Jennie Goutet's Blog: A Lady in France, page 8

September 5, 2017

Photos from the Loire Atlantique

Right after we got back from our week in the Loire Atlantique, my family came to visit. And then yesterday it was la rentrée (back to school) with tons of meetings planned for each class and extra-curricular activity. So this is a “lite” post containing mostly pictures of a couple of the towns we visited.

A few summers ago we spent time in Lacanau-Océan, which is also on the Atlantique but further down. This time, we were more north and so close to Brittany the area used to be considered Breton. It actually was Breton until 1942 to be precise, and even now some still consider it Breton and the signs are all in both languages. I posted a couple pictures of Guérande when I wrote about how to harvest sea salt, and now here are three more towns. I didn’t include a lot of historical background and the pictures are just to give you a flavour for each town.

Piriac-sur-Mer

[image error]

We only had two hours to spend there, but it’s super charming, isn’t it? I love all the little signs with cartoon characters. And of course the hidden face popping out of the wall saying coucou. Coucou (pronounced coo-coo) simply means hi. It’s the sort of thing you say when you enter the house of someone you know well and you want to announce your presence.

La Turballe

For this place, I only have pictures of the beach, not of the town, although the town looked pretty cute when we drove through. We went specifically to take sunset pictures, and since we happened to be there just as the eclipse was happening in the US, we also took a ” total eclipse of the son” picture.

[image error]

As for the rest, there is nothing more peaceful than the ocean (to me) and no better lighting than the close of day. This is on our way up the hill of sand to get to the ocean. It was also like that in Lacanau-Océan, although the sand dune was higher and harder to climb.

[image error]

The ocean – especially on the French coast – is my happy place.

[image error]

Le Croisic

I really did not capture the heart of this place. I don’t know why – not a lot of time and not motivated to take pictures. We went for dinner, but again only had two hours because that’s what the club offered us by way of childcare. It’s a sweet harbor town, though, with only the first picture showing evidence of the boats.

[image error]

Otherwise, it’s filled with charming old streets and buildings.

[image error]

I’ve made it look like a ghost town when it’s not. And the town hall looks surprisingly run down with rubble in the corner beyond the barrier. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but the facade is still gorgeous.

[image error]

What I think gives the best feel for Le Croisic, however, is this 30 second video clip that I took and put on Instagram. I wish it lasted longer but I didn’t want to film the people that were sitting at the restaurant just around the corner. I’m so in love with it – the video, the place, (my husband) I want to play it again and again. When you watch, you’ll see what I mean. (If you’re reading this by e-mail, you have to click on the blog title at the top of the e-mail to see the video clip).

Date night in #lecroisic – I’m in love.

View more on Jennie Goutet's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on September 05, 2017 10:52

August 28, 2017

How to Harvest Sea Salt

Last week we visited the medieval city of Gurérande (gar-ahnd) and its nearby salt marshes, and there we learned how to harvest sea salt. Curious about that?

[image error]

When we started the tour, the guide showed us what salicorne (sah-lee-corn) looks like. In English, it’s called samphire, and it’s “a fleshy European seacoast plant (Crithmum maritimum) of the carrot family that is sometimes pickled”. It survives along the coast because salt is one of its components and therefore the salt from the seawater doesn’t dry it out like it would other plants. It does taste salty when you munch on it. They get uprooted whenever spotted because samphire can dry up a salt basin quickly.

[image error]

The marais salants (mah-ray sah-lahn) – salt marshes – of Guérande are 1500 years old. That means that people have been harvesting salt there since the year 500.

As in … for the past 1500 years.

I’m sorry, but that just blows my mind a little. The reason salt marshes are able to exist here is because the composition of the earth is clay. See?

[image error]

The water doesn’t seep back into the earth, but sits on top exposed to the wind and sun in a perfect environment for the water to evaporate and the salt to remain.

The salt is first brought into something called a vasière (vah-zyair) – a mudflat. In Guérande, the tide rises higher than usual two times a month so that it can flow inland. They control the water coming from the channels into the mudflats with this small sluice.

[image error]

When the water in the mudflat gets low, they open this and let the water in.

The mudflat serves to remove all the impurities in the water. The birds eat the eels and the shellfish eat all the bird droppings and all the other impurities fall to the bottom where the algae is so that when it’s time to move the water to the oeillets (aye-yet) – I’ll explain about those in a minute – only the top of the water flows in, leaving the impurities behind in the mudflat. This also means that the water going into the oeillets has a greater concentration of salt than seawater because some of the water has been evaporated, leaving the salt behind.

[image error]

Salt can only be harvested in the summer months. A normal paludier (pah-loo-dyay) – salt harvester – will have 50 oeillets and will produce between 60-90 tons of large grain sea salt and 2-3 tons of salt flower (wait till I tell you about that!) per year. Of course, depending almost entirely on the weather, it can be as little as 0 or as much as 200 tons.

These are the oeillets in pink and the water reaches them after being further cleaned through the algae basins. Although the translation for oeillet is “carnation” I think the word refers to those reinforced holes for shoelaces. Eyelets? Is that a thing?

[image error]

This is what the water channels with algae look like.

[image error]

And further in the middle are the oeillets.

[image error]

You need to have no more or less than 5 cm of water in the oeillets at all times. This is done with three wooden pegs that look like this (what he’s holding)

[image error]

which is put into these hole in the pipe under water

[image error]

When you need a lot of water to flow from the mudflat to the oeillet, you remove all three pegs at once. You control how fast the water flows in by the number of pegs, and when the water starts to get too high, you plug the holes.

