One of the doors on the cathedral of Notre-Dame de la Garde in Marseilles. We visited there, yesterday, after renewing the kids' passports at the American consulate. See the giant gond on the right? See today's expression, below…
le gond (le gohn)
: hinge
sortir de ses gonds = to come unhinged, to lose it
Audio File: Listen to Jean-Marc: Download MP3 or Wav file
Pendant la periode de renovation, on peut être un peu sur les nerfs. C'est alors facile de sortir de ses gonds! During renovation, one can get a bit worked up. Therefore it is easy to come unhinged!
A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
After writing Monday's post, my head was throbbing and my stomach, growling. Even though there wasn't a "real" story to labor over (just a series of dog pictures and French expressions), I am always surprised by the physical toll that writing takes and, when it is over, I feel like a wrung rag (and resemble one, too).
When the writing is finished I need to rest and refuel. I can't handle any more decision making or any more pressure, having pulled out all the stops to meet a self-imposed deadline. So when my 15-year-old appeared in my office (a corner nook of an increasingly cramped bedroom), asking whether a friend could stay the week (it's school vacation time here in France), I began to crack.
"No! Jackie," I growled. "Look around this room," I said, waving my arm from my desk, to the couch, to the bed, to the mattress on the floor. "We are already piled one on top of the other!"
"But Daddy said it's okay!" Jackie informed me.
But Daddy said it is okay? My blood begin to boil. I remember the last time we renovated a house, when–with no doors or windows and construction booby traps everywhere–the very same scenario played out. No! The kids can't have friends over for school vacation! I had said then, amazed at how differently my husband and I saw things.
Six years later, another renovation and we still see things differently! He just doesn't get it! NO. No sleepovers–at least not at our place!
"But Daddy said it is okay!" Jackie insisted, and when I went to argue back, my daughter's words stole my breath: "It's not a problem with him. But YOU are the problem!"
I left Jackie and stomped out of the room to find my easygoing let's invite the world to sleepover during major reconstruction husband. But I knew better than to try to talk sense into him. We would only end up in a shouting match and I didn't want the workers–who were busy tiling the bathrooms– to be our audience!
And yet… amidst the drilling and the hammering a few more machines were now whirring as two mouths fired up like power saws. But when neither my husband nor I could get our points across (Him: well! if you prefer our daughter watching TV reality shows nonstop during vacation! Me: WHAT?! Of course I don't want that!!) we stomped off–each in opposite directions.
I stomped out to the vegetable patch to get some green onions for a salad… and that is when I came face to face with the two workers who had been tiling the bathroom. They were seated at the picnic table, their ice boxes open, having lunch. They had already finished work, but I hadn't heard them over all the commotion in my room!
Surely they had heard the excited murmuring in the next room? I smiled sheepishly at the workers. Waving my green onions like a peace flag, I wished the men bon appétit.
I meant to hurry and disappear, along with my onions and my pride, into the kitchen. Only, seeing the savory plates of the workers, my stomach began to tug at me. Apparently Smokey's stomach was tugging at him, too, for there he sat begging like a mendiant!
I pushed the golden mendiant aside. "Off you go, Smokey…" and quickly took his place.
"I meant to tell you what a wonderful job you are doing here. Thanks!" I said to the workers, when my eyes tiptoed back over to those savory plates. "What's that you are eating?" I asked.
"Couscous!" The chef d'equipe said, pushing his plate toward me.
"Oh, thank you, but I've got something cooking in the kitchen." In reality, there was nothing waiting for me to eat in the kitchen. As I lingered at the table, my blood sugar dropped and dropped (which explained my quick-to-snap temper, earlier. But I wasn't the only one with low blood sugar! My heart smarted again as I recalled my husband's words!).
"Have you ever tasted couscous?" The builder asked, pushing his plate all the way to me.
"Yes. Oh, thanks–but you need to eat your lunch!" I said, pushing the plate back.
"I've finished. Go ahead, mangez!" Monsieur insisted. I watched, eyes wide with hunger, as the plate was pushed back my way. I thought about all the snacks and meals and coffees and chocolates I have offered workers over the years, but never had the situation been reversed like this….
I picked up the spoon Monsieur was using and shoveled a bite into my mouth. A sensation of calm came over me. I pushed the plate back, but Monsieur insisted, "Go ahead. Mangez!"
