Bonjour mon cher, bonjour…
Now not knowing more than a smattering of french words, I should probably leave it at that, but due to the fact that in recent times it seems I’ve come over all ‘frenchy‘, I will probably see if I can slip just a little more french words into this post.
And what caused all this ‘frenchness‘ I hear you ask? Actually, I’m not sure. I still have a deep love for all things Italian. I still have an imagined Scandinavian heritage, and now, well it seems there is a heady French call, (at least in my petite kitchen there is.)
What to do with this little lovely? Chestnut spread, in a tube and brought to me from Paris. It could be absolute garbage, but not to me. (Look at all those cute little french words on there!)
Petite fleurs, teeny tiny ones that didn’t last long on my usually quite unexciting kitchen bench cactus.
Gateau a la banane with passionfruit icing. Always a simple bake when there are squishy bananas to be had. I make this cake up in a mixer these days.
Parisian flea market finds, bought and brought back for me. I was particularly excited by this one. How many kitchens has this round beauty seen… What had it been used for?
Oh dear. I’m going to miss out on two kisses and just get the usual Aussie, one. I have no French except for Bonjour and Au Revoir. Hopeless! Your gateau looks lovely and I can’t wait to see what you do with the chestnut spread xx
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ahh, what to do, what to do with that little tube of goodness…
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I love this! I took French in high school and college, but fear I’m down to a similar smattering of French vocabulary. I feel as though kitchens were just meant to be Frenchy. Someday, when my kitchen is a little bigger, I think I need a poster with Julia Child quotes!
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French and retro…now that would be the perfect kitchen 🙂
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bisou bisou mon cherie et pour vos beaux enfants!!!!
amour la blog!
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bisou bisou right back at you lovely. xxx
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Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup.
Your blog always encompasses the best of family life.
Merci, Brydie!
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The wonderful thing about having a blog and the internet is that with the flick of a hand I can easily translate all these lovely comments in French…thank you dear Heidi 🙂
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Mon cher avez-vous lu chocolat et courgette? Bien qu’il soit Clotilde français écrit en anglais et c’est un délicieux blog.
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/
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Chocolat et Zucchini est un blog fabuleux!
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It is wonderful isn’t it 🙂
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Très bon, Brydie! La crème de marrons semble intéressant et votre cactus est beau! Merci de partager votre cuisine avec nous! xx
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I’m going to try and remain très chic… (and not just squeeze it out on my finger.)
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All right dearest, let’s awaken my high school French awkwardness:
Belle article Brydie! Rédaction en français fait tout son mieux. Ne peut pas attendre de voir ce que vous faites avec la pâte de marrons. J’ai un pot à la maison aussi et je ne sais pas quoi faire avec elle. Amour! xxx
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Oooh a whole jar eh? What to do indeed… I remember seeing a cake somewhere in the blogosphere which looked amazing. My little tube though, not sure.
(And hurrah for highschool French 🙂
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Bonjour Brydie! J’adore toutes les choses françaises aussi! Je n’ai jamais goûté à la pâte de marrons et je serais curieux de savoir ce qu’il goûte. J’espère que vous apprécierez ce que vous créez avec elle! À bientôt mon amie!
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Lovely. See without google translate I have no idea what you just said, but of course it would be lovely, it’s in french!
Thank you dear Keri, two kisses on both cheeks for you.
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I once tried speaking french in paris and was asked to use english so I will spare you my schoolgirl french – oh ok – tres bon, tres jolie! Am curious about what you will use the flea market find for – intriguing indeed (see I am so much more articulate in english)
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Très bon indeed Johanna. I couldn’t take it any longer and had to try it… sweet!
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so frenchy so chic brydie..x
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I do my best Jane 🙂
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You are a multicultural soul I think 😉 This dash of French is certainly lovely and that chestnut paste has me very intrigued…
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I know it’s probably wrong, but today I was thinking it wouldn’t go astray atop of a sao or two…not so chic huh.
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Too cute, all of them. How wonderful is that round copper (?) pot thingy, even better that it was from a French flea market. Did you watch The Little Paris Kitchen on SBS recently? I loved it!
