I have a sweet spot for the California bungalow. I love the gabled roofline and wide front porches, feeling relaxed and welcoming rather than trying to be impressive. Walking past a well kept bungalow with a pretty garden, I always imagine that a happy family lives there. I’d rather have a bungalow then a massive home with bad architecture.
The modern bungalow has an interesting history. The word bungalow comes from the Bengali region of India, meaning a house built in the Bengal style. The bungalow we know today was popularised in England in the late 1800’s by architect John Taylor. He designed a collection of modest, single-storey holiday homes in the seaside town of Westgate-on-Sea, Kent. They were built as small and affordable holiday houses, giving middle-class families the opportunity to enjoy a new luxury: weekends by the sea.
I love this story because the bungalow wasn’t just a house. It helped push forward the idea that ordinary families deserved leisure time. Before the bungalow, weekends away and second homes were only for the wealthy. The bungalow offered an escape from the city and helped invent the weekend as a destination.
THE WEEKEND
I love the phrase nomadic banquet. This is all about taking hospitality with you, a beach, a meadow, or even the backyard. While I’ve never been a picnic person, I could really get behind transforming an ordinary picnic into something more romantic. A nomadic banquet is a miniature getaway with good food and the destination doesn’t matter. The point is to declare that this event is special and live like you’re on holiday!
Some Ideas? Roasted chicken, a baguette, cheese that won’t melt in the sun, a little charcuterie, quiche, bagels with lox and cream cheese, cherries or apricots. Cold pasta salad. Brownies. Chips. Canned margaritas, cold beer, Orangina, wine. Opinel pocket knives. Don’t forget the wine opener. And most importantly, make it pretty. Bring some flowers, a blanket, a tablecloth and napkins,
Let’s not confuse aesthetics with enjoyment. This isn’t the Victorian era, nor is it the 1950s. Wicker baskets look charming but they’re not practical. I recently stopped at Trader Joe’s while working in the U.S. and picked up one of their insulated cooler bags. It keeps everything cold, has sturdy straps and carries more than a traditional picnic basket. It may not look charming, but when you’re eating cold chicken and sipping frosty drinks on a warm afternoon, you’ll be glad you brought it.
A nomadic banquet may sound elaborate, but really it’s about blending simplicity with a little ceremony.
I’ve been looking for fabulous striped tablecloths and these are perfect. Sunshine on the table! Pack this for your nomadic banquet.
I grew up spending summers at the cottage. Usually lake cottages are situated somewhat close to a small town. Saturday mornings meant one thing: the bakery run. This isn’t about laminated croissants and fancy pastry. Small town bakeries excel at different things: sticky chelsea buns, cronuts, date squares and if you are very lucky, incredibly tender Canadian butter tars…buttery, oozing and sweet. These are things that you don’t normally eat, but you do when you’re at the cottage. Holiday rules apply! This weekend, go find a bakery and buy some treats that you wouldn’t normally enjoy. Or bake them yourself.
Around here there are two camps: firm or runny, raisins or no raisins. I vote for runny, no raisins. You won’t believe how amazing your house smells when you pull these from the oven. I’ve heard people unfamiliar with butter tarts call them “ugly.” That’s a little dramatic. Never the less, once you taste one, you won’t find them ugly anymore, you’ll declare them beautiful :)
I made these last weekend and adapted the recipe from New York Times. I always use Canadian Maple Syrup in combination with the brown sugar. I like the flavour and the looseness of the filling.
Yield:1 dozen
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, more for dusting
Pinch of fine sea salt
½ cup cold unsalted butter cubed
¼ cup ice water
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup packed brown sugar - I use golden
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
Step 1
Make the pastry: In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, rub butter or lard into flour until mixture is in pea-size pieces.
Step 2
In a small bowl, mix water, egg yolk and vinegar until well combined. Add liquid to the flour mixture, using a fork to combine. Add 1 tablespoon more water if it looks dry.
Step 3
Knead dough several times by hand to bring it together and shape into a flat square. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Step 4
Once chilled, roll out the dough into a 16-inch-by-12-inch (40.5 centimeters by 30.5 centimeters) rectangle about ⅛- to ¼-inch (3 to 6 millimeters) thick. Flour the work surface and rolling pin as you work with the dough.
Step 5
I use a mini muffin/tart pan but you can use a regular sized one as well. Roll out circles to fit into the muffin tins. With your fingertips, press each circle into muffin tins, so that the edge of the dough is flush with the pan. Refrigerate while while you make the filling.
Step 6
Make the filling: In a bowl, mix brown sugar, maple syrup and salt, and then beat the butter into the sugar mixture by hand until smooth. Add vanilla and egg and mix until combined. Do not use an electric mixer; it will add too much air to the filling.
Step 7
Divide the mixture evenly among the tart shells, filling each one about halfway. Place muffin tin on a baking sheet. Bake 13 to 15 minutes.
Step 8
A few minutes after removing the tarts from the oven, run a knife or offset spatula around the edge of each tart to loosen. Let cool completely in the tin. To remove, run a butter knife or offset spatula around and under each tart to pop it out of the tin.
Sundays shouldn’t have too many responsibilities attached. I don’t like spending Sunday racing around the house with a vacuum cleaner. It’s far too abrupt an ending to a lovely weekend. After-all, Sunday is 1/2 of the weekend and it needs to be treated as such. If a winter Sunday means hours in the kitchen preparing a formal dinner, then summer Sundays are the opposite: unscheduled, casual, free, barely any cooking.
This week’s book: Villa Coco: a funny, sunny, light hearted story of a young man who travels to the Italian countryside to work for an eccentric Baronessa. It’s a really delightful book.
Pareo towel skirt in blue cotton - the kind of skirt I want to wear on Sunday
I also make this salad all the time!
he bought a wee little house and renovated….
I need his new book, Atmosfloric
July is such a beautiful month, and we’re entering spring (King) salmon season. Salmon makes the best Sunday supper. We always go for wild-caught rather than farmed….the taste is incomparable. There are five species of salmon in Vancouver, each with its own season.
The salmon is cooked on the grill, rare. The cedar boards you buy from the market or fishmonger are perfect but make sure you soak them for at least half an hour before putting them on the grill with the fish. Cooking salmon does not take long, and it can overcook in an instant. Keep a thermometer nearby: 120–125 degrees for rare. This is one of the most important tools we have in the kitchen:
Sunday means eating outside, everyone filling their own plate, music in the background, the table set casually. People top up their own wine, and maybe a candle appears later in the evening. We’ve been loving Benetti Bar recently.
You don’t need a bungalow by the sea to borrow this weekend philosophy. You only need to make each day of the weekend special.
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