I felt a little awkward but that didn't stop me lowering myself into the seat, beside monsieur, all the while aware of the situational comedy. It was funny how one situation had led to a completely unexpected turn of events: had someone told me twenty minutes earlier that in the next life scene I would be dining with our tile-layer, scarfing down his wife's lovingly-packed lunch, I would never have believed it. Impossible!
And yet, in life, all things are possible. With that hopeful thought, something inside me murmured: Go ahead. THIS is life! This is the authentic moment you are always pining after. So take the risk and finally live it! What are you afraid of?
"I picked up Monsieur's soup spoon. "Well, that ought to calm me down!" I admitted to Monsieur, who, had he indeed heard the bickering earlier would appreciate the comment.
He smiled. "How do you like it?"
"It's good. Very spicy!"
The worker laughed. "It is Tunisian couscous. My mother makes it, in Tunisia, and my wife makes the sauce here in France."
I remembered both workers were Tunisian. That is when I realized why the other worker, whose seat I'd taken, had gone off to sit on a pile of logs. He must be a practicing Muslim, in which case it would have been improper to sit with a woman. But this would not occur to me until after I had consumed the entire plate of couscous that his boss, the chef d'equipe, was currently offering me. Only then I would understand the compromising position I had put the men in, and further appreciate their graceful response.
Meantime, what with the colleague waiting at the wood pile, I began to worry that the boss needed to get back to work, too. I started shoveling in the couscous, unsure of whether it was impolite to hand him back an unfinished plate. As I struggled to finish, I noticed how a very large portion remained. That is when it hit me that the boss had not really finished his meal, as he said he had. He'd only finished half of it! He was just being polite by offering me the rest. But should I believe what my ever-anxious thoughts were telling me?
Oh you think too much. I told myself. Be simple and do what you are told. Eat this meal!
And so I shoveled down bite after bite until… what was that? I began chewing on a fleshy compound. It soon dawned on me that this was chicken skin–spat chicken skin! The boss must have rejected it earlier, pushing it to the side of the plate, as one does. And there, in my haste, I'd gone and pushed it back in with the rest!
I sat there in limbo, with the spat chicken skin tucked in my right cheek, unsure of whether to spit it out (as the boss had done…) and so embarrass him, or did I swallow it? Quickly I brushed my hand across my mouth, spat, and tossed the piece into the onion patch beyond (wincing at the assault this must have been to the tall green herbivores, who preferred compost).
If the chef d'équipe noticed the skin-slinging gesture, he was discreet. I hurried to finish the couscous when Jean-Marc walked passed, stopping in his tracks for a double-take at the picnic scene.
Owing to the absurdity of the situation, there was no way, now, to maintain my cool silence (earlier I had vowed never to speak to my husband ever again!). But I would have to bow down, now, and explain the situation… or buck up and ride it out in pride, with a what are YOU looking at attitude.
But I knew that what Jean-Marc was looking at was slapstick funny. There was no way possible to maintain a holier-than-thou self-righteousness. I had to give in!
I pointed the giant soup spoon at the boss. "He offered it to me," I said, managing a crooked smile.
Jean-Marc laughed back, but his words were addressed to the chef d'équipe, who had handed over his lunch.
"You going to bill us for that one, too?"
***
Post note: once those carbohydrates went into effect, my perspective changed a bit. The idea of having Jackie's friend over, during renovation, didn't seem like the end of the world, after all. So what if there wasn't an extra bed. The girls could sleep on the kitchen floor or in the bath tub. What was the big deal after all? (As it is, we're sticking with plan A. No sleepovers yet! 😉
French Vocabulary
mangez (manger) = eat!
bon appétit! = enjoy your meal!
un mendiant = beggar
le chef d'équipe = crew chief
Hollyhocks on Isle of Ré. Photo taken last summer.
Good News: Very excited to tell you that France Today magazine is about to relaunch into a worldwide publication and that I have been given the chance to write the last page column titled Le Dernier Mot! Click here to view the trial offer
Slices of French life. Photo taken last summer. The handwritten sign on the bottom reads: Young serious law students looking for housework and babysitting jobs. I am experienced, dynamic, and responsible. Available every day from 3:30. Contact me. You see these signs in the baker's, in the superette, and in any number of little shops in France. Have you ever put up a sign like this? What did it say?
Discover more from French Word-A-Day
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I love this and also relieved that you too feel exhausted after writing! It takes such mental diligence that I often feel as though I’ve just spent hours on a puzzle. The expression you’ve chosen for this story fits beautifully.
