de provence au texas

Taking on a new challenge

frenchintexas — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:06:14 +0000

It is not an easy task to write on a daily basis, I fear that if I skip a day, I can skip a year and I do not want to make this mistake. I am not much of a writer nor do I claim to be one. This New Year’s resolution is about consistency. I start things but do not finish them most of the time. I would like this year to be different and better in so many ways!

We are a one family car and when the car of this one family no longer is drivable then it is time to let it go and get a new one. Of course, it never happens at the best time but this is part of life. I drove a 1983 240 Volvo GL and I love this car. Just thinking about this brings tears to my eyes. I drove it until the 31^st of December 2009 and it has sat there underneath the carport for the last 3 days, waiting to be driven. It needs so much repair that its cost will be the down payment on a new “used” car. The Old Blue and I have been through some tough times together and some good ones as well, she has been a good friend all these years and part of my family. I will miss you!

So for the last 3 days B and I have taken long walks and ran our errands by foot. It is usually a couple miles to our destinations (one way) and we are careful on the load we have to carry back to the house, we each carry a back pack. I have truly enjoyed these walks with B, our talks and simply getting in touch with our surroundings. Today was grey and a bit cold; we walked to one of our favorite Asian restaurant for lunch. We both love their “Spicy Coconut Chicken Soup”! A hot cup of soup and an order of crispy Rangoon and we were set for the walk back home. Oriental Cuisine is one that I enjoy a lot; unfortunately, I do not have the talent to prepare it. I could make it an upcoming challenge “365 days of Oriental Cuisine”… maybe next year!

Speaking about challenge for this year, I have decided to bake more. I am not a baker but would like to improve in this area. In France, today is “Epiphanie” or “Epiphany” and during this season we prepare “la Galette des Rois” or “King’s Cake”. A small figurine or “la fève” is hidden in the cake and the ones who gets it (or bite on it), is King or Queen for the day. The cake consists of flaky puff pastry layers with a dense center of “frangipane”, which is a filling made of almonds. How cool is that! It is $17 a pie at the French bakery or I can graciously accept the challenge. Will I spend less than $17 in trials and errors? Will keep in touch, I promise!

Make it a good day!

More Black-eyed peas.

frenchintexas — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:17:19 +0000

Black-eyed peas again for diner. It is ok, right? Well yes, it only means a double dose of good thing happening! This time I served the beans with some tilapia. I cooked the fish in a skillet and sprinkled some herbs that I brought back from home, “Mélange Poisson” a blend of fenouil, aneth, cerfeuil, laurier, baies roses and coriandre (fennel, dill, chervil, bay leaf, pink pepper, coriander). Served with a side salad of home-grown greens, totally awesome! I ended the meal with Greek yogurt. Yogurt that is something else I need to discuss in the near future. I finally gave myself permission to splurge and invest in a yogurt machine and it has been disaster after disaster. I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong, too runny is the result 90% of the time. I have put the machine back into its box and will try again soon. I am sure you needed to know this, right?

Today was a good day, nothing exceptional but a simple good day. The weather was nice and we took a walk to our local library. There I found a new book on Provençal Cooking by Mary Ann Caws. It looks interesting and claims to have some delicious recipes. I cannot wait to found out and let you know.

Make it a good day,

Bonne Année à tous!

frenchintexas — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 05:56:48 +0000

How many New Year Resolutions this time? Well, continue the blog would be a nice one, losing weight is also on top of the list, getting our finances in order, taking more photos, did I mention losing weight?

Today was a good day and I hope it was a good one for you as well.

The day started with a delicious brunch. We try to eat at home as much as possible these days and one of the goal is to try new recipes. We found a great one in the “Bon Appetit” magazine, February 2009 issue,”Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Lemon cream. Here is the link for the ingredients and recipe, I highly recommend it. It is really reasonable to make and so delicious, we served it with Mimosa (left over Champagne and orange juice).

New Years day could not be complete in Texas with a serving of black-eyed peas. I bought fresh ones that I cooked 3 hours in my new orange cast iron pot. I added onions, celery, garlic, sliced turkey (cut in small pieces), beer and chicken bouillon, salt and pepper and a dash of “Herbes de Provence”, how could I forget them!

Here is to the New Year Resolution of taking photos and cooking. Today’s black-eyed peas diner.

Tonight I was pretty pleased with my dish, simple but good. B did enjoy it too and this always warms my heart. He would have been happy to open a can of black-eyed peas and warm it up and eat it as is. I suppose there is nothing wrong with this too, I need to learn to relax more while cooking, but I do enjoyed choosing fresh ingredients.

I hope to experiment a bit more in the kitchen this year. I do not cook like a true Texan, France and French food is still part of me and my daily life. I will take on some cooking challenges this year, perhaps blend in the two cultures more.

Bon Appétit mes amis et Bonne Année!

Squared purple dishcloth – lavette mauve

frenchintexas — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:01:39 +0000

Love dishcloth – lavette de St. Valentin

frenchintexas — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:51:59 +0000

Lavette rose – pink dishcloth

frenchintexas — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:39:20 +0000

Lavette rouge ronde – red round dishcloth

frenchintexas — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:16:46 +0000

me re-voici, me re-voila, me re-voilou !

Tournesol – Sunflower

frenchintexas — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:24:39 +0000

Ok, ma deuxième tricopine, FruitySpirit, vient de recevoir ma lavette – Tournesol – je me suis bien amusée à la faire. La seule chose qui a pris du temps c’est que chaque pétale est tricotée individuellement. Moi qui est horreur des finitions, j’avais des fils à rentrer partout. Enfin, c’est le résultat qui compte.

OK, my second swap knitting partner, FruitySpirit, received my dishcloth – Sunflower – I had fun knitting it. The only thing that took a little time is that each petal is knitted individually. I had many threads to weave in, but the result was great, and that is the most important thing.

la ronde des lavettes – dishcloth swap – bis

frenchintexas — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:24:03 +0000

Une de mes tricopines de la ronde des lavettes – JPacquin - a reçu aujourd’hui la lavette que je lui avait tricoté. J’ai utilisé une laine en coton chiné verte clair et une autre dans le ton mauve pale, et puis j’ai mélangé tout cela. Voici quelques photos:

My swap-knitting partner – JPacquin – received her package today. I am able to show you what I sent her since it is no longer a secret. I used a combination of 2 colors, light green and pale mauve, and knitted a “woven stitch” . here are some photos, front and back:

September dishcloth swap

livraison à domicile

frenchintexas — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:58:07 +0000

Tiens ma petite sœurette j’ai trouvé l’organisme idéale pour toi. Livraison à domicile!