I really like French trains. Not because they’re usually on time, which, in my experience (and contrary to most), they tend to be, and not because they’re inexpensive, which, in general, they…
Chicken and Roasted Tomato Sandwich
Sorry not sorry*… I really like my life. You’re not supposed to say that. When someone asks you how things are going, you’re supposed to say, “OK.” You’re supposed to say, “All…
Tuna and Cannellini Bean Salad
Isn’t it strange how some foods, some dishes, some flavors are associated with a place in time and space? Sensory memory is a strange, strange thing. One moment you’re walking down the…
Hotel Stories and A Cheesy, Sausagy Baguette
I’ve missed my weird part-time jobs. Weird part-time jobs have been an essential part of my successfully living in Europe for this long. There was that time I corrected (i.e. rewrote) a…
How the Grinch (ahem… the French Administration) Tried to Steal Christmas and Failed, Miserably. Also, Magret de Canard.
This is only the second year in the nearly eight that I’ve lived here that I’ve spent Christmas in France, but it’s the first time it happened at least partially by choice….
Stories from the Préfecture: My Christmas Present to Myself
Someday, I promise myself, I’ll write all this down. Someday it will turn into a book. A story. Something funny, where the reader empathizes with the narrator and yet has no idea…
Cucumber, Seaweed, Avocado, Chicken and Ikura Bowl
The other day, The Country Boy looked at me with relative shock as I burst out laughing. I’m not without humor; it’s what made me laugh that made him so confused. Le…
Savory Summer Clafoutis
If 12-year-old me knew that there would be some days when I wouldn’t even think about the fact that I was a loser in 6th grade, I don’t think she would know…
Early Autumn Savory Fruit Salad
It’s hard to have the same voice in two languages. I’m not talking about timbre and tone, though I know my voice is pitched differently in French and in English. My father…
Feeling Good About 27
I am feeling really good about 27. I’m not too good at figuring out what my feelings are. I don’t have a lot of them — I mostly just have moods. Moods…