I love this and also relieved that you too feel exhausted after writing! It takes such mental diligence that I often feel as though I’ve just spent hours on a puzzle. The expression you’ve chosen for this story fits beautifully.
Great photo, great idiom, great anecdote….
Great photo, great idiom, great anecdote….
Yes, I put up a sign like that once. It was 1972, and I was in Istanbul, alone, driving a VW van to look at the Turkish ruins. I put up a sign on a bulletin in The Pudding Shop, a place where travelers going East met travelers going West, looking for traveling companions, as I didn’t want to drive into the Middle East alone. I received two responses, one from a young man from Canada, and another from a young Texan. They both started out with me, and after two weeks the Canadian flew back to Canada; the Texan, who’d planned to leave our little traveling home to go to Israel, decided instead to stay on with me, and for six months we traveled through Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria and Lebanon, where I sold my van. As you say, you never know what (or who) the next moment will bring!
Yes, I put up a sign like that once. It was 1972, and I was in Istanbul, alone, driving a VW van to look at the Turkish ruins. I put up a sign on a bulletin in The Pudding Shop, a place where travelers going East met travelers going West, looking for traveling companions, as I didn’t want to drive into the Middle East alone. I received two responses, one from a young man from Canada, and another from a young Texan. They both started out with me, and after two weeks the Canadian flew back to Canada; the Texan, who’d planned to leave our little traveling home to go to Israel, decided instead to stay on with me, and for six months we traveled through Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria and Lebanon, where I sold my van. As you say, you never know what (or who) the next moment will bring!
I love this Kristin! I started laughing so hard when you spat out the chicken skin. I was wondering how you were going to get rid of it. I was sure you would have just swallowed it!
I would be too stressed to have any more kids in the house. Maybe Jackie can go to her friend’s house. Do you have a tent? Maybe they could do a campout.
Congratulations on Le Dernier Mot! That is so exciting!
I love this Kristin! I started laughing so hard when you spat out the chicken skin. I was wondering how you were going to get rid of it. I was sure you would have just swallowed it!
I would be too stressed to have any more kids in the house. Maybe Jackie can go to her friend’s house. Do you have a tent? Maybe they could do a campout.
Congratulations on Le Dernier Mot! That is so exciting!
Wow! So much going on today.
The column is funny, touching, and eminently relatable, as all your best pieces are.
It sounds as if the tile guys are saints.
I agreed with you throughout. Who would be crazy enough to think it was OK to invite a guest into the mess and madness? But now I’m thinking that Jackie and her friend both know what the situation is at the house, and if neither of them minds … why not?
The France Today gig is amazing! Congratulations! I may have to re-subscribe. (“May”? Who am I kidding?)
I love seeing the French handwriting on the signs. Both advertisers described themselves as “dynamic” — it must be a much more common word in France than in the US. I can’t remember the last time I heard it used outside of marketing copy.
Thank you, Kristin, for delightening up an otherwise dreary morning.
Wow! So much going on today.
The column is funny, touching, and eminently relatable, as all your best pieces are.
It sounds as if the tile guys are saints.
I agreed with you throughout. Who would be crazy enough to think it was OK to invite a guest into the mess and madness? But now I’m thinking that Jackie and her friend both know what the situation is at the house, and if neither of them minds … why not?
The France Today gig is amazing! Congratulations! I may have to re-subscribe. (“May”? Who am I kidding?)
I love seeing the French handwriting on the signs. Both advertisers described themselves as “dynamic” — it must be a much more common word in France than in the US. I can’t remember the last time I heard it used outside of marketing copy.
Thank you, Kristin, for delightening up an otherwise dreary morning.
Kristin,
Felicitations sur Le Dernier Mot!!!
And what a hoot. I loved all of it, chicken skin, internal dialogue & then Jean-Marc’s all too knowing crack at the end.
Your fight reminded me of a long bus in Mexico with my husband, every window open, crowded in by nonEnglish speakers, chickens & other assorted livestock. We were at the end of our respective ropes & our bickering rocketed into a full fledged fight, screaming names & venomous insults. The freedom to just let loose in public, breaking the taboo, was grand. When we finished, all emptied out, we just cracked up. Sometimes you just need to let off the pressure.
Nikki
Kristin,
Felicitations sur Le Dernier Mot!!!
