Un noël à la campagne 2: Two-salmon and avocado terrine.
We are at the amuse bouche of our Noël à la campagne menu…a two salmon and avocado terrine with a cream herb sauce. When hosting a dinner for guests or on special occasions like our Christmas dinner, I like to have an amuse bouche, a little surprise awaiting at the table when my guests seat themselves. We usually enjoy our aperitif somewhere else..outside or in another room, or even around the kitchen table. Then we move to the dining room for the rest of the dinner. It looks very welcoming when guests enter the dining room with candles burning at the table and an amuse bouche waiting on each plate.. When we are all seated and I leave the table to quickly get my entrée(starter) ready, the guests can enjoy the amuse bouche at their leasure and by the time they are finished, I am ready and there with my starter, without them noticing my absence, since the amuse bouche kept them quite busy! To present such an amuse bouche ready at the table, you will have to keep to something that can be prepared beforehand and can stand a few minutes without melting, drying out, falling over etc.
Une pincée de fleur de sel:
- Keep the amuse bouche small and decorated attractively.
- This salmon terrine can also be served as a starter or as a summer lunch with a salad on the side.
- Replace half of the poached salmon with shrimp meat.
- Add some crushed red pepper berries for a different taste.
Brocante à Bordeaux:
Bordeaux has 2 huge brocantes on the place Quinconce every year…end of autumn and beginning of spring. I missed the spring brocante, but one doesn’t make the same mistake twice! On Saterday morning very early we jumped into our four wheels and took the road to Bordeaux, about two hours drive from us. We arrived in the cold, in the mist, just as les exposants were opening up their stalls. It was still quiet and calm and after our coffee and croissant(of course!!), I shifted my bag properly over my blades, pulled back my shoulders, rubbed my hands together, took a deep breath and advanced with that first step into this other world where I lose touch with reality and modern life and lose myself completely in the beauty of dust and rust..
Le coq de la France greets the visitor at Place Quinconce. I have a coq like that here at Coin Perdu..he thinks the whole of France belongs to him..attitude, attitude..!
Greeted by mist, but not at all disturbed by it!
Wouldn’t I love to have these drawers for my atelier! I hinted and hinted with puppy eyes lifted to mon chéri, but it is true what they say..no one as deaf as those who don’t want to hear… ah well…
Old postcards make my knees jello too, especially the ones with old towns and streets life from years back: I imagine seeing myself roaming about, or maybe cycling about…everybody cycled those days..
And of course, chairs – we do need to sit, don’t we. Sitting on chair that tell a story…isn’t that special? I think I might come back for these chairs in spring…will mon chéri fall for these I wonder..?
And a cutie..no, don’t ask me what outomobile this is. I knew, but forgot again..and mon chéri is in Paris, I can’t ask him…
It just keeps going on…and on…and on…, with something for everyone and every budget..
I also found mon bonheur…..a real trouvaille(bargain)! Mon chéri was happy too…I came home with only 11 small books and I have already finished reading one!
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- So, while the amuse bouche was enjoyed, the entrée has been siummering away..yes… topinambours and chestnut velouté with wild musqhroom croutôns.
- Another holiday French movie: l’orange de Noël
Alors mes amis…
à demain
Ronelle
Easy and quick caramel squares..and December chronicles 3: Backstage.
Don’t you just love it when a recipe says in its first line..easy and quick? I definitely do! With these last three daily posts, I had to think of very quick and easy but still delicious recipes and it being a time of nostalgia, this little recipe came to mind…It is not a stunner, but still a delicious little snack. It is even easy enough for young children to make….keeping them busy during the upcoming holidays.
My sister made this treat regularly so many years ago when she was living in her tiny apartement during university years. I loved visiting her on weekends with my parents, sure in the knowledge that this delicacy would be waiting in her fridge. It is sort of one of those treats that was part of a certain era and then disappeared. It was great for students to make on their desks in their rooms, without the need for cooking facilities.
You need only 2 ingredients: 2 packets of butter biscuits and a can of caramelized condensed milk. If you live in SA or a country which has “tennis biscuits”, then that is exactly what you will use. It has a slight coconut taste and it absorbs the caramel nicely to go all tasty soft and flavorful. Here I used le grand petit beurre from St. Michel, which is a nice square shaped biscuit. I also used confiture de lait by Bonne Maman (what will we do here in France without Bonne Maman?).
