Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Craving

Golden Fruit Salad


If the vice-headmaster asks you, please tell him that of course I'm marking those papers from the mock-exams that was organised by the school last week. But really, I need a break, so let's chat a little, shall we?

Bon, si le principal-adjoint vous demande ce que je fais, merci de lui répondre que, bien sûr, je corrige le paquet de quarante copies de brevet blanc que je dois rendre tout bientôt au collège. Mais là, vraiment, j'ai besoin d'une pause !

 
I'm going to share a non-recipe today. By non-recipe, I mean that it's more an inspiration and everyone can do it's own version of my Golden Fruit Salad.

Alors, c'est parti, aujourd'hui je vous propose une non-recette. Par non-recette, j'entends que c'est plutôt une source d'inspiration et que chacun peut créer sa propre version de la salade de fruits dorés.


Let's rewind to how the idea popped in my mind.

Revenons à ce qui a fait germer l'idée dans ma tête.

This year, the field that surrounds Cottage has been sown with colza. Now that's grown, I feel like I'm living in a sea of gold.

Cette année, le champ qui entoure Cottage a été ensemencé avec du colza. Maintenant qu'il est fleuri, j'ai l'impression de vivre au milieu d'une mer d'or.


Anyway, as I was admiring the view from my new bedroom window, the idea of a simple dessert was born.

 
En admirant la vue depuis la nouvelle fenêtre de ma chambre, j'ai eu l'idée de ce petit dessert tout simple.

 
Among the pictures to illustrate that non-recipe, there's a completely useless picture, just because I wanted to show off my new ceramic skillet...


Parmi les photos s'est glissée l'image complètement inutile de ma nouvelle poêle... J'avais envie de crâner un peu...


Basically, you're going to add in your skillet the following ingredients:
  • a few pieces of pineapple (I used canned pineapple for timing reasons),
  • a few tablespoons of pineapple juice (from above-mentionned can),
  • about one teaspoon of chopped mint leaves,
  • a pinch (or two) of ground ginger,
  • one sliced banana,
  • the juice of half a lemon,
  • one apple, chopped,
  • one tablespoon of ginger syrup (optionnal, but really adds a quick),
  • two tablespoons of golden raisins,
  • one or two tablespoons of shredded coconut. 

En gros, vous allez mettre dans votre poêle sur feu tout doux les éléments suivants:
  • quelques morceaux d'ananas (là, j'avoue, sortis d'un bocal pour moi),
  • quelques cuillerées de jus d'ananas (tirées de la boîte sus-nommée),
  • à peu près une cuillerée à café de feuilles de menthe en petits morceaux,
  • une pincée (ou deux ou trois) de gingembre en poudre,
  • une banane en rondelles,
  • le jus d'un demi-citron,
  • une pomme en petits morceaux,
  • une cuillerée à soupe de sirop de gingembre (facultatif, mais tellement bon),
  • deux cuillerées à soupe de raisins blond,
  • une ou cuillerées de noix de coco râpée.

I cooked it for about ten to fifteen minutes on low heat because I wanted the apple not to be raw, but really it could all be done raw now that I think about it.


J'ai laissé cuire pendant une dizaine de minutes, mais cela peut aussi se faire en version cru.

 
I believe everybody understands it's a recipe with a lot of "a fews", "abouts" and "maybes"... But I thought the result was visually golden and delicious.

Je crois que tout le monde a compris que c'est une recette avec beaucoup de "ou", d'"environ" et de "peut-être"... Mais le résultat est tout doré et délicieux.

I have no beautifully staged pictures, but as often, I just did that after school (I had a sudden craving for dessert) and I had a very simple dinner... And you know what? Real life isn't staged, it's just messy!

Il n'y a pas de splendides photos de mise en scène car bien sûr, j'ai fait ça en rentrant de l'école, "à l'arrache" comme diraient mes élèves... Et vous savez, la vraie vie, ce n'est pas une mise en scène léchée, c'est juste le bazar !

So about real life, spring is back and I know for sure because the roads around Cottage have as many local cars as cars from all around France and Europe (a sure modern sign of sunny days ahead when you live by the seaside). Also the swallows are back on the electrical wires I can see from my upstairs roof windows. And sorry, they refused to show my readers anything else but their butts...


A propos de la vraie vie, le printemps est de retour ce qui se voit à deux signes imparables. Les routes autour de Cottage comportent autant de voitures bretonnes que de voitures non-bretonnes (un signe moderne lié à l'arrivée des beaux jours) et les hirondelles sont de nouveau perchées sur les fils électriques que je vois de mes fenêtres de toit (elles ont cependant refusé de vous montrer autre chose que leurs fesses).


