The French, style, entertaining, and my friend Elizabeth

I have already featured in this blog a dinner over at my friend's Elizabeth. She has so much style that I cannot help sharing again with you a dinner at her place. Of course everytime the guests wonder why I am taking pictures, and I say I have a food blog, but I sense I am miles away from their reality! I do not mind because I know you're going to enjoy my post!
Elizabeth is (fully) responsible for me becoming a fan of Jacquard-Francais table cloths. Unfortunately their website is not great; the table ware is much, much better than it shows in the pictures in the website.
I love Elizabeth's red one and the sumptuous matching napkins. Red breathes luxury on a table!

She had decorated the table with rose petals - instead of the traditional vase in the center of the table. This allowed room for what was coming as the main course, a delicious "paella". The little silver teapots that you see have a candle inside, very cute indeed!

Before the meal Elizabeth served Champagne or Kir Royal with "verrines" . You can learn about Kir by clicking on the word, it will take you to my website and the explanation.
Hers were made with a layer of guacamole, a layer of cream cheese, and a layer of home made tomato sauce. They were presented in a Japanese rectangular blue and white dish.

Then we moved to the dinning room. Her silver ware is beautiful and comes from her family, as do the Limoges porcelain dishes. Look how beautiful silver is on red! And the menu? We had a delicious Cavaillon melon and Parma ham as an appetizer, and then a rich paella, which Elizabeth learned to master during the 14 years she lived in Spain.

She served it with a wine from La Rioja.

We had strawberries and raspberries for dessert. Perfect!

Guinea Fowl, simply

Happy birthday to the author of chez Zounette who is also one of my best friends. She hasn't been posting for a while, but I hope she will get back to it because she has great, simple recipe ideas. A while back I tried out her "Pintade aux lentilles" and it was easy to cook and as delicious as she promised.

Pintade is guinea fowl, and I'm a big fan. One warning though -- be careful about how it's cut. i thought I'd be smart and buy my bird at the local butcher, leaving the cutting to him. We ended up with a zillion tiny bone pieces...so perhaps cutting it yourself or, hélas, buying it pre-cut is the best solution.

Photo du Jour - Nap Time

Mon petit chihuahua.

Birds on my deck

You know how much I cherish my deck! I have breakfast here every early morning - weather permitting that is. Paris is so quiet early in the morning and the light is beautiful.
We are changing the wooden tiles.
This was the right opportunity to move around plant pots and buy some new plants too. It's looking beautiful. So many birds have nested among the plants! The little seagull on the edge comes from Uruguay (1987) and it was given to me by my dear friend Nora. The two clay doves were purchased last year in a decoration shop in Saumur with this deck in mind.

This colorful soft wood parrot comes from Paraguay (2007); it has adapted pretty well to the boring stone of my building! Look at this needy little soapstone bird from Kenya (1982) that hides in a forest of deligthfully scented white flowers. This sparrow (2007) comes from the Sarthe (France), and it's done with old oil tin containers recycled by a local artist. It was given to me by my painter friend Marie .

The white and pink fat hen bought in a decoration shop in Paris adds a funny note!
A little colorful toucan bird on the edge comes all the way from Mexico (1996). And the yellow bird hiding under the cyclamen comes from Colombia (1976). The cyclamen are self-seeding and are becoming denser and denser.Finally, this sober small iron bird comes from.... France. It may be looking for its companion that I still have to place somewhere!

Photo du Jour - The Vineyards

The afternoon light in the vineyards.
Taken just outside our village.

I love the weekly "posts of the week" feature over at Too Many Chefs. I can't help but find myself heading over there every Friday to see what they've discovered. Recently Foodgoat also jumped on the bandwagon, even choosing one of my posts as a link. So I'm going to do it too! Every weekend I will post my selection of noteworthy posts.

Viv over at Seattle Bon Vivant is always discovering some new treats and sharing them in her inimitable style. This week was no exception and I plan on seeking out the Green Tomato Jam, but it was her French butter post that really made me smile--who else other than Viv would buy Normandy butter at $13.49 pound? Gotta love the girl!

