25/01/2013

En bref ! Short and sweet...

Bonjour bonjour chers lecteurs, chères lectrices ! 

Hello dearest readers! 

L et moi avons décidé de tenter un nouveau concept : "Les brèves du vendredi" - parce que bon, c'est la fin de la semaine après tout et nous n'aspirons tous qu'à un peu de légèreté. Comme tout nouveau concept, il n'est bien sûr pas du tout au point, alors, en vrac, la semaine en images :

L and I have decided to try a new concept: "Short and sweet this week" - because let's face it, it's the end of the week and all we want is something light and well... short to read. Obviously, as any new concept it's work in progress so (not necessarily) in order, this week in pics:




Tandis que ce weekend Paprika (mais si vous savez, ma chouette) batifolait gaiement dans la neige - 


While Paprika (my owl, remember?) was enjoying the snowy week end - 


Lundi, L a fait la découverte de la semaine : 

L'"ourson d'eau", qui serait apparemment le seul organisme connu à ce jour capable de survivre dans l'espace ! Avouez qu'il a une bonne tête quand même...

On Monday, L made an amazing discovery: 

The "water bear" which seems to be the only organism known to date who could potentially survive in space! And speaking of amazing check out its face!






Mardi la neige londonienne a commencé à fondre sous un soleil plus que bienvenu !  De toute façon il se passe jamais rien le mardi...

On Tuesday, a long awaited sun started to melt the snow! I know, boring, but it's not like anything more exciting ever happens on Tuesdays...






Mercredi, à l'occasion du nouvel article de L, nos chers lecteurs anglophones ont pu faire l'expérience du superbe outil de traduction Google que nous avons installé sur le blog. Avec des résultats... plutôt intéressants ! 



On Wednesday, L posted in French so one of our dedicated English speaking readers used our Google translation tool and enjoyed... interesting results!






Jeudi, quand la semaine commence à ressembler à une quête naine organisée par un Gandalf bourré...
 Thursday, when your week begins to feel like a Tolkien quest lead by a much drunken Gandalf...



Quand au vendredi... 
Je pense que Peppermint Patty vous donnera le ton mieux que moi... 

As for Friday's mood, well, I'll let Peppermint Patty explain...



BON WEEKEND A TOUS !

HAVE A GOOD WEEK END Y'ALL!

Min'

PS : Recommendation film du weekend !




23/01/2013

La pasta experience...


Hallo everyone!

Voici le billet du mercredi tant attendu! J'avais pensé à tout un tas de choses super intéressantes pour cet article et mon choix s'est arrêté sur... l'ennui (et donc comment faire des pâtes maison)! Avez-vous déjà pensé aux bienfaits de l'ennui? Chez moi c'est un moteur à propulsion vers des expériences excitantes et uniques mais parfois beaucoup moins!  Par exemple, lire "50 Shades of Grey" (même pas besoin de trouver un millionnaire pour me flageller, je l'ai fait toute seule - mon dieu que cette héroïne est stupide, aie, mais pourquoi je lis ça, parce que tu t'ennuies, prends ça, aieuh!!! - voir la critique édifiante de Chi-Chi à ce sujet), ou alors dans les effets positifs, trouver la formule magique pour transformer le plomb en or! (recette bien sûr communiquée lors de mon prochain post si vous mettez des commentaires sympas sur le blog). Cette fois-ci, j'étais tranquillement en train de me demander, mais que vais-je faire ce soir, que vais-je faire? Pub, non c'est la fin du mois; voir Min ? Non elle est encore en train de traîner avec sa chouette, etc, etc. Quand tout à coup, Eurêka : "tiens, si j'essayais de mettre à profit cette super machine à faire des pâtes que j'ai eue comme cadeau de Noël!!! ", et l'ennui m'a donc guidée vers : La pasta experience!!!!

Ingrédients:
  • 2 œufs
  • Le même poids en farine (T 55)
  • Un peu d'eau
  • Sel. 

Méthode:

Si vous avez un robot: mettez tout dedans jusqu'à ce que vous ayez une belle pâte souple et non collante.

Si vous n'avez pas de robot:
  • Faites un puits avec la farine et le sel et mettez les œufs légèrement battus au milieu. 
  • Travaillez la pâte jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit, belle, souple et non collante. 
  • Faites une boule que vous laisserez reposer minimum une heure au frigo dans du papier film. 
Une fois que vous avez fait tout ça, détendez-vous et buvez un coup, vous en aurez besoin pour l'étape suivante.

Si vous avez un laminoir:
  • Prélevez un petit morceau de pâte et faites le passer dans le laminoir fariné  jusqu'à ce que vous puissiez voir à travers la pâte.
Si vous n'avez pas de la laminoir mais un super rouleau à pâtisserie:
  • Farinez votre plan de travail, buvez un coup et retroussez vos manches! 
  • C'est le même principe que ci-dessus mais en beaucoup plus fatiguant. 
Coupez votre pâte dans le sens de la longueur et laissez sécher pendant environ 20 min (sur le dos d'une chaise par exemple).

PS: attention à ce que la pâte ne soit pas trop fine sinon vous vous retrouverez avec des nouilles style Pad Thai...
PS2 : Merci à Edda et son blog pour les conseils précieux qu'on peut y trouver 

Et voilà!

