Oh, I Meet the Nicest People Through Blogging and a Wonderful Provencal Style Lunch in the Backyard!

It has been 3 1/2 years since I started telling you about the places we discover during our sojourns in Provence. During that time, I've had the chance to meet some of you who read this blog as well as some of the bloggers I follow. I think the first person I met through this blog was Kathy from Camano Island, Washington who came to dine at our Bistro des Copains in Occidental, CA and then later rented our Sablet house.

Since then, we have met more of you at the Bistro, several of you at the Tuesday morning market and at Le Festival Café in Vaison-la-Romaine, a couple who were riding bikes through Sablet and a group shopping at a brocante market there, and at a lunch near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. This blogging has resulted in friendships with some amazing people including Barbara who teaches aspiring cooks at Cuisine de Provence.

This past week, I met Liza from Provence in Ann Arbor and her mother who were on their way to visit family in Northern California but detoured to dine at our Bistro Des Copains. Liza somehow finds time to write about food and Provence between her day job teaching Spanish and French to high school students. I'm sure kids like language classes at Liza's high school more than we liked them at mine; sorry Mrs. Butler.

Recently we met Aidan from Conjugating Irregular Verbs near the cousin's house in Clapiers France. The lead up to meeting our new friend began when I stumbled upon her charming blog a few years ago. Much more recently Aidan was interviewed on Blog Expat about living in the South of France where she said among other things that she wished there was more peanut butter in France.

Having just been to Costco and seen big jars of Skippy peanut butter, I sent an email to Aidan to tell her we would be happy to bring her peanut butter if she would meet us when we came to visit the cousins. So on a Sunday morning a few weeks ago, we met Aidan with two big jars of creamy (her preference) peanut butter in hand.

I develop an impression of blog authors based upon their writing styles and stories they tell. So I wondered if we would recognize Aidan and if she would be like the person I imagined from her blog. I can answer yes to both; I recognized her at quite a distance and she is just like I thought; someone we really like.

Aidan and her husband P-Daddy came to the South of France from Texas by way of Ireland. Unfortunately, Aidan doesn't write as frequently as she used to but give her a break, she is a busy mom with three kids and a dog. Besides running kids around, she was on House Hunters International, the HGTV reality show and she is finishing up a novel set in the South of France.

Aidan came bearing a gift. We didn't expect anything but I shouldn't have been surprised based upon the type of person she is. I commented on a post about how I like the wines of Domaine L'Hortus and she arrived with a bottle of 2012 Domaine de l'Hortus Bergerie de l'Hortus Rosé. We decided to carry the bottle back to California and drink it at a Provencal style lunch in honor of our new friend.

Saturday, we invited the kids to come over for lunch. I cooked inside but we dined outside in true Provencal fashion despite it being one of the hottest days of the year; 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius for my European friends). The four grand kids splashed in the big wading pool while we ate and drank Aidan's rosé.

2012 Domaine de l'Hortus Bergerie de l'Hortus Rosé

Because of the heat, I kept the menu simple:

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Cucumbers and Fresh Basil from Shirley's Garden

Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms

Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini with Farro

Oven-Roasted Wild King Salmon Over a Fresh Sweet Corn and Cherry Tomato Salsa

Sliced Organic White and Yellow Nectarines Over Vanilla Ice Cream

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Cucumbers and Fresh Basil from Shirley's Garden

Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms

Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini with Farro

Oven-Roasted Wild King Salmon Over a Fresh Sweet Corn and Cherry Tomato Salsa

No pictures of dessert. Lunch was delicious if I say so myself. A la vôtre Aidan. Thanks for the wine! It was delicious on a very hot day.

Shirley and I say "A la vôtre"

We look forward to meeting more of you in the coming months and years. I hope to meet some of you who regularly comment about posts including Sara and her band of characters over at Sara in Le Petit Village, Tuula at Belle Provence Travels, Camille who writes from Paris over at Croque-Camille, Diane who writes from the Charente at My Life in the Charente, Heather who has a magical way with words and pictures at Lost in Arles, Meredith who lives near cousin Annick at Talking Story in Provence, and last but not least Veronique who writes from Seattle at French Girl in Seattle.

Bonne journée mes amis et à bientôt.