- Place two biscuits next to each other on a sheet of baking paper.
- Spread the caramelized condensed milk thickly over both biscuits.
- Place two more biscuits on top of the caramel layer.
- Continue until you have about 9 to 10 layers of biscuits.
- Close up tightly with the baking paper and wrap tightly(without crushing the biscuits!) in tin foil.
- Leave overnight.
- Will keep about a week or even longer in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Cut in slices and serve with a coffee or tea.
Pincée de fleur de sel:
- Try using nutella instead of caramelized condensed milk.
- The longer it stand, the better the flavor and softer the biscuits become.
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Backstage. If there is one thing we all have in common, it is that “fun” behind the scenes. But, I am unfortunately not Jacky Chan, so my behind the scenes will probably only have significance for me and no one else. It is a bit like the friend who comes back with photos from Russia, taken with his expensive Canon and ten lenses, and entertains you with great enthusiasm to his hundreds of touristy cathedrals and fountains and bridges and museums, while your jaw aches from biting back your yawning. But just maybe seeing a bit of my backstage scenes, will have you run to your photos to remember your own backstage times with loved ones.
We are always in our total number represented in the kitchen, stretching over one another, reaching over heads for a tool, tasting, licking, nibbling, fighting. It is amazing the busyness only 4 people can cause in a kitchen..
These are truly precious memories..
Not everything that came out of the kitchen was that big a success, but that didn’t matter in the least..we made our flops together, that is what counts.
Even guests had to pitch in, and they did it with enthusiasm… for that reason I have plenty of tabliers(aprons).
One thing to be found in practically all our scenes, is the opening of oysters. It is the task of mon chéri. I will probably lose all my fingers, because I have never opened an oyster! and mon chéri and our youngest daughter always have to get into a dish cloth fight..in the kitchen!
We normally start off our evening of Réveillon with some vin chaud et apéritifs in the living room. then we start warming up and finish off our menu and seat ourselves at the table where an amuse bouche is awaiting us. I always have something ready at the table when guests seat themselves..it adds to the expectation and while everybody start eating their amuse bouche and have their wine poured and just simply settle at the table, it gives me the time to finish off the starter. Our entrée(starter) is plated in the kitchen.
After the starter, we bring the plat principal(main course) arranged on a large platter to the table, where we keep it warm over a flame. It is normally fish and a vegetable accompaniment, all arranged on one platter. We follow that up with a cheese board..
..and end of course our dinner with la piéce de résistance….le dessert! Byt that time, we are close to midnight,; which is the time we pass around our gifts. But before that, we go for a late pre-midnight walk..or rahter that is what we used top do in the Loire house – we went for a walk by the Loire, just to walk down some calories. On arriving back home, we warm ourselves by the fireplace, make coffee and start opening up gifts..slowly, deliberately, lingering on each moment.
Christmas day followed about the same pattern, except that we ate earlier and afterwards we walked up to the DVD store and rented a DVD while we had coffee and chocolates a and fell asleep before halfway through the movie..
Thank you for sharing this trip down memory lane with me. If nothing else, I hope it took you on your own roads back, remember with tenderness all the good and I hope it inspires you to make many new memories this December and note them down, either in words or in pictures.
- Some nice music again which I listen to lately: Opéra rouge – Vincent Niclo/les choeurs de l’Armée rouge. Here is one song you can listen to..Ameno
Merci et à bientôt!
Ronelle
Quick fleur de sel grissinis..and Past Decembers, chronicles 2: tables.
I like to nibble on a grissini with a glass of wine. It prevents the wine making me do stupid things.. Or dunk it in a cup of tomato soup, a gazpacho.. But frankly, the store bought grissini are awful. No matter how expensive or grand they are. They taste like compacted paper. Maybe you agree. Then you might enjoy this recipe which is so easy and so quick and so delicious and has absolutely nothing to do with compacted paper!
The recipe is so easy, I can do it in only two sentences…
- Unroll a sheet of puff pastry and cut into strips of about 15mm and divide each strip into two short strips. Brush the flat strips with one beaten egg.
