No title available
Keni
Misplaced Lens Cap
tannertan36
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
NASA
Stranger Things
No title available
titsay
todays bird
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
YOU ARE THE REASON
tumblr dot com
d e v o n
Not today Justin
No title available
will byers stan first human second
dirt enthusiast
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United Kingdom
seen from South Korea
seen from United States
seen from Maldives
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Canada
seen from Singapore
seen from Poland
seen from China
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Maldives
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
@sojournertours
From Surviving to Thriving: The True Meaning of Flourishing
What Does It Mean to Flourish? How could I have been so wrong? I grew up thinking flourishing meant accomplishing the American Dream: the prestigious career, the family with 2.5 kids and a dog, the house with a white picket fence and 2 cars, plus vacations in the sun… Did you ever think: If I could just move to the right place, fall in love with the right person, have the right car and house,…
What is a Sojourner?
Sojourner Tours Sojourn: a superior form of travel for those who want to get away from tourist crowds and enjoy a more authentic experience abroad. Sojourners take up temporary residence in the places they visit. They are adventurous people who get off the beaten path to explore a country’s best kept secrets. Sojourners interact with locals, savor regional delicacies, immerse themselves in a new…
View On WordPress
Pâte à choux (Cream Puff Pastry)
Pâte à choux (Cream Puff Pastry)
pâte à choux (with water or milk?) Cream puff pastry is one of my favorite recipes. It is very popular in Francis home region on the French-Swiss border where all his family members seem to have their own variation on cheese puffs. So, as a new member of the family, I was inducted with lessons in everyone’s secret technique (much like with the classic French salad dressing recipe I shared…
View On WordPress
What's the deal with cabbages? All about France's favorite vegetable
What’s the deal with cabbages? All about France’s favorite vegetable
by Ava Dale Taken by user Subhrajyoti07. Supplied by Wikimedia Commons according to Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 As one of the great languages of love in the world, you’re probably already familiar with a plethora of French terms of endearment, like mon amour, “My love”… ma cherie “My dear”… or perhaps even mon petit chou “My little cabbage” … Wait, what? Yep, that’s right.…
View On WordPress
Urban Ruins: Stories from an explorer of modern-day France
Urban Ruins: Stories from an explorer of modern-day France
by Ava Dale Taken by Krzysztof Golik on 24 April 2017. Supplied by Wikimedia Commons according to Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Picture a ruin— what are the first images that come to your mind? It’s pretty likely that you pictured ancient, dusty settlements from civilizations long ago. Which is valid! But for me, ruins are just so much more than that. Ruins are abandoned movie…
View On WordPress
Pumpkin pie is not French. Not only is it not French, but the idea of making a dessert out of this vegetable seems to be a shocker… until they try this version.
What is so special about this recipe is that the low ratio of filling to crust (2:1) highlights the crust. As a result, the crust is elevated to almost a shortbread cookie with a subtle anise flavor that compliments the spices in the filling. Because there is so little filling, there is a focus on quality and thus it needs to be made from fresh homemade pumpkin puree. It is worth the extra time and effort. It reminds me of my grandmother because I use my great-grandmother’s tarte tin.
*Start 1 day ahead.
FILLING INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 cup pumpkin, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 3/4 tsp grated nutmeg, a pinch of ground cloves, 1/4 tsp salt, 3 eggs, 11/3 cup cream CRUST DOUGH INGREDIENTS: 1 1/3 cup flour, 2 TBS sugar, 1TBS anise seeds, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 stick of unsalted butter, 1 egg yolk, 1 1/2 TBS-2TBS water TOPPING INGREDIENTS: 1 pint whipping cream, 1 scant TBS sugar, 2-4 drops of vanilla
*STEP ONE: MAKE THE PUREE
Bake a pie pumpkin. (Cut in half, seed and place cut-side down in baking dish with about 1 inch of water.)
Scoop out the pumpkin and drain any excess liquid (I like to do this a day ahead. When I take it out of the fridge the next day the water has separated itself and I can easily just pour it off).
Puree in a food processor.
*STEP TWO: MAKE THE CRUST (Makes 1 crust)
Mix all the dry ingredients
Cut the butter and use your fingers tips to smear and pinch the butter together with the dry ingredients. Try to work the dough the bare minimum so that it will be tender and flaky. Stop just when you get a sort of large wet sand consistency and welcome larger baby pea sized pebbles of butter.
Mix the eggs and 1 1/2 TBS water together. Add to the butter-flour mixture. Stir with a fork until incorporated.
Squeeze the dough to see if it holds together. If not, stir in the last 1/2 TBS of water.
Smear the dough together (again, working it a minimum) and gather it together in a ball.
Refrigerate (minimum 1 hour, maximum 2 days)
STEP THREE: MAKE THE FILLING
Be sure to drain or press out all excess water from the pumpkin puree.
Mix all the ingredients together and blend until smooth.
STEP FOUR: BLIND-BAKE THE CRUST
Preheat the oven to 375 F
Roll out the dough and place in low sided tart tin. Prick the bottom to let hot air escape so it won’t bubble. Fill with pie weights (or a piece of aluminum foil and rice)
Bake for about 15 minutes until the dough appears set and the crust edge is light brown.