And what a hoot. I loved all of it, chicken skin, internal dialogue & then Jean-Marc’s all too knowing crack at the end.
Your fight reminded me of a long bus in Mexico with my husband, every window open, crowded in by nonEnglish speakers, chickens & other assorted livestock. We were at the end of our respective ropes & our bickering rocketed into a full fledged fight, screaming names & venomous insults. The freedom to just let loose in public, breaking the taboo, was grand. When we finished, all emptied out, we just cracked up. Sometimes you just need to let off the pressure.
Nikki
Yes! Oui! I have “tear-off” signs up right NOW, to advertise the kids’ French Camp that I’m offering in June. I’ve placed one at the local dance school (out of 750 students, surely some would like to learn French, right?) and at the senior center (maybe a grandparent would like to give their grandchildren an eye-opening experience!). Thanks for the photo!
Yes! Oui! I have “tear-off” signs up right NOW, to advertise the kids’ French Camp that I’m offering in June. I’ve placed one at the local dance school (out of 750 students, surely some would like to learn French, right?) and at the senior center (maybe a grandparent would like to give their grandchildren an eye-opening experience!). Thanks for the photo!
Darling Kristi,
Too funny – I can see it all play out at the garden table and now I have this memory forever.
I love you Honey – I agree with the feeling you feel at the end of your writing session. I don’t know how you do this three times a week for us. You must remember that you are really on the ‘front-line’ digging a trench in the hot sun when you write and it’s o.k. to feel the drain of a good days work. You must find a way to reward yourself after each session…alot of people go off to a cafe for a quiet lunch. One day I hope you are free enough to jump up from your desk and announce that you have an appointment down in the village. People do this all of the time. I used to arrive at my office in Scottsdale around 7 a.m. to check out the days schedule etc. – but at 9 a.m. I would relocate to the beautiful Hyatt Resort and have a lovely breakfast and watch all of the tourists. My main goal each day was to meet ten new people and share my joy of the lovely life Arizona had to offer. If you would just tweek your day a little with some pre-planned rewards you would feel much better. I think you have always been too hard on yourself. Now is the time to set yourself free. Send the girls up to the 3rd terrace on the mountain to clear out and set up a little hide-a-way for Grandma, they can camp out up there for a week. They call this ‘camp’ – it would be good for them.
XOXO
MOM
Darling Kristi,
Too funny – I can see it all play out at the garden table and now I have this memory forever.
I love you Honey – I agree with the feeling you feel at the end of your writing session. I don’t know how you do this three times a week for us. You must remember that you are really on the ‘front-line’ digging a trench in the hot sun when you write and it’s o.k. to feel the drain of a good days work. You must find a way to reward yourself after each session…alot of people go off to a cafe for a quiet lunch. One day I hope you are free enough to jump up from your desk and announce that you have an appointment down in the village. People do this all of the time. I used to arrive at my office in Scottsdale around 7 a.m. to check out the days schedule etc. – but at 9 a.m. I would relocate to the beautiful Hyatt Resort and have a lovely breakfast and watch all of the tourists. My main goal each day was to meet ten new people and share my joy of the lovely life Arizona had to offer. If you would just tweek your day a little with some pre-planned rewards you would feel much better. I think you have always been too hard on yourself. Now is the time to set yourself free. Send the girls up to the 3rd terrace on the mountain to clear out and set up a little hide-a-way for Grandma, they can camp out up there for a week. They call this ‘camp’ – it would be good for them.
XOXO
MOM
Ah, so the French schools are on vacation – that explains why all the students are hanging around in Caunes-Minervois. Kristin, you should try the reverse of eating the workers food: feed them treats. When we had our addition put on the house my wife would bake cookies for them all the time. When it came time to add up the “extras” when the project was completed, they threw in a bunch for free (or never brought them up).
Ah, so the French schools are on vacation – that explains why all the students are hanging around in Caunes-Minervois. Kristin, you should try the reverse of eating the workers food: feed them treats. When we had our addition put on the house my wife would bake cookies for them all the time. When it came time to add up the “extras” when the project was completed, they threw in a bunch for free (or never brought them up).
Hilarious read !
Hilarious read !
Laughed, and the world laughed with you. Beautifully and gracefully done and written..
And I liked your Mom’s suggestion. There are lessons here for me. Thanks to you, Kristi, and to your Mom.
