myfrenchkitchen

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…!

collage-bibliothèque home-1 — ..books at home..

collage-bibliothèque home 2 — ..books in corners..

collage-bibliothèque home 3 — ..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..

bibliothèque -art de vivre — ..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!

bibliothèque 1 — ..from the family Tazi, at Rabat..

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Another wonderful treasure of books!

bibliothèque 7 — ..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”!

bibliothèque 2 — ..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…

bibliothèque 4 — ..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!

bibliothèque 5 — ..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!!

bibliothèque 6 — ..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

Our youngest daughter loves apple-anything and she started baking this cake when she was only knee high. It is from The Australian woman’s weekly home librabry – Cakes and slices. We’ve changed it only a little . The recipe directs to cut apples in quarters and then cut 3/4 trhough in slices and then press into the dough. It gives a beautiful cake, but makes the slices too big(to include apples in each slice) so we cut the apples in slices and spread them through out the cake, which gives a less attractive cake, BUT much more moist and of course delicious!

PS: forgive the bad photo..I was being pushed on with the photo, because my daughter didn’t want the cake cold…and after all, she DID bake the cake..!

Suggestions.

Pears could be used instead of apples.
Instead of inserting the apples slices all over the top of the cake, the apples can be cut into courters and then sliced only 3/4 way through. Press into the cake at the edges. I gives a prettier cake, but the slices won’t be spread through out the cake.
Gelatin powder can be used…1 tsp.
Best when served slightly warm with a spoonful of whipped cream on the side…or my ever trusting naughty crème fraîche!
It can be stored for two to three days.

Last weekend, Montlouis held its yearly, autumn “marché des douceurs. A lot of eating and drinking, socializing and selling marks the day and if one arrives home hungry you have only yourself to blame!

Le week-end dernier etait le marché des douceurs en centre ville de notre petit village si sympa, avec des rencontres de Montlouisiens si sympa. C’est la fête automnale annuelle et on y mange et on y boire. On discute dans les rues, on vends et on achète . Si, après tout ca, on rentre à la maison sans un sourire ou encore affamé… eh bien, c’est pas à cause d’un manque de la nourriture ou un manque de divertissement!