Once the right amount of water is in, you need to let the wind and sun evaporate the water to leave a greater concentration of sea salt in the oeillet. Starting around noon and through to six o’clock, you push the concentrated water towards the landing place where the salt accumulates. To do this, you use un las (la). It looks like this.

[image error]

You walk along the clay bridges and give great sweeping motions (one long push)in a way that’s not so deep you dig up sediment, but where you push enough salted water forward to let the salt accumulate on the landings. It takes a year before you’re skilled enough with the las to be much good. Two years training before you’re a paludier.

The salt that accumulates is called “gros grain” – large grain. It can then be ground into finer varieties. It’s generally greyish white because it includes the calcium, potassium, magnesium and … forgot the other mineral … that’s found in the clay. Guérande is the only place in the world where they don’t wash the salt before selling it. You get it as is with all its nutrients.

Now it’s time to tell you about the fleur de sel (flur de sel). Salt flower. Once the paludiers have pushed the large grain sea salt up to their patches to dry and accumulate … here (the round areas on each square):

[image error]

then it’s time for the saisonniers to come in. I’m not sure if I spelled that correctly. It’s another person with a different skill set. By the end of the day, salt crystals have started to form on the top of the water in each oeillet. They’re greater in concentration, whiter, and are collected using a different tool called a luce (lewce). It used to be done only by women because it requires a very gentle touch. You have to skim the water to get the salt without disturbing the surface and drowning the salt or pulling up too much sediment from below. This is a luce:

[image error]

Then the day is over and it’s time to control the water level for the next day and start the process all over again. This is what fleur de sel looks like compared to gros grain.

Explaining how sea salt is harvested and the difference between “gros grain” and “fleur de sel” on my blog. #guerande #saltharvest #seasalt #fleurdesel #loireatlantique

A post shared by Jennie Goutet (@aladyinfrance) on Aug 28, 2017 at 8:15am PDT

See how white it is? (If you’re reading by e-mail, you have to click the link to the post to see the Instagram photo).

Gros grain is used for cooking because it salts the food. Fleur de sel has a different purpose. Although it has a higher concentration of salt, it’s used to enhance the existing flavour rather than give it a salty flavour.

And therefore, a cherry tomato that tastes acidic

[image error]will be less so when you add fleur de sel.

A high concentrated dark chocolate will be less bitter when you add fleur de sel.

[image error]

Salt opens the palate and lemon closes it, thus explaining the order of tequila shots with salt, tequila, then lemon. (Not that I drink tequila anymore).

Salt harvesting is a seasonal thing. If all goes well once the salt is brought in at the end of summer, fall is a period of rest until the middle of November. Of course if there’s a very high tide they have to protect their salines (sah-leen) – the salt harvesting stations. In the winter, they weed and reconstruct the banks to their salt marshes as needed and cover the salines with water to protect the mudflats (& algae) and oeillets from freezing.

In spring, they drain everything and reconstruct the clay bottoms and bridges around each oeillet. This is also a period of collective work where the paludiers all team up and work on each other’s salines and hydraulic circuits, which need a complete overhaul every 25 years. It’s too much work for one person, so they dig everything up and reconstruct them on a rotating basis with each lotie (collection of oeillets) getting attention on a different year.

And there you have the whole process of salt harvesting!

Guérande is a medieval city.

[image error]

and yet people have been harvesting salt in the nearby marshes for longer than than people have lived there. Fascinating, isn’t it?

[image error]

(Whatever I didn’t learn from the tour through the Terre de Sel, I learned here).

If you want to read more about our adventures throughout France and the surrounding regions, click here for the tourism index.

The post How to Harvest Sea Salt appeared first on A Lady In France.

View more on Jennie Goutet's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 28, 2017 08:16

August 18, 2017

Creamy Dijon Roast Chicken Legs

One of the only dishes my husband knows how to make is this sour cream and Dijon mustard roast chicken leg dish. And if you think that title is a mouthful, wait until you taste the chicken!

He sort of made the recipe up when he was a bachelor, although it doesn’t seem like he could have possibly made it up since it’s so French. It must be French with the fattening sauce you pour all over the rice.

He prepared it for me on our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple when we lived in a 2-bedroom apartment on Rivington Street in Lower Manhattan – near the F-train, which never runs.

So I’m making it for you in all its glory. It’s heavy and we don’t eat it often – luckily I know how to cook a few things as well – but we prepare it when we need a spot of comfort food on the table and some warmth in our bellies.

[image error]

My photos show a doubled recipe portion because we were entertaining our friend Sissi and her boys that day. We’re friends from NY, but Sissi is French so we get to see them here from time to time.

To begin, pour a tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet, and when it gets really hot, place 5 chicken legs (drumstick and thigh, although really you can also use one or the other) and let them sear on one side while you salt, pepper, and sprinkle Herbes de Provence or thyme on the other side. I don’t measure. Just sprinkle the quantity desired.

[image error]

When one side is browned, flip the legs and sear the other side, adding more salt and herbs, but not pepper unless you like it spicy.

When both sides are browned, you can put it in a pan for the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F or 220°C. Put a tiny bit of water in the bottom of the pan so the meat doesn’t stick and so that a gravy can form with the meat drippings. Maybe 1/4 cup water. Sorry – this is my husband’s recipe and is not exact.

