Living Simply – Francois et Moi

Gratitude

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 16:30:34 +0000

Today on Thanksgiving I wanted to share Karmomo’s thoughtful recipe for practicing gratitude. (Read her post here!) It’s a good reminder for me not only today, but everyday to slow down and take notice of the beauty, the little things, and the overall good around me even as things may not be going exactly as planned (or I’m straight up having a bad day!), because, well, from gratitude comes happiness. I’m thankful for so, so many things this year, especially you guys for stopping by however often you do! I wish you and your loved ones much happiness and gratitude this Thanksgiving and everyday.

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Photo Diary: The Honey Harvest

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 12:54:27 +0000

We suited up in full beekeeper uniform, vaguely resembling those of astronauts. And as we approached the hives, the low grade hum of thousands of bees hard at work grew louder and more resonant with each step forward. Removing the first hive cover unveiled a rare glimpse into their world, instantly submersing us into an all out swarming buzzfest. I was nervous at first, but was quickly reassured we were safely protected by our suits and in good hands with my father-in-law (master beekeeper) by our sides, there to talk us through the collection process. Bee colonies are incredible operations. Upwords of 50,000 worker bees per hive hard at work collecting nectar from the surrounding wildflower fields, flying their findings back to home base, and miraculously transforming it into the most precise series of hexagonal cells, a waxy honeycomb framework for their sweet honey. And all the while, the queen bee is busy laying eggs for next season. The collection, extraction and bottling process of 5 hives or 15 gallons of honey was an all day event catalyzed by an electric honey extractor and the integral teamwork of 8 members of the Francois clan. What a wildly fun and educational day we had learning about bees, extracting honey, and indulging in […]

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Happy (Labor Day) Weekend!

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 12:05:23 +0000

Lately, I’ve been working on some bigger DIY projects , new marketing strategies for Francois et Moi and also trying to relish every last moment left in summer. So of course something’s got to give and thus I’ve temporarily lightened my posting schedule to three times a week and am feeling pretty darn guilty about it. I love the daily posting schedule, and will get back to it in September, but right now it’s gotten to be overwhelming especially with a full-time day job. Thanks for stickin’ with me during this growing moment for F&M! And with that note, Happy Friday and Labor Day weekend! What are your plans?! Heading to the cabin? Relaxing at home? I’m pretty excited; we’re headed to Ken’s Family Farm for their annual honey harvest. My father-in-law is a hobby bee keeper, so we’ll be extracting and bottling honey and scheming up all kinds of creative ways to use it! Herb infused honey, beeswax candles, Bit O’ Honey Candy, uffda! the possibilities are endless! Do you have a favorite recipe involving honey? Please share! Have a wonderful Holiday weekend however you plan to spend it! Photo via Kinfolk.

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Fabric Dyeing with Mulberries

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 13:08:25 +0000

I spend my work days discussing all facets of fabric including performance, construction, aesthetic, dye methods, etc., but rarely am I involved in the physical process of creating or dyeing fabric. A few weekends ago while on a walk around the preserve near our place, Ken and I came across a flourishing mulberry patch, and I got the idea to try my hand at fabric dyeing at home using our foraged mulberries. I didn’t know much about how to actually create the dyes using natural dye stuffs, so I called on the experience of Sweet Paul and Burda. The process is super simple, and the end result is beautiful! I also experimented with shooting the fabrics in low light for moodier shots. My first foray, and I love how they turned out! Materials Needed: Prepare the Fabric for Dyeing: 100% cotton or linen fabric. I cut the into 24″ squares to use as tea towels. 1/2 cup Salt 8 additional cups of Water For the Dye: 3 cups of Ripe mulberries or berries of your choice 8 cups of Water Large stock pot Fine mesh strainer Large bowl or small bucket Other Materials: Drop cloth (optional) Clothesline and clothes pins for drying Prepare the fabric by bringing 1/2 cup […]

