Cherry Coke all around from their own correspondents

"From our own correspondents" is one of my favourite radio programmes. It tells you stories from around the world which you would not hear/read about in mainstream programmes/articles.

A recent programme describe the French etiquette at dinner parties. Some were true, but I am sceptical about others, such as "Never compliment the cook" or "Never say 'Bon Appetit'" as it is allegedly considered very rude. Does this mean that I have been ignoring the social conventions in my own country during the 20 years I was living there???? I will give my opinion on any other subject from the article you may want me to clarify.

Still on the subject of food, an interesting article/broadcast called "Cherry Coke all around" raised my interest. It comforted some prejudices that Europeans have about Americans, but I am determined not to believe all of it. I am sure some Americans can make the difference between a proper tomato and some chemicallly-grown red tomato-shaped stuff.

But oh dear, if I had the money the people in the article seem to have, I would refuse to eat that stuff and get some real food, or probably even grow some of it myself!

Falafels and red wine sauce

Ok, traditionally you don't eat falafels with veg and a red wine sauce, I know, but it was very nice. I did not have the time to make the falafels myself yesterday unfortunately but I give you the recipe I used last time I made them.

Falafels:

This recipe makes about 20 golfball-sized falafels:

680g canned chick peas
1 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
100g wholemeal bread
2 small red chillies
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
2 eggs, beaten
200g wholemeal breadcrumbs
veg oil for deep frying

1. Put the chick peas, onion, garlic, wholemeal bread, chillies, spices and fresh coriander in a food processor. Stir the mixture and season to taste.

2. Shape into walnut-sized balls.

3. Dip each ball first into the beaten egg, then roll into breadcrumbs.

4. Deep-fry balls by batches for 3-4 minutes until crisp and brown. Dry on kitchen paper and keep warm whilst frying the rest.

Serve with cucumber and tomato in a pita bread with a minty yoghurt sauce, or with vegetables and a red wine sauce as we had yesterday!



Red wine sauce:

450ml veg stock
450ml cooking red wine (keep the St Émilion to drink at dinner time!!!)
black pepper corns
1 TBSP redcurrant jelly (optional)
3 TBSP flour
3 TBSP butter
Salt and pepper

1. Mix the flour and butter into a paste.

2. Boil the stock and wine with the blackpepper corns, leave to reduce by half. Add the jelly if using, and gradually add the butter paste.

3. The sauce is ready when has thickened. You may want to add more butter & flour paste if not thick enough. Season to taste.

You can vary this recipe by adding herbs, onions,...

To make a black pepper sauce, omit the wine and increase the quantity of blackpepper corns.

Euh... Je me sens un peu fainéante ce soir après une longue journée à étudier, mais si quelqu'un souhaite la recette des falafels en français, faites-le moi savoir.

AUSSI : j'ai trouvé comment faire fonctionner les accents sur toute sorte de documents, youpiiiieee !

Back home and studying

We had a very nice Christmas time at Trave's parents. It was nice to see everybody again.

It took me a while to get back into studying mood but I have now finished the first part of my next TMA. (submission date = 3rd Jan!) Trave has hidden all the christmas chocolates and I am not allowed to have any until I have finished and submitted all my exams... Ggrrrr...

We played Richesses de France yesterday night, and I WON!!! This is a board game which takes you across the country. You choose a circuit with 8 to 12 steps, which are towns you have to go through on your journey. There is money involved and also the 'chance' cards... which may send you to the other end of the country or reward you with a car or money!

I guess all this makes more sense if one actually knows how to play.


I also own a game called Voyage en France, but I could not find it among all the things piled up in my parents' attic two weeks ago. Shame.

It's Christmas time

We are off tomorrow to visit Trave's family for Christmas. I wish you all a great Christmas time.

Books and latest movie

I have now started to read The Best of A. J. Liebling of the New Yorker as recommended to me by Goedi. Good recommendation. I am enjoying it.

