Meet the Kitchen Staff

Meet Tank, the kitchen floor cleaner. He's great, at our beck and call, he runs around while we're cooking and prepping food just to make sure he can pick up accidental messes. Such a helper, altruistic at that.



Can you sense the sarcasm?

But seriously, the kitchen wouldn't be the same without this 8 pounds of pure food motivation. Though sometimes he finds himself in the way, he's fast to scurry those little legs and listens when it counts. This convenient clean-up system never fails to ultimately put a smile on my face. To see him earnestly look on while I'm slicing carrots is the epitome of pure dedication. Thanks for your service and company, little buddy!

Fabulous Fresh Food + Wow = France

My last posting ended with a promise to tell about our adventures in France. My equation title pretty much sums it up. Thankfully, my traveling companion, chef aux maison, and fiance loves food more than me. I say thankfully for this because without him, I would likely not have tried socca, pigeon terrine, or a lovely tarte citron in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont (see below for one of the many marvels of Veronique Mauclerc) all the way in the 19th arrondisement.

That's right, in the land of glorious wine and a culture that places such an importance on quality food...I would not have even come close to touching these things on my own. Granted, I would have likely enjoyed a delightful cheese, croissant and bread-filled experience, but we wound up taking many side treks simply to seek out the best. From an authentic Nicoise socca stand, to the contrasting sleekness of a Pierre Hermes Parisian bakery, it turned out to be a great way to see some different sights as well as give our palates a holiday like no other. It was so fantastic in fact, that it is truly sad to be back in America, culinarily speaking, that is.

More posts to come on France...but for now, I'll leave you with a few snapshots of the delightful bounty available daily in the outdoor market in charming Old Nice. We saw variations of these offerings everywhere in both Paris and Nice. France is truly a country where food is unquestionably worthy of respect, but not so pretentiously as you might think, it is made available in the freshest way possible to everyone nearly everywhere.

Bon appetit!

Proof I Did Not Inherit a Green Thumb

Since my prior posting about all the hope and promise of beautiful lush herbs growing in little pots right in our townhouse patio, things have since taken a turn for the worse. I'm not even photo logging this sad news, it's that bad. JTK and I did enjoy fresh lemon thyme for a little over a month, garlic chives were eaten in perhaps 6 different meals, and the mint is hanging on to this day by only a bare thread. The chives have some sense of green left but consists primarily of whispy yellow strands of dearth. Have you ever seen lemon thyme impersonating "burnt to a crisp"?...hmm? No? Because that's what our particular plant is currently doing. The serrano peppers have also bitten the dust, copying the stature of the nearby thyme.

It's not like we did not care for these precious plants, either. They were watered, given light, shade, and love. This is why I know that the "green thumbs" my grandmother and arguably both parents bear somehow skipped a generation. Perhaps this is not even a genetic trait afterall. Even though I don't deny my lack of plant care-taking capablity (I'm sure there's a shorter word for this, if you know it, please tell me, as it describes me to a T); I still harbor some denial by blaming the fact that for all intents and purposes, I live right up against the sun. It doesn't help that we had one of the most blisteringly hot Mays on record either. It was still only May, people...and yep, you read correctly, 14 consecutive days at 100 degrees or greater, breaking the previous record of a mere 13 days. I even threatened JTK that I had once and for all had it with the heat and we should move.

So there you have it. I'm not great with plants, but I may have been successful further into the year if it weren't so darned HOT this time around.

Maybe I'll try my hand at some indoor basil...but I'll leave that for after this summer's vacation, for which I cannot wait! The cities Paris and Nice will soon witness an alarming consumption rate by JTK and me. When we go on a trip, we are sure to try as big of a variety of cuisine as possible at the local cafes, restaurants, and bistros. Stay tuned for some hopefully rousing food tales from our journey.

In the meantime, I hope my little mint plant will pull through. This ironically unseasonably cool June could do the trick.