{ Candlemas } Farz Buan, scrambled crepe from France (Brittany)

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    Next week will celebrate Candlemas as we're almost, already, in February ! In France, it has been a long time tradition to make crepes on February 2nd, 40 days after Christmas. But don't worry, you can enjoy crepes all year long and this is what I do because I just love them. 

   Here are a few words about Candlemas if you're not familiar with this celebration - that the Romans used to celebrate already - and crepes tradition. 

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The tradition to make crêpes on Candlemas... Well, there are various origins. One says that it was created to follow a myth that if we didn't make crepes on Candlemas day, the wheat would be rotten all year long. So people would make crepes and flip the first one with the right hand while holding a gold coin in the left one. then, the coin would be wrapped into this crepe and put on top of a closet in the bedroom and left there until the following year. A year after, people would take the remains of the crepe off and give the gold coin to the first poor individual that they would meet, it was supposed to insure them money all year long. 

Chocolate cocoa kaki persimmon mini cakes (vegan and gluten free option)

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   For once, we start the week with a sweet recipe but this is because there will be three recipes on the blog. Last week, I caught an ugly virus, a not common and child illness, more fun! Something between the flue and the chickenpox, with a few days of fever and a facial edema, not glamorous at all, I really not wish it to you. The only good thing about it is that you only catch it once in your life, thank you very much!


   Anyway, this is why I didn't have the strength or appetite enough to cook or even sit and write on the blog. But, in exchange, you'll be more spoiled this week! 😊


   A few weeks ago, I had the chance to win the book The Vibrant Table from Anya Kassoff (named Green in France) thanks to a giveaway on a French blog. It's a book of "a vegetarian, gluten free, mostly vegan and sometimes raw kitchen". It's about 300 pages so there is a bunch of recipes to try. What I liked about the book : there is a long introduction where the author, an anglo-saxon food blogger, born in Russia, who lives in Florida, explains her culinary path and how she got there with a blog and book. She also writes about her favorite ingredients, their benefits and gives basic recipes. Each recipe is also introduced with a little text and I liked it a lot because it's quit rare in cook books. If you don't know her blog yet, you can also find recipes online on Golubkakitchen. 


   I was seeking for comfort food recipes and I stumbled on this chocolate persimmon cake and immediately wanted to try it, because I like persimmons but don't often think to buy some and I had never cooked any. I went for individual cakes because I think it's handy to eat and also because I always find them cuter than a large cake. 


   I first try her version and it was good but I added my own modifications because I wanted to taste the buckwheat flour and banana less, I also replaced the ground nuts with almonds and the quinoa flakes with toasted soy (because I has some in the kitchen). I also replaced the egg with yogurt because I only made half of the quantities and using half an egg is not that easy...

Savoy cabbage lasagna (gluten free, vegan option)

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    Lasagna are, I guess, one of the dishes everyone likes because it's comforting, easy to make and you can put everything you like in it, depending of the season. I saw a recipe of lasagna made of cabbage and meat on the Internet a little time ago and I thought it was a great idea to change from the regular ones (the cabbage thing of course, not the meat... ha ha) to serve to gluten intolerant people or enjoy a lighter meal. 

Skolebrød or Skoleboller, little sweet cardamom, pastry cream and coconut Norwegian buns (vegan, dairy free, egg free)

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   Today, I'm hosting the first 2017 edition of a French food challenge called Battle Food. I had been chosen to be the "godmother" last month by another blogger thanks to my vegan cranberry Christmas pavlova and I had proposed the theme: Yummy Trip because I love to travel and discover new cultures and food specialities but I haven't been able to travel much this past years so I travel with food instead.

   I wanted to go toward a type of cuisine completely unknown to me but I didn't find anything inspiring in some countries. So after going through Pinterest, Internet and my books, I made short list and finally... I went for a Scandinavian recipe because I just love its cuisine and pastries.

French onion soup au gratin (vegan option)

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    I usually don't publish traditional recipes because I think there's enough Chef recipes online but from time to time I like to stick to the basics such as I did for the Spanish traditional Gazpacho last summer or with French onion soup. I wanted to share this comfort dish I used to enjoy as a child in Winter or around Christmas holidays. Onion soup with bread croutons is just delicious.