And as it is an old book (removed especially for me from the archive of the local library) it smells of old books and I LOVE IT. It reminds me of when I was a child: most books I read used to belongs to my mother and even possibly my grandmother before her, who knows? I like this smell: a bit of dampness, a hint of sweat and the dinstinct feeling of old, thick pages which have been turned thousands of times before me.

Another important fact about this book:
There was no electronic registration at the time in libraries when this book was still on loan, so there is a piece of cardboard paper between the front cover and the first page, with return dates being stamped on it. The last date on the card is 18.08.1971, which is Trave's birthdate! How odd is this?


On the cinema side of things, we have watched Swimming Pool some time ago. It is a really odd movie. Similar sort of atmosphere as in Lemming, but lighter, maybe due to the fact that the setting is a magnificent house with a swimming pool in the Provence! Quite erotic and thrilling. Beautiful atmosphere.

Mushroom and red pepper pastries

This is mouth-melting... It is the second time I make this and did not remember it to be so tasty. You should definitely try it. It looks good too!

To make 6 pastries:

40g butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500g baby button mushrooms, finely slices
1 small red pepper, very finely chopped
150g sour cream
3 TBSP wholegrain mustard
150g mature Cheddar, Gruyere or Gouda, grated
1kg puff pastry - I used ready-made as I have not tried puff pastry yet. a bit time-consuming ;(
1 egg, beaten

1. Heat the butter in a big pan. Add the garlic and the mushrooms and cook. Remove from heat, drain the juice from the mushrooms, stir in the red pepper and set aside in a bowl.

2. Mix the sour cream, mustard, and half the cheese in a mixing bowl.

3. With the pastry, make 12 discs of ~14cm diameter.

4. Cover 2 baking trays with baking paper and arrange 6 discs on them. On each disc, spoon some cream mixture and top with the mushroom mixture. sprinkle with cheese. Cover each disc with a blank disc and seal with egg. brush each pastry with eagg and sprinkle with cheese.

5. Bake in a 180 degrees preheated oven for 20 minutes. Serve with fresh vegetables.



Feuilletés aux champignons et poivrons rouges

Cette recette est un délice !

Ingrédients pour 6 feuilletés :

40g beurre
2 gousses d'ail écrasées
500g champignons de Paris émincés(la taille la plus petite que vous pourrez trouver !)
1 petit poivron rouge, coupé en tous petits dés
150g créme fraíche
3 c. soupe moutarde en grain
150g fromage rápé
1kg páte feuilletée (j'ai honte mais j'ai acheté la mienne toute préte)
1 oeuf battu

1. Faire fondre le beurre dans une grande casserole. Y ajouter l'ail et les champignons. Une fois cuits, essorer les champignons dans du sopalin et mettre dans un saladier. Y mélanger le poivron.

2. Mélanger dans un autre bol la créme, moutarde et la moitié du fromage.

3. Former 12 disques de diamétre 14cm.

4. Couvrir 2 plaques avec du papier sulfurisé et mettre 3 disques sur chaque. Sur chaque disque, mettre d'abord un peu de la préparation crémeuse, puis le mélange champignons/poivrons par dessus. Parsemer d'un peu de fromage. Couvrir avec les disques restant en scellant avec l'oeuf. Couvrir les feuilletés d'oeuf puis parsemer de fromage.

5. Passer au four préchauffer á 180 degrés pendant 20 minutes. Servir avec des légumes frais.

Carrot and pesto lasagne

I tried that a few weeks ago and it is really tasty. This recipe will feed 4 hungry adults.

Ingredients:

50g butter
80g flour
160g sour cream
750ml milk
black pepper
200g mature Cheddar or Gouda, grated
4 eggs, beaten
2 TBSP pesto
750g grated carrots
250g dry lasagne sheets

1. Grease an ovenproof rectangular dish with butter or oil.

2. heat the butter in a pan. Add the flour and stir well. Keep stirring and gradually add the sour cream, milk and pepper until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat. Add half of the cheese and gradually stir in the eggs.

