Christmas just left and Saint Valentine is coming!

I feel a frenzy attack coming.
The Christines (I will explain them in a later note) and I have decided to organize a Saint Valentine’s dinner for Saturday, February 13th. I organized one for 2007 and 2008 but I was recovering from hip surgery last year so the Christines did one by themselves. Now we are back in business.

The theme this year is , what else?, Angels & Devils, Red & Black. Can’t wait to do the deco.
But I am frustrated. I use a simple software called Printmaster, unfortunately all the versions don't mix together and my favorite angel is on the old which I can't get up on the new version. So here are some that I have found, along with devils, but I am not thrilled with any of them!




BUT.....at least I have the menu.

Raspberry kir

Ginger and honey roast chicken
Safrane rice
Endive and walnut salad
Peppered Olivet cheese
Dark chocolat tart


And, all that, with a 1/4 wine and coffee for 25€!

kristi anderson
saint jacques -le coin perdu
15 place de l'église
45240 ligny le ribault
06.83.18.42.31
TheAmericanFrog@aol.com
French Blog: http://theamericanfrog.typepad.fr/lecoinperdu

Oh, those French

On last night's news presentation (I think it was FR2) it was announced that France is Europe's most pesimistic nation. I don't think I would go so far as to say pesimistic, I'd rather say that the French are resigned. Resigned to life as it is.
Maybe that is why they know how to eat, drink and be merry so well!







Vive la France!

Just another snowy day

I did manage to get out and take a few photos.



Everything looks pretty when it is covered with freshly fallen snow, even my garden.

That lovely snow hides the fact that I didn’t finish cleaning up the garden before the snows came!



Quickly returned to the house and the fire. I had last minute guests for dinner last night and wasn't very inspired for the dessert. These were guests who come often and thus, had already enjoyed (at least I hope they enjoyed...) many of my recipes. I also knew they loved to try new dishes.

I looked around, the cupboard was almost bare. Then I noticed no one was eating the rosy red apples that I had bought, not even bunny!



Soooooooooooooo I sliced them up, put them in a frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of butter and brown sugar, fresh ginger slices,and a pinch of cardamon.
While letting the mixture carmalize I toasted some slices of "pain d'épices" (spiced bread). I served the apples over the toasts. The marriage between the spiced toasts and the apples was lovely! And, if you really want to let yourself go, add just a splash of Calvados to the apple mixture before serving. Delicious!

kristi anderson
Saint Jacques le Coin Perdu
15 place de l'église
45240 Ligny le Ribault

Chocolat tart for Lauren

The day after Thanksgiving was leisurely to say the least.

But I haven't yet talked about Friday night's dinner. The fun thing about this week end is that I try to blend the French and American cultures. After all I am a
Frenchifed American. I enjoy giving an American touch to French things, such as my Thanksgiving Kir and a French touch to American things,
I make a delightful crème fraiche sauce with Calvados for my apple crumble.

For the Thanksgiving weekend, Friday evening I cooked a typical French game dinner. Sologne is the hunting heart of France. Besides
the Tarte Tartin, white aspergus, mushrooms, it is the game cooking that is internationally known.

The menu for the evening was:

Brie fondu with dried tomatoes and herbs
Faison Chasseur
Pheasant in a red wine mushroom sauce
Herbed noodles
Goat cheese (speciality from this region)
Tarte au chocolat

Now, as I have said, I mix the cultures. And, Lauren has asked especially for the tart recipe. Here it is. It is a typical French chocolat tart, rich beyond imagination but....I have put it on the closest thing to a graham cracker crust...specaloos!

Ingredients

Crust
240 grams speculoos
2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350°F, 175°C
Crumble the speculoos, add the melted butter, mix well. Put the mixture in a pie mold (22cm diamter) and press down firmly. Bake 5 minutes. let it cool

Filling
200 grams dark chocolat
20 cl cream (crème liquide)

Crumble the chocolat into a microwave proof dish, add the cream and microwave for 2 minutes. Mix until thoroughly blended. Pour into mold.

Let cool.

And, Lauren, that is it!

Thanksgiving Leftovers

We are not talking food, there wasn't much left over from either Thanksgiving. Just the last bit of photos and comments. Tomorrow will be another day and one without Thanksgiving!

One of Thursday night's guests was kind enough to send photos, and since I am in a couple of them...
Here I am trying to explain what Thanksgiving is all about. My Thursday night Thanksgiving for the French locals came about when I was organising my Thanksgiving week end for Americans living in France. Many of my French friends demanded to know what exactly was Thanksgiving. They all knew the word but not the feast. So I decided to do a Thanksgiving for them.
Here I am with Muriel.
The tables were lovely.

Saturday's Thanksgiving was just as nice and a bit more fun for me because I was able to sit and stuff myself. Again, I was lucky enough to have a guest send photos, and since I am in a couple of them...
Yapping again!

I remembered to dress not only the turkey but the platter as well.

And here we are, smiling before attacking!

Thanksgiving with Football!

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.” Erma Bomback

This is one of the myriad reasons why I am so happy to be in France for Thanksgiving. It takes longer than twelve minutes to eat it. And we don't even turn on the TV!

One down, one to go!

It is over, at least the first Thanksgiving. The French said they loved it.








I wasn't sure if I could believe them, the French, being, above all, polite beyond the big white lie. They have been known to smile, nod their head and say, "c'est parfait" (it is perfect) when "ugh"! would be a more appropiate response.



Luckily Rosie was here.
That's Rosie in the dark shirt.
You need at least one another American to give the heads up on Tom. Rosie did. She said it was great. I had to give up on the sweet potatoes, though. What I really needed was those delightfully yellow yams. So I served a nice wild rice with grilled onions and cranberries instead.



And, who said you can't fit a 9.220kg turkey in a French oven?



I am new at this taking pictures for my blog and, so, the after picture of Tom is not as lovely as it should be. For Saturday's Thanksgiving I will make sure to dress up the platter!






I do believe the French had fun with the Thanksgiving Kir!