Antique French cutlery

We all enjoy laying a table for a holiday meal.  The time of year when our table settings, be they for four or for twenty four, may legitimately sparkle a little more than usual.

I'm lucky enough to have found some beautiful antique cutlery, ideal for adding a little French zazz to your festive table.  Here are a couple of each.  These knives, forks and spoons are so well balanced, it's a pleasure to hold them.

Besides the beautiful horn handled knives, in sets of six and sets of twelve, I also have twelve stunning silver plate forks and spoons, made by the famous French coutelier Christofle.  Although these are at least 70 years old I believe they have never served, there isn't the slightest sign of wear, the tiniest scratch.

Serving cutlery tends to be slightly more showy and adds an elegant touch to  carving a turkey, or serving a salad.

this stunning set of 100 year old  four servers include a pair of horn and silver salad servers, and a 

beautiful carving knife and fork, complete with a finger guard on the fork.

this pretty boxed set of silver plated servers would probably have been 

designed for serving small cakes and petits fours

this delicately patterned gilt and silver spoon is designed for serving strawberries.

Tomorrow I plan to start telling you how we decorate for Christmas.
In the meantime, what do you think of these snowflakes falling on my blog ?
Kitsch, pretty, annoying, dreamy?

French Essence - lucky me!

Lucky me!  Christmas came early to Normandy this morning!  I received the beautiful
new book by Vicki Archer 'French Essence' - She even signed it for me.

The pictures are totally stunning especially of her wonderful home near

St Remy- this would make such a great Christmas gift for anyone who
loves France  (that's a subtle hint to any husbands reading!)

Sorry but I can't stay now - I've got to go back and read some more!

Thank you Vicki!!!

PS  Thank you to my lovely readers for your nice words about my new header picture - it snowed a little in the night and the photos were all taken on the school run this morning!

un weekend à la campagne

Lazy winter weekend, friends from afar, winter walk beside the river, delicious dinner, and ..... a Christmas fair in a château.

beige and grey chic in Paris

How comfortable this Paris flat looks,  Greys, beiges,

creams, herringbone wooden floor, high ceilings,

lots of space.  Practically perfect?!

photos thanks to le journal de la maison

la premiere neige

Yesterday we had our first dusting of snow.
Pretty?  - Yes,
Cold?  - No, freezing!
Welcome?   -  Well I'm afraid that when you have horses, the cold weather hangs heavy because there's so much more work needed to keep them fit and happy.

Our neighbour races trotters for fun and  this morning my path crossed that of his jockeys, out exercising the horses ..... suddenly winter didn't look so bad!

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These long thin pictures look better if you click on them!

du bon lait pur

Gone are the days when milk in France was delivered or sold in these lovely heavy milk bottles.  I'm so pleased to have found a few for my brocante.

Love the thick glass, the pretty writing and the reflection of sunlight through the bottle.  Up for sale today, but I don't have that  many!  First come , first served!

ce mercredi je mange .... un fondant au chocolat

The most delicious, melt-in-your mouth dessert you will ever have eaten.  Easy as
pie to make, guaranteed to be devoured in minutes by children and adults alike.

Le Fondant au chocolat - even the list of ingredients is simple

7 ounces or 200grams of: 

-  butter

-  sugar and 

-  good quality dark chocolate

4 eggs

In a pan melt together chocolate, butter and sugar.

Beat up the eggs in a separate bowl then whisk into the chocolate mix.

 Butter and line a tart mould.

Pour in the mix and pop into the oven at 180 celsius for about 25 minutes.

 

 When only just cooked, leave to cool for a while then pop into the fridge before serving.

 Slide out of the mould onto a flat plate and cut into thin slices.  Serve with vanilla custard or "nature".

Bon appetit

In France we have no turkey day! - A poem for Thanksgiving

You already knew I can't draw, you're about to discover I can't write poetry.  A yearning to have a celebration and forget that winter is arriving. My ode to thanksgiving, or a holiday I can't join in with!

I wish we had a turkey day

to bring some festive cheer

I wish we had good reason

to bring our loved ones near

I wish we could shut out the cold

and warm our house right up

with friends, with kin, with family

invited in to sup

I want to dress my table

I want to light warm fires

I want to fill the house 

with smells of roast meats, sweets and wines

I want to have soft music

I want to offer thanks

for our rich and happy living

with oh!  such trivial wants

But traditions aren't invented

they come down through the times

they're in our blood. they can't be bought

like some expensive wine,

so I'm glad for friends so happy

to celebrate Thanksgiving,

and I'll wait my turn till Christmas

to light my Yuletide pudding!

Un très joyeux Thanksgiving à toutes mes amies!

photo sia

a good book, a grey afternoon and a roaring fire

Yesterday evening we had friends to the house for dinner.  Relaxed simple family time.  They brought me a book as a gift and today, being a rainy, cold, grey, november sort of day, I lit a fire , sat on cushions on the floor right here and  read the book.

Have you read this one?  You should. 

I'll let you do your own research about its contents but what I really wanted to share is how much I adore a story that is told through letters.  No narrative text, everything that happens and all the characters are understood through the contents of the letters flying back and forth. Here are a couple of examples that I love, but I'm sure you have more.

 

So to my question ....  I am sort of working on a book idea, can't tell you much more than that for the moment, but I need to explore other examples of narratives written uniquely via letters.  I know that you read a great deal and I'd be really grateful to receive any suggestions.  I promise to reply to all your comments, many many thanks for your help.

Bonne semaine!

invites, tutorial and thank you!

Well your response to my question about my Christmas Brunch invites was fantastic - thank you.!!  Lots of good ideas, and great support.  Most people wanted the tree,  and loads of you wanted bright colour ... well I've gone with the tree but I'm afraid that all my attempts at colour just looked gaudy.

I have no pretensions about any artistic ability, these are really just doodles in paint but I thought you might like to see what I have ended up with, and how I got there.

I decided to go with a grey/lilac card

I brushed this with an almost dry brush of white acrylic paint, then the square 

centre in a deep mixture of black, mauve and pink

 

Using a silver felt pen, I drew my little tree and a rough frame outline

then I went over that with a metallic ink pen, doing both layers is 

worth while for the added depth and texture

With a paintbrush I smeared glitter paste over the bauble

tied my silver lilac cord and added some pink polka dots

then using my metallic ink pen, I wrote the invite on the back 

before popping each one into its envelope.

Voila!  Thank you for joining in.