Cooked, Ate and Lived By Each Season
She was always looking for seasonal vegetables, what was available at the market. At our small market in Switzerland, it was by the seasons. And she had a very healthy vision of her own seasons.

Never Complained About Getting Old
She wasn’t afraid at all of getting old. Of course she was complaining about the wrinkles, the white hair, but she really enjoyed her older years. When she was younger, she was often repeating that, for instance, she liked to wear her hair tied in the back, because she thought that was appropriate for her age, but then she’d confide in me that she liked it looser.
Detox Day
She had a “detox” day, during which she would eat fruits, vegetables, and yogurt and guzzle water. She did it once a month, but usually to get over a jet lag, because you feel bloated after many hours sitting on a plane. … Like a lot of people, she was coming back from trips in Africa and was exhausted — this would help with that.
Ate Very Little Meat
My mother was not a vegetarian; she ate meat, but very little, in little doses. I remember once, because our house used to be a farm, I had this idea about raising chickens and rabbits. And my mother looked at me like, that’s a good idea, but who’s going to slaughter them? So we grew potatoes instead. She [ate] 80 percent fruit and vegetables.

Appreciated the Simple Things
[Her favorite meal was] pasta with tomato sauce. This was always everywhere, when she was coming home from a trip. Pasta with tomato sauce may sound easy, but to make it well is difficult, and no two results are always the same. Tomato sauce is not only tomatoes. Maybe with a little bit of potato, or carrot.
New Cameron Diaz Book Embraces The Beauty in Aging