Laughed, and the world laughed with you. Beautifully and gracefully done and written..
And I liked your Mom’s suggestion. There are lessons here for me. Thanks to you, Kristi, and to your Mom.
Quite an enchanting tableau you paint, Kristin. A journal but a dramatized one with lots of dialog, frequently illustrated with charming photos, presenting your point of view or way of seeing. Perhaps overtime you will find the emerging multimedia capabilities of smart phones and iPads let you do even more, by way of putting several media together, with justice to each–capturing the voices of people, the arguments, with your insertions of text to communicate your personal perspective.
Terry
Quite an enchanting tableau you paint, Kristin. A journal but a dramatized one with lots of dialog, frequently illustrated with charming photos, presenting your point of view or way of seeing. Perhaps overtime you will find the emerging multimedia capabilities of smart phones and iPads let you do even more, by way of putting several media together, with justice to each–capturing the voices of people, the arguments, with your insertions of text to communicate your personal perspective.
Terry
Je t’adore Kristin Espinasse !
Je t’adore Kristin Espinasse !
Really funny, and somehow touching. I think that your worker realized you were hungry!
And so great about France Today! I am a subscriber and love the magazine. So excited to think that you will have “Le Dernier Mot” !
Congratualtions!
Really funny, and somehow touching. I think that your worker realized you were hungry!
And so great about France Today! I am a subscriber and love the magazine. So excited to think that you will have “Le Dernier Mot” !
Congratualtions!
AGREE WITH THE ABOVE. SORTEZ VOTRE GONDS ENCORE. C’EST FORMIDABLE. Kristin Espinasse you are a jewel, a crazy jewel sometimes maybe but a jewel nonetheless. You are also a wonderful writer and storyteller. Believe me your art does nothing but get better. Two weeks ago hungry tired and having all kinds of irritations tax matters, kid adult kid problems and feeling sorry for myself I blew up at my wife in a restaurant no less threw down my silverware/or some metal and drew the jump and stare from several tables. Then having committed myself to my ludicrous position which I cannot even remember now I stormed out and promptly packed and drove two thousand miles or so to see my brother in Calgary, AB. After two days of essentially mourning with homesickness regret and hunger to be home and try to apologize I set out back home and got caught in the biggest snowstorm on record in South Dakota. I-90 closed a fifth and final time for two days, drifts covered stranded vehicles, truck lined up for miles so after 2.5 days in blizzard conditions I turned south went an extra 300 miles and caught I-80 home to Pella, IA. Denise is still at work the house is dark and quiet and there are signs on all the doors ‘DO NOT LET CAT OUT’. We did not have a cat when I left, but now we do, jet black short hair and tolerably cute and sweet. YEP! replaced by a cat, He sleeps where I used to and I on the sofa. Damn that low blood sugar.hahahahhahha. Love to you both, so passionate and alive and brave enough. Yours, Winn
AGREE WITH THE ABOVE. SORTEZ VOTRE GONDS ENCORE. C’EST FORMIDABLE. Kristin Espinasse you are a jewel, a crazy jewel sometimes maybe but a jewel nonetheless. You are also a wonderful writer and storyteller. Believe me your art does nothing but get better. Two weeks ago hungry tired and having all kinds of irritations tax matters, kid adult kid problems and feeling sorry for myself I blew up at my wife in a restaurant no less threw down my silverware/or some metal and drew the jump and stare from several tables. Then having committed myself to my ludicrous position which I cannot even remember now I stormed out and promptly packed and drove two thousand miles or so to see my brother in Calgary, AB. After two days of essentially mourning with homesickness regret and hunger to be home and try to apologize I set out back home and got caught in the biggest snowstorm on record in South Dakota. I-90 closed a fifth and final time for two days, drifts covered stranded vehicles, truck lined up for miles so after 2.5 days in blizzard conditions I turned south went an extra 300 miles and caught I-80 home to Pella, IA. Denise is still at work the house is dark and quiet and there are signs on all the doors ‘DO NOT LET CAT OUT’. We did not have a cat when I left, but now we do, jet black short hair and tolerably cute and sweet. YEP! replaced by a cat, He sleeps where I used to and I on the sofa. Damn that low blood sugar.hahahahhahha. Love to you both, so passionate and alive and brave enough. Yours, Winn
What a beautiful example of a “gond”, lovely photo! I’m always surprised by how certain English and French words and expressions share their figurative meanings as well as their literal ones. “Unhinged” corresponds exactly to both French meanings. Good for you for hanging on to your hinges by sticking to what you can manage as far as overnight guests go!