- Take each strip at the ends and twist while you stretch a little at the same time . Place on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with fleur de sel, freshly ground pepper and crushed red pepper berries.
- Place under grill for 8 minutes until golden, remove from the oven, turn them over, return and grill for another 8 minutes until golden.
- Remove and leave to cool.
- Can be stored in an airtight container for a week.
Pincée de fleur de sel:
- Sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese on the flat strips, before twisting them. In which case you have to check your addition of salt, because the Parmesan is already very salty.
- Use other interesting salts..vanilla salt, sea salt, saffron salt(see photo of ingredients), maldon salt…
- Use some seeds of your choice. I’m not too fond of seeds like poppy seeds, which has no taste whatsoever and only embarrassingly sticks in between your teeth..
- Take care not to over bake your strips so they too indeed become compacted paper.
- Serve with a glass of wine or champagne or soup, in summer with a cold gazpacho.
- Sprinkle with sugar for something to serve with dessert or a champagne in summer.
- Bake only with brushed olive oil and when out of the oven, still warm, sprinkle liberally with icing sugar.
- Brush with melted butter for more flavor instead of olive oil.
..ingredients..
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As is the case all over the globe, December is family time. A time to snuggle in front of fires or laze on beaches and close to Christmas, we get together with families to open tins of cookies and traditional foods and drinks. Of course. It is Christmas. A time to remember. A time to forgive and forget. A time for peace..there is a song that says it all…
“Its a time for giving, a time for getting,
A time for forgiving and for forgetting.
Christmas is love, Christmas is peace,
A time for hating and fighting to cease..”
Mistletoe and wine -Cliff Richard
Getting together with families, whether only one or ten, we do it around tables and food than matter to us. After all, food is more than just nourishment for our bodies. It also feeds our senses. Our sensitive souls. Yes, a soul is a sensitive thing, we fight and cry and love with our souls.When we sit around a table and taste our apple pie, we remember our parents, our childhood, our children. Sometimes we laugh. Sometimes we cry. It is all good. We are feeding our souls.
Like the Chronicles 1 I have decided to also show our family tables, because it has now changed too…our Christmas table for the last 7 years at home has seated only our small family of 4. We have now grown to a wonderful 6 around the table! An exciting new chapter!
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I’ll leave you in peace to browse if you like or skip top the bottom if you don’t.
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- More photos of Decembers past can be seen in my gallery on the sidebar..Joyeux Noël.
- Music to add to your December playlist..Une Nuit à Versailles – Vanessa Paradis. I am quite the fan. Sure, there are some songs I skip, but mostly I enjoy them all. this is her 4th live album..hope you enjoy. Here is one of the songs..Il Y A
- Tomorrow I will see you with the last walk through memory lane… Easy caramel squares..and Chronicles III, backstage.
à plus!
Ronelle
A sweet mustard sauce…and the end of 2011.
This is a very popular recipe from “Winning recipes from Huisgenoot wenresepte” a great south African recipe book. I can’t imagine a south African household without this recipe. I make it only at end of the year as a dip with some warm cocktail sausages or some shaved green beans, since it is a bit too sweet for me to use with a meal. It is very quick and easy and ideal for that last minute “bring something to eat along”. Even the French, who guard their mustard with sacré dignité, stumble over their principles for more than one dip into the sweet mustard bowl! Hope you enjoy it.
Suggestions:
- Be sure to use white vinegar, or else the mustard sauce will be coloured an unappetizing dark colour.
- Serve as a dip with warm cocktail sausages, or cold slices of meat or add to sliced green beans as an accompaniment.
…and some last days of 2011
Before I get into the stream of the new year’s living…I greet you with a last view on the end of the 2011. (Don’t worry, this will be the last post about ME!!)
I promise the next posts will not be about me but be more exciting for you all…some book researches, some give-aways, some restaurant reviews, some courses, some kitchen stories, some tips and tools, some new foods on the market, some how-to’s, some travel stories around food, some visits to French homes, some visits to boulangeries and bucheries and chocolateries…and more!
But for now…saying goodbye to 2011 with images of time spent STILL at coin Perdu..
