0 Paris Promenade

What are YOU doing this Labor Day week-end?
Shall we pretend we're in Paris...
And go for a walk/promenade?
Paris Mommy doing 'The Paris Walk'
*Note the long stride and no break at the knee...
Meandering around high heels might be a stretch since Jean-Paul Goude designed them...
Oh the other hand (or foot) shop till you drop?
Oui bien sur!
Merci Soledad for the wonderful illo...
Wanna run to work?
Wait it's Labor Day when we celebrate not working.
Still if it put me in Paris I would RUN!
The march of the poets on the left bank.
I'm game. Are you?
Do you jog?
I do not. But I'm ready if it takes me to les jardins Tuilleries...

'Le dejeuner sur l'herbe' is more my style...

Or a Paris cafe?

Do you love to read maps in Paris? I do....sigh

Shall we just hang out..?

They say it's a good exercise to put yourself in another's shoes.

Oui, YES SVP!

What do they say about browsing Paris pastry shop vitrines..?

JUST DO IT!

If you hear of a rent-a-dog-for-a-walk agency in Paris?

Do tell.

Back to painting cats and dogs in Paris.

BONNE WEEK-END PBers!!!

0 PLUM FOCACCIA - FOCACCIA AUX QUETSCHES

I can never get enough of yeasty treats, tarts and Italian plums. I find such grub irresistible and totally addicting. Those are some of my favorite things, hence the quasi-obsession I have with them. If you put such kinds of food in front of me I'll very likely stuff my face with them. Yes, I am a little "pig" and I am not ashamed of telling you that. Call me little Miss Piggy if you want (LOL Nonetheless, I know when to stop and how to control my diet)...

Well, now has come the Italian plum season and, although it announces the end of summer I am incapable of not rejoicing at the idea of preparing divine pastries with those delightful stone fruits. In my opinion, they are far better than peaches and nectarines (only apricots come close to plums) as they are more exhalirating, flavorful and have a more gorgeous deep purple color.

Italian plums are my most beloved variety of plums. With their slightly tart and almost lemony as well as smoky flavor they are quite different from the common plums that are widely spread and lot less complex as well as delicate taste-wise (not as multilayered in flavor).

Also known as questches or pruneaux in Switzerland (or France), they make me travel back in the past and bring back cherished memories. My Swiss grandparents had many fruit trees around their house and always picked tons of Italian plums. They used them for making "Gâteau Aux Pruneaux" (plum tart) and the rest which could not be eaten straight away was put in the freezer. I can still remember biting into those frozen whole plums and being blown away by their lusciousness. When I visited "Pépé et Mémé" (Nan & Pop in French) during the summer that's what we ate to cool down. That icy treat was fantastic and was even more fulfilling than ice cream.

A while ago, I was leafing through one of my Swiss cookery magazine and saw a recipe for a "Plum Tart" made with brioche dough. Of course, it caught my attention and made me salivate. I absolutely had to make something like that.

The "Italian Plum Focaccia With Cottage Cheese" I created was very much inspired by the one of "Cuisine De Saison". I used a very similar dough base, but instead of topping the plums with crumble I thought that it would be a great idea to use cottage cheese instead. The result was just incredibly scrumptious!

The bread was soothingly sweet, rich and pillowy soft. The combination of cinnamon, plums and cottage cheese was perfect and tasted divine. The focaccia was a really success and did not last long.

This post is submitted to Yeastspotting.

~ Italian Plum & Cottage Cheese Focaccia ~
Recipe by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010

Makes 1 focaccia/for about 4-6 people.

Ingredients For The "Dough":
280g All-purpose flour
25g de Light brown sugar
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla sugar
1 Tsp Sea salt
100ml Lukewarm milk
1 Tsp Dry yeast or 10 g Fresh yeast
25g Browned butter, at room temperature
1 Egg (63g)
Flour for rolling the dough
Ingredients For The "Filling":
600-700g de Italian plums/quetsches
150g Cottage cheese
50-60g Light brown sugar
1 Tsp Ground cinnamon
2 Tbs Amaretto

