adventures of an american housewife in the south of france

A Thanksgiving Guide In France

It's Thanksgiving Week!  It's Thanksgiving Week!  Hooray!  As you probably know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.   To me, it really marks the beginning of the holiday season and I love everything about it:  the food, the festivities, and the thanks.  Usually, we celebrate an Orphan's Thanksgiving in San Francisco with 25 or so of our closest friends, but this year we'll be doing things a little bit...

What’s Cooking?

With all the rain the last few weeks, we've basically been housebound.  Hunkered down on the couch with blankets and cooking up lots of good food.  I thought I'd share some of the yummy meals we've been eating recently. Roasted Red Kuri Pumpkin & Coconut Soup *recipe found here  Autumn Vegetable Roast *toss with olive oil, s&p, garlic, and chili flakes.  bake at 400º for 30-40...

Summer Recipes: Salad Montpelliérain and How to Make Dressing

You've probably heard of a Salad Niçoise, but have you ever heard of a Salad Montpelliérain?  I assume not, because we just made it up.  A basic Salad Niçoise contains tuna, green beans, potatoes, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, olives, and anchovies.  The Hub and I don't particularly like anchovies, only like olives occasionally, and prefer the salmon here in France to the tuna, so we decided to put together our...

Summer Recipes: No Cook Zucchini Side Salad

My Summer Recipe series continues with another cold, healthy solution to your hot days.  Ready for the simplest way to prepare zucchini?  I've noticed a lot of Zucchini Salads in cooking magazines and blogs recently so I decided to try it myself.  Seriously this is so easy, Figaro could probably do it.  You don't even have to cook it!  I don't get too excited at the prospect of eating raw zucchini, but I swear,...

Summer Recipes: Fish “Taco” Lettuce Cups

Since it's been soooo hot here in the South of France, The Hub and I have been trying out some new recipes that require very little cooking.  A few weeks ago, we were craving fish tacos, but wanted something a little lighter and fresher than the traditional fried fish with corn tortilla shell, so Fish "Taco" Lettuce Cups were born. These little suckers were so easy to make and tasted refreshing and...

International Crémaillère

We may not have had a long weekend filled with fireworks and barbecues, but we still had one heck of a party!  Our crémaillère was a fun success of great people, yummy food and lots of drinks.  I think we officially broke in the apartment and it took us a few days to recover. We made a some delicious apps all based around the theme of "food we can't find here", which is mostly Mexican.  The Hub made his...

Richard Goes Crazy and a Shrimp-Quinoa Salad

Before I get into today's recipe, I just have to share a few thoughts on last night's episode of  Top Chef, which is obviously one of my favorite shows.  I've seen every season (including Top Chef Masters) except for the D.C. season.  I love, love, love Richard Blais.  I think he is the best chef who has ever been on the show, period.  Game Over.  When you think about what makes someone a "Top Chef", Richard...

Hub Specialty: Jamaican Jerk Chicken

In April 2008, The Hub and I took a trip to Jamaica to attend our friend's wedding in her hometown of Montego Bay.  We had a really fun time chilling on the Caribbean, experiencing the local culture and eating some amazing homemade island food!  We stopped at roadstand after roadstand for some spicy, authentic Jerk Chicken - one of our favorite parts of the trip! Ever since that trip, The Hub...

Hub Specialty – Seared Ahi Tuna Delight

Last night The Hub and I spent the evening drinking a fantastic red, listening to some Martin Denny, and cooking a delicious meal for Valentine's Day.  Well, more like he cooked and I was his sous chef.  You see, my husband is a fantastic cook.  In fact, I think he's way better than me.  But don't tell anyone. One of my favorite meals that The Hub makes is his Seared Ahi Tuna Delight.  It's seared, sushi grade...

Southwestern Corn and Black Bean Salad

Last week we had our monthly Book Club meeting with an extra bonus celebration for Kate's Birthday.  We read The Glass Castle which is a raw and startling memoir about a family moving around the US living in poverty.  The author's parents were clearly mentally ill and the children were forced to fight for their own survival.  I've read a lot of memoirs in my day and this was one of the most interesting and eye...

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