it's a family affair

I wrote a few months back of my love of cheese and the dish my husband first wooed me with, all those years ago. What I omitted to mention was that he had another up his sleeve. In fact, this dish was first made for me by my mother-in-law at their home in the Côte d'Or, the first time I met them. From that point on, I knew things were going to be ok. Gougères are believed to originate from Burgundy and are made from a type of cheese choux pastry (think savoury profiteroles), and they are quite the business. They are readily available, ready-made, in most boulangeries in Burgundy and many other areas of France. A busy morning of splashing and jumping at the swimming pool made for hungry work and we arrived home to be treated to my husband busy at the stove preparing a big gougère for lunch. If this post had smell-o-vision, you would be in your element right now. Friends look forward to birthdays and any special celebration round at our place as the gougère almost always makes an appearance. My husband even gets requests in advance of such occasions, by way of a polite hint at what is expected on the day. If you cannot quite read the recipe above, or indeed do not have the time to translate into English, here is it below:

Gougère

Makes 1 large gougère (that can be shaped into a ring or round loaf) or several smaller apéritif-sized versions (place a tablespoon amount of the mixture onto the baking tray to create mini ones).

200ml water
100g butter
125g plain flour
3 eggs
100g gruyère/comté/uncoloured cheddar cut into little cubes
salt
pepper


Preheat the oven at 240°C. Place the water, butter, salt and pepper in a saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil. Remove from heat and add all the flour in one go. Mix together with a wooden spoon to form a large ball (mixing for 2/3 minutes on the stove at a very low temperature can sometimes help, too). Off the heat again, add the eggs one-by-one and mix well. Add the cheese. Mix well again to incorporate all the ingredients. Butter an oven tray. Spoon your preferred amount of mixture onto the tray for a large or lots of mini gougères.

Serve immediately accompanied by a green salad. Get this one right and your friends will be with you for life.

Source: author's mother-in-law

la tour de Pise

 

La tour de Pise, Jean-François Coen via YouTube

La Tour de Pise by Jean-François Coen, a little vintage clip directed by the great, Michel Gondry. For all those who like good French chansons, Paris, typography and clever music videos.

Vacances Françaises

 

All images via vacancesfrancaises.com

 

 

If you're anything like me, you will always come back from a French holiday with at least one little reminder of that great getaway. For me this summer, it was the orange notebook I use for work.

 The guys behind Vacances Françaises are good, very good. Not only do their products remind me of wonderful visits to various parts of France throughout my life, but they conjure up childhood memories and times spent with my late grandparents. You can tell there is a lot of thought and genuine love behind this new venture. This lot have created a veritable box of little madeleines de Proust. Followers of Pas Mal will know I am a real supporter of 100% Made in France products of all kinds. And guess what? Vacances Françaises only deal in the real French deal.

 Have a wander round this lovely site and treat yourself to a few bits of nostalgia, make some new discoveries and check out the great gift ideas. I will be starting my Christmas present hinting soon...

so Chic

Definitely smiling as I shoehorn-in this post. Back in Edinburgh now, with not too much of a bump. The sun has been mostly shining since we got back from the Gard, the city is buzzing and the Edinburgh festivals 2012 are in full swing. There is so much on here right now that it can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming sifting through the thousands of different shows, exhibitions, gigs and more. That is why I welcome a great tip this time of year. Last Saturday night has been and gone, but I can safely say that the tip-off my brother received is hands down, the best to date. We had a feeling with an evening in the company of Nile Rodgers we were in for a good night, but nothing quite this special. Member of Chic (disco and R&B band extraordinaire who for a while pretended they were French to make themselves all the more, well, chic), guitarist, composer, song-writer and who it seems has produced just about everyone (including such greats as Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, Madonna, David Bowie and is still at it), was in town to promote his autobiography, 'Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny'. We were priveleged to be entertained by Dr Rodgers (he was awared an honourary doctorate earlier this year) for almost 3 hours. Within minutes he had managed to endear himself to us all and we hung on his every word. Warm, funny, charming, a wonderful storyteller and an amazing musician, it all made up what was I am sure, amongst the very best things across all the festivals this year. And he writes a nice blog, too, documenting his travels and interesting stuff he gets up to, complete with cracking track listings every time he gets on a plane. What a man; what a talent; what a gem. And the brilliant thing about it all was that you could tell he was loving every minute of it. Please come back and pay us a visit, soon.