Methode:
1. In a bowl mix together the flour, the light brown sugar, the vanilla sugar and the salt. Make a well in the centre of the flour.
2. Add the yeast to the lukewarm milk and let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Pour the yeasted milk in the well. Incorporate enough flour in order to obtain a thick paste. Let rest for about 20 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly.
4. Add the butter and the egg. Mix well in order to get a ball of dough.
5. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, until it is soft and passes the window pane test.
6. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and cover with a humid towel. Let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
7. Roll the pastry in a 1 cm/0.4 inches thick rectangle and place it on a baking pan covered with baking paper.
8. Cut the plums in half and remove the stone. Place the plums in neat and tigh t rows with the cut part facing up. Sprinkle the cottage cheese over the fruits and then the sugar as well as the cinnamon.
9. Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F).
10. Sprinkle the Amaretto over the fruits and bake for about 25-30 minutes in the bottom part of the oven.
11. Remove from the oven and let cool on a baking rack.

Remarks:
Depending on how your plums are juicy you might have to bake the focaccia a little while longer so that your bread dough doesn't end up all soggy.
You can also flavor the dough with lemon zest or extract.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as a meal, dessert or teatime treat.
You can eat the focaccia with whipped cream or lemon pastry cream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Prune & Cottage Cheese Focaccia ~
Recette par Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010

Donne 1 focaccia/pour 4-6 people.

Ingrédients Pour La "Pâte":
280g de Farine blanche
25g de Sucre brun clair
1 Sachet de Sucre v

anillé
1 CC de Sel de mer
100ml de Lait tiède
1 CC de Levure sèche ou 10 g de levure fraîche
25g de Beurre (non-salé) noisette, à température ambiante
1 Oeuf (63g)
Farine pour abaisser la pâte
Ingrédients Pour La "Garniture":
600-700g de Pruneaux/quetsch

es
150g de Cottage cheese
50-60g de Sucre brun clair
1 CC de Cannelle
2 CS Amaretto

Méthode:

1. Dans un bol, mélanger ensemble la farine, le sucre brun, le sucre vanillé et le sel. Former une fontaine au centre.
2. Délayer la levure dans le lait tiède et laisser reposer pendant 5 minutes.
3. Verser le mélange dans la fontaine et incorporer assez de farine afin d'obtenir une pâte visqueuse. Laisser reposer environ 20 minutes jusqu’à ce que le mélange commence à mousser.
4. Ajouter le beurre et l’oeuf, puis mélanger le tout afin de former une boule de pâte.
5. Pétrir pendant environ 10 minutes afin d'obtenir une pâte lisse et élastique.
6. Mettre la pâte dans un bol huilé, couvrir avec un film plastique et laisser lever pendant 1 heure ou jusqu'à ce que la pâte ait doublé de volume.
7. Abaisser la pâte sur un peu de farine en un rectangle d’env. 1 cm d’épaisseur et la déposer sur une plaque recouverte de papier sulfurisé.
8. Couper les pruneaux en deux, les dénoyauter, puis les répartir bien serrés sur la pâte, face coupée vers le haut. Répartir le cottage cheese sur les quetsches puis saupoudrer le sucre et la cannelle.
9. Laisser lever pendant 30 minutes et préchauffer le four à 200 °C.
10. Saupoudrer les fruits avec l'Amaretto et faire cuire la focaccia pendant environ 25 à 30 minutes dans le bas du four.
11. Retirer et laisser refroidir.

Remarques:
Si vos fruits sont juteux vous devrez sûrement cuire la focaccia un peu plus longtemps afin que la pâte ne soit pas trop détrompée et molle.
Vous pouvez aussi utiliser du zeste ou de l'extrait de citron pour parfumer votre pâte.

Idées de présentation:
Servir cette focaccia comme repas, dessert ou comme gourmandise entre les repas.
Cette focaccia peut être mangée avec de la crème Chantilly ou de la crème patissière au citron.

0 The Goude Touch

I fell in love with this Paris poster/affiche the first time we met in the Metro. It still captivates does it not?
J'adore graphiques Paris!!
New York used to be terrific in this arena, mais non plus/no more :(
WAKE UP NYC!!!
One of the absolute maitre of French graphics is Jean-Paul Goude.
Together with his muse, the fabulous GRACE JONES, they made New York and Paris jump!

