mint

Today I plan to make a large chocolate cake.  I would like to use buttercream to fill and top it.  Will I be able to freeze it all ready made like that? Thought we might eat half of it over the next couple of days and freeze the rest.  So is it better to cut the cake in half and fill the half we will eat and freeze the rest unadorned? My neighbours are away so there will be no one to help us finish it and I really, really don't think we should scoff a large cake on our own[:-))]

[url]https://www.sudouest.fr/sante/coronavirus/toulouse-ce-n-est-pas-500-mais-plus-de-3-500-doses-de-vaccins-detruites-dans-un-centre-de-vaccination-5263521.php[/url]

It would help if thugs and the braindead do not keep vandalising centres of vaccination.  Reference Lehaut's thread "Toulouse". No sooner than a new batch of vaccines is delivered, someone takes it into their head to couper l'électricité and destroy the vaccines.  The government is not exactly being helped by these upstanding citizens, is it?

"boredom of living in Somerset"??!!  I LOVED living in Somerset....then again, I moved to Somerset to escape the boredom of living in South Wales[:)]

[url]https://www.sudouest.fr/sante/coronavirus/covid-19-la-vaccination-des-plus-ages-a-domicile-preoccupation-majeure-des-geriatres-5192292.php[/url]

In a post lunch euphoria and a moment of idleness, I chanced upon this enjoyable film on Arte this afternoon [url]https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/039191-000-A/cigarettes-et-bas-nylon/[/url] I think many "oldies" on here will enjoy it.  The dialogue is in easy-to-understand, débutant standard French and American English AND there are subtitles should you still struggle. It has funny and sad moments, is well acted, beautifully shot and you will pass a pleasant couple of hours[:)]

David, have you tried the French Embassy in London? [url]https://uk.ambafrance.org/[/url] There are various boxes concerning getting a covid certificate on the website.  Certainly I have read of French people living or working abroad who were recently given a site to apply if they had their jabs of an EU approved vaccine.  For "French" here, you can read people residing in France.  for example, Macron addresses les français et les françaises and means everybody living in France (at least when it comes to covid regs![:)])

Indeed, I often wonder what I'd do without Arte.  OTOH am still waiting for a prom that would set the Thames on fire.  Haven't been particularly struck by anything so far but I know it's only a matter of time[:)]

Still no sound on that link from my computer though I have sound for every other video[:'(] Borrowed OH's computer and, while there was sound, it was still faint despite my turning up the volume to 100%. Then I borrowed his tablette and at last I managed to hear the concert.  Anyway, that was just moaning; concert was lovely and I am here to say thank you[:)]

Hells Bells, I can't get any sound[6]  Going to have to find a way to get it working...I love Elina Garanca's singing; always so composed and sings right in the middle of the note and has a great range and huge stage presence. Will have another go tomorrow.  Thanks for posting.

These were little, dinky white milk rolls.  Thought they would be good for dipping. And they were golden and magnificent[:D]  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Also tasted lovely...  But, if you'd seen the dough sticking all over the place and I had to keep on throwing more and more flour at it...you'd be surprised as well[:D] It was a good job nobody was in the kitchen with me....I felt such an idiot! Thank you for the reassurance Judith and Pip.  I think I'd have another go again soon.  I have bought a lame à pain and felt very confident when I started[8-|] Still, made a delicious apple cake yesterday and it was such a fine cake that I had to go across to my neighbours and give them a chunk of it.  The French always seem curious about my gateaux à la anglaise[:D]

Lovely docu....PLEASE watch, nh! [url]https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/098213-000-A/anna-netrebko-et-rolando-villazon-chantent-la-traviata/[/url]

When you are at the stage when the dough has rested and doubled in size, is it all incredibly sticky and all attempts to handle it is impossible due to blobs of it sticking stubbornly to your palms and fingers? When the instruction is to throw some flour on the dough, on the board (work top) and to flour your hands, how much flour is involved? Fistfuls?  Shovelfuls?  Half a packet full?  How much? I was following a recipe for making bread rolls this morning and the MESS I got into!  Haven't made a mess like it since I grew too old to try and fashion pairs of animals for my Noah's Ark.  So, does the recipe have too much liquid in the first place?  I checked the recipe and all seemed in order.  I watched the video and the man on it had nice, clean hands throughout?  Did someone do a lot of video editing? All advice and suggestions gratefully received[:)]

