december – Page 7 – Myfrenchkitchen

Why do Decembers ignite this uncontrollable desire for all things dessert? Just to have the hips show every inch of this desire flagrantly off in January.

It is a crisis. But in some crises the best thing to do is…have some dessert. Some apple tartlets. They are truly quick and easy and utterly delicious and very homey. They’re not fancy, rather rustic and no one will be offended if you pick one up by hand. They are meant to be enjoyed with a friend or someone you care about. And leave the plate with tartlets in the middle for a second helping. One won’t be enough. Oh, and leave one secretly for yourself for tonight, when all is quiet and asleep.

So the hips in January will be even rounder. But that is OK. At least it will give us something to talk and write about in January!

…ingredients for tarte fine aux pommes…

*Suggestions:

Choose an apple with a bit of sourness like a Granny smith.
The puff pastry can be replaced with another pastry of your choice.
Other fruit like pears, figs, peaches, apricots can be used.
It you find the top isn’t caramelized enough after baking, then sprinkle with a little brown sugar and caramelize quickly under a hot grill and keep your eye on it.
You can make the size of the tartlets as big or small as you like or even a single big tart.
Sage leaves are a good substitute for thyme.
Try sprinkling a tiny bit of fleur de sel with vanilla over the top just before baking.
Can be enjoyed as dessert with an accompanying scoop of ice cream or créme frâiche, or as a late afternoon snack with tea, a goûter, as we call it in France.

…joanne’s home in Tours…

My friend Joanne, allowed me into her home with my camera a while ago. She lives in the centre of Tours, where it takes a few minutes and you can serve up a fresh baguette and croissant for breakfast. With a basket and some walking shoes, you can browse the market just around the corner from her to have fresh veggies on the table at dinnertime. Just down the road from her lives a musician whose melancholic saxophone melodies vagabond down the quiet street. Life is tranquil and beautiful in her home. It reflects the stillness of her character, yet reveals the brilliant colours of her spirited and optimistic nature. Always trying to see the bright side, always ready for a new project, enthusiastic about life with a strong belief that every minute counts. She loves good food and it is just a pleasure inviting her over for a meal and seeing her obvious joy in appreciating what is put in front of her.

* astuce de grand-mére:

* Boil some vinegar on the stove for a few minutes to eliminate unpleasant kitchen odours.

We all need inspiration. For everything we do. Whether it is for hanging on when life is difficult or getting out of bed when we are depressed… Even when times are good, we flourish even more when inspiration hits us from a different angle. I believe we can’t sit and wait for inspiration, but we need to constantly be in search of it. We need to be open to it.

Something as simple as a sandwich can be created from a burst of inspiration and sometimes from the most unexpected source. Read further down below about the following sandwiches, created by MArinell and Liandri, 12 and 10 years old at the time.

…”arnie” sandwich – jingle all the way…

My humble way of being open to inspiration, is to always have a pencil and note-book in hand. I even read a book with a pencil, underlining even the simplest phrase if it means something to me. I write down things I hear people say in the bar that I find has meaning for me. I write down a saying that I read on a bill board or an advertisement. I pull off the road and grab the pencil in the door pocket to write down something that has just “hit” me. I wake up at night and write down a dream or a thought, I scribble when I drink coffee in town, I never take a walk by the Loire without a pencil and paper…in short, every moment is a pencil and note-book moment! A moment for a fresh idea. For a flare of inspiration. Do I act on them…all these ideas and inspiration? Sadly no, not always immedaitely, but I have them somewhere scribbled down in a little note-book in my house and I will fall upon it some time or another.

If you don’t have a pencil and note-book, get one soon and take down all your thoughts and ideas, colours you see, shapes you see, things you hear. Have little notebooks in as many corners of your house and office and car and bag and bicycle as possible, hands on, just for the taking. And stick ons. To mark the pages of books you read, articles, recipes, ideas. Our bookshelves are marked with books and their little colourful “flags”…people come over and they choose a book with a little flag, wanting to see what page is marked! Some interesting conversations have followed from that.

When our daughters were about 12 and 10 years, we were watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie one evening. They then decided to make sandwiches for dinner and they named them “Arnie” sandwiches…so we have Terminator sandwiches and Jingle all the way, and Predator and Kindergarten cop. Their own creations, their own work, their own handwriting in my recipe book….the inspiration? A wild man with a heavy accent in a silly movie! And the sandwiches? Absolutely divine!

In your little note-books of inspiration, you can makelittle sketches of what you would like your dish to look like(no Picasso necessary, for your eyes only!) play with ingredients, colours, layers, flavours. Fill a basket by the television with books and stick-ons and pencils, so you can just reach out and grab a notebook and pencil to pen down some ideas, scribble…don’t just watch television zombie-like!

Keep cards of restaurants and recipe cards and photos of food and all kinds of memorabiliathat can trigger some inspiration, in some nice old tins or boxes or drawers – a place where you “visit” often and can dig for some fresh ideas and originality.

Hang and pin your inspirations on notice boards…in your pantry, above your desk, in your bedroom by your bed, by the telephone, by the computer, in your bathroom…

Inspiration and ideas are as alive as we make them be. They are ever-changing. They have wings and will fly away if we, the creators, don’t pin them down. Have fun in creating new recipes…your own!

Trucs et astuces de nos grand-mères:

“pour dorer un gâteau si vous manquez d jaune d’œuf, vous pouvez le badigeonner de lait.“