It’s Tuesday afternoon, the sun is appearing from out behind wispy clouds, and I’m sitting at my dining table with a cup of tea, flicking through Yvette’s new and incredibly inspiring cookbook Homemade, remembering the fun of Thursday night’s private book launch at Foam. Oh what a night! And oh, what a book. It now takes pride of place in my home…

Would you like to take a little peak inside Homemade with me? I’ll pour you a cup of tea while you peruse it’s pages…

that little vessel on the left page is a gift I brought back with me from Australia at the beginning of this year for Yvette – it’s a sam robinson piece, and I’m thrilled to see yvette has used it as a prop in homemade! super leuk.

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I don’t know what I love more – the paper cut out chapter openers, the how-to sections, the personal stories and funny anecdotes peppered throughout the book, the photography (which will knock your socks off), the menu suggestions and “don’t forget the dog” section toward the end of the book, Yvette’s own handmade font, the unique and incredibly delicious recipes, the drawings,… the list goes on.  Yvette has created a seriously unique cook- & DIY book, with over 200 recipes and ideas for home cooking, and I have no doubt it is going to be a great success, it’s truly beautiful…

here is friend Floris who makes the best patés and terrines ever, he has his own shop here in Amsterdam, I’ll take you there one day soon!

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As far as the recipes go, what should I try first?  The lentil, apple & coriander salad (sounds like the perfect lunch to me!), oven baked rissotto with sausage and paprika, zucchini cakes with basil cream, camembert & apricot jam toasted sandwiches, hang op… just to name a few,  it’s all so gooood.  The book is only in Dutch at this stage,  but I’m hoping it will be translated into English soon, I’ll keep you posted about that.

Now, let me tell you about the book launch party last Thursday night! Foam Café was filled to the brim with press, publishers, Yvette’s close friends and family, and the very lovely and very famous French chef, Stéphane Reynaud.  Yvette presented the first copy of her book to Stéphane as he has been a great inspiration to her. I was terribly nervous for her when she was standing up there in front of all those people, I thought my heart was going to pound right out of my chest and into my wine glass. But she was amazing, and didn’t look one bit nervous while she addressed everyone and asked Stéphane to sign her book.  I was able to snap some fun photos of the presentation, would you like to see?

Yvette’s publisher Fontaine Uitgevers is also the publisher of the Dutch version of Stéphane’s new book 365 , which the first copy was presented to him along with Yvette’s book. And I was also pleased to find out from Stéphane that my publisher (that be Murdoch books) is publishing the English version of 365, and it will launch in Australia this coming month, yeah! I had a great long chat with Stéphane, it was the first time I’d met him, he’s super nice. We had lots to talk about, he is really looking forward to visiting Australia this coming month – he loves the place, and loves the food! I was thrilled to hear and see his enthusiasm for Australian fare.

here is yvette at the signing table, signing away like a champ!

So there you go, that was last week’s fun. Ah but wait, there’s more! We had a very special house guest this weekend, perhaps you recall her pretty face from here, here, here and here…

Yes, it’s marie! Yvette had a huge catering job to attend to over the weekend and asked if we’d babysit, of course we said yes. Marie was so well-behaved and completely charming. We did lots of things together – we had afternoon naps together on the couch, we went for walks, and on Sunday morning when she heard Romain get out of bed she jumped off the couch, ran into the bedroom with tail wagging furiously and right up into the bed to say good morning, giving us both lots of kisses and cuddles. On Sunday it was raining all day and we soon realised she had no intention of getting out there in the rain, instead she spent the entire day on the couch, and I spent the day looking over at her, snapping photos of her various couch surfing positions, check her out…

Classic! I miss her already. And did someone just say she can’t get any cuter? Umm, well, take a look at this…

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To find out more about Yvette van Boven’s new cookbook Homemade, click here.

All photography in Homemade by Oof Verschuren.

PS marie sat on that cushion while Yvette styled the biscuits all around her, and then posed for the camera! I remember Yvette & Oof showing me the pic when they took it, she is the ultimate photo-friendly pup, gotta love her.