L.







17/01/2013

Winter is Coming - and goodies with it!

Hello dear Reader and a Happy New Year!


After such a long silence, it was high time we got together for a good start of 2013. Tell me, tell me, what did you read, what did you watch, what delicious foods made you happy during the holidays? My list is so long it would take a few posts to tell you all about it, so to make up for our long absence I chose for you: 
one book, one movie and one tasty treat.

The Book
"A Game of Thrones" (GoT) is the first book of "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin, a fantasy series taking place in three different settings with interconnecting plots: The Seven Kingdoms, The Wall and The East. 

In the Seven Kingdoms, at the end of the Summer, in a world where seasons can last for years, this book is mostly centered on Eddard Stark, Lord of the House of Winterfell and his family. The plot revolves around his relationship with King Robert Baratheon, and the consequences of his nomination as Hand of the King, forcing him to leave Winterfell for the southern capital city King's Landing. 

In the North, the brotherhood of the Night's Watch guards the Wall, huge barrier of ice stone and magic that protects the Seven Kingdoms from the wildlings and the Others, nightmarish creatures supposedly haunting the icy woods of the North. Men of the Watch come from all paths of life and swear an oath to serve a lifetime of celibacy and complete dedication to their duty.

Meanwhile in the Free Isles of the East, Viserys Targaryen plots tu use his sister Daenerys (Dany) to reclaim the throne of the Seven Kingdoms that was taken over from his father Aegerys Targaryen by Robert Baratheon. For that purpose, 13 year old Dany is wed to Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo and his barbaric army. 

George R. R. Martin skillfully unfolds an amazing saga of love, war and magic, plots and revenge, dragons, wolves and epic quests. Creating universes as rich and complex as Tolkien's, he transports us from icy desolate lands to luciously green cities and spicy deserts. In these amazing settings evolve a number of fascinating characters, each with their unique personalities, inner conflicts and relationships. As the author takes us from one to the other, slowly weaving the web that connects them all, you can't help but want to know what happens next, feel the hot wind in your hair as you ride through the Dothraki sea of grass, be thrilled by the sound of the Starks' howling direwolves or shiver at the idea of what lies and hides behind the Wall. 

In spite of its size (700+ pages), I managed to finish it within 3 very busy weeks and am currently reading the second book ("A Clash of Kings") so I would definitely recommend it to all Fantasy lovers. 
Oh, and did I mention there's a dwarf?

The Movie
Speaking of dwarves, you must have guessed by now which movie was the highlight of my holiday season: the long awaited (by me at least) "The Hobbit, an Unexpected Journey" by Peter Jackson. 

As you may recall, I had read the novel recently in anticipation of the film coming out. Well I wasn't disappointed: keeping in mind that this is only the first part of three movies, Peter Jackson stayed quite truthful to the book and his few adjustments worked just fine for me. The characters were true to form thanks to some amazing acting (can I just mention Sir Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage here) and the decors up to any expectations we might have had after seeing The Lord of The Rings trilogy. 

I must admit to having a slight bias as a previous fan of Richard Armitage, who plays Thorin Oakenshield, leader of the dwarves. How Peter Jackson managed to make a dwarf even remotely sexy is a mystery, but I am sure Richard's deep barytone of a voice and intense blue stare didn't hurt! I am yet to meet someone who doesn't get gosebumps as Thorin is joined by his dwarves in a few moving choruses of the Misty Mountains by Bilbo's fireplace. Gandalf's facetious nature and sense of humour show perfectly through Ian McKellen's subtle acting and Martin Freeman really got the hang of the oh so British and conflicted Bilbo on his life changing adventure. 

I'll let you refer to my previous post on The Hobbit for more details on the story but as a final argument I will only add that after 2h50min of movie, my friend who knew nothing of the story or of Tolkien's universe exclaimed: 
"The end? How long do we have to wait to see the second part?" 
My thoughts exactly!


The Treat
What better way to conclude this post than with one of my favourite Christmas treats: 
Chocolate Truffles. Chocolate truffles are very easy to prepare and make a delicious sweet or lovely gift but require a bit of patience (plan at least 2h30). So here's a basic recipe with a few possible variations. 

Ingredients: 
  • 250gr dark baking chocolate
  • 20cl creme fraiche (or double cream)
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder

In a bowl, start melting the chocolate, either with 2 table spoons of water in the microwave (medium power) or in a water bath (bain marie). Boil the cream in a sauce pan then add to the chocolate. Mix until you get a smooth creamy texture. Let the preparation cool down in the fridge for about 1h30.
Once the mix is thick enough (hard), spread some cocoa powder on a plate, use tea spoons to make small balls of chocolate and roll them in the cocoa power. Your truffles are ready! You can present them in little paper cases. 

Traditional recipes include 1 or 2 tea spoons of liquor or rhum. You can also replace the cocoa powder with grated coconut - I ran out of cocoa this Christmas and even tried almond powder which nicely counterbalances the very sweet chocolate mix. How about white chocolate truffles? Just let your taste buds fuel your imagination!

So, what book, movie and/or food was the highlight of YOUR holidays? Come one, share, we're REALLY curious!

Min'