changes

Leila proudly displaying her teeth, hair clips and earrings. What a princess. She let the dentist treat one bad tooth, and I felt like hugging the dentist for such a victory. Actually, I did, and I hugged Leila too, of course.
Coline turned into an ogre in the last few days. I quite like it this way, as opposed to before, when she would be patently hungry and yet would refuse most of what I call proper food. She sometimes eat from a spoon, as long as it is not someone else holding it, and generally standing, when not trying to crawl onto the table.
These two do not stop until they drop. The cat is wet with the dog's drool for most of the day.
Although he sometimes cries so that the dog loosens his jaws a little, he can't get enough of the dog's attention. And vice-versa. I did not expect this, I love it!

We set up an office for me. It is being used as an office (Leila)/ workshop (me) / playroom (Coline) / wrestling ring (Tintin and the cat), it is a wonderfully sunny spot in the house at nap(quiet)time, it is full of the stuff I love to see around me, and I am very proud of the first few things that I did in there, such as sewing this apron. I remembered conversations and moments with my grandparents, as I was listening to Madeleine Peyroux sing "j'ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris...", one of my grandmother's favorite songs, I mean the 1930 version by Josephine Baker. I also thought of my great-grand mother whom I never met. I was told that she sewed sumptuous dresses but not enough to make ends meet. I remember my grandpa, and the dresses my grandma used to wear, which he had made for her. These memories made me warm, as I sewed throughout Coline's naps.

Coline's first birthday

I blinked and she was one.

Coline had a couple of fun birthday moments. Probably the one she enjoyed the most was 7 kids and a teacher singing happy birthday to her in the swimmingpool while I was throwing her up in the air. She giggled and screamed with glee and kept on asking for more today as we went back to the swimming pool. Brazilians clap hands as they sing happy birthday. Coline uses quite a lot of baby sign language now, and there is no way we could misunderstand what she wants when she signs "more" "music" followed by clapping hands, and so we sang, not less than 100 times. Family came to visit on this special occasion and although she was not too keen to go away from mummy's arms, she enjoyed being with her cousin and running after Leila in the park.

(balloons customized by Leila)

laugh and a quick and easy bread recipe - recette de pain facile et rapide

oh I laughed today. Actually Leila, Coline and I laughed together as we went outside the house, both of them holding hands with me and Coline holding Tintin's leash, and he pulled hard on the leash, and Coline did not let go, and neither did I, and as she ran her feet hardly touched the ground. We laughed a big fat belly laugh. It was so good.

This laugh gave me so much energy that although it has been dark outside for some time I am about to share here my currently favorite bread recipe, while I wait for it to bake. It is a brilliant recipe in the sense that it is a no-knead and super-quick rise bread and so it takes less than 2 h altogether and is as easy to make as muffins. The original recipe is from the book that Amandine sent me last year :Bread by Chrisine Ingram and Jennie Shapter, ed. Lorenz Books. As indicated in the book it is a recipe created by Doris Grant and published in the 1940s in her cookbook. I am sharing my own version of it which uses Doris' trick to quick-start fermentation but quite a different list of ingredients. Note that I live in a tropical country and so it never gets really cold here. In cooler climates it may be necessary to warm up the flours in order to break the ice, as Cristiano says.

No-knead quick rise seed loaf (makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients

3 cups wholewheat flour

3 cups white flour

2 tbsp salt

1/3rd cup small seeds

10 g dried yeast

1 tbsp honey

650 mL warm water

Sprinkle 10 g dry yeast over 150 mL warm water in a small bowl (warm water is obtained by mixing 1/3rd boiling water with 2/3rds cold water). Leave for 2 min and add 1 tablespoon (tbsp) honey. Leave for 10 min.

In a large bowl combine 3 cups of wholewheat flour, 3 cups of white wheat flour, 2 tbsp salt and approximately 1/3 cup of small seeds (I use 1/4 cup canola seeds and the rest of linseed and sesame seeds). Make a well in the middle and poor in the yeast mixture (at this stage it should be frothy) and an additional 500 mL warm water. Combine all ingredients using a wooden spoon. If necessary (if some of the flour remains dry) add 50 mL water. Separate the mixture into two oiled cake tins (the dimensions of mine are: 24 x 10 x 6 cm), cover with lightly oiled cling film and leave in a warm place for 30 min or until the dough has risen by approx. 1/3rd.

Meanwhile preheat the over to 220 degrees C (mine apparently has to be set on 260 degrees C to be hot enough to bake bread so it may take some trial and error). Bake for 40 min or until the loaves are golden and the bread sounds hollow when tapped at the bottom with a wooden spoon.

Allow to cool down on a cooling rack (for instance on the grid of a gas stove) and enjoy!