I’m a very proud friend – Yvette’s book called homemade will be officially launched tonight at a private book party at Foam, I cannot wait. It will be fabulous to see the book in the flesh for the first time – this has been such a labour of love and passion for both yvette and her husband oof who has been busy taking all the photographs of all the delicious recipes over this past year. Above is a photo of Yvette looking over the book pages at the printers in Spain just a few weeks ago.

For my Dutch readers, if you’d like to be the first in line to buy a copy of Yvette’s book homemade, it is now available from de vries boeken.  I will definitely give more details about the book’s whereabouts once I have them.

For now though, I’d like to just make this post an opportunity for us all to shout out in unison a big CONGRATULATIONS to Yvette for the launch of her book tonight. Will you join me in this toast?

xx

Tomorrow evening,  ilovevintage here in Amsterdam is hosting a “miniature” exhibition in their beautiful new boutique on the Prinsengracht – for those who have Amsterdam: Made by Hand, you will find ilovevintage gracing pages 42-45.

There will be miniature handmade illustrations between 1 and 20 cm on display by two artists, based on the theme “woman”, along with music, performances, and fashion shows. Sounds like a fun night – doors open at 7pm, programme starts at 8pm. I’m going to try to go as I haven’t been to one of their exhibitions yet, and I remember when I interviewed the owner Faranak for my book, she was describing all the new ideas they had for the new store -  these special event nights being one of them.  Perhaps I’ll see you there!

When? Friday, august 27th
Where? ILV Atelier boutique. Prinsengracht 201, Amsterdam

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Yesterday I received the latest issue of Town & Country magazine in the mail, sent by lovely Linda from The Little Bookroom. Even though I knew the piece you see above would be coming out in the September issue, when I saw it in the flesh, a wave of surprise flushed my cheeks: How did I end up on this page, as “one of five people you’d turn to look at on the city street”?  Shyness aside, it’s a real honor to be on this page, thank you so much Town & Country. If you live in the US, check out the latest issue of Town & Country to see the full article.

Thank you to Al Jensen for the portrait (remember he was the fab photographer on this very special day).

Outfit details in the article: barbara munsel tunic, organic denim jeans, hunter boots (an awesome gift from my wonderful friend liz), and my aymara poncho which you may recall I was wearing on this day.

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My last post about Paris is up next here in the (blog)house! Also, I’ve changed the blogs in the spotlight in the sidebar, and I’ve also done some general tidying – added a twitter button, updated the ‘search’ button, etc. Oh, and I’ve added a fun amazon widget which I found on Yvette’s cool new website, it allows you to scroll through books that I recommend  – it’s down at the bottom of the sidebar. x

…made by leslie from swarm.  She just finished a new batch and they are all insanely beautiful. I’ve been taking this one with me everywhere, it’s perfect as a ‘stylist on the run’ bag, you can fit so much in it! And I love that it will age the more I use it, so so special.

Anyway, I had to show you guys. This is just one side, the other side is also gorgeous, perhaps I’ll show you that side another day – it’s like having two bags in one. oh yeah.

view from my window, one.

It all started with an accidental night out on Friday evening when french boy and I thought we were headed to a friend’s gig at cafe paradiso only to find out when we got there that we had our dates mixed up – the gig is actually tonight (come along if you’re in town, details here, entry is free). Being the homebodies we are, we automatically headed back in the direction of home but it occurred to me that since we’d made the effort to get dressed up  – something I find increasingly difficult to do these days  – that we should stay out, at least for half an hour. So we crossed the road and headed over to cafe alto, a jazz bar in the leidseplein that has been on our ‘must visit’ list ever since we moved to Amsterdam. We got there at around 9:30pm, and it was pretty empty. The bartender said the band would start at 10pm. So we picked out a table near the empty stage and ordered some wine. The band did indeed strike up at 10pm and they were fabulous. The pianist, Ramón Valle was mesmerizing, so incredibly talented, what an inspiration. Philip Harper was on the trumpet, he was also sensational, as was the rest of the band. Within seconds of the band starting up the entire bar was packed,  it had such a great vibe and I highly recommend you head there if you are in Amsterdam. I’m embarrassed to admit it took us this long to discover this great place.

view from my window, two. by the way, the above two photos have nothing to do with my weekend, I just like them.

