The world is full of garbage

I often wonder how future generations will survive on this earth. And if they do, what will they think of us?

The world is full of garbage. Literally. Every day we create more and more garbage. On an indivdual level; we throw out 400 kg per person per year. Well, that's the quantity for France. The average American produces 900 kg of waste, while in Senegal the amount is only 170 kg. Basically, the richer you are, the more you throw away.

Talking about recycling is fine, we are all full of good intentions. But some things can't be recycled. And some people simply don't bother. Most of all, we've done too little, too late.

The plastic that we dispose of every day is ending up in the oceans. Sea birds are found with their stomachs full of plastic. Turtles die from eating plastic bags that they mistake for jellyfish. In the Pacific ocean, there is a huge "plastic stew" that covers an area the size of a continent. It contains around 100 million tonnes of plastic!

In Lebanon, there is a mountain of garbage that's 50 metres high and 375 metres long. As it's situated on the coast, it regularly collapses and falls into the sea.

That's not all. I recently read an article in New Scientist about the over 8,500 vessels that were sunk during World War II and that are so many timebombs. They are spread all over the world, and contain somewhere between 2.5 and 20 million tonnes of oil. And that oil is starting to leak. The first leak happened in 2001 when a typhoon hit one of the areas where a military oil tanker had sunk in 1944. For the rest of the vessels, it's just a matter of time. The steel plate they are made of is gradually corroding, and nobody is doing anything about it.

What can we do? Not much. We can continue to recycle. We can stop buying plastic. We can lobby our governments to do something about pollution. Let's just hope our children and our children's children will find a way to clear up the mess we have left behind.

Scones

Well today we had scones for breakfast. They are, along with scotch pancakes, the easiest and quickest breakfast treats. I have got it down to a fine art:  turn on the oven first, then by the time you've prepared the scones the oven is warm enough, and once they're in the oven, lay the table and make the tea. In theory, everything will be ready in time for breakfast!

You will need:

225g white flour
1 sachet baking powder
40g butter (at room temperature)
150ml milk
2 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of salt

a mixing bowl
a metal tablespoon
a round fluted pastry-cutter
a rolling pin

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl, rub in the butter with your fingertips.
Stir in the sugar, then add the milk little by little, using the metal tablespoon. Finish off with your hands, kneading it together gently to a soft dough (you might not need all the milk).
Roll the dough out on to a floured surface, but keep it thick (around 2 cm).
Use the pastry cutter to cut out your scones. Be careful to tap it straight down, don't twist it or your scones will have a strange shape.
Place the scones on a lined baking sheet, place in the oven for about 12 minutes, until they are crisp and golden.

I like to eat them as is, but you can add butter, jam, clotted cream... If you have any left over, freeze them straight away because they quickly go stale.

Owls

Owls
Originally uploaded by aishakenza

I've been at the felt again! Making these little owl brooches is great fun. A while ago I bought felt in lots of different colours and I've been through my stash of ribbons and lace to decorate them. I have made loads of these now, you can see more of them on my flickr page - just click on the photo to get there:-).

Tresses au beurre

I actually made these on Sunday (which is my baking day) but have only just got around to writing up the recipe.

I love to make these because they are so pretty. On Sunday morning I made one for each of the three of us, and a larger one which I put in the freezer for another day. Here's the recipe. Bon appetit!

Makes 2 medium or 6 small tresses

500g flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

75g butter

300 ml milk

20g fresh yeast

1 egg for glazing

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Mix the flour, salt and sugar and rub in the butter.

Heat the milk to body temperature and add the yeast, mix until it has "melted".

Pour the milk/yeast into the flour and knead for 5-10 minutes until you have a soft springy dough.

Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.

Knock back the dough and knead briefly again.

Separate the dough in two parts (and each again in three parts if you're making the small tresses)

Separate again each part in three parts, which you should roll with you hands to a long sausage shape.

Take the three sausage shapes and make them into a plait, making sure you tuck in the two ends well.

Do the same with the remaining pieces of dough.

Lay them onto a baking sheet, cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes approx.

Brush with beaten egg and cook in the preheated oven at 180° for 20 minutes (small size) or 30 minutes (medium size) until nicely golden.

Leave to cool. They are nice and buttery so you really don't need to add anything to them, though I must admit I like them with just a little bit of jam.

Inauguration with music!

The small town in which I live was home to  the French writer and philosopher Voltaire from 1759 to 1778.

During his stay here and because of his outlandish way of life compared to the very serious Calvinist attitude in Geneva, Voltaire was often obliged to travel to and from Geneva. According to local legend, he used a road that ran straight from his French castle to the Swiss border.  The first part of the road crossed a field and was bordered with poplar trees but they were cut down "for safety reasons"  in 2008. The lower part of the road has, after various agreements and conventions between the town and the local landowners, been open to walkers, joggers and cyclists since last month.

Today was the official inaurguration of the lower part of the road, named l'allée de la Tir. It was a pity the sun wasn't out today, it has been beautiful for the past three days but I suppose we all knew it couldn't last. At least it didn't rain.

