Chard Gratin Tonight

After last weekend's adventure at Ferme du Sart, I set out to use all the veggies collected... Washing was already a lot of work but I didn't give up. So here's what we enjoyed this week : chard soup with the green parts, leek and potatoes quiche, and today it's chard gratin with the white part of the veggie...

It's simple to prepare. After cleaning and taking out all the stringy part, I cooked it around ten minutes in boiling water. Then prepared a creamy bechamel where I added salt, pepper, nutmeg and grated emmental cheese, then mix the chard and the bechamel and cook everything in the oven until it's crispy and golden.

Vegetable picking at Ferme du Sart

We had a perfect weekend in the north of France visiting our family. It was sunny and vegetable picking was great fun at La Ferme du Sart. You could freely pick 3 kilos of available veggies on Sunday morning, the surplus only cost 80 cts per kilo. They had carrots, chard, leek, onions, parsley, thyme and an few other veggies. Free, fun and healthy!!!!
Afterwards came the washing, the cooking... chard soup, leek and potato quiche and I haven't used all of it yet!!!

Sarkozy-Bruni, it's a baby girl...

Little baby girl Sarkozy-Bruni arrived October 19, 2011 ! No photos for the time being, baby's name's a mystery also!!! Parents Nicolas Sarkozy, 56, is father to Pierre (26), Jean (25) and Louis (14). Carla Bruni, 43, is mother to Aurélien aged 10. Best wishes to the family!!

As most French babies, this little girl will very certainly receive a Sophie la Giraffe toy!!! My two daughters both had their Sophie's and found it fun to play with.

Ambalaba, Mauritian Sega

I wanted to share a sample of Mauritian sega by famous Claudio Veeraragoo in 1966. This song was taken up twenty years later by French singer Maxime de Forestier… "Ambalaba".

So here's the Mauritian and French versions from Youtube videos, enjoy!

Ambalaba by Claudio Veeraragoo
You will notice that the first image from the clip is that of "Chateau de Mon Plaisir" in Pamplemousses Gardens, Mauritius.

Maxime Le Forestier's version

If you want the lyrics, here's a site for you

Egg size meteorite hits Comette's roof outside Paris!

It's not a joke!
Comette family, living in Draveil south of Paris, found a leak in their roof caused by a 88g meteorite that went through their roof a few weeks ago, probably as they were on holiday. A very rare case of meteorite falling so near Paris! And did it choose it's landing platform? Comette family house!!!!

Article in French here!

Agrandir le plan

First time in France: Socialist Primary

For the very first time in France, a primary election will determine who will run for the 2012 presidential election as candidate of the socialist party.The principle of this primary election is simple, everyone gets to vote and choose one of the 6 socialist candidates. You only need to be on electoral lists and contribute one euro and you get to choose - you don't need to be a registered member of the Parti Socialist Party. It's heading to be a success as more than two million voters have been recorded.
Here's a screenshot of the dedicated website to this vote:

Devilish chocolate and salted caramel cake

Last weekend we tried a recipe from Marmiton website - the Gateau au chocolat et au caramel salé. It was so moist and you could taste a well balanced mixture of chocolate, caramel and salt. A delicious cake that melts in the mouth and so terrible for the diet!!!! Of course it reminded us of "caramel au beurre salé" - salted caramel recipes from Brittany.

Here's the recipe, very simple one that I'm translating here from the original website.

Ingredients
200g dark chocolate
180g sugar
150g salted butter
4 eggs

Note: except for the egg whites, all these mixing and beating steps are done manually with a whip or spoon.
Make a caramel with the sugar and a tablespoon of water.
When it's done, take the pan from the heat, add salted butter and mix until the caramel becomes liquid.
Add the chocolate that you have cut into pieces beforehand. Mix well
Separate the egg white and yolk and beat the whites to stiff
Add one egg yolk at a time to the chocolate mixture and mix
Incorporate gently the beaten whites to the chocolate mixture
Put in a greased mould and cook in a preheated oven for 25 minutes, 180 degrees
Enjoy while it's warm...miam...

our pictures before eating a very unreasonable share of the cake:

Mauritius Restaurant Guide

I was happy to come across this great site for dining out in Mauritius: the Mauritian Restaurant Guide...  It features reviews but also a section for coupons and recipes. For example I found the restaurant Fusion at Pereybère that we appreciated a lot, welcoming staff and good fish grillades that you eat facing the sea! Here's their website where you will find a coupon for your visit to the restaurant!

For my next trip to Mauritius, I will gladly use the Mauritian Restaurant Guide... But for now I'll just browse their recipes section.

Oktoberfest in Munich

When I accompanied my daughter to Munich late June, we went to the Oktoberfest site and it was just a large and open space, just bare land and so I was really impressed to see the photos from this year's Oktoberfest. My daughter's firm had a table reserved for the staff this week and here's a few pictures...

Looking for travel books on Munich? Click here...

This first tent is where you find the "stars"...