I love my Le Creuset Cocotte. It was my last year’s Christmas present! Such an important piece in the kitchen. I have used it to make soup, curry, briyani rice, congee and many more.

Just a few days ago, I used it to cook fish Chinese Congee. This cast iron piece is so suitable in cooking congee as it retains the heat longer than any other pots. To make the best congee, allows slow cooking time of a least 1.5 hours or more in order achieve the smooth and silky texture. It also depends on the type of rice you use. I usually mix basmati rice with a bit of short grain rice.

Not only I think Le Creuset is one of my best pots in the kitchen, a good size of 26cm in diameter allows me to cook more and keep for the next day.

24 Heures du Mans is a famous sports car racing event that lasts for 24 hours non-stop as suggested by the name. This is such an eye-opener for me as I’ve never been to any car racing events before. (Yes! not even Formula 1 Grand Prix in Malaysia! What a shame!) The real cars that I saw on the track, the sound of the GT engines that I first ever heard will remind me of this popular event every year.

Sunday, before we left for Paris to travel back to London, Papi Jean’s treated everyone lunch at a restaurant for his birthday. So, there you go, some pictures of food to share As too many photo’s were taken during 24 heures du Mans, after a few shots, the battery went flat… hmmmm, so I managed to took only a few at the restaurant.

So, we arrived at 8-ish in Caen. Arnaud’s mom was already at the platform waiting. Tonight’s dinner served at home was one of my favourites - Charcuterie (Jambons, Pâté de canard, Jambonneau, Saucisson a l’ail) and salad. Simple but nice!

On the 2nd night, we had a very delicious dinner at home - Salmon crumble. Absolutely scrumptious! I’m waiting to have the recipe and make it, stay tune for the upcoming recipe.

It was quite a short stay in Caen, about 2.5 days before we headed to Le Mans.However, we took it easy, strolled around the city, went to Leclerc (my favourite hyper-market), taking photos, etc etc… ah, not to forget, the Marche - it’s something that I can’t find in London that I really wish I could buy all the fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, seafood etc etc back and start cooking!!

We were in France last week. Finally, it’s time to be off work for a while!!

We left London very early in the morning at about 04:45 in order to catch the 05:34 Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord. The plan was to take another train to Caen from Gare St Lazare after arrival. But we then changed our mind to spend the day in Paris to do some shopping. It was a last minute change and I was thrilled by it.

Even though it was just a short stay, I did make sure my tastebuds were satisfied, yum!We had quite a late lunch at a Brasserie in Boulevard des Capucines. The food, pas mal for the price we paid for 3-course meal. After lunch, we continued our shopping spree and left Paris in the evening to Caen….