A creative sandwich and recipe inspiration
We all need inspiration. For everything we do. Whether it is for hanging on when life is difficult or getting out of bed when we are depressed… Even when times are good, we flourish even more when inspiration hits us from a different angle. I believe we can’t sit and wait for inspiration, but we need to constantly be in search of it. We need to be open to it.
Something as simple as a sandwich can be created from a burst of inspiration and sometimes from the most unexpected source. Read further down below about the following sandwiches, created by MArinell and Liandri, 12 and 10 years old at the time.
…”arnie” sandwich – jingle all the way…
My humble way of being open to inspiration, is to always have a pencil and note-book in hand. I even read a book with a pencil, underlining even the simplest phrase if it means something to me. I write down things I hear people say in the bar that I find has meaning for me. I write down a saying that I read on a bill board or an advertisement. I pull off the road and grab the pencil in the door pocket to write down something that has just “hit” me. I wake up at night and write down a dream or a thought, I scribble when I drink coffee in town, I never take a walk by the Loire without a pencil and paper…in short, every moment is a pencil and note-book moment! A moment for a fresh idea. For a flare of inspiration. Do I act on them…all these ideas and inspiration? Sadly no, not always immedaitely, but I have them somewhere scribbled down in a little note-book in my house and I will fall upon it some time or another.
If you don’t have a pencil and note-book, get one soon and take down all your thoughts and ideas, colours you see, shapes you see, things you hear. Have little notebooks in as many corners of your house and office and car and bag and bicycle as possible, hands on, just for the taking. And stick ons. To mark the pages of books you read, articles, recipes, ideas. Our bookshelves are marked with books and their little colourful “flags”…people come over and they choose a book with a little flag, wanting to see what page is marked! Some interesting conversations have followed from that.
When our daughters were about 12 and 10 years, we were watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie one evening. They then decided to make sandwiches for dinner and they named them “Arnie” sandwiches…so we have Terminator sandwiches and Jingle all the way, and Predator and Kindergarten cop. Their own creations, their own work, their own handwriting in my recipe book….the inspiration? A wild man with a heavy accent in a silly movie! And the sandwiches? Absolutely divine!
In your little note-books of inspiration, you can makelittle sketches of what you would like your dish to look like(no Picasso necessary, for your eyes only!) play with ingredients, colours, layers, flavours. Fill a basket by the television with books and stick-ons and pencils, so you can just reach out and grab a notebook and pencil to pen down some ideas, scribble…don’t just watch television zombie-like!
Keep cards of restaurants and recipe cards and photos of food and all kinds of memorabiliathat can trigger some inspiration, in some nice old tins or boxes or drawers – a place where you “visit” often and can dig for some fresh ideas and originality.
Hang and pin your inspirations on notice boards…in your pantry, above your desk, in your bedroom by your bed, by the telephone, by the computer, in your bathroom…
Inspiration and ideas are as alive as we make them be. They are ever-changing. They have wings and will fly away if we, the creators, don’t pin them down. Have fun in creating new recipes…your own!
Trucs et astuces de nos grand-mères:
“pour dorer un gâteau si vous manquez d jaune d’œuf, vous pouvez le badigeonner de lait.“
Milk can be used instead of an egg white to paint over a tart crust or cookies or cake in order to have it baked golden brown.
Duo de chocolate and December ambiance 2009
Time again for some December ambiance!
After putting up our tree we enjoy a candle lit dinner with music and good wishes for the season. It has been our family tradition for many years to put up our tree on the first day if December and light a candle every night for the whole month of December for someone – people who aren’t with us any more, people who are still with us…This year is no exception. We finish our evening with a small and light dessert. A white chocolate panacotta and dark chocolate mousse – a combination of light dark chocolate mousse and the contrasting white panacotta with smoother texture. The mousse is the only chocolate mousse I’ll ever make and it comes from the collection of chocolate desserts from Pierre Hermes. I’ve been making it for years and haven’t yet come across any better, any lighter, any more delicious! the panacotta is simple and classic with some white chocolate added.
Suggestions:
- Don’t overwork any mousse! Always stir gently until just mixed.
- Never boil chocolate, melt at gentle heat in the microwave or over simmering water until just melted. It melts from the inside outwards, so ti will still hold its shape, but the inside will already be melted. Stir often.