..gathering moss for our Christmas eve dinner with my daughter’s mate, Sponge Bob tagging along…
..some tête de moine cheese..?
…and enjoying some champagne and oysters on our walks in the forest..
..oysters with a mango vinaigrette..
..a set table for Christmas eve- resembling our forest with its owls and birds and wild heather, moss..
..a courgette and smoked espuma as amuse bouche for Christmas eve..
..christmas day table resmebled the stream running through our forest, with pebbles, the ever present owls, some winter snow, ice crystals hanging from branches, birds and the silver stream with the moonlight reflecting by means of tiny tealights and candles..
…grey moss and stars surrounding the moon and stream and pebbles…can you hear the water trickling..?
…and Sponge Bob brought along some sparkles for our starter of scallops with a parsley sauce and chanterelles mushrooms…!
..reveling in the colours and moons of Jupiter..
..a winter ascending moon and evening star at twilight(Venus)..
..and of course sun sleeping…!
..lots of riding..
..some whispering..
..and trotting..
..early morning training..
..isn’t this beautiful…man and his horse..?
..moving as one..
May we all ride into this new year as one with our dreams and ideals, our goals, our principles, beliefs and hopes..
à bientôt!
Ronelle
Creamy curd cheese dessert with red berry coulis…and December ambiance 2011
Et voilà! Another year flat on its back and only a few days left for a last effort to check off our 2011 list. And while we do it, we can delight in some December ambiance, eat some dessert and then go for a long walk afterwards to start a new healthy habit. This dessert is extremely easy and quick, loaded with Calcium and can be adapted to your taste and presented in every which way you like it.
Pinch of salt:
- The cream adds some lightness to the heavier curd cheese, also called “faisselle”
- Substitute cream cheese for the curd cheese (fromage blanc.)
- Use a fruit coulis in season…pineapple, melon, peach, apricot…
- Use the berries whole, slightly sautéed in sugar for a warm sauce.
- In summer, add a drop of rose water instead of the violet syrup.
- Taste for sweetness and add more or less sugar.
She wakes up in the darkness of the night. Sitting straight up in her bed, she holds her breath, tilts her head…hears it… and falls back on her pillow. The owls are back. With a smile lingering on her face, she drifts off, snug under the warmth of a heavy down duvet.
Outside in the cold of the night, the fog lies thick in the valley, wrapping all sounds in a silent cloak of mystery. All is quiet. The forest is dark and austere and the large oaks stand solemn and still. Unflinching in their guard. Then the owl calls. An answer breaks the heavy silence with an echo in the valley. A twig snaps in the woods. A deer bellows. Eyes gleam. A snort stifles. Silence. The mist rolls thicker over the hills into the forest, relentless in protecting her womb and the life she hides.
The owl calls. An answer. An echo. Silence.
Have an atmospheric December!
Ronelle
Winter root vegetables with lemon butter..and Toulouse, la ville rose.
Eat seasonal. It is cheap, delicious and it is harmony with the ryhythm of life. Winter root vegetables don’t have to be dull and bleak and tasteless. Steam them, roast them, pan fry them, cut in different shapes, add some separated laeves of brussels sprouts, a few broccoli fleurettes, add some chooped herbs, fry thin strips of leeks, turn them into a puree then scoop balls onto an oven pan and bake in the oven until brown….so many ways to bring colour…and nutrients to winter meals. See suggestions for more .
Suggestions:
- Use other vegetables, but keep in mind the time each cooks and start off with the harde vegetables and add the softer veggies like mushrooms later, like 15 minutes before the end of baking time.
- Vegetables can also be steamed and use the butter lemon sauce for all the vegetables.
- Add other herbs of your choice…add towards the end.
- The butter and lemon juice breaks the bitterness of the brussels sprouts.
- A browned butter sauce can be used too.
- Add some chopped walnuts when serving the vegetables or a mixture of chopped parsly and nuts.
- Serve with any meat or fish dish or serve on its own with pasta.
- Fry some thinly sliced leeks(in the length) until brown and crispy and place a small handful on the vegetables to finish off when serving.
- Cut the vegetables in different sizes and shapes…matchsticks, cubes, rounds, curls…and remember to cook acoording to the thickness of the vegetables…ex. carrot curls cook much faster than carrot sticks.
