December 22, 2009
Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Marbles
[Billes de noisette au chocolat]
As a small gift to celebrate the holiday season, I give you this recipe drawn from my cookbook. It appears in the mignardise chapter, in which I give recipes for sweet bites to serve at the end of a meal -- in place of, or in addition to dessert, with coffee or tea.
For these particular treats-on-a-stick, you'll make your own hazelnut marzipan (wait, come back! it's really easy, I promise!), shape it into smal...
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December 17, 2009
[Edible Idiom] Être comme un coq en pâte
This is part of a series on French idiomatic expressions that relate to food. Browse the list of idioms featured so far.
This week's idiom is, "Être comme un coq en pâte."
Literally translated as, "Being like a rooster in dough," it means feeling cosy and pampered, being in a state of absolute contentment, with one's every need catered to. I've seen it likened to the English idiom, "being in clover" or "like pigs in clover," but I under...
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December 14, 2009
6th Annual Menu for Hope
Today marks the beginning of the 6th edition of Menu for Hope, a fundraising campaign created by Pim and championed by food bloggers all around the world. The funds raised will benefit the United Nations' World Food Programme: it is the world’s largest food aid agency, working with more than a thousand other organizations in over seventy-five countries. In addition to providing food, the World Food Program helps hungry people become self-relian...
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December 8, 2009
Carrot and Ginger Quickie Pickle
Pickling means preserving food in a seasoned brine or vinegar mixture, and in case you didn't get the memo, pickles are the new cupcakes.
I sorta kinda doubt it -- try bringing pickles to your nephew's birthday party -- but, as someone who grew up with store-bought jars of cornichons (gherkins) as the single pickled element of the family diet, I am most intrigued by the techniques involved, and the wide range of products they create.
I am a c...
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December 4, 2009
[Edible Idiom] Être dans le pâté
This is part of a series on French idiomatic expressions that relate to food. Browse the list of idioms featured so far.
This week's idiom is, "Être dans le pâté."
Literally translated as, "Being in the pâté," it means feeling drowsy and out of it, usually in the morning after too much partying and/or not enough sleeping. It is a slang expression, not vulgar but definitely not elegant, so I don't really suggest you use it -- slang is th...
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December 1, 2009
December 2009 Desktop Calendar
At the beginning of every month in 2009, I am offering C&Z readers a new desktop calendar, i.e. a wallpaper to apply on the desktop of your computer, with a food-related picture and a calendar of the current month.
Our desktop calendar for December is a picture of a freshly popped cork, in anticipation of the holiday celebrations that will keep us all busy this month. I hope you embrace the spirit of the season, enjoy the company of your famil...
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