Recette du pain aux graines sans petrissage et levee rapide

Ingredients (1 cup = 236 mL)

3 cups farine de ble complet

3 cups farine de ble

2 cuilleres a soupe (csp) sel

1/3 cup petites graines

10 g levure instantannee (levure de boulanger deshydratee)

1 csp miel

650 mL eau tiede

Verser la levure instantannee dans 150 mL d'eau tiede dans un bol (l'eau tiede est preparee en melangeant 1 volume d'eau bouillante avec 2 volumes d'eau froide). Laisser reposer 2 min puis ajouter 1 csp de miel. Laisser reposer 10 min. Le melange se met a buller genereusement.

Dans une terrine melanger 3 cups de farine de ble complet et 3 cups de farine blanche, 2 csp de sel et a peu pres 1/3 cup de petites graines (j'utilise 1/4 cup de graines de colza et le reste de graines de lin et de sesame). Creuser un puits et y verser le melange contenant la levure (ayant repose 10 min il est devenu mousseux) et ajouter 500 mL d'eau tiede. Amalgamer la farine en utilisant une cuillere en bois. Si necessaire (si une partie de la farine reste seche) ajouter 50 mL d'eau tiede. Repartir la pate obtenue dans deux moules a cakes prealablement huiles legerement (les dimensions de mes moules sont: 24 x 10 x 6 cm), couvrir avec du celophane legerement huile et laisser reposer dans un endroit tiede pendant 30 min, ou jusqu'a ce que la pate ait gonfle de 1/3 de son volume.

Pendant ce temps, prechauffer le four a 220 degres C (mon four doit etre regle a 260 degres C pour que le pain soit cuit, autrement dit il se peut que vous ayez a rectifier la temperature en fonction du resultat). Cuire pendant 40 min ou jusqu'a ce que le pain soit dore et qu'un son creux soit obtenu lorsque l'on tape le dessous du pain avec une cuillere en bois.

Laissez refroidir sur une grille (par exemple le dessus d'une cuisiniere si comme moi vous avez une cuisiniere a gaz) et regalez-vous!

One more

It feels as if once we started, it is difficult to stop. There is one more member in our family! So far he only has a nickname: "scratchy", which he earned upon scratching Leila's hand in the second hour that he spent in our house. For his defense, he had been carried around, grabbed by a handful of hair, prevented from hiding or running away since he got there. Anyway, as Leila says, this is only his name for now, but as soon as he is not a baby (kitten) anymore, he will get his proper adult name. Leila is crazy for him, and so are we all. He seems to be a chilled kitten.

Tintin one the other hand is not particularly excited about little kitten. So far they tend to live their lives without paying much attention to each other, although they show higher interest in each other's food than in their own and sometimes stare at each other. In any case, Tintin is not really himself since little kitten arrived, because in a very unlucky coincidence, Tintin was castrated on the very same day. He does not like the cone around his head. Not at all.

Petits gateaux de Noel - This is not a cooking blog

This is not a cooking blog, and yet, I am going to share some of our basic recipes. Why? Well, in respond to popular demand (that means at least one - perhaps two - people asked me for the recipe), and also because I remember spending hours reading through an ocean of recipes published on the web to isolate the ones that may be trustforthy, not too unhealthy and simple. The ingredients that I use are bought in Ouro Preto, which means that they are not organic, cheap grade and most likely available where you live, except perhaps for some tropical fruits.

And so the first recipe is that of our "Petits gateaux de Noel", which I love because they are yummy, the dough is quick to make and fun for children to take part. They are crunchy, sometimes crumbly, depending on the weather or the age of the captain. Just because the girls went to sleelp early tonight and in spite of the fact that they have already woken up a couple of times, this recipe comes both in English and French!




Petits gateaux de Noel (Christmas cookies)
Makes approximately 20 cookies:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
In a large bowl, beat (with a hand whisk) one large whole egg with three tablespoons of sugar until whitened (no need to wait until thick and creamy). Add 100 g of softened butter (I melt the butter by warming it up in a pot on the stove), 150 g white wheat flour (cake flour), 75 g corn flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, vanila extract and / or orange blossom water (optional). Mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon until a homogenous and smooth dough is obtained. Keep in the fridge for one hour.

On a slightly floured surface spread the dough (thickness 0.5 cm) and cut shapes with a glass or cutter. Transfer to an oiled baking tray. Cook at 200 degrees C for 15 to 20 min or until the cookies are golden.

We also enjoyed a lactose-free alternative where instead of butter I used 75 g of almond puree (prepared by blending whole almonds in an electric blender until smooth and creamy. This took about the whole day given the other ongoing activities and the need to regularly allow the almonds and blender to cool down) and 20 g sunflower oil. The cookies were a little harder to crunch but had a nice nutty taste.

