Et voilà! Another year flat on its back and only a few days left for a last effort to check off our 2011 list. And while we do it, we can delight in some December ambiance, eat some dessert and then go for a long walk afterwards to start a new healthy habit. This dessert is extremely easy and quick, loaded with Calcium and can be adapted to your taste and presented in every which way you like it.

Pinch of salt:

• The cream adds some lightness to the heavier  curd cheese, also called “faisselle”
• Substitute cream cheese for the curd cheese (fromage blanc.)
• Use a fruit coulis in season…pineapple, melon, peach, apricot…
• Use the berries whole, slightly sautéed in sugar  for a warm sauce.
• In summer, add a drop of rose water instead of the violet syrup.
• Taste for sweetness and add more or less sugar.

She wakes up in the darkness of the night. Sitting straight up in her bed, she holds her breath, tilts her head…hears it… and falls back on her pillow. The owls are back. With a smile lingering on her face, she drifts off, snug under the warmth of a heavy down duvet.

Outside in the cold of the night, the fog lies thick in the valley, wrapping all sounds in a silent cloak of mystery. All is quiet. The forest is dark and austere and the large oaks stand solemn and still. Unflinching in their guard. Then the  owl calls.  An answer breaks the heavy silence with an echo in the valley.  A twig snaps in the woods.  A deer bellows. Eyes gleam. A snort stifles. Silence. The mist rolls thicker over the hills into the forest, relentless in protecting her womb and the life she hides.

The owl calls. An answer. An echo.  Silence.

Have an atmospheric December!

Ronelle