So then came a lazy Saturday followed by our first Amsterdam picnic in the park! I know, a weekend full of firsts – again, embarrassing since we’ve lived here for nearly 3 years now. Anyway, this picnic was quite special because it was something we’d been trying to organise for a while now with good friends yvette and oof. Both yvette and I had been saving a couple of good bottles of champagne for celebrating the completion of her book and the launch of my book. We managed to lock in Saturday night and met them, along with lovely Marie, at the oosterpark (also the first time I’d been there). We had a little barbecue, some delicious salads, and lots of cheeses and fresh bread. And champagne! It was so so lovely, the park was not too busy which made me very happy as I’m not a fan of crowds. At the end of the night marie snuggled up on my lap as I whispered sweet nothings into her floppy ears.

proef, amsterdam

Sunday! French Boy and I went for an afternoon walk to the Nieuwmarkt and stopped in at the wijs & zonen on the zeedijk for some tea and homemade apple pie. Now I had actually been there before, in fact it was one of the first places fb and I discovered on our first trip to Amsterdam together when we were still living in Paris. It is such a hidden treasure and I’ve been meaning to tell you guys about it all this time. The teas and coffees on offer are phenomenal (they are purveyor to the queen which sounds super fancy). And I also noticed on their website just now that they offer city tours on Saturday afternoons, sounds like fun. Anyway, I digress, Sunday night we headed to proef (for the first time) to meet leslie for dinner and I’m here to report that it was deeeeelicious. I must be honest, I was a little hesitant to go last year as I’d heard mixed reviews about the ‘experimental’ food experiences. And I’m all for experimenting with food but I’m not too keen on paying a lot of money for a meal I’m not sure I’m going to really enjoy. But recently the restaurant opened to the public (they were only open in past years for special events, large groups of people, etc) with an easy going, tapas style menu. Apart from the setting and location being perfect, the plates and serving dishes were interesting and beautifully styled (vintage china plates combined with little jam jars for salad dressing and the likes). The accompanying wine was also very good, and the dessert was definitely the show stopper – I had the airy chocolate mousse with ice cream,  fruit and cedarwood cotton candy. yum.

So that was my quintessential amsterdam summer weekend. I hope you can take the time to click on all the links and find out some more about these awesome places.

xx

Yesterday, while watering the plants and cleaning the outside of the boat, I glanced out to the disarray of bikes that line the street and realised with a heavy heart that mine was no longer among them. For the first time since moving to Amsterdam almost 3 years ago, my bike has been stolen.  Last night I was frantically trying to remember the very last moments I had with my two-wheeled friend, it seemed vital that I recall these very last moments  – I wanted to make sure we parted on good terms.

Even though I always knew our time together would probably be limited since having your bike stolen is just a part of life in Amsterdam, I’m still sad. For Amsterdammers, our bikes are like best friends – they go everywhere with us, they are there at scary moments, and there at happy moments. They take us to new exciting places we never knew existed. They wait for us, carry things for us, ride through snow & rain,  and get us around the myriad of biking tourists.

My dear bicycle was beautiful to me – old and rusty, but full of spark.  And it was only Friday, after getting lost with it through the back streets of a new-to-me area of the city that I thought about how truly lucky I have been to have such a fab bike.

Now, I will always be looking out for it, hoping that it has embarked on another exciting adventure, albeit in the hands of another. Of course if I do happen to see it again, I won’t hesitate to take it right back. And yes, I am a bit pissed about it, but no one – especially me – knows why humans do what they do.

Goodbye my dear two-wheeled friend, I miss you.

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update: guys you are not going to BELIEVE this! French Boy just went for a walk and came back with my bike!!!!!! I am beyond ecstatic. He found it hiding behind an electrical box at the end of the road/canal. It seems someone stole it but decided it wasn’t worth it! Woohooooo!!! I love my bike even more now, what a true treasure! This is a serious cause for celebration. Thank you for all your commiserations, but let us be sad no more!

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