#coconut coated chocolate and rum What more could you want

[shopcat]

only been up for 3 hours it's 6am and already had like 5 rum balls IDGAF!!!!!

[galaxy-holland-blog]

You and I against the world. -2

pairing: Tom Holland x OC

AU: single dad!

summary: “I love you to infinity and beyond, no matter what, above all else”

warnings: teenage pregnancy, abortion, adoption, bad language, a truckload of fluff.

part 1

The pair got in to their seats and Tom looked across to his daughter. “Alright?” He asked, reaching over and tucking some hair behind her ear. She shook her head and began to cry once more. “No! I can’t do this, dad. I can’t do this” he leaned over to her seat and pulled her into his arms. “can’t do what?” He whispered, stroking her hair and kissing her head. “Any of it. I can’t have a baby, I can’t give up a baby...I just want it all to go away” she cried. 

“Sweet pea, you can make it stop. You have that choice, and nobody can take it away from you, but you have to say the words. No one is going to decide for you.” 

she whimpered into her fathers chest. “Daddy?” 

“Yes princess?” “Does it hurt them?” “What, princess?” “Will it hurt the baby, if I- if I...you know., like...get rid of it?” “No, darling. It won’t”

 “would it make me a bad person?” She squeaked, not even wanting to think about doing this.

 “Of course not, love.” She pulled away from her dad and nodded slowly. “Is that what you want to do?” He asked.

 “I’m not sure. I need to sleep on it” she replied. “Ok, little one. let me know if you’ve made a decision, yeah?” she nodded slowly, clearing her throat. “and I’ll get everything sorted out” Her father added, while she kept nodding. “Tell you what, let’s go and get ice cream and forget about all this, just for five minutes, eh?” He wiped the tears from her face, and gave a loving smile. She sniffed and nodded, rubbing her nose with her sleeve. “What do you think you’re gonna get?” Tom asked his daughter, in the queue for ice cream. There were dozens of flavors, all brightly colored, speckled with chocolate chips or pieces of fruit. Tom had his eye on the mango and coconut. “I think this one, with chocolate sauce” she said with a smile, pointing to the vanilla ice cream with smarties in it.

 “Ooh that looks nice. I think I’m gonna go for the mango one. Or maybe rum and raisin....Wait I can’t decide!” Tom gasped and bit his lip with mock dramatics. His daughters soft giggle rang through his ears and made his heart flutter. His sweet little girl who was his reason for living. His rock and his savior. He couldn’t quite believe that his baby was facing the same problems her mother had, seventeen years ago. 

He remembered the tears and the fighting. He didn’t want it to be like that for her. He swore, on the day she was born, that she would always be loved, protected and supported, unconditionally. He’d be damned if that was a promise he couldn’t keep.

 “Why are you staring at me?”

 She asked with a nervous chuckle. Tom smiled. “I just can’t believe I made something so perfect” he beamed and his daughter flushed. “I’m not perfect, dad” she mumbled, rolling her eyes. He kept smiling.

 “You are. You are so perfect, my darling.” Tom chuckled slightly as he spoke. “Dad! Stop!” She whined with embarrassment. Hiding her face again and shying away. “Why? I want to remind my beautiful girl that she is the most amazing human being on the planet” Tom grinned from ear to ear watching the smile creep on to his daughters face. 

“I’m so lucky to have you. you turned my life around, you know that?” 

“Dad! you’re embarrassing me” she whined, dragging her feet along the floor as they moved forward in the queue.

“Sorry. I love you, a lot, is all” He chuckled faintly and wrapped an arm around his daughters shoulders.

“I know, dad. I love you too.”

Mango ice cream dripped down Tom’s hand as it started to melt. he licked the stickiness off to deter the wasps from descending on to the small family. the sea breeze whipped through their hair as they both stared at the sea crashing onto the rocks a few meters away.

“when you were little, me and Nana used to bring you here. you would insist on strawberry ice cream, every time. but most of the time I’d end up giving you whatever I had, only for you to smear half on your face, and then fall asleep with it dripping down your clothes.”

the girl smiled, a faint memory of her father peeling off her ruined shirt and carrying her home in a sugar coma, replayed in her mind. “I’ve always been a diva, haven’t I?” she giggled.

“I wouldn’t say diva. spoiled brat, definitely.”

“oi! I am not spoiled!” she gasped in a sarcastic tone and stared, wide eyed, at her father.