..brussels sprout leaves and fried leek strips..
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…and Toulouse, la ville rose…
One can truly be considered fortunate when you have a daughter living in Paris and another living in Toulouse. Two equally amazing cities, each so unique and different…like the daughters themselves! And still in the theme of December memories, a visit to Toulouse, sleeping over in a quaint Toulouse apartement with the fairie lights of a first christmas tree and fresh foods from the market welcoming us…new memories and experiences enrich my life…those of being loved and spoiled by family.
..toulouse in all her splendor..
..Toulouse in December..
.. Sundays are market days…for all in France and those in Toulouse…as evidenced..
..buying clementines at the marché in toulouse..
..fresh vegetables..
..paella..
..oysters..
..le marché de dimanche..
..toujours des fleurs..
..empanadas..
..browsing the brocante..
..old pampilles(crystals) for lustres (chandeliers)..
..old books, paper, magazines, newpapers..
..a covered head and a bust..
..silver..
.. and having an outing in winter without pausing for a crêpe au nutella…unheard of!..
..eating crêpe au nutella at the borcante in toulouse..
..and going home…tired, happy and with old glass crystals in a bag..
..going home..
..à la prochaine fois..
..Ronelle..
Clementine and litchi amuse bouche..and a sous-chef.
Voiçi my very first starter I made in my mother’s house as a child. With a few changes here and there, it is better served now as a small amuse bouche before dinner. It is still very light and fresh and I’m still proud of my very first attempt! The little glasses it is served in (in the photos), are the original glasses from my mother that I used about 40 years ago for my starter of clementines and litchis. So, les verrines is not something new…it was already a successful concept 40 years ago!
Suggestions:
- Marinate the fruit in the vinaigrette for about an hour, but not longer.
- Use mandarins or orange segments instead of clementines.
- Try serving it as a bigger salad by placing the fruit on a bed of salad greens and add some shredded smoked salmon.
- Can be used as a fruit salad…replace the vinaigrette with a sauce: clementine juice, sugar, a little water, few drops of lemon juice, zest of a clementine…simmer untul reduced to a syrup. Add a few drops of Clementine liqueur just before serving.
- Replace the raspberries with a small scoop of raspberry sorbet.
..clementines, licthis and old tools from childhood..
…and a sous-chef..
To me, December is a month of remembrance, memories, reflections. Many memories surface during this time…some of which are funny, some sad, some without any particular significance and because memories aren’t always honest, I remember them all as dear, solely because they have brought me to this point where I am today and who I am today.
Christmas was a time in our house where things happened according to my mother’s schedule. She was a formidable woman who had the ability to organize an army into baking cookies. So, under her hand, Decembers were very busy in our house and all the while she hoaxed me into thinking chores were fun! Baking cookies, cleaning the silver, polishing floors, washing curtains, ironing the Christmas tablecloth, decorating the living room, cooking jams, preparing for holidays…these were the things that filled up our month, with my mother holding the reigns firmly in her hands and me a close step beside her.
..chef et sous-chef..
I was sous-chef from a very young age, whether it was washing the curtains or cooking a meal or baking the cookies. A very important position…the sous-chef! Without me, how could she have hung the wet heavy curtains on the line to catch the sun…without me, how could she have polished the silver in time for Christmas,…without me being in charge of the cookiemaker, we would have no coffee cookies for December? It would be disastrous…scandalous! How would the maizena cookies have jamfilled centres without me? Christmas would be sad and lonely, if I hadn’t had the responsibility of lavishing it in swirls of silver and gold streamers and glitter and shining stars!
It is of course one of the big secrets…the complete confidence of a chef in his/her sous-chef! My mom trusted me with many things, so much so that I was allowed the responsibility for the starter at a big dinner. This was my first ever solo contribution to a dinner. She also allowed me the key to her dinnerware cabinet where I could choose something for my starter. Such an important position…the sous-chef!
So here I am presenting my first starter, then as a sous-chef in my mother’s kitchen. The only difference is that now I’ve been promoted to chef. I have my own kitchen. And the starter is now served as an amuse bouche.
..May your December memories be as dear as mine!..
..amuse bouche in old childhood glasses..