Don't get me wrong, I have NO objection for myself.  In fact, I have no truck whatsoever with les soignants who do not want to be vaccinated and, as you know, I have openly expressed my admiration for the government's courage and commonsense to make the jabs obligatory for certain groups and to get the pass up and running. I expressed myself badly; I merely meant that if these demonstrators and others feel a compulsion that is disagreeable to them, they are merely expressing their opposition.  Sometimes I feel that it is like dealing with children; there is little to be gained by reasoned argument, not because the child is "naughty", but because it is incapable of understanding.  I suppose I was simply seeing the other side of the debate and after all NOBODY likes being compelled. 

I think I now have some sympathy for the anti pass demonstrators.

Nomoss, I shall be putting this to the test on Tuesday.  When I was out walking with friends today, OH took a message from the hospital to remind me to be sure to have my pass sanitaire when I go for my RV. What I would like to confirm is, what if I didn't have a pass?  I thought they have emphasised that the absence of a pass sanitaire should not prevent anyone from receiving health care?[8-)]  Or is that just a sop to the demonstrators?

As GG has indicated, I think the facility will be up and running very soon.  Last week, I saw information for French nationals who had been vaccinated outside France to get their QR code.  As I suspected and GG has confirmed, it is available and will be "active" incessament![:D]  I guess it will be the same procedure for tourists.

Thanks, guys, got it back now[:D]

Annoyed that these essential items have disappeared from my task bar.  Have just spent over an hour trying to find a solution. Everything, including Settings, seem to have been moved around and now there is no clock or calendar when trying to personalise my task bar. Does anyone know how to restore these, please?

It wasn't the first time I experienced this performance and it was even better the second time around[:D] [url]https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/087862-000-A/riccardo-muti-dirige-le-requiem-de-verdi/[/url] Just excellent all round.....music, soloists, choir, orchestra.....perfect...

Fittersmate, just want to tell you that your conversion chart has opened up a whole new slew of recipes for me. There is an American site called Jenny Can Cook....she makes everything so clear and so easy.  Her recipes and your chart make my heart soar. Just got to get out to the shops today and do some stocking up.  If, in a month's time, I come back and ask for slimming diets, you'd know who I blame!!![:D]

G&B, YES, that looks and sounds fabulous....I love olive oil and I love chocolate, PLUS I have bags of ground almonds in the house....o la la!!! BUT, might have to pass on the main course to eat this...enough calories in it to last a night à jeun before hospital or a blood test[:D] Lehaut, preserved ginger, indeed, that is my absolute guilty pleasure.  I buy it in chunks from the bio coop but, unlike you, I love the sugar.  It's seriously hot though so I can't actually eat many chunks at a time.  When my eyes are watering and my tongue is hanging out, I know I have had enough[:-))]

Thank you fittersmate.....for the recipe, the patience and time you have taken to find it and, most of all, for the conversion chart. I am going to print out that chart as I often come across American recipes on the internet but am never sure about the measurements.  For example, is a cup of flour the same amount as a cup of sugar or of raisins and what about liquids; is a cup of oil the same amount as a cup of water and so on. Sometimes, I watch the Barefoot Contessa on the TV, I like her a lot, and always feel that I am not confident enough to try her recipes. When I have made the brownies, maybe this weekend as I am waiting for Amazon to send the cocoa powder, I will return and tell you about the results! I am also most interested to see that there is no flour in the recipe.  I have a friend who can't eat gluten products so I will have a dessert to fall back on.  There is a no-flour peanut cookie that I make but that is more suitable for eating with tea or coffee rather than as a dessert.

I am looking for a cake or brownie recipe, using cocoa powder and oil, instead of block chocolate and butter. If the recipe is American and uses cup measures, please give me the weight equivalents in pounds or kilos. I have had an interest in using oil in baking cakes rather than butter.  The end products always seem lighter and the process avoids all that creaming and beating or melting or warming. As for the cocoa powder, I have found some Van Houten cocoa powder on Amazon and will be looking for ways of using it other than for making chocolat chaud.  This brand has wonderful nostalgic memories for me as, when I was growing up, that was what we loved and used.

Wow, Wooly, you now officially a forum influencer?  (or should that be influenza[8-)])