Interesting old tiles and I love that roofline!
Photo du Jour - 1€
Our food budget would be almost nothing if all we ate were tomatoes and radishes!
The local wine is still cheap, so we can't complain too much. Only 1,30€ a liter, which is cheaper than diesel fuel now. Too bad our cars can't run on wine.
Summer's Final Curtain Call
My summer season as a sous-chef ends tonight. The feeling is bittersweet...
Peace and Quiet
La Fête du Fromage - January Round Up
This month offered a fantastic mélange of cheeses for la Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting Event. A huge merci to all of you who joined in!
Poor Nathalie had to forgo cheese during the entire month of December due to a diet her husband was on (which she said almost led to divorce). She's joined us again this month with this scrumptious Caprino di Fattoria, a fresh, Italian goat's cheese that she credits with saving her marriage! Have a look at her blog, Spaced Out Rambling for a few more mouth watering photos of this creamy, tangy little cheese.
Welcome back Nathalie!
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La Couronne Lochoise, a chèvre from the Loire, is this month's entry from la petitie parisienne Camille of Croque-Camille. She chose this particular cheese at her local Fromagerie because she liked its doughnut shape, which she later learned represented a crown, not a doughnut! Camille describes this cheese as "smooth and buttery" on the inside and "sharp" and "zippy" on the outside. I concur.
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New to la Fête du Fromage is Susan of Savoring Time in the Kitchen. She tasted a wedge of Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Wisconsin which she describes as a "combination of an aged white cheddar and a fine French Gruyère." Sounds wonderful! And don't those spicy chili crackers look delicious?
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Shira of Petit Pois started the new year off in the right direction with a resolution to taste more cheese. I love that! Almost immediately however, she found herself being lured back to one of her favorite French cheeses, Fourme d'Ambert. Its flavor, "round and nutty...neither insipid nor one-dimensional" and its reasonable price were too enticing to pass up.
"Resolution be damned," she says. And I agree. She plans on trying some new cheeses this year, but Fourme d'Ambert will always be on her short list!
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A trio of Normandy's best known cheeses were written up by Maggie of Normandy Life. Pont l'Evêque, Camembert and Livarot are three French cheeses that she says make up the perfect Normandy cheese board. I have to agree! I also like Maggie's suggestion of tasting them with a glass of Calvados, the famous apple brandy from the region.
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That's a wrap! Thanks for making January's round up a great one!
The next Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting will take place in March as I'll be in New Orleans joining in the Mardi Gras festivities in February.
Please have your entries to me by March 13. The entire round-up will be posted on March 15.
There is an amazing world of cheese out there to discover and there are many small farmers and artisan cheese makers who appreciate our support. I look forward to reading about your tastings in March!
Tell us why you chose this particular cheese. Tell us how it tasted. Tell us about its texture and aroma. Did you eat it on its own? Or with something? Did you drink anything special with your cheese? Would you recommend it or not? Is there something unusual or interesting about it?
Poor Nathalie had to forgo cheese during the entire month of December due to a diet her husband was on (which she said almost led to divorce). She's joined us again this month with this scrumptious Caprino di Fattoria, a fresh, Italian goat's cheese that she credits with saving her marriage! Have a look at her blog, Spaced Out Rambling for a few more mouth watering photos of this creamy, tangy little cheese.
Welcome back Nathalie!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
La Couronne Lochoise, a chèvre from the Loire, is this month's entry from la petitie parisienne Camille of Croque-Camille. She chose this particular cheese at her local Fromagerie because she liked its doughnut shape, which she later learned represented a crown, not a doughnut! Camille describes this cheese as "smooth and buttery" on the inside and "sharp" and "zippy" on the outside. I concur.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New to la Fête du Fromage is Susan of Savoring Time in the Kitchen. She tasted a wedge of Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Wisconsin which she describes as a "combination of an aged white cheddar and a fine French Gruyère." Sounds wonderful! And don't those spicy chili crackers look delicious?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shira of Petit Pois started the new year off in the right direction with a resolution to taste more cheese. I love that! Almost immediately however, she found herself being lured back to one of her favorite French cheeses, Fourme d'Ambert. Its flavor, "round and nutty...neither insipid nor one-dimensional" and its reasonable price were too enticing to pass up.
"Resolution be damned," she says. And I agree. She plans on trying some new cheeses this year, but Fourme d'Ambert will always be on her short list!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My entry of this month's Fête is Etorki, an unassuming ewe's milk cheese from the Basque region of southwest France. It is velvety and rich with hazelnut and caramel-like flavors that are a true delight!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's a wrap! Thanks for making January's round up a great one!
The next Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting will take place in March as I'll be in New Orleans joining in the Mardi Gras festivities in February.
Please have your entries to me by March 13. The entire round-up will be posted on March 15.
There is an amazing world of cheese out there to discover and there are many small farmers and artisan cheese makers who appreciate our support. I look forward to reading about your tastings in March!
Tell us why you chose this particular cheese. Tell us how it tasted. Tell us about its texture and aroma. Did you eat it on its own? Or with something? Did you drink anything special with your cheese? Would you recommend it or not? Is there something unusual or interesting about it?
