Nina's Fondant au Chocolat

When I first moved to Europe I was shocked that I could not find box cake mix. I thought maybe Europeans don't eat cake at home? Or they just have to buy them? But to my surprise that is not that case they....MAKE THEM FROM SCRATCH!

I couldn't believe so many people made scratch cakes, personally I thought scratch cakes where an art form that only certain moms could proclaim (as mine does) by saying " I made this from scratch." And even at that it is only for special occasions. Betty Croker is defiantly a brand I would have been familiar with but from Scratch all the time. Now after almost 2 year abroad I have become more and more comfortable with my baking abilities. I started off with a cake receipt for kids and have worked my way up. Now to be honest I'm not going to win awards or anything but I will be able to proclaim..."I made that from scratch."

Nina's Foudant au Chocolat come from the 15 year girl I mind who is such a pleasure to be around. Now I can go on and on about what a joy she is and how smart and clever she is but we are talking cakes, and she truly makes a great chocolate cake! Not only is it a great cake it is also very easy!

A few days ago Nina and I were at the shop buying the stuff for the cake. I spotted my old friend Betty Croker and thought it would be so much easier and cheaper just to do it this way. I picked up the box and Nina looked at me like I was confused and said,"Elizabeth that is fake cake, we want real cake." I had to laugh at this. I never thought of Betty making fake cake only easy cake. Either way I but the box down and went on with our search ofthe right ingredients. And here it is:

2 cups flour

1 cups sugar (Nina always put a bit more when I'm not looking)

1 cup butter (1 bar or about 3 sticks)

1 king size bar of dark 70% chocolate

4 large eggs

Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave till they blend together. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients; flour and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients into the butter and chocolate mixture. Then add the eggs one at a time mixing them in. Pour mixture into a greased round cake pan. Bake for 20-25 mins at 185 C or 365 F. Let cake completely cool then ENJOY!

Also this cake is very diverse you can change it around. Instead of chocolate you can mix in yogurt with different jams or fruits. Nina's favorite at the moment is chocolate with bananas.

The Puzzle Pieces of Normandy part 1

This weekend I went to Normandy. This was one of the things on my bucket list. I'm a World War 2 enthusiast and love to hear details out what happened.

Well the trip almost didn't happenbecuase it is so expensive to travel toNormandy but I sucked it up and paid the 80 Euro to get dropped off in the middle of nowwhere France ( aka Carenton) From there I was picked up by Oliver a lovey guy who I met on couch surfing. His family has lived in this great old farm house for almost 100 years. So his grandmother looked out these windows as she watched a few brave 82nd airborne drop from the sky into the fields in the late night of June 5th 1944. The first thing that occurred to me was I can't imagine a major battle happening here? As you go down the small roads passing farm after farm it seems to tranquil to allow for such a world changing event. These people yes where under occupation by the Germans but still went on doing there daily activities always knowing that they more then likely were going to be the enter point of the allied countries. But I was never able to put the these pieces together in my mind so I have kept them seperate, almost like I visted 2 different places.

So the first place peaceful Normandy. The people as I said could not be nicer. Every person from this area is proud to be Norman and proud to tell you about their area. Oliver showed me lots of little towns around thethe port of Cherbourg a main port on the English Channel. We met fishermen coming in from a days work, young children swimming in freezing cold water, and tourist taking in the calm ocean and bird watching. It is amazing how many birds you hear. It almost feels like it can't be real, like some city counsel member has set up a recording and speakers some where. But then you realize that as a bird there must be no better place. The air is clear, the sun is shinning, and more than likely loads of yummy fish to eat! Yes if I were a bird Normandy would be a nice place to hang.

After our tour we met up with Olivers' sister and their friend for a lovely dinner. The best thing about dinner besides the wonderful conversation was the Camebert. Camebert is a cheese of Normady that has become one of my favorits. It is quite similar to Brie but I think has a better taste. I love the oozy goodness of Camebert. It is best served with a baguette and red wine.

Interesting fact: during World War 1 French soldiers where given Camebert as part of their rations.

The area of Lower Normandy is very charming and makes you feel at home. If you get a chance to visit I highly recommend taking your time and meeting the locals.

Remembering Normandy...

On Sunday morning I woke up to a brilliantly bright morning. And I was happy that I had planned my tour through the World War 2 battle sites for such a bright day. I guess this was important to me because first I knew I would be emotional going to these beaches and I thought the sun might brighten my spirits and might help me to not be completely pathetic. I was going on Ellwood von Scibold D-Day Battle Tours. This man really knows his stuff. He starts the tour off at his house in Ste. Mere Eglise.

Ste Mere Eglise

This is the first town to be liberate on the Western Front. It was liberated by those wonderful 82nd Airborne! This town was also made famous by the movie "Longest Day" about how one of the 82nd got caught in the church steeple in the midst of the battle for the town and lived to tell the story. This town has all the charm and pride of the 1944 D-Day invasions. Interestingly on the day we were there they were honoring the American Indians for their part in the envision with a touching ceremony at the Airborne Museum. It was really nice to see some of the vets in the town where they once fought. On a negative note it was sad that I over heard a few people say," What did the Native Americans do for WW2," which just made me think of the negative racist cloud that followed the US military through out WW2. Segregation and not allowing people of color to participate in victory parades while the other countries did. What a pity.

Utah beach

Utah beach was the most successful D-Day beach. This is the American landing that went right to plan. In the fight a little more 250 were killed and the troops were able to keep moving forward to Ste. Mere Eglise to meet up with the 82nd. Ellwood did a great job at laying out the game plan of each beach and showing what was and wasn't successful that day.