Sam at Becks and Posh is signed on for the Eating Local Challenge and after a couple of days of disaster she was able to share a very successful day and some real insight into one approach to eating local that makes good sense to me. The viewpoint shared by a certain chef was that of being selective--importing things such as prosciutto and parmesan but trying to find local purveyors of other ingredients like fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. A thoughtful and smart way to approach the whole "eating local" thing.

If you haven't discovered Bunrab, you have no idea the goofy fun you are missing out on, I suggest you head over immediately and make up for lost time. This week not only were there reviews of Tommy's Joynt and Bodega Bistro two places I love, but Chubby reviewed Mangosteen a new restaurant that each time I pass I mentally remind myself I need to try...

With all the new pizza places opening in the Bay Area, it's difficult keeping up. Alder over at Vinography cut through the noise with a review and a succinct description of what makes a truly great pizza. Bravo Alder!

I realize these are all West Coast blogs, next week I will make more of an effort to expand my horizons...

Chemuyil:Restaurants

It is possible to visit Mexico and not experience Mexico. It is easy to find comfortable lodgings, lush jungles, beautiful beaches, familiar food--all at the prices you would expect to pay at home. However, if you make the effort you can also find the real Mexico.



Between Cancun and Tulum the coast is dotted with resorts and resort communities. If you venture to the West of the highway you can find outposts, tiny villages and towns. Like mistakenly stepping into the service entrance of a grand hotel, the streets are populated with the people who service the big resorts. Most of the people come from somewhere else, few are local.



Yesterday we ventured into Chemuyil, a tiny village just three miles from where we are staying in Akumal. The streets were filled with children on a Saturday, playing and laughing. There were a couple of mini-supers, the ubiquitous grocery stores, and a small outdoor market where women were buying fresh produce. Music was playing and the town was relaxed and bucolic.



For lunch we found a seafood restaurant, La Palapa run by Chucho. We had succulent ceviche tostadas, lightly breaded shrimp tacos and a Maya fish entree that was cooked with spices in a banana leaf. Perhaps most unusual was an appetizer of ground up pumpkin seeds, tomatoes and cilantro, served with chips, gratis. One of our best meals yet, the food was fresh, flavorful and unique.



For dinner we could not help but return to try another spot recommended by Chucho, Loncheria El Parque, right up the block from the local park, not surprisingly. All six tables were outside and the menu featured all antojitos, or the snack type food that is so popular in Mexico. We had tacos al pastor, cheese and chicken empanadas and salbutes with carne asada. Scrumptious! And completely different from other version of the same items we have had elsewhere in the Yucatan. With sodas for everyone, the bill came to $10--not each, but for the whole table.



Walking through the streets in the cool of the evening watching people set up a wedding cake and fill up the street with chairs, this was Mexico, not for the benefit of the tourists, but for it´s own sake. With tourism encrouching everywhere, it surely will not be the same in a few years, but for last night it sure was wonderful.

Xin Nian Kuai Le!!!

Xin Nian Kuai Le or Happy New Year!!!
As every year, I have organized a Chinese banquit at home for some of the friends whom we met in China or who have lived in Asia ...
I went to Chinatown to buy the necessary ingredients, including one little rabbit for each guest, since this is the Year of the Rabbit.

I felt SO nostalgic of our years in China ... the dragons were dancing in the streets to the sound of the traditional drums and plates ...

Then came the fireworks .. and it was just like in Beijing back in 1987, when we celebrated another Year of the Rabbit the first year we were there ... There was so much joy, noise, color!
Back home I set the table with all the bits and pieces I have from Asia ... and put inside each glass a golden rabbit, hoping they will rbing good luck throughout the year to our guests!

The table looked lovely, I think! And as you may see, there are so many Chinese antiques on my dinning room!

Menu

Cold cuts with 1000 years old eggs as presented in Beijing
Sauteed jiao si
Spicy Shrimps
Braised Chinese cabbage and other vegetables
Sweet and Sour pork
Beef with onions (brought to the table in a hot plate)
Sauteed chicken
Duck with vegetables
Beijing soup
Fried nooddles
All served with a choice of Alsace Riesling wine, QingTao beer, Mao Tai, and tea

Chocolate Revisited

Alice Medrich's book Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate was published a little over a year ago, since then I've noticed how crazy we are for chocolate. Again. It seems we are rediscovering how great chocolate is, especially bittersweet chocolate.