“oh you totally are. but you’re my brat, so I’ll spoil you as much as I like” Tom stuck his tongue out at the love of his life, and went back to eating his ice cream. his daughter rolled her eyes and took a big bite out of the dessert.

“I don’t know how you can do that” her father taunted.

“do what?” she teased, knowing exactly what he meant.

“Eat it with your teeth! its freaky. is it not hurting you?”

“Not really” she smirked. Tom shook his head in disbelief 

“you weirdo”

she laughed almost manically and continued to chomp on her ice cream. 

one of the windsurfers caught the teens eye. the way she sped through the water, her board skipping over the waves while the sail flapped in the wind. she could feel her fathers gaze from next to her and chose to ignore it, afraid of what he might say if she acknowledged his questioning eyes. 

That evening, she went to bed as usual, her father following a few hours later.

He tip toed down the hallway, trying not to wake his daughter, or Tessa, who would surely bark like mad if her slumber was disturbed. a strange sound registered with Tom as he walked past the only other occupied bedroom in the house. he took a few steps back, towards the door and he instantly recognized the sniffling and high pitched cry of his little girl. Tom’s paternal instinct took over and he rushed into the room, to see his daughter wrapped up in her duvet and shaking as she sobbed. 

“sweet pea? what’s the matter darling?” he whispered in a soothing tone and crept towards her bed. “J-justin.. tex-texted m-me and-d he...he...knows the g-g-guy that I, I slept with. h-he...he...called me a sl-slut.” 

 “oh love...does he know about the baby?” Tom asked, carefully wrapping his arms around the girl. 

“No...” she squeaked and shook her head. “but he said its over... so I guess it doesn't matter anyway” she turned her head to look at her dad. “he called me”

 Tom furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “who?”

“the father”

“Oh. what did he say?” Tom pulled her closer and she whimpered quietly in his arms.

“he asked if it was true. if I was pregnant. fucking Jessie. she was the only person who knew. she told the guy, Archie. anyway... I said yeah. and that it was his...and he told me he wanted nothing to do with it.”

“sweetheart I’m so sorry”  Tom whispered.

“It’s fine dad. I’m not keeping it anyway” she croaked.

Tom gave a sympathetic smile. “you sure?” he asked. she simply nodded and moved closer to her father. “Ok gorgeous. I’ll get you an appointment in the morning.” he left gentle kisses on her head and shed a few discreet tears for his little girl. 

“Miss Holland?” her name was called in to a waiting room once again and she followed a nurse to a small white room, that smelled of toothpaste. before the nurse shut the door, she turned briefly back to her dad, who was not allowed to accompany her during the procedure. he gave the same short smile he always gave, and mouthed “love you”. she smiled back and trudged in to the room.

“So, miss. this will be very quick and not too painful, and you should feel right as rain by Monday. if you could change into this please”  The over enthusiastic nurse handed her a white hospital gown. “I’ll be back in just a tick” she beamed, freaking the girl out a little. when the door swung shut,  she began undressing and neatly folding the clothes she took off.

in the waiting room, tom sat with his leg bouncing anxiously. he was annoyed that he couldn’t be with his daughter. he felt himself well up as he questioned if she would be in pain, or be scared, with no one there to hold her hand. he mentally cursed the boy who put his baby in this situation. vowing that if he ever had a son, he would teach them to be better.

she sat on the cold leather chair, wearing her white gown, shaking with anxiety and suddenly second guessing every decision that lead her here. there were three doctors in the room, all filling out forms and laying out scary looking instruments. the curtains of the room were still open, and she looked outside.

there was an older man walking his dog, and three boys around her age, sitting on the railings, blasting tinny rap music from their Iphones. in the corner of her eye, she spotted a young couple, pushing a purple pram, with a smiley little girl sitting in it. she smiled to herself, admiring the happiness of the family. 

as one of the fathers adjusted his coat, she noticed a tiny newborn, in a baby carrier. the slightly taller father leant over and kissed the baby's head, before breaking into a run with the pushchair.

“miss? are you ready?” the doctors voice shook her away from her distractions and suddenly filled her heart with regret.

“No....wait...no”

“miss?”

“I changed...I...I changed my mind. I don’t want to... I changed my mind”

“Would you like a few more minutes to think about it?”

“No! I want my dad! I want to go home!” 

the girl grew more panicked by the second and one of the doctors rushed out to retrieve tom.

