A Year in Photos

Looking back at 2012 through some of my favorite photos of the last 12 months.


January



A gorgeous, sunny view over Port-en-Bessin


February 



Bayeux street scene and a delicious boulangerie/pâtisserie


March



Peeling paint on an old door in Courseulles-sur-Mer




Stretching noodles in Paris


April



Flowering field in Normandy


May



Just some of the cheese available at the Saturday morning market in Bayeux


June



Raindrops in our garden




Early summer blooms in Normandy


July



Tico, being adorable


August


Fishing at the Château de Canisy


September



Rusty garden still life




A tangle of fishing nets in Saint-Vaast la Hougue


October



Urban green on the Île de la Cité, Paris


November

Trois fromages

Candles for peace, Bayeux cathedral


December



Sunny Paris view on Christmas day


Happy celebrating and wishing you a joyful 2013!



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New Year's Intentions

The idea of making New Year's resolutions just isn't me, and never has been.

Resolutions seem negative. They imply that we've been bad in the last twelve months and need to change our behavior. That we haven't been good enough.

Intentions however, suggest that we are already good enough and we have positive and exciting new ideas for our future.



Thinking about the New Year brought these words to mind:

Creativity
Comfort
Choice
Contented
Confidence
Calm
Clarity



and
Cheese

What are your New Year's intentions?

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Postcard From Paris

Bleu électrique!


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Postcard From Paris

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
- Oscar Wilde


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Postcard From Paris

 The best part of Christmas dinner. Even better than the Champagne.


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Postcard From Paris

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Warmest Wishes

Wishing you a day of laughter, joy and peace. Merry Christmas!

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Postcard From Paris

It poured down rain in Paris yesterday. Poured.

I dodged the raindrops the best I could, but after getting soaked walking just a few blocks, I decided that it simply wasn't a day for wandering around with my camera. 

After a late lunch and some indoor, department store "window" shopping, I found a heated terrace and sat watching the rain, the holiday shoppers and the general day to day life of the quartier before meeting a friend for some Champagne and wine tasting at a little caviste in the neighborhood. 

By the time we headed across town to meet another friend for Chinese dumplings in Belleville, the rain had stopped and the temperature had warmed up about ten degrees. We unwound our heavy scarves from around our necks, took off our gloves had a beautiful walk across the shimmering Seine and past the Hôtel de Ville, which is all dressed up for the holidays with sparking lights.

Don't discount Paris in the winter. Even if the weather outside is frightful, this city offers plenty of things to do.

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Photo du Jour - Not Your Ordinary Café Tables

 A colorful corner in Paris.

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Photo du Jour - Collecting Seashells

A drizzly afternoon spent wandering along the port, exploring tide pools and collecting seashells on the beach.


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Photo du Jour - Little Differences

There are joggers in Normandy. Lots of them.
It was one of the first things I noticed (other than all the cows) when we moved here.

Down in the Languedoc, I can count the number of joggers I saw in eight years on one hand. And they were usually foreigners or les Parisiens.
Here, there are hordes of locals out huffing and puffing every weekend.

Maybe they're trying to work off all the delicious local butter and cheese?
If so, maybe I should think about getting out there myself...


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French Desserts You Can Make Ahead (and Freeze!) From The Bonne Femme Cookbook - And A Giveaway

La Belle France inspires everyone in a different way. 

For Wini Moranville, it was the classic, delicious recipes that are cooked every day in the kitchens of France that became her greatest inspiration. Drawing on her many years of traveling and living in France, Wini wrote a cookbook detailing how to cook authentic French food without fuss, fear, or all that butter-- the way real French families eat today.

Without further ado, I am delighted to present Wini Moranville and a few French Desserts You Can Make Ahead...


Merci mille fois, Chez Loulou, for hosting my guest post.

The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food That French Women Cook Every Day is all about how you can get a life-enhancing, true-to-France meal on the table any night of the week—often in 30 minutes or less.  In fact, an entire chapter offers 30-minute entrées.

Does that include dessert? Yes, indeed, it can. 

Of course, lucky French women have it easy—they can just pop into their favorite neighborhood pâtisserie on their way home from work and pick up something beautiful.

But for those of us that don’t have glorious pastry shops in our neighborhoods, there’s another way: Turn your freezer into that dessert shop.

As I point out often in the book, quite a few French desserts freeze well, including crèpes, pound cakes (les quatres quarts, as they’re known in you-know-where), and profiteroles. Whenever I make one of these desserts for dinner, I usually have extra, which I stash in the freezer and bring out for any-night enjoyment.

This Chocolate-Cherry Pound Cake Bonne Femme is a prime example of a dessert that freezes beautifully. Enjoy some on the day you make it; then wrap the leftovers well in plastic freezer wrap and refrigerate up to one month.  

Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cherry Pound Cake
(Le Quatre-Quarts aux Cerises et Chocolate)

While the photo shows fresh cherries, now that it’s winter, I suggest garnishing this with frozen cherries that have been macerated (that is, soaked) in a cherry liqueur. You could also serve it with a little fruit compote or poached pears. Enjoy!

