Bon Appétit!

When my students ask me what my favorite thing about France is, I usually say, the FOOD.  Here is what I've been munching on lately:

1. La religeuse.  A puff pastry consisting of a cream puff stacked on top of another cream puff.  I've had these in both chocolate and coffee flavors.  Best. Dessert. Ever.  Well, except for maybe Nutella Tiramisu, or apple tart with ice cream, or madeleines... Anyway, it kind of looks like a nun with a filly white collar.  Super cute.

 Speaking of madeleines, they are fluffy cookies that are a specialty of the Lorraine region.  I just bought a bag from the store that are made in the region itself.  I would post a picture, but that would require opening the bag, unwrapping a madeleine, then eating it... let's just say I've eaten more than my share for today.

Ok, so French grocery stores don't really make sense to me.  I'm just getting used to the one I shop at, and frankly, every time I go there, I try to find a part I haven't explored yet.  I think to myself, "that corner in the back, that item MUST be there."  Sure enough, that item ISN'T there, and probably does not exist in France (like Mac n cheese, for example.  I knew it didn't exist, but I thought I'd check, just to be sure.  I found a package of regular pasta and got all excited because I thought I was wrong, but no, it was just pasta. That's ok, I know how to make it from scratch.)

Anyway, because I need vegetables in my life, I try to buy fresh salad and things.  I picked up a bag of what I though was baby spinach (come on, that's what it looks like) and didn't give it a second thought (like, actually reading the package.  My brain must have been in French overload, or something). When it came time to use said 'spinach' I realized that it wasn't spinach at all.  So I pulled out my dictionary and sure enough, it is this thing called Lamb's Lettuce.

Now those of us from the 'ol US of A, are scratching our heads asking, what on earth is that?  That's because it DOESN'T EXIST in the good 'ol US of A.  It grows wild, but is not domesticated.  So, frankly, I didn't know what to do with it. After a good Google search, I decided to cook it (you can eat it fresh or cooked like spinach).  When cooked with some garlic and mushrooms, it's pretty good, actually.

So, here's what's for dinner: pizza (with weird olives) mache with mushrooms, and garlic bread.  Yum!