“that’s ok, you can change your mind, that’s fine”

 the doctor tried to calm her down as Tom raced down the hallway to get to his daughter. 

“angel! are you ok? i’m here, baby, i’m here.” Tom rushed over to the girl and she broke down in his arms. 

“I wanna go home! I want my baby and I wanna go home!” she cried, and Tom held her tighter. 

“shh, darling. it’s alright. you’ve got your baby, sweetheart. we can go home if you want to”

 she wailed again, finally letting all the pressure out. “I wanna keep him! please let me keep him!” she begged her father, grasping at his shirt.

 “of course, sweetheart. you can keep him, love. you can keep him”

The actor and his daughter sat in fluffy pajamas, bingeing friends and eating popcorn. there had been no more discussions since leaving the clinic. he knew the girl needed to calm down before she confirmed her decision.

“Dad?”

“yes, baby?”

“will you teach me?”

“teach you what?”

“how to look after a baby”

“of course I will, princess. we’re gonna get through this. together”

[twistednuns]

December 2018

Iglo Veggie love with broccoli, buckwheat and black beans. Quick and easy.

The TEDxTUM event was pretty inspiring. I loved how they organised it and some of the speakers were amazing. Seeing all the cool stuff other people are working on actually motivated me to try and achieve great things myself. I'd like to learn about something new, start a project or volunteer.

Pick Up Limes videos.

The way Cher sings the word Memphis in her cover song.

Seeing Frank for the first time in four months. Having a good time at the Uncle Acid concert, getting a beer at Flex. Even though meeting him always causes some kind of emotional turmoil it might actually help to solve a few things I've been stressing over this time, for example that whole deal with Claudia.

Spending two hours in the kitchen on a Sunday morning. Preparing a summer and a winter curry. Pre-cutting salad. Listening to Tai Chi music. Baking these divine buckwheat chocolate cookies - absolutely delicious even though I forgot to add salt. Kinda healthy, too! It's grain-free (I even used groats) and I substituted part of the sugar with honey.

Gift ideas for rock collectors and mycophiles.

A spotted woodpecker in our backyard.

Dalmatian Jasper. Such a pretty stone.

Blinded by the Light. And a trip down musical memory lane. Making a nostalgia mixtape. Singing, enjoying the sound of my voice (as long as I hit the right vocal range).

Drawing owls. For hours. Using my Polychromos coloured pencils. I'm currerntly working on two owl-related projects, designing a logo for coffee roasters and making my friends' wedding invitation. Drawing owls like lovebirds is such a satisfying thing to do. Also: making my students come up with new ideas! Some actually drew some owl logos, too!

Tetris.

Reading books I don't understand. By people who are smarter than me. A very humbling experience. There is so much more to learn, experience and achieve.

Franzi's elegant coat and her ice crystal earrings. She's pregnant but she is skinnier than before and looks great. We cuddled up on a rooftop and had Kinderpunsch.

Practising The Pogues' Fairytale of New York for for karaoke night. I never hit the NYPD choir note quite right. My neighbours must hate me.

Taking a mental health day. Starting the day with baking cookies, making vegan sushi rolls. Reading, taking a nap. Yoga in the evening. Feeling really happy and relaxed. One of those rare inspired days when everything just falls into place. I kept revisiting beautiful places and memories during Shavasana. And I LOVE my yoga teacher more and more each week. So sad she is leaving the studio.

Taming your temper - tips for anger management.

Another coincidence. I wondered when the next Bilderbuch record will be released when I was looking at Mavi Phoenix at her concert - that girl is the female version of Maurice Ernst. A few hours later I found out that Bilderbuch actually had released a new album one day ago. WHAT.

Mirror tape.

Being a fluffy little red cat's human of choice. We sat in a cat café, no animals in sight. After a while a cat walked up straight towards me, sat down on my yellow scarf and kneaded it. Later she demanded attention and purred while I scratched her jaw. Apparently this was quite a rare occurence because she is said to be really shy and hard to handle. Weirdos unite!

Making Bhindi Masala, a vegan okra curry. Spicy and intense - delicious! Oh, and sushi rolls filled with avocado, veggies and fancy tofu/tempeh. Now I have a whole container waiting for me in the fridge.

Practising yoga for 20min on a gloomy Monday morning. Lighting a candle, drinking a cup of Ayurvedic Kapha tea with honey and lemon.

