Hooray, Hooray, the Month of May!

My friend Rachel, aka Ms Butt Bumper, taught me a saying. She learned it from her septuagenarian mother-in-law. It goes like this: 'Hooray, hooray, the month of May! Outdoor f***ing starts today!'

She's from Vermont. I think they go a bit loola up there when the snow stops falling.

I do love it though, I do. Don't you?

May in France is especially perfect for this saying thanks to all the extra outdoor time they give you in the form of school and national holidays. There are so many bridges (see this post) in France this May that we go, no lie, the entire month without a regular work or school week. That's a lot of kids and P-Daddy.

{happy birthday Clementine}

Other wonderful May things to consider: birthdays, lilacs, strawberries, asparagus, temperate weather (a-hem), naked gardening (here's to you Jacquie), pink wine, hiking, cycling, anniversaries, first swims of the season, painted toenails, and sunshine.

I love May. We begin to relax, warm up, slow 'er down. Yep, it's pretty much perfect.
And as the saying goes....

Confiserie Auzier Chabernac

Thank you blog, thank you.

Just had to get that out there. My thanks are for the people I meet via this blip in the ether some of you are so kind to visit and comment on regularly. Some of you, I only know virtually, but even so, my life is richer for your acquaintance. Others, I get to meet in person and that's always fun.

And so I thank you blog for introducing me to Stéphanie, a beautiful, feisty French woman with perfect English in an impeccable American accent. Stéphanie lives in the US, but is visiting home, which just happens to be a small suburb of Montpellier. And while she's here we decided it was time to meet for a coffee. So we did. And, no surprise, we liked each other just as much in person as we do on the page.

{Stéphanie, with her bag of goodies}

After our first coffee meeting, she invited me and the Littlest on a trip to the candy store, Auzier Chabernac. This particular candy store specializes in vanilla licorice, which Stéphanie loves. They also make sugared almonds or dragées in beautiful colors. I have to admit I did some Littlest bribing before our outing. Candy is a powerful enticement.

{dragées in assorted colors}

They let us taste the varieties of almonds, from the upscale and more expensive Sicilian Avola almond to the basic flat Spanish almond, all covered in candied sugar. They also have sugared hazelnuts and candied nougatine, which I bought in combination, not only for their nutty, sweetness but also for the pretty color combination of white and cream.

{Littlest with our loot}

The Littlest fell for a mixture of sugared, chocolate covered fruit candies in a combo of five flavors: lime, coconut, cherry, mandarin, and banana. You can see them bottom left next to the exotique blend that were the most expensive thing at 40 euros/kilo.

The candy is sold by the kilogram and so can mix and match to your heart's content. They had packages for baby showers and weddings and we waited for a bit while two large orders were being filled for parties. My sister Kate over in Arkansas asked me to fill an order for the grand opening of her design store, Fresh French Home. (She saw me sneaking nibbles from my candy bag while we were on FaceTime.)

You can visit the store in Montpellier centre ville or head out to the factory store in Saint-Gély-du-Fesc like we did and get a good deal on factory cast-offs of honey licorice and sugared fruit gums that weren't pretty enough to make it into the boutique in town.

How can you not enjoy an outing to the candy store? Thanks again, Stéphanie. Tu est belle!

 

Chocolate Chicken Boobies + Yummy Brownies

It's been chocolate city around here lately. The French would say that I have a family of gourmands.
That just means that all my people really like sweets in general and chocolate specifically. Me, I can take it or leave it. Chocolate that is. But show me a tarte au citron and I'm a glutton.

Do you remember my neighborhood boulangerie? I talk about it often. It even got a valuable minute or so on our House Hunters International episode. If you saw it you'll remember the patisserie and chocolate; the glass case filled with delicate nibbles of airy meringues, pink marzipan piggies, and diminutive chocolate tarts with whipped cream crowns.

You may recall too, that they do a lottery for a gigantic chocolate sculpture at Easter. If not, you can read about it here.

This year was different in that they had two chocolate prizes to win.

First Prize was a BIG chocolate mama chicken surrounded by adorable chocolate baby chicks in yellow fondant hats and cardigans with sugar pearls for lace trim and buttons. Sweet.
Second Prize was a smaller (but still over a foot tall) chicken, with a big head and a round belly covered in a pink fondant bustier with fondant ties just barely covering two chocolate chicken boobies stuck right on the front, practically bursting off the coquettish chick's chest. I have to tell you that every time we went into the boulangerie for bread, the Littlest had to be coaxed out in a hypnotic state, mesmerized by sugary boobies.

So, we bought our square in the tombola or lottery this Easter, like we've done for the past two. And then we  bought an extra square, just because.

You know what's coming, right?

That's right, baby! Lucky number 51, cinquante et un! We won the bustiered, boobied chocolate chick.

{see, i wasn't lying about the bustier!}

You can't imagine the hysteria that ensued. Everyone was in a frenzy of chocolate bliss, like the scene at the end of  Chocolat when the ascetic Paul finally succumbs to chocolate temptation and gorges himself, weeping in cocoa laden ecstasy inside the chocolatier window.

The boobies were the first to go.

And, because I'm in a sharing mood, we have found the best ever brownie recipe that must not be made now that the weather has turned nice and it will be too warm for anything but a swimsuit soon. They're aptly named, Mmm-Mmm Better Brownies.

The last time Ma Fille made them, I found this note in the brownie tin.

She says it was meant for P-Daddy. He is the worst gourmand of the bunch, it's true.

If you'd like to try them, here's the recipe from allrecipes.com

Mmm-Mmm Better Brownies

350F/175C
Grease a 9x9 inch pan and put line with parchment paper.

1/2 cup vegetable oil (we use sunflower)
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( we use white sugar from a jar that we keep vanilla beans in)
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan.