French Gateau Recipe

Several friends have requested the recipe for the very easy French cake which seems to have become a staple around here! Good just served plain for afternoon tea with a cuppa, or gussied up with whipped or pouring cream for a pretty dessert. Apparently the story behind this gateau style cake is that it's rustled up quickly to serve "pour le gouter" the afternoon snack when the children come home from school at 4 p.m. Dinner is served much later in France so I guess this yummy treat doesn't interfere with the evening meal!

Note the addition of ground almonds - these are used often in European baking and add nice moisture to a cake. I buy the pound bag of Bob's Red Mill Ground Almond Meal/Flour which I find available in most grocery stores in their health/natural foods section. Keep it in a zip bag in the 'frig. I use unsalted butter. Have tried using half Splenda for the sugar, however the cake looks a bit different in color, but tastes fine.

I now use all flexible silicon baking pans (KitchenAid has great ones - often on sale in TJMaxx/Marshalls/Homegoods). Love them for even cooking and easy release - this gateau pops right out on a plate inverted on top - nothing stuck behind in the pan!! Watch the cake carefully toward end of the baking time as it will start to brown quickly - I find 30 mins. is fine with the flexible pan - when I can see it pulling away from the edges. Hope you can click and enlarge recipe and start baking soon.

Enjoy!

I sometimes sprinkle with crushed pistachios or sliced almonds.
One of my favorite toppings for anything with fruit is Mascarpone Cream.

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Have cream, medium bowl and beaters chilled.

Whisk together mascarpone and honey in small bowl.

Whip cream to medium peaks in chilled medium bowl.

Fold mascarpone mixture into whipped cream. Chill until ready to serve.

Makes about 2-1/2 cups.

Back to Reality

Today after dropping my DH at the airport for a business trip to Sacramento (he's actually "actively retired" and back as a consultant!), I desperately needed some "retail therapy" after back-to-back weekends with visiting friends..................loved having you but need to to get back to reality after all that talking, eating, drinking and gallivanting!!

Shopping area near the airport includes local Homegoods store next door to a TJMaxx - here's what I found....in TJM, the "Summer bag" for banging around and travel - genuine Fossil brand at 50% off (you know how we all look for bargains). Love this bag after looking for several weeks for one that met the criteria..............fabric, lightweight, lined in pretty floral cotton, many pockets. and looooooooooong adjustable strap for handheld, shoulder, and across the body when traveling. Too many backpacks being pilfered I hear - and I do love my backpacks for convenience.

The tablecloth is gorgeous for $7. on a clearance shelf! 100% cotton but looks like linen - love the striped border on the damask print. This is for the outdoor dining table on the deck - realized I need a long rectangular cloth which I can cut and velcro to go around the umbrella. Bit embarrassing when I set the new table for company and had to use two cloths!

At Homegoods the blue dishes were irresistible so I bought four for $12. - real Summer theme with starfish, shells etc. and I like them layered on these cream rustic dishes.

See those two tablecloths? Eclectic tablescape!!!!!!!My popular, easy to make, French gateau with fresh juicy pears (you can use apples, apricots etc.). This was quickly scoffed down slathered with whipped cream at afternoon tea in the gazebo. It was amazing to have two sets of dear friends visit for consecutive weekends and have gorgeous weather each time. We certainly enjoyed dining alfresco much of the time - I felt I was back in France or Italy - and of course nothing shabby in that. When enjoying those countries I loved eating and drinking meals under the sun, an umbrella, or a pergola covered with climbing roses and wisteria vines.

Inspiration Friday

I'm trying to keep up but the days are fleeting fast. For inspiration this week I'm sharing some pics of containers around the cottage - starting with this beautiful painting of a French pot. I love how this shot turned out with the writing from the background transferring to the reflection of my kitchen window blinds! Funny how a fluke can really inspire one - I now know I must work more diligently on becoming more creative in my photography efforts.

One of a pair of cast iron urns atop my pine armoire - love the rusty coloring and the shape.
A decorated wood shelf holding one of my decoupaged pots - with writing again, of course! One day I plan to get back to decorating my waiting stack of terra cotta pots.
Bought this pretty rusted iron basket and have never known what to put in it so leave it empty and just enjoy the design and color.
Found this charming beaded bowl last year on a Homegoods clearance shelf - holds different items at different times - decorative balls at Christmas, Easter eggs, fruit, mail, my car keys!! This bowl evokes that Bohemian look I like to mix with cottage items - what my decorating friends call "Elegant Shabby Cottage" - that's an oxymoron.
Hope your holiday weekend is wonderful - stay safe, especially if traveling, don't get burned at the beach and, like it or not, hot Summer weather is here - well in the South it is and we desperately need some rain.

