picking chestnuts

Earlier in the fall, I went chestnut "hunting" in Brittany!

It requires walking under chestnuts tree and some good gloves!

It was a little too early in the season,

but we were able to gather quite a few:

We didn't roast them

(as I have previously done in the past: here),

but instead removed their hard shells

and boiled them with some salt.

The boiled chestnuts have to be eaten warm,

as it is easiest to pill the last skin before eating them.

It is a little messy, and fun and delicious!

And with a glass of cool hard cider it is perfect!

I hope I will be able to find some at the grocery store for Christmas,

other wise I know I can always find the candied version 

and make more Buche de Noel aux marrons:

Another version that can easily be found is those little bags of ready to eat roasted chestnuts,

they are ok, not quite like the fresh ones but better than nothing!

And I enjoy eating them with Beaujolais Nouveau!

(Here for last year Beaujolais nouveau celebration!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Honey spice bread

This winter is really stretchingand I am truly longing for some childhood taste,so I made some honey spice bread.
It is slightly different from the one I used to eat,but it is delicious, with lost of honey and spices.

I followed this recipe from Chic, Chic, Chocolat.It is in French, so here are the ingredients:180 g of honey100 g of butter150 ml of orange juice
250 g of AP flour
100 g of sugar
1 tsp of baking soda
1-2 tsp of total spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clover...(I avoid measuring cup, too inaccurate for me!)
Grease/spray a baking loaf pan.
Heat up honey, orange juice and butter to melt it.Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and spices.Once the liquid has cooled down,add it the solid. Mix.
bake at 350 for ~35 min.
Enjoy cool or even better the next day,but it is hard. Waiting is my least favorite activity!
It is perfect with tea or coffee,breakfast or snack!

Happy day!

Beaujolais nouveau celebration

One week before Thanksgiving,we usually celebrate the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau,this year new wine from France.You can read Wikipedia view here:Beaujolais nouveau est arrive!
I was a little concerned that with France being on lockdown,the wine would not be available,but it is here and we are enjoying it!

For the occasion, I made up 2 serving boards:a cheese tray and a charcuterie tray.At our house those 2 things do not mix!This vegetarian doesn't like her cheeses to touch any meat product...
For le plateau de fromages,I put some Brie, Roquefort, goat cheese in herbes de Provence,and Asiago, with some lovely crackers, grapes, apricots, pomegranate seeds,fig jam and some slices of walnut raisin bread from our local French bakery.

For le plateau de charcuterie,

I put 2 different salami and some pate,

with the same crackers, grapes, cornichons, pomegranate seeds,

dry figs and rosemary.

We had a great evening enjoying the new wine,

Brick Master tried it but did not like it,

Miss C. did not try, but they both enjoyed the food

and the cultural aspect of the event!

from 2010: Beaujolais nouveau

from 2018: acorn Beaujolais nouveau

from 2019: cheese straw Beaujolais nouveau

Happy Day!

dreaming of the beach, a Mont St Michel vignette

Here is my latest vignette,

reminding me of home and summer vacations,

more specifically of Mont Saint Michel,

not far from my hometown:

You can read more about Mont Saint Michel here.

I cross stitched this cute picture, from les Brodeuses Parisiennes, of course!

and framed it in my usual IKEA frame

(I buy them in multiples!)

Previous vignettes:

Amsterdam, apres-ski, Paris Plage.

We were supposed to go to Brittany this summer

to visit family and the region,

but it is not happening.

It has been already 2 years since the kids saw their French grandparents....

At least, we have some pictures,

our memories.....

and cookies!

I am partially to Brittany cookies,

like Traou Mad,

but those St Michel galettes are pretty good!

Happy Day!

Raclette for Mardi Gras

This year for Mardi Gras, we are eating some raclette!

It is a rich meal, fun to share with friends and family.

Since it generates a fair amount of heat at the table,

it is best served in winter!

We always use our raclette machine

 (purchased more than 20 years ago, very sturdy!)

but in a pinch, the cheese can be microwaved carefully,

it is not as good but if you just want to try it out...

Finding raclette cheese can be challenging,

not every grocery store will carry it ou even every season.

Usually Whole food or Wegsman have it,

or even a fancy Safeway (not my regular one :( !)

The cheese melt below the surface, the bread and charcuterie get heated up on the top.

It is traditionally served and eaten on top of boiled/steamed potatoes:

My kids are not huge fan of potatoes,

 so they cover their bread with the melted cheese instead.

Either way it is fun and tasty adventure!

I must warn you that it is a fairly smelly,

during and after....

Happy days!

Previously, we celebrated Mardi Gras with

Rum cake:

Hurricane cocktail:

Galettes:

Gratin Dauphinois:

and Far Breton: