Treasures from the Auguste-Blanqui Market in Paris

On Friday mornings in Paris, the rambling Auguste-Blanqui Market is in full swing. When you get off the Metro at Place d'Italie you're immediately caught up in the swirl of activity, which extends for many, many blocks. The vendors mainly sell edibles, but there are other treasures to be found.

I'm contemplating the figues de Barbarie or prickly pears

One of many cheese stands

Dean admired these tomatoes

I happened upon a basket full of African bracelets and I had to have some. I should have bought more than three. C'est la vie.

The basket of colorful bracelets

                      Then I saw some typically French espadrilles and I had to have some.

Modeling my purchases from the market

Our plan was to walk up to the the nearby Butte aux Cailles after the market and sit in the lovely park we had discovered on a previous trip. The Butte aux Cailles (quails) was originally a tiny village on the outskirts of Paris. It's flowering gardens and cobblestone lanes dotted with convivial bars and restaurants is now an integral part of the 13th arrondissement. We enjoyed staying there when we went on a Yoga trip years ago.

Above is a typical view from our park. And then we decided to walk up Rue Gobelins to Rue Mouffetard, as we had done a few times on previous trips. But unfortunately we had left our maps at the hotel. This being the quaint Butte aux Cailles, we passed a dusty old newsstand and the proprietor found a couple of Paris maps buried deep in a dusty drawer. We bought one and it turned out to be the best "plan" we had ever seen. We kept it and we'll take it along next visit.

I'm working on a longer blog about the Loire Valley but in the meantime I decided to post this little ditty.

Three or Four Gardens in the Loire Valley and One in Paris

I was expecting the chateau gardens in the Loire Valley to be formal, and the vast gardens of Chateau Villandry were just that.

Villandry was the first chateau on our itinerary and we headed straight there after renting our car in Tour. Of course we immediately made the usual mistakes, and  were over half-way to Poitier before we realized that we were way past our chateau. After a surprisingly easy turnaround, we headed back on the auto route to Villandry without any more problems---that I can remember. Fortunately the chateaus are marked by signs well in advance, since they are the main tourist attractions.

The gardens were sporting their bright fall colors, and the plantings consisted mainly of red begonias intermixed with purple cabbages.

In the vivid afternoon sunshine, the cabbages were luminescent. And then there was the chard.

But not all the parcels were symmetrical and formally laid out. We found some wild flowers mixed in.

We spent a splendid Saturday night in Saumur, sleeping beneath the illuminated chateau and dining at the bustling Le Pot de Lapin. Sunday morning, after a typical French breakfast, we set out for Chateau D'Azay-Le-Rideau.

We parked on Rue Rabelais next to the church and as we entered the tiny village Dean marked the spot with a photo by the spouting gargoyle fountain.

Before entering the grounds, we spotted a potager, or kitchen vegetable plot, belonging to the Chateuau. It contained a wild array of colorful flowers and herbs and even a working compost heap. The potting shed also served as a mini garden-themed gift shop.

The trip wouldn't be complete without a compost heap- this one at Azay- le-Rideau

We continued through the gates to the the exquisite chateau, which turned out to be my favorite of the trip. The fairytale aspect of the castle with its perfect proportions, and the glorious late summer day all contributed to the magical experience.

The moat surrounding Azay-le-Rideau

After visiting the chateau and extensive grounds, we tried to order a bite at the outdoor café, but we were too famished to wait for the over-worked staff to wait on us...

So we left the enchanted castle and found a typically french bistro nearby that would serve us lunch after the witching hour. (The French stop serving lunch at about 2:30 and close their restaurants until dinnertime.)  The patrons also were kind enough to locate the area where we had parked our car. After so much oohing and ahhing, we had forgotten how to find our parking spot on Rue Rabelais .

Next on our itinerary was Chateau D'Ussé. More fairytale towers and medieval spires

From the upper level, we looked down at the the sprawling gardens and after a thorough study of the interior, including the attic, we descended onto the grounds.

                                    I loved the colors and unsymmetrical arrangement of the plants

Some areas were remiscent of wild gardens I saw growing up in Wisconsin. They were a bright contrast to the stony formality of the chateau itself.

Dean writing a postcard across the road from Chateau D'Ussé

We found a lovely spot for lunch immediately across from the Chateau entrance and we wrote postcards and watched the bicyclists file in while we waited for our typically French salads.

For the next few days we drove around the countryside, visiting troglodyte caves, tasting Anjou wines and  enjoying the small towns and villages with their lesser known chateaus or abbeys.

