Life through Fresh Eyes!

You already know this, for a fact! I Love Paris! Paris has been our home for the past 23 years! It gets under your skin......you become a part of it! I've even laid claim to monuments and places! But.......in September, we learned it was time to move on.

Where? Why? When?

We will be moving on December 31st......very symbolic, don't you think? Starting the new year in our new home? You will find me in Lexington Ky now. Why Kentucky? Gosh, it was a bit like throwing the dart towards the map and seeing where it landed, remember the Cher movie, Mermaids? Kentucky has all the towns, like Paris, Winchester, Frankfort, even Versailles that sounded familiar!!!! Rolling hills, horses, deer!

Now you might understand my silence these past few months. It is a very emotional experience to pick up 'sticks' and move on. Let alone orchestrate and organize an international move. I promise to update this blog more often......I mean you've got to read about my Reverse Culture Shock!! Discover where I'll be shopping and how I get on with the day-to-day of life in the US.

Someone told me that I will be looking at life with Fresh Eyes.......I think I've been away long enough that this will be a new adventure. This gal logged much International Experience and I believe she might be right. I'm going to take her advice and try to see my new life with Fresh Eyes.

Happy Holidays to all my friends & readers!

See you on the 'other side'.

Les Kouglofs et Brioches

Continuing with a passion, I was off to LeNotre yesterday. A rainy, cold day is perfect to be captive learning about dough! Safe in the warm kitchen, watching the rain and gazing at the Grand Palais, pencil in hand and camera at the ready. The Kouglof has been a guilty pleasure of mine for years. I do my grocery shopping at Monoprix, get my veggies and fruit at the special fruit stand and finish off my shopping trip with a mini-kouglof, from Le Notre, for the ride home.





Shifting into second gear while driving home and wiping sugary syrup from your chin is a challenge, but well worth it! I've been wanting to learn the secret of a LeNotre Kouglof for years and now is the time!



As you know, baking is all about chemistry. Well.......so is a cooking class! I've taught hands-on in my home for a few years now. I understand the 'chemistry' of a class. You've got shy ladies, new ladies, know-it-all's. It is up to the instructor to bring the class together, create a fun atmosphere for learning and when they leave, they feel like they've experienced something special. I always hope that they feel like they can tackle what I taught. I'm not complaining about this particular class I took, I learned the technique that was taught. The class was flat, if that makes any sense!


Armed with my recipes and yet another planned shopping trip to MORA for molds, I am still thrilled with the opportunity to learn the art of French Viennoiserie!

Les Macarons Monday

There are times when I have to pinch myself. How lucky can I get? Times when you just don't take things for granted!

I'm talking about last Monday, when I attended a class at LeNotre.

We learned so many tricks and techniques, I couldn't write fast enough! I had a fun group, a French woman who lived in Miami translated all the fine points that I would have lost. The chef was great and even passed on more recipes for us to take home. I couldn't wait to try my hand at home.

The last time I attended a class at LeNotre, I didn't come home and make the pastry and now, I've lost all the secrets and wouldn't want to attempt it till I go to another class. The class was Puff Pastry Inversee'. A tough technique.

After this class, I gathered the ingredients and made the Macarons and I was darned proud of the results.

Take a look at the single Macaron, that is mine!

Enjoy the photos!

Let Them Eat Cake!

I'm sure by now, any faithful reader, my mom and son included, have stopped checking my blog. If you have thought that I got lost, yes, in a way, I have. When I blog.....I share my 'joy'. That 'joyful' feeling has been way-laid of late. Explanations excluded, ok.





Lets talk about an idea I had last June, it came to fruition a week ago. And boy, was it fun to see it develop and execute! It was also received with excited feedback. It was called the Let Them Eat Cake Picnic!


I've been working with a gal out of Texas for a couple of years now. She runs a tour biz for ladies and it has been great watching her business grow! I got involved by teaching a cooking class for her clients. The successful format is a Hands-On Crepe class. This is a non-stop crepe fest with everybody flipping crepes and eating non-stop. I recently added a Professional Crepe machine and now they have a chance to test their skills on the Krampouz, just like the crepe makers on every street in Paris! The ladies seem to enjoy it and many times they are buying a crepe pan from Dehilleron.



The picnic idea grew out of the fact that the ladies take a tour of Versailles. They usually stop at the market and pick up some sandwiches and Cheryl would pull out a bottle of wine and a tablecloth out of her backpack.
I thought that it might be fun for them to have a real picnic. I would provide a boxed lunch, they would have the opportunity to sample a real quiche, chocolate mousse and my famous business-card sugar cookies!



Living about 10 minutes from the Petite Hamlet I thought I could drop off the lunches, let the ladies enjoy the food and wine and then they could continue on with the tour. I'd pick up the trash and meet them the next day for the Crepe Class. Yep, this was a great plan.




The Culinary gods were smiling down on me the morning of the picnic and the food came together without a hitch. We packed up the boxes and dropped them off in front of the Grand Trianon, I discovered that we could not set-up a picnic inside of the Hamlet or the grounds inside the Trianon. Not to worry, there were plenty of places to set up with ambiance. Friday, Saturday and Sundays there is Baroque Music piped in throughout the grounds and, even you, Can Eat Cake with the ghosts at Versailles!

From Lake to Table

Long time-no blog! It has been so long, that I had to go through the tutorial to remind me how to do this (not really, but it sounded good). I have no excuses for the passed time.

We spent a week in the UK, I've been hitting my favorite cooking shops, Dinghams and Lakeland. I've also brought back some mature cheddar and my precious little red chillies for the freezer. I hit the Buy 2 get 1 Free sales that dot WH Smith and Waterstones. That is what kept me occupied for a while, but my guys got busy with their fly rods. Take a look at the July prize winner! 'Bearded Baby' was thrilled till somebody beat him out by 1 ounce!!

He was still listed as one of the winners, and invited to a fish-off later in the year. The 'old man' caught his share as well. I've never seen the 'bearded baby' so proud!!

We usually bring a fish back to the hotel and ask the chef cook one of the trout for us. We decided to give them the 3 regular sized trout, one for us and the rest to put on the menu. The big daddy was given to a friend (although it was his wife who had to clean and prep the fish for the freezer). I love how they presented the fish for the evening meal on the menu.

The chef did a great job on our fish dinner. I can't remember tasting a fish that was so fresh! Lovely and juicy and a great little dill sauce napped on the side. This meal is etched in our memory for a long time to come!

Summer is passing quickly. I hope you are having a great one!