I've also noticed how many companies are making hot chocolate products (mixes, powders, etc.) Not hot cocoa, but hot chocolate, big difference. Hot chocolate is made with chocolate which contains chocolate liquor (not alcoholic) and cocoa butter. Cocoa is a powder and contains no cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is the fatty part of chocolate that gives chocolate its richness.



Perhaps you've also noticed a number of spicy hot chocolates on the market? Hot chocolate in many variations, often Aztec or Maya inspired, is becoming quite popular. In fact, Starbucks has just introduced a new super decadent hot chocolate called Chantico, named after the Aztec goddess of hearth and fire. A 6-ounce cup has 390 calories, 21 grams of fat and 51 carbs, so this stuff is a lot like "liquid dessert". Chantico made it's premiere in stores today but on January 13th from 4-5 p.m. Starbucks will be sampling this cup of sin.



I plan on trying Chantico on January 13th, (if I'm anywhere near a Starbucks) but I also plan on conducting my own hot chocolate tasting at home. If you have a favorite hot chocolate, please let me know which ones you think I ought to include.



On another note: Nominations for the fifth annual weblog awards are now taking place and they include food blogs! There are some rules to be aware of, at least three different weblogs total must be nominated. You may nominate your own weblog, but the total nominations for your own weblog must be less than one third of your total (legitimate) nominations. There is no limit to the number of categories a weblog may be nominated for. May the best blogs win!

Why do YOU cook, Mary Ladd?

Photo credit: Mary Ladd

I first discovered Mary Ladd's writing on her blog Jalapeno Girl a few years ago. She was a cooking school graduate who wrote about spicy food and more. At that time she was doing some catering and shared the good, the bad, and the downright ugly about creating and serving meals on a large scale. I enjoyed reading her insider stories about parties of all kinds and her accounts of dining on offal with the likes of Anthony Bourdain. While not a category, I was struck by how often nudity factored into her catering gigs whether at a nightclub or the famous Bay to Breakers race.

Now Mary writes frequently for the SF Weekly food blog, SFoodie and always manages to stay on top of tasty local food and happenings.

"Many of my best memories are food related, so I guess I am trying to recreate that. I cook because it is a way to continue learning about food and culture. Many of the foods I favor today are not ones I grew up with. My folks are great cooks but it is Americana type cuisine, heavy on the (BBQ) meat and potatoes or other starch.

One friend showed me how to roll my scrambled eggs in seaweed, and I was hooked. I first ate kimchee with her. Another explained how many types of matzo balls there are and the ways her own Mother used to make them. Even if people aren't the greatest cooks, they can share the dishes they love with me, and I will usually think about these stories --and by extension, them--when I recreate the dishes in the kitchen. Because I tend to always be thinking about food and cooking, learning new dishes keeps things interesting. "

Carrot and Seed Salad

Speaking of fashion, back when I lived in Colorado, I wore green puffy vests, blue ones, pink ones, sweaters in red and purple and brown. You know what living in New York for six years does to your wardrobe? It turns it all black and gray. That's a lot less depressing than it sounds, actually, because for the fashion challenged among us, I have to say that matching blacks with grays is infinitely easier than dealing with color. God, did I just type 'dealing with color'? Save me.

But when it comes to food, especially in the winter, you might have noticed that I gravitate A Lot to orange. Orange here, orange here, orange here. Might just be my new favorite color. And if I were less annoyed at having to spend any more than 10 minutes picking out an outfit, it might even be a color I'd love to wear (I know I already linked that post, but it's a beautiful one). The reality is that I'm no fashionista, so if I can't wear it, I might as well eat it. After all, if you're going to dress in black and gray during days so filled with black and gray, well, orange you glad I'm blogging this recipe? (I'm so so so sorry for that horrible pun. I really am.)

