Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Oats and coconut cookies and a christmas tree.

These old fashioned cookies are from my childhood. My mom believed they were healthy so we ate them throughout the year. They are simple to make and delicious to eat. Everybody loves them.

Oats and coconut cookies

  • 1 c butter
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 4 tbsp milk
  • 1 c flour
  • 4 c oats
  • 3 c dessicated coconut
  • 11/2 c sugar
  • salt
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
  2. Grease a baking tin, 30x35cm with butter and and line with brown paper.
  3. Mix the flour, oats, coconut, sugar and salt.
  4. Melt the butter and sugar . Add the milk and bicarbote of soda.
  5. Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
  6. Press the mixture into the greased baking tin and bake for about 25 minutes until the top is golden brown. Cut into squares while warm and leave to cool beofre removing the squares from the baking tin.

Christmas in our house starts on 1 December. We play some christmas music while decorating the tree and finish off with a nice dinner en famille.

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Orange flower cake and garden corners in December.

This is a very easy, very delicious, seasonal dessert.

  • 280 g ground almonds
  • 220 g sugar
  • 200 g soft butter
  • 100 g all purpose flour
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 oranges
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 tsp orange flower water
  • 2 tbsp honey
  1. Preheat the oven to 160degr C.
  2. Grease a pan of 35x24cm.
  3. Zest the one orange and lemon . Bueat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the zest.
  4. Add the eggs one by one alternating with the ground almonds.
  5. Add the flour.
  6. Pour the preparation into the greased pan and even out the top.
  7. Bake at 160 degr C for 30 minute or until a skewer comes out clean when piercing the cake.
  8. Prepare the syrup: Mix the juice of the two oranges, the lemon and two tsp of orange flower water and 2 tsp of honey unntil the sugar has completely dissolved. Baste the cake with the syrup until all the syrup is absorbed by the cake.
  9. Zest the an orange and sprinkle over the cake.
  10. Serve with some whipped cream on the side.

How time has flown by. We are at the end of 2019 with a few weeks left before we start the new year. My garden also realizes that we are in December.

A few chicks made their appearance late in the season and now they have to grow fast to outrun the cold coming.

Some garden lantens not yet packed away, a broken pot with water and a forgotten garden bistro chair.

An ever so proud rooster on the garden table.

Seedlings to be covered soon, a wire basket to be filled with butternut from the potager and a garden lamp.

In the potager, late tomatoes , butternuts and rhubarb await action.

The geese are ever present in every corner of the garden.

And the horses are amused by what’s happening around them.

Wood forthe fireplace on the chilly evenings.