……I looked at my watch and it was 5 minutes to 4:30pm. I stood up and went to the kitchen to grab the Kaya that I made. I left the office sharp at 4:30pm to make my way to the nearest Underground station to meet up Arnaud, then to King’s Cross where the Eurostar is now based. It was quicker than we thought it would take us to get to the station. In fact, we were more than 1 hour early. It was gonne be tight schedule, there’s no way to miss the connecting train to Caen, we prayed.

To our disappointment, Eurostar did it again. Stopped just 10-15 minutes before arriving at Gare du Nord. What happened?? Apparently, the station was too busy and there was no platform available! We had no choice but to wait patiently. I kept looking at my watch, 5 minutes passed by, another 10 minnutes passed by… I wasn’t optimistic at all as we had only 30 minutes after arrival to make our way to Gare St Lazare.

Finally, we had to face the fact that we missed the train. All the cars were all booked for the next few days, so, there wasn’t any options left to get to the destination on that night! We had to put up in a nearby hotel. Bug! It was an unexpected short stay in Paris!

We were so hungry that we could almost faint! In the city like Paris, I bet there’s no chance to suffer from hunger as restaurants and brasseries are everywhere. There were a few just down the road. We walked past a few and finally decided to go into one of the brasseries. It didn’t take long to scan through the menu, we both opted for the Specialties of the brasseries. I ordered Bouillabaisse and for Arnaud it was Tagliatelle with smoked Salmon & Crayfish! Yum… they were good!

We strolled back to the hotel and were both too tired by now. Time to hit the sack.

Another start for the next day. Finally, we made sure we were on the train to our destination, no more time to waste! It was a mere 2 hours journey. All I could remember was I slept through the journey. Yes, I was that tired!

The moment I stepped out from the train, I could feel the chill down to my spine! Aww, it was so cold!

It was nearly time for lunch when we reached. A homemade food was ready on the table to welcome us. I feel that I am always spoilt with good food. There are always new surprises on the table that makes me say ‘wow’! My stay is always pleasant and comfortable in Caen. There are shops that I will not miss whenever I visit Caen.

Christmas Eve arrived without much of my notice. I thought I just reached this lovely place yesterday! I always thought Christmas dinner was very much associated with Turkey, well the traditional way I suppose. Our Christmas dinner was full of seafood, and more seafood. Ah, I had Escargots by the way. A lot of people dislike this, but I think it’s such a typical French dish that you should probably try once (for the lifetime) even if you are not an Escargots eater! There was only one meat dish. Well, Foie Gras is never a miss during this day. Not to mention a good selection of cheeses! It never ends without la buche de Noel too!

As soon as it was 00:00, everyone gathered by the table and started to open the presents. This was the most exciting moment I would say. However, we knew what we were getting anyway! So, there won’t be a case where we end up disliking our presents

It was another early morning the next day as we had to leave for Le Mans. Le Mans is the place where it’s famous for its Rillettes and 24 heures du Mans. This time, I tried Cherry & Duck Pâté, with traditional raisins bread, what could I say but excellent combination! Another of my favourite is saucisson à l’ail. If you are also a fan of Charcuterie, you’ll know what I’m talking about!

Another Christmas dinner with more food. It was really a feast! We really enjoyed every moment of it - more champagne, more wine, more oysters, salmon, foie gras… etc.

Overall, our stay in France was another great one even though it was too short. So much to remember and looking back all the photos makes me feel like I was there again. Now that Christmas is over, what’s next? Well, it’s to welcome year 2008. I believe there are many more to come in the upcoming years.

It’s 20/12. All I could say is time flies! It was probably about 2 weeks ago we were busy shopping for presents and getting everything wrapped nicely. Today, we have got all the presents packed in the luggage and ready to go. Where to? Off to France to celebrate Christmas!

Finally, I made sure that I got all I needed, ticked off my to-do list printed in my memory. This year, I thought I would bring a bottle of homemade jam to France. You might think, why that? Confiture/Jam, they have loads there. But, it’s a very uncommon jam (in this part of the world I would assume) that I’ve made, which I believe will be seen as something new to the family.