Cook the chicken uncovered for at least 30 minutes. I needed 50 minutes because I was cooking all 10 at once.

In the meantime, use the skillet with the leftover drippings and sauté a chopped onion until brown.

[image error]

Then add two heaping tablespoons of Dijon mustard

[image error]

and a cup of sour cream. (Modify your recipe by adding more cream or less mustard according to taste). You can also reduce the sauce by half if you want, but it does taste awfully good on rice. If you’re looking for something to do with leftover sauce, just pour it over pasta.

I used crème fraiche instead of sour cream because that’s what we have here. Stir it over low heat until it melts.

[image error]

When the chicken comes out of the oven, there should be some drippings / gravy / sauce at the bottom of the pan.

[image error]

I poured that out and mixed it with the cream/ onion/ mustard sauce to get something more fluid. I coated the chicken with it and also ladled it over the rice.

[image error]

We served our chicken with fried zucchini and summer squash, plus rice (of course), and we followed it with a salad like all good French people must do.

[image error]

And that was our easy, tasty lunch, brainchild of my husband.

[image error]

I’m sticking this post up late on Friday night because we’re going away this week, then my mom and her husband and my sister’s family will all come the week after that. It will also be back-to-school for the kids, and in perfect timing, the workers have declared their intention to begin the construction again that week as well.

So I’m anticipating chaos. Hopefully happy chaos.

My Regency novel is finished (sort of) and in the hands of my first beta readers who will hopefully whip out their red pens and improve it beyond measure. It’s a satisfying feeling – after four complete drafts – to have something with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and a fairly cohesive plot in between. I’m reminding myself to celebrate these accomplishments and not peddle frantically towards the next goal.

And you? Is summer winding up nicely for you? Chaos, happiness, or happy chaos?

Creamy Dijon Roast Chicken Legs Print Prep time 15 mins Cook time 45 mins Total time 1 hour Serves: 5 Ingredients 5 chicken legs with drumstick and thigh (or just thighs but then use 10) thyme or herbes de Provence, salt, pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion 2 heaping tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 cup sour cream (serve with) rice and vegetable Instructions Preheat the oven to 425°F or 220°C. Put the oil in the skillet and let it get hot. Put the chicken legs in and sear on one side. Sprinkle the other with the salt, pepper and herbs. When one side is brown, flip over and sear the other side and sprinkle again with salt and herbs. Put the chicken legs in the oven, along with about ¼ cup water, and cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Check to make sure they are well-cooked and add time if you're making more chicken or reduce time if you're just cooking the thighs. Sauté a chopped onion in the skillet drippings. When the onion is brown, add the mustard and sour cream and let it melt. When you take the chicken out, use the drippings in the pan to liquify the sauce by adding it to the cream sauce. Serve piping hot, with a big spoonful of sauce over the rice, and with the vegetable on the side. 3.5.3226

If you’d like to see more French recipes, click here to see my recipe index!

[image error]

The post Creamy Dijon Roast Chicken Legs appeared first on A Lady In France.

View more on Jennie Goutet's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 18, 2017 14:01

August 14, 2017

Classic Peanut-Butter Cookies, gluten-free

I’ve been making this classic peanut-butter cookie recipe from the Joy of Cooking for years. One of the things I like about it is how suited it is to gluten-free flour. Oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies need to be tweaked when using gluten-free flour so they don’t melt and run all over the baking sheet. But these peanut-butter cookies can be used cup-for-cup with gluten-free flour with no other changes.

When we served at the pre-teen camp two weeks ago, I got to meet Lidia, who is half-French and half-Italian, and whose husband is Italian, born and raised in America. Their two boys are perfectly fluent in three languages! Lidia – who lives in Milan – and I share two mutual friends. One is Danila here in Paris (also half-French and half-Italian) whose daughter Eleanor is Juliet’s best friend. The other is my friend Sissi, fully French, but born and raised in the States. Twenty-two years ago, I was baptised in her bathtub in New York City. The world is small and multi-cultural is it not?

Back to Lidia. I brought a huge batch of brownies, peanut-butter cookies, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies when I came to camp, all gluten-free, of course. Lidia eats gluten-free too. Did you know that most restaurants in Italy will prepare any pasta dish you choose from their menu in the gluten-free version if you ask? And they even have dedicated pizza restaurants that are gluten-free. Incredible, isn’t it? Anyway, she loved the peanut-butter cookies and I promised her the recipe, and here it is.

Based on the Joy of Cooking classic recipe (but not 14-in-one) and with a few of my own adjustments.

[image error]

Use 170 grams of softened butter, or 12 tablespoons. Beat that and add a cup of peanut-butter. To that, add two eggs, a cup of brown sugar and 1/3 cup confectioner sugar and beat all that together.

[image error]

When I make cookies, I usually beat first the butter, sugar, egg in that order. And then I add what I call the small ingredients. Salt, vanilla, baking powder, etc. So add 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. I added 3/4 teaspoon medium grain sea salt because I think adds to the flavour. This is what the sea salt grains look like.

[image error]

When that’s all beat together, add 2 1/2 cups flour, regular or a gluten-free blend. Preheat the oven to 350°F or 170°C. Form small balls, 12 or 16 to a pan, and smoosh them down to form a criss-cross pattern. You can dip the fork in flour in between if you find the dough sticks to the fork.

