2017 - January
Happy birthday Beaubourg !
Franz Schubert was born in 1797, on January 31
2017 01 31
Franz SCHUBERT is born in 1797, on January 31. And Lorenzo sent me this "happy birthday" project I hope you will enjoy.
Cocorico, "WE" are Miss UNIVERSE !
2017 01 30
Iris MITTENAERE, congrats !
WAOUHHH ! "Miss France" is the most beautiful woman in the world !
She is an amazing woman. During the contest she said : "my boeuf bourguignon is the best", so this is a "message personnel":
Iris, we are looking forward for your recipe !
Asian Pasta !
2017 01 28
This asian special day is a very good opportunity to taste rice noodles.
4 minutes in boiling water and you obtain long pasta in wiches i added cooked pink shrimps, coconut milk, coriander and in final, a very tiny touch of garlic and ginger sauce.
It seems that longer are the noodles and the older you can live ... I tried to put all chances in my side. And if i were Asian, i would have spent the night standing with my family, watching TV or playing board games for same reasons. I would have awaited the opening of the cemetery to be blessed by my ancestrors, and of course i would play music loud and throw firecrackers into the street to scare the evil and parade in costume with others for good fortune. This year, "good luck" is to be NOT hurted by terrorism. The festivities are canceled.
Asian people use to clean their home and throw away what they do not like before New Year's Eve, i wish we could do all the same. Next year ?
Singing Happy New Year ! ...
Chanson chinoise du Nouvel An
Chinese New Year's Eve
is coming !
2017 01 27
My journal page for this new year - the last chance ! - is made on a notebook with ephemeras (leftover stickers and paper from Christmas, papers from chocolate packaging), picture i took of a restaurant's letter box and printed on a A4 sheet of paper to journaling, and a sort of pocket made with a bristol on which i drawn a red rooster with thin markers and glued only on two sides.
"Brenta bernicla" / Bernache cravant / Brant goose / Gansos Brent in Larmor Plage !!!
2017 01 26
They settled in Morbihan too !
Imagine a black goose with a little white rump, floating in salted water to rest and eating "laitue de mer", i could not believe they would stay "at home" for a while !
Today, i count : 3 groups of 20 geese and 2 groups of 10 to 15 (marée haute)
Click to Wikipedia and you could hear calls recorded in England !
Home sweet Home !
2017 01 24
Happy to be Home again ! In the garden, birds were waiting for me ... and some seeds ! Lorient is under freezing too ..
Programme of the day : unpacking, mails, and black coffee !
Coming soon : New Year's from China ! I will put on line the recipe of " riz cantonnais" and maybe others little tiny surprising biscuits of my own ! But right now, i need to get me back in shape.
The Menu of Saint Vincent was :
"La guigne de Saint Vincent" in the morning + traditional LUNCH :
Appetizers,
Starters : l'incontournable "tête de veau" ,
second stareter : filets de sandre (filets of pike-perch)
Main : magrets de canard, purée
Salad and cheese (mostly goat cheese)
Dessert : bavarois à l'ananas (pineapple bavarois) ... to digest !
with - of course Touraine wines with "S" i insist on, and coffee with "pousse-café" (i will not tell you more)
Everybody could sing with hunting horns !!!
Oh, i forgot to say : 2017 will be a good year ... and fellows are all back in wineyards to cut twigs and to prepare spring coming soon in Loir-et-Cher !
A snake near the freezer
2017 01 22
A post from Loir-et-Cher
Here i am ! 2017 01 20
Temperature at night : - 9 C° and in the day : +1C° - I am here to celebrate "la Saint Vincent" - see on page "loir-et-cher" for more if you are interested in !
A génoise that won't let you down : 15 mn to cook ! - see "bûche" recipe on page "cusine"
2017 01 20
On the road ...
2017 01 20
Life on the road :
- 7C° this morning at night ...
no snow but frost
cows and horses outside
snacking at 11:30
the boss is under pressure : only 11 C° in his restaurant !
my google translator does not want to translate anymore while Rihanna is singing "don't let me down..."
cup of coffeee
Have a nice day
une berceuse pour réchauffer les mômes transmise par Marie-Thérèse du Québec
Trying to list menus that we would be able to prepare from the beginning to the end, with less energy as possible, for cold winters
2017 01 19
Prepared under 10 mn using electricity or gaz : 4 portions
You would need either mini-oven, or stove or cooking pot.