I've been planting like crazy in the vegetable patch... So much that I hurt my knee... So I have to take it slow with gardening for a few days... which means I have no excuse not to mark those d*** papers (the word is "darling", of course)... Where's my red pen?


J'ai tellement travaillé dans le potager que je me suis blessée au genou. Je dois y aller doucement pendant quelques jours... Cela me laisse du temps pour corriger ces p*** de copies (le mot est "paquets", bien évidemment) ! Où est mon stylo rouge ?



See you soon,

A bientôt,


PS1: I'm sharing this non-recipe with:

Make Pretty Monday Week 177                                                     

45 comments:

  1. I see eggplant in your future recipes! The salad looks and sounds delicious. The last year I taught we were instructed to use blue pencils to mark papers instead of red. "They" had decided red was bad for a student's self-confidence. I was more worried about their lack of writing skills.

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  2. tu lances le début de la saison estivale dit moi, ta salade de fruit est bien tentante
    J"adore ta poêle...
    Belle semaine sous le soleil

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  3. I've been craving fruit lately. This looks and sounds good.

    Take care of your knee Magali.

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  4. Magali! BONJOUR! That looks delicious! I love how that gorgeous field inspired you for this. Paying attention to our surroundings is so important in order to help us relax and return TO OURSELVES. I surely understand your situation with grading papers. Our school year is ending this week at le lycée, but the following week will be finals week and I will have much to grade. ENJOY the little pleasures! Anita

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  5. Your vegetable garden is looking very good. I've never tried growing Aubergines, but with the Breton sun they are sure to be good.

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  6. Your fruit salad looks yummy, Magali. I bet cooking it really brings out all the flavors. I like your skillet too!

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  7. Pour moi ce sera crue la salade. Plus rapide...
    Ce matin je me faisais la réflexion que c'étaient les beaux jours, pas aux hirondelles mais au fait que ça ne parle plus français dans le bourg!
    Bon a-m.

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  8. The sea of golden colza is stunning ! You are just surrounded by beauty there Magali and I can't blame you for being inspired! I want to try that non-recipe, but first have to find my ginger syrup!

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  9. Dear Magali:
    I love love that you have a small garden and are going at it. You will have a break here soon from teaching - I hope? Your cottage kitchen is busy making lovely fruit salad! Such glorious pictures.

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  10. The sky and the field look beautiful and the dessert looks delicious! I will have to look for Ginger Syrup and it sounds intriguing. Take care of that knee!

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  11. LOL, funny girl……I agree, life it messy and not staged (why you don't see much from here) but your post sure is pretty. Love your white skillet and the pretty pink and white pieces in the photos. Lovely view from your window, the birds always love to show their backsides! Your dessert looks yummy and I'm sure it was. Sometimes my best cooking is spur of the moment from a sudden craving and not following a recipe. I'm sure you got those papers finished with no problem……...

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  12. Love the view from your window and reminds me of the one out my dressing room window. The fruit salad sounds wonderful...and wishing i was sitting with you enjoying it...

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  13. Lovely little signs! Hope you have fun with the grades! I am also procrastinating a bit, in 20 minutes I will need to have sent out a revised copy of a report. Just more fun being here =)

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  14. I always love dropping in to see what you and "cottage" are up to.

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  15. To view the golden fields from your new window, it was worth adding dormers. Mr. Cottage has come along way from the time I started reading your blog. Seems like yesterday, you were making decisions about your kitchen. Turned out so beautiful Magali. Your fruit dessert sounds very summery.
    Take care of your knee, Kathleen in Az

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    Replies
    1. The dormers are enjoyed daily by the cats and I. There's still a lot of work to do in the bedroom, though.

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  16. Ah oui, un stylo rouge. J'adore écrire en rouge, c'est gai, joyeux, vivant
    Merci bcp pour la recette, je la garde et vais même la copier…. ah copier, copies oui mais maintenant cela doit être un presque mauvais souvenir. Bravo pour le potager et à bientôt

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    1. Les copies ne sont pas encore un souvenir, les rédactions de 3e, c'est looooong !

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  17. Et bien ta salade de fruits est très appétissante et les hirondelles bien sympathiques même de dos. Tu vas te régaler de légumes tout frais dans peu de temps, ils ont quand même un autre goût lorsqu'on les fait pousser soi-même!
    Plein de caresses aux griffus. Bisous. Babette

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  18. Your dessert looks yummy! (and, I'll settle for swallow butts any day.)

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    Replies
    1. I hope you'll enjoy creating your own version of the golden fruit salad.

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  19. That looks so good and healthy. I love bananas and am trying to eat more fruit. This looks worth trying.Can't wait to see your garden growing. Take it easy on the knee, though.

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  20. What a view! I had to look up colza. I'd never heard of that...it is so beautiful! Your non-recipe looks absolutely divine. I'd never heard of ginger syrup either, but I love ginger! I have garden envy, and let's face it...there's nothing better than bird butt!!

