Monday Men: Two in Bed

An old postcard I found at the flea market.

Those wore more innocent times when to men snuggled in one too-small bed and the mentioning of big feet didn't make folks snicker. I'm befuddled by the hat, however.

Wednesday Word Going French

clafoutis |klaˈfoōtē|

noun ( pl. same)

a tart made of fruit, typically cherries, baked in a sweet batter.

ORIGIN French, from dialect clafir ‘to stuff.’

Leave it to the French to have a different word for every nuance of cooking and baking. You see, tarts and clafoutis are not the same. Tarts are composed of a baked shell on top of which a batter like frangipane  and fruit is spread and it's baked again.

frangipane |ˈfranjəˌpān; ˌfränjiˈpän|

1noun an almond-flavored cream or paste.

• a pastry filled with this.

2 variant spelling of frangipani .

ORIGIN late 17th cent.: from French, named after the Marquis Muzio Frangipani (see frangipani ). The term originally denoted the frangipani shrub or tree, the perfume of which is said to have been used to flavor the almond cream.

Clafoutis, on the other hand, consists of a batter on top of which fruit is spread, and the whole thing is baked once. No shell. The fruit sinks into the batter during baking.

Technically, the French calls it clafoutis only when it's made with black cherries. They don't pit the cherries, claiming that the pits add an almond like flavor. In my opinion, they're just lazy. It's easy to add almond extract if you desire.

If this dessert is made with any other type of fruit, they call it flaugnarde.

flaugnarde [floɲaʁd]) also known as flagnarde, flognarde or flougnarde

a baked French dessert with fruit arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter.[1] Similar to a clafoutis, which is made with black cherries, a flaugnarde is made with apples, peaches, pears, plums, prunes or other fruits. Resembling a large pancake, the dish is dusted with confectioner's sugar and can be served either warm or cold.

ORIGIN The name is derived from the Occitan words fleunhe[2] and flaunhard,[3] which both translate as "soft" or "downy". The dish is common in the Auvergne, Limousin and Périgord regions of France.

Right. I'll just call this dessert tart. The French can bite me.

Monday Men: Winter

This is the only suitably seasonal photo I have, and it's not very good. The snow is all blown out and  two kinds of blurs are obscuring the men's features. But that's the magic of these photos--the person who had it in his album didn't need a clear image, only enough detail to jog his memory. Looking at this fuzzy picture he remembered how one guy's laugh sounded and how crisp and cold the air was and even how he felt that day. Snapshots, more than anything, are dependent on viewer participation.

Sunday Stuff

BAH! HUMBUG!

So the world didn't end. Again. What a surprise.  I could have predicted that. First of all the world won't end with rapture, fire and brimstone, and any other Hollywood pyrotechnics. It'll be with a slow whimper.

I'm a Grinch; the whole month of December is nothing but stress, cheesy supermarket music, and way too few daylight hours to me. I cope by batting down the hatches and trying to ignore the whole thing as much as possible.

The only decoration I have is this crocheted snowflake—a gift from Jo Myles. In lieu of tree, it hangs from my Dalek's plunger arm.

No wonder last years Christmas short—the one in Winter Warmers—ended up sort of melancholy. I was battling the flu and fleeing Mariachi music when I started writing it. No holiday short this year, although the second story in Dead in L.A. ends at Christmas time.  I was battling a wee bit of anxiety at the time of writing, and did my best to channel it into Jon's character. If you have it, use it. Am I right?

On the brighter side of things: winter solstice was on Friday, and from here on the days are getting longer. 

Wednesday Word: Imbroglio

imbroglio |imˈbrōlyō|noun ( pl. -glios)an extremely confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation : the Watergate imbroglio.• archaic a confused heap.ORIGIN mid 18th cent.: Italian, from imbrogliare‘confuse’ ; related to embroil .
I love the sound of this word--so Italian. And it wouldn't be too hard to fit into everyday conversation. Imbroglio is a good word to describe the state of my work area or the plot of the latest James Bond movie.

Winter Warmers Winner

THANKS to everyone who joined the authors of Winter Warmers this week on our Toe-Tingling, Finger-unFrosting, Neck-Nuzzling, Sofa-Snuggling Blog Tour – all for the purpose of keeping you warm, you understand!

Thanks for sharing your winter season chat and cheer, and we're pleased to announce the WINNER of the free download of the book:

brenopa

Congratualations! Clare will be contacting you re your preferred format. And to everyone else, thanks for playing!

Hope you all have a sizzling hot Christmas!

Monday Men: Out For A Ride

I prefer amateur shot to studio portraits, but these two gents are more relaxed than the subject of these photos usually are.