HAPPY LOVE!

 

I couldn't resist to share the card I received from B. on my birthday... it's so us :) HAPPY!
So I'm leaving you there with that positive note for a little bit,  I don't really know for how long, just the time for me to concentrate on what I am doing at the moment, to look out of the frame and get some fresh air.

I wish you all a nice weekend, and a lot of hot tea and cosy places.
A bientôt friends!

02.02.1982

 

It's my birthday today :)
A little bit of me when I was 18 months old ...

A Rainy Barn Wedding...

If you have a few minutes... sweet and LOVE :)

linus+danielle • rainy barn wedding from Paperback Weddings on Vimeo.

Vintage.

 

I would like to visit.... Italy.

Beautiful images, sounds, musics, senses, feelings...

Dreaming It{aly} from Matthew Brown (Matty Brown) on Vimeo.

Au jardin with Pantone.

. the color of the year  is... a happy color :)

 

 

 

Today I like

.the fog et sa danse avec les paysages...
. his voice infiniment.

Big Sur, USA, 2010

Keep warm.

Just back from the gallery and had a warm soup as it's so cold outside...
Here are some pictures of my first visit to England years ago...
Actually, I wouldn't mind a long walk in the countryside and finish in an old cosy pub with a nice fire on and a tasty lunch, my perfect winter day... have a warm weekend all of you there :)

 

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Things I have made recently.

"La croquande" freshly baked for the country market this morning, something new for the new year. Merci maman, je n'y avais pas pensé, elles sont parties comme des p'tits pains :)
"happy birthday", one of my last creation on the letterpress A. Do you like it?

 

 

just because...

 

 

I was in London today.

Fifty People, One Question: London from Fifty People, One Question on Vimeo.

And you, where would you like to wake up?

my eyes in 2011 //4

October, Cannes/France, friendship.

November, New York, friendship.

December, making and sharing.

my eyes in 2011 //3

July, moving, peeling off wallpaper.

August, building, dust and peeling off wallpaper (still).

September, south-west France, decorating.

my eyes in 2011 //2

April, Madrid, her birthday

May, visiting, planning.

June, the Chelsea Art Fair, hoping.

my eyes in 2011//1

January, the flat, London.

February, painting, my birthday.

March, Dartmouth, his birthday.

Listening that...

Best wishes!

 Finally back to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

I had a good time off, ready to start 2012 with a few ideas already in mind, new adventures,

 hoping for peace, health and love!

Friends, I wish you all the best :)

 

Be merry!

That's it! Just one day to go and the little Christmas star will shine :). The time to slow down a bit and spend some good time together. I will be on and off in the next couple days, tidying and updating the blog with some new albums and pictures. Feel free to come and look around.

I would like to thank you for the regular visits and comments here. It gives me a lot of pleasure and sparkles in my heart.

I just think you are magic :)

Have a peaceful time. All the best x

 

A new recipe.

Exhausted! Finally sitting down... pfff. A busy day, finishing more orders this morning, then sourcing some nice paper in town, and back to prepare stuff for the country market tomorrow.

I also experienced a new recipe today. Last week, at the reception I worked for, a lady asked me if I could bake for her and her family a Chocolate Yule Log... but a Vegan version... wow, I want to try that, so here we go! I baked my first vegan cake and I am quite impressed with what we can do without milk, eggs and butter. I was a bit worried to do the sponge biscuit without eggs, but the combination of soda bicarbonate and vinegar worked perfectly! amazing! you just have to be quick and run to put everything in the oven :) I am quite pleased nobody sees me when I am cooking and running at the same time...

Source

For the Sponge:

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 tbsp vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.
3. Mix together the wet ingredients, except the vinegar and mix into the dry.
4. Stir in the vinegar, pour into the tray and put into the oven as quickly as possible.
5. Bake for 25 minutes.
6. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, use the parchment paper to roll the sponge up. Set it to one side until it has cooled down completely. Don't stress over any cracks.

For the Frosting:

• 1/4 cup shortening (known as cookeen or trex in the UK)
• 1/4 cup soy butter
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 1/2 cups icing sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp soy milk.

1. Mix it all together until you have a thick and creamy frosting. Set aside until the cake is ready.

For the chocolate topping:

• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 8 ounces dark chocolate
• 4 tbsp maple syrup

1. Heat the soy milk in a pan until its nearly boiling.
2. Take off the heat, add the chocolate and maple syrup and stir until dissolved.
3. Set aside until cool and really thick.

To assemble the rest of the cake:

• When cool, unroll the cake carefully and evenly slap the icing all over it.
• Roll the cake off the parchment and onto a plate before covering with the chocolate topping. If there's any cracks you can just fill them all with icing.
• Cover with decorations if you're feeling fancy and serve!

Around the house, today.

Getting up early with B. Answering emails, almost... Going food shopping before it's getting too busy. Still missing some stuff. Having lunch, pasta with lemon and parsley. Making cards and sending off more orders. Trying/planning a few ideas for next year ;) Baking bread again, because it was too good. Going to do the ironing now . I liked my day ... only the last bit, not really...

And  if you're wondering which advert that song in yesterday's post was for, then I tell you it's Xmas! Here is the answer, with the making of the advert on top of that - well, just the icing on the cake :)