[image error]

Put them in the oven for 8-10 minutes. I usually put mine in for 8 and turn the pan for 2 more minutes so it bakes easily. And there you have your classic peanut-butter cookies!

[image error]

Or you can discover mini Reese’s peanut butter cups in your supermarket (first time!) and make a not-so-classic “peanut button” cookies.

[image error] [image error]

Or … you can just stick to the plain ones that are oh-so good.

[image error]

See? Who can resist?

[image error]

Not me, I say.

Classic Peanut-Butter Cookies, gluten-free Print Prep time 20 mins Cook time 30 mins Total time 50 mins Serves: 3.5 dozen Ingredients 12 tablespoons butter, 170 grams 1 cup peanut butter 2 eggs 1 cup packed brown sugar ⅓ confectioner sugar 1¼ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¾ teaspoon medium-grain sea salt 2 teaspoons vanilla 2½ cups flour, gluten-free or regular Instructions Beat the softened butter, peanut-butter, sugar, and eggs. Add the baking soda and powder, salt and vanilla. Mix all it together, then add the flour. Form in balls and push down the dough in a criss-cross pattern. Bake for 8-10 minutes. 3.5.3226

[image error]

The post Classic Peanut-Butter Cookies, gluten-free appeared first on A Lady In France.

View more on Jennie Goutet's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 14, 2017 05:51

August 7, 2017

Why I love church camp

We returned from Switzerland yesterday night after an exhausting, exhilarating pre-teen camp with our church. It was our third year as camp counsellors, and our first year leaving Juliet behind to attend next week’s teen camp without us there. The pre-teen camp is one of my favourite weeks of the year.

We are lucky, I know, that the camp is in the Swiss Alps. I mean, come on! It’s just too gorgeous for words.

Reason # One I love church camp : It’s gorgeous.

Driving to the town

[image error]

Outside our chalet

[image error]

The view from the swimming pool

[image error]

A summer storm

[image error]

At one of the lower summits (can you call it a lower summit)?

[image error]

Reason # Two : It keeps me young.

Besides the gorgeousness of it all, one of the reasons I love the pre-teen camp is because I’m motivated to stay young. After our first year where I mostly escaped the physical exertion by doing kitchen duty (which was quite exhausting in and of itself), I knew I would need to start getting in shape to participate in the hike through the Alps, the capture-the-flag game, the dodgeball, and the olympics (where all adult participation is required)!

By the second year, I had been going to the gym for nearly a year and was ready for the hike – or nearly ready. I was still in so much pain at the end of it, however, I knew it was time to step up my game. By this third year, I had lost 25 pounds and had new hiking poles to go easy on my knees through the descent. Unfortunately for me, before the camp I wrenched my back and hip enough to know it would be stupid to try it, and my poles went to someone else. Fortunately for my friends who have a wheelchair-bound son, I was able to be the designated driver so he could participate.

We drove up the mountain and down the other side to catch the train with the rest of the group, took the special alpine train to the top of that mountain where we had lunch and a moment of praise and prayer with a view. Then we took the train back down the mountain together, along with some of the younger kids who thought the hike might be too much (like William here who chose to opt out …)

[image error]

and got in the car and drove back up and down our home mountain to return to the chalet. It seems to go from town to town you can’t avoid going up and down mountains. However, despite the oldish body of mine, hanging out with all these young people gives me a playful heart and keeps me motivated to stay young and fresh so I can keep up.

Reason # Three : I get to see a new side to my husband. (And so does everyone else).

My husband is the strong and silent type. Most people don’t really get to see how playful and fun he is. And he works crazy hours so I don’t always get to see how playful and fun he is. But there’s something about being in the camp together. He’s great with kids and he loves them. He volunteered to close the hike so he could help the weakest kids have a victory by finishing it. (Another benefit of my being the designated driver is that I was later able to drive partway up the mountain and pick up a group of four kids who – despite the victory of hiking that far – would not have been able to hike the remaining 45 minutes).

I was happy to be on my husband’s team for dodgeball and catch the flag (a game which involves water guns and water balloon bombs) because he’s out to win. And I laughed until tears ran down my face when he volunteered to do the chubby bunny competition where you see how many marshmallows you can stuff in your cheeks and still say “chubby bunny”. He came a close second.

When he was challenged to karaoke – which he swore never to do – and the head counsellor put on Celine Dion’s Titanic song, he was a good sport and actually did it. Except he had everyone in stitches by rapping the words instead of singing them.

This is him teaching the first class of the week, and only class not taught by a teen.

[image error]

Reason # Four : It brings me closer to my kids

Juliet was along for the ride this past week since she’s a teen now. She participated in everything like a pre-teen, but got special teen privileges like getting to work in the kitchen or being invited to their evening get-together after the younger kids are in bed. But she was paying attention during all the classes. Towards the end of the week, she leaned over to me before the class started and said, “Mom, I want to study the Bible with you.” Her words caught me by surprise, and I felt all the joy and honour of being asked.

I believe that children can have Christ-like qualities through osmosis by being around people who have faith. However, I also believe children need to make the decision on their own about whether they have enough faith in Jesus to make him Lord – and that it’s smarter to make this kind of decision no younger than the teen years when they have a better grasp on what the world has to offer. My firm belief with my own children is that it has to come entirely from them. That is why I never once asked her if she wanted to start studying the Bible or follow God or get baptised.

