Mano-a- Mano with Edward Scissorhands

OK-me and this little guy are going to come to terms. I haven't bought a shotgun or anything like that-but he is seriously testing my Cambridge "all creatures have a place on this earth" mentality.

I was fine when the local bunny ate all my strawberries--a minor inconvenience. and I have been OK with the squirrels lifting my expensive tuberous begonia bulbs to toss around the yard.

But Edward scissorhands and I are doing serious battle. I feel him mocking me from the bushes every morning as he sees me cursing him as I replace all the divots one by one. slowly watching the grass die as he does his thing every night.

I was unsure what type of creature was taking a can opener to my lawn every night. However my friend Ellen informed me that it is a skunk. So one must approach with caution.

I have tried killing the grubs so his food supply is cut out-but he just waits it out till they come back and then he starts again.

Every morning I go out to get the paper and there it is-massive destruction-grass clumps thrown eveyrwhere-but with intense precision at the root line.

I feel his eyes on me as I scream in the air "EDWARD!". I assume he has gotten used to his name. Maybe I should have little t-shirts made for he and all his little skunk friends

"You Grow it and Mow it, We throw it ".

I am planning my revenge as we speak.

What a meat market!

OK OK-so it's not the type of meat market I am used to where scantily clad women and leering men provide the visual entertainment. It was however a real visual experience.

Fish heads, Tongue, Chickens and rabbits oh my!

As promised, these are the meat pictures from the Paris market. They are gross to us-but really, what a tribute to the animal. I remember my grandmother slaughtering her own chickens and using every bit of that chicken. Here we throw out 1/2 of the usable animal because we don't like thinking about the reality of eating an animal.

I say if you slaughter it-use it! I try to use as much of an animal as possible-being one of those "gross" people that likes to cook the neck and innards and has been known to eat tongue, pickled pigs feet and any other number of things that gross out the masses of American consumers. How sad. Not only are these cuts delicious and nutritious--but they are also a better way to respect the animal. Oh well-I doubt I will ever win that battle-but hopefully I have given you something to think about and one day you may try to use more of the animal than just those parts nicely cellophaned in the grocery store.

Enjoy the pictures. I took some of them through the glass cases so I notice there are some reflections....but you get the idea.

Bouffe tout c'il vous plait!

Miscommunication

Before the Paris meat market post- I would like to relay a small food funny that happened this weekend with my girlfriends on the cape.

Being the dutiful Diva that I am , I made some really nice healthy vegetable salads for us to all enjoy over the weekend.

Joanne had us all at her house: Charlene, Allyson, Sarah and me.

So we are sitting around and Allyson is half listening to the conversation as she was not feeling that well. Charlene is asking me about the salads and what is in them.

At one point I keep saying "Kohlrabi". Everyone was kind of looking at me like I was strange and kept asking the same question. And I kept answering "Kohlrabi".

Finally Allyson says-"why do you want me to call Rob and why do you keep calling him Robby???"

After a good laugh I spelled out Kohlrabi and explained it is an Asian vegetable used much like a daikon radish-but milder.

Then later that day we were all at job lot and low and behold-they had Kohlrabi seeds. Everyone was relived to know I had not lost my mind (well at least not pertaining to that!).

So sometimes what seems so obvious to one person is clearly sounding like something else to someone else. Sort of make you wonder how often we think we know what people are saying-but really have no idea. :).

By the way, the salad was fabulous.

peeled grated Kohlrabi

peeled grated carrots

one lemon-juiced and zested

Chinese black vinegar

grated ginger

grape seed or canola oil (about twice the amount of vinegar you use)

minced garlic

toasted sesame seeds toasted

Cashews chopped

hint of hot pepper(Cayenne)

salt to taste

mix lemon juice, zest,oil, vinegar, ginger and garlic together. Pour over grated veggies. toss with cashews sesame seeds and salt.

Let sit for about an hour.

Awesome!!

This Little Piggy Went to Market

Its been two years since I've been to Paris, But because of my acute sensitivity to food--I haven't forgotten a thing! As usual-Paris does not disappoint.

My sister joined me on this trip for her first visit to Paris in 47 years.. Since we both have the same childhood memories of food it was easy to spend most of the trip eating and reminiscing.

