Valentine’s day – lover or hater?
Valentine’s Day – embrace it or ignore it…
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Category Archives: French
Chouquettes
Chouquettes were another discovery of mine when we lived in Paris. While we were living there I was studying french at the Alliance Francaise and opposite the metro stop that I would get off to get to the Alliance was a boulangerie (bakery) filled with all kinds of deliciousness. Each time after class on my way home, I would pop in to the boulangerie and sneak in a little snacky snack before lunch which initially was generally a pain aux raisins (one of my faves – recipe here). But every time I would get to the counter to make my pain aux raisins order there would be platter sitting on the counter with a giant pyramid of these little choux pastry puffs sprinkled with sugar whispering ‘pick me! pick me!’. So one fateful day I decided to forego my usual fave and try these little sugar puffs that were begging me to eat them. A love affair began…
Oeufs Brouilles – The creamiest scrambled eggs in the world
So it seems that everyone I know is either in Paris at the moment or heading to Paris during the European Summer. Ok… so not EVERYONE, but a significant proportion of people that I know are heading to the city of awesomeness and the point is that I’m not. I know I know, jealousy is not an attractive trait and I’m obviously excited for everyone that is getting to experience one of my favourite cities in the world and love that I get to share my favourite spots with them but I am incredibly green with envy that it’s not me who’s going.
Pain aux raisins
Pain aux raisins has got to be my absolute favourite pastry. I loved it before we moved to Paris and while we lived there I almost ate one of these on a daily basis (god knows how I was still able to fit through a doorway by the time I left Paris). I noticed while in Paris that pain aux raisins was typically made one of two ways, either with a brioche type dough or with croissant dough which is more common. Prior to making this recipe, I had a strong preference for the pain aux raisins made with croissant dough, but these, warm, straight out of the oven, I have to say are one of the best things I’ve eaten for a while. I think the Dr and I even did a fist bump after our first mouthful!
Pain perdu with caramelized apples, walnuts and creme fraiche
Everytime I turn on the TV, the infomercial for the Instyler seems to be on. You know the one – the hairstyling tool that’s a combination of a curling/straightening iron with a brush attached. They seem to be really pumping the $ into advertising this little gadget given that it’s on pretty much every minute of the day – pity it’s crap.
Oh my brioche!
I’ve learnt something about myself in the last year that has taken me a really long time to come to terms with and admit about myself….