I was browsing Jean-Paul Goude's new book The Goude Touch and fell in love instantly.
"Goude is behind some of the wittiest billboards in Paris, in perfect control of his medium and with an intuitive sense of chic... "In an inspired moment, Galeries Lafayette gave Goude a rare degree of creative freedom, and Goude responded with some of the best work he has ever made: a modern classic of commercial art." I would so love to be this girl sitting in a champagne glass spooning out the caviar (which by the way you can pick up at the Madeleine to the right of Hediard..)

A poetry affiche near St. Sulpice...

Simple, clean and witty - the Europeans have not forsaken illustration the way the US has to tell a story...

Peter's Paris showed me this crazy doorway in the back streets of the 6th arrondissement...

I'd like to be this girl too, dancing in Annick Goutal's vitrine...

Not a big poster, but a little postcard! I can see this certainment as an affiche...

so witty.

I would LOVE to have this affiche hanging on my walls, not because I'm nuts for les religieuses, though I do adore Angelina.

This wall poster is just so fun!

If this little ardoise was hanging next to your house you would living near the wonderful SECCO! I am so ready for that...

Grace Jones sings Slave To The Rhythm

Lady Gaga take notes.

BONJOUR Grace et Jean-Paul Goude!!

0 Meilleurs chaussons aux pommes

Better close your eyes today PBers. You're in for some rough going. Gather your strength for an homage to the lovely golden chaussons aux pommes.

Blame Le Figaro for reminding s of les chaussons many joys. Le Figaro did another one of their superb test des meilleurs. Natruellement I immediatement searched through all pics for Chaussons I've eaten or admired in Paris. I did not come up empty-handed. Do watch the Le Figaro video...

et voila!
My fav chausson is from...
This no-name/anonymes boulangerie on rue de Rennes...
Who knew to look for chaussons aux pommes here?
Boulangerie Des Pains et Des Idees has a rather grand exterior...
This French mommy seems to have filled her poussette with bread. Where is bebe?
The interior of Des Pain etc. is nothing to sniff.
Well worth a visit if you like to gawk at antique fixtures. I do.
The viennoisserie look absolutely glorious...
Do they not?
Still I prefer my boulangerie anonymes to Les Pain bla bla.

At least Poilane sticks with a 2-syllable family name, even if it is unpronounceble to most of us...

Their chaussons aux pommes de chez Poilane look too rustic. I prefer more pomme and less pastry. But what do I know? As Audrey of a Fr. perfume site said yesterday (she was not wearing any perfume!),

"You write about cakes and you do not eat cupcakes"

Guilty as charged.

Do you like Poilane's chaussons aux pommes?

The French are completement fou/crazy for these mini-baker figurines.They are a bit better then Hummel I guess...

The golden winner of Le Figaro's intensive research comes from Des Gateaux et Des Pains.

Since j'adore this pastry so much I re-wrote un petit chanson to des chaussons aux pommes, I was that inspired.

Hey chausson let me tell you why,
I can't live my life without you,oh chausson aux pomme
everytime I see you dans la vitrine I get a thrill
you dont notice me but in time you will,

I must make you understand.....
~
chorus:

I wanna be your man (I wanna be your man)
I wanna be your man (I do yeah,yeah)
I wanna be your man (I wanna be your man)
I wanna be your man (I wanna be your man)
~
Better not pass me by,cause if you do you'll lose a good
thing, (oh chausson de pomme)

Cause what I got to say is sealed with a bouche/bite
and a wedding ring (wedding ring)
My mind is blind at times
I can't see any one but you
Those other chausson aux pomme don't matter no they can't spoil my view
I must make you understand.....

0 HERMANCE - PART IV

Hermance trip continued...

Last week I talked about walking down the village of Hermance and drinking a coffee on the side of the lake, well today, this post (Part III) is all about our little walk back to the bus stop...

After having sat on the small terrace of the campsite coffee place and fought off countless wasps we decided that it was about time to go back home, so we decided to head up the village in order to catch our bus.

Once again, we went through the narrow streets of Hermance, passed in front of pretty little houses reminding us of Provence, admired the colorful flowers decorations and tried to guess what was hidden behind the mysterious walls.

This place is so full of surprises that I even found more subjects to immortalize. An endless source of inspiration!

"The water of this fountain once was in the sea. It evaporated and was carried by the clouds, then it fell down in the form of rain before it got thrown back into the sea. That is the fragile equilibrium of the cycle of water.
We should respect it!"