In one little pastry shop in Montparnasse (which we traveled to by metro specifically) we bought 5 pastries and ate them for breakfast/lunch. YUMMY!!!! One was this delectable puff type pastry that had been caramelized with a slightly perhaps lemony flavor-but nothing that would override the incredible butter taste that had permeated the entire roll. Another was an almond egg/cream type mixture that delighted with texture differences between the crackly pastry layers, the nutty soft but not gushy filling, and the sliced almonds on top. Spectacular. We looked everywhere for the caramelized butter pastry but never found it again. This is why I travel to that little shop.

We went to Angelina's, frequently. It is one of Paris's premier pastry shops. We were fortunate enough that it was two blocks from our hotel and our hotel room faced the entrance. I say fortunate because the lines start early and stay for most of the day. We could look out the window and see if there was no line and quickly scoot down to buy some delectable little morsel to munch on. After all-wouldn't want to get faint from lack of pastry for a couple of hours!

I had not been to the Paris markets in quite some time. Usually when I am in Paris the person with me is more interested in Notre dame and the Eiffel Tower than in pain au chocolat and beignet's. So I was delighted to spend time pursuing the markets and looking at food with someone who also remembered it as I did--delicious beyond compare, real and beautiful.

It is difficult to describe the french connection to food and their respect for everything that they put in their mouth. But a trip to the market or a walk along the street where there are food markets will tell the story.

Their vegetables are huge and beautiful and REAL. I bought 1/2 lb of strawberries and was amazed and delighted at their flavor and texture. Not even straight from the farmers market at home do they taste like this. Their produce and street food is never cheap or manufactured.

The white asparagus is a common fixture at all the markets. It is about an inch in diameter and absolutely gorgeous. The fennel heads are the size of grapefruits and the cauliflower is the size of a basketball.. everything is in perfect condition and beautifully ripe.

The French buy their food almost every day so they would not tolerate under ripe produce sitting in the store for a week or more just ripening or rotting. Because the food delivery system in the US must accommodate 300 million people it will be vastly different than if we were the size of Texas.

Nonetheless, the difference is astonishing and one could only hope to have the same quality at home. But I doubt we will ever see that. Even at the farmers markets in the US the food quality is not as good as in France. Our farming methods, soil and climate do not produce the same quality produce. And our standards, due to years of indifference and lack of quality, are much lower.

Our one disappointment was that as little girls we regaled on what we called Beignet's. They looked like dunkin donuts munchkins-but the taste, texture and smell are vastly different. We walked the market but could only find beignet's that looked like American donuts that were filled with apple and creme and other things. Not what we were looking for-- so we didn't taste them. Sadly, we never found our memory of a beignet. Although we are told by the locals they do still exist. But not to despair-we were able to buy several pastries and eat all of them as we strolled the food orgy before us.

I have taken some pictures of the produce and as you can see I am not lying (however since all the produce is out sized it is difficult to see in the pictures the magnitude of their beauty and size--take my word for it-HUGE!).

Be prepared for the next blog entry which will have some graphic pictures of real meat that you may feel "grossed out" by. However once again-their respect for the food and the animal is paramount. If you are going to eat chicken, or pork or rabbit-or whatever it is--you should know where it comes from, what it looks like outside the little cellophane wrapper at the grocery store, and you should have respect for its life and use all possible parts--enjoy the vegetable shots and prepare yourself for the others....

Oh, and sorry about no pastry shots from the little pastry shop in Montparnasse. We were so busy stuffing them in our little mouths like Little piggies that we didn't take the time to snap pictures. Ce la Vie! On a bien Manger!

Everyday Food

What to have for dinner. The biggest dilemma in America on a daily basis. Unless you happen to live in the white house and have a personal chef--this is a daily ritual that we can all relate too.

Why is it so difficult? If you have children I can imagine it is tough to be creative every day. But even beyond that-there is something within us that screams for something colorful, tasty, filling and exciting. Then we open the fridge and see pickle relish, mustard and milk. Yeah-not exactly the makings of Haute cuisine in there.