Tom, who inspired me to learn more about Ayurveda. And to rewatch The Darjeeling Limited because let's face it - Wes Anderson really knows how to make one of the poorest countries in the world look gorgeous.

We become what we think about. It's impossible to be successful without having a destination.

Quotations from Siri Hustvedt's The Blazing World: 1 / 2

"Smelling you almost makes me cum."

Running around with a fake septum piercing. I kinda like the look. I'm actually considering getting a real one but so far I'm fine with the clip-ons. The good thing is that you can't see the ring's ends anyway in that kind of piercing.

Spending time with the old friends. The best ones. The ones you don't have to speak to and it's still not uncomfortable. The ones you can be super weird around and they embrace it. The ones you can tell your strangest ideas and stories.

There is a new Turkish supermarket right around the corner! Fresh cilantro whenever I want! YES!!!

Heavy snowfall. It does look kinda pretty, I admit.

Many questions, not enough answers at the ESO Supernova exhibition/planetarium. / Making another cat friend over breakfast. / Seeing my foxy ginger lady Anika again after such a long time! / Orange marzipan lebkuchen and roasted coconut almonds (they taste like Raffaello). / Finding the perfect earrings and a beautiful head band at EDITED - The Label. / Performing Fairytale of New York live on stage with Manu. Being able to curse at somebody through song is perfect, I had a lot of fun. Also, he promised me his art teacher sweater as a Christmas present.

A knitting project with rainbow wool.

Making a clay sculpture for my mum. Taking it out of the oven at 80 degrees, wrapped in a dish towel like a baby.

The honey marzipan nougat bar from dm bio.

Meeting Manu at his office. Receiving the most awesome paint palette sweater as a Christmas present! And he let me spend a full hour in virtual reality! He has such an amazing programme which lets you draw in 3D and float around in space (with VR goggles). I'm absolutely fascinated and intrigued. Gotta visit him more often.

Meeting Tobi, Maike, Lena and Christian at Märchenbasar. Being drunk after some Feuerzangenbowle with rum (Pfeffi in Manu's case) and white mulled wine. Taking the long way home.

Buying Paulaner Spezi for my class. Supermarket trips with the kids before 8am. Schrottwichteln. Watching random goat videos and intros to children's series.

Having a drink at Goldene Bar in Haus der Kunst. Such a gorgeous place. I'm trying to get into a workshop on the museum's architecture at the end of January.

Making random people want to kiss me. Having no desire whatsoever to actually kiss them.

The Harry Potter round (on special request) at the pub quiz.

Reading Stephen Hawking's short answers to some of the big questions. I have to admit, I know nothing about physics or cosmology and at times his explanations were super hard to understand (fine, I probably didn't understand most of it) but I love creating a need to use my brain in uncommon ways.

Vivid dreams. About  dangerous skyscrapers (just different floors stacked loosely on top of each other), a kidnapping in a futuristic car by very glamorous gangsters, lesbians on a scooter trying to save me, travelling through Asia and the US with Sash, a sinking ship (but all the passengers swam back to the surface after a short period of unconsciousness), ATMs, fancy drinks, meeting strangers with beautiful eyelashes at a restaurant.

Discovering the Trouvelot astronomical drawings (1882) on the darkest day of the year, winter solstice. Watching the night fade away ever so slowly in the morning from the kitchen window, squeezing fresh oranges to make juice for breakfast. Bright orange and midnight blue is a great colour combination.

ASMRctica.

An article about a dear friend of mine appeared in Süddeutsche Zeitung! So happy for him.

Spending time with very old friends right before Christmas. Tobi, Sash, Michi, Yanic, Fischi and his wife... Playing MarioKart on SNES with Peter and taking weird selfies together. I had a very nice evening.

Managing to get a look at downtown Chicago during my layover. I uber-ed into the city centre (watching the skyscrapers getting larger and larger), walked around Millenium Park and along Lake Michigan. I spent quite a bit of time at Blick, an amazing art store, before I took the train back to the airport.

Arriving in Mexico in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve. Seeing the city sparkling from above. Watching a bunch of kids beating a pinata well after midnight. Arriving in a beautiful artist's apartment in Condesa.

The Anthropology Museum in CDMX made it on the list of my favourite museums ever. I could have spent days there. I kept sketching some of the funny masks and Maya figurines. There were plenty of creepy tombs and skeletons, depictions of weird Gods, handicrafts and woodcarvings. It was just so interesting, probably because I had never seen a lot of South American / Aztec culture before and I love learning and exploring new things.

