Blog - Harvesting Dinner

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Part 1: The Good

It has been 11 years since my last trip to France: the culinary landscape is changing and not necessarily for the better… I had heard that the country itself is rather perturbed by the invasion of Fast Food giants and processed foods in the grocery stores. However, and thank goodness, the little independently owned neighborhood food providers still seem to thrive and can be found everywhere even amidst the larger supermarkets! There is also a movement in France pushing to preserve the “original French way” of eating, phewee 🙂 The Good 1. The very good: the bakeries! They are everywhere… Read More

Deciphering Local Culinary Jargon

Day two of romancing the Mediterranean coast near Montpellier. We are currently 12 people reunited for the holidays. My step-sister Delphine lives here with her husband Erwan (he owns the wine boutique) and their adorable daughters. Visiting from Brittany: Erwan’s mother and from Toulouse, his aunt. My father (Canadian) and step-mom (Parisian born) have rented a large house in Montpellier to accommodate this large group. It is home base while we gallivant the surrounding areas. On this second day of discovery, we are visiting Sète, a quaint town and home to the largest fish port of France. And of course,… Read More

Foie Gras and Other Decadent French Foods

Lucky me! My family and I are currently visiting family in the south of France. Since our arrival less than 48 hours ago, my two sons have been digging into French gastronomy with such abandon and adventure it is pleasing this mom like mad. From fairly finicky eaters as youngsters, they finally seem to have embraced to joy of culinary disvoveries! My personal (and very plain) “must have favourite: Jambon beurre” when landing on French soil was a huge hit. My boys have heard incessantly on how this unassuming sandwich is soooo amazing! Baguette, butter and ham! Nothing more!!! But… Read More

Sucre à la crème – AKA Vanilla Fudge

A last minute request to bring a sweet contribution created a moment of panic in my life last night. Normally, such a request would be welcomed and what to bring along would be a no brainer. I have been known to have a freezer full of amazing cookies and treats ready to be distributed as host gifts and served every Christmas and New Year’s eve (even left overs well into March!). Christmas baking has been my trademark for over 30 years: cookie baking started as a way to stretch my poor student’s budget and still get into the spirit of giving. Over the years, my humble… Read More

Black Rice and Edamame Salad

It is party and potluck season! And my hubby and I will be joining friends for a great annual event this evening. I have been asked to bring either a vegetable dish or a dessert… Since I know a few others are already fulfilling the needs of all the sugar lovers who will be attending this festive affair, I have been really digging deep in my recipe repertoire to bring a vegetable dish that is not so humdrum (such as a vegetable platter) all the while keeping in mind there could be a picky palate or two! After brainstorming with myself and my pantry, I decided to… Read More

The Exercise Rant… A Parody Totally Unrelated to Cooking!

This little rant on my exercise phobia is meant to be humoristic and should be taken with a grain of salt :). And I love all my fit friends to pieces, even if you actually own a Lullulemon outfit 🙂 Soooo, how often do you exercise? At risk of being to blunt, I will smack right into tomorrow the next person that asks me that question! Ok, that may be a bit harsh but you have no idea how painful exercise is for me and how much I do not want to do it consciously. Ever! Again! Seriously, why is that… Read More

Healthy(er!!!) Cream of Broccoli

I was asked by my good friend Sandra if I had a healthy version of a cream of broccoli soup. It took me a while to respond to her because I had to make one at home to be sure I was giving the proper ingredients and direction. I am an ingredient “tosser” and seldom follow recipes for soups… A traditional cream of broccoli soup would require butter, cream and potatoes. I swapped with avocado oil, organic sour cream and 1% milk. Eliminating the starchy vegetable provides a bit of wiggle room for those who count points and calories. I… Read More

Monday Night Pasta Inspiration!

As I got home from work yesterday, panic set in! I had been away all weekend and still had a bunch of vegetables left from last week’s basket delivery. If I didn’t shake the day’s exhaustion off and started cooking, these would spoil for sure. I was not about to let that happen!!! My weekly delivery of local and fresh veggies directly from the farmer sometimes interferes with life… Hmmm, wait a second, let me rephrase this: LIFE sometimes interferes with the godsend goodness from my local farmer. So I opted to make a pretty decent cream of Romanesco with… Read More