I keep a few things on hand that allow me to make something good a lot of the time. I'm not going to lie and say every night is like a french bistro--but I do usually have something tasty and healthy most every night. Even if that is french bread and good cheese.

So I took a picture of my salads tonight. One was for dinner and the other was for Lunch the next day on the train. Far superior to train food!

I always keep really good pitted olives, hard boiled eggs, pickled onions, pickled sweet peppers, cheese, lettuce on hand. For these salads I also had some steak and chicken pieces that I had taken home from my friend Janis's Kentucky derby party. The salads were very yummy. Oh I had some fresh pineapple so I added a little of that chopped up as well.

The salad dressing in the background is from trader Joe's. I make my own for company-but just for me I use this stuff which is low cal and you fat and VERY tasty.

It took about ten minutes to make both salads.

So many things can go into a salad. In a couple of weeks I am going to have one of the Diva ladies over who eats salad every day -0but has been eating the same salad for about a year. We are going to have a lesson on salad variety. both the type of lettuce and the things you use in it. And then maybe even the dressings.

Last week we had dinner for my friend Paula's birthday. We made a fabulous salad with all the things I mentioned above plus some thinly sliced fennel. It was just delicious. We had that with some of my homemade sweet onion dressing.

On the menu that night was the salad as well as these really tasty mussels we made with a tomato cilantro hot pepper sauce and some nice crusty french bread--toasted with garlic scraped across the top. A couple of fresh artichokes with a nice dipping sauce and Viola! a fabulous meal.

Of course I forgot to take pictures of that-but it was colorful and inviting--trust me.

OK-Paris next!

POP POP POP!

That is what all the flowers are doing. Yesterday my peony tree went from bud to flower in ten minutes! Oh what a beauty it is too.

The Primroses are passing by but they are still so colorful and happy. Since they are shade plants they really light up a shade garden. The Lamium with them is gorgeous as well-but that blooms most of the summer. Pink, White and dark pink. Lovely.

The wisteria, scotch broom and lilacs are in full bloom as well.

No disasters in the garden since I gave myself a concussion with the hammer. But today I go out and get the garden ready for my two week absence so I am sure to do something klutzy. I'll keep you posted. :).

Yes, two week absence. I will be in London, Paris and Geneva. SO guess what? when I am in Paris I will have lots of postings. My sister is coming with me and she has not been in Paris since we were children (when we used to live there). She wants to visit all of our old houses. This should be an experience.

I went to my grandmothers house in Clamart a few years ago. Her neighbor was still alive. He immediately knew who I was-and i swear he had not changed in 30 years!

Paris is such a foodie's heaven. I will be in my glory sucking up all the chocolate croissants I can get my hands on. And butter-I just mainline the butter-why try to eat it on something-that is so time consuming. :).

SO stay tuned-and enjoy the garden shots from above. There will be no garden shots for a while now-just lots of FOOD!!! French Food. YUM!!

Babes in Toy land

OK-I can't exactly call my sister and I "babes". but we were definitely in toy land at my friend Ellen's house this week. Ellen is a master gardener and probably a master at most things. She's been my friend for 30 years and together we have shared a love of food, gardening, shopping, clothes, shoes and all things girly.

She lives in Greensboro close enough to my mom that one of us visits the other when I am there. This time it was my turn to do the drive. And happily so.

We arrived just in time for lunch (of course we planned that!) Ellen has an amazing vegetable garden and the lettuce was just up enough to make a fabulous salad. We also had a delicious mix of sausage and potatoes and peppers. But the real treat was dessert!

Ellen made us these delicious macaroons. Knowing I am allergic to coconut-she kindly made two types: almond and coconut. The almond ones were scrumptious. I hear the coconut ones were better. alas I will never know...:(.

We then went out in to the garden and looked at all her fruit trees laden with fruit which will ripen through the summer, gorgeous flowers everywhere (she has a 10 acre property so a lot of planting and naturalization), and unusual garden elements that catch the eye.

I photographed our treats as well as a beautiful weeping conifer along the drive that she is training around a metal railing she found. The conifer is spectacular. The other shot is a view looking down the driveway. the first picture is her cutting garden just before it goes into full spectacular bloom.

Big girls playground.