When she asked, I told her (with hugs and tears) that it would be my very great honour, but that she would do well to also study with teens — principally with teens, in fact, who could relate to her. Two of the eight camp counsellors were teen girls from the Paris church who happen to live close to us (and whom I have known since they were little and whose parents I adore and respect). So she’s going to start studying the Bible with them and learn to put it into practice with a view of getting baptised when she’s ready. All this in her time and God’s, not mine.

[image error]

I also get to watch my boys having fun with the other kids, and – in a rare moment – actually playing with each other instead of biting and devouring one another. I guess it’s not hard to see why I love and look forward to this week so much when it brings our family so much closer to each other and God.

[image error]

Reason # Five : It gives me hope for the future of our church

The teens are incredible. Our camp is mostly run by the teens and we adults are there to oversee safety, order, cleanliness, and give spiritual wisdom. But the teens do all the work. Another mom was following two of them in the hike and couldn’t help but overhear as they talked about their view of God. One said that he was discovering that God was not in the future, nor in the past, but was fully in the present. God dwells in the present. She found this so profound she wanted to keep following them to get further inspired.

The teens have the gift of making the youngest feel safe, the non-French speakers feel included, the wheelchair-bound feel normal, the homesick feel comforted, and the cocky feel humbled enough to get curious about God. In their class they spoke of peer-pressure and dating, serving, and loving family, and their friendships in and out of the church. They spoke with scriptures and illustrated it with sketches that brought the point home.

They were with the kids from morning until night, helping them to serve with dishes and cleaning when it was their team’s turn, instilling a sense of family and team spirit, helping the pre-teens to be open about their lives by being vulnerable themselves, showing by example that you can be completely cool and love God.

The pre-teens adored them.

These young men and women are our future evangelists, deacons, teachers, elders, mothers and fathers. Watching their faith and example, and seeing it grow year after year, inspires me. The teen counsellors of last year’s pre-teen camp (who have graduated) are this years college student counsellors for the teen camp. And some of them will one day choose ministry, although only after working for a few years because in French-speaking Europe you can’t easily enter the work-force if you’ve only ever held a job as a pastor. They need to be sure of their vocation and not potentially harm their ability to earn a living if they come out of the ministry.

Overall, it’s amazing to watch the teens grow and to relate to them as equals, and it’s incredible to contemplate the blessing our kids have, having them as examples.

But for this week it’s mostly fun and games for the teens, pre-teens, and adults alike. Basketball, mini golf, crafts, swimming, climbing, zip-lining, fear factor (the haunted house), karaoke night, talent night, Bible quiz, disco night,

The olympics …

[image error]

They have to go bobbing for apples and then dip their face in flour then bring the apples back. Too bad I couldn’t participate on the adult team, huh? I didn’t escape being swiped across the neck with shaving cream at the end though.

[image error]

It’s just fun! I think I love the camp because it reminds me each year that to love God is not a serious rule-bound religious sort of thing. It’s a light-hearted, spontaneous and fun thing.

It’s something that looks a lot like this :

The pre-teen camp final evening. Such joy. ❤️❤️

View more on Jennie Goutet's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 07, 2017 08:50

July 27, 2017

Crazy Happy Busy

I wanted to write a post with more substance to it, but found I just didn’t have it in me. We’re preparing to leave for the Swiss Alps to help out with the pre-teen camp (our third year running) and I’ve had two of the busiest weeks leading up to it. There are doctor’s appointments. None of them are for serious complaints, and for that I’m extremely grateful. But my three children and I have had several appointments for various issues, resulting in sometimes two appointments a day. And if nothing else, it’s the opposite of relaxing.

After getting back from Bretagne, I visited a friend who had a baby, had lunch with a high school friend who’s visiting from the US, and I have another church friend from the US coming with her two boys for lunch tomorrow (after the physical therapy appointment for Gabriel but before our dinner with friends where I’m responsible for the entrée).

Then the engine light on our car went on, the washing machine broke down, the dryer caught on fire, and the guy who is supposed to bring our house to its promised finished state actually called back and said he might come!

MIRACLES REALLY EXIST

Although not until later in August … about the time my mom and stepdad are coming to stay so we might actually be sleeping on the sofa bed in the living room under sheets of plastic, covered in plastic dust. We declared our taxes this week, organised the children’s ministry for the upcoming year at church, recycled old school supplies and spent an entire day purchasing, labelling, and organising new school supplies. And of course, I need to pack for our week away (two, for Juliet who is staying on for the teen camp). On top of that, friends who are gone for the summer asked us to watch their fish.

We just cleaned the aquarium today.

I decided I’d go through my Regency one more time before handing it over to my beta readers, and I think that is where my real mental energy has gone – and why I have none of it left to write a decent blog post. I’d hoped to make good progress on the revision these two weeks and finish it, but it was not to be. Isn’t that a good summary of life at its most maudlin?

“I thought I’d have more time but it was not to be.”

However, through the craziness, I’m seeing these wisps of hope that put the happy in “crazy, happy, busy”. It’s sort of a little miracle that the workers might come back. I wonder if one day our house will be finished. I saw my nutritionist last week and have lost another kilo, although there is still quite a bit of yo-yoing going on. I bought a bullet journal in white moleskin, and right now it’s optimistically clean (and blank). By the way, who among you is a bullet journal pro? What tips do you have for me? Notably, how to translate all the to-dos, now conveniently organised by topic, into have-dones?

