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| the best bags and boxe |
Trip ephemera or Souvenirs. It’s all the stuff you have to find room for on your return home from your trip. Our last trip was no exception. No tee shirts or magnets this time. The one thing that I find myself in abundance this trip is bags and boxes. But not any ordinary boxes and bags, but boxes of gold foil that once held the ever delectable French Macarons for the oh so chic Laudree. That recognizable green bag. I have started a collection of chocolate wrappers that are too pretty to throw away. They have the most unique origami illustrations on them, those are from Iceland. Of course there are the beautiful tickets from the Opera house, even a lowly metro ticket. I also brought back paper models of city landmarks. They are fun to put together. I have others from Giverny, Arc de Triomph, Knossos and now the Opera House and Reykjavik.
The hubster’s souvenir of course is the marathon medal, the marathon bib, the bags and all the things he collected at the sports expo and the signs that we held along the race route for encouragement.
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| souvenirs from the race and sports expo |
Since we rented an apartment it was great not having to go out for every meal. Our breakfasts of course had croissants, cheese meats and all things for a proper continental breakfast. Including yogurt. These yogurts were pretty fancy in style but not price. At only 2.59 euro for two they were amongst the best buy of the entire trip. Yogurt in a stoneware crock!
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| yogurt crocks |
So now that I am the proud owner of 6 deciding what to make was easy. Chocolate pots de crème. I used Martha Stewart’s recipe http://www.marthastewart.com/354091/chocolate-pots-de-creme
Adapted from Martha Stewart.com
I didn’t use the Frangelico. And I used the 70% cocoa that I bought in Reykjavik.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/4 cups half-and-half
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon hazelnut-flavored liqueur, such as Frangelico (optional)
- Whipped cream, for serving (optional)
DIRECTIONS
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Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bring half-and-half just to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat; add chocolate and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes.
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In a large bowl, stir together yolks, vanilla, cocoa, salt, and liqueur if desired. With a fork, stir chocolate mixture until smooth, then gradually stir into yolk mixture. Pour through a fine sieve into a glass measuring cup.
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Place 4 custard cups or ramekins (3 to 4 ounces each) in a shallow roasting pan, and divide chocolate mixture among them. Pour hot water into the pan so it reaches halfway up the sides of cups.
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Bake until custards are almost set in centers, about 30 minutes (custards will firm as they cool). Carefully remove cups from hot-water bath; let cool slightly.
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Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate. Just before serving, dollop with whipped cream, if desired.