Makes 10 servings

For the cake:
1 1/4 cups 2 percent or whole milk
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon kirsch (cherry brandy)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the topping
2 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted and halved, or frozen pitted cherries, well drained and halved
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kirsch (cherry brandy)
Sweetened crème fraîche or sweetened whipped cream

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan.

2. For the cake: Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it steams. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted; set aside to cool. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients and the chocolate mixture in batches, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, beating on low speed after each addition until combined; stir in the kirsch and vanilla. Pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly.

4. Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake come out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and place it on the rack to cool to room temperature.

5. For the topping: At least 1 hour before serving, combine the cherries, sugar, and kirsch. Let the cherries macerate at room temperature for about 1 hour; refrigerate for longer storage (up to 2 hours).

6. To serve, slice the cake and place on individual dessert places. Spoon some macerated cherries atop each slice of cake and add a generous spoonful of sweetened crème fraîche or whipped cream. To store, wrap the cake well in plastic wrap; refrigerate for up to 1 day or freeze for up to 1 month. 


Two more make ahead and freeze ideas:

Yes! You can freeze crêpes. Stack each cooled crêpe on a plate with a sheet of waxed paper between each. Cover with plastic freezer wrap and freeze up to 2 weeks. Thaw in the refrigerator or microwave. Refresh each thawed crêpe in a sauté pan over medium heat before serving. 

Freeze unfilled profiteroles in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Refresh from a frozen state on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for 6 to 10 minutes. Cool and fill. 
Photo by Andy Fjellman.

Thank you, Wini!

As an added gift, Wini and her publisher have offered a copy of The Bonne Femme Cookbook to one of my readers.
To enter, simply leave a comment including your email so I can contact you if you win. Comments will be closed promptly at noon Paris time on Wednesday, December 19. 
The winner will be chosen by a random number generator, then announced here.

*The giveaway is now over. Thanks for your comments everyone and congratulations to Libby! Hope you enjoy the book!*

For more information on the Bonne Femme Cookbook, check it out on Barnesandnoble.com . Or go to Wini’s blog at http://chezbonnefemme.com. 

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Love/Don't Love

Love - Livarot




Don't Love - Choucroute


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Photo du Jour - La Pâtisserie

I never know what to choose at la pâtisserie!


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What I Learned While Making Gumbo

1) A deep, rich roux waits for no man. Or woman. It refuses to be abandoned, even for a minute.

2) Leave the iPhone in the other room. Concentrate on the slow and steady stirring and quit trying to multitask all the time.

3) Between Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, the radio or TV constantly playing in the background and the neediness of our dogs, I get distracted often and easily. I need to work on this.

4) Use those 25-30 minutes of roux making to brainstorm, clear your head and/or just be.

5) Patience pays off. Especially when it comes to gumbo.



The recipe is Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo from Emeril Lagasse.


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Inspirational Women

For the last few days I've been in a writing slump.
And since I haven't bothered to leave the house at all over those few days, I've had plenty of time to spend stressing over it searching online for some inspiration.

I didn't have to look very far.

All I had to do was glance at my Links List to see what my favorite bloggers, photographers and writers have been up to.



Carina's photographs make me dream of becoming a better, more accomplished photographer.

Katia's enthusiasm in meeting new people and sharing their stories gives me the desire to welcome new people into my life.
In fact, the title of this week's episode is Inspiration!

Anne's design sense and eye for detail make me see the world around me in a fresh, new way.

Lindsey's myriad of talents remind me that passion and dedication can lead to amazing opportunities.

Andi's enduring love of travel makes me long to jump on an airplane. And from time to time, she kindly invites some of us around to share our France stories!

Ann's beautiful way with words motivates me to keep writing, even when I'm struggling through slumps like this one.

I am in awe of each of these very talented women and love watching them pursue their various projects.

Thanks for the inspiration, ladies!





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The "Kids"

I don't have kids, but I do have two dogs and a cat. I adore them and I dote on them. A lot.

Speck, on the left, is almost 15 years old. He's riddled with arthritis and has become a fussy, irritable old man. There are moments when I find his neediness really difficult, but at the same time my heart aches for him and his confusion and frustration about his pain. So I try my best to be patient. He takes medication every day, which helps him a bit.

Tico, on the right, is 12 years old. He loves us, and only us. And food. In general, he dislikes new places and new people, though there have been a few who have wooed him over and become his friend. Especially if they have offered him treats. And it seems that the older he gets, the more tolerant he has become when meeting new people.



We also have a gorgeous black and white cat named Domino.
We found him abandoned by his mother when he was only two weeks old, so we had to bottle feed him for those first few weeks. You would think that there would be a close bond between us after that, right? Nope. He prefers the dog's company much more than he prefers ours. And of course they think he's crazy and avoid him as much as possible.

Voilà! Our little family. I hope you've enjoyed meeting them.


More dog and cat photos here.
As I said, I don't have kids, so I hope I'm allowed some gratuitous pet photos from time to time!



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