I made this to accompany some roasted lamb shanks and some sweet and sour onions I made for a dinner party. A dinner party, by the way, thrown for two of the coolest people I have ever met. Two people who I actually picked up in the park. I mean, literally picked up since I asked them for their number after about half an hour of standing around watching our dogs play together. Central Park is like my own personal bar for picking up friends. More about the dinner party later, as I blog the rest of the meal. But for now, I want to say that I think it's important to have something fresh on the table amidst all of those dishes that have been roasted and braised and stewed and simmered.

This recipe comes from the lovely book Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery, which I have been coveting since flipping through it at The Morgan Library gift shop. If you're ever in New York and need a somewhat off the beaten path sort of cultural adventure, the Morgan is one of my favorite little places. And the gift shop a great place to be convinced to buy some beautiful book or other. So anyway. I have a technique when choosing a recipe to serve to guests that I don't plan on trying out beforehand. It's called the Amazon review pages. One commenter said this salad was her favorite, so I made it, and it was great. The seeds really add a great textural contrast to the shredded carrot salad, which can be kind of one dimensional otherwise.

Carrot and Seed Salad
Adopted from Rose Carrarini's Breakfast, Lunch, Tea

1 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon canola oil
Sprinkling of salt for roasting the seeds
8 medium carrots, grated (by hand if you're ambitious, or in the food processor)
Handful of chives, chopped
1/2 cup lemon juice, which is the juice from about 2 1/2 lemons
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil

Spread the seeds on a baking sheet and toss them around with 1 tablespoon canola oil. Sprinkle with the salt and toast in an oven preheated to 350F for about 10 minutes. Check, though, because it could be more or less depending on your oven. Shake the pan a couple of times while they're toasting to prevent burning. Set the seeds aside to cool while you work on the rest.

Place the carrots, now grated, in a large serving bowl and set that aside also.

For the dressing, whisk together the lemon juice, salt, black pepper and sugar. Then add the olive oil in a stream while continuing to whisk (or just dump it in and whisk it around). You can add more or less salt, pepper and lemon juice according to your taste, so be judicious at first.

Pour the dressing over the carrots, and mix, then add the cooled seeds and chives. Serve

Carrot, kale, carry-on

I may be the first person in history to say such a thing, but I sort of miss airplane food. I don’t mean those roast beef sandwiches in foil packets, the spongy ones that look like they’ve been sat upon, or the pizza pockets warmed in plastic baggies. I mean real food. I’m talking about the stuff of twenty years ago, back when airfare bought not only a seat but also a tray of somewhat edible

Six Days in Paris and Some Time With the Sapeurs-Pompiers

My recent trip to Paris was fabuleux.

Though it almost didn't happen. And there was a bit of drama, but more on that in a moment.

The evil ash cloud that caused chaos for travelers all over Europe that week meant that our friend's flights were canceled, re-booked, canceled again and finally - success! Instead of flying to Paris, two of the three joined us here in the south for a couple of days after being rerouted to Toulouse, and we picked the other one up in Barcelona before hopping on the TGV for Paris.

The apartment, a comfortable four bedroom place in the 11th that was exchanged for our friend's gorgeous Creole home in New Orleans, exceeded all of our expectations. A whopping 150 m2, it took up the entire 6th floor of the building and was located on a bustling street that was lined with shops, cafés, restaurants and a twice weekly market.

There are so many advantages to staying in an apartment vs. a hotel - we could make our own coffee in the morning, cook together, enjoy picnics from from the market and hang out in the privacy of our home away from home. Much better thank being crammed into a tiny hotel room if you ask me.


Highlights of the neighborhood included a typical Parisian bistro, Le Sot l'Y Laisse, located just around the corner. I could have eaten here every day! Delicious, perfectly seasoned and seriously amazing food. Their weekday €13-17 lunch menu is a bargain.

Le Sot-l'Y-Laisse
70, rue Alexandre Dumas
75011 Paris
Tél. 01 40 09 79 20

The café on the next block, Café Lino, serves a hearty, simple lunchtime menu for €11. Homemade pastry, fresh salads and the richest 3-cheese quiche I've ever tasted. It was also a fun place to go for un p'tit verre in the evenings.