Pointe du Hoc

The mission commanded by Rudder (Whoop) and the 2nd Ranger Battalion. The ladscape still looks as it did after the war. Massive craters unearth underground German bunkers. Then you look down the cliff and try to envision a few hundred Rangers climbing up the cliff with German shooting down at them from above. It is just unthinkable. Then to get to the top of cliff to relize the guns you were ment to capture have already been moved and now you have to go find them. Pointe du Hoc had the highest death rate for a reason it was literally all up hill.

Omaha Beach

Well, everyone knows this story of Omaha Beach, lots of mistakes, 7 times more Germans there then expected, and alert to the fact that the Allies were invading, bad weather, seasickness, ect ect ect. The biggest loss of any of the D-Day Beaches. As one veteran says by the 3rd wave the shore was already packed with bodies that you couldn't even see the sand. The men left on the beach were young, scared and trying to stay alive. If you go to honor D-Day in one place, I would say go to Omaha. Standing in the sand I left myself imagine some of the images we have of that day. And in that moment it took me somewhere unexpected to a place unknown to me until that moment. I started to think of the thousands who died and then next moment I was thinking about the thousands of others who lived through and witnessed D-Day. They then continued the mission going to other battles in other town and countries. What did they leave on this beach? How did this beach change them? From this beach on this boys became men, actually more than men because most men have never experienced anything like this. But this was a time before war trauma and the understanding that seeing traumatic events lead to trauma, and post war stress syndrome. These men had a hold it inside and only talk about the glory and honor of war. Standing on Omaha beach I realized that more then just lives were lost on this beach but the innocence of a generation. Not that I don't think most of these veterans would say it was war and it was worth it. Cause I know they would be right. I come from a soft generation where war has not meant any real sacrifice to the majority of Americans. But for some reason that day on that beach my thoughts took me there.

American Cemetery in Normandy

Sitting on a hill over looking the Omaha beach lies the American Cemetery in Normandy. Here lies 9,387 Americans who lost their life in the Allies battle for Normandy. The size of this cemetery is massive especial when you think of the short time frame that they all died in. This was a perfect end to the day because it allowed me to reflected with the visual evidence of the crosses to show the scale and loss of June 6th. As you come in you are coming from the east and at first inspection you think the tomb stones are without words but then you realize that they are not facing the east but the west. The tomb stones run parallel with Omaha beach facing the west towards America. I found this so touching. And as I walked down row by row I started to fully feel the impact of how Nationayl this all came together. Every state is represented here laying next to the brothers they fought with. I was lucky enough to be at the cemetery at Taps the whole cemetery stood at attention as the American flags came down and the horn played.

I hope people continue to remember I hope people continue to go. I hope these events don't fade into history like many of the battles of World War 1 did. As the veteran die their stories die. But I hope their legacy continues to live on. This day has forever changed me.

Perpetual Procrastination!

What can I say procrastination is what I'm best at. Sad but true. If I had to be honest I should have started this blog almost two years ago when I moved to Europe. Then I could have given you first hand at the moment information of my travels. But I did not so here I am now, better late then never. At the end of this summer I promised myself to turn over a new leaf and not hold things off to the last minute. If I want to do something I need to be prepared to do it now or start planning for it now. NO MORE ADRENALINE RUSH trying to get thing accomplish at the last minute. I will miss the thrill but I think the reward of being less stressed will be worth it. So it will be a long road a head to change my sorted behavior but I'm ready to turn this procrastination page over and start a new!

What's in a Name...

So I've always wanted my own piece of the world wide web so here it is.

Ratatouille of life may seem like an odd name for a blog. Up until a few months ago I thought Ratatouille was a complicated French dish that only masterful chefs or rat chefs could create. Ends up it is a simple fried veggie stew which is absolutely easy and scumptionous. It is made up of zucchini, eggplants, garlic, onions, really any vegetable and most importantly TOMATOES! And Voila Ratatouille! But why name a blog after such a dish? According to Alan Davidson (The Oxford Companion to Food) the name is derived from the French words ratouiller and tatouiller which are forms of the verb touiller which means to "stir up." So I guess I could have named my blog "Stir Up of Life," but I wanted a combination. I want this blog to be about all the junk (good and bad) I put into life and what happens when you stir it up. Also I couldn't have a proper blog with out mentioning food. Food to me has become a bit of a passion. The more I travel the more I truly believe that you can only really start to understand different cultures one bite at a time. So I will be mentioning different culinary delights and adventuresI have been on. So with that here we go...Hope you enjoy my Ratatouille!

Below is an easy Ratatouille receipt

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy soup pot on medium heat. Sliver onions and add to oil.
2. While the onions cook, chop the bell peppers and add them to the pot, stirring well.
3. Chop the eggplants and add to the pot, stirring well to coat the eggplant with oil. At this point all the olive oil will have soaked into the eggplant, so you need to stir often to keep things from burning until they soften some.
4. Chop the zucchini and stir it in once the eggplant has softened a bit.
5. Chop the garlic and add to the vegetables, stirring well.
6. Chop the tomatoes and add them.
7. Mince the thyme and add it along with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and cook two minutes.
8. Turn down heat and cover the pot. Simmer until everything is soft and well blended - about 40 minutes.
9. Stir in basil and remove from heat.

Things to try with your Ratatouille:

Being Hispanic I also take my Ratatouille and mix it into my Arroz con Pollo and top it off with sour cream (cream fresh in France) It is yum yum yummy!

Also I use it as pasta sauce! Or I just add it to chicken!

For more History of Ratatouille http://www.bighistory.net/the-history-of-ratatouille/