3. Put aside a third of the sauce into a bowl. Pour the pesto into the 2/3 of the sauce and mix in the carrots.

4. Place a third of the carrot mixture at the bottom of the dish. Cover with lasagne sheets. Repeat until all the carrots and lasage are used, finishing with a layer of lasagne. Finally cover with the remaining third of the sauce and sprinkle with the remainder of the cheese.

5. Place in a 150 degrees preheated oven for 30 minutes. Enjoy!




Lasagnes carottes et pesto

Recette pour 4 adultes affamés.

Ingrédients :

50g beurre
80g farine
160g créme fraíche (la "saure Sahne" de la recette n'existe pas en France, mais la créme fraíche fera l'affaire je pense)
750ml lait
poivre noir
200g Cheddar ou Gouda múr ou Gruyére rápé
4 oeufs battus
2 c. soupe pesto
750g de carottes rápées
250g feuilles de lasagnes séches

1. Huiler/beurrer un plat rectangulaire.

2. Faire fondre le beurre dans une casserole. Ajouter la farine et remuer. Ajouter petit á petit la créme, le lait et le poivre et bien mélanger. Cuire jusqu'á épaississement. Éteindre le feu. Ajouter la moitié du fromage et les oeufs. Bien mélanger.

3. Mettre un tiers de la sauce dans un saladier.

4. Dans les 2/3 restants, ajouter le pesto et les carottes. Verser un tiers de cette préparation dans le fonds du plat. Couvrir par des feuilles de lasagne. Répéter l'opération jusqu'á ce que tout soit utiliser en finissant par des lasagnes. Couvrir enfin par le tiers de sauces laisser de cóté plus tót. Parsemer de fromage.

5. Mettre au four préchauffé á 150 degrés pendant 30 minutes et régalez-vous !

Memorable quotes of the year 2006

I have at work one of these desktop calendars with a quote for each day. Over the past 12 months I have kept note of the ones that deserved to be remembered, and here they are:

“The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people” – Karl Marx

“In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom!” – J. G. Ballard

“The only job where you start at the top is when digging a hole.”

“A bore is one who has the power of speech but not the capacity for conversation.” – Benjamin Disraeli

“All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening.” – Alexander Woollcott.

“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.” – Sir James Dewar.

“Boss: the man who is early when you are late, and late when you are early.”

“Pay as you go: if you cannot pay, don’t go.”

“Even though quality cannot be defined, you know what quality is.”

“You don’t tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.” – Margaret Thatcher

“Women are really much nicer than men: No wonder we like them.” – Sir Kingsley Amis

“You know everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” – Will Rogers

“Keep smiling: people will wonder what you are up to.”

“Committee – a group of people who individually can do nothing, but as a group can decide nothing can be done.”

“Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

“The most damaging phrase in the language is: ‘It’s always been done that way’.”

“You can’t say civilisation isn’t advancing: in every war they kill you in a new way.” – Will Rogers.

“War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men.” – Georges Braque.

“The male is a domestic animal which, if treated with firmness, can be trained to do most things.” – Jilly Cooper

“Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.” – Groucho Marx

“Just when you think you can make ends meet at last, somebody moves the ends.”

“A sale is not a sale until it has been paid for.”

“Today’s payslip has more deductions than a Sherlock Holmes novel.” – Raymond Cvikota.

“Meetings are indispensable, when you don’t want to do anything.”

“When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” – Eric Hoffer.

“A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he’s finished.” Zsa Zsa Gabor

“Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.” G.K. Chesterton.

“A budget is a method of worrying before you spend, instead of afterwards.”

“The men who really believe in themselves are all in lunatic asylums.” – G.K. Chesterton

“It’s only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.” – Joseph Conrad.

“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.” – Mark Twain.

“Those are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others.” Groucho Marx.

“Dying, dying… Dying is nothing. So start by living. It’s less fun and it lasts longer.” Jean Anouilh.

“Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.” Mark Twain.

“Good business is business with profits to both sides.”

“A camel is a horse designed by a committee.”

“The tragic or the humorous is a matter of perspective.”

“A psychiatrist is a man who goes to the Folies-Bergère and looks at the audience.” Rt. Revd Mervyn Stockwood.

“It’s better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right.”