..à la prochaine..
Ronelle
An introspective last three days of 2009.
We have about three days left for remembering the old year and planning for the new year. Dreaming up new dreams. Setting new heights. Asking simple questions. Struggling with honest answers.
Part of dreaming new dreams and setting new goals, is a desire to give back more to life than receiving. Looking back on this year, I’ve seen our human soiety grasped in the claws of spending. We were/are admired for our talents. For our beautiful homes. And our beautiful blogs. For our wonderful recipes. Our creativity. We have friends across the globe, praising us for our kindness, gentleness, goodness. It has driven me to ask some simple questions during this time. A time which inspires real hope and renewal. Change. Growth..
Have you been grateful this past year, content with what you have? Without a desire for what you don’t yet have?
Have you given back more than you received?
Have you brought fresh vegetables to the grumpy old lady/man down the street whenever you brought back your own loaded bags? Do you even know a grumpy old lady for whom you could have dropped a fresh bread?
Have you dropped a coin in the hands of the beggar, or have you justified your simply walking past that it would have just be going for alcohol anyway…could you have helped in some different way…something that took more trouble, more effort…started making a difference? Have you even given it any thought after just walking on? Or have you just turned your head and started thinking of dinner?
Have you done anything consciously for charity, effort, planning, effort – just as you would do it for yourself? Or were you very busy.
Have you ever spent some of your precious time to go an old age home to read to the elderly? Do you know any elderly people? Do you know their fears? Their fascinating stories? Their needs? Or do you only hope to not grow into such an old sour prune?
Have you contributed in any way positively to our environment? Have you ever been to the dump yard? Talked to the people working there? Have you ever taken a pie and shared a coffee with them? Have you ever woken up early to thank the garbage workers for the work they do?
Could you have cared more in an unspending way for your dear ones? Without the aid of money. Without the aid of material things. Just you and your time. Your effort.
Could you have cared more in an unspending way for friends? For your community?
Did you run to the store to buy something to make you feel better, to rid you of depression, to lift your mood? Did you run to an stock full pantry to indulge in foods of all choices and flavours to wallow in your awful life?
Have you given a shoulder to someone in need? Reached out to a complete stranger?
Have you taken a dinner for someone at her/his home who was just simply tired, worn out, or just because you wanted to?
Have you done something special for someone, not so YOU could feel good afterwards, but because he/she needed it? Without receiving a thank you, without caring about a thank you?
Have you complained constantly about your circumstances and then got into a warm bed, luxurious bedlinen, having had a hot meal, even having sipped a glass of wine? Or complained about your misfortune…or about being misunderstood….or neglected?
Have you complained about your circumstances and then had had the luxury of ice in your drink or a cool glass of water to quench your thirst…turning the tap and having had water running freely to fill a bath to your heart’s content?
Have you written down at the end of each day how many good things life had handed you during the course of the day? Have you even noticed it?
On a bad day, have you even tried to find something good in your life?
Have you sat quietly and really listened to someone’s else’s fears, dried her/his tears without thinking of your own hurt, or comparing to your own hurt, but could only feel the sadness of this person?
Were you quick to rationalize and justify your own reasons or motives, your jealousy, your envy, your anger, your hurt…
Were you spiteful…were you critical…were you judgmental…were you righteous…
Were you deeply sorry after harsh words…did you admit it, say it out loud?
Were you ashamed after harsh behaviour…did you acknowledge it, say it out loud?
Have you sat down and wondered, marvelled at this wondrous thing called life?
What small things have you done, unnoticed by your friends and family, society… just because?
….And so these simple questions are never ending. One leads to another. Looking us straight on with raised eyebrows. Awaiting a response. Can we meet the straight stare? Can we be be honest in our answers? Do they make us look ahead differently? Will they change anything?
May 2010 be less about ourselves.
May we care more about the world around us. Our community.The bigger picture.
May we use our talents and our good fortunes to make the world better for everyone.
May we live each day with a long list of gratitudes. Small ones. Important ones.
May we give more attention to the small, insignificant aspects of life. May they grow and become life changing.
May we give in abundance. Love. Time. Attention. Care. Empathy. Understanding…
May we receive with grace. Love, Teachings. Lessons. Help. Advice…
May we ALL grow in wisdom and get to that place which is called peace. Contentment. Happiness. Understanding.