- Use older egg whites for better lightness(as well as nicer meringeus).
- Use egg whites at room temperature.
- Mix egg whites into the chocolate mixture as follows: Scoop a third of the beaten egg whites into the chcolate and whisk to make the mixture lighter and easier to fold in the rest of the egg whites. Fold in the egg whites with a big whisk in a figure eight shape, without whisking. Fold in until JUST mixed. don’t overwork!
- A mousse gets heavier the longer it stands. I usually serve a mousse within a day. Of course it can be eaten afterwards, but it is more creamier and has lost that lightness that is so typical of a mousse.
- Decorate with some chcolate petals or sprinkle some golden flakes over the top.
I took my husband and his saw down to the Loire and we came back with with some tree brances covered with moss. It was to be our tree for this year. I enjoy a live tree, and this year was one made fom some dried brances from our own river across the road. It always feels special to go and pick up some branches by the Loire, come back home, stick them into a garden urn and hang them with decorations and fairy lights.
See previous years are at First day of December and December ambiance 2008 with cinnamon dumplings
…noël 2009…
…reading and looking…
…some glitter…
…moss from the garden and old postcards…
…just some prettiness…
…colour from dried hydrangeas…
…christmas dinner from 2008…
…Tokala and Ayiani in the snow…
…la neige au bord de la loire…
…la loire and two of us…
… chocolat chaud devant la cheminée…
* Trucs et astuces de grand-mères.
* To ice a cake easier – dilute a bit of smooth apricot jam(without chunks of fruit) with a little water, warm, add a noisette of butter and cover the cake before covering with icing.
Pears in red wine and a wine harvest.
Pears in red wine. Always a winner in our house during the winter and especially over the festive season. In this recipe I used a cabernet sauvignon, but I have also used a (moelleux) sweet white wine before like a Montlouis moelleux or a semi sweet, which is just as delicious. Decorate the pears in red wine with some edible gold leaf and the pears in white wine with spun sugar. A post on how to make spun sugar will follow soon – before Christmas!
Why not gather all your wine corks and display them in pretty empty containers somewhere. Always a good talking point and especially the men like to dig and see the wines that passed through. I also colletct the wine cases, hoping I can get hold of enough to convert them into drawers and kitchen tops and units for Coin Perdu, our house in Corréze. They also make nice storage space in the pantry, can be used in the wine “cave”, the cats sleep in the empty ones and some even carry small twigs for lighting fires in my atelier.
In October we had one day of grape picking at the vinyeards of our friends Vincent and Tania Careme. The domaine vincent Careme is a bio vinyeard where no chemicals are used, wild herbs and weeds are allowed to proliferate, adding to the health of the grapes and picking is still done by hand. They have a traditional Saturday during grape harvesting in Octobre, when all their friends and family get togetherfor a day of grape picking, press the grapes, feasting on a huge lunch, continue picking afterwards, pressing again and finishing off with some more eating. We were all dead tired, but what fun we had, one of which was a grape fight when everybody started getting tired and sticky towards the evening. Here are some pictures of the Saturday at Domaine Vincent Careme.
…starting off early morning…
…moving forward…
…up and down…
…picking carefully…
…emptying the bucket…
…into the remorque…
…almost full…
…taking a break…
…something for the thirst…
…healthy vinyeards…
…at the cellar…
…onto the press…
…cleaning up…
…resting…
…late afternoon fatigue…
…going home…
Soon to be followed: More about the wines of Vincent and Tania, their wine cellar in the typical “caves” of Touraine, a sculpteur doing his artwork in one of their caves and the many pleasure(and hard work) of daily life at Domaine Vincent Careme.
Back to my french kitchen..in Montlouis
After almost five months here in the still undiscovered, secret countryside of Corréze, we are heading back home to Montlouis sur Loire. I will be exchanging my Corréze kitchen for my Montlouis kitchen!
…a barn kitchen in Puy d’Arnac…
…Montlouis kitchen…
We’re locking up Coin Perdu for the winter:
Setting aside the wheelbarrows and cement mixers. 
Emptying the pantry in the Corréze kitchen corner. Stripping the beds of linen. Storing books and magazines away from humidity. Packing my art stuff. Taking my art stuff off the walls. A last sweep.
