On a recent Sunday, my husband and I attended Mass where they hold nails of the crucifixion. According to the National Catholic Register, between the years 326 and 328, Saint Helena (mother of the Emperor Constantine) traveled to the Holy Land in search of the relics associated with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Those include The Bridle Nail, or Nail of Constantine. Writing in the fifth century, Theodoret of Cyrus recorded how a single nail from the crucifixion was split in half, to be embedded into the helmet and melted into the bit of the horse bridle used by Constantine. (This relic ‘competes’ with  the claims of another relic in Milan, but I like to believe the one here, collected by Saint Helena, is the real one - here in our own beloved little Provence)! 

And when we got home from such a beautiful mass, it called for a Sunday feast!

But tell me… when you get home from Mass, what is one of the FIRST things you do?! 

…

(What did you imagine???)

I bet that you immediately threw on something less “nice” to cook in! While I’m a MAJOR fan of putting on “something comfy” (like a cozy fleece zip-up for Fall, hello hygge season), or whatever you want to wear, the point is, there’s got to be something to wear that won’t lead to another load of laundry!!

And there IS… It’s called the humble apron!

Something so normal in our past has become so… “trés extra.”

The apron is an under-rated piece of apparel. Yes, APPAREL! Not only does it help with cooking, serving, and those after-washing-dishes-splatters, it’s perfect for drying your hands and keeping  clothes tidy and clean, so you’re NOT starting your week doing more laundry.

Think about it. How many times – a day or week – are your clothes THROWN into the wash because of cooking and cleaning?!

It’s all about the Apron. Just like athletic wear or ‘athleisure,’ if it’s fun to wear, you’ll choose to wear it more often, so let’s find a cute one for YOU!

Have fun shopping below!

And since we’re on my other favorite topic (Cooking!!), I thought I’d share a knock-out Provencal recipe.

Here I am with one of my favorite Provencal dishes and I think you’ll enjoy trying, too.

Provençal Tian

This dish is such a crowd pleaser. It looks impressive but the most unenthusiastic cook can do it! It’s healthy, tastes delicious and you can put your own seasonal or preferential spin on it the more you do it. It’s a dish worth all the chopping!

Ingredients:

4 medium sized tomatoes

1 eggplant

1 zucchini

1 butternut squash

3 cloves of garlic

Herbs de Provence

Good olive oil

Salt/pepper

Directions

1. Spread good olive oil in your baking dish.

2. Slice each vegetable thinly (watch your fingers when you do the butternut squash!). I like to get all my vegetables ready, because it’s easier and quicker to arrange. Also, be mindful you can replace any vegetable with something season (in the Fall, it’s nice with the butternut squash). Just be sure you always have tomatoes, as it needs this moisture to bring everything together.

3. Arrange the vegetables either in a circle (if you have a circular dish) or linear (if you have a rectangle dish). It doesn’t have to be perfect, so don’t go nuts over it!

4. Once all the veggies are lined up, I like to tuck in some garlic, herbs de Provence, and sprinkle salt and pepper (to taste). Drizzle with olive oil.

5. Pop it in in the oven at 320 degrees and cook for 40 minutes, covered. Remove the lid/foil and cook another 20 minutes. Then remove from the oven and serve!

Et voila! Enjoy!!

Question: What is YOUR favorite Fall dish?!