Bliss.
A Wonderful, rich 2010 to all.
Christmas wishes 2009
Be at peace with life, stay faithfull to your hopes and keep a smile on your face.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Old fashioned jamdrop cookies and an old fashioned wedding.
Some people are cooks. Some people are bakers. Some do a little bit of everything. I’m not a baker at all, but I do try my hand a little at everything…
Suggestions:
- Add a little water/cream if the dough is too stiff or add a little flour if it is too sticky.
- The dough needs to be a little sticky to cling to the baking sheet when pressed through the cookie press. It is not as stiff as dough which is rolled out.
- Use butter at room temperature.
- Use smooth jam which is fairly thick and sticky, too runny jam will bake out. Don’t overfill!
- to avoid losing a first batch, always check baking time and temperature beforehand with only a few cookies to determine the right time and temperature, as ovens differ.
Twenty seven years ago a bride tried her hand at everything too. Her own wedding. All of it. From each individual handwritten invitation to the last flower in her hair and on the tables.
Baking her own wedding cake was the biggest challenge of all. With no money in her pocket and a generous friend living on a farm with a huge kitchen, she took it on. A rich and dark fruit cake, covered with a “tablecloth” made from marzipan and finished off with a simple smaller cake shaping a bible and a bouquet of marguerites. All the while learning and compensating as she went along. The marzipan “tablecloth” turned out to be a bigger nightmare than than the organic chemistry she was obliged to take. Maybe the roots for not loving baking was established while wrestling with that marzipan tablecloth…
…a first and last self baked wedding cake……
Long evenings in between university exams were spent on writing the invitations in calligraphy with a pen and nibbs and golden ink that got thick every 30 minutes. Making the confetti was an ordeal – many a hand helped cutting and tying tiny bunches of dried flowers with long thing strips of ribbon which had to fill 4 baskets…
…handwritten invitations…
No hairdresser or make-up artist for this bride – there was no money for such luxury and too much work to be done on the wedding day…like arranging flowers. An early wedding gift was put to good use as vases for the table flowers - champagne glasses, of which five have withstood the test of twenty seven years and are still in use today….! They carried simple bunches of red roses and some white gypse…all romance…
…roses in champagne glasses…
Persistant on designing her dress herself and having it made by a seamstress, she saw her dress show up unfinished and wore it on the day with some spots carefully held together by pins and quick hand stitching. But beautiful and dreamy it was and now it is waiting for a daughter or granddaughter or even a next generation who might someday just like it enough…
…for a daughter or granddaughter perhaps…
The photographer arrived, just to find the bride still in working clothes, wrestling to make the wreath for the veil. Time was running short and with the help of a creative and loving sister, the wreath of roses was finally attached to the veil. Her long hair was hastily shaped by many hands in a large chignon to hold the wreath and veil, while quick daub of lipstick had to suffice for some colour on the face. An antique cameo rounded off the picture.
…roses for a wreath…
Time ran out and it was off to church in the red rover, driven by her brother. Flying low, they arrived at the entrance to the church a couple of minutes early. The nerves and emotions in the rover were raw and the throats were dry. So the bride and her brother took off again in the red rover, stopped at the nearest roadhouse, rolled down the windows and ordered two milkshakes. A bride always makes passers-by stop and enjoy, dream, fantasize…This time was different. Passers-by stopped and anjoyed and giggled at the sight of a bride with a straw in the mouth.
The red rover pulled up 20 minutes later back at the church, the door was flung open and with a few trippling steps, the bride was ready to glide down the aisle. Late but happy.
…an old fashioned wedding…
*Trucs & astuces de grands-méres.
For a successful soufflé(salty or sweet), place the soufflé mold with the prepared soufflé for 15 minutes in the refrigerator before baking.
“Pour reussir un soufflé, placez la preparation pour 15 minutes au refrigerateur avant d’enfourner.
An entry for Eat Christmas cookies by Susan at Foodblogga.
Maybe you would also be interested in :
Tarte fine aux pommes and a peek into a french home in Tours.
Why do Decembers ignite this uncontrollable desire for all things dessert? Just to have the hips show every inch of this desire flagrantly off in January.