My new white billet-point journal. Tips? #bulletjournal

A post shared by Jennie Goutet (@aladyinfrance) on Jul 27, 2017 at 9:06am PDT

And even though I haven’t had any space and quiet since May (it seems) to centre my mind and sanity, I believe I’ll get a couple weeks of just that after Switzerland. I’ll really be able to focus on writing, exercising, blogging, household affairs, bullet journaling — and calm!

I’ll leave you with a funny Instagram photo** of when I gave instructions to the kids on what to eat for lunch while I ran errands (include salad!) — but forgot to tell them they need to talk to each other.

When you tell your kids what to make for lunch while you’re running errands, but no instructions about actually needing to talk to each other while they eat … #independentkids

A post shared by Jennie Goutet (@aladyinfrance) on Jul 25, 2017 at 3:30am PDT

So this is my crazy, happy, busy summer. How’s yours?

[image error]

P.S. ** (if you’re reading this by e-mail, you need to click over to the blog to see Instagram photos)

P.P.S. There are two related posts – the thumbnails below this one, (chosen automatically by key words or categories, I’m guessing?) – that I went back to read and it’s sort of incredible because both fit in with the deeper theme I was going to write about today had I more time. If you feel like reading more, the first one is called “The Stubborn Thing Called Hope” and the second is from a week later and is called Hard-Pressed, but not Crushed“. Both are from 2014.

The posts had to do with our troubles at the time, mainly having to give our dog away (although there was also the rat in the toilet). What’s remarkable is that thanks to this unfortunate event, I met someone who started studying the Bible, who came from no spiritual background at all and now has faith that is slowly growing. And she had her own little sequence of fortunate events recently that helped build her faith in God, showing just how much God works in his own perfect timing.

But that story is for another day, perhaps when we get back from Switzerland.

[image error]

The post Crazy Happy Busy appeared first on A Lady In France.

View more on Jennie Goutet's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on July 27, 2017 09:50

July 22, 2017

13 Books Set in France

This, friends, is a round-up of books that are set in France* in a variety of genres. I’m hoping that by including 13 of them in one place, you francophiles will be inspired to read something new. If you’ve already read one or more of them, why not leave a comment saying what you thought for the other readers!

All three of my books are free on Amazon until Tuesday, including my lesser-known children’s picture book which I wrote when I was an ESL teacher in Taiwan. I do these free promotions from time to time because they improve my Amazon author’s rank, residual sales, and they get me reviews, which are very good things to have. Even the bad reviews are good because then you learn something about your writing you can improve. The links to my books are below in the list, except for the children’s book, which doesn’t fit with the France theme, and which is right here : Amazon.com and Amazon.UK.

Now is a good time to update you on my current work-in-progress. I just completed the third draft of my Regency and am giving it another pass before I hand it over to beta reads for their input and critique. I love this stage of writing when the content is written and I need only improve it. One day soon, I hope, it will be available for you!

But getting back to the main point of writing this post : the French books I would love for you to know about!

Over the past couple of years, I’ve developed friendships with other authors who write about France. Some live here now and we’ve met for lunch; and others have lived here at one time but have since moved away. Their books come in a wide range of genres, and I’ve grouped them here with a blurb and a to-buy link so you can click over if any of them appeal to you. Some are new releases and some are only available in paperback. Most can be bought for under $5.

I’ve read every one and have also included my review for each if you want to find out more about the book. If you love France, I think you’ll like these too.

Disclaimer : In two of the memoirs, (mine and Xamnesia), the books are not set exclusively in France.

[image error]

FICTION

[image error]The Viscount of Maisons-Laffitte, Jennie Goutet

Is there such a thing as Prince Charming? Chastity didn’t take a teaching job in France to find hers, but a woman can dream, n’est-ce pas? If the father of one of her students–the Viscount Charles Jean Anne Monorie de Brase–is the best local example of princes, Charming or Otherwise, Chastity is ready to put aside any thought of falling in love again. Download for free : Amazon.com and Amazon.UK

[image error]

The Paris Effect, K.S.R. Burns

Friendship, loss and a tantalizing trip to Paris in this highly praised #1 Amazon Best Seller in Women’s Fiction that Kirkus Reviews calls a “can’t-put-down-book” and an “absorbing adventure.” My review.

Download : Amazon.com and Amazon.uk

[image error]Just Jenna, Diane Stevenson

Set in the French Alps, Just Jenna is a ‘gripping, heartwarming and hilarious’ tale about a 33 year old who finds herself single and stranded in an avalanche-threatened ski resort one New Year’s Eve. Surrounded by oddball fellow skiers, romantic temptation and unexplained goings on, can she survive the week? My review. Download : Amazon.com and Amazon.uk

[image error]Paris, Rue des Martyrs, Adria Cimino

In this Amazon bestseller, four lost souls search for answers about life, love, and family. When these strangers meet in the glittering streets of Paris, they’ll affect one another in unexpected ways… My review.