Et maintenant pour les stictement francophones.
Pour 20 petits gateaux:

Prechauffer le four a 200 degres C.
Casser un oeuf entier dans une terrine. Ajouter 3 cuilleres a soupe de sucre. Fouetter jusqu'a ce que le melange blanchisse.
Ajouter 100 g de beurre ramolli (je fais fondre le beurre dans une casserole a feu doux), 75 g de Maizena, 150 g de farine de ble, 1 sachet de levure chimique, 1 sachet de sucre vanille ou extrait de vanille et / ou une cuillere a soupe d'eau de fleur d'oranger. Melanger le tout a l'aide d'une cuillere en bois jusqu'a obtenir une pate lisse. Mettre au refrigerateur pendant 1 h.

Etaler la pate sur une surface legerement farinee (0.5 cm d'epaisseur) puis decouper des formes a l'aide d'un verre ou a l'emporte-piece. Deposer sur une plaque beuree et cuire a 200 degres C 15 a 20 min ou jusqu'a ce qu'aparaisse une coloration doree.

Pour une version sans lactose, remplacer le beurre par 75 g de puree d'amande (preparee en broyant a l'aide d'un mixeur electrique des amandes entieres jusqu'a obtenir une pate onctueuse. Cela m'a pris a peu pres une journee compte tenue de la necessite de regulierement laisser refroidir les amandes et le mixeur) et 20 g d'huile de tournesol.

I will be grateful for this day

This week, Coline ate mash (potato and pumpkin) and this is rare enough to be mentioned,

we had these extravagant flowers (in a vase) in the kitchen and collected hundreds of seeds with the hope of getting them to grow one day in the garden at the back of our house, which we yet have to find,
I got together seeds, shells and stones to make myself a peaceful spot in the house and it turned into Coline's toolbox to mix and match,
and throw and taste and more,
and then turned into a family full of children, a house, a classroom in Leila's pretend play,
my little cousin and I made rye bread,
and I got myself ready for the week-end.

Week-ends here have had a tendency of being trickier than the rest of the week. We have noticed that Cristiano in particular tends to get sick or incredibly tired on Fridays, is flat on Saturdays, hardly survives Sundays and is fresh up and running on Mondays, while I suffer from terrible mood, and so when I came across this poster on the web I decided to make my own for our home and stick to it. After all, it does apply to every day, even today, when the 4 of us have the flu and it is raining outside and the girls complained the whole day. But out of the blue Leila also came to me and said I love you, I played ball on the kitchen floor with Coline and Tintin, saw him run in the park with his ears flapping in the wind, made delicious chicken soup, chatted with my mum, received amazing news from a friend far away and so I am grateful for today, and will try to remember so when I wake up too early tomorrow morning and get greeted with something like "I want cereal" or "oinnnnnnn".

Arte [artchi]

There is a fine line between art and mess, and it is a movable one. "Fazer arte", means make a mess, faire des betises, but what I like in that expression is that it allows the thought that perhaps the intention was not to destroy the couch, but instead to make it look prettier, with the help of a couple of pink marker pens. (our couch is fine, by the way)

Design - by Leila

She often disappears with a pen and paper, sometimes with color markers. I just love what she does!

Really, I wish I knew how to draw like this.

Carnaval 2012

Last year Coline was in my womb instead of out in the world and so our first proper carnival in Ouro Preto happened this year Feb 16th-21st. Actually, last year's carnival was quite wet and that is rather the reason why this year's was enjoyed more thoroughly not only by us but by the whole town and its visitors, which included family from France! What a delight to share this with them.

Last year I had the impression that Carnival here was a lot less about fancy dressing than it is in Europe, and so I did not prepare myself for it. Luckily my friend Michelle came with bags full of wigs, clothes, confetti and more, and mamie-Claire had brought into our house Leila's most favorite accessories: face paint crayons. And of course I could not resist the temptation to dress up a little. Cristiano was not impressed when he saw me in his clothes. The worst however was Leila's face when I showed up at her school (parents were invited but just that once I think she wished I had stayed home). It did not put me off, though.

We followed the "blocos" on joyful "marchinha" music and watched the children play in the park near our house where they got barbapapa (algodao doce / candy floss?!) for free and slid down the grassy slopes. Coline was hooked on walking up and down all over town, and collecting beer cans and caps while we were not watching ,and yet we thought we were. At night we heard from our house the chilled samba of Candoguero playing in the distance, reminding us that we do live in a "pais tropical" and I even got to enjoy it live once for one early night out with my cousin (thank you, the daddies!). Carnival 2012 was fun, it made me like it here.