“We are all manufacturers: making good, making trouble and making excuses.”

“Progress everywhere today does seem to come so very heavily disguised as Chaos.” Joyce Grenfell.

“Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.”

“A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain.” Mark Twain.

“A government is the only known vessel that leaks from the top.” – James Reston

“The English like eccentrics. They just don’t like them living next door.” – Julian Clary

“A perfectionist takes infinite pains and often gives them to other people.”

“Heredity is something you believe in if you have a bright child.”

“Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.” – Saul Alinsky.

“Hoping without planning is about as futile as waiting for a harvest without planting.”

“The curve that can set a lot of things straight is a smile.”

“Laugh and the world laughs with you. Snore and you snore alone.” – Anthony Burgess.

“You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer ‘YES’, without having asked a clear question.” – Albert Camus


Some classic ones in there. My favourite is "Keep smiling, people will wonder what you're up to."

What is YOUR favourite one, whether in this list or not?

Work Xmas pub crawling

Here we are again, the time has come. This unforgettable (depending on how much you drink!) experience... They started this drinking session at 3pm, this is the British Xmas spirit! I'll join them in a little while, with the intention of drinking in moderation.

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas!

The past week (lengthy... very lengthy)

It's Christmas break! The factory is closed for a week so I will have more time to tackle things here, like TMAs (Open University assignments).

We visited my family in France last weekend. Partly because we cannot be in two places at once on Christmas day, and this year is English Christmas year, so we will be heading South to Oxfordshire. The journey to my parents was a bit of an adventure! Keep reading this post if you are eager to know more.

We left home at 10.30 to catch the train to get on the 13.15 flight from Birmingham to Paris. (number 13 is relevant to this story) And... surprise surprise... the train was late (never happens on British rails *cough*).

We still arrived at the airport on time, even considered buying a sandwich, but given that I was given food & drinks on BA/SN Brussels the week before I thought we may as well get something on the plane. Missed. No food on BA flights to Paris. We were sitting on row 13. When we arrived at Paris Airport, the captain addressed the usual greetings and informed us on the local time (14SSHHHH), which I did not hear entirely but checked my watch which indicated 14.00. OK, my watch was already on continental time. Not surprising given that I wear it almost exclusively when I travel.

Off the plane, onto a bus (No. 13) which was supposed to take us to the terminal but did not start once everybody was on it. A second bus arrived, we changed bus, arrived inside the terminal, queued at passport control (CDG is awful for that). Now, the luggage conveyor belt had broken down and it took ages to get our bag. We bought a sandwich in the meantime. And then came our luggage. Hurrah!

Went to the SNCF/RER station. Tried to buy 2 tickets from central Paris but due to a technical failure, credit cards were not accepted on ticket machines. Of course we did not have change. We started to queue at the desks, when we noticed a machine changing notes into coins. Saved! Bought 2 tickets, got onto the RER (=Regional Express Network). Our train to Laval from Montparnasse was at 17.30, but I thought that just to make sure we would go all the way to Montparnasse and have a coffee there, rather than hanging around in Central Paris and having to rush.

We arrived at Montparnasse and all the trains on the departure board were from 18.00 onwards... Very odd. I looked at my watch: 17.00. Looked at the board again. And then I saw the massive clock in the station showing 18.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had missed our train by 30 minutes... We went to the helpdesk and the next one was at 18.30 which was not too bad. As our first tickets were non-exchangeable, non-refundable, we would have to pay again, but the guy said we could just mention it to the ticket inspector in the train. Tried to inform my parents about the delay. My mobile phone battery was down. Fortunately, Trave's was OK.

At 18.15 we were advised that due to a technical failure, the train was stopped and they could not tell us when we would leave. Eventually the train left at 18:50 which was not too bad. My sister was there in Laval to pick us up and the car did not break down so we got to my parents' OK.

It was good to see almost everybody.

