cookbook addict

cartes de voeux répugnantes Oink délicieux assortiment de biscuits internationaux rugelach, polvorones, puits d'amour bonnes surprises Travaux de maternelle C'est joli Marché de Noël au Luxembourg Inpiration suisse Sapin pas franchement gai tout ça Ici aussi il y a des pyramides Gelle frä Happy bûche Comme je ne sais pas quoi dire, et que mes enfants dorment encore à cette heure avancée en ce jour de Noël, alors que les cadeaux n'attendent qu'à être déballés, j'en profite pour vous mettre quelques photos. Bonne fête, Paulette!

Que faire quand l'un de vos proches vire végétarien? Comme en toute chose, pour survivre, il faut s'adapter -et conserver un certain sens de l'humour. C'est toujours une occasion d'acheter davantage de livres de cuisine...  Je ne suis pas peu fière de ce chemin de table cousu in extremis avec du tissu Michael Miller ! Alors, pour ce repas de Noël en avance, j'ai pensé faire un grand classique des végétariens anglophones le nut roast -appelons-le pâté végétal en français. Le nut roast est une sorte de cake à base de légumes et de diverses noix. Ici tomates, cajou et noix (recettes de Rose Elliott). Pour l'accompagner, des haricots verts en sauce tomate avec du fromage grec (ici du manouri, mais de la feta irait très bien, et des pommes de terre grenaille poêlées au beurre et à l'huile d'olive. Et un petit aïoli de tricheur (mayonnaise, yaourt, ail en poudre et parmesan râpé). Le dessert? Une bûche tout chocolat, agrémentée de framboi...

"Santa cutie, and fill my stocking with the duplex and checks Sign your 'x' on the line" (Santa Baby, Eartha Kitt) Some good music -yes, I still buy CDs, I don't like iPods or other things that harm my already damaged ears. I adore Morrissey and wish I had been older when the Smiths were together -or rather, wish they had been around when I fell in love with their sound. I could have gone to their gigs! Well, of course I don't wish them to go back together now , and I don't think that could ever happen anyway, they're not Take That ! Oh, hum, sorry for rambling on about that one. Some kitchen tongs, mine are long dead so they need replacements as I use them every day...(Lurch) Some good scales, mine use up batteries like there's no tomorrow, and to prolong their expensive lives I have to take them out when not using the scales. (Soehnle) A milk jug for my cups of tea. (Cath Kidston) A butter dish for, well, my butter...

Every country has its kitchen bible, the book that taught housewives how to cook and fashionned the way generations have eaten since WW2. In the US, you have The Joy of Cooking, in the UK, Delia perhaps, in France Ginette Mathiot and Françoise Bernard are the top contenders. Luxemburg is no different. Except the name of the lady probably never made it past the border. Ketty Thull was a domestic science teacher and her book is the bestselling cookbook in this country. It's been republished many times and she even has streets named after her. PS : got this mint copy of the JoC for $5 in New York! I had my eye on this book with its cute play kitchen on the cover, and was super happy to receive it as a present from my friend Diane and her husband Claude, my reference in all things Luxemburg. Villmols Merci! This book has advice on nutrition and every recipe anyone ever needed. My friends said their mums cooked only from it so it's stuff they grew up on. And as you would expec...

We have put up our Christmas tree. It is a jumble of tinsel, tiny wooden figures and felt trees, and now thanks to Nikolaus, Kinder chocolate Santas. Just the way we like it. Nikolaus, Sinterklaas, Saint Nicolas, Kleesche,  the model for Santa Claus and a beloved figure in our area (Northeastern France, Germany, Benelux countries) is celebrated on December 6. The night before, children put their shoes out for him to fill with sweets, chocolates, little presents as well as something for him to drink and nibble on, and some snack for his donkey. I must say I don't relate so much to this tradition but I like to embrace it as it makes the children happy. In Luxemburg, Kleesche is often accompanied by his dark friend Houseka, whom we call Père Fouettard in French, who is supposed to come and spank/club naughty children. He certainly frightens smaller children but since his threats never come true, his educational value is low, ha ha. Today is also the second Sunday of Advent so we have ...

The Xmas Eve afternoon table, with mulled cider in our Xmas market mugs (I have an obsession for them, and funnily, each one I have reminds me of a different time in my life). Gingerbread house -my first, with some online help from my friend Maria;-) Nigella's rugelach, uncharacteristically (for me that is) baked on the first day of Hannukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights Nigella's "Incredibly Easy Chocolate Fruit Cake", the chocolate Xmas cake fom her latest book (but a 98% reprint from Feast ) I used Triple Sec (a generic Cointreau/Grand Marnier) in place of coffee liqueur. Carving the Xmas capon (a capon is a male chicken that has been castrated, turning into a Ware chicken with a lot of fat, hence a great bird to roast with succulent moist flesh) I used a meat thermometer as well as stuffing between skin and breasts to ensure juicy breasts (omg, this is verging on food porn) Stuffing on the side, the Anglo way, this is not the traditional French way (stuffing is ...

First of all, let me wish you all a happy new year, full of delicious and happy moments! I haven't been around much lately, busy with Xmas preps and just being plain lazy. But I thought that the epiphany would be a good time to resurface, putting an end to the Christmas season and welcoming the new year with yet another sugar high... There are regional variations on the Three King's cake in France. Around Bordeaux for example, they make a brioche-type crown with candied fruit and pearl sugar (I hear they do a similar one in New Orleans, not a coincidence). In Franche-Comté (home of Comté cheese, which I like a lot), they make a flat galette with no filling. But generally speaking, the most widespread galette is a puff pastry affair filled with frangipane. Inside a fève (fava bean) lays buried, now a ceramic figure, and whoever finds it becomes king or queen, according to gender and/or sexual preference (ha ha). They're sold with golden paper crowns. When children are around...

Looking around the Christmas traditions of europe, it seems that dried fruit and orange dominate the baking offerings. While I am very tempted to make a panettone, my last one dating back a few years, I couldn't resist making stollen. Stollens are ubiquitous in Germany, and here as well and they are particularly appreciated by my side of the family for some reason. They aren't very difficult to make provided one is armed with the right recipe. How could I resist Nigel Slater's when I know that everything I have made following his advice has turned up beautifully. There are a few moot points between us on this particular occasion, but the end result is nearing perfection. What are the issues under debate? Well, first of all, Nigel suggests using glacé cherries, which I hate with a passion, and which rear their ugly little noses everywhere in British recipes around the festive season. Common glacé cherries are not good for you, as you'd guess by just looking at their ul...