Christmas day in CDMX: sunshine, tacky glitter decorations, pointy balloons and spiky pinatas. Dancing, ancient smoke rituals performed by a Mayan community.

Mexican street food, especially the vegetarian street food tour with David. Meeting the Blue Corn Lady (her quesadillas are with cactus and beans and they're incredibly delicious). Flatbread, corn, fruit with chili and lime. Pulque and Mezcal. Finding out that the green salsa is actually worse than the red one. Tacos, Enchiladas, Tamales. If you go to Mexico just for the food you'll still have plenty to explore.

That evening with the pink sunset. Walking through the old used book store in Roma. Reading an interesting take on Lars von Trier's Melancholia. Meeting the resident cat.

Lucha Libre! Watching the luchadores, especially the small people in the second round. Laughing about the Mexican boy next to me swearing at the top of his lungs. Getting a mask as a souvenir.

Climbing the sun and moon pyramid at Teotihuacán. Getting a sunburn. Enjoying the atmosphere. It's a very impressive site.

Diving in Cozumel with Brooke-Anne (a librarian from Las Vegas who was raised by Mormons), Cynthia from Quebec and Lucie from Toulouse. Entering some coral formations underwater. Eating cantaloupe melon and chocolate cookies after the dive. Spending the evening with another Canadian, Jussi from Finland and that other dude from Puerto Rico. And some Indio beers.

What I loved most about Tulum were the ruins (right next to a gorgeous beach) and the health food restaurants (La Hoja Verde and Co.Conamor).

And this year I don't really have a good New Year's Eve story because I fell asleep at quarter past eleven in a little village west of Tulum. All alone. Could be worse though, I had an amazing year.

[hollywoodblondeatlarge]

Baking it Forward

bake love. give love. be love!     

Thinking back, I guess it began with the ruggelah.  

It was years ago.  My pal, Petr sent me his amazing cinnamon and walnut twists- individually wrapped, shapely, doughy swirls of decadence that made me swoon.  This aromatic package made its way from Philly to my Los Angeles doorstep. Lucky me.

Petr’s always been a great baker but this particular basket of goodies had that wow factor. They were perfect and the time spent in airmail didn’t seem to affect their delicacy.  This event kicked my pie-baking hobby into high gear. While I couldn’t send pies quite so easily in the mail, it definitely up’d my baking game.

Over the years, I baked pies. Lots and lots of pies.  You got your fruit pies, you got your pumpkin..  and everything in between.  Pies are lush.  They drip all over you and stain your lips like watercolor nectar from the gods.

They require dollops. Whip cream, ice cream, clotted cream, and crème fraiche. They can refresh but you can also enjoy them hot.

I like things hot.

Pies seem to have been my forte.  I even named them.

Better than Sex Pie.  Substitute Husband Pie. Right to my Thighs Pie…  

I listened to songs about pies  (Patty Griffin – “making pies” is a must).  And I watched the movie, Waitress several times in homage. She named her pies too.  

Well, OK, I stole that idea from her.

 Since I lived in Hollywood, my pies not only had to taste great, but they had to be pretty. After all, it’s all about presentation…is it not?

Well, what presented itself seven years ago, however was a move to England- - where are pies are just not the thing.  Now, Cakes?

Cakes are a thing.

Here in West Country, it seems wherever you go, there you are - with a cuppa and slice of cake.

So, I perfected my apple Dorset cake and tried on a host of others with a secret booze ingredient to set me apart.  The Dorset cake has a drizzling (ok, more like several shots ) of cider brandy.

Boozy cakes. I had a boozy brand.

I decorated them lavishly and topped them off with a little romance and glam. Hollywood Blonde’s “Taste of Tinseltown.”

This Persian Love Cake baby is one of my favourites....with a dusting of pistachio, the cake is  two layers- one lemon and one vanilla. It is then topped with a rosewater. whipped cream. Let us not forget the booze... there’s a bit of anisette in the cake.

I began selling my cakes to locals. While it was a sideline, it gave me great pleasure to present these works of cake-art to my UK friends.

On a trip home to Los Angeles one year, I baked some cakes and pies for a party. Then, went out on a limb and made a few pounds of shortbread. Popular fare here with a nice cuppa.

