Feliz Ano Nuevo..!

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Happy New Year !

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My photo : café sur une terrasse, 1 janvier 2009, Aix en Provence

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How nice to go straight from a holiday into the weekend..!
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.We're all so exhausted after all the travelling and
Christmas/Birthday/New Year festivities,
today has been spent mostly unpacking and generally settling back home

at a slow pace... plus

baking and then indulging in the Galette des Roi,
accompanied, of course, by a glass of the very best champagne..!

J'aime beaucoup cette célébration synonyme de partage et de convivialité...

La Galette des Rois

Read here for an excellent post about

this extremely popular French tradition that takes place in January

every year...

Recipe:
(Serves 8)

1 1/4 lb puff pastry
2 eggs
7 oz almond paste

Preheat the oven to 400°F .
Line a baking with baking parchment.
Roll each sheet of pastry into a circle about 12 inches across.
Place one circle on the prepared pan.
Mix the egg with the almond paste until smooth
and spread the mixture evenly on the prepared circle of pastry,
leaving a border 1 1/2 inches wide all around.
If you have a small china figurine, insert it into the almond mixture
(you may also use a dried hardened bean as the fève).
Place the second circle of pastry on top and press it down tightly
around the rim.

Beat the remaining egg lightly and brush it on the top of the cake.

With a long-bladed knife, press lightly but firmly
through the egg glaze marking a crisscross pattern.
Bake for 20–25 minutes until golden and puffed.
Do not open the oven for at least 15 minutes,

as the pastry may collapse.
Best served slightly warm
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BON APPETIT !

So, after all the indulging and great quality time spent with family and friends

here and there,

my routine should be returning to normal next week

(whatever that means..!?!)

- I'll be dealing with my Birthday giveaway asap, posting regularly

catching up with all your wonderful blogs...

Weekend Sportif et Gourmand...

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It was sunny, extremely cold and windy

Snow conditions were just great

Traffic conditions were not

I can still hear the wind whistling in my ears...

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.It was the last weekend of November

We enjoyed an excellent "après-ski" evening with family

and friends

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Fondue Savoyarde
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Our first fondue of the season was a success
The great food, wine,open fire and music really warmed

us all up...
Weekends really are far too short
- as I write this, reliving the weekend,
I can hear the crackling sound of logs burning

in the open fireplace, the laughter...

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Fondue Recipe

Ingredients :
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12 oz Emmental cheese, grated
12 oz Beaufort cheese, grated
12 oz Gruyere cheese grated
6 glasses dry white wine (from Savoy if possible)
1/2 glass kirsch liqueur
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
white pepper
1 or 2 loaves French bread
1 egg (optional)
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On the day before or the morning of the meal, cube the bread,
and leave it out to let it dry a little.
Rub the bottom and sides of an earthenware pot or
cast iron saucepan with the garlic.
Pour wine into pot and place on stove over medium-high heat.
Bring wine to boil, add cheese and stir slowly with a wooden spoon.
Before cheese is fully melted, take pot off the stove and place
on a lighted fondue burner.
Season with pepper and add kirsch while stirring.
Once cheese has entirely melted, serve with bread on fondue forks,
stirring occasionally.
If cheese bubbles rapidly, turn down heat.
(the next stage is optional...)
When cheese is almost gone (maybe 3/4 cup left), break a raw egg
into the pot and stir rapidly with the cheese.
After a minute, add remaining bread into pot and stir together
with cheese and egg.
Then turn off the burner and enjoy what's left
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BON APPETIT !

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Pause Déjeuner en Alpage...

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après une bonne marche tonique sur les sentiers

du Plateau des Glières...

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.Les Beignets de Pomme de Terre

accompagnés de salade,

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Ingrédients

(4 personnes)

800 g de pommes de terre

1 gousse d’ail

2 cuillères à soupe de farine

4 œufs entiers

Crème, persil, sel et poivre

Râpez les pommes de terre et égouttez les biens.

Mélangez ensuite l’ensemble des ingrédients

et fabriquez de petits beignets.

Il ne reste plus qu’à les cuire à la friture.

Accompagnés de salade,

les beignets sont un met simple et facile à cuisiner...
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BON APPETIT..!
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Please do not hesitate to ask if you'd like a translation...

Tarte Tatin Recipe...

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by special request...

(R & N, let me know how you get on...)

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Ingrédients:

- 100 gr de beurre doux, coupé en dés

- 185 gr de sucre roux

- 4 à 6 pommes selon la variété choisie, pelées et coupées en 8

- 1 pâte brisée

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Préchauffez le four à 220°C.

Graissez un moule à tarte.

Faites fondre le beurre dans une poêle puis ajoutez le sucre et laissez cuire

4 à 5 minutes à feu moyen jusqu'à ce qu'il fonce.

Ajoutez les pommes et faites les revenir 20 à 25 min à feu doux.

Retournez-les délicatement et laissez-les dorer uniformément de l'autre côté.

Laissez l'eau s'évaporer. Le caramel doit être épais.

Retirez du feu et garnissez le moule à tarte avec les tranches de pomme.

Nappez-les de caramel.

Recouvrez les pommes de pâte en rentrant les bords à l'intérieur du moule

avec une cuillère.

Faites cuire 30 à 35 minutes, puis laissez reposer 15 minutes

à température ambiante avant de retourner la tarte sur un plat de service.

Servez chaud ou tiède

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