Interning!

Exciting news! I've just begun a new internship with Alliance Publishing Press - or rather restarted after nearly a year's pause! I first worked with the company in the summer of 2013 and so it was a lovely surprise when they asked to have me back, with the bonus of being paid this time! 

J'ai une grande nouvelle ! Je viens de commencer un nouveau stage avec 'Alliance Publishing Press', une maison d'édition qui est basé dans le nord de Londres, ou plutôt de recommencer, après presque un an de pause. J'ai travaillé pour la première fois avec l'entreprise pendant l'été de 2013 et donc c'était une belle surprise quand ils m'ont demandé d'y travailler encore une fois, avec le bonus que je suis rémunérée cette fois-ci !

Last year, I worked alongside the CEO, Janet Weitz, helping her with the day-to-day running of the company and was also able to spend some time with the publicist working on the two novels published whilst I was there: 'Where Waters Meet' by John Franks and 'Father Paul's War' by Mark Cheng. Excitingly, Where Waters Meet is a finalist in The People's Book Prize 2014, an English literary prize which showcases new authors in the UK.

 

L'année dernière, j'ai travaillé à côté du PDG, Janet Weitz, en l'aidant avec la gestion de l'entreprise. J'ai passé un peu de temps aussi avec la publiciste qui s'occupait des deux romans qui ont été publiés pendant mon temps là - 'Where Waters Meet' de John Franks et 'Father Paul's War' de Mark Cheng. Where Waters Meet est une finaliste pour 'The People's Book Prize' 2014, qui est un prix littéraire anglais qui présente des nouveaux auteurs au Royaume-Uni.

This year I'll be helping with 'Portrait of a Lost Boy' by Michael Bartram, scheduled to be published this June. Here is an excerpt of the press release to whet your appetites! 

"In Jerusalem on a beautiful day in 1898, Johannes, a young German boy goes on a trip with his father and an artist friend to Hezekiah’s ancient tunnel and disappears.

Later the same day and just a few miles away, his mother gives birth to a second son, a child destined to grow up in a house of grief, neglected by his parents and forever in the shadow of the brother he never met. Hanging on the kitchen wall the artist’s evocative portrait of the lost boy is a constant reminder of the family’s pain.

Sweeping across five decades and set against the political backdrop of both world wars, the Weimar Republic, Nazism and the realisation of Zionist hopes, Portrait of a Lost Boy is a stunning story of love and loss and of the enduring strength of the human spirit." 

Cette année je travaille sur 'Portrait of a Lost Boy'  (Le portrait d'un garçon perdu), de Michael Bartram, qui est prévu d'être publié en juin. C'est une histoire qui couvre des générations, des continents, les deux guerres mondiales et systèmes politiques. 

Can't wait to get started!

À Bientôt !

x

Where Dreams Come True

We went to DisneyLand! 

Nous sommes allées à DisneyLand !

And my amazing friend made us 'Disneylad' teeshirts! 

Et mon amie super a fait pour nous des teeshirts 'Disneylad' !

 

The famous 'Sleeping Beauty Castle' 

Le château célébré de La Belle au Bois Dormant !

On the Dumbo flying ride :)

Dans l'attraction de 'Dumbo'

 

The Treehouse of the Swiss Family Robinson

La cabane dans les arbres de la famille du Robinson Suisse

The Walt Disney Parade!

La parade de Walt Disney !

 

Dumbo <3

Snack time

Le temps pour un snack

Where dreams come true!

Où les rêves deviennent une réalité !

À Bientôt !

x

Une promenade en vélo

We went on a bike ride!
On a fait une promenade en vélo !

 

Details: we started at Richard LeNoir metro and I hired a bike from a local Velib station. N.B. You must have at least €150.00 on the credit card used to hire the bike - this is your insurance and you will be reimbursed on returning the bike!

It cost me €7.00 for 2 hours. See the price break down here. 

We cycled along the Canal Saint Martin (where there is a cycle path to guide you) and ended up in Parc de la Villette. 

Les Infos: On a commencé à Richard LeNoir et j'ai loué un vélib dans la borne la plus proche. N.B. Il faut avoir au moins €150.00 sur la carte bleue que vous utilisez pour louer le vélo - c'est une assurance qui va être remboursé quand vous rentrez avec le vélo. 

Pour moi ça coutait €7.00 pour 2 heures. Voyez les tarifs ici. 

Nous sommes allées en vélo sur les bancs du Canal Saint Martin (il y a une piste cyclable pour vous guider), jusqu'au Parc de la Villette.

