Hearty

Can I live on the ground floor of my son's house? 

How can I get my lakehouse in Gérardmer, France?

What are my plans for today? (In Gérardmer France, not Brisbane Australia)

How come I'm only getting a message now that my mobile phone's international travel pack has kicked in? I've been making calls since yesterday! Eeek. What rate have I been paying for that?

Why didn't I get 100% on that exam? It should have been 100. What the hell did I get wrong then? Man, maybe I'll never know this stuff. (I got 83%)

Scourers should really have been provided in this accommodation you know. I mean look at that soap scum on the shower tiles. Should I buy a scourer? Why should I buy a scourer? There's still splotches of paint on the tiles. No-one has ever scoured those tiles.

And on it goes. My mind.

All the while I am being grounded by cooking a hearty dish. 

A dish for my heart. 

Take heart. 

Eat.

Canned food. Marrons à la forestière.
But boy does it add something
to my standby lentil boeuf haché dish.

Tip:
Sometimes canned foods are OK, even necessary.

Chestnut mousse pudding

This is not a trusted recipe. Just sayin'.

If in doubt, head to the local 
SuperU
and pick up this starter.

This is another thing you would do with some creative home cooking.

I really wanted a French favourite, creme de marron de l'Ardeche, but I had not been able to spot it in the supermarché.

Now that I've googled the name I should not have a problem finding it provided my accent doesn't get in the way. But failing on three attempts permitted me some creativity, I guess.

Anyway, now that I've bought plain pureed chestnuts I'm going to try for a sweet dish....

1/2 tin creamed chestnuts, about 200g.
1 equal weight of fromage frais, or créme fraîche, or white cheesey stuff that you prefer.
2 eggs
Sweeten as you prefer. I'm using my chestnut honey obtained in Gérardmer, France, at the local market.


You could do the old beat the whites till like snow. Beat the yolks with the sugar till light in colour.... and all that.

I don't. I drop the whole eggs into the dish and add the honey, starting with about 2T, and beat it till I'm satisfied,

I then add the pureed chestnuts, because I'm in France and only have a fork to do the mixing. The kitchen in the studio is great, but not too well equipped for creating. If you have mixers of any kind, the order doesn't really matter.

I then add a 1:1 mix of fromage frais and créme fraîche because I can. I'm in France.

Beat/fork it till you have achieved the consistency you want.

Refrigerate for 3 hours.

If it is too runny, turn it into a power smoothy by adding some collagen.

If you want something warm, bake it in the oven in a trough of water.

Eat after a long walk around the lake.

Tip:

Cook and Standup Paddle Board? 
It was hitched to the back fence 
atop the canal.
I'm guessing it goes directly 
to the lake in Gérardmer.

Cook and walk and eat.

Lucky the baguette was a mini. Now I get
why my mum puts butter on like cheese.
She grew up in rural England
 where the butter
tastes like this French stuff. 
Delish.

What? Not Smurfs?
Les Schtroumpfs.