EXTRA - yoga & vegan cooking weekend

For the last time before the summer, the weekend of 1. - 3. July, we held a yoga & vegan cooking weekend, with wonderful participants from Chicago! The lavender fields were in full bloom as was the sunflower field behind La Vudèle, and we enjoyed taking our yoga practice outdoors surrounded by this beautiful scent! During this retreat we explored and created vegan Provencal dishes using the freshest seasonal ingredients, the first tomato of the season, and enjoyed our dinners al fresco under the blue sky of Provence!

 A holistic time, where our participants took care of themselves from the inside, through
* mindful yoga practice
* delicious organic vegan food
* followed their personal yoga & meditation practice
* had time to explore the area
* and time to enjoy an in-depth practice, yoga philosophy, spirituality. The focus was not only on various asanas but on advancing on the path of yoga

goodie bag with apron, cook book, salt, eye mask and yoga tea

Equipped with the Yoga & Nature goodie bag which is filled with
* yoga & nature apron
* yoga & nature cookbook
* yoga & nature herbes de Provence salt
* eye mask
* herbal yoga tea
all presented in a typical Provencal basket
we set off on our vegan cooking journey Saturday afternoon. In the morning we had visited the fantastic farmers' market in Riez to purchase organic fresh produce, from carrots to onions, yellow and green zucchini to the first tomato of the season!

making chocolate tofu mousse

The recipe for this delicious dessert can be found in our yoga & nature cookbook which is also available in our boutique

grilled caviar d'aubergine

tips & tricks from Claudia for Anastasia

chopping away for the "hussimussi"

The menu consisted of
* gratte ail or grated garlic, with our own organic olive oil and fresh baguette

* caviar d'aubergine

* grilled tofu with couscous and vegetable medley

* chocolate mint ice cream (the recipe)

* lavender custard (the recipe )
accompanied by local wine of Quinson and a game of table foosball

It was a lovely experience to be cooking with Tracey and Anastasia who added their own ideas and experiences, and the resulting meal - prepared with love - was simply divine! As we were seated outdoors next to the field of sunflowers the sun was setting, casting a lovely gentle light over the field: a perfect setting!

For our yoga practice early in the morning and in the afternoon we searched and found shade behind La Vudèle, surrounded by sunflowers, vines and of course lavender!

relaxing afternoon Yin yoga practice

final meditation in reclined butterfly pose

Upon their departure Tracey and Anastasia added their personal well-wishes to our line of Tibetan prayer flags, leaving a piece of personal memory at La Vudèle

our guests Tracey & Anastasia

Thank you so much, you two, for having chosen Yoga & Nature in Quinson for your mother/daughter weekend! It was truly a pleasure and honor to meet you two beautiful people and share this time with you! May your onward journey around France this summer be as colorful and delightful. Namasté.

And our next and final date for 2016 will be the third weekend in September:

Friday, 16. - Sunday, 18. September 2016

We already have one confirmed reservation so there are now only 4 spots left! On our web site is more information regarding a tentative schedule, photos, prices or email us 

Hope to see you here

in late summer!

RECIPE - sage pesto, with a twist

Classic pesto is made with fresh basil; this is the variety everybody knows and loves, be it from their vacations in Italy or a visit to their favorite Italian restaurant. But how about trying something new? With the abundance of sage plants in our herb garden, grown from seed and growing in massive bushes, I one late spring afternoon decided to try this wonderful herb in a pesto. Et voilà, it not only tastes almost like basil, it tastes even better! And it tastes best when the leaves are young so in late spring, though it is possible to use the leaves all year round but the taste will become stronger and more pungent.

During our yoga & organic vegan cooking retreat last weekend Top Vegan Chef Paul decided to add some green olives and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and my o my, was this pesto a treat!

Sage is a very versatile plant, a quintessential Mediterranean herb used in cooking, as an essential oil, as a decorative plant in the garden with its pretty purple flowers. Salvia officinalis can  be used to make a delicious tea.

on croutons as an appetizer

Pesto is easy to make, considered a "raw food" as none of the ingredients are heated and can go on anything, from pasta bien sûr to sandwiches or tasty little croutons as appetizers with an apéritif or on pizza in place of or with tomato sauce

the ingredients:
* fresh sage leaves
* nutritional yeast
* toasted pine nuts
* depitted fleshy green olives
* freshly squeezed lemon juice
* garlic
* olive oil
* freshly ground sea salt
* freshly ground black pepper

All ingredients are approximate as this is really to everyone's personal taste. If you can get a hold of this season's fresh garlic use it sparingly and allow the fresh taste of sage to be the most prominent. Make a paste in your kitchen machine and season to taste. The great thing about pesto is that its all about personal preference.

on pizza as a base

Try something new today and remember to enjoy not only the result but also the process! Preparing food from scratch is a fantastic way to spend time, observing the making of something delicious, with one's own creativity, passion and hands!

bon appétit! 

LIFE AT LA VUDELE - cooking with devotion

Good food requires more than top-notch ingredients and creative recipes - it's the compassion, intention, and energy of those in the kitchen that make a meal fulfilling. 

Cultivating a selfless intention, committing to recognizing the Divine in those you're feeding, and cooking joyfully without expectation of recognition will improve your awareness as well as your food. For the yogic cook, integrating mindfulness and love only deepens a cooking experience and, according to some, enhances the quality and flavor of the food itself. 


Inspired by the success in running our yoga retreats for several years now and on the positive comments we received from our guests dining with us at our table d'hôtes we decided to combine our two passions, yoga & cooking. 

For 2016  we offer 3 dates for yoga & organic vegan cooking weekends:
20. - 22. May
1. - 3. July
16. - 18. Septemberprogram for the yoga & organic vegan cooking weekends (May, July & September)
Friday
 arrival after 15h and installation in your rooms
16h workshop on healthy, clean, organic vegan cooking and introduction of the weekend's menu and activities and handing out of the La Vudèle goodie bag
19h classic Provencal apéritif dinatoire: a relaxed sit-down dinner with several different dishes prepared by your hosts, to explore the flavors and aromas of Provence
Saturday7.30 energizing morning yoga practice outside in nature, to get Prana flowing and stimulate digestion
9h our copious organic vegan breakfast with sourdough bread
10h visit of the local farmers' market in Riez with guide to our organic producers. We will purchase the ingredients for the delicious meal for dinner
afterwards free time to explore the area, the lavender fields, the gorge du Verdon and its lakes, etc
16h cooking course and preparation of our dinner:
Cooking with the fresh ingredients from our own vegetable garden and purchased at the market in the morning.
Practice of mindfulness, kindness & ahimsa, nonviolence, one of the yamas of yoga.
Awareness meditation: the love we place into the preparation is the love which nourishes us
19h gala dinner presenting the bounty of our cooking experience accompanied by wine tasting of local organic wines from Quinson, some cultivated right behind La Vudèle
Sunday 7.30 energizing morning yoga practice outside in nature
9h our copious organic vegan breakfast|
followed by a workshop on ideas for a healthy vegan breakfast and a certificate of your participation of this workshop
afterwards departure or possibility to extend your stay in our B&B

2 nights accommodation in our organic B&B or guest house including our copious organic vegetarian/vegan breakfast and 2 dinners € 580 / € 770 for two

Come share your passion!