A marigold in Dolomieu, France. These plants were beautiful!

A bellflower (campanula) blooming in Dolomieu, France. This shot was taken near a small stream in a moist forest.

I saw these delicious-looking apricots at a farmers’ market in France. Everything looked wonderful there, including the cheeses and sausages.

I woke up early this morning to go check on my ‘Grandpa Ott’ morning glories. Look at what I found!

See recipe below.

Chocolate Mousse

Preparation: 15 to 18 minutes
Cooking time: 4 to 5 minutes

For 6 people:

– 200 g very good quality and slightly bitter chocolate (it exists in the trade as special dessert chocolate)
– 150 grams of powdered sugar
– 4 eggs + 1 white
– 1 tablespoon rum
– ¼-½ cup of very strong coffee

Break chocolate into very small pieces, put it in a large pot (you will need to add the well- beaten egg whites [in French, known as “snowy eggs” because of their white color], it is necessary to provide a pan of sufficient size), add coffee, and put in a bain-marie or in a hot oven to soften the chocolate, and when it is pasty, add the rum, mix well to get a thick and smooth cream.
Break the eggs and separate whites from yellows, add the yolks to the chocolate cream, mix thoroughly.
Beat all the egg whites into a firm, fluffy white snow, gradually incorporating the powdered sugar.
Very delicately add the egg whites to the chocolate cream.
Pour into bowls, and put in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tip: You can replace the rum with two tablespoons of orange-based liqueur (triple sec) and incorporate into the chocolate mousse chopped orange peel comfit.

Obtained from:

Buteux, Paulette. La cuisine toute simple. Éditions Stock, 1973.

These sandwiches are tasty. Crispy and warm, you’ll want to have them right out of the oven.

Here’s the recipe (translated from French):

Croque-monsieur

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Serves 4:

– 8 slices of stale bread
– 60g butter
– 4 slices of ham the same size as the slices of bread
– 80g Gruyère cheese in one piece
– 80g grated cheese

Grill the slices of bread on both sides.

Cut the piece of cheese into thin strips.

Turn on the upper oven.

Butter the slices of toasted bread on both sides, and garnish them with four slices of cheese on which you put a slice of ham, cover it again with slices of cheese and then put the last slice of bread on these elements, press slightly.

Repeat the above 3 more times.

Put the croque-monsieurs in a buttered dish, sprinkle them with grated cheese, and sprinkle them with the rest of melted butter.

Put in the oven, let brown for 15 minutes; serve hot, right out of the oven.

Obtained from:

Buteux, Paulette. La cuisine toute simple. Éditions Stock, 1973.

(The recipe calls for stale bread; I used fresh, and it tasted great.)

Homemade dark chocolate ice cream. The dessert was made with chocolate from France!

Tom yum soup made last night. Delicious!