A last grand créme at the brasserie Les voyageurs at Beaulie where the charming Cecile always brightens my day with a smile.
A last stroll to our little bench to throw a last glance across the valley.
One more photo. Packing Tokala and Aiyani in our peugeot bleu.
Shutting la porte de la grange.
Au revoir notre petit Coin Perdu!
…our corner in Corréze…
…lovely Cecile at Les voyageurs…
May the owls be kept warm once again in the barn for this winter, may les vaches roam content on our hils, may les buses continue circuling the skies, may les chevreuils graze undisturbed down by the poplars and may the wild flowers welcome us bright and jovial on our return in the spring.
…working or fiddling…
…birthdays…
We enjoyed two birthdays, many sunsets and starry skies. We had good friends visiting us, staying with us in the barn. We had a surprise visit from good friends in South Africa. We got to know our neighbors, Jean Pierre and Michéle and Yvonne, 86 years old and along with her chickens, as fit as a fiddle! We became regulars at the bar in Beaulieu, enjoyed icy cold péche melba on hot afternoons, sipped aperitif at 17:00 along with all the other regulars.
We did lots of hard work: Turned the barn into a living home. Turned the old homestead into a construction site with ladders and cement and beams and trucks. There were tears and frustration. Arguments. Difference of opinions. Anger, irritation, misunderstandings. We had blisters and bruises and still have. We rushed off to emergency with a slashed open head, got stitched up and continued working. But we also went for long strolls in the forest, nibbled on peaches and oranges.
…Liandri & Marinell…dreaming?…
We became part of the heart beat of Corréze and we are going home, replenished and with vivid memories, patiently awaiting spring to restart it all over again. Of course! Can’t wait!
…a last glance…
Boeuf bourguignon
I thought eating would be over now after the indulgence of the holidays. But hunger still shows up. And the colder the days, the more we turn to soups and stews. Boeuf bourguignon is just one of those old classics that never disappoint.
…man and his beast…
December ambiance 2008 with cinnamon dumplings
…a message…
Like last year, it is time for a little December ambiance. On the 1st December, we dress up our tree and charm up some corners, put on music, light candles, drink wine and end the day with a special meal. It puts us in the mood for winter, brightens the grey days, stalks the blues, lifts the spirits, welcomes the rain and the frost and if we’re lucky, brings on some snow. Just as they do in the Northern countries, we burn tea lights every evening, light lanterns outside and finish the evenings with a hot chocolate by the fireplace. This year saw some cheating in decorating the tree, which had been a few days earlier…but that’s OK; it’s always good to break tradition a bit!
A traditional dessert of cinnamon dumplings, finishes off this 1st of December. May your December 2008 be as spirited and bright and gay as you want it to be.
…cinnamon dumplings…
*Recipe adapted from “Huisgenoot wenresepte 2 “, written by Annette human and originally entered by Mrs. C. Ligthelm of Pretoria, SA.
…captured…
…perfection…
…shimmering crystals…
…joyeux noël…
…shh…
…a frosty visit…
…looking out…
…let’s read..
…les poêmes et le sapin…
…where’s the snow?…
…corners and candles…
Sweet potato wrapped in bacon and sage.
Now is the time to enjoy sweet potatoes…soups, purees, oven roasted, boiled in the skin and served with honey or as part of a salad or appetizer as shown here. It can also be served on the side. It is quick and easy, with no fuss and it looks colourful and inviting.
Kaleidoscope
Vegetables “en cocotte”.
In summer, we daily see a small promise of smoke appearing over a rooftop in the area, evidence of a barbecue taking off, with whiffs of onion and chicken, beef and brochettes teasing our senses. As if receiving a signal, we all run to our barbecues and soon the smoke is trailing all over the rooftops.
In the cold of winter, there is a different trail of smoke coming from snug fireplaces. Except over our rooftop. We are practically enveloped in smoke clouds…from our chimneys as well as our barbecue. We are alone outside, dressed in snow gear, cold, but firm in tantalizing with our canard a l’orange in the “fired oven”, côte de boeuf over coals with a mustard butter, chicken tagine, lamb curry, and yes, even vegetables en cocotte. We snuggle up to the flames, drink red wine to warm our bodies and we delight in the warmth of the moment.
