A fit of eatin'

You never know when you will be hit by a fit of eatin' so you'd best be prepared.  Considering I am rarely prepared for anything, I was doubly impressed with my sister-in-law while in France.  She carries a rather small purse that doesn't even hint at its contents (as opposed to mine which is two sizes too big and I can never find what I need when I need it).  She came through with several necessary items at just the right time, but the most important of which was a spoon.  Because you just never know.
Some snacks do not need an eating utensil.  None of ones found in the métro do.  Just 2 euros, please.

Meringues do not require a spoon or fork.

If push comes to shove, you can eat a cherry tart with your fingers.  Not entirely civilized, but possible.

Mine on the Air France flight home was delicious, by the way.  (So was the champagne apéritif.  Merci, Air France!)

Macarons are finger food.  Beautiful finger food.  Works of art, really.  This one is was cassis flavor.

Mme Boop's chocolate cake, gâteau au chocolat, can be eaten with one's fingers, too, if one is overcome by a fit of eatin' and there are no forks available.

But for some desserts, a spoon is de rigueur, a necessity.  Such as ice cream, la glace.

Chocolate or coffee flavor.

Mme P's delightful mousse au chocolat requires a spoon.

A fork or spoon is needed for this raspberry creation.

And also for this one.

And it would just be plain old gauche to eat this without a spoon or fork.  Mon dieu!

You could, conceivably, get away with eating these with your fingers, dipping them into the crème Chantilly, 

but the Frenchies serving you or sitting at the table next to you might get upset with les Américaines.

We discovered just how prepared my sister-in-law was while checking out the pastry window pictured above on Rue Cler in Paris.  We all settled on our choices, sister-in-law's the only one that really required an eating utensil.  She just whipped one out of her purse, to which the BFF said without blinking "You just never know when you'll be hit by a fit of eatin', do you?"  So, that became a theme throughout our stay in France.
She goes in for the kill--

She is almost there.

The rest of us were ready to pounce on it, too, providing she would share the spoon. (Which she did.)
The next time it came in handy was with the rhubarb compote.  (By this time, others had stashed plastic spoons in their bags.)

Sister-in-law (with the help of the Ex-Ex, her little brother), left this note for JC before she hopped in her car to return home after the trip.

Just too thoughtful, isn't she??  We all have to look after each other in this big old world of eatin'.
Here's to us, mes amies!

With cherries in season now and after tasting delicious cherry tarts in France, I found this recipe.  The BFF loves apple tarte tatin, so I thought this one would be appropriate.

Cherry Tarte Tatin
8 servings

1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 1/4 lbs. sweet cherries, pitted and sliced in half
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, cut into 8 slices
1 1/2 Tbsp. water
1/4 tsp. almond extract (optional)
Confectioner's sugar

Roll the pastry dough into an 11-inch circle and chill.  Toss the cherries in 1 Tbsp. flour and set them aside.
Sprinkle the sugar across the bottom of a 10-inch overproof skillet and then layer the prepared cherries along with the slices of butter over the sugar.  Sprinkle the cherries with 1 1/2 Tbsp. of water mixed with the almond extract, if using, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Preheat oven to 375˚F.  Continue cooking the cherries for an additional 18-22 minutes, slightly longer if using frozen cherries, until the juices have reduced, but the cherries have not dried out.  Remove the skillet from the heat and drape the pastry over the cherries, fitting the overhanging pastry down between the fruit and the sides of the skillet.
Bake the tart in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry turns golden brown.  Cool the tart in the skillet before inverting it onto a serving platter.
You can dust it with confectioners' sugar and serve with whipped cream, if you wish.

Bon appétit, to eaters everywhere!

BFF Trip 2012

I honestly have no idea where to begin or how to put the past two weeks into words.  So, I will start here, with this circle of friends.  And I will attempt to make sense of how we all came together.
It started three years ago with my pastis-pouring friend whom I met on the social networking website New York in French.  He is the crazy glue that holds us all together.  La colle folle??

(Pictured here pouring drinks for his guests.  He prepared my sister-in-law's first ever pastis.  A proud moment for a Provençal Frenchie!)