We came back with the 20.00 flight which amazingly arrived 25 minutes in advance, on a 55 minutes flight: is there no speed limit up in the air? We had booked a taxi (no train to where we live at this time of the day) but had to wait for it during 35 minutes, grrr... We arrived home at 21.45, and I had to get up at 4am the following morning, flying to Duesseldorf. I should have booked a room at the airport, but it is nicer to sleep at home.

My trip to Germany was really interesting. This was for work. I met customers I had never met before and understood a lot about the market. There was a lot of travelling on this trip but it was worth going. I had a meeting on the Monday morning about 20 minutes' drive from the airport. Afterwards I drove to Wuppertal, where I met Sandrine, a friend from university whom I had not seen in years. It was really good to see her and to visit Wuppertal's Christmas market, even if it is not as famous as Nueremberg's. And I found a hat that my brother had dreamt of having for a long time. On the second day, I drove to South Berlin. The road was extremely foggy most of the way. Suddenly I found myself under a glorious sunshine, very briefly, and realised I was on the top of some hills or mountains, and then down and back into the fog again. I had a meeting in South Berlin first thing in the morning, after which I drove back to Duesseldorf to catch my plane. There was almost no traffic jam so I arrived at the airport earlier than I had planned. I even managed to get the 16.30 flight, instead of the 20.00 flight. I am SO GLAD I was flying to Birmingham, and not to Heathrown, as most flights to Heathrow were and are still cancelled, due to very dense fog.

Well, I'm home for good. Well, until the 7th January, when I am off to Munich.

Back in the UK

Have been out and about lately. Update coming up soon. Glad I was flying to Birmingham yesterday as most flights to Heathrow were cancelled due to the fog.

I need a rest, the past few weeks have been exhausting. I think I'll have to wait until February to rest properly though :(

More about my travels this weekend.

The bluest eye

I am currently reading The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison. It is a really good book. It is sad, powerful and funny and written with a lot of naivity sometimes. When I say 'funny', I mean that some paragraphs make me smile or laugh, but make me feel uneasy and guilty at the same time because of the themes covered by the book, namely racism and child molestation.



By the way: I have not finished reading the History of the World yet! I think this one will keep me going for the next year or so. You cannot really take it with you when you travel, it is half the size of the coffe table!!!

Home alone

I had booked a day off work today, so the flat is nice and quiet. Apart from the downstairs' neighbours biscuit tin, which every now and then goes: "STOP! Step AWAY from the cookie jar!" when a greedy hand reaches the tin!

I am working on my next OUBS assignment and making my way through balance sheets and profit and loss accounts, OH JOY!!! I cannot believe that some people actualy enjoy doing this every day! It is not as bad and boring as I first thought it would be, but still, I would not like to do this as a living.

I have not done much cooking lately, partly because I was away, partly because I have voluntered Trave to prepare our dinners, which were all very nice. This week I am planning to make carrot and pesto lasagne (tonight in fact) and cheesy mushroom and red pepper parcels. Whilst in Germany last week I tried Schupfnudel, a speciality from the Badisch area. It is really nice. I found a few recipes for them and will probably try one over the Christmas break.

Back from Brussels

Just back from Brussels. Was fun. Especially driving in a city which has not discovered the use of road signs yet. Also, I was foolish enough not to take a map with me. Ask the locals from central Brussels where the ring road or the motorway heading South is, they tell you "turn right on the car park exit". I honestly could not get more information than that! All this considered, I think I did pretty well. At no time I got lost, I just could have arrived quicker at destination. The town looked really nice at this time of the year. I am glad I had time to see some of it, even if only at night. The Grand' Place had a laser & sound show, ending with Xmas carrols and bubble machines for the snow effect. And mulled wine can be purchased from wooden huts which warms you up nicely.

Nice to be back home though!

1066

Having reached a four-digit number of visitors, it is now easy to celebrate some important events and less important events with the dates they make up. Like the coming 1066. Who will be my 1066th visitor?

The week ahead

I probably won't post at all in the coming week as I have another busy work schedule in front of me. Will be leaving for Germany tomorrow to meet with customers, coming back on Wednesday, then leaving home very early on Thursday morning to attend the Open Days of another customer in Belgium from which I will return on Friday night. When am I going to find the time to study???