- frozen green beans + hard eggs + parsley + butter : 10 mn
- poached eggs (3 mn) + black beans (in can ) + grilled polenta + feta cheese : 10 mn
- white rice (basmati) + portions of freezed fishes : 10 minutes
- pasta al dente + olive oil + parmesan : 8 mn
- chopped steack + potatoes (all freezed) : 10 mn
- raw endives + tuna + cream cheese + lemon juice + shallot (ZERO) + toasted bread (2 mn/ toast)
Prepared under 20 mn for FAMILY : 6 portions to 8
Sometimes, it could be valuable to spend more energy to obtain more meals in numbers. These would be cooked in oven or big stove or big cooking pot
- Wok + asiatic food : 5 to 10 mn in special stove
- crêpes with 1 liter of milk to boil : 10 mn + 3 mn / crêpe to cook
- vegetable soup with leeks, carots, turnip, potatoes : 20 mn
- choucroute - all prepared packed to cook at home : 20 mn
- couscous with vegetables and meat : 20 mn
- polenta (1sachet) : 5 mn - to prepare in leftover vegetables soup or boiling water made in the kettle +2mn
- roasted butternut : 20 mn
- applesauce : 20 mn
- génoise recipe from "F" bûche 2016 : 15 mn + 5 mn to obtain with electric mixer "blanc d'oeufs battus en neige"
It is easy to buy "all ready to eat" and put on the micro-wave button. It is a very good option for energy saving, only if you are alone or two.
I tryied to find some meals we would be able to eat hot or cold : sardines, tuna, vegetables in can are a good option. Most often It only takes 5 to 10 mn to warm up a can. To confirm with the "conseils de cuisson".
I did not mentioned chips, olives and other snacks for apéritifs : you can nibble sometimes but not during a week !
Power cut at night
2017 01 19
- "Ah, c'est elle la méchante (she's the bad guy) !" shouted my husband yesterday at night, watching tv. We did not know more ...
- Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? (what's going on ?)
I was in the kitchen preparing "polenta" for today. It's only needs 5 minutes cooking. You just have to through flour on boiling water (better with "bouillon" - that was my diner leftover) and turn with a wooden spoon. Then, put in a glass dish to cut slices when it would be cold. You can freeze in parts. You can eat worm (2 minutes in micro-waves) added with champignons de Paris or tomato sauce, or cold for apetizers or in a picnic way. That is optional, in these cold days it is a good choice.
Power cut.
Les bretons sont disciplinés : they followed official "recommandations". Some worked at night or late in the evening, so in the day everybody could be lightened as needed for activities. But here, people are really annoyed about those who are waisting electricity lightening lots of commercial stuff nobody would buy at night:
We would rather to have heating and phone, especially at night.
No power cut this morning, i cooked "filets mignons" in oven
2017 01 17
After a night in a "marinade" made of: olive oil + chouchen + sirop d'érable + "5 baies au moulin", i cooked "filets mignons" in oven (200 C°) - glass dish with lid - during 55 mn (30 mn/500g). To taste at lunch with white beans (all the night in water + thyme to rehydrate and cooked 20 mn in another fresh water).
Nota bene : in the marinade, i heard meat could wait, if necessary, before cooking ...
Power cut ?!?
2017 01 16
Cold is here and we are waiting for power cut, so my friends, i am in a hurry :
- to post my hellebore in flower ! TODAY !!!
- and as you can imagine, my priority is to prepare that contengency !
So, i will stock tins to prepare cold meals - But when you eat, you need something hot and i will use "camping" stuff to keep worm water for tea in "thermos" bottles. I checked my camping gaz and it is OK.
I will prepare each time i could more than i need and freeze. But use it quickly, i do not want my freezer to be full to the brim and lost in back out ... So each time i will eat something in it, i will put a water bottle to replace. I prepared ice cubes i let in, so i could see in opening the drawer if there was a problem or not. If the ice cube is melted, i would not eat frozen food in it !