Ancient church in the tiny wine village of Savennieres, 

 Finally we found one more garden at the Chateau in Angers. This was our last stop in the Loire Valley and after we returned our car at the train station, we spent the afternoon touring the formidable castle with it's famous tapestries of the Apocalypse.

This chateau  garden was of the formal French variety and it was laid down in the dry moat surrounding the castle. Dean took a video which captured the whole scene.

                                         Then it was farewell to Angers and hello Paris

Not only does Paris boast grand parks and green spaces,  if you walk around you'll be surprised by small squares with enchanting little garden spaces like Square Marius Constant, which we discovered by chance.

More chard amongst the flowers

Another photo-op for both of us

Off to Paris

Monday evening I'm flying to Paris and when we arrive late Tuesday we're heading straight to our favorite Hôtel de Sèvres. After we freshen up we're going to L'Épigramme for dinner. This is only the first of my blogging buddy Jeanette's recommendations. There are more...

Wednesday we'll visit Café Varenne
Thursdays it's La Régalade now called Origins 14
Friday we have reservations for a concert at the breathtaking La Sainte Chapelle, again suggested by Jeanette and we'll probably have a bite at her café across the street
Saturday- I finally connected (by phone) with Le Pot de Lapin in Saumur, so that's reserved
Friday on our return to Paris from the Loire Valley I plan to dine at Le Récamier

See you when we get back

Jake's Birthday Bean and Snap Pea Salad

August 19th! Jake's birthday, and another celebratory pot luck at the McMurtry's in Walnut Creek. I decided to concoct a summer bean and snap pea salad that had been a big hit on the Fourth of July. The inspiration  came from a striking photograph in the Canadian cookbook First Mess by Laura Wright. Her title refers to a passage in M.F.K. Fisher's An Alphabet for Gourmets.

Slicing sugar snap peas down the middle is the key to the salad's striking presentation and it always gets raves. The rest of the ingredients are prepared in the traditional manner-- just simmer green and yellow beans until tender, run a bit of cold water over them, drain and plop them in a bowl. Blanch whole snap peas for a minute in the boiling water, drain them, slice horizontally and add them to the bowl. Salt the veggies and dress them with a simple vinaigrette made from olive oil, balsamic vinegar, shaved shallots, and a small spoonful of Dijon mustard. At the last minute I added halved cherry tomatoes and sprigs of basil for flavor and effect.

To serve the salad, I chose a BIA rectangular baker with a vegetable motif to show off the beauty of the dish. I poured the undressed vegetables into the baker and arranged them artfully in order to take the photo and then I dressed and rearranged them right in the server. The little green pea pod at the top of the picture is actually a design painted on the white porcelain, but it certainly looks like a part of the salad. You can easily spot the pea pod in the empty baker below.

My precious BIA rectangular baker with veggie pattern

I first discovered BIA Cordon Bleu when I went to work for Chef's Warehouse in Daly City. This was the newly opened retail cookware store for BIA, as it's now called, a company that produced French inspired cookware, bakeware and tableware made from porcelain. To learn more about the history of the company called Belgian Import Association, click Here . I was hired to organize the cookbook section of their shop, but I soon had ample opportunity to familiarize myself with all the BIA products, and I lost no time collecting appealing pieces. At that time the South San Francisco company designed and manufactured beautifully decorated dinnerware sets, casseroles, oval and rectangular bakeware, cafe-au-lait bowls, pitchers, soup tureens etc. etc. My co workers and I collected  to our heart's content, but little did we realize that in the near future our beloved decorative fruit and flower patterns would be eliminated and could not be replaced. Though the company is still thriving they have switched to plain white patterns and the glazed ceramic stoneware that is now in vogue.

Unfortunately my supply of dinner and salad plates is dwindling due to inevitable breakage, but I still have plenty of oval, rectangular and round bakers due to their thickness and durability. I should mention that all porcelain is made of clay and fired at a very high temperature to allow for strength and durability. These wonderful products can withstand hot ovens, microwaves, freezers and dishwashers. But sadly, they can't withstand a crash to a hard floor or a stiff bang on a granite counter top.

The casserole pictured above, decorated with colorful summer vegetables, is one of my BIA favorites. I use it to bake Dean's favorite microwave polenta.