The mayor and other local dignitaries made the customary speech and cut the ribbon, but for me the highlight of the morning was the wonderful band who played from the centre of town to the beginning of the allée, followed by the crowd of well-wishers who particpated in the inauguration.

 

Now we're just waiting for the higher part of the road to be re-opened. It is in a large grassy park which will be further developed as an "urban park" (whatever that means). According to the town website it is open to competition among developers, and the project should be chosen by the end of 2010.

Scotch pancakes with apples

Scotch pancakes are one of my favourite breakfast recipes. They are quick and easy to prepare and appreciated by everyone I know. To make them a bit more special, I like to fry up some apple slices in butter and sugar and add put them between two pancakes, and top them with fromage frais. You could also use whipped cream but I do try to avoid too much fat (do you really believe me?) And this time I had some melted chocolate so I put a drop of that on the top too.

Here's what it looks like. And here's the recipe:

Scotch pancakes 

To make scotch pancakes with apple filling, you'll need (for 3 or 4 servings):

For the pancakes:

120 g flour
30 g sugar
1 sachet baking powder
1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 pinch salt
150 ml milk
1 egg
Oil for cooking

For the apple filling:

4 or 5 apples
30 g butter
1 tblspn  brown sugar

1 measuring jug
1 mixing bowl
2 frying pans


Start by preparing the apples, peel them and cut into slices.
Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the apples.
Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking
When they are nearly ready add the brown sugar and cook until it is slightly caramelised. Leave to cool

For the pancakes, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl.
In a measuring jug, measure out the milk and break the egg into the milk, mix the egg in with a hand whisk
Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, mix well and then pour the mixture back into the measuring jug (it is easier to pour it than to spoon it out)
Warm the second frying pan, add a small amount of cooking oil and use some kitchen roll to remove the excess and spread it evenly over the pan.
Gently pour small quantities of the mixture in the pan to make the pancakes, keeping them at about 8cm in diameter.
When bubbles appear on the surface, gently turn them over using a fish slice or a palette knife. They should be golden with a distinctive "lacy" pattern. Do not over-cook.

Once you have finished making the pancakes, make a sandwich with the apples in the middle (see photo).
You can top with whipped cream or fromage frais, if you wish. A drop of maple syrup would also go very well with these pancakes. Bon appetit!

Sunday is baking day

I got up early and decided to make croissants and pains au chocolate for breakfast.

I've lived in France for 27 years now, but only discovered the secret of croissant-making about five years ago. They do take a long time to prepare, about four hours from start to finish, but much of that is time waiting for the dough to rise, or the time they spend in the oven. I love to make them because they make me feel creative and all that work really is worth it when you bite into the delicious flaky, butteriness of them.

If there are any left over, they freeze very well and can be gently heated in a warm oven.

I make my croissants with organic flour, butter, milk, yeast, salt and a small amount of sugar.

Here's the recipe:

Croissants 

500g flour

200g butter

300 ml milk

20g fresh yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 egg for glazing

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a large shallow bowl/plate or directly on a work surface. 

Cut 50g of butter in to small pieces and rub into the flour.

Heat the milk to hand temperature and add the yeast, mix until it has "melted".

Pour the milk/yeast into the flour and knead for 5 minutes until you have a soft springy dough.

Cover and leave it to rise for about 30 minutes, then knock it back and fold in three to make a rectangle, and roll it out on a floured surface.

Cut the remaining butter in two pieces and, using plenty of flour and a rolling pin, start by bashing it and then roll it in the flour until you have a large flat "leaf" of butter. Do the same with the second piece of butter.

Now cover the lower 2/3 of the dough rectangle with the butter, fold down the top 1/3 downwards and the bottom 1/3 upwards. 

Tuck in the edges to stop the butter from escaping, then put the open side to the right and roll out the dough again.

Fold and roll the dough in the same way two more times.

Now put the dough in a floured plastic bag, in the refrigerator and leave it to rise for one hour.

Roll the dough out again into a rectangle, which you will cut down the middle lengthwise.

Cut each length into several triangles (for the croissants) and rectangles (for the pains au chocolate).

For the croissants, roll the triangles up from the long base towards the point of the triangle, keeping it fairly tight. Then turn the ends towards each other to make a croissant shape.

For the pains au chocolat, place a smallish piece of chocolate at the short end of the rectangle and roll up, making sure you leave the "seam" on the underside.

Cover and leave your croissants and pains au chocolat to rise again for about 20 minutes.

Brush them with beaten egg, and place them in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for around 20 minutes or until nicely golden.

Best eaten warm!

Then in the afternoon here's what I made: an apple tart. The pastry looks a bit over-cooked but it was nice and crispy lol. I cheated a bit because I lined my pastry with apple sauce, it keeps the whole thing nice and moist.This was for afternoon tea. That's a lot of butter in one day - maybe it's a good job I only have time to make patisseries at the weekend!