This will be 5 days in a row without cycling AND eating out thrice a day... Oh dear...

There is plenty of canned soup and dried pasta in the cupboard, just in case Trave doesn't quite make it to the cookbook or the greengrocer. I am sure he will manage though!

I wish you all a pleasant week.

Il est probable que je n'émette pas la semaine qui vient car j'ai encore une semaine bien chargée devant moi. Je m'envole pour l'Allemagne demain pour rencontrer des clients, reviens mercredi, et repars jeudi matin trés tót pour la Belgique oú je me rendrais aux Journées Portes Ouvertes d'un autre client dont je reviendrai vendredi soir. Quand vais-je trouver le temps d'étudier ???

Cela fera donc 5 jours á suivre sans pédaler ET en mangeant au resto 3 fois par jour... c'est pas gagné pour la vitalité !

Le placard est rempli de soupes en boite et de pátes séches, au cas oú Trave n'arrive pas jusqu'au livre de cuisine ou le marchand de légumes. Je suis súre qu'il se débrouillera trés bien cependant !

Je vous souhaite á tous une trés bonne semaine.

Smoothies

I had not been making any fruit juice for a while so I made up for it this afternoon with a blueberry smoothie and and a summer fruit creamy smoothie.

Blueberry:

150g blueberries
1 pear
1 banana
40ml apple & pomegranate juice

All in the liquidiser, yum yum!


Jus de fruits aux myrtilles:

150g myrtilles
1 poire
1 banane
40ml jus de pomme et grenadine

Passer le tout au mixeur.

============================

Creamy summer fruit:

150g summer fruit
2 strawberry yoghurts
1 pint of milk
1 TBSP blueberry jam (could be replaced by any red fruit jam)

Again, simply mix all the ingredients in the liquidiser and enjoy.



Boisson crémeuse aux fruits rouges (comme un sorbet)

150g fruits rouges
2 yahourts á la fraise
1/2 litre lait
1 c. soupe de confiture de myrtille/fruits rouges selon le goút

Passer le tout au mixeur et déguster.

Stormy weather

We went for a ride yesterday. The sun was shining and the sky was bright. It turned out to be extremely windy though and it tooks us 30% more time to cycle back!

From about midnight last night until 5:30 or 6am it has been incredibly windy. I mean, we live on an island and it is always a bit windy, but I have not often experienced such winds in my life. I guess there was the great storm of 1987 in Brittany and that of Christmas 1999 in Northern France and Germany, which devasted hectares and hectares of forests and landscapes, including the gardens of Versailles, which trees had been there since the 18th Century.

Anyway, last night's wind made the windows shaking and my thoughts were directed towards the massive lime tree standing 50 yards away from the building... We could hear all sorts of banging noises, crashes, etc... a bit frightening (for me!). And at 6am, a complete silence suddenly emerged. It was really odd. As soon as the daylight permitted, I looked through the window and this is what I could see of our garden:

One of our bike covers was torn into pieces and probably scattered in the entire neighbourhood (sorry!), the council recycling bin was in the middle of the lawn, and the squirrel which lives in the lime tree looked like he was a bit shaky. At least the lime tree was still standing!


With the fence down, the retired couple living on the other side won't have to pretend cutting the edge to peep on our garden. ;-) Is our lawn greener than theirs???

Reading the news this morning we learnt that winds were up to 100 mph over night with torrential rains, especially at the Scottish border. Similar weather forecast is expected for tonight. Looks like it's building up already.

World AIDS Day

Vegetable and sweetcorn chowder

I like this soup. It is creamy and quite filling for a soup, ideal in winter evenings (which we are still waiting for by the way. Temperatures are still above 10 degrees Celcius, what's going on???).

For 4 people, you will need:

1 TBSP veg oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500g potatoes, diced
2 TBSP flour
600 ml milk
300ml veg stock
1 broccoli head, divided into small florets
300g canned sweetcorn
100g cheddar cheese, grated
pepper & coriander to garnish

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper, potatoes, and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
Stir in the flour, gradually stir in the milk and stock. Add the broccoli and sweetcorn. Bring the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in half of the cheese and stir until it melts. Serve into a warm bowl and sprinkle with the remaining cheese, pepper, and coriander.



