all the recipes
HAPPY "VALENTINE’S DAY" to my MAMA and my PAPA (and a very happy birthday to my mama this week too and who still looks fabulous) ! In your lifetime, you will end up with several “valentine’s day” candidates (I remember that as a kid in elementary school, we would all make hand-made cards in class and give...
SOOOOOO . . . what do you do (in the winter) when you have loads of walnuts and dried dates and breadcrumbs & earl grey tea too ? The 2 kg of dates and 2 kg of walnuts and the earl grey tea we’re all given to me by my friends & neighbors and the breadcrumbs (also 2 kg at least) are the result of my own weekly bread I make...
**** HAPPY-HEALTHY-HYSTERICAL 2017 . . . :) * I’m sure your New Year’s Eve seafood platter was delicious, which is quite typical to eat in France on December 31st. ** I’m quite sure everyone didn’t eat everything because they were too busy drinking and merry-making. *** I’m really sure you have...
CHOCOLATEY & FRUITY & CREAMY & NUTTY & CRUNCHY & CHEWY & SPICY (but not too spicy this time) . . . ***and stop panicking, you all still have time to get everything done !!! Here’s an easy holiday recipe that is an adaptation from last year’s “chocolate holiday sausages” (see recipe here) but...
SNOW in Paris on Monday, November 7th between 8:15 and 8:45 am . . . okay it melted right away but anyways it’s really rare here and it made me nostalgic. As my friend Nicole once funnily said many years ago : “all the little snows get together and make snow . . .” (so cute, she was talking about the...
. . . let me explain : the original name of this working-class (or actually for people not working at all) winter dessert from Quebec during the Great Depression and the Wall Street Crash of 1929 is 'POUDING-CHOMEUR' which can be left as is or literally translated into ‘poor man’s pudding’ or ‘pudding for...
This dish is called “FASOLAKIA ME KREAS” in Greek and is usually prepared in just one casserole, gently simmering for several hours until so tender that it melts in your mouth and actually becomes a liittle too mushy (if you’re not attentive during the long & gentle simmering) . . . In the summertime, we often make it...
What do you mean 'YUCK' ?!?! . . . 'YUCK' yourselves ! * * (is this how you we’e going to end 2016 ?) But NO, not YUCKY nor GROSS nor BARFY but very-very-very YUMMY, WOW, SMOOTH, COOL, CLASSY ! Would I lie to you ? The test of course was not whether I was the only one to like it but rather if people who...
HOME CURED MEATS in 7/8 DAYS : dry-curing & wet-curing (or brining) & “biltonging” too. Salt, sugar, water, vinegar, herbs, spices and other stuff (depending on the chosen method(s) !!! At first, the idea is quite SCARY & DAUNTING … but not because it’s difficult but only because you start...
. . . the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month : Remembrance Day - Armistice Day (symbolized by a red poppy in the United Kingdom, the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, while in France, it’s the blue cornflower). The First World War means so much for so many countries that participated, whether directly in their own...
I’m going to try to keep it short and simple this time: “HAPPY FIRE ROOSTER CHINESE NEW YEAR” ! . . . and yes, I’m amazed to know that. It’s interesting how CHINA and the CHINESE CULTURE play such important roles in our lives or at least that we’re so aware of when the Chinese New Year is...
January 6 : ‘EPIPHANY’ or the visit of the 3 WISE KINGS and also my cousin ANGIE’s birthday (who is exactly 10 years and 1 day younger than I am) . . . Happy Birthday my darling & youngest of cousins ANGIE ! January 6 is also the official date for the «GALETTE DES ROIS» or...
I really-really-really WISHED I could show you all the stuff I’ll be preparing for the holiday meals like : salt-cured foie gras (not ready yet) & salt-cured dried beef (still drying & curing) & roasted leg of lamb with baby potatoes, onions, mushrooms and maybe chestnuts (the lamb is marinating...
"So this is what happens when you start off making a 24-hour rise sourdough-style (my fake version without a starter) pizza dough for 2 pizzas. And then your schedule changes and you’re called in to work on a last-minute 3-day assignment and you’re too busy and you finish work late and you haven’t had time to take care of...
*My building caretaker or ‘concierge’ (as we say here in France) and also my dear gardening buddy (Mr. M.O.) came back from a short trip to Algeria 1 month ago with a suitcase stuffed with fruits & vegetables (it’s not the first time nor the last time, he always does that) . . . I think you’ve seen many of the...