Then M. Pastis introduced me to his son's English teacher, Mme P, pictured here with her beautiful daughters.

Mme P and I now have an exchange program in place with our schools so we get to spend time together each spring.  (If you are a regular reader, you know all about this!)
I can't leave out her handsome husband--

Who made this for us in the cement around their pool.  What a great surprise for both of us.

And here is the son (my 7th and 8th grade girls would never forgive me if I didn't include his photo), shown here with Ms. Arizona.

Add in my BFF group, pictured among the lavender at the Abbaye de Sénanque.

Next stir in Lyn and Dave, my friends from home, pictured with M. Pastis' lovely wife.

They are exchanging houses with M. Pastis' mom, pictured here with moi and Dave's sister.

Then comes Bonnie, whom I met on-line through an AATF colleague here in NC, but not face-to-face until this evening.

She and her husband are living in France for a few months and met M. Pastis after I sent out an email asking if anyone was interested in exchanging houses with his mom.
And last, but certainly not least, mix in Jim and Connie.

M. Pastis met her on NYIF also and they have become great friends.  He introduced me to her and we have been e-pals, but once again, we hadn't met face-to-face until this evening.  Her sister, Carole Fredericks, was a singer living in Paris until her untimely death at the age of 49.  Connie keeps her sister's memory and work alive through the Carole D. Fredericks Foundation.  (As a French teacher, I must find out more about this and use some of her materials in my class this year.)
While in Paris, I visited her grave in Montmartre.

We discovered that Carole (and their big brother Taj Mahal) didn't get all the talent in the family.  M. Pastis had already told me that Connie has quite a voice, so I asked her if she would sing for us.  She willingly obliged and we were enthralled as she serenaded us under the stars (they have the Big Dipper in France, too!) in M. Pastis' garden.

She and I are both huge Louis Armstrong fans and love his rendition of La Vie en Rose so she chose that song for us.
What a wonderful evening and the time spent with old and new friends was the absolute best I could ever have hoped for as I planned this trip.
Merci from the bottom of my heart to the two people who helped me make this happen--

On to the food--
M. Pastis prepared a cold buffet for us featuring, among other dishes-

(I ate as much melon as I possibly could while in France.  The taste is heavenly. Pure summer Provence sunshine.)
This salad was delicious, served with a vinaigrette sauce very heavy on the Dijon mustard, according to  the chef. (The sauce was also great on his cold potato and ham salad.)

And a very simple-to-make tomato-goat cheese tart-

Pie crust (store bought or homemade), fresh goat cheese, cherry tomatoes cut in half, herbes de Provence, baked until crust browns-- voilà!  Served with chilled rosé, preferably from Tavel, bien sûr.

We even sipped a lovely drink made with rosé and grapefruit juice.  I think that this as yet unnamed BFF enjoyed it immensely.

Mme P made her famous best in the whole world mousse au chocolat for dessert.

An enchanted evening.
Bon appétit to all my BFF friends!  Je vous adore tous et toutes!

"Teresa tried to kill me."

"Teresa tried to kill me." I heard those very words from across the table at Fanny's dinner party last night. Naturally, my ears perk up whenever I hear my name mentioned, but to hear that accusation from the BFF after our lovely morning of kayaking under Gardon river... I had to jump in and tell the real story.