Café Lino
81 boulevard de Charonne
75011 paris
Tél. : 01 43 56 75 50

The Marché Charonne started a few feet from the building's front door. It was undoubtedly the noisiest market I've ever been to in France, with the stall owners barking out their daily specials and enthusiastically trying to lure you to buy their merchandise.

Marché Charonne
Between 129, bd de Charonne and rue Alexandre Dumas
Wednesday 7:00 - 2:30 and Saturday 7:00 - 3:00



We really lucked out with the weather. Warm and sunny every single day which meant hours and hours sitting in cafés watching the world go by, one of my favorite things to do in Paris. Other than wandering aimlessly around the city. I can't even guess how many kilometers and arrondissements we covered.

I was happy to see an old friend and finally met a new friend, who I am forever indebted to for introducing us to the best little place for Chinese dumplings. She's promised to take me to her favorite Indian restaurant next time, and I'm holding her to it.



Now on to that drama I mentioned earlier...
One morning, bright and early and before my required cup of coffee, I got a crash course in how to use the services of SOS Médecins and the SAMU (Service d'Aide Médicale d'Urgence). I also picked up a few French medical terms, got to experience just how enormous the Hôpital Pitié Salpêtrière complex is, and learned how cute the Parisian pompiers can be.

Our friend's brother-in-law, Brian, had woken up early that morning with chest and arm pain, strong enough to make him think that is wasn't merely indigestion from their meal at La Tour D'Argent the day before.
I was the only French speaker in the group so quickly called up SOS Médecins who very efficiently got the doctor to us 15 minutes later. He did some exams then brought in the SAMU, who did some more exams then brought in the pompiers to carry Brian down 6 flights of stairs in an inflatable stretcher to the ambulance because they didn't want him to move. It was all very impressive!


It turned out that he had one blocked artery and another one was 50% blocked so they performed surgery that evening and he's now back home in the States, feeling a lot better.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The health care in France is excellent.


Eventually it was time to bid Paris adieu. I was sad to leave, but have many, many plans for my next visit.

On cue

I don’t make many demands around here, but today, I have to. So listen up. (Please.)Get a pen and a piece of paper. Then write the following:4 large tomatoes1 yellow onionArborio riceFresh basilBreadcrumbsPotatoesNow, go to the grocery store or market or wherever, and buy everything you wrote down. Go on! And don’t forget to preheat the oven. Tonight, for dinner, you are having Luisa Weiss

In which I find a terrific quote and get very anxious

Diego Luna of Y Tu Mamá También is apparently my male counterpart. This morning I happened to thumb through a copy of Interview in which Luna is, as you might suspect, interviewed. Take note of the following passage:Interview: What do you want from life? You told me before that you want to find a woman.Diego Luna: Definitely. I want to be in love and eat as much as I can![Molly: Who can disagree

Photo du Jour - A Diamond in the Rough

Stone barn in the Charente.
I love the pattern of the white stones and that diamond shaped window.

Dinner with Antonio on Wednesday

Once a year, maybe twice if we're lucky, an old friend of Eric's flies through Paris. We always invite him over to dinner. It's always a pleasure. And finally, we get to reciprocate. Antonio & his family of 7 (5 daughters!) used to live in Paris & it was Eric who used to always get invited to their house during his business trips. Isabelle would prepare wonderful meals, once even in her last month of pregnancy with the twins, during the month of August! And those familiar with Paris know that most apartements have no air conditioning! And it was a "simple" meal of 5 courses all done with grace & ease, Eric told me.

Anyway, I think Antonio is slightly intrigued to watch this new career path of mine. He asks tons of questions (where do I want to open a restaurant? Europe or US? what city? how big? when?). Each time more questions. However, I still don't have the answers! I wish my crystal ball could tell me where we'll end up & how.....but it's not working that way!

Nonetheless, inviting Antonio over to dinner is a great excuse to practice my craft and to ask for feedback, although I'm not quite sure how unbiased he could be. He did admit, "Even if I didn't like it, I would say it was good....but it's not that....this REALLY IS good!" We had a great evening. Lots of laughs, lots of stories, plenty of wine. And then at nearly 12:30am, it was time to call it a night. Until next time. Maybe I'll have some answers by then!