What a beautiful example of a “gond”, lovely photo! I’m always surprised by how certain English and French words and expressions share their figurative meanings as well as their literal ones. “Unhinged” corresponds exactly to both French meanings. Good for you for hanging on to your hinges by sticking to what you can manage as far as overnight guests go!
Another good read – and daring write – thank you! Perhaps you could task the sleepover pals with baking treats for the tile layers?
Another good read – and daring write – thank you! Perhaps you could task the sleepover pals with baking treats for the tile layers?
Winn, tears in my eyes laughing WITH you. Your dear wife is smart–never let her go. I am sure she loves you just as much.
Enjoying and so touched by every comment. Thank you all so much. BTW, Jean-Marc surprised me with the most beautiful bouquet of wildflowers I have ever seen. Wishing everyone out there the patience to bear with one anothers personalities. Just when we think we are riding free–BOOM!–out of nowhere comes another hard won test… And we wonder if we are ever home free.
Winn, tears in my eyes laughing WITH you. Your dear wife is smart–never let her go. I am sure she loves you just as much.
Enjoying and so touched by every comment. Thank you all so much. BTW, Jean-Marc surprised me with the most beautiful bouquet of wildflowers I have ever seen. Wishing everyone out there the patience to bear with one anothers personalities. Just when we think we are riding free–BOOM!–out of nowhere comes another hard won test… And we wonder if we are ever home free.
I’m sure your daughter has more to do or could find more to do that watch tv–thank you, Jean Marc! And how about a compromise–half the week, then your daughter goes to her friend’s house?
I’m sure your daughter has more to do or could find more to do that watch tv–thank you, Jean Marc! And how about a compromise–half the week, then your daughter goes to her friend’s house?
Great story — especially regarding the chicken skin! Where’s the vocab section? mendiant?
Congrats on the France Today gig. I have a subscription and love it. Your writing will be an added benefit!
Stay well!
Great story — especially regarding the chicken skin! Where’s the vocab section? mendiant?
Congrats on the France Today gig. I have a subscription and love it. Your writing will be an added benefit!
Stay well!
Let Jackie have her friend over! They can sleep on the floor and have a great time. The teenage years go fast, then you will have an empty nest. In a few years you will all laugh at the chaotic fun.
Let Jackie have her friend over! They can sleep on the floor and have a great time. The teenage years go fast, then you will have an empty nest. In a few years you will all laugh at the chaotic fun.
Kristin,
Why do you so often surrender your own needs for others? Is it so loving for him to say yes to your daughter when he won’t be responsible for the extra mouth to feed? You are as smart and capable as your husband. You erred with the workman’s lunch? Jean Marc erred by giving permission to your daughter sans consultation with you. Please do not, as a role model for your daughter, go along with this family myth that mom is the dufus and dad is the sharp one.
Kristin,
Why do you so often surrender your own needs for others? Is it so loving for him to say yes to your daughter when he won’t be responsible for the extra mouth to feed? You are as smart and capable as your husband. You erred with the workman’s lunch? Jean Marc erred by giving permission to your daughter sans consultation with you. Please do not, as a role model for your daughter, go along with this family myth that mom is the dufus and dad is the sharp one.
Darling Mari,
Somehow your comment rubbed me the wrong way.
XOXO
JULES
Darling Mari,
Somehow your comment rubbed me the wrong way.
XOXO
JULES
Kristin,
Maybe a gateau yaourt for the tile workers? Smokey could help! (So easy to make..we love it! Hoping for the Chestnut cake recipe for chestnut season this year.) And, Jean-Marc’s mother’s oven roasted daurade is also easy and out of this world! I was glad to learn there is a term for the way I cook..au pif~)
Perhaps someday a family cookbook?
Kristin,
Maybe a gateau yaourt for the tile workers? Smokey could help! (So easy to make..we love it! Hoping for the Chestnut cake recipe for chestnut season this year.) And, Jean-Marc’s mother’s oven roasted daurade is also easy and out of this world! I was glad to learn there is a term for the way I cook..au pif~)
Perhaps someday a family cookbook?
You go Jules!
From one mother of adult daughters to another…
You go Jules!
From one mother of adult daughters to another…