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How to Make Butter

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 12:48:32 +0000

My friend, Briony, first introduced me to the idea of making butter a few months ago, when we were cooking together at her house, and she mentioned she had made the butter we were cooking with. I love the idea of making things from scratch whenever possible, so of course I was super interested to hear how she did it! Surprisingly, it’s crazy simple. It’s a matter of shaking cream until the butter separates from the buttermilk, draining the buttermilk, and rinsing the butter with water. And ta-da! …butter. Ingredients & Materials: Fresh Cream (or heavy whipping cream as they call it) Mason Jar with Lid Cold Tap Water for Rinsing Pour cream into mason jar and secure cover tightly. I used 1 cup cream and it yielded about 1/3 c butter, but larger batches are also very doable. Shake, shake, shake and shake the mason jar some more until the butter separates from the buttermilk. Once you feel like the butter has reached it’s solid state, drain the buttermilk into another container. Don’t discard the buttermilk though–use it for buttermilk pancakes later! Pour cold water into the mason jar and use a rubber spatula to press any remaining buttermilk out of the […]

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Oeufs en Cocotte with Fresh Herbs + Goat Cheese

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 13:16:44 +0000

This weekend we made oeufs en cocotte, or baked eggs, for breakfast: an easy (and pretty) thing to make on the fly as you roll out of bed on a Saturday morning. The ingredients are fresh and simple: eggs, milk (or cream!), goat cheese, and herbs cut from the garden. You’ll notice salt isn’t on the list of ingredients, and that’s intentional. These fresh, whole ingredients don’t need the extra boost! The yolks in this traditional french dish are typically runny, but we prefer to cook them a few minutes longer until just past the runny stage. Either way, this delicious and easy petit déjeuner will help you start the weekend off right! Ingredients: 2 eggs 2 tablespoon cream tiny pinch of cayenne dash of freshly ground pepper goat cheese chopped fresh herbs (any combination of chives, rosemary, thyme, parsley) butter Special Equipment: 2 ramekins 9″ x 9″ baking dish Preheat oven to 400 degrees. And heat a few cups of water in a teapot or saucepan (for the oven water bath) and bring to a simmer. Butter the insides of the ramekins, crack an egg into each and use a fork to break up the yolk a bit. Add cream and season with cayenne and freshly cracked pepper. […]

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One Fine Saturday

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 13:03:10 +0000

Coffee in bed. Oeufs en Cocotte. Fresh lavender. These are some of the moments that made up our rainy summer Saturday. But that’s not all! We also met with the bank for mortgage pre-approval. It felt so good to take that first step in the process of buying our first home! Fresh Herb & Goat Cheese Oeufs en Cocotte recipe to follow tomorrow! I hope you have a great start to the week!

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Ridiculously Good: Rustic Homemade Herb Crackers

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 13:29:55 +0000

Sometimes I think the best days are the ones that evolve naturally with little or no planning or calculation to them. And the following Saturday after we came back from Europe happened to be one of those days. I woke up early that gloomy Saturday morning, made a pot of french press and made myself comfortable with my laptop. It was an amazing trip abroad, but I was glad to be home nestled on our sofa and slowly working back into the everyday. I jumped on Pinterest between emails and blog planning and decided I wanted to cook something–it had seemed like forever since I’d done anything in my kitchen! We had picked up Boursin Cheese on our first stop at the grocery store, so I thought it would be fun to make something to go with it. I decided I’d use Martha Stewart’s Thyme Crackers as inspiration, as we happened to have all the ingredients already, (I’d picked up cream earlier that week for another project I’m working on!) but since I only have a mini food processor, and it’s not large enough to accommodate the recipe, I used my Kitchenaid mixer instead and it worked great! I also used a blend of fresh herbs […]

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The Art of the Simple Summer Picnic

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:31:03 +0000

One of my favorite things to do on a sunny summer day is to pack a bag and head out for a picnic with Ken. An impromptu–it’s beautiful out, so let’s go!–sort of picnic. Here are a few ways to keep things light, simple and stress free so you can dash out the door and relish these fleeting days of summer. Don’t over think it or fuss over it too much! It’s supposed to be a laid back lounge and snack session in the park. Rather than packing an entire lunch which usually requires a cooler and an extra arm to carry it all, focus on an afternoon snack. Cheese, homemade crackers, olives, veggies, fruit, and cookies. And if you plan to bike to the park, packing light makes that journey oh-so-much more enjoyable. Try packing what you’ve already got in your kitchen. If you cook somewhat often you’ll be surprised at what you’ll be able to pull together, plus you’ll avoid that extra store run allowing yourself more time relaxing in the park. We had zucchini, snap peas and red grapes in our fridge, which aren’t obvious picnic choices, but the zucchini paired well with the Boursin Cheese and the grapes and snap peas […]

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