1st course: Mediterranean Fiesta
Tomato ravioli sombreros stuffed with goat cheese (hand made), crab meat, slow-roasted tomato "tartare" with basil froth& tomato powder







Main Course:
Roasted medallions of pork tenderloin with pork demi-glace
Purée of petits pois, fresh peas & mint oil
Home-made bi-colored cannelloni (spinach & natural) stuffed with ricotta & sun-dried tomatoes.





Cheese Course:
Brie de Meaux, salade de mache & roasted fig
Baguette toasts with olive oil & fleur de sel








Dessert:
New York style cheesecake with cherry marmalade & rum raison ice cream.

The cheesecake recipe is from Alaine Ducasse. I'll post it separately.

Mo's Gourmet Hamburger:Restaurant

I admit it. While most of the time I try to eat veggies, seafood, and lean meats every so often I crave a hamburger. And I am of the opinion that if you are going to eat a hamburger, you should eat the best possible one you can get your hands on. Let's face it, it's a lot of calories. It's an indulgence of sorts. Life is too short to eat lousy hamburgers. Or lousy anything for that matter, but that's another story.



So about now you are probably wondering which fine establishment will I recommend for a hamburger? Perhaps you're thinking Barney's or Zuni Cafe or even In-N-Out. Well, if you were thinking any of those places you'd be wrong. My pick for an excellent hamburger, cooked to order is Mo's.



Mo's Gourmet Hamburger is on Grant Avenue in North Beach. They do everything right at Mo's. The bun is fresh and crusty, spread with a homemade slightly mustardy mayonnaise; the beef is center cut chuck ground in house, a full seven ounces. They grill 'em over volcanic stones on a round revolving grill that you can see from the moment you come in and while I'll take mine as is, you can choose from bacon, cheese, grilled onions or mushrooms or a combination.



What's a burger without fries? Mo's fries are shoestring, the type that don't come out of the freezer and if you order them extra crispy, they actually come extra crispy! They make old fashioned milk shakes and they bring you the canister too. Or you can have a coke. That's what I do. This is the perfect place when the craving hits, or if you have visitors in from far away lands that want to know "what do Americans eat?"



I do believe that they have turkey burgers and veggie burgers, but why bother? Go to Mo's and have a fabulous hamburger. But if you order it rare and it comes slightly cold in the middle, don't come crying to me. In my book if it's not cold in the middle, it's probably overcooked.



Mo's Gourmet Hamburger

1322 Grant Avenue

San Francisco

(415) 788-3779

The Ungarnished Truth, A Cooking Contest Memoir: Book Review

I'll admit it, even though I find most of the recipes atrocious, I am fascinated by the Pillsbury Bake-Off. Every two years the contest is held with much fanfare and prizes, including a million dollar grand prize. The judges are generally food editors and choose recipes based on taste, appearance, creativity and consumer appeal, but because the recipes use packaged "convenience" foods, they often end up sounding bizarre. Samosa Taquitos with Apricot Chutney Sauce, anyone? Or Huevos Rancheros Pizza?

The Ungarnished Truth, A Cooking Contest Memoir "A Woman, A Chicken Dinner, A Million Dollars" is out now in paperback and I devoured the book in two sittings. Bake-off grand prize winner and author Ellie Matthews is smart, funny and very engaging. Her story gives an almost unbelievable level of detail on her road to the win. But even if she never won anything, you would want to read about this quirky and down to earth woman (who shocked everyone by not jumping up and down or screaming when she won).

In some ways Matthews is a most unlikely contestant. With a scientific mind, and a passion for the outdoors, she is not who you'd imagine even entering contests, but enter she does. Perhaps her amazing eye for detail comes from the fact that she is fully expecting not to win. In fact, she tells herself, and her readers that her first appearance in the Bake-Off is just a practice run.

In addition to sharing everything about the contest and her recipe development strategies, Matthews also shares intimate emotional elements and how the contest wove its way into to her life, even helping her reconnect with a very dear friend she met during a dramatic tragic event in the mountains. But enough about it from me, just read the book, it's an absolute pleasure.