STEP FIVE:
Add the filling to the crust. Bake about 40-45 minutes (until a knife or toothpick can be inserted and removed clean).
STEP SIX:
In a food processor, whip together the cream, sugar and vanilla to make whipped cream.
Serve slices of cooled tart with a dollop of fresh whipped cream.
Anise-seed Crust Pumpkin Tarte Recipe Pumpkin pie is not French. Not only is it not French, but the idea of making a dessert out of this vegetable seems to be a shocker...
Caramel au beurre salé (French Salted Butter Caramels)
Caramel au beurre salé (French Salted Butter Caramels)
Every year a box would arrive at Christmas time from my great aunt Barbara… we all knew that among the contents there would be her famous salted butter caramels. Every year my aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents would gather around to open the box… when the bag of caramels came out it would get passed around the circle and we could each take exactly one. Once the bag made it around the…
View On WordPress
Pâtes de coings (Quince squares): The Perfect Addition to Your Cheese Board
Quince fruit jelly squares remind me of late night dinners at cousin Thierry’s house on the French-Swiss Borderland. I happened upon quince in the store a few days ago and made the simple recipe with my ten year old son for the holidays!
This kind of gummy fruit is fabulous with cheese. It can be made from almost any kind of fruit but quince is my favorite because it is naturally rich in pectin…
View On WordPress
Francis Mathieu Explains the Origins of the English Language
Francis Mathieu Explains the Origins of the English Language
Sojourner Tours Guest: I’ve noticed that a lot of French words are the same as in English, like the word “table”, for example, it’s exactly the same in both languages. It’s funny to me because I think of English as more of a Germanic type of language, whereas French is a romance language. You teach French, what do you make of that?
Francis Mathieu: It’s actually a great story that few native…
View On WordPress
Francis Mathieu Explains: the History of the Restaurant
Francis Mathieu Explains: the History of the Restaurant
Sojourner Tours Guest: I’ve noticed that a lot of French words are the same as in English, which helps! Take the word “restaurant”, for example, it’s exactly the same in both languages.
Francis Mathieu: That’s right! Half of the English vocabulary actually comes from medieval French, courtesy of good old William the Conqueror. But the word “restaurant” is a more recent borrowing, which was first…
View On WordPress
Francis Mathieu Explains: the Michelin Star System
Francis Mathieu Explains: the Michelin Star System
Sojourner Tours Guest: It’s funny, the Michelin name does ring a bell to me, but more as a car tire company than a restaurant system. It can’t all be the same thing, can it?
Francis Mathieu: Well, believe it or not, it is! This top restaurant rating system was created and is still run by the French Michelin tire company.
Sojourner Tours Guest: What? That’s crazy! How are the two related at all?
F…
View On WordPress
Where to Shop for Affordable & Stylish Men’s clothes in France.
Where to Shop for Affordable & Stylish Men’s clothes in France.
Would you like to bring back from France a great souvenir, besides that miniature Eiffel tower and tasty bottle of wine? Would you like to dress and look more European? Do you like French fashion? Well how about treating yourself or a male relative or friend to some French clothes?
You’ll be shocked by where I shop…
While France still has a myriad of independently owned clothes boutiques, they…
View On WordPress
Twisted Love: Three of my Favorite French Classics
The French literary tradition is long-established, internationally renowned and prolific. Love has always been a key topic of the French literary tradition and each successive era has approached love from its own perspective. Here is a short presentation of three famous and poignant literary classics on love from three different centuries that have captured my imagination.
Dangerous Liaisons:…
View On WordPress
Our Top THREE Favorite Places for Kissing in Paris, France & their Austin Texas counterparts!
When it comes to choosing a romantic place for a lover’s tryst in Paris in the summer we have no trouble, but when cupid comes around each year for his annual St. Valentine’s Day visit, we are in Austin Texas where it takes a little more effort to find those perfect French-style romance spots. This year I started planning early because I’m the one taking Francis out for Valentine’s Day, so I can…
View On WordPress
“The Most Beautiful Villages of France” Explained (Les Plus Beaux Villages de France)
The French treasure their heritage: Discover the "Most Beautiful Villages of France" concept.
Definition: This official title distinguishes French villages that boast outstanding beauty and historical heritage. As of 2017, out of a whopping 32 thousand small villages that dot the countryside all over France, a mere 156 of them have been awarded the prestigious and highly selective title of “Most Beautiful Villages of France” or in French “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”.
Title Criteria:
View On WordPress
French Romantic Style: Rococo
Rococo is a French aesthetic movement focusing on romance that reigned supreme in the decades of the mid-18th century. After the endless 72-year iron fist reign of Sun King Louis XIV, French elites were craving more fun and relaxed ways. The new boisterous style promptly took over the literature, music, and especially the decorative arts and paintings to become one of the signatures of that…
View On WordPress
Guessing Game: Best Kept Secrets of Paris
Guessing Game: Best Kept Secrets of Paris
Can you guess where in Paris this picture was taken? HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW PARIS? THE CITY IS FULL OF SURPRISING PLACES! Over the years I’ve become quite intimate with the back streets, local hang-outs and unexpected corners of the city… the better I get to know Paris, the more I love it. I share my favorite spots with my guests on our Best Kept Secrets and Off-the-Beaten-Path sojourns… and, I…
View On WordPress