Heavenly Hydrangeas

Some of you say you have not heard about the Endless Summer Hydrangeas so am sharing a little information on these wonderful plants. I've usually had good luck with all my Hydrangeas, my long time favorite being the Nikko Blue mophead. Then last year I read about these new plants and was able to find them locally and planted five around the garden. These two in the front bed by my porch are really prolific - blooming, as advertised, all Summer long and well into the Fall. I cut these back to about 18" in early Spring, only to have the lovely new growth zapped by the big Easter freeze. I was worried they would not do well this Summer however as you can see from these pics taken today, they are healthy and loaded with pale green blooms which are starting to turn blue in my acidic soil.
The new Blushing Bride is also available now - saw dozens in assorted size pots at my local Home Depot last week. I must find a spot for one of these which are very pretty and cottagey looking !


I really love Hydrangeas - they make a statement in the garden, are long lived and don't seem to suffer from any pest problems. They do of course love plenty of water during the hot Summertime. The flowers are beautiful in the house in that lovely china vase we all found at the thrift shop! The muted colors of the dried blooms are decorative throughout the Winter months.

Corners in my Cottage

I have been so busy this week and will continue to be until after Memorial Day. More friends arriving this weekend so am changing linens, cleaning around the house, and baking again! Took a little de-stressing time to wander around the cottage with my camera ~ and a cup of Earl Grey ~ and snap shots of things I thought special - such as corners!

Life is full of corners and we all hope we turn the right ones...................who knows what's around the next corner?

This "faux Gucci" watch was one of the many gifts my friend brought me from her recent trip to China - just hope it keeps ticking as it's really nice!Garden also keeping me hopping as we've had no rain and it's getting hotter by the day - will be in the 90's for the weekend. Spending too much time dragging the hoses to water. The veggies are starting to put on some growth - fertilized today and tomorrow morning hope to be out there early spreading mulch around the beds to help conserve some moisture.

Told you - a garden is a joy and a job for ever!

Knew you were coming so I baked a cake!

We had so much fun over the weekend and the fabulous weather made being outdoors just perfect. Seeing my long time best friend who's also from England and lives in California, is always wonderful - we catch up somewhere across this vast country at least once a year - and have a ball. We even let our dear hubbies join in the merriment.

Homemade carrot cake was demolished at teatime in the gazebo - birdwatching and taking photos included.

Some new containers for the deck were hastily planted ready for outdoor dining - I love Hydrangeas and have several in the garden - thought I'd try a new Endless Summer (flowers will be blue eventually) as they bloom continuously on old and new wood. The pot was large enough to mix in some Wave Petunias and variegated Ivy.
This iron basket contains a Coleus, purple Wave Petunias and a green something or other - forget name but it's pretty and will trail!
For our our table I found these gorgeous Sunflowers on sale at a local grocery store last Thursday - they are beautiful, still fresh and perky today. Later I set the table with my Italian hand painted ceramic dishes so it was very colorful and attractive for lunch.
On Sunday afternoon we spent time downtown at the annual Artsplosure festival. Booths displayed a myriad of handmade items from jewelery to these beautiful vintage looking birdfeeders..........and I couldn't resist one for my garden. The dish is an upturned old silverplated lid from a serving bowl. This local artist threads vintage silver lids, bowls, gravy boats (even tea and coffee pots to hold flowers) with heavy copper wire which she curls and attaches copper leaves to. There are small drainage holes drilled in the bottom. This morning on looking out the window I was greeted by a tiny Chipmunk sitting in the lid munching birdseed, followed by a Carolina Wren and a Nuthatch who scattered when the first of many squirrels appeared. This is going to be a popular hangout I can see!

Have to feed our feathered....and furry....friends!

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Bringing the Garden Inside

I probably won't have time to do the usual Inspiration Friday this week as I'll be gallivanting with my friends from San Francisco. So here are a few pretty "outside in" shots for Thursday. I love doing this kind of decorating, bringing garden items into the house - mine include old iron urns, stone balls, bits of old porch posts with peeling paint, bird houses, and of course my blue shutters and lots of fresh flowers. I've recently seen some of these old vintage green glass jars - with the tin lids - think I may get a few in different sizes.

Urn with woven balls on my dining room tableA favorite bird house - too tall for a shelf so sits on the floor.These iron urns are a perfect fit on the pine armoire - dried hydrangeas from last year's garden. I wallpapered the interior of the armoire some years ago. Postcards on door are watercolors of coastal scenes in Devon, England, my home - I enjoy glancing at them several times a day!
By next Monday I will be looking for a comfy chair like this to take a little break perhaps. Not for long though as we have more friends coming to stay for Memorial Day weekend!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.