Kitschinthekitchen 2.0
… Where did I leave off? I think it was something about sausages. Wow, a lot has happened since then: I left my beloved Montreal, moved to Edinburgh, became a vegetarian, learned to love the Dirty Projectors, and acquired a taste for whisky. Now I’m living in France, eating meat again (a little bit…it’s France, I had no choice), acquiring a taste for Roquefort, weeding the garden of a lovely lady named Agnes in exchange for a beautiful room where I’m never bored, and the food is delicious. Seems like the time to start blogging again is upon me.
I could go back over the past year and really fill you in on the details but, dear reader, I promise you that nothing is as exciting as this little gem that I concocted the other day:
Homemade Nutella! As someone who, despite my best efforts, can’t seem to shake my insatiable appetite for chocolate, this is a revelation. Instead of having to shell out for an over-processed, under-developed chocolatey spread, I went out into the yard and collected some hazelnuts to make some ‘Nutella Maison’.
After removing the shell and roasting them for about 20 minutes in the oven, I put them into a food processor with some sugar, cocoa, sunflower oil and milk. It turned out perfectly, much better than my tastebuds had expected. Creamy, thick, and not too sweet. And oh-so nutty. Those lazy bastards over at Ferrero couldn’t be bothered to put more than 50 hazelnuts in a jar of Nutella! My version has double that. AND I have a nut-cracking injury to prove it. That’s right. And I’ll provide the grisly evidence:
Anyway, little did I know, but it turns out I was making a political statement with my Nutella Maison. I’ve been informed that in France, as in many other countries around the world, some consumers have been leaving Nutella on the epicerie shelves because it contains palm oil. (For more information: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/01/palm_oil_a_rain.php ) So not only have I proved my self-sufficienct DIY skills, and demonstrated my kitchen prowess, I have essentially helped save the lives of Indonesian orangutans who would otherwise have fallen victim to palm oil-related deforestation. As strange as that sounds, it makes me want to want to go collect more hazelnuts.
It also makes me want to write more. And as I sit here at a little desk in a French country house with a glass of red wine and a full belly, I’m starting to wonder why I ever stopped.
KitschintheKitchen 
YES!!!! It’s back!!!
And yes, all be jealous, I get to have this nutella any time I want.