La Tartine Gourmande

Healthy Nut Snack In a few days, I am going to do one of my favorite things. Travel. Embrace a new culture. Discovery new places. And taste local foods. Whenever that happens, I never leave without bringing food with me. Just a little something. I know! It’s a habit. I cannot help it. No one complains, mind you. Last March, it’s the lovely island of Tortola that Lulu, my parents-in-law, P. and I visited. We enjoyed a week filled with rest, play and wondrous foods. One that...

Tartelette “I am so inspired by my visits to the farm,” I told my father on the phone. Without seeing his face, I could feel he was finding my words amusing. My father grew up on a farm with tractors, cows and horses. And I grew up following my grandmother in the large garden she kept at the back of the house, to see the chicken and rabbits, and fetch salad, saucissons and pâtés whenever we stayed over for dinner. The best I’ve ever eaten to this day. “Comment...

Red snapper It’s not a joke. We woke up this morning to three inches of snow. And despite the fact that snow is not going to be welcomed in April, especially as I had starting gardening, I found this white coat covering the hill, garden and roofs of the houses around us beautiful to look at. It was quiet. Peaceful. “We had more than one foot of snow on April 1st when I moved to Boston in 97″, P. reminded me, as he was looking though the window. New England is a place...

Lentilles vertes et cresson I had a lot of ideas I wanted to share. In fact, thinking about it now as I write, I should have known that I was feeling ambitious. That something would come in the way of my plan. I wanted to tell you about Spring, and how excited I am that it is here, and that on the very first day of Spring, we visited the farm again. Not only because Lulu has been insistently asking to see les moutons et les poules first thing in the morning every day, but also because it was...

Quails eggs en cocotte with smoked salmon, leek and zucchini It happened on a Tuesday when Lulu was at home with me. It was sunny in a way that made you know Spring was coming and the best thing to do was to be outside. To see nature. To feel connected with it. I wanted this in view of the recent world events. I knew I was in need of it. I knew, too, that Lulu would love it. For her own reasons. Those simple ones of a two-year old who wants to play. “Tu veux aller à la ferme ?”...

There are events in life that touch our sensibility more deeply than others. It’s the way it goes. I’ve always had a strong attraction and a fond connection to Japan. Its food and sense of design. Its people and scenery. I have many great Japanese friends. All special. And although I have not yet been to Japan, I’ve always had the dream to visit. Today, of course, it’s impossible not to feel sad for what happened to the country and its people. I cannot imagine what it...

Madeleines au chocolat et à la vanille Crane Beach, Ipswich Sunday looked promising. We didn’t have anything planned. It felt free. We knew that we’d wake up late, whenever we felt like it. A treat. We had decided to go with the flow then. La crème de la crème these days in our life… A hearty breakfast made of fresh apple juice, fresh muesli and yogurt, toast , apricot jam and cheese started our day. “What shall we do'” I asked P. while we were finishing...

Salade de cresson “Je ne savais pas ça !” (I didn’t know that!) I told my sister-in-law. We were eating lunch. It happened on a Tuesday in January when my family visited us. I had cooked wild Alaskan salmon in a light broth flavored with aromas of coconut milk, lemongrass and lime, and I served it with steamed brown rice and green asparagus on the side. Geneviève and I were talking about the salad. La salade. Food that my brother Benoit and I would fight over at...

Cocoa and banana muffins with black sesame seeds “It’s a muffin packed with ingredients that will make you feel good,” P. said as he was happily nibbling on a muffin with a cup of tea. Actually. I was the one thinking that. These muffins' Well, I baked them with that purpose in mind. They needed to taste good. Of course. Have a taste of chocolate. Always. And bananas. Moisture, you know' And use flavorful flours full of nutrients. Why' Because I want them to be good for...

Vitamin-boosted black quinoa salad That’s a solo salad. One that I ate by myself today at lunch. One that followed a craving that started when I woke up this morning and that never ended until my imaginary salad landed on our table. In fact, I created the salad, lunch, while running this morning. It resonated with black quinoa, vitamins, grapefruit, vegetables, fennel, radish, refreshing and crunchy. My salad gave me all of these things. And I felt blessed. For the run. My craving....