 Within days, the shortbread demand became quite insane. My sister, my friends and perfect strangers were all asking for my shortbread.  

OK, I lied about the perfect strangers.

They were not perfect at all.  

Some were weird.

 Still, I had yet to discover making shapes!!  So, I got creative. Made multiple varieties in hearts and stars… dipped them in milk chocolate, doused them with cinnamon and pecan, coated them with dark chocolate and almonds or orange zest, jumbled them up with a mixture of macadamia nuts and white chocolate nibs, milk chocolate-chipped them, spiked them with rum and stem ginger, iced them with lavender lemon and vodka, or dunked them in white chocolate and pistachio.  I’ve made green tea shortbread, toasted coconut-lime and tequiia shortbread and savory rosemary shortbread. 

Me -ee -ee - ee and Mrs…. Mrs.  Shortbread, Mrs. Shortbread…  We got a thing going on….

I’m enjoying shortbread-ing and growing with every new batch (in every dimension, mind you….) I’m experimenting with different butters and shapes, playing with the amounts of flour and gluten free flours. Testing out both savory and sweet recipes.

A few months back, I sent some shortbread to Petr.  His box included and array of lavender lemon stars, blood orange, stem ginger and chocolate dipped.

 In return, the master baker himself (that’s with a K not a T) sent me some of his outstanding pecan and toffee cookies and an assortment of his specialty...homemade toffee-almond bits.   How lovely is that!

WOW. They flew off the plate. Had to hide a selection in the freezer so my Terry wouldn’t finish them off.

Oh YUM. See, that’s the thing about this whole baking adventure. People surprise you with the grooviest of gestures.  And just maybe it offers a little inspiration to do something for someone else…

Now, Petr has an artist friend in Italy. He wanted to send her some baked love but apparently, Italy would not accept food packages from the US.   So, Petr asked me if I would mind baking something for her and sending it off for him -since I live in the UK. Sure!  My pleasure.  

In fact, I sent her shortbread in the packing box I received from Petr… to make the circle complete. 

Danaide in Italy received some of my fancy schmancy amaretto-laced shortbread and an assortment of other boozy biscuits. It arrived after about ten days and she wrote this to me- (translated from Italian).  

“Finally I opened the package, with the excitement of the children when they open the Christmas gift ... now eaten immediately one, sweet relief from this cold winter... each cookie is different from ' another, every one has its own flavor, today I tried that from the simplest form with frosting...the language of food ... this package has called me many thoughts, smells ... emotions ... I need a space to express them.... ... meanwhile, a hug…”

It touched me. Her words.  Poetic.  I could imagine her there in her Italian landscape, surrounded by her paintings and photographs. A few FB exchanges later, she offered to make me some jam from the lemons and oranges in her garden.  I now await this beautiful aromatic gift from Italy. I hope to meet her one-day.

Here I had sent some shortbread to Petr. He had asked me to send some to his friend in Italy and now Petr is baking me some more ruggelah and toffee to boot! What joy! And what an interesting circle of kindness.

After I baked Danaide the shortbread, I posted my cookies on Facebook and requests for biscuits followed. 

I baked some for a dear FB friend I have yet to meet in person. He recently lost his wife and I thought some sweetness was definitely in order. I sent a box of assorted shortbread to Canada.  After several weeks, he finally received them. Because Petr had wrapped his cookies individually, I copied his idea and did the same and, voila the freshness was preserved.

My Canadian friend sent my Terry and me some crazy maple leaf candies from Ontario.  And in the box, pure maple syrup and outstanding maple sugar cones. A wonderfully unique, thoughtful and tasty gift.  We loved it.

More carefully packed boxes of shortbread gifties have gone out to my friends and family in the recent weeks. From Cape Cod to LA to New York. Scattered with rose petals, wrapped in tissue and tinsel, my packages of love always include a toy a crown, tiara or a horn blower. That way, everyone gets a little shortbread party.

I like the lavender lemon stars, personally.  But what I especially like is the idea of sending something hand made to someone who gives you pleasure. 

Or simply sending a gesture of good wishes during a hard time. In these politically challenging times, you might want to stick your head in the oven.... but don’t... we could all use a dose of sweetness. As long as we’re spreading around the love, it’s all good, I say.

Hollywood Blonde signing off. 

And hey...

