~Fresh~ And..Very Nantais~

I think I scanned it fuzzy:)

I made something cool;) 2... something cools.. in the kitchen..

Madonna's CF..I tried once and failed..because I did not buy whipping cream..so I tried again..and now it is a staple here for J not me.
My staple is a chip..;)Or pineapple.
But he loves a dollop on little cakes..and strawberries ..etc..

so now I make it..thank you Madonna!

So easy..

Mix one tbsp of buttermilk w/ 1 cup of whipping cream..place in a clean sterile jar and cover w/ a coffee filter..leave on counter 24 hours..then refrigerate..that's it..:)

last time..3 pots:)

I made a delicious 8 inch cake..a Nantais Cake..I found the recipe on Mamina's Blog..Et si c'était bon~

It really is delicious..

La recette..gleaned from Mamina~Merci!

125 grams semi-salted butter softened..room temp..I used salted
140 grams of sugar
110 grams almond flour
30 grams of flour
3 beaten eggs
2 tbsps dark rhum
1/2 envelope of  baking powder..(I put 1 tsp)

10 cl of dk rhum******  see below..
100grams icing sugar..

In a bowl cream butter and sugar..add almond meal and flour that you sifted with the bp..add the eggs and the 2 tbsps rhum..
Bake in a 350 F oven for 30 mins

let cool 5 minutes..
unmold..

now..you should poke the cake and add some of the 10 cl of rhum..but mamina felt the icing was rhummy enough and I agree..

***so forget about the 10 cls of rhum:)

And simply make an icing by combining the icing sugar w/ enough rhum to create a nice coating..ice cake letting the icing fall by the sides..

Hope all this makes sense...because it is so moist.. look at the cumb..cuts beautifully..
And Jacques will add a dollop pf CF.
His parents had a grocery store when he was growing up..maman stayed home and always had something cooking..baking..
I guess he got his love of a sweet bite after dinner from that.

The stories he tells me..
I am reading The Only Street in Paris..the author..Elaine Sciolino.. describes working in her father's food store..
Jacques has so many stories..delivering groceries up and down streets Christmas Eve with a sleigh..he was 12..he eventually graduated to a car..but young..the girls in the family worked the cash..the boys delivered..it was not optional to work in his father's store as she said..it was mandatory:)

At the age of 7-8..he delivered milk..for a brother-in-law of a brother-in-law..
 left at 7 AM..back by 3PM.. $0.75 for the day..a container of chocolate milk and doughnuts..lol..he said they ran in and out of that truck all day..for $0.75 ..

I do love those stories..

which brings me to mine..

The garden in April above..brown and beige.

The garden later on below..not much later on..when things start to happen here..they know they are on borrowed time and grow fast:)

The bare bones of a QC garden in April..
..when the temp is screaming summer..Nana's 2 biggest Littles..came to help..
We rake and blow every single leaf in October..for some reason..come April when the snow recedes..every bare bed is full of leaves again..the potting shed opens it's doors..the rakes and tarps come out..and these 2 darlings came to help nana while grandad raked elesewhere.
I remember putting these 2 Littles  to sleep as infants out back.. swinging them on the swings Jacques built..swinging on the front porch watching grandad mow his lawn..
my heart was bursting working alongside them in the garden.

♥
They worked in harmony..I was so proud of the little gentlemen they are becoming..
nice..nice boys.
All 4 boys are tenderhearted..each in their own ways.

OK..
moving right along..The borage seeds were first to germinate...a few little tomato seedlings with a new way of planting..

have a peek.

I'll see how they do..
I need more prepped gardens for the food I want to grow..
when my Littles will be older:)

And painted a few Spring and Summer clothing items..find an ad..on Polyvore..or Pinterest w/ real clothes and try and draw and paint..
Fun...
found some new nibs to write with..Gillott 303s..hope they arrive soon.
That sweet serving spatula.. ..Anthro..artist is Molly Hatch..I love her.Sarah..from Texas introduced me to both the darling spatula and Molly Hatch♥