Now i am thinking of my grand ma and father advices : prepare a hot water bottle in bed, two layers of clothing, and take good care of feet - i added a wool sole in my boots - I will salt my porch and protect my plants. To illuminate, they ask on TV news to be economical, so i will put my christmas guirlande in led on a coat hanger - it will be very "in" decorated !
Have a good day !
For lunch i prepared "couscous", the one you can have ready in ten minutes, just adding boiling water on "semoule de blé dur" and micro-waves meat. I will have enough semoule to prepare a good "dessert" with raisins (macerated in rhum). Starting with sugar to caramelize a mold, add semoule + 1 or 2 eggs in "omelette" and some milk + raisins - Let it in the owen while preparing something else ... You can add cinnamon or vanilla.
Someone told me about "filets mignons " marinated in a local liquor named "chouchen" mix with (that is NOT a joke) "sirop d'érable" and olive oil and pepper - 6 hours refrigerated (Just let it outside) and 15 to 20 minutes to cook To serve with beans, potatoes, carots, or whatever vegetables you like
As you can see, this black out - and maybe we won't have - is a good opportunity "to operate the neurons and papillae" (traduction google de "faire fonctionner les neurones et les papilles). TO BE CONTINUED !
Tiny art and crafts studio
for travelling - work in progress
2017 01 14
What will i bring with me while travelling in car or airplane to prepare "journal de voyages" ?
It will depend on : total discover or a place i already know ?
For total discovery, i will try to catch lots of images, ephemeras, postcards, memories, recipes and took a thousand photos ! i willl add maps, city cards, business cards, ribbons, advisers, newspapers extracts, wikipedia extracts, notes taken while listening to a guide or visiting a museum ... and maybe i will add "croquis sur le motif" and small pieces of watercolors too ! - Maybe i could add some small pieces as leaves and flowers, seeds and whatever else for gardening ! So, i need a really big notebook, the kind you could glue everything without any bad surprise at the end. AND i will protect it from rain with a plastic bag for frozen closing by a zip.I will only prepare one page per day (as you can see on page "december DIY") or a space for each place visited.
Going to places i already know, i will travel light because i know what kind of stuff i could find there and where if needed. And of course, i will glue less !
A notebook is better for me than a folder with flying pages ... i would put all around ! I cannot afford to waste my time at night looking back each day to complete on the other. I would just put the "final touch" at home with printed photos.
"See it, love it, catch it, remember it."
That is my credo. 5 minutes at least .... and ready for "NEXT !" as others people around living with no "artistic mind" !
If i would have time before going, i will prepare my notebook with lots of pockets and tags. But i am most interesting in chating, so i always need a bristol card or paper with me. And the first thing i do, coming back at home, is plug in my camera ! I am wandering if i will buy or not a compact photo development (it is about same weight and dimensions that an external driver) to be able to print each night 10 x 15 maxi or more tiny photos of the day. So my journal will be "complete", day after day. But it would be some weight more, and i am always "too heavy" on my mind !
"tempête" ! / tormenta / storm TODAY
2017 01 13
Many of us are at home today and here we are lucky : nothing compare to those who were hurt, has damages, or without electricity ..
CARPE DIEM. I hope you will enjoy this medieval song coming from Espagna. Just click below to learn more.
El llibre Vermell de Montserrat - por todos que estan a casa en este "tempête" dia !
Preparing tomorrow's party !
2017 01 12
The Bûche 2017 is "on"
You could find the recipe as usual on page "cuisine".
Unfortunately, i broke my small glass bowl while cleaning - i am not a good housekeeper ! And, of course, THE thing i did not anticipated in my "F" plan was to go shopping to find another perfect one by one raining "cats and dogs" day ! TEMPETE BRETONNE OUTSIDE - Trees are bent in half with wind ... AS I ALWAYS SAID : PREPARE A "F" PLAN WHATEVER CIRCUMSTANCES ARE IN YOUR KITCHEN ...
Happy Birthday Mama !!!
2017 01 11
Countdown : D-3 for an Happy New Year coming from Est side of the world, my second chance for Best Wishes
2017 01 10
This photo was taken in a "bricolage" shop. They have taken up a scandinavian tradtional theme for their clients to make a wish. Will they come true on the New Year's Day coming from Russia ? I wish so.