Soupe crémeuse aux légumes et maís

1 c. soupe huile végétale
1 onion haché
1 poivron rouge, coupé en carrés
2 gousse d'ail écrasées
500g pommes de terre coupées en dé
2 c. soupe farine
600ml lait
300ml bouillon de légumes
1 téte de broccoli, découpée en petites tétes
300g maís en boíte
100g fromage rápé
poivre et coriande fraíche pour la déco

Chauffer l'huile dans une grande casserole. Ajouter l'ail, l'onion, les pommes de terre et faire sauter pendant 3-4 min. Ajouter la farine puis petit-á-petit le lait et le bouillon. Ajouter le broccoli et le maís. Porter á ébullition puis laisser mijoter pendant 20 minutes. Faire fondre la moitié du fromage dans la soupe. Verser dans des bols chauds puis parsemer de fromage, poivre et coriande.

Rainbow

I just wanted to share these pictures of the rainbow I took recently. I like rainbows. And I still believe that if you walk on a rainbow all the way, you will find a treasure buried in the ground at the other end.

Another long-term project

I have started it!

I have started reading "The Times' complete history of the world". I have been dreaming of such a book for many years and finally came across it last year. It went out of print so I had to wait and I bought a copy last month. It is an amazing book which does exactly what it says on the cover, through:

- chronological lines per continent + one for technology and culture events
- an outstanding amount of maps
- text

I also like the cover of the book: modern skyline of buildings on the top which reflection in a mirror/water unveils Stonehenge. Very good I think.

What is really good about it is that it does not tell you history from a European point of view. Or at least trying not to. It is about the development of each part of the world before they came in contact with others. I loved history at school but have always been frustrated not to have learned about early tribes/states/empires in Africa, Asia, America, etc...

I expect a lot from this book, I hope not to be too disappointed. For your information, I have now reached the Neanthertal era!

Friday night

We had a cheese fondue for dinner tonight, and our stomachs are so full I can hardly move from the sofa! We used: 200g Gruyere, 200g Raclette, 25cl dry white wine and pepper for the fondue, which we dipped with broccoli florets, diced potatoes, slices carrots, raw red pepper morcels and bite-sized granary baguette, yum yum!

TIP: "fondue" means "melted" in French.

Nous avons mangé une fondue savoyarde ce soir, et nos estomacs sont si pleins que je peux á peine me mouvoir du canapé ! Nous avons pour cela utilisé : 200g Gruyere, 200g Raclette, 25cl vin blanc sec et du poivre pour la fondue, et pour le 'trempage', nous avion du broccoli, des dés de pommes de terre, des rondelles de carottes, des morceaux de poivron rouge crus et des bouchées de baguette aux céréales, miam miam !

Trave is at a poker night. After seeing 'Casino Royale', they thought it would be a great idea. I don't really expect him to come back covered in gold. Actually, if I expect him to come back home with anything, I would put money on a hangover! I have heard about these poker nights: sounds really good fun but there is more whiskey than poker involved! Damm it, I can't play poker... and I am not really a whiskey aficionado/a... There is not hope for me!

Trave est á une soirée poker. Aprés avoir vu le film 'Casino Royale' ils ont pensé que ce serait une idée géniale. -- Pas trés grammaticalement correct ce titre de film ! A propos, désolée pour les accents, je ne peux faire que les aigus sur mon ordinateur portable :'( -- Je ne m'attends pas á ce qu'il revienne recouvert d'or. D'ailleurs, si il y a quoique ce soit que je m'attende á le voir rentrer avec, je parierai plutót sur la gueule de bois ! J'ai entendu parler de ces soirées poker: ca a l'air vraiment cool, mais á entendre, il y plus de whiskey que de poker! Zut alors, je ne sais pas jouer au poker, et je ne suis pas une fan de whiskey... C'est sans espoir pour moi !