À Bientôt !

x 

Cooking up a Storm! (Macarons)

Psst - you there! Want to learn how to make this little pink and green clouds of yumminess? Step this way for your macaron (you may know them as macaroons) recipe! 

You will need: 

-Clean hands / apron / hair tied back
-Weighing scales
-Two mixing bowls
-Electric whisk
-Spatula or wooden spoon
-Sieve
-Piping bags - homemade or shop-bought
-Metal tray / grease-proof paper / macaron silicone mat

Ingredients:

MACARONS
-75g ground almonds
-115g icing sugar
-2 eggs (medium / large)
-50g granulated sugar

-Gel food colourings - I recommend the SugarFlair ones. Liquid food colouring just won't work with delicate macaron mixture!
-Flavourings: try vanilla, almond, orange, mint or lemon extract, or cocoa powder.

BUTTER CREAM

-butter / margarine

-icing sugar

-your food colourings / flavourings

Method:

1. Push your ground almond through a sieve into your mixing bowl to get rid of gritty larger chunks. The almonds should end up looking like fine sand in your bowl.

2. Add your icing sugar to the mixture and stir well. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, separate your egg whites and throw away the yolk. You can use several methods for this - I learned a new one recently: crack the egg into your hand and let the whites run through your fingers. You end up losing very little egg white this way!

4. Weigh out granulated sugar and keep it nearby.

5. Put your egg whites into a clean, dry, grease free bowl and whisk on lowest speed for around thirty seconds. Increase the speed to medium and whisk until soft peaks form - pull the whisk out and the egg whites should come to a peak then flop back into the mixture.

6. Continue whisking on medium adding 2 tablespoons of sugar at a time in 10 second intervals until all the sugar is incorporated. Turn the speed up to high and whisk until glossy. Stiff peaks should form and stay (even when wobbled) when the whisk is lifted out the mixture.

7. Now is the time to add any colouring or flavourings. You should only need half a teaspoon of flavouring and a smidgen of gel colour in order not to overpower the macarons.

8. Gently fold a third of the almond mixture into the meringue until just combined, very slowly - you want your spatula to come under and go over the mixture, not through it! Do the same with the next third and the last third being careful not to knock all the air out your lovely macaron mixture, when there are no dry bits left check the consistency by using the spatula to pick some macaron mixture up and see how it falls back into the bowl - does it drop in a blob and still look quite grainy? If so keep gently folding your mixture very lightly until it just flows off your spatula to leave a ribbon trail that will settle and almost disappear after 30 seconds. Again DO NOT OVERMIX!! You don't want a runny mixture! 

9. Spoon your mixture into a piping bag. I made a green almond flavour mix and a pink raspberry flavour mix.

10. Carefully pipe the mixture onto your silicone mat. Alternatively, trace circles onto baking paper to guide you as you pipe the macaron mix. (See below).

11. Bang your baking tray on your counter top to remove air bubbles and settle the macarons.

12. Now this is the really important bit leave your macarons out to dry on the counter top until they form a non sticky surface - this acts as a barrier when they are in the oven and helps them rise, produce even feet and prevents them cracking. Drying time can be anywhere between 30mins and 2hrs but keep checking so they don't completely dry out as this will make them hollow. A slightly warm dry atmosphere will make the drying process quicker whereas a cold damp atmosphere will be a slower drying time.

13. Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius when your macarons have just started to dry slightly. When your macarons have a non sticky surface you can touch without getting anything on your fingers you can put them in your preheated oven for 5 minutes before turning the temperature down to 135 degrees, bake for a further 5-7 minutes until the macaron doesn't wiggle when gently pushed.

14. Remove from oven and leave to cool on the baking trays then transfer the baking paper to a cool surface or wire cooling rack to completely cool - if the macarons are even slightly warm they will stick to the paper.

15. Once cool gently and carefully peel back the baking paper from the macarons and match up like sized macarons in pairs.

BUTTER CREAM

Butter cream is always a bit of guess work. I would start with a tablespoonful of stork or softened butter, and shake about 115g of icing sugar into the same bowl. Cream them both together and add a teaspoon of cold water to help the mixture along if it is too thick. Keep on back and forth adding icing sugar and water until the mixture sticks to the spoon and drops off it with a slight shake of the hand.

 I added raspberry coulis to my icing for flavour.

Sandwich together by piping a round of butter cream or chocolate ganache on one half and gently apply even pressure with your hands by cupping the macarons and using a gentle twisting motion. Ta da! Leave your macarons in a cool, dry place for the butter cream to solidify.

Enjoy!

À Bientôt !

x