Buy : Amazon.com

MEMOIR

[image error]Stars Upside Down : a memoir of travel, grief, and an incandescent God, Jennie Goutet

Told with honesty and strength, Stars Upside Down is a brave, heart-stopping story of love, grief, faith, depression, sunshine piercing the gray clouds—and hope that stays in your heart long after it’s finished. Download for free : Amazon.com and Amazon.UK

[image error]A Paris Year, Janice MacLeod

There are many guide books to Paris, but the gorgeously illustrated A PARIS YEAR is a guide book not just for those walking the streets of the City of Light but for the armchair traveller, the dreamer, the person who has been to Paris and wants to reminisce. My review Download : Amazon.com

[image error]How to Make a French Family, Samantha Vérant

Take one French widower, his two young children, and drop a former city girl from Chicago into a small town in southwestern France. Shake vigorously… and voilà: a blended Franco-American family whose lives will all drastically change. My review. Download : Amazon.com and Amazon.uk

[image error]

My Grape Year, Laura Bradbury

Follow the rules or follow her heart? Finding l’amour in France. My Grape Year introduces readers to Laura Bradbury’s beloved series of memoirs. My review.

Download : Amazon.com

[image error]Confessions of a Paris Party Girl, Vicki Lesage

Hilarious confessions from an American girl who moved to Paris, ate way too many croissants, and hoped to fall in love. My review.

Download : Amazon.com and Amazon.uk

[image error]Xamnesia, Lizzie Harwood

Xamnesia is a memoir of a normal girl on a jet plane to self-destruction-land. Divulging how author Lizzie Harwood was recruited, at 23, to work for unnameable rich folks first in their country, “Xamnesia,” and then in Paris… where she tried to find a way out of the rabbit hole. My review. Download : Amazon.com and Amazon.uk

CHILDREN

[image error]Tovi the Penguin : goes on a treasure hunt in Paris (for under 5), Nina Rossiter

Tovi and his friends are visiting the beautiful city of Paris. All of a sudden Tovi falls deeply in love with someone on a poster. He wants to meet her! Luckily his friends help him by leading him on a treasure hunt. My review. Download : Amazon.com

[image error]The Kids who Travel the World : Paris, (Grade Two) Lisa Webb

Join two adventurous sisters as they travel the world and learn new things. In this book, the girls are exploring Paris, and learning a little French along the way. Join them as they visit the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, ride the metro and enjoy all things Parisian! My review. Buy : Amazon.com

COOKING

[image error]Chef Q in Paris, the Fall Collection, Didier Quemener

#1 Amazon Best Seller in French Cooking, Food & Wine
You don’t have to travel to Paris to eat like a Parisian! Instead, pick up Chef Q in Paris: The Fall Collection for quick, delicious and easy recipes that will have you shopping and cooking like a Parisian in no time. My review. Buy : Amazon.com

[image error]

The post 13 Books Set in France appeared first on A Lady In France.

View more on Jennie Goutet's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on July 22, 2017 01:24

July 17, 2017

Ten Years in Bretagne

This is our tenth anniversary of going to Brittany every summer. My husband has four brothers, who each have kids. And every July for two weeks, we all congregate with his parents in one large house, rented from the parents of friends of ours from church (and if that isn’t enough prepositions to keep your brain busy …) where we engage in much eating and silliness. At our largest, when everyone is present, there are 22 of us. At our smallest, when people can’t get off work, we’re at 12. Our average number is somewhere around 15-18.

Let me just say one thing : That’s a lot of cooking. Fortunately we all take turns.

I don’t have access to the first two years of photos because our hard drive is down and my husband has not been able to fix it. Thankfully, because I’m a blogger, I have pictures from all the other years.

However, here is one picture from when we visited the house for the first time with our friends, Frederic & Danila (whose parents own it). We went in February, I think. Look at how tiny (and dreamy) Gabriel is! I think I’m going to burst into tears right now.

[image error]

Otherwise …

this is us in 2010.

[image error]

Where Juliet pulled crazy stunts

[image error]

(I hadn’t yet figured out how to edit photos to increase the brightness)

[image error]

and William wanted to surf.

[image error]

& my sister-in-law organised a mass kidnapping of the stuffed animals, with a series of clues for the kids to find and free them.

[image error]

2011

In Brittany, you wear sweaters on the beach (but you still swim)

[image error]

This was the year we had our first family olympics (which Juliet accomplished in a skirt)

[image error]

and the year where there were still (almost) babies to kiss.

[image error]

My heart just keeps exploding from the cuteness of these fleeting years …

2012

More sweaters on the beach

[image error]

A second family olympics

[image error]

Occasional good weather

[image error]

And of course the annual fireworks on the beach for Bastille Day

[image error]

2013

This was the year we went with a dog. A Breton dog, no less (epagneul breton). Hunter was part of our lives for two years, but now he is in a better place – he went to the farm.

[image error]

(No, seriously. It’s in Germany).

This was also the year that was particularly beautiful.

[image error]

though we still needed scarves at the end of the day. (It’s windy in Brittany).

[image error]

when William upgraded to sailing

[image error]

we had our annual ice-cream outing in Dinard

[image error]

and the accompanying photo-fest

[image error]

and in the evenings, my wonderful, talented, brother-in-laws kept us entertained (as they are wont to do).

[image error]

2014

Cold, but determined

[image error]

We keep coming back for more.

[image error]

2015

2015 was the year I gave the menu plans of what we ate for our two weeks in Brittany. Here

[image error]

and here.

[image error]

There are always games to be had, whether chess, “lougarou” (meaning werwolf), which is a card game, or sort of charades, or hide and seek. Playful uncles always get involved.

[image error]

And there’s always time for sports.

