IT ALL HAPPENS AT ONCE, DOESN’T IT?

And a wonderful award

We have had more activity, more socializing, more going on this past month than ever before. Or at least for a long time. Weekend in Brest, drive down to Albi to spend a couple of days with in-laws, visitors for this weekend from Paris, lunch out at JP’s colleague’s apartment, and the Giants came to town. We tend to spend our time alone, hanging out, cooking, watching films or dining out, strolling through town or walks with Marty in the vineyards or forests around Nantes. JP and I, as I have said in a recent post, have our own zip code, we live on our own private island, so 3 weeks packed with activities and friends throws us into such a spin that we get dizzy! But the friends are great, the food is great and you should’ve seen the Royale Deluxe Giants!

The Little Giant

Her Uncle, the Diver

Fresco of The Seven Deadly Sins in the Cathéral Sainte-Cécile in Albi

And then along came Carole. Carole has a wonderful, funny food blog called, appropriately Hey Mom, What's for Dinner Tonight? (Great food with a side of humor from a Lazy Home Cook). The photography is beautiful, the food great, the writing brilliant and she is just simply great to hang around with! And this month, Carole has sent me an award! Queen of ALLL Things award (Awe-Summm!!!) Me? The Queen of all things? Yay! I now have the award to prove it to all those Doubting Thomas’s. I mean, haven’t I been saying this all along?


Seriously, Carole, it is so thrilling to get this award from you, and I thank you very much from the bottom of my heart! I am so happy that there are people who enjoy my blog! Now, kindly bow down before your Queen…. Oops, no, didn’t really mean it. I think it is just going to my head!

Do I finally get to wear this?

And now it is my turn to pass the Queen of ALLL Things Award to a deserving food blogger. This is so difficult for me as there are so many amazing, wonderful food bloggers out there, so many great blogs that I visit over and over again. I have decided to award this to 3 food bloggers who each in their own way have inspired me in my baking and have pushed me to overcome my fear of all things yeast through their challenges (Zorra’s Bread Baking Day and Susan’s Yeastspotting) and by their own bread and yeast creations. This Award goes to (drum roll please…)

Susan of Wild Yeast

Zorra of Kochtopf

Elra of Elra’s Baking

Stand up and take a bow! You all 3 really do deserve this award for your Awe-Summm!!! blogs. And thank you for inspiring and motivating me to yeast it up!

This past weekend, Ruth, Guy and their daughter Esther (gentle, joyous and lovely like the Queen) hopped over from Paris to see us. A good time was had by all (except sons who had to give up their beds and spent 2 days grumbling). Sunday morning we went on our quest to find and follow the Giants, which were as astonishing as usual. And Ruth and Guy were so lovely as to offer me two cookbooks, The Desperate Housewives Cookbook (dubbed in French, as I say) and La Cuisine de la Diaspora (80 recettes autour des fêtes juives), The Cooking of the Diaspora (80 recipes from the Jewish holidays).


We wound up these few hectic weeks tired yet happy. Yesterday we drove to Carquefou where we picked up our packing cartons for the move.

Tonight I was inspired by the Jewish cookbook offered by Guy and Ruth to make harira and moufleta for dinner. Recipes and photos tomorrow.