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I was a bit slow with that series, I think I only caught one episode regretfully. The copper thingy I think, is a colander…not sure what I’ll do with it yet.
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I think you could possibly still catch on SBS on demand which is how I watched all the episodes. Otherwise I find lots of things end up on You Tube – Jamie’s fifteen minute meals were all on there.
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Your Gateau a la banane with passionfruit icing looks beautiful, true!
Love chestnut spread and your Petite fleurs brightened my day too!
Cheers! Joanne
Viewed as part of IMK…thank you for your unique kitchen view! 🙂
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Thanks for popping over Joanne
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Yep – that passionfruit icing looks divine. What is that tray with holes? Could it be something to bake bread or a tart on to crisp the bottom? No French from me I’m afraid – never studied it.
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I think it’s a colander of a sort. It’s pretty big…flour sifter? Hmmm, if only it could talk!
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The image of that tube of marron (how delightful that one of the French words for “brown” is marron! Thankyou Google Translate 😉 ) chestnut gorgeousness just caused me to exhale one of the only French words that stuck after 3 years of high school French. I didn’t even learn it from the ever patient clinically depressed Mrs Quinlivin who I swear needed respite care every school holidays in order for her to continue her career. That word was MERDE! and chestnut puree deserves a degree of French exclamation. I LOVE this stuff. My daughters gifted me an entire jar of it when they tasted it and found it wanting. I spread it on everything. I would spread it on myself if that wasn’t a bit strange. Lovely Froggie post and enjoying all of those delicious things that your wonderful friends brought back for you. You are a lucky girl indeed 🙂
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Narf I totally understand forced exhalation on thinking about chestnut paste. It’s darn good…sort of a nutty condensed milk?? Maybe Mrs Quinlivin would have had some spread on her morning toast with cafe au lait? Who knows…
(Hope your daughters gift you another jar one day down the track.)
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I might have to drop the odd hint. I fear poor Mrs Quinlivin may never have recovered from trying to teach our class “Alouette”…we were slow learners 😉
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What a fun post, thanks for giving a tour ma cherie!
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merci…your most welcome 🙂
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Je vais à Paris dans une quinzaine de jours. Dites-moi si vous voulez un peu plus de pâte de marrons.
Je vais manger tellement!
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Oh how do I say you lucky, lucky bugger in french! Enjoy every second of it Richard. Please sit in a tiny Parisian cafe and knock back a coffee (or two) for me, breathing in the scene. Have a wonderful trip!
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How many kisses for a few Balkan words? Puno volim tvoj blogu i jelim sve najbolje za tebi i tvoj familija. Zdravo i ziveli Brydie. x
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Three kisses for that Mariana!
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Hahahahaha……….You know what’s really funny – the Balkan way is actually Three Kisses – how ever did you know???
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Brydie, my French vocabulary consists of “French fries” and “French toast” 😉 — but your IMK post appealed to “moi” greatly. The history (and mystery) behind your copper-colored baking pan is a treasure, as are your milk bottles waiting to be loved again. Curious to see what you come up with for the chestnut spread!
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Yes, what to do with that chestnut spread indeed. I do enjoy having things in my kitchen with a history and a story to go with them…bought in ikea isn’t quite the same.
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Very nice goodies indeed Brydie! I love that old battered pan too, it has real personality 🙂
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You’ve got some lovely things there! The frog and his (it looks like a he) “Hey Ladies” pose had me giggling 😛
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bisou à toi – bravo! bis! encore!
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Parisian flea market finds? You are one very lucky lady Brydie. Love the chestnut paste packaging, especially Mr Chestnut! Can’t wait to see what you make with it (I notice it has a seriously long use-by date, so I guess there’s no hurry)!
PS. Banana gateau with passionfruit icing has my name written all over it. I’d like a slice right now thanks.
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I hadn’t even noticed the use by date…ohhh that is long!!
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A lovely look at your French finds – and I especially loved the cheeky frog. Merci!
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