Six of us drove to the little village of Collias, dressed in the grubbiest clothes we brought. (Arles Betty stayed behind to explore the city of Avignon and do a little shopping.) We parked the cars, hopped into the van and were driven down to the river by a very enthusiastic cute young French girl. I signed the forms, we were shown the route, we zipped ourselves into life jackets, grabbed our oars, put our belongings in the white bidon, strapped it in, and shoved off. Blue skies, singing cicadas, a gentle breeze, and 8 km of river ahead of us. What could be better? A few teeny tiny "rapids"-- just enough for someone who likes very low key adventures of this sort. (The BFF was in the back of my boat, the steering position, I have since learned.) Not long into the trip, we came upon an little island and from behind us, we heard Iron Woman shout "Go to the left." So we did. Then she and Sister-in-law went right. Only seconds into it, we were headed straight into a wall of rock. I tried to push off from it with my paddle, but all that did was knock it out of my hands and send it on down the river. The BFF yelled at me to watch my head and I turned to make sure she was watching hers as the boat tipped over. All I saw was her cute little head heading straight for the rock and then she went under. She popped back up saying "I'm okay" and the she went under a second time. I grabbed ahold of the kayak as best I could, but the oar and one of the BFF's shoes which was supposed to be on my foot (except that I had taken them off to try to get some sun on my very pale feet) were quickly out of reach. I kept yelling for the BFF and promised her I would buy her a new pair at The Rack Room where they are Buy One Get One Free (BOGO). That isn't totally true- they are Buy One Get One Half-Off. All's well that ends well, though. Iron Woman and Sister-in-law recovered the shoe and the oar, the BFF and I made it to the little island with the kayak, Arizona Tammy and Ms. Louisiana came ashore to check on us. A Frenchie and his little boy, who were fishing, helped us out as we got back into the boat, repeating tranquillement tranquillement. We continued down the river, floated under the magnificent Pont du Gard, and continued with no further incidents.

At Mme P's dinner party last night, all the Frenchies who had been down the river knew the exact spot of our incident and had stories of their own. There were no injuries, I am happy to report.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I wish that I had photos, but if I had had my camera with me, it would now be on the bottom of the river.

More on the amazing dinner party later. Today's photo is M. P's gift to his wife and me. He wrote that into the fleshly poured concrete by the pool. A very touching moment.

 

Bon appétit!

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Paradise?

L

 

The chances are really good that I have landed in paradise. We all have our visions of what that place will be, n'est-ce pas? For me it is the south of France, surrounded by singing cicadas, in the evening, surrounded by a group of people who are enjoying each other's company immensely.

I am in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon now and this is the courtyard, le jardin, of the house we are renting. I am sipping my coffee and eating yogurt in between sentences. (I do not need that ashtray, but didn't think to move it! Non, je ne fume pas.). We arrived from Paris on the TGV. We were greeted by the hot Provence sun and Olivier and his son. He led us to our house, thank goodness, since I could have figured out how to get us here on foot but not by the rental car! We settled in and then went to Olivier's for dinner. There were probably 20 of us assembled in his jardin. I already knew most of the guests and some I only knew from email. Sister-in-law sampled her first pastis and Olivier had prepared a feast of salads and savory tarts. Mme P, aka MLQ, was there with a huge bowl of the best mousse au chocolat in the world. After dinner we were serenaded by Connie Fredericks Malone. (Pictures will follow as soon as I download them from my camera.)

But for now, I must say à plus because we are headed to the market in Isle sur la Sorgue. And then to the lavender fields!

 

Bon appétit to all my friends!

 

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Departure Day

No, the suitcase isn't quite ready to boucler, but it will be soon.  Have to add all the lotions and potions I use on a daily basis to make myself presentable.  The sister-in-law arrived safely yesterday afternoon and is still asleep, as is the Ex-Ex.  He is taking us to the airport in a few hours.  Two of the BFF-ers have already arrived in Paris and have the keys to our apartment in hand.  (I got a text-- modern technology continues to amaze me.)  Just the cats and I are up and about.  But Rusty seems to have taken over the Ex-Ex's spot on the sofa.  There may be a duel in my living room while I am gone...

Oui, Rusty is the male cat.  Callie, the female, is like me.  She rarely touches the remote.
Rusty is generally quite shy.  But he came out of hiding place last night after dinner and let sister-in-law and Marie-Jeanne, our French dinner guest, pet him.  I guess he can sniff out cat lovers-- even from under the bed or wherever it is he ducks for cover.
I discovered that Carol from Paris Breakfasts will be in Paris, too.  One of these days I will get to meet up with her.  This time I will not be living vicariously through her.  I will be having my own adventures.  Maybe we will run into each other at Pierre Hermé's shop while drooling over the macarons.  But it will be fun, as always, to read about her adventures, too.  She sounds like my kind of traveler.  Maybe one of these days she will join my BFF trip to Provence...  hint hint, Carol!
Last night's dinner was very simple fare.  It has been just too darned hot here to do much real cooking.  I bought some really good Provence-style black olives from Harris Teeter and added the crackers that Marie-Jeanne brought to me.  Then I put together a Caesar salad with rotisserie chicken.  Some really good Brie, served at just the right temperature, that I got at A Southern Season (my advisees gave me a gift certificate at the end of the year! ) and a fresh baguette from Whole Foods. Since blueberries are in abundance right now, I pulled out one of  my cookbooks and found a recipe for a blueberry cake.  So our dessert was maison, homemade.

