Egg

The store, not the oval body laid by a chicken or other fowl.
It's just around the corner from where we live and it's such a beautiful store.

For a long time I walked by it without realizing it was a clothing store; it looked like a mysterious room with a big window with a light gray shade behind it and the word egg stenciled onto the glass.
Then, just a few days ago, on a slightly warmer day than usual for this time of year, it was wide open as I walked by with the baby and, as I had my camera on me, I asked if I could take some pictures.

The space is a converted stable.
It looked ideal, having that long white table to work on, the fabric, forms and other items strewn about.

The very sweet women who work in there didn't seem to mind at all my taking pictures of them while they worked, perhaps they're used to it.

There's another, smaller store across the street but there are no clothes in there.  There's always some sort of interesting installation in it though, perhaps it's the "art exhibit" part of the store.

Maybe it's the artisan nature of the workspace that is so attractive to me.  I'd certainly know how to cover that whole table with "stuff" in a heartbeat: drawing, painting, and crafts supplies, my computer, camera stuff, and piles of paper and other things which my best friend lovingly calls "the filing system" (Hey, I know where everything is in those piles, true story). It would be the perfect place to do collages of the kind Leslie does on her beautiful blog A Creative Mint.

They've changed the collection in the last few days, no more tartans, no more bowler hats for now.
The colors are gorgeous, very rich or very muted, they cover the spectrum, but I haven't seen anything egregious yet.

I love this store, have I mentioned that? It might be the space I love even more than what's in it, but I must admit all the clothes look interesting and different, and I like the layout of it all.

There's room to see and hear yourself think.

Egg
37 Kinnerton Street,
Belgravia
London, SW1X 8ES

Flan aux Courgettes - Zucchini Flan

Ce billet est dans mes brouillons depuis très très longtemps, achetez du saucisson sec pour la route longtemps. Ce serait plutôt pour quand les courgettes sont abondantes ce qui ne sera pas le cas immédiatement, mais je me sentais un peu mal à l'aise de ne pas l'avoir publié plus tôt étant donné que la recette était délicieuse et que je n'ai pas pu faire quoi que ce soit récemment pour cause de chaos ici. De plus j'avais promis que je serais plus présente cette année dans mon dernier billet, donc un peu de patience svp.
A l'origine, j'ai trouvé cette recette sur le blog Leafy Cooking en cherchant une recette de courgettes rappelant du gratin aux courgettes mais plus légère. En fait cette recette vient du Le Journal des Femmes et l'auteur se nomme Sonia Ballantini. A l'époque, il me restait de la sauce tomate rustique d'une recette de melanzane (hors d'oeuvres d'aubergines) que j'ai étalé au fond du plat à gratin pour un peu de variété (j'avoue beaucoup aimer incorporer des tomates dans les plats à base d'oeufs aussi).


EN: This is a post that has been languishing in my drafts for a long long time, like get some beef jerky for the road long. It's more appropriate when zucchini are abundant which won't be for a little while, but I felt bad about not posting it because it was a really delicious recipe and I haven't been able to make anything recently because of craziness around here, but I promised I would be around more this year in my last post, so bear with me.
I originally found this recipe on the blog Leafy Cooking while browsing and looking for a zucchini recipe that would be reminiscent of zucchini gratin but much lighter. It turns out that it comes from Le Journal des Femmes, which is part of L'internaute, which is a French internet lifestyle magazine website; the author of the recipe is Sonia Ballantini. At the time, I had some leftover rustic tomato sauce from making melanzane (eggplant hors d'oeuvres) which I layered at the bottom of the dish for a little variety (also, I confess I love to incorporate tomatoes in egg dishes, so there).


La Recette - Flan aux Courgettes
Adaptée de Sonia Ballantini

(Pour 6 Personnes)
3 courgettes
2 petits oignons
2 gousses d'ail
1 cuillère à soupe de farine
5 oeufs
3 cuillères a soupe d'huile d'olive
20 cl de crème liquide
sel, poivre

La recette originale inclut une botte de basilic que je n'avais pas, mais je suis sûre que ca doit être délicieux à inclure.
Préchauffez le four à thermostat 6-7 (200°C).
Epluchez les oignons et l'ail. Hacher l'ail tres finement.
Râpez courgettes et oignons. Faites-les sauter à feu vif dans une grande poêle avec deux cuillèrées d'huile. Salez et poivrez.
Hors du feu, ajoutez la farine, les oeufs battus, la crème, et l'ail haché.
Remuez, versez dans un plat huilé (si vous ajoutez une couche de sauce tomate rustique comme moi, versez celle-ci au fond du plat d'abord). Cuisez 25 à 30 minutes au four.


The Recipe - Zucchini Flan
Adapted from Sonia Ballantini

(For 6 People)
3 Zucchini
2 small onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp flour
5 eggs
3 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup + 1 1/2 Tbsp light cream

The original recipe includes a bunch of basil which I did not have then, but which I'm sure is delicious if included.
Heat the oven to 400°F.
Peel the onions and garlic. Finely chop the garlic.
Grate the zucchini and onions. Saute them on high heat in a large pan with two Tbsp of olive oil.
Add salt and pepper.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the flour, cream and the chopped garlic. Add the sauteed zucchini and onions and mix thoroughly.
Pour in an oiled baking dish (if, like me, you add a layer of rustic tomato sauce, put this layer down first at the bottom of the dish). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.