About

Some of you might wonder why “plate” in English and “du jour” in French. I live in Luxembourg, and here people mix languages. Usually around 3 or 4 at the same time! I know, sounds crazy, but it’s great to experience this and it’s great to be close to so many cultures and countries. I guess food is something that really influences us all and it also helps to understand all the differences between Germans, French, Italians, Polish and many other nations living here. I would like to share this with you and I hope you will enjoy it as I do every day.

I still don’t know where I got the courage from to go out there and start publishing my recipes. I’ve been cooking and experimenting with food for years now and I even remember how it started. I was maybe 12 and one day my mom was making pasta- yes, a real one. And I was making mean comments about what she was doing. Finally she got angry with me and she said “OK, if you’re so smart come here and do it yourself!” So I did. I remember that she was speechless as she clearly didn’t expect that, but that how it goes for me with food. I used to love watching my grandma making dumplings, or preparing the cabbage for the winter time. This was like a ceremony in the house. Countless cabbages in the kitchen, carrots, special clay pots and stones which she would put on top of each pot to cover the mix of cabbage and carrots in a marinade of spices and water. I remember my mom preparing the vegetables for the winter- carrots, potatoes, beetroots, turnips and onions. We would leave them in the cellar in the wooden boxes covered with sand so they could last for a few months. In the late summer my mom was making fantastic apple and plum jam- she still does. Spring was the season for cucumbers in a marinade of salt and vinegar and bay leaves. Two days later they were delicious… I guess I started appreciate all this knowledge very late, probably too late. Living in the city, and the quality of food we eat these days made me think of how I used to eat and why we should follow the seasons and eat according to the rhythm of nature and not because it’s in a supermarket all year long. Also I believe we should share all the good things about our lives and experiences, even if it’s only a good dinner you just made and you are proud of yourself.

I guess I owe you an explanation about the way I run this blog, or at least how I’m planning to. This blog IS very much about making food, using good quality ingredients, and about where to buy them and how to prepare them for cooking. I will also share my experiences on my own observations related to the cultural differences and consideration for food in the countries I’ve been to or I’ve lived in for a while.

I also wanted to explain why I post so many pictures. Some of my friends were not happy with it, where some of them said that it is a great idea and it makes the recipes very “user friendly”. I honestly cannot say why or how it started for me that I decided to illustrate almost everything I cook by a picture, however there is a story which I think perfectly explains the reason behind it. Many years ago, my mom was not great at baking… and believe me I know what I’m talking about! I remember there was that cake she wanted to make for us, and that time it was one of those recipes that all your aunts, female neighbors and girlfriends would share. So she got the recipe from my aunt, and happily prepared the dough. I remember that moment when the dough was still in the oven and suddenly my mom opened it quickly and started piercing the dough with the fork!! True, it got a sort of strange bubbles and my mom got panicked about it. Later in the evening she called my aunt and she told her the whole story, making herself sounded like she was a hero of some kind. She saved the cake in the end! There was a silence on the other side but later my aunt said ” oh you silly! you shouldn’t touch those bubbles! this is how it’s supposed to be!” So there you go… my mom could not see it in advance, so she didn’t know she should not attack the cake! So now you know why so many pictures…

Before I started writing my own blog I did a little search on the internet.” OMG…” was my first impression and I was almost depressed. So many blogs, looking very fancy, or a bit less, dedicated to almost everything that relates to our health, well-being and food of course. Not that I didn’t know that before, but when you actually start your own thing your perspective changes. The competition… I looked at the advices from some of the gurus and all of them say “at the beginning nobody is going to read it, you will have no comments or some nasty ones… yes”. I was thinking: “Do I really want that?” But then they say “after a while there will be someone interested or asking you a question or even two (bring it on!), and you can always delete the nasty comments”… 🙂 And even if none of this is true,  in the end why not…