Day 4~ nine days of giveaways! 2015 through the lens of nourishment

Hello beautiful ones!!

I hope you are all enjoying the festive season in whatever way is perfect for you!

I meant to pop back in here on Boxing day for Day four of my end of year giveaway but I've been having a little too much holiday fun with family and knew you would understand.

I also knew this post was going to be all about food so I needed to wait a few days for Christmas dinner to settle, and I'm sure you know how that goes...

So todays post is a little reflection on our culinary voyage this year. I still don't have all of my photos sorted so forgive me if it seems a little biased on the Mexican side of things but truth is that all of us, the whole family would choose Mexican over any other cuisine and although Europe dished us up some exquisite yumminess, those chile rellenos and fish tacos you see below are the stuff of my foodie dreams.

So here we go......be sure to leave a comment on all nine of my 2015 reflection posts and let me know if you share on FB, Instagram, Twitter etc for more chances to win!

Todays prize is a cute little original ellie mixed media piece, all the way down at the bottom so you've got to look at all of these tempting food pics first! ;p

First stop upon arrival in California, Juanitas in Encinitas for chile rellenos and fish tacos! Even jetlagged this is food for the Gods!

we feasted our way across countries and continents. Sometimes a feast for the eyes...like this perfect radish display in Revel, France....

mostly all of our senses were delighted like with this breakfast feast in Oaxaca at Viajero cafe Arte!

we indulged in hearty liquid feasts with friends

ceviche in Baja!

my very own vegie chorizo spaghetti concoction in La Ventana, Mexico...

we feasted in restaurants with confusing bathroom signs

and menus on wine bottles

i whipped up guacamole and salsa on more than one occasion

and we celebrated special events, like swimming with the whale sharks, with margaritas and tacos. Can you just see we were in such bliss after THAT experience!

we feasted with lovely students in France

Portugal

Ireland and many other amazing places :)

We picnicked in high places...

and when i was feeling at my lowest found nourishment in simple bowls of miso soup...

I feasted my eyes on the bakeries of France and, ok, a little bit of it fell into my mouth too!

we enjoyed the warm hospitality of dear friends in Sweden, ah those Northern Summer sunsets nourished our spirits!

and they made sure that they served us (almost) every fishy delicacy they knew of...

Master chef Lucas even whipped us up some amazing souffles one night!

we stumbled upon the medieval city of Lubeck, Germany where we stayed with friends who told us we just HAD to try the famous marzipan. What could we say in the face of such recommendation? We sampled and then lugged this whole box across the world untouched to share with family when we returned to Australia!

I sampled chapulines in Oaxaca, crunchy fried grasshoppers but have to admit I enjoyed the German delicacy much more than this Oaxacan one!

we discovered a favorite breakfast spot in Oaxaca where we dined like kings and queens for $6 total each day

one day the chef even sent out a sample of all seven famous Oaxacan mole sauces for our tasting pleasure! Truly I cannot wait to bring a Paint Mojo retreat to Oaxaca in 2017! Our lovely friend Lisa Sonora Beam is helping me organise that one :)

we dined with beautiful friends under the Mexican stars

and sampled copious amounts of Pintxos in San Sebastian, Spain when the whole family came to celebrate my fiftieth!

but the food highlight of the whole trip was undoubtedly and unexpectedly in Devon, UK

where we hooked up with friends that we hadn't seen for years, Noel and Nora Corston

and they treated us to the experience that is Noels highly rated restaurant NC@Ex34

The restaurant is a multi award winning venue on the North Devon Coast which offers a fixed menu built around the seasons and revelling in locally produced ingredients

From the minute you walk in the door you feel that something special is about to happen

and oh my, was it special, indeed!

the paired wines were also extraordinary and luckily we had the lovely Nora to drive us home!

I'm not a sweets person usually but this was decadent scrumptiousness!

and it kind of got my tastebuds thinking, well you know, while we're in Devon we should at least try a devonshire tea...

and then, well, just to promote a little viewer interaction here, I'll leave you with this pic. I cant remember where it was taken or what it actually was but I know it was delicious. Any ideas???