- Photos are wonderful, but not necessary
- Entries must contain the words La Fête du Fromage and contain a link to Chez Loulou
- Posts should be written specifically for La Fête du Fromage and not entered in any other food blog event
- Please send the link to your post to louloufrance (at) gmail (dot) com with the words Fête du Fromage in the subject line
Blog Notes and Links
My guest post for Andi's French Friday series on her blog, Misadventures With Andi, was posted the other day: Beyond Paris: My South of France.
A huge merci to Andi for including me in the series!
If you are a cheese lover or a francophile and have the photos to prove it, then please come and join one or more of the Flickr groups that I administer.
French Cheese
La Fête du Fromage
French Markets
French Windows
Colors of the Languedoc - of which I am the only member! How sad is that?
Minervois
I still sometimes get questions about how many French cheeses I've tasted for La Fête du Fromage. I've put a link to the entire list - all 177 and counting - under the "Pages" category.
Our house is still available if you're looking for a place in the south of France, and I've added another house for sale to the sidebar. Sadly our friends are moving away and need to sell their charming home with a garden and terrace in Saint-Thibéry, located about 15 minutes from the beaches near Cap d'Agde.
If you've ever asked yourself (or someone already living in France - you wouldn't believe how many emails I get on this subject) the question, Should I Move to France?, then David Lebovitz's post might help you come up with a definitive answer.
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Brunch at Fig in Santa Monica
Had received an email from daughter Celine, who lives in Amsterdam, telling me she had prepared a sumptuous brunch with hash browns, pancakes, and more! So when I walked into FIG, in Santa Monica, to meet friends fro brunch, I knew exactly what I was going to order!
The restaurant, which has excellent reviews in the LA press and travel forums, is in the Miramar Hotel (the exact address is 101 Wilshire) and it is worth a visit for any meal you may want to have!
The setting is casual, and there are big sliding doors that open over the hotel swimming pool, adding a light note to the atmosphere. 
The breakfast menu is tempting with a choice of set breakfast, bakery items, and more. We went straight to the "specialities" section. My friends ordered Hash browns, and "Pain perdu", and I ordered .. well, you know, pancakes. 
When the hash browns arrived I almost regretted my choice! Small potatoes with theirs skins, mushrooms, tomatoes, diced chorizo, all sauteed, and two poached eggs on top! Oh, my, breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at once!
My pancakes came with a coulis of fruit, sliced almonds, and maple syrup. They were perfect, a little bit moist and golden on both sides. There were four of them and I could not finish them!
Pain Perdu means "lost bread" in French, and was made using old dry bread, and passing it in a beaten egg. The American version is called "French Toast" and I have seen it made with white sliced bread. Pain perdu has been revisited, and is now made with a slice of brioche, which was the option taken by Fig. The presentation was beautiful, with red and blue berries and maple syrup on the side.
As you can see, the three of us were very very happy!
Traditional Pain perdu recipe
Ingredients
Bread left overs cut in thick 1/2 inch slices
2 cups of whole milk
1 vanilla bean cut in two alongside
1/2 cup sugar + 1 tsp
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Steps
Boil the milk with the sugar and the vanilla bean. Set aside until it is cool.
Add the dry bread and let soak 4 or 5 minutes, remove and drain.
Heat the butter in a pan.
Beat the eggs with 1 tsp of sugar
One by one, put the soften bread slices in the beaten egg and place carefully in the pan with the butter. Leave until golden, then turn and let cook on the other side.
Traditionally pain perdu was served plain or with powdered sugar.
The restaurant, which has excellent reviews in the LA press and travel forums, is in the Miramar Hotel (the exact address is 101 Wilshire) and it is worth a visit for any meal you may want to have!The setting is casual, and there are big sliding doors that open over the hotel swimming pool, adding a light note to the atmosphere. The breakfast menu is tempting with a choice of set breakfast, bakery items, and more. We went straight to the "specialities" section. My friends ordered Hash browns, and "Pain perdu", and I ordered .. well, you know, pancakes. 
When the hash browns arrived I almost regretted my choice! Small potatoes with theirs skins, mushrooms, tomatoes, diced chorizo, all sauteed, and two poached eggs on top! Oh, my, breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at once!
My pancakes came with a coulis of fruit, sliced almonds, and maple syrup. They were perfect, a little bit moist and golden on both sides. There were four of them and I could not finish them!
Pain Perdu means "lost bread" in French, and was made using old dry bread, and passing it in a beaten egg. The American version is called "French Toast" and I have seen it made with white sliced bread. Pain perdu has been revisited, and is now made with a slice of brioche, which was the option taken by Fig. The presentation was beautiful, with red and blue berries and maple syrup on the side.Traditional Pain perdu recipe
Ingredients
Bread left overs cut in thick 1/2 inch slices
2 cups of whole milk
1 vanilla bean cut in two alongside
1/2 cup sugar + 1 tsp
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Steps
Boil the milk with the sugar and the vanilla bean. Set aside until it is cool.
Add the dry bread and let soak 4 or 5 minutes, remove and drain.
Heat the butter in a pan.
Beat the eggs with 1 tsp of sugar
One by one, put the soften bread slices in the beaten egg and place carefully in the pan with the butter. Leave until golden, then turn and let cook on the other side.
Traditionally pain perdu was served plain or with powdered sugar.
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