It is a crisis. But in some crises the best thing to do is…have some dessert. Some apple tartlets. They are truly quick and easy and utterly delicious and very homey. They’re not fancy, rather rustic and no one will be offended if you pick one up by hand. They are meant to be enjoyed with a friend or someone you care about. And leave the plate with tartlets in the middle for a second helping. One won’t be enough. Oh, and leave one secretly for yourself for tonight, when all is quiet and asleep.
So the hips in January will be even rounder. But that is OK. At least it will give us something to talk and write about in January!
…ingredients for tarte fine aux pommes…
*Suggestions:
- Choose an apple with a bit of sourness like a Granny smith.
- The puff pastry can be replaced with another pastry of your choice.
- Other fruit like pears, figs, peaches, apricots can be used.
- It you find the top isn’t caramelized enough after baking, then sprinkle with a little brown sugar and caramelize quickly under a hot grill and keep your eye on it.
- You can make the size of the tartlets as big or small as you like or even a single big tart.
- Sage leaves are a good substitute for thyme.
- Try sprinkling a tiny bit of fleur de sel with vanilla over the top just before baking.
- Can be enjoyed as dessert with an accompanying scoop of ice cream or créme frâiche, or as a late afternoon snack with tea, a goûter, as we call it in France.
…joanne’s home in Tours…
My friend Joanne, allowed me into her home with my camera a while ago. She lives in the centre of Tours, where it takes a few minutes and you can serve up a fresh baguette and croissant for breakfast. With a basket and some walking shoes, you can browse the market just around the corner from her to have fresh veggies on the table at dinnertime. Just down the road from her lives a musician whose melancholic saxophone melodies vagabond down the quiet street. Life is tranquil and beautiful in her home. It reflects the stillness of her character, yet reveals the brilliant colours of her spirited and optimistic nature. Always trying to see the bright side, always ready for a new project, enthusiastic about life with a strong belief that every minute counts. She loves good food and it is just a pleasure inviting her over for a meal and seeing her obvious joy in appreciating what is put in front of her.
* astuce de grand-mére:
* Boil some vinegar on the stove for a few minutes to eliminate unpleasant kitchen odours.
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.
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…
First day of December
The first of December is officially the day we “start” the festive season here in our home. Our tree gets decorated today, we switch on our fairy lights, hang a garland and listen to the first Christmas music. Then we end the day with a nice dinner by candle light.
To kickstart December 2007, a little ambiance…
A full moon in Andorra…
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved and set him free”, said Michelangelo…
Shimmering crystals…
Preparations…
A portion of dessert…
Nostalgia…
Montlouis moelleux…
Lanterns in the snow…
A White Christmas…
After all the decorating and cleaning up afterwards on this first day of the season, an easy meal is the only option. This vegetable dish is quick, there are no measurements and the hardest work is just peeling some onions and poaching an egg or two, which can be left out of course! Open a bottle of wine, finish off with a scoop of ice cream and a sauce of your choice – I love a berry coulis, but when push comes to shove, I can enjoy a vanilla ice cream just on its own. Sit back with an espresso and enjoy the lights and music and spirit of Noël.
May your December be filled with gratitude and joy.
Vegetable gratin
- vegetables of your choice, cleaned or peeled and cut into chunks - in the photo: sweet potatoes, red onions, brussels sprouts, parsnips and mushrooms.
- a pickled lemon, diced
- 2 branches of fresh rosemary
- 2 bayleaves
- a few slices of a creamy camambert cheese
- a poached egg for each person
- créme fraîche (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
- Place the chunks of vegetables in an oven pan and drizzle libereally with oil. Season.
- Tuck the bayleaves and rosemary inbetween the vegetables.
- Bake the vegetables until tender.
- Remove from the oven and serve a portion into an ovenproof bowl.
- Add a dollop of créme fraîche (optional)
- Cover with a slice or two of Camambert cheese and put under the grill until the cheese has melted and the vegetables have a nice caramelized appearance.
- Slide a poached egg onto the cheese and drizzle some olive oil and finish off with some ground fresh pepper.
- Serve warm with brown rice, quinoa or a whole wheat bread.
