Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

“Sablés” aux graines..et la Touraine pittoresque

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!

...houses on the loire...

..je vous souhaite une bonne semaine!..

Ronelle

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Chili peppers stuffed with rabbit..and a home library.

I had left over rabbit. And small chili peppers. Some goats cheese. Herbs. And guests for dinner. As un apéro, these would do perfectly.

But BEWARE: They are very hot. While I was preparing them, I took a tiny bite from one and it was fairly piquant, but not as I expected and I continued happily.  BUT THEN… later the afternoon, I propped a smallish whole one in my mouth….well,  I flounced desperately around the kitchen table, like a horse being backed for the first time. I fled  outside in the rain for oxygen and help.  Not finding it there, I scrambled back to the fridge and gulped down 6 joghurts… I think next time I will use the mild spanish red pepper instead…but oh, these look SO pretty on a platter…!


Suggestions:

  • Use left over chicken or duck or turkey instead of rabbit.
  • When using duck, leave out the cheese and replace with balsamic vinegar and grated apple, sprinkled with lemon juice.
  • Ricotta cheese or créme fraîche can be used in place of the goats cheese.
  • Serve as a sterter with a small green salad, or serve as an apéritif with a cold white wine.
  • If the chili peppers are too hot to your liking, use the long Spanish red peppers instead and cut them shorter from the thin point upward.

Apart from smelling freshly brewed coffee when entering a home, few other things can  give a home that feeling of lived in comfort, cosiness , than seeing books…stacks of books, or shelves overflowing with a chaos of books. It doesn’t matter if it is a formal library or the living room where books are strewn on the table and couches.  I’m not talking about the pretentious shelves and  more shelves of beautiful books, only admired for their leather covers…No,  I love entering a home and seeing books everywhere, inviting me to take on from a shelf or pick it up from a table or chair or even the floor….open it up and page through… read the end…the sinopsis and discover a little bit about the owner’s taste and likes and discover new titles…

We don’t have a libraryat home, only “corners” of books which  I try in vain to keep  neat. Now I look past it and only try to balance out the stacking in order to prevent a shelf from breaking. And I LOVE it when people come here and pick up a book…!

..books at home..
..books in corners..
..books on the coffeetable, by the bed, decorating corners(which I HAVE read and still reread, yes)..

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I bought this beautiful and inspiring book on libraries a while ago: BIBLIOTHEQUES – l’art de vivre avec des livres by Roland Beaufre and Dominique Dupuich..

..BIBLIOTHEQUES - l'art de vivre avec des livres by Roland Beaufre and Dominique Dupuich..

*All the following images are borrowed from the book:

These next two libraries, are my most favorites in this book…if you leave me in either of these two, I’ll just happily disappear and you’ll never see me again!

..from the family Tazi, at Rabat..

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Another wonderful treasure of books!

..library of the Parisian decorator, Laure Welfing in Tanger..

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This library below is beautiful…too beautiful actually. I feel like someone’s is whispering…:”Don’t touch”!

..a bourgeoise library in Tanger..

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Don’t you just love a space like this, with so much to see and look at and loaded with personality…except for that spider on the lamp shade of course…

..working space/library of Gilles Neret in St-Germain-de-Prés, journalist and editor..

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This inviting couch and the lamp won me over!

..library/working space of art writer, Francois Jonquet with a bohemian flavor..

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A bit less chaotic, but still inviting with its couch and music station, the warmth of family photos, botanical prints…and of course…MANY books!!

..library of decoration journalist, Pamela de Monbrison..

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I hope this kicked you into a mood of reading, like it did me…and instead of watching a good DVD this weekend, let’s make it one of reading those oldies we haven’t touched in a while!

..bon week-end!..

Ronelle