    -andi

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  21. Your fruit sounds delicious, thanks so much for the recipe.
    Sounds like you and Cottage are happy that Spring has arrive. Be careful of your knee and good luck with planting your garden.

    Have a wonderful Spring week.

    Mary

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  22. Looks delicious! It snowed in parts of New York this week! My garden isn't looking great. Hopefully it warms up soon. I'm glad you're having better weather. Good luck with the grading. I'm bogged down with that too. It is the worst part about teaching.

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  23. Your dessert looks amazing! I like your new ceramic skillet, too. ;-) I'm sure you have a lot of grading to do, so I can see why you needed a break.

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  24. Your non-recipe sounds fabulous!! Oh how lovely to live by the sea.....

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  25. Your birds have the cutest butts! I might make a fruit salad like yours...minus the beautiful ceramic skillet. Your headmaster phoned and I assured him you were busy marking.....I lied! But it was worth it and I would do it again! I might try to make another ginger syrup. I made one last summer and added it to my sparkling water. It was so refreshing. I suspect I could use the same one for a fruit salad. Such a good idea Magali! Have a great week.

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  26. I got a nice chuckle about your darling papers...no ginger syrup in my parts of the USA but I am going to Google it / probably can dream up a substitute of sorts, thank you for the inspiration! :)

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    1. My readers found it here: http://www.worldmarket.com/product/ginger-people-ginger-syrup.do
      Sorry for the late reply.

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  27. It looks and sounds good, Magali.
    In the U.S. that very same syrup can be purchased in World Market.
    xoxo
    Su

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  28. Wow the yellow field is so pretty. What a nice view. That dessert looks yummy. I have never heard of ginger syrup. I hope you got those darling papers done!

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  29. Your dessert looks perfect for a warm evening, or even as a light summer meal all by itself.

    Your cottage truly does look as if it is floating on a golden sea. Stunning !

    I hope you got your "darling" papers marked !

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  30. commencer la journée en ouvrant sa fenêtre sur un champs de colza... que c'est beau !! merci pour les photos des hirondelles, j'adore ces oiseaux, il y en avait dans la grange de ma grand-mère de l'Yonne... bon week-end ! cordialement - monique59

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  31. I am way behind on my blog reading, having been on vacation. It is so nice to be back and just in time for this great idea. I'm going to give it a try. Hope you're having a lovely weekend.
    Amalia
    xo

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  32. 1: I need a ceramic skillet. Love it. 2: I have that same ginger syrup, only en anglais. 3: I see a tomato. What else have you planted? I'm rotating my crops this year so I don't get tomato blight which means my tomatoes are not going to be quite as prolific as in normal years. I've got them in pots and in a slightly shady bit of ground. Sigh. My girls love to eat them straight off the vine. Yum. I have lots of peppers planted and squash and some melons and cucumbers in my vegetable garden. Cross fingers I can kill all the snails before they kill my plants. How've you been, by the way? Hopefully your knee is feeling better and the papers are all graded.

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  33. Those golden fields are spectacular! The salad looks very tasty - I like the idea that it is cooked, and the ginger syrup sounds great. Very lovely skillet, by the way ;) Sorry to hear you hurt your knee - hope it is feeling better by now!

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  34. Ca a l'air bon...j'ai fait la semaine dernière un truc vaguement similaire, oranges et citrons et un pamplemousse pressés, je colle le tout dans le robot mixer, j'ajoute du lait de coco, une banane coupée en petits morceaux, de l'ananas et un peu de jus ( je n'aime pas l'ananas frais ! ) sortis de la boite + 2 ou 3 fruits qui s'abiment si j'en ai et je mixte le tout...délicieux. Bises et merci pour ta visite. Caroline de Bleu Nordique.

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  35. What an innovative fruit salad, and it sounds delicious. I have never seen this ginger syrup but read in a comment above that it is available at Worlds Market. There is one not far from us and I’ll check as I like ginger flavor. The yellow landscape around you is so colorful and happy.

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  36. I miss your posts...I hope all is well and you are having some well-deserved rest!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Cindy, for your kind words. I'm coming back more regularly as soon as I feel better!

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  37. I love your Blog and really aspire to creating my own cottage environment by seeing all the things you have done. However, since not posting since May 17th, it leaves one to believe that you don't really care about people following your Blog or not. And this is not the first time we as followers have had to wait weeks to see something new on your Blog. We're all busy but perhaps you cold spre a little more time to Blog your cottage, your garden of the kitties. The travel logs...not so much. Thanks for listening and giving this some consideration.

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    1. I'm going to need some time to get all that into consideration, so don't be surprised if I don't post for a while ;)

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