IMG_9948

I wanted to do something special to mark this special date…. who would have thought that five years ago just around the holidays I was digging for some recipes that I stumbled to a site called Pinoy cook. After exchanging some emails and having sent the web owner (Thank you Sassy) some photos she encouraged me to write. Little did I know after that moment, I would be blogging my culinary experiments and travels since then.

Madeleines came to my mind , not just because of the buttery , lemony taste that bring sheer delights but because I really love the scalloped shaped of these dainty treats.
Also because I have not tackled myself to bake some and with the thought of my moulds just gathering dust, why not challenge myself to bake some to mark my 5th year of my web life.

The moment the French crew mate saw my moulds she immediately knew what I was up to. I have thought madeleines were complicated. I was pretty much surprised how easy they are to bake.
For the recipe I usedDavid Lebovitz’s Lemon Glazed Madeleine.

So easy to follow but I suggest do use a good quality of butter.

IMG_9944
The crew could not contain their excitement…. then the French one asked: “Do we have nutella?”

Oh nutella… I told her wait till this boat goes back to France and I will buy her tons of nutella. Hmm, told her to wait, I dashed to make some ganache. Those Valhorna can’t just sit there with out being used.

choc
So I made half of the madeleines dipped in chocolate while the other half I coated them with lemon glaze. Perfect for a wet rainy day here in Florida.
While having tea and dipping the spongy madeleines ,my mind drifted to France…. it was in France I first tasted madeleines.

nice
Nice, France

I feel I had my Proustian moment…

She (Marcel’s mother) sent for one of those squat plump little cakes called “petites madeleines,” which look as though they had been molded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell … I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure invaded my senses …

IMG_0042
Sunrise as we entered Ft Lauderdale, Florida after 4 days of passage from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

So indeed my blog has travelled with my belly… It all started in a cold winter in Yorkshire, UK when I was digging recipes. One website then link after link opened me to the world of web blogs.

And encouraged me much more my passions of finding pleasures on food, photography and kitchen experiments. Other than that, it led to some great friendships and welcoming homes who have hosted me on my travels.

This web site indeed has been a diary of my life, my marriage that ended to the birth of my nephew, this has marked my life in UK, Norway, France , Italy, USA, mostly Greece and to other places I have traveled. As one web friend said this site is: “great photos, yummy food and breath taking locations” (Thank you Ara)

For such day the madeleines indeed are exquisite pleasures to such exquisite life.