simple living – Francois et Moi https://francoisetmoi.com Making a Handmade Modern Home one DIY project at a time. Sat, 03 Jan 2015 00:45:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://i0.wp.com/francoisetmoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Untitled-2-2.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 simple living – Francois et Moi https://francoisetmoi.com 32 32 76357554 How to Make Butter https://francoisetmoi.com/food/how-to-make-butter/ Thu, 17 Jul 2014 12:48:32 +0000 http://francoisetmoi.com/?p=6633 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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]]> 6633 The Art of the Simple Summer Picnic https://francoisetmoi.com/food/the-art-of-the-simple-summer-picnic/ Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:31:03 +0000 http://francoisetmoi.com/?p=6478 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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