[juniorformulamotorsport]

Thursday, 23rd December 2004 – Etoges, France

Were it not just two days before Christmas, I’d be quite happy to be snowed in here…

There’s this weird sixth sense Lynne and I seem to possess when it comes to picking hotels and restaurants, and it still works, even after a couple of decades. I’ve clearly struck gold with this one… more of that later though. The drive yesterday from the Riviera took nine hours, including two fifteen minute stops, the first one to get a hideously strong expresso coffee, packed with sugar, and the second for fuel and a bar of chocolate. Otherwise I was in my over-packed car from 9 yesterday morning till 6, managing around 600 miles in that time. I can see out of the back window – I made sure I could – but only just! Anyway, the roads were mostly quiet, and the weather was glorious, although someone seemed to have put France in the deep freeze; it never staggered much above freezing all day. However, mid-afternoon, round about Dijon, I ran slap into the snowstorm they’d been promising, and the final two and a half hours of the trip were no fun at all.

It could have been worse, I guess. The French were at least prepared – the weather was forecast for the Champagne region, and the local councils had sent out the salting lorries. This meant that the snow melted on contact with the road, and while the trailing wake from some lorries was highly unpleasant, at least everyone was able to keep going. If this had happened in Britain, chaos would probably have been the result – I’m remembering flying into Bristol last February and the plane being severely delayed, because they hadn’t gritted the runway. They’d sent the guys who drove the gritters home, because of bad weather!

Anyway, after what felt like a very long drive from the motorway, I finally reached Etoges, and located the hotel, the very lovely Chateau d’Etoges. It started to look good from the moment I found the large, wrought iron gates, and drove up the driveway, across the moat and into the courtyard.

This place is simply splendid, and if we get daylight later this morning I shall take a few photos. The massive staircase to the bedrooms made me feel I should be wearing something long and sweeping, not a pair of scruffy jeans, so I was glad I’d packed something civilized to wear at dinner – black jeans, white linen top and long black velvet coat if anyone cares – and my bedroom is next to one of the towers, overlooking the moat. It has an oriental theme, with lots of Thai artworks, a beautiful red and black chest that looks Chinese, and a massive fourposter bed (I swear you could get at least four people in it). The bathroom is enormous too, with lots of Roger & Gallet soaps and lotions and things. And the bathtub is deep, though rather narrow.

And dinner last night? Simply wonderful. The lounge has a great deal of panelling, a huge fireplace with logs burning away, a Christmas tree that fills a corner of the room, and great big soft sofas. I sat and allowed them to persuade ne to drink a glass of Champagne as an aperitif while I studied the menu, and then in to dinner. I think I may have to kidnap the chef. The starter was superb – grilled scallops threaded onto a piece of lemon grass in lieu of a skewer, pumpkin cut into tiny pieces and gently poached, and an orange sauce. However, the main course caused me to want to sit and make little whimpering noises of pleasure, it was so wonderful. Described as shoulder of wild boar, it had been casseroled with some onions and I would say some red wine, until it was tender and had fallen into individual fibres of meat, and wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but puts this meal right up there on the list of some of the most memorable meals I’ve ever eaten, right behind lunch at le Manoir aux Quatre Saisons, and a number of dinners at Rhodes in the Square (sadly now defunct). Damn, but it was good. Served with a celeriac puree, carrot puree and – I think – courgette puree.

Their cheese board was wonderful (and I was amused by the translation to English of “refined cheeses”), and the dessert was another suprise, a pineapple and coconut crumble that made me rethink my apparent dislike of coconut. It was so tasty it was hard to believe. The also added a rum and banana panacotta, which was rich, creamy and probably the best panacotta I’ve ever had. Add a bottle of Madiran (from the South West of France and wine that’s largely underrated – and rarely found outside its home area) and I was more than happy last night. Actually, having forgotten just how strong Madiran can be, that’s not surprising – 14.5% is very strong for wine… Ah well. I staggered back up the baronial staircase round about 10 o’clock last night, and was asleep about 15 minutes later.

This morning the snow seems to have gone, and I have about four hours driving left to do, so I’m having a late breakfast, after another soak in the bath. I’ll set off once it’s properly daylight and any ice that’s formed overnight has hopefully melted. I plan on stopping at a Belgian supermarket in search of smoked eel, and also possibly buying a couple of bottles of Champagne here, and that’s really the plan for today.

Travel 2004 – Etoges, France Thursday, 23rd December 2004 - Etoges, France Were it not just two days before Christmas, I'd be quite happy to be snowed in here...