Friday 31 August 2012

(French) Food adventure on Friday - fun with M&M's

My little brother gave me a bunch of recipe books from Paris this Summer. Very sweet, but as a real brother should, never forget your own interest. So, first question: when are you going to make some?  That took a while, but last week I made some time to make choco - sticks with crunch! Another problem was: the lovely little book comes from France. Which means all written in French. I've had some classes, but I needed Google translate anyway. I had lots of fun making them.

Ingredients
I was lazy. So I skipped the sticks-making part. I bought biscuit-sticks instead.


* 1 bag Penut M&Ms
* Dark chocolate (about 75 gr)
* Whipped cream (100 ml)


The only thing I actually made was the choco-paste or in classy French: Ganache aux m&m's (just don't ask me to pronounce it out loud).

Directions

1. Crunch the M&Ms in a blender or mash them (in a zipbag) and chop the chocolate
2. Warm cream, melt chopped dark chocolate.
3. When the chocolate and cream are looking yummy, add the crunched m&ms, and stir a little.
4. Smell the yummy chocolate? Give in to the desire to taste, Your excuse: tasting is important ;).
5. Cover the biscuit sticks with cocolate (it may take a few to get the hang of it) 
6. Decorated with some m&m-shell (just crush them with the palm of your hand).
7. Put in the refrigirator for at least two hours.

Enjoy sweet with a crunch!

P.s. I had so much ganache left over that I made some more treats (crunch chocolate covered biscuits)




Thursday 23 August 2012

Thankful Thursday


It doesn't hurt anyone to remind yourself of how lucky you are and to be thankful for that. Here's my share of thankfulness.



  • Thanks for being healthy. I've been a little sick last week and it was such a good reminder (did I mention reminders hurt sometimes?).
  • Thankful for the sweet and lovely people I may call my friends and family: they're a gift. And they're so big, that it's impossible to wrap in fancy paper (that's why we forget they're a gift sometimes).
  • Is it a bad thing if I say I'm thankful for earning enough money to buy myself a ticket to a country on the other side of the planet? At least I worked for it ^_^
  • Which means having a job (especially right now) is a privilage, which make me feel thankful for being able to work.
  • Thanks for people who say sorry when they run into you ( I know, I'm not tall and easily overlooked) or just hit you (I assume by accident).


  • Inspired by the blog of Julie of Perfectly Imperfect (please go visit her inspirational blog, it's lovely.

    Wednesday 22 August 2012

    Wisdom on Wednesday


    One of the things I find inspiration in for life, whether it's the good  or the bad; are quotes by people who, generally speaking, have a little more experience in life than me. Or just in proverbs, lyrics or books. Enjoy! All are photos are taken by me unless otherwise stated and of course quotes/lyrics used belong to the people quoted.


    Wende Snijders is a Dutch singer (if you have a chance to catch her live: you're in for a treat!). This song of hers is a fav of mine.

    This one put a smile on my face when I found this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt (yes, indeed wife of...). The photo was taken in Taiwan in 2011, when I first saw Palm trees (or something like it), for the first time in my life.

    This quote by Canadian Charles Templeton  is a reminder for me every once in a while. The photo was taken in dome of the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome in 2009 I think.


    Wednesday 8 August 2012

    Wisdom on Wednesday

    One of the things I find inspiration in for life, whether it's the good  or the bad; are quotes by people who, generally speaking, have a little more experience in life than me. Or just in proverbs, lyrics or books. Enjoy some inspiration for August! All are photos are taken by me unless otherwise stated and of course quotes/lyrics used belong to the people quoted.


    Room Eleven was an awesome Dutch band (and I missed my chance of watching them live...)

    Jim Rohn was an American motivational speaker. For more wisdom: check his website.


    It's fire works in Taiwan in this picture but they add to the wise words of Charles Austin Beard an American Historican