After a glowing end of the week review about being 'magic,' I had an equally magical weekend. Firstly, I received a package of wrapped Christmas gifts from the family on Friday morning. That afternoon, I took the train with PA to Vitre to visit Caitlin, my favorite assistant here! We had fun making lemon bars and going out to eat Indian food with Sara the German assistant (samosas and Matar Paneer); the waiter even chatted with us a bunch and was impressed that Caitlin and I actually ate the spicy sauce that French people never touch! After that was all the fun of a good old-fashioned American slumber party with sugary snacks, tv, joking around, etc. Tons of fun!
Side note: Caitlin taught me that a "French press" is known as an "Italian" coffeemaker here! LOL!
Our baking challenge for this morning: biscuits and Southern style sausage gravy! We googled recipes and made it all from scratch--me the biscuits and Caitlin the gravy. They were soooooo delicious! We had a lazy morning of cooking, eating, and drinking coffee before a grocery store run. She had to get things done for classes since she is day-tripping to Paris tomorrow, so I stopped in to see Pierre-Antoine before catching the 5:30 train back to Rennes. Did some intense grocery shopping for myself here, then I enjoyed the first box of Kraft mac and cheese that Ma sent me from the States! Now I'm having some real Sleepytime tea and clementines :)
Speaking of clementines, PA's niece Clémentine talked about me recently, saying that my country was very far away from hers! So cute!
Here are all the recipes we used!
Biscuits: http://www.joyofbaking.com/Biscuits.html
2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar (optional) 1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Topping:
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips). Add the milk and slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined. (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)
Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.
Roll out dough to 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thickness. Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured round cookie cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.
Makes about 12 3-inch (7.5 cm) biscuits.
1/2 pkg. mild sausage
2 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. all purpose flour or Wondra
4 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper
Cook sausage until done. Add butter and flour. Simmer for a few minutes on medium heat stirring frequently. Add milk, salt and pepper. Simmer over medium-high heat stirring constantly until desired thickness.
Lemon Bars: http://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonBars.html
Shortbread Crust:
1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup (25 grams) confectioner's (powdered or icing) sugar
1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
Lemon Filling:
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (approximately two large lemons)
1 tablespoons (5 grams) grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons (25 grams) all purpose flour
Garnish:
Confectioner's (powdered or icing) sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pan.
Shortbread Crust: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together. Press onto the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.
Lemon Filling: In your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until nice and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Fold in the flour. Pour the filling over the shortbread crust and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the filling has set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
To serve: Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar. These are best eaten the day they are made but can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for a day or two.
Yield: 16 - 2 inch (5 cm) bars 
