Bonjour a tous et a toutes!

Bonnes nouvelles! (Good news!) I have two successes to report today.  YAY!


1. Last night, I was having a MAJOR cookie dough craving around 11 pm on my way back from Starbucks.  Not only did I by-pass the Kroger AND the gas station on my way home, I indulged my sweet tooth on a smaller scale with the rest of my Haribo gummy bears.  Went to bed just as satisfied and happy.

2. I am down a pound this morning!  Since I started this blog, I have lost 6.8 pounds... eating French Food!  Two more weeks until school starts again ... how low can I go? We shall see.


On the menu for this week and hopefully spilling over into next:


Chicken provencal (spices, tomatoes, bell peppers)
Quinoa, beet and hazelnut salad (chock full of other yummies, too!)
Cherry clafoutis (which is like a cherry pudding... I will be using egg beaters.)


I wanted to make canneles for dessert, but I don't have the mold for them, so it looks like I am gonna have to take a trip to the Memphis Whole Foods at some point to not only buy the copper molds but also a few vanilla bean pods.  Will probably also pick up a few madeleine molds while I'm at it... and some piment d'espelette from Basque country that I came to love so dear this summer!


The Chicken provencal and the cherry clafoutis both come from Georgeanne Brennan's most recent cookbook (see list of books I use on right-hand margin of this page).  The quinoa salad comes from the French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano.


*DID YOU KNOW...?* Don't discard your beet greens!  They are cousins of swiss chard and chock full of even more nutrients than the beets themselves.  Sautee them in olive oil, add some garlic and a pinch of sea salt, and serve with any Mediterranean-inspired chicken or tuna.  The burst of flavor will surprise you!