Living It

Our Own Christmas Bricelets

Last year I began sorting things out so that we could celebrate Christmas at home. This may seem strange, but in our many years here in France, we've always packed our bags, closed the door on our home, void of holiday cheer save a rather chintzy fake tree that got a little more dog-eared every year, and spent Christmas with my husband's parents. Last year's knowledge of the coming baby, however, had me reminiscing about the Christmas of my childhood, and it was what set things in motion.

Over the years, I'd swept out of my mind how much the little things meant. Picking out the tree, hauling it home, breaking out the lights and the old dusty carton of ornaments wrapped in crinkly tissue was never on the agenda. Putting on an extra sweater, playing the music, making wreaths (or getting one from the Hosmers), tromping through the snow, baking, planning, reading Christmas stories, ice skating, all a distant memory which had retreated to the shadows cast by the light of the Cote d'Azur. The thing I missed most of all was the feeling of really being at home. The house in the Alps has slowly been transformed from an old house that needed a new roof to our little cozy place away from the city, our refuge, the place where we unhook and breathe. I often catch my spirit there even when I am walking the alleys and stairwells of this ancient city. We decided to have Christmas there this year, Ian's first, and our first there as well. I am cherishing every moment.

I don't think I mentioned this, but last spring, we went to a garage sale in an Alpine village and I happened across an antique bricelet iron. Luckily I knew exactly what it was since I had seen and been intrigued by a brush with the bricelet in Switzerland on a recent visit. The old woman who passed the iron to me told me that her mother and grandmother had made these thin waffle cookies at Christmas time. The iron had clearly fallen out of use. She seemed happy enough to let me take it off her hands, but I still wondered what had made her quit using it. Had she gotten an electric press, the kind that most people use now? This iron had developed a thin layer of rust, but I knew it would be easy to take up the task to scrub and season it. I am so happy to have it now especially since all of our cooking up in the Alps is in the wood fired stove. The kitchen ceiling's beams display quite a collection of cast-iron accouterments for country cooking these days.

A similar thin waffle is called the pizzelle in Italy. The difference is that in France and Switzerland the cookies are thinner. It will be good fun to toast these over healthy glowing coals from a long lit hickory fire on Christmas eve. Since this is our first year, and we want to make sure we've got it absolutely right, I'm going to share recipes I have gathered after more testing. Italian, Swiss, and French Alpine recipes for both sweet and savory biscuits are in the works. Stay tuned!

A Bernachon Chocolate Bar Each Month - Menu for Hope 6

Bid Item Code EU37
A Bernachon Chocolate Bar Delivered to you Each Month

Hey friends, it's that time of the year again, time to give, and to win!  For the Menu for Hope fundraiser, this year I have decided to donate a bid item that I know many of my readers will find enticing. Welcome to the Bernachon bar of the month club. This bid item will be sent ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.  That's right folks, anyone can bid on this item.

EU37

Bernachon Chocolate for a YEAR

Imagine a different Bernachon Bar every month for one year. I will send the lucky winner, anywhere in the world, one fresh unctuous artisan crafted Bernachon chocolate bar straight from the shop in Lyon, France, each month, for a year, starting in March 2010. Every month a different chocolate bar from Bernachon with a whole range of house-made fillings to unwrap and enjoy. The bar will include a handwritten note explaining the makeup of that month's bar. Special requests honored!

Read about UN Purchase for Progress, the project that this years' funds raised will go to.

To Donate and Enter the Menu for Hope Raffle:

1. Choose a bid item or bid items of your choice from our Menu for Hope main bid item list. (choosing mine would be best, but considering that there are many other great bid items out there to win, you might want to check them out.) You can also see the Europe and UK list here.

2. Go to the donation site at Firstgiving and make a donation.

3. Please specify which bid item you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per bid item, and please use the bid item code.

Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a bid item of your choice. Example: a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU37 (the Bernachon bars for a year) and 3 tickets for EU55 - 3xEU37, 2xEU55. But you