It’s my all time favourite! It’s something that I remember mom spending at least more than 1 hour making it. So, this homemade jam, more known as Kaya or Sri Kaya. What’s that? Literally, Kaya means rich in Malay. In this instance, Kaya is a jam made with coconut, eggs, sugar and pandan (screw pine leaves) for its great flavour and colour. To translate in French, I just simply call it Confiture de Coco. Well, not quite but that will do!

In Malaysia, Kaya is commonly eaten with toast, alongside with a cup of long black Malaysian coffee. If you go to any coffee shops, it is always on the daily menu. Not a coffee drinker myself, I would have it with a cup of black tea, no sugar.

No, I didn’t spend ages in the kitchen making this. Overall, it took me 30 minutes or less. I have to admit that this doesn’t change the taste nor texture of Kaya at all. It tastes as tasty as the one that takes longer to make. Well, this improved recipe was given to my mom by a friend. I call this Express Kaya or Kaya Express! (Yeah, I wish I could get rich instantly, LOL!)

Well, I personally think that it is a good idea to make this in order to bring the taste of Malaysia to France. I hope the sweetness and uniqueness flavour of Confiture de Coco will bring everyone a Merry KAYA Christmas!

** Just a reminder, tomorrow will be the last day for you to make donation for Menu for Hope. What are you waiting for, please action now and win your favourite prize!

It’s freezing cold out there with patchy frost! The temperature dropped to -4 Celcius! I now realise winter isn’t interesting at all, unless it snows which makes me excited. Don’t know why but I guess it’s nice. (Kristin, I’m sure you agree with me! Let’s build snowman this year in front of ermmmm.. not anywhere near the dump! *LOL*) I believe staying indoor is the best option.

As there were some carrots, turnips and some potatoes, I thought a warm bowl of goodness would be a good idea. So, I decided to make Lamb & Winter Vegetables Soup last night. I like this sort of cooking where I cut all the vegetables into chuncks or cubes and let Le Creuset does its wonders of slow cooking. You can substitute any root vegetables you fancy. Don’t know about your but I particular like turnips because of their unique taste.

Here’s the recipe for 2 persons:

Ingredients
3 large potatoes cubed
2 turnips cubed
5 carrots cubed
1 onion chopped
250g shoulder of lamb cut into big chunks
some olive oil
salt pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground tumeric
300ml chicken stock
some water

Method
1. In a big cocotte, put some olive oil and brown the onions.
2. In another pan, put some olive oil and slightly brown the lamb. Then set aside.
3. Once the onions start to be translucent, put in the lamb. Mix well.
4. Put in cumin, coriander, tumeric, salt and pepper. Give it a good stir and cook for about 2 minutes.
5. Then, put in all the vegetables, stir well. Cook for 5 - 10 mins.
6. Pour in the chicken stock and water enough to cover all the ingredients in the cocotte.
7. Bring it to boil.
8. Turn to low-medium heat and let it cook for at least 45 minutes to 60 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and the meat is tender.
9. Serve with crusty baguette or bread of your choice.

Today is the launch of Menu for Hope IV. As promised in my previous post, I am going to provide you further information on this campaign. If you would like to have more details about Menu for Hope and the purpose of this campaign, please check out the Chez Pim’s site - the organiser of this campaign. As mentioned before, all the fund raised through this campaign will go to support a feeding program in Lesotho. You can check out some details and pictures here.

Now, as readers of My Cooking Hut, your contribution as little as $10 will make this campaign a big success! Please follow the donation instructions below:

1. Choose the prize or prizes of your choice from the main Menu for Hope site. (This is the global list of all prizes donated this year). Alternatively, you can see only the UK prizes on Cook sister! or The Passionate Cook. You must make sure to check the terms and conditions for the individual prizes BEFORE you bid, as some will come with restrictions regarding where they ship to or how long the prize is valid for.

2. Go to the donation site and make a donation. The hosts do not handle the cash at all - it goes directly to Justgiving to be passed on to the World Food Programme.

3. Please specify the prize code of the prize you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. If you are buying more than one ticket, please indicate how you would like the tickets to be allocated. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU01, 3xEU02.

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

To wrap up this post, please check on Chez Pim on Wednesday, January 9 for the result of the raffle!