A round baker with a rare grape pattern

I have tried to replace my broken items on the BIA website as well as on EBay but the selection is minute. All I found were few items with chili peppers from an estate sale in Texas. So I'll just have to enjoy the pieces that I have left, and hold on to the those dwindling dinner plates with a firm grip.

Today We're Making Oatmeal Cookies

Actually, the cookies above are not my cookies. They were baked and photographed by Joy the Baker who has an inspirational blog. She inspired me to make my current favorite Oatmeal School Cookies from the classic cookbook Laurel's Kitchen. As you might notice from previous cookie posts, I love oatmeal cookies both for their wholegrain goodness and sweet chewy appeal.

Laurel's Kitchen, A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery and Nutrition was written by Carol Flinders, Laurel Robertson and Bronwen Godfrey. Published in 1976, it contributed to the increasing awareness of vegetarian eating in the U.S. The second edition called The New Laurel's Kitchen came out in 1986 and is still in print. Laurels Kitchen was a little too hardcore for my taste. I gravitated toward the Vegetarian Epicure I and II by Anna Thomas. But I still browsed through Laurel's information and recipes and somehow came away with this recipe for oatmeal school cookies to add to my growing repertoire of oatmeal favorites.

My version of Oatmeal School Cookies, stored in a cookie tin

I guess I first baked these cookies in the 70's and I liked the flavor but I found them to be unpleasantly hard. Maybe I over-baked them but, for whatever reason, they never made my list of favorites nor were they included in my files. Then lately the memory of oatmeal school cookies crept into my sensory stream of consciousness. I remembered the crunch of sesame seeds and a wholegrain goodness that appeals to me now. I generally add whole wheat flour to most of my baked goods and I like the results. Of course Laurel's version would be 100% whole wheat and include wheat germ as well, so it was time to locate the recipe. No need to visit the library, the recipe showed up on the Canadian blog Ten More Bites.

The original recipe calls for pumpkin or sunflower seeds, but I remembered sesame seeds, so that is what I used. I require walnuts in my cookies and Dean requests chocolate chips, so both are included. Dean (or Mr. P as Jeanette calls him} loves them!

                                                OATMEAL SCHOOL COOKIES

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup wholewheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins and chocolate chips
2/3 cups toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Using a mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, wheat germ and oats. Combine with other ingredients.
Stir in raisins and chocolate and seeds. If the mixture seems a bit crumbly, add a tablespoon of water or apple juice.
Drop Tablespoonfuls onto  baking sheets, flatten tops. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack

                                                                              §§§

Bird Seed Sock

Last December Judith Barish, our neighbor and, coincidentally, my New York niece's college roommate,  gave us a bird sock. She was so delighted with the activity that her sock generated that she decided to buy a bigger one and she gave us her smaller one.

We hung the sock on a post above our deck, bought nyjer seeds at The Wild Bird Annex on San Pablo Ave. and filled it. Then we watched and waited for birds to come. These seeds are known to attract goldfinches.

Judith had warned us that the seeds must be fresh or the birds would reject them. The sock filled with fresh seeds hung invitingly in the air, but weeks went by with no visitors.

Finally a small hooded bird appeared which I identified as a black hooded junco, but he was too big to hang comfortably on the sock. He chose to eat seeds that were knocked down on the deck railing, and I encouraged him by scattering seeds there. At least this was a nice addition to the usual chickadees who nest in our bird house.

A Junco enjoying nyjer seeds on the deck railing

After weeks of waiting we noticed smaller birds with tiny legs and feet clinging to the sock and pushing their beaks into the holes. Welcome, finches!  But so many brown seeds were dropping onto the the railing and deck  that it was hard to figure out how they were getting any nourishment.  I finally realized that they shell each seed and spit out the casings. This makes a big mess, but it's worth it to have a constant aviary show right outside our kitchen window.

A junco and goldfinches share what's left in the sock

Soon birds were swooping in from all directions and pushing others off to get their turn. Those that couldn't push their way in would wait nearby until the action calmed.  We counted as many as four birds hanging on the sock at one time.

4 Birds---our record

a gold finch on front of sock

One evening we spotted the telltale bright yellow breast of the bird we had been waiting for---the goldfinch! The color was unmistakable!

2 goldfinches in the evening light;  bird in back is busy shelling his seed

Once one goldfinch arrived, many followed. And now the juncos are jumping on too. We have entertainment from morning til night. We don't have as many varieties as Mr. B and Jeanette Baird, but I might try other feeders and different seeds and hope for a tufted titmouse or a house finch like they report in Jeanette's Blog.