My City

Well it may not be 100 top picks, but The Examiner asked me about a handful of my favorite spots around town. Check it out online to learn where I find homemade sour cream, stock up on candy, enjoy a cocktail, go for Vietnamese soul food and more...

Photo du Jour - The Seine

Paris

The train pulls out of the station in Béziers at 5:30 tomorrow morning.

Have made lunch dates, tea dates and dinner dates with friends. Have directions to all of the restaurants, tea salons and apartments I'm going to. Got my list of cheese shops to visit. Know where all the H&M and Zara stores are. Have packed an extra bag to bring back Asian food from Tang Frères and bagels for husband. Camera batteries are charged.
I think I'm ready.

Blog Notes and Links

My guest post for Andi's French Friday series on her blog, Misadventures With Andi, was posted the other day: Beyond Paris:  My South of France.
A huge merci to Andi for including me in the series!

If you are a cheese lover or a francophile and have the photos to prove it, then please come and join one or more of the Flickr groups that I administer.
French Cheese
La Fête du Fromage
French Markets
French Windows
Colors of the Languedoc - of which I am the only member!  How sad is that?
Minervois

I still sometimes get questions about how many French cheeses I've tasted for La Fête du Fromage.  I've put a link to the entire list - all 177 and counting - under the "Pages" category. 

Our house is still available if you're looking for a place in the south of France, and I've added another house for sale to the sidebar.  Sadly our friends are moving away and need to sell their charming home with a garden and terrace in Saint-Thibéry, located about 15 minutes from the beaches near Cap d'Agde.

If you've ever asked yourself (or someone already living in France - you wouldn't believe how many emails I get on this subject) the question, Should I Move to France?, then David Lebovitz's post might help you come up with a definitive answer.  

.

Seattlest gets jealous, makes soup

Over at Seattlest, the soupe du jour is butternut squash with pear, cider, and vanilla bean, a homespun knock-off of a dish from one of my favorite local spots.I’ve never been one for trying to recreate restaurant meals, but the soup I had at Crow was sufficiently delicious to warrant a go, and anyway, if I may be so bold—trained chefs of the world, please forgive me!—I thought I could make it

Of close-ups and cameras

(Photo NOT courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Thank heavens my husband is a shopper, or I would never even have evolved into the digital camera age. He is always keeping his eye out for the latest practical photography equipment, and manages to get good deals on it to boot.

He bought me my Canon PowerShot S45, which I like for its simplicity of use and the fact that it's easy to carry without being tiny -- I never feel like I'm really taking pictures with those extra-small cameras. I've used it for most of my photos on La France Profonde and have been quite satisfied.

On the other end of the spectrum, Thierry has a huge Pentax whose model number I won't mention because I'm afraid to take it out of its case to check.

He takes a lot of great shots with it, some of which I have featured on FP -- perhaps not enough to his liking, but I suppose he could start his own blog, right?

The problems with the Pentax are 1.) I don't know how to use it and 2.) afore-mentioned husband is never around when it is time to take food shots.

Yet, my Canon just didn't cut it for food close-ups.

Well, to make a long story not quite so long, Thierry recently got a great deal on a SONY Cyber-shot 1080 that I am capable of using AND takes great close-ups.

So now I can take credit for shots like the asparagus above, and this Greek-style feta chicken...

... all with a reasonably lightweight, easy-to-use camera.

I took it with me on my recent day trip to Albi with Loulou of Chez Loulou. I'm not sure it was vastly superior to my Canon for normal town photos, but it definitely did better with food, as witnesses this dessert pic from our meal at Restaurant Stéphane Laurens:

(Nems à la banane et au gingembre, ananas, chocolat chaud et glace au nougat)

And I'm definitely pleased with how it rendered this gorgeous cheese from Albi's covered market:

So to sum it up, my Canon is still going to be living in my purse, but the Sony will be lurking around the kitchen and accompanying me on food-related outings.

Here's to a new world of better food photos!

Bon dimanche!