La Chandeleur

Today is the 2nd February in case you didn't already know and today in France they celebrate La Chandeleur (Candlemas). Céline, the French assistant at my school told me about this, and I'm glad she did because it gave me an excuse to eat crêpes, apart from anything else! Anyway, I did a bit of research and actually found out some really interesting stuff.

La Chandeleur celebrates the presentation of baby Jesus and the purification of the Virgin Mary. It is celebrated in this country (Candlemas, as I've already said), but it's more of a religious thing. Céline told me that in France lots of people celebrate it not just as a religious occasion. 

It is tradition to eat crêpes on the day of La Chandeleur, and to predict the future whilst making them as well! You are supposed to hold a coin or piece of gold in one hand and flip the crêpe with the other. If you manage to catch it, you and your family will be prosperous for the rest of the year! 

I decided to have a go at making crêpes to (sort of) celebrate La Chandeleur. Unfortunately, I had an English essay on Macbeth to do which I didn't finish until late so it was a little rushed, and my parents didn't feel like eating them, but me and my brother enjoyed them!

I managed to catch mine... but I didn't have a gold coin :( hopefully it still works!

Mmmm yum :) 

My brother George managed to catch his as well

This is the recipe I used. It was very yummy! 


Caitlin

French Onion Soup

Note: Before I start, let me make it clear that I didn't make this up- it's from a cook book called "Great Tastes French" that I have. I just thought I'd put it on here because I made it for my birthday party, and it was really popular. I'm not sure how authentic it is, though- it tastes very different to the French onion soup that I've had in the past.


(Serves 6)


Ingredients
50g butter
750g onions, finely sliced (that's a LOT of onions, I put on some skiing goggles while chopping so my eyes didn't water too much. It was rather amusing.)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
45g plain flour
2 litres beef or chicken stock 
250ml white whine
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs 
12 slices stale baguette (I didn't use stale and it was fine)
100g gruyère cheese, finely grated


1. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan (I used a Le Creuset pot) and add onion. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes (until onion is a deep golden brown and begins to caramelise). 


2. Add garlic and flour and stir for 2 minutes. Gradually blend in the stock and the wine, stirring continuously, and bring to the boil. Add the bay leaf and thyme and season. Cover the pan and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and thyme and preheat the grill. 


3. Toast the baguette slices and divide them between six soup bowls. Pour the soup in over the  bread and sprinkle some cheese on, then put the bowls under the grill until the cheese melts, then serve immediately. 


As I had to do this for 12 people, and didn't really have enough time and space to put 12 soup bowls under the grill, I toasted the bread, put some cheese on top of it and put that under the grill, then put the cheesy bread in the bowls and added the soup. 


This recipe is GORGEOUS. Seriously. Try it. I've had quite a few people asking for the recipe, and it was definitely the most successful of the night. 

This is clearly not my soup, but I couldn't find a picture of the soup I made.

Caitlin