Le Beau Moulin

We ventured into new territory for our Sunday walk, even though it isn't too far from us we had never come across this tiny hamlet with the old watermill and rushing stream before.
The house bears the VMF plaque, Vieilles maisons françaises (Old French Houses) which we also didn't know about.

The purpose of VMF is the preservation, protection and enhancement of french heritage and it's architectural environment (source Wikipedia).

I wonder if they would be interested in our Old French House??

Maybe that way we would be able to discover it's history, since we only have a very sketchy idea so far.

Head over to Mary's the little red house for Mosaic Monday, IMHO one of the most interesting blogs in blogland.

Shadow Shot Sunday. Mexico.

For Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday #92, today @ Hey Harriet , a photo taken in Tulum, Mexico in 2006.
Look closely, see the iguana?

Head over to Harriet's for more interesting shots.

E is for Eiffel Tower on Alphabe-Thursday.

In Mrs Matlock's class and Alphabe-Thursday today, we will be studying the letter E.

In Paris, France, E can only mean one thing the 300 metre tall Tour Eiffel, situated on the Champ de Mars,designed by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 Paris Exposition.

Lancashire architects James Maxwell and Charles Tuke designed Blackpool Tower for the Victorian seaside town of the same name, it was opened to the public in 1894, at 158 metres it is much smaller than the Eiffel Tower which was their inspiration.

and this is my Eiffel Tower, it stands approx. 56 centimetres tall!

At the Quimper Club International annual meeting in Dallas last October, Susan & Sarah used these wirework Eiffel Towers, complete with a jaunty red stetson hats, as the table decorations at the Farewell Banquet. Members attending the meeting were able to purchase them as a souvenir. I didn't attend the meeting as I was enjoying some serious R&R on HHI at the time. A few weeks later imagine my surprise to receive an Eiffel Tower in the mail, sent by Sarah, a gift from two lovely friends Gay & Nina. Click here to see how Gay decorated her Tour Eiffel at Christmas.

Now, sans stetson, my tower is home to my small collection of miniature Quimper plates and feves, which I wrote about here.

Mosaic Monday following PJ's Thursday

It's O.K. you can open your eyes now, I haven't created a mosaic of me in my PJ's!
After spending Thursday literally in p.j's and staying warm by a log fire, Friday found me in need of a brisk walk in the snowy sunshine, so I grabbed Mr Ben & a leash and off we went, snapping pix around the village.
It is pretty isn't it but oh! I am longing for Spring.
I'm heading over to Mary's littleredhouse for Mosaic Monday as there's sure to be lots of pretty spring flowers there to start the week with a smile, so why don't you take a peek too?

Leave me a comment first though so that I know which randonneurs took a stroll with me today.
According to Simon @ TravelMail -"The French term for rambler is 'randonneur' - so much more romantic and rugged than the English word, which conjures up images of Reader's Digest types in search of the nearest Cotswolds tea room."

Click here to read his article about walking in the French Pyrenees.

Don't forget that the Quimper Club International blog is celebrating it's 1st birthday today with the 150th post and there is a fabulous heart shaped pendant necklace being given away.

Click here to participate.

Chocolate Valentines

It all began with an email from a sweet blogger friend.

Kate @ Serendipity wrote:
I want to get together a few food bloggers, send them all some dark chocolate, and we'll all make something for Valentine's day. And post it that day. It doesn’t have to be a new recipe, or an original one. It just has to be something that you love and that you’d love to serve to someone special on Valentine’s Day.
Would you be interested? Please say yes!

Did I need asking twice?? What do you think? I replied immediately and said "Yes, please!"

It wasn't long before I took delivery of this wonderful gift of dark Belgian chocolate gorgeousness.

Kates' very pretty card had this note attached:
" Maggie,
Here it is! The large dark bar is just wonderful chocolate. Me, I'd eat that one. The ones in foil are what use when I cook with chocolate. But they are good to eat too. The small one is handmade by Christophe and makes wicked hot chocolate. Whatever you do with the, I hope you enjoy them!
Kate".
How could I resist, especially as Kate almost insisted? I broke off a small piece from the largest bar, mmmmmm, heaven.