[image error]

2016

More silliness in Dinard

[image error]

more sun

[image error]

(seriously, it seems to be getting more gorgeous each year)

[image error]

more fireworks

[image error]

And that brings us to …
2017 !!!

This year we had a few good days, but it was overall pretty cold, grey and drizzly. William got stung by a jellyfish and my nephew by a weever fish. (They hide in the sand and sting you if you have the misfortune to step on one). Our vacation was also shorter because school didn’t get out until July 7.

But we managed to pack in lots of fun. The family game this year was of photography. One brother-in-law took eight photos around the house and property, then divided us in four teams of 4/5 people. Each photo had a caption and we needed to find the spot and interpret our rendition of it.

For instance, one photo was of the dried flowers in the fireplace, and the caption was “winter in Brittany”. One team tied up a kid and pretended to roast him while the others stood around with forks and knives. A different photo was the pile of branches and ivy growing over it, and the caption was, “a kid gets left behind for a year”. Our team photographed a hand sticking through the branches. A third was “swimming on a sea of green” where you had to pretend the grass was the ocean. One team made a shark fin out of black leggings and there was a kid on a surfboard pretending to swim away. You get the idea. Total. Silliness. (with a strong touch of black humour)

Then we voted on the photos (but couldn’t vote for our own) to see which team won. Our team came in last place. (ahem). The competition was steep.

We also got to see the kids’ performance, which has gotten more sophisticated each year. For the past two years, instead of a dance or play or band, it’s been a film with each of the kids acting. In it, there’s everything you could wish for in a film – great music, some semblance of a plot, cute kids, and tons of laughter!

We had our silliness / ice-cream date in Dinard.

[image error]

We had to force it because the vacation was shorter this year.

[image error]

Juliet pulled more athletic stunts, zipping up and down twice.

[image error]

and Gabriel made it to the top for the first time.

[image error]

This was William’s first foray.

[image error]

Matthieu and I had our own date in St Malo, which we do every year, except for the one time we went to Dinan to shake things up. Then we realised we’re really creatures of habit.

[image error]

We haven’t fully decided if we will return next year, though we’re leaning towards it. But we’ve already lost one of the nephews to teenage-hood / better-things-to-do-with-my-time-hood. How quickly they want to grow, only to realise that all the happiness they need is right here in these memories we’re creating.

[image error]

It’s been a good ten years, la Bretagne.

The post Ten Years in Bretagne appeared first on A Lady In France.

View more on Jennie Goutet's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on July 17, 2017 09:31

June 30, 2017

Where to Get Good Discounts

As you can probably tell from the small number of promotional posts appearing on my blog, I don’t write sponsored posts unless it’s something I actually like / use enough to think it worth sharing with you. Discounts on a wide range of goods and services definitely fall into that category. Who doesn’t love discounts? I mean, unless you’ve got so much extra money, you don’t know what to do with it. **

A couple months ago, I was searching for a white chunky watch with little glittery stones. I looked everywhere, and finally settled on a heavily discounted one I found on the Groupon website. I had to sign up with Groupon to get it, but the deal was good enough that I went for it. I think I paid 29€ when the retail price was 169€. Even if the retail price was inflated, I still thought it was a steal. And I saw enough other interesting items on the website to add the Groupon app to my phone.

[image error]

When the company approached me to write about them, it seemed complètement naturel that I would say yes since it’s something I already use. If you don’t know about the website, Groupon has discounts across the board : on things like travel, restaurants, spa services, high-tech, as well as fashion and accessories. Here are some of the coupons they offer that I, personally, find useful.

And there are tons – TONS – more where that came from. I mean, you get the idea, right? Now, if I’m planning to buy something (a good or service), I check Groupon first to see if there’s a coupon available so I can save some money. Here’s a little visual I made of the kinds of things you can purchase through their website.

[image error]

I hope you, too, find the information useful, and that you can save some money next time you’re thinking of eating out, working out, traveling, purchasing something … you know all the fun stuff. And if you’re one of my readers in France, you need not be deprived : Groupon has its own French site! What about you? Do you tend to search for discounts before you buy something?

We’re nearing summer break (limping towards it, more like it). Here are our kids, one on already finished and two with another week to go. And then there’s me – exhausted from all the year-end concerts and parties and baking and appointments.

I think we’re all ready for the break.

[image error]

** If you really are at ease financially, there’s the greatest humanitarian crisis since 1945 that could use your support. We used to live in East Africa so this is close to my heart.

The post Where to Get Good Discounts appeared first on A Lady In France.

View more on Jennie Goutet's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 30, 2017 04:11

June 26, 2017

Gluten-Free or Regular Chocolate Chip Cookie Cockaigne

That title is a mouthful, isn’t it? Cockaigne is pronounced cock-ayne, although I tend to pronounce it like a French word (cock-enye), and it means “an imaginary place of extreme luxury and ease”. This recipe is taken from the Joy of Cooking, and I think the extreme luxury and ease part of the chocolate chip cookie recipe comes in the form of the oatmeal, chocolate chunks, and nuts that are added to the original recipe. My modified version is gluten-free.

Chocolate-chip cookie cockaigne, gluten-free or regular with oatmeal and chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375°F (175°C) and make sure your butter and egg are room temperature. If you make this spur of the moment, just use a cold egg, and put the butter in the microwave for 10 seconds. Beat 2 sticks of butter (230g) with 3/4 c white sugar and 2/3 c light brown sugar.