Fresh Blueberry Cake
from Even More Special by the Junior League of Durham and Orange Counties
6-8 servings

1/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/3 c. milk

Topping:
2 c. fresh blueberries
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375˚F.  Grease a 9-inch square pan.
2. Cream 1/4 c. butter and sugar.  Add egg, flour, baking powder, salt, and milk.  Mix until smooth.
3. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Mix ingredients for topping and pour over batter in pan.
5. Bake for 35 minutes.  Cool in pan or serve warm. 

Bon appétit et bon voyage!

A very big week!

My very exciting week started last night about 11:15.  Marie-Jeanne arrived at RDU from Cavaillon, France, via Marseille, Francfort, and Washington, DC.  She is in the middle.  She is mom to my Frenchie friend Olivier.  We met three years ago on the New York in French social networking website.  He introduced me to Mme P

who is now my very good friend.  Our students are pen pals and now we have an exchange program (her school board just approved our 2013 plans!).  Olivier came to Durham with the group in 2011.

His son participated in the exchange this year.

And now his mom is here!  Marie-Jeanne is an amazing woman.  She loves to travel and often does so solo.  She has seen more of the US than I have.  A retired English teacher, she has exchanged homes with Americans many times.  (Anyone out there in New York or Alaska... those states are on her list next...) My friends, Lyn and Dave, are at her house in Cavaillon for the next six weeks, while M-J is here.  Dave's sister, who recently moved to the area, rounds out the trio in the first photo.  Bonnie speaks French fluently, having spent a year in Belgium and several summers in Avignon at the summer festival.  I will see Lyn and Dave in one week because Olivier and his wife are having dinner for a whole group of us at their home.  
My sister-in-law arrives tomorrow from Brevard.  She is spending the night chez nous so that the Ex-Ex can take us to the airport on Tuesday.  Then the adventure begins!  Paris, here we come.  I will feel like doing this--

Not the kissing, but the leaping for joy, even if I have to do it with an umbrella, in the rain.  (My travel mantra:  We have no control over the weather or the exchange rate.)  But I do expect les bises from the Best Guide in Paris when we meet him for lunch and a walking tour of Montmartre.  Charcuterie, fromage, vin rouge... music to my ears.
I did manage, at the urging of JC, one of the BFF-ers traveling with me, to get tickets to the second floor of Mme Eiffel for 9am Thursday morning.  The last ones available, I think, because I checked the website again immediately after I got ours and no more were to be bought.  Bravo!  Go moi!
After three glorious days in Paris, we will head down south on the TGV.  M-J delivered the train tickets to me this morning.  I gave Olivier euros in March and he bought them for us on the first available day for un prix intéressant (a good price) on the first day he could, 90 days in advance of travel.  It's hard to believe that in one week I will be back in Provence.   But it's true!  Pinch me.  And pour me an apéritif, please.  The aforementioned sister-in-law is anxious to try the preferred drink of Provence--

Pas de problème! I bet Olivier will be only too happy to pour one for her.

I made these for Marie-Jeanne's first breakfast--

Bienvenue Chez Moi Blueberry Muffins

makes 12

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 c. fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400˚ F.
Prepare 12 muffin cups either with paper liners or by greasing them.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt with a whisk.  Make a well in the center of flour mixture.  Set aside.
In another bowl, combine egg, milk, and oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir just until moistened.  Stir in lemon peel.  Gently fold in berries.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full.  Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.  Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Remove from muffin cups.

Bon appétit, mes amis!!  Time to start packing!