About Diamonds

Who said that local magazines were only about coffee shops, church sales and makeup. They can have quite interesting articles on hot topics. In this specific case, hot ice. I mean of course diamonds. So anyway, in February's editionof Round & About, they talk about diamonds. The excuse is Valentine's Day, nevertheless I learned a few things about mined and synthetic diamonds. Well, about diamonds in general. It's quite fascinating really. Anyway, did you ever buy diamonds? I think I only ever did it when I bought my wife her engagement ring.

Spooky Round & About

 Like last year, I recently got my hand on the October edition of Round & About.I had to take a copy because of the cover. Don't judge a free local magazine by its cover, but what a great Halloween cover all the same, with its pathway full of Jack O'Lanterns. There is also an article about local ghost stories and hauntings, which is always something that I find fascinating. I would visit them just for fun, if I did not want to avoid getting Wolfie scared. That said, they can be used as inspiration for my own scary stories (if I can come round to it). So I'll keep it.

Frightening Jack O'Lantern

Oh the lovely things you find in regional magazines! I stumbled recently upon the Round & About edition for October and lo and behond, there was this gorgeous cover, with the most frightening image of a Jack O'Lantern, with a skeletal body. I had to take it, just for the cover. If it hadn't been free, I would have taken it anyway. Now Halloween content was rather thin, it gave some suggestions of spooky activities for the month and half term, but all the same, what a cover! It will give us inspiration when the time comes for our pumpkin carving.

Sundae au caramel

Lors de notre dernier passage à à Bourne for Desserts, je me suis payé la traite avec un dessert bien décadent: un sundae au caramel avec sucre à la crème (que les Anglais appellent cream fudge). ce n'est pas leur meilleur sundae, mais je voulais en essayer un nouveau, voilà qui est fait. C'est le temps de manger des desserts avec la crème glacée, alors autant en faire bonne mesure. Et je le partage ici parce que food porn.

Le panini au fromage

Il y a quelques jours, nous sommes allés à Bourne for Desserts, un petit diner américain qui se spécialise dans... enfin, oui, les desserts. C'était la première fois depuis des mois. Ils offrent des lunchs, mais ils sont simples: grosso modo, ue variété de grilled cheese, ou toasted cheese comme disent les Anglais. Mais ils se sont gentrifiés depuis notre dernière viste, car maintenant on peut l'avoir en panini au lieu du pain en tranches. Avec des chips (des crisps), et une salade pour faire un peu de verdure. C'est pas compliqué, c'est un peu cher pour ce que c'est, mais ça nous sustente et on se sent moins coupable quand on prend un dessert après.

First sundae of the year

The weather has been gorgeous recently, so we decided to celebrate it by eating ice cream at Bourne for Desserts, which we hadn't visited in months. The American style diner is open all year round and makes great desserts regardless of the time of year, but their best desserts are probably the ice cream based ones. I played safe and went for the Chocolate Mountain Sundae, which looked different from the first time I tried it. It was still delicious and as you can see on the picture properly decadent. I will try something different next time, which might come soon, as we are all eager to go back there.

En train ou en bateau

Nous sommes allés hier à Bourne End, une petite ville anglaise qui est plus un village qu'autre chose. Elle est néanmoins charmante, comme bien des petites villes anglaises le sont, quoique moins charmante que d'autres endroits comme Buckingham, Marlow ou Wallingford. Mais Bourne End a ses qualités. Elle porte bien son nom: on se sent à la fin de quelque part lorsqu'on y est. Son emblême, que vous voyez sur cette photo, a un train et des bateaux. On peut s'y rendre de ces deux façons, parce que comme bien des villes anglaises elle a une gare, de taille modeste comme Bourne End elle-même, et parce qu'elle est sur le bord de la Tamise. Malgré son nom, elle n'est pas que je sache à l'embouchure de la Tamise, pas plus que sa gare soit la fin d'un chemin de fer. On sent malgré tout que l'on est en fin de trajet lorsqu'on arrive à Bourne End, que ce soit en train ou en bateau. Peut-être qu'on y est un peu au bout du monde.

La simplicité du grilled cheese

Cela fera bientôt un an que j'aurai découvert Bourne for Dessert, un café qui a tout du American diner. Il est spécialisé dans les desserts, d'où son nom, mais offre quand même des repas chauds pas très élaborés. Mais la simplicité a du bon: le grilled cheese que j'y ai mangé est pas mal l'un de ceux que j'ai le plus appréciés de mémoire récente. Le pain est tout ce qu'il y a de plus banal, le fromage est un cheddar fort bien banal aussi, c'est accompagné de chips, mais il y a des onions et des tomates dans le sandwich pour donner un peu de légumes et de saveur au tout. J'ai donc envie d'y retourner un de ces quatre pour le lunch, pas pour un dessert.

Banana split

These days are time for ice cream and sundaes, so we recently went back to Bourne for Desserts to treat ourselves with an icy dessert. I had this banana split (and sorry for the blurry picture). I don't know why, but I was in the mood for one. Hadn't had one in decades. Back in the days, it was my brother Andrew who was quite fond of banana splits. I rationalize the consumption sugary decadence by saying it has one portion of fruit and that it has plenty of dairy product, which is good for bones. I mean surely this is as healthy as a dessert can be, right? I didn't allow Wolfie to have any, but he was quite curious. Must be the banana that caught his attention.

Chocolate Mountain Sundae

It is Sunday, so I thought it was a good excuse as any to blog about the first sundae of the year, even though I do blog a lot about food these days (I will try to vary a bit). We recently went to Bourne for Desserts, an American dinner styled café in the very English village of Bourne End. I had their Chocolate Mountain Sundae. Like a classic sundae, but with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla one. It's properly decadent stuff. It was a lovely day and we had a lovely time there (Wolfie was very popular as usual). It was the proper thing to eat on a warm sunny day. And they have a dessert menu of cakes that will be fitting for colder days. They also have more variety of sundaes that seem just as decadent if not more, so I think we will come back to Bourne for Desserts often, in the next few weeks and months.