In My Kitchen: November 2024

I was in intensive study mode for all of October while all of us took turns getting sick - such is la vie collective! Very little cooking and baking this month, as I have been extremely fortunate to have my dad visiting France to help look after G and doing all the shopping / cooking. So here are a few glimpses from my October...  

I'm still baking my sourdough, now two on the weekend to last for the whole week. I give half to my dad, half goes straight in the freezer and the rest we eat for a few days.

Autumn is here and many bakeries are bringing out their seasonal treats. This was from the bakery downstairs where we usually go to bread. Biscuit base, vanilla creme topped with caramelised apples. Simple but delicious!  

On Sundays I have been making crêpes for G and he loves them. I use a recipe given to me by a French mum and it works super super well, I think the key is the blob of butter you put into the crêpe pan! 

Some handmade udon S got for me from the fancy Japanese shop. The texture of the udon was incredible. Here we had it just with some vegetables and edamame for a quick miso udon lunch. Sometimes the simple things in life are the best. 

I have been trying out so many mug cakes because I need calories to study, right? I love burying a blob of peanut butter in it to increase my enjoyment.

All right, not technically in my kitchen, but this was an excellent lunch we had at the Colombian El Pueblito. Funnily enough, living in France and surrounded by French food, sometimes I crave something completely different. This was their vegetarian option with beans that tasted just like my time travelling in Central America.  

A wonderful galette lunch we had all together, mine was mushroom, spinach, cheese and toasted almonds. 

An orange cake complete with bits of candied peel, brought to us by S' aunt who visited us in Paris.

 

We picked up these excellent low GI sweet treats (my dad has diabetes) from the patisserie Oh oui! They had an impressive selection. Here we had the flan and the truffle chocolate hazelnut slice. 

A special treat from the fancy Pierre Hermé entitled "Infinite pistachio". They opened a new café just near us and we were there with our German friend (she lives in Poland but is moving to the UK) who was passing through Paris.   

I never go to McDonald's, but I was enticed by these McPlant nuggets. The inside actually tastes like a piece of tofu and they were surprisingly more-ish, I would totally eat them again! It was my first time in McDo in France and I was amused one could choose a sauce called "Chinese sauce" which has apricot jam as the first ingredient! 

In October I also spent two weeks at Hôpital Lariboisière in the north of Paris as an observer in the ICU. It was quite an interesting insight into French workplace culture! There was a lot of time spent drinking coffee and smoking.  

Onto the curveballs.. if you will allow me two, since one of them is vaguely food related!

I love love love this place in Paris - the garden of Albert Kahn. You can read more about his story here. There's something about the place that speaks to me, it's just so peaceful and tranquil on a weekday. Here is one of the gardens, the Japanese garden. It's incredible that in the 19th century, he actually had several Japanese houses dismantled, and brought to Paris and reconstructed here. I remember coming here in this season last year when I was pregnant, and I went again on a sunny day to enjoy the last warm days of autumn. 

Here is my little monster with one of my loaves! He loved patting it through the clingwrap. 

That's it for me this month, the exam is just one week away and I can't wait for all the cooking and baking and eating I will do afterwards. Sharing this with Sherry, who hosts the monthly IMK series. Have a great month everyone!