Lucky Thirteen (Desserts, That Is)

Doesn’t this flower arrangement look good enough to eat?  Actually, you could.  When I told our florist that I was having a Treize Desserts party and wanted edible decor, he really threw himself into it, hence the oranges, dried fruits, angel cookies, and chocolate bonbons amidst the greenery.  But in the end we were all too sugared-out to [...]

La Fête de Kwanzaa

You don’t have to be African-American, or français d’origine africaine, or even African, to appreciate Kwanzaa.  It stands for everything good, and deserves to be adopted by all of us.  In case you’ve been wondering what it’s all about, here’s a great explanation of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa, written by Dr. Maulana Karenga and posted on the official [...]

Peace In Our Time

The days are short, the dark nights long
But peace is bright and clear as song
The path is rough, the road is hard
Peace means more than a holiday card
Noël, Noël, Noël
Sing Peace and Noël!
Peace is just a short word, easy to say
But it’s so hard to find when you don’t know the way
I don’t want presents, [...]

Christmas Baking, Bah Humbug

Sometimes I want to go home just so I can bake again.  For holidays past I used to bake things like this, or this

or this

or even this.

Kitschy and adorable holiday baking.  But the sad fact is that when you live next door to a bakery, and within easy walking distance of 14 other bakeries, it’s hard to justify baking [...]

Drink To The Darkest Day

This is possibly my favorite day of the year, the darkest day.  The shortest day, the longest night, and after this, we’re on the road to spring.  Although we won’t notice it for weeks, the days will now be getting inexorably longer, the mornings of getting up in the dark, putting on my warmest clothes, and [...]

Why We Love Lyon

It’s got two rivers, the Rhône, and the Saône.  How do they love each other?  Take a close look at this sculpture.

They’ve got a special brilliant red praline that they melt on pastry, that makes it look like Christmas every day.  I’ve brought some home, and will be doing my own impossibly vivid Christmas baking with it.

It’s a [...]

Christmas For Sale Or Rent

Somewhere in France there’s an authentic Christmas market, but it’s not in Aix en Provence.  Believe me when I tell you that this was one of the least tacky things at that particular market; the others would really hurt your eyes, and you don’t deserve that.

The real Christmas markets are in the north, in Alsace.   That’s [...]

Kiss The Cook

Yesterday we went to Tahiti.  Le Petit Tahiti, that is, in Aix en Provence, and that was the best thing that we did all day.  To lunch at Le Petit Tahiti during the holiday season is to plunge into a warm and fragrant sea, untouched by the tawdry carnival atmosphere raging outside its small front door.  It’s a sweet [...]

Bright Winter Stars Are Shining

One of the very best things about winter in the south of France is the fact that clémentines de Corse are everywhere.  They’re gorgeous, sweet, juicy, seedless, and appear in a fresh nest of leaves so you know they were just picked.  They’re so cool they have their own website, right here. 
They’re Algerian by ancestry, [...]

Let There Be Light

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This weekend we accidentally fell into the light, when medical appointments required us to be in Lyon during the annual Fête des Lumières, a time when the city is flooded with light art, and the literally millions of visitors who come, all in search of enlightenment.

Lyon is always a beautiful city, but all aglow it’s truly marvelous.  We began [...]