Sunday, September 27, 2009

Provence - my favourite cafe and hotel

I could continue for a while with colors... I have green...white ...purple... but I decided to add practical info on where to stay and where to have a nice cup of tea ( with cake of course) in case you go past Provence and you miss it. The best hotel I stayed in is the Hôtel Rêves d'Ocres in Roussilon. A nice charming hotel also very cheap compare to the prices you can pay there...
Below you can find the complete address and links to book the room.
Hôtel Rêves d'Ocres 2-star Hotel Route de Gordes, 84220 Roussillon

Another place I'd recommend is Thé Mandarine, a nice little cafe just on top of a cute shop where you can find typical French decorations. Not only the location is great but also the quality of food and drinks. Fresh fruits Tarts and mint ice tea are a must.

Thé Mandarine, 24 place de l'hôtel de ville, 13100 Aix en Provence, Phone: +33 4 42 28 72 68

La Provence en Couleurs - Colours of Provence - Earth and Nature




La Provence en Couleurs - Colours of Provence - Red






La Provence en Couleurs - Colours of Provence - Blue

La Provence en Couleurs - Colours of Provence - Pink

Hello, I've been away for a while but for my comeback, here's my trip in Provence, south of France. It goes from Bormes les Mimosas, Aix en Provence, Roussilon and the Luberon area. I've decided to classify my photos by colors and of course the first one is PINK. Enjoy!
I found a pink dog!!!!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Tinkering Ink notecard and envelope printable

Hello,
on This is me I found these delicious note cards and envelopes. She used Tinkering ink paper and the results are great. Click here to download it.Enjoy!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Pear and Almond Tart

Bonjour,
after my holiday in France, here's a tatsy recipe typical from there.
Almonds are my favourite...follow my blog during Chrismas because I'll add some more using this ingredient.
Enjoy!

Ingredients

Pears
4 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 medium-size firm but ripe Bosc pears, peeled (each about 7 ounces)
Crust
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
Almond Filling
2/3 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
Powdered sugar (optional)

Preparation

For pears:Bring 4 cups water, sugar, and lemon juice to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add pears. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until pears are very tender, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool pears in syrup. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)


For crust:Blend powdered sugar, almonds, and salt in processor until nuts are finely ground. Add butter and blend until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Mix in egg yolk. Add flour. Using on/off turns, blend until dough comes together in clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 3 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)


For almond filling:Finely grind almonds and flour in processor. Mix in 7 tablespoons sugar, then butter, blending until smooth. Mix in egg. Transfer filling to medium bowl. Cover and chill at least 3 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Roll out chilled dough on floured sheet of parchment paper to 12-inch round, lifting and turning dough occasionally to free from paper. Using paper as aid, turn dough into 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom; peel off paper. Seal any cracks in dough. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in, making double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze crust 10 minutes.
Line crust with buttered foil, buttered side down, then fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until sides are golden and bottom is set, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 10 minutes longer. Cool crust in pan on rack. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
Spread almond filling evenly in crust. Stem pears and cut each in half lengthwise; scoop out cores. Cut each half crosswise into thin slices. Gently press each pear half to fan slices but keep slices tightly overlapped. Slide spatula under pears and arrange atop filling like spokes of wheel with narrow ends in center.
Bake tart until golden and tester inserted into center of filling comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool tart in pan on rack. Push pan bottom up, releasing tart from pan. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Cut tart into wedges; sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired, and serve.
(epicurious.com)

Thursday, September 3, 2009

My Pink and Blue Holidays part 1: Mallorca

Here's a little glimpse of Mallorca (one of the biggest Spanish Islands) I got told that it was full of tourists (true), full of pubs (true) and all build up (true) but only if you stay in the travel agents areas... I managed to find PINK buildings and a great BLUE sea!!!!

..and unique places to visit, like the capital (Palma) a mix of stiles and great places to have a drink in, the up-country, a nest of windmills, farms and tiles everywhere. If you are going there don't hesitate to ask me for advice or for more pics but make sure you have a car booked!
Hope you like it!

Amy Butler Madison bag is now mine!!

Hello,
I once saw
a model of the Amy Butler’s Madison Bag. It was beautiful but I needed something bigger with longer handles. I kindly asked Sue from Paper Butterfly Craft to make one for me with a little (maybe not that little…thanks Sue for the patience) variation and here’s the result! Fabulous! For reference, the fabric is Amy Butler’s Tree Peony. Sue’s very talented and she has a shop on Etsy too. For more great ideas visit her blog.


Don’t miss my next posts I’m preparing my holiday summary, as usual not many words but nice pictures... just to let the dream continue.

Love,
Miss Piggy X

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