I can hear him setting up the breakfast table in the Drawing Room and I can smell the fresh grounded coffee. What a bliss for a Sunday morning. I follow the smell hypnotised and I end up enjoying my latte, pampered on the sofa. We do have our weekend routine, with lazy mornings, laughs and late brunches.
As the sunny day reveals to ourselves, I set up the terrace for a relaxing noon and some good reading. I'm still enjoying the Coco Chanel biography "The Legend and the Life" by Justine Picardie with all the "naked" details about her early start in Paris and I can't help myself feeling inspired by this strong woman. Her legacy is still amongst us. Her style and passion still a major influence on the fashion stage worldwide.
I personally can't function without love, sunshine, music and good taste in all aspects of my life. Every weekend is a life celebration in our London home, with friends, music and inspiration for the week to come.
This Sunday, I simply go for a home bread pudding as a dessert. Not any bread pudding but my mother's special recipe. The loved made one. With vanilla, lemon zest, cinnamon, and caramelised sugar.
I go back in time and I find myself in my childhood kitchen, back home in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania. I am about 10 years old today and It is of course a sunny Sunday morning. I can see myself taking out the yellow bawl for mixing up all the pudding ingredients . I stand tall on a footstool to reach the table properly. I can smell the vanilla bourbon while pouring it on the milk-egg mixture. Half an hour later, I can see the bread pudding coming out from the oven with a golden crust and I can taste the buttery vanilla flavour in my mouth. It tastes like childhood. The flavour reminds me of my mother, love and family blessings. I can feel her caress on my forehead and I respond to her maternal hug.
I am back of course in my London kitchen, listening to Kiss FM and the one hugging me now, while I'm baking, is my husband. I could still use a footstool sometimes to reach the fridge's top shelves and I can feel my mother's love stronger then ever. The treasured memories and the loved ones are within us every step of the way.
I've made a promise that wherever life will take me, I will always keep the family traditions and heritage alive. For my soul's joy and for the ones I love.
Sparkle up!
Corina A. Lazar