So, what did tempting treat did I make for my Sweet Valentine.


Chocolate expresso cake with caffe latte cream, so wicked, so decadent, so wonderful! From Nigella's "FEAST Food That Celebrates Life", see her recipe below.

When I removed the cake from the oven the top was firm to the touch but inside was all dark chocolate squidginess and mousselike. Once it was cool I dusted with cocoa powder and then just before serving piled the cream in the sunken centre of the cake.

The combined taste was very reminiscent of a Tiramisu dessert, thanks to the Tia Maria liqueur!
Cupid is never far away on Valentine's Day.

Pretty heart shaped plates, "Love Letters" from William Sonoma.

CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO CAKE WITH CAFFE LATTE CREAM

Makes 10 to 12 slices.

FOR THE CAKE

150g dark chocolate, chopped

150g butter

6 eggs

250g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla real extract

75g plain flour

5 tsp instant espresso powder

4tblsp Tia Maria or other coffee liqueur

FOR THE CAFFE LATTE CREAM

75g white chocolate broken into small pieces (I used Nestle Chocolat Blanc a pâtisser)

375ml double cream (I used creme cru)

scant 2 tsps instant espresso powder (I used Carte Noir individual sticks of instant espresso)

Pre heat oven to gas mark 4/180 degrees C. Butter and line a 23 inch Springform tin

Melt the chocolate & butter in the microwave or or double boiler, allow to cool slightly.

Beat the eggs, sugar & vanilla together, until thick, pale & moussey. The mixture should double in size, I used my Kitchenaid freestanding mixer which made the task easier.

Fold in the flour & espresso powder, keeping as much as in the batter as possible, then add the melted chocolate & butter, folding it in gently.

Pour into prepared tin and cook for 35 - 40 minutes.

The top of the cake should be firm to the touch but underneath still a little bit gooey.

Poor over the Tia Maria before allowing the cake to cool completely.

For the cream, melt the white chocolate, as before and let it cool, fold in the cream & the espresso powder whipping together until it thickens.

Release the cake from the springform tin, dust with cocoa and serve the creme in a bowl or pile the creme into the slightly sunken centre of the cake.

Vintage Valentines courtesy of TipNut

Flashback Friday & Friends...........West Palm Beach 2002

Carolyn who is blogging over at the QCI blog this month and I have been friends for about 10 years now.

For Suzy's Flashback Friday @Kitchen Bouquet here are some pix from 2002 when Mr B & I visited Carol & Bill at their home in West Palm Beach.

As we were on vacation in Florida, Carol & Bill suggested that we drive down and spend a couple of days with them.

They had a lovely guest apartment in the grounds, situated in the same building as Carol's studio, which contained a cabinet where she displayed the beautiful "faberge" like eggs she painstakingly created.

Together we visited a large Fairgrounds, where the Jan. 2002 South Florida Fair was being held. It's the second largest in the state and is held every January

Sadly, I don't have a photo of the cabinet but Carol will be blogging about them very soon @ QCI Blog.

D is for.......................Donkey

Thursday's here again so I'm off to Jenny Matlock's place for Alphabe-Thursday and a look at what this week's letter D stands for.

Around here D stands for my neighbours Donkey, who has a field to wander in but more often than not can be found standing by the fence watching the cars and the one lone pedestrian, me with Mr Ben, going by.

He's very sociable and always comes over to have a chat and tells me the latest gossip around the hameau.

See you at Jenny's.
Still with me??

Looks like Spring isn't as ready to arrive as we thought at the beginning of the week. I took these pix just a few minutes ago. It has been snowing steadily all night long and shows no sign of stopping yet. My small, bijou (?) attic room where I sit and blog and scrap is freezing cold, the velux window in the roof is covered by inches of snow, there's hardly any light coming in from outside, so I think I'll take my laptop into the bedroom and have a day in p.j.'s