Cakes and tarts – Page 12 – Myfrenchkitchen

It is epiphany weekend and here in France we have “les galettes des rois” tempting us around every corner! I almost gave in, but I held my ground firmly and walked past.

Safely here at home, I can now proudly boast about my steadfast self discipline! After a season of nibbling on all the festive foods, I want to get back on track with healthy eating. Doesn’t that sound quite boring? NOTE TO SELF: Keep the healthy eating exciting! Tall order, since I have become a bit lazy in the cooking department. Proof…I haven’t even baked a galette this this year! But that is no problem. I have links up this lazy sleeve!

First: My own galette des rois from last year…oops…not last year, but 2010!

How did a year pass without me knowing about it?

Ronelle’s (that’s me..)galette des rois

And here is Monique’s galette des rois:

and Chriesi’s galette des rois:

So this is what dictionary.com has to say about epiphany:

“epiphany

[ih-pif-uh-nee]

noun, plural -nies.

1. ( initial capital letter ) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.

2. an appearance or manifestation, especially of a deity.

3. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

4. a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.”

I hope your weekend will be filled with all the meanings of the word epiphany; eat a galette on 6 January, experience a pleasant appearance, receive that sudden insight we all need so desperately, and present your epiphany by means of a piece of work…maybe by baking a galette, even if only this once in your life?

Enjoy the weekend, stay warm in the north, stay out of the sun in the south, eat “healthy”, and enjoy your epiphany.

“Epiphany”. I have to say it again.

“Epiphany“.

Such a nice word.

ciao ciao!

Epiphanic epiphanist.

A while ago, my daughter bought a packet of sablés des près from Bonne Maman and it was so good. So I looked at the ingredients and decided to create my own. Et voilà mes sablés aux graines!… if ever I can be allowed to blow my own horn, this would be it! These sablés turned out delicious and I’ve decided it will be my Christmas gift to friends this season. I’ve done half of the quantity with the addition of poppy- white sesamé- and sunflower seeds and the other half with only fennel seeds, which have a more “herb” taste and are as delicious. With a cup of tea or tisane…late night…before bed…pure comfort! The only problem? How to stop at two sablés..!

Suggestions:

Whole wheat flour can be used instead of white flour.
When using whole wheat flour, use light brown sugar instead of white sugar for more rustic coloured cookies.
Replace 1/2 c flour with 1/2 c rice flour.
Replace the three seeds with 3 TBSP of fennel seeds.
If you use unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the dried ingredients.
Use a stencil to flatten the cookies…with a letter of the alphabet, or another design that you like.

: …sablés aux graines..la farine de blé, tipe 55…sablés des près de Bonne Maman..

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…la touraine pittoresque…

I’m saying goodbye to a breathtaking autumn…! Our rains have arrive this weekend…pouring down non stop! And so the warm splendor of autumn has now been forced to make way for the abstract art of stark winter impressions.

With silly excitement, I will now trot along November deeper into winter, all the while planning our Christmas tree, which will be put up on 1 December, like tradition dictates. (Keep an eye on the watch it you’d like to see..) And to keep the winter blues at bay, I will be planning our outings and visits to chateaux and places of interest for this season….the chateaux have such different ambiance in December…in Chenonceau for example, a huge fire crackles in the massive fireplace…and after such a visit, it will be off to warm ouselves around a chocolat chaud in a cozy brasserie. It is also the time to go to shows and chorals and music concerts in the catedrales. But more about all of this later. For now, a last tribute to la Touraine pittoresque!