Many wishes : PEACE, HEALTH, EXAM SUCCESS, GOOD TIME WITH FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, and ENERGIE AND ADVICES - "whatever our ages are" it was precised on the tag - to fix and repair our home ...
Now you understand why i am so excited thinking of a second chance "Nouvel An" !
To put you in the mood, i suggest to prepare "KOUTIA" i discovered on Christmas. Very easy to prepare : add sweet apricots, walnuts, raisins and acacia honey to a milk rice. Very important, the grains of rice must not stick. Taste warm.
In 3 days, i will celebrate a NEW YEAR 2017 with a special day menu :
Apéro : pirojkis (the recipe is secret, each family has its own "tour de main") made with pastry and stuffed with mushrooms or meat, i don't know yet, both are excellents
main : koulibiac - it is a pie stuffed with salmon, rice, eggs, spinach
Maybe i will prepare another "buche" of my own recipe, changing Grand Marnier to Limoncello and add marinated in sugar bark "bergamot lemons" coming from Morocco. I know, there is nothing to do with Russia ... but that is how i am ! And on january 28, i will keep in mind to prepare sticky rice (maybe added with a warm mango) to celebrate the New Year's Day coming from China too ! Love is in between, isn't it ? This will be our last chance to make our wishes come true in 2017.
CARPE DIEM !
Can anybody tell me why there is "jus de légumes" in my pastry ?
2017 01 09
You know I do not hesitate to taste alien cuisine but this time i said : NO ! Pastry - "pâte feuilletée" or "pâte brisée" -, in my culinary education is only made of flour and butter and water and salt. NOTHING ELSE.
I am very happy to taste recipe revisited by a Chef but i am not happy to find "carcasses de crevettes roses" in my mashed potatoes. As far as i could remember, "mashed potatoes" made by grand-ma or mom is made of potatoes and milk, only. Added with butter or fresh cream and nothing else.
Ladies and genrlemen who has such bizarre ideas, you must know that, because of you, my life became a hell program : avoiding such crazyness, everywhere in plates !!!
Somebody told me because of running fast allergies, the law had change. What do you want me to do ?
ALL THAT I WANT IS THE REAL AND EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF ALL INGREDIENTS USED IN A RECIPE. You can keep your recipe secret, not mentionning how much of this or that. But when i read "jus de légumes", i do not know if i will die or survive, depending on your daily supply and how much you paid for.
WHEN YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO A SUBSTANCE, YOU MUST AVOID IT. IT DOES NOT DEPEND ON "HOW MUCH", IT IS "NOT AT ALL" !!!
THANK YOU, IN PUBLIC, TO ALL THE COMPANIES TRYING TO HELP WITH THE HOT LINE YOU CAN CALL TO KNOW IF A PRODUCT THAT MIGHT KILL YOU IS IN A COOKED MEAL OR NOT.
Guess what ? I spent two hours looking for a "normal" pastry because i was in a hurry and finally, i should do it by myself ... Modern life !
"Joyeuse Epiphanie !"
2017 01 06
Today, when children are in family, the youngest (the most "innocent") is requested to go under the table - not to see - and tell the name of the guests, one by one, to distribute "au hasard" the shares of the cake.
The one who find the "fève" become "the King" ! As symbol of power, he would receive a crown made in gold paper and usually decorated with precious stones but this year i even saw figurines of the film "Star Wars" on it ! As a privilege, the king or the queen could chose a partner for the one day symbolized reign.
"Allégeance" (means that everybody accepts the game) is required so everybody in the assembly drinks to the new fellows ...
As you could imagine, my husband and i separate in two parts our "galette" and guess what ? there was no "fève" in this tiny one, we would have to taste another for real ...
Feliz noche de Reyes !
2017 01 05
2017 January
Here we are, a new page for small stories ... TO BE CONTINUED !
Coming next :
ON JANUARY, 6th : "Babbo Natale" and "Befana" coming from Italy + "Epiphanie" in France + "Ded Moroz" and "Sniegourotchka" coming from Russia + "Los Reyes Magos" coming from Spain !
Children are waiting for their Chrismas gifts ...