Rooibos vegan French crepes and orange coconut syrup

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    Here I am, finally, with my own vegan crepe recipe! It must have been two years since I was looking for a recipe that suits me, I have tried several, found on the Web, in Facebook groups or blogs but there was never one that was okay. The crepes were either very thick, the taste or texture was odd or they would tar apart while cooking them in the pan. 

   I finally tried something I should have tried before, I took my mom's recipe I have been making since I was a teenager - it's foolproof and does not need to rest for an hour or anything - and replaced the eggs and milk with cornstarch and soy milk. I had tried with other plant-based milks and apple sauce or flax eggs but it never worked out as fine as I wanted it.

   My mom's crepes are the 2nd thing I learned to bake with the famous yogurt cake and they're delicious and light so I always tried to find vegan crepes that will taste just like them. And as I always want to add some personal touch to a basic recipe, I thought why not add some rooibos. I first wanted to make it infuse into soy milk but I finally tried something else, adding rooibos out of a bag directly into the batter, it's subtil but it works and it's good. I usually add some rum as my mom does but didn't here to be able to taste the rooibos.

{ Waiting for Christmas } Orange spiced hot chocolate (vegan option)

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    Let's continue with some typical Winter drink, hot chocolate! I don't know about you but I love Christmas drinks, whether it is mulled white wine, Swedish Glögg or more comforting drinks like this red wine hot chocolate. Of course, there's the typical American eggnog.


   I'm more about coffee in the morning and then I like to enjoy tea or infusion during the day. On Winter cold days, I sometimes go for more comforting drinks like hot chocolate and I loved this one I made last year so now is your turn to enjoy too! Orange and chocolate always do a good marriage like here or here. 

Pink grapefruit cranberry ginger cocktail • For The Love Of Cocktails, Las Vegas premier charity cocktail festival

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    Today, we'll talk about cocktails, Las Vegas and charity. A few days ago, I heard about For The Love Of Cocktails, a cocktail and charity event hosted in Las Vegas once a year. The celebration is not only a mixology party but also a 72-hour fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. In honor of the next edition of the festival taking place in May this year, I created a fun cocktail I wanted to share with you! 

   The event brings, every year, the finest mixologists, cocktail bars and chefs. I'm not a big drinker, ageing, I've been drinking alcohol less and less but I like to enjoy a good cocktail once in a while. If I could, I would have been delighted to meet some professionals there and also because Las Vegas is one of my top destinations I wish to visit. It sounds like a lot of fun but most of all for a great cause.

Orange mango immune booster Winter smoothie (turmeric, ginger, cardamom and baobab)

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    Let's begin this week with a vitamins packed smoothie, because it's good and to fight the bad weather of March, between Spring and apocalyptic rainy days.

   At first, I had tried this smoothie with fresh orange juice and it was delicious but I thought it would be interesting to use the whole orange flesh in order to add more fibers that help to digest and make you feel hungry later because they regulate the carbohydrates and lipids. Mango is also a fruit rich in fibers but also antioxidants (and it's my favorite exotic fruit). 

Avgolemono, Greek rice and lemon soup

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    For this special lemon week on the blog to celebrate the Lemon Festival held in Menton, on the French Riviera (France), between Nice and the Italian frontier, I wanted to find a savory recipe to propose on the blog because, even if I like cakes and pastries, one is enough in a week ! At least, not to my stomach but my body... ha ha.  I could have share the recipe of the Italian lemon pasta but I already have a recipe of macaroni with lemon and mascarpone cooked like a risotto here.

   And after a few researches, I stumbled upon this typical Greek dish. I know well the Greek cuisine but didn't even know this recipe called Avgolemono that is made of egg (avgo) and lemon (lemono) - as its name says. Traditionally , it's prepared with meat broth, egg and rice, some put meat inside too, most of the time chicken.

Lemon chia seed cardamom moist cake (vegan)

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    In France, we have several celebrations in some regions and before Carnival, the 84th Lemon Festival is being held in Menton, on the French Riviera between Nice and the Italian frontier since last Saturday and until March 1st. So I decided it was going to be lemon week on the blog! I love citrus fruit and lemon is part of them of course, the lemon cake is one of my favorites but I had never baked one, except these Italian lemon ricotta individual cakes. 

Orange cardamom rice pudding brulee (vegan option)

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    I think rice pudding is a comfort dessert most people seem to like, maybe because it reminds of childhood for some, like me. I like to make different versions of it like here or here. Today, I'm taking part to a new edition of the Battle Food and the theme chosen by Lova was "Rice Battle", I love it either in savory or sweet dishes but I really wanted to try rice pudding with citrus fruit and I chose the oranges because this is a fruit I cook too rarely. 

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.

Christmas mulled white wine

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    For this Christmas, I was looking for a festive drink or cocktail to change from the traditional or Swedish mulled wine I tried last year, even if I like it very much and will probably make some again because it's so easy and quick to prepare. And in a report on French television about Christmas markets in Alsace (in North East of France), I heard about mulled white wine, I didn't even know it was possible but after all, wine is wine.

Ginger lemonade

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    I had the occasion to taste a delicious home made ginger lemonade in a little restaurant in Paris a few weeks ago and it was so good that I told myself I would have to make one myself at home soon because I'm a big fan of ginger! If there is some in a dish, a dessert or a drink, I'll choose this one for sure, this is one of my favorite or maybe even my favorite spice.

No bake cheesecake in a jar, pink grapefruit and dried mallow flower jelly

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     Here is a recipe I made for the new edition of a French culinary challenge I'm taking part each time I can. This month theme was "Flower Power", we had to use flowers in any way in our recipe and in the decoration. 

   It had been a long time since I wanted to make a new cheesecake. I'm not a great fan because they're often too heavy for me. This is why I like to add fruit, make them light, in small sizes and this time I wanted to make a no-bake cheesecake in a jar because desserts in which you have to dig your spoon in are the most comfy food to me and I also love to revisit traditional dessert in desserts-in-a-jar! 

Lemon lavender olive oil shortbread cookies, lemon lavender icing

    Shortbread cookies are small yummy cookies but a little too rich in butter for me, this is why I rarely some. Last summer, I was in vacation at my mum's in Aveyron (in the South West of France) and I happened to try some lemon lavender shortbread cookies in bulk from an organic supermarket where I had bought other groceries and I found the association of flavors quite interesting.

  Since then, I was willing to try to find a recipe and so I took advantage of the blogger competition organized by l'Afidol (l'Association Française Interprofessionnelle De l'OLive) et les Huiles d'olives & Olives de France that is a French professional association of olive oils and olives to try a recipe of shortbread cookies but using olive oil, much healthier and savory, instead of butter, usual ingredient of this cookies.