soda and vodka (ok, well maybe the vodka part isn't so healthy but it increased my joy) and I set out to paint this lovely little painting.

Dinner: Isabelle was wonderful as my 'sous' chef. Actually, she pretty much cooked everything. I marinated the salmon overnight in a juice mix of oranges, lemons, limes and pineapple chunks. In addition to the wonderful flavour that is added ... when you sautee the salmon in a hot skillet with a bit of butter added, it adds a beautiful caramelization and searing to the salmon.

We also cooked some beautiful tortellini stuffed with spinach and cheese, had crusty bread with encrusted seeds, salad with mache and tomatoes with a glaze of olive oil and balsamic vinegar ... a pitcher of vin rose and a lovely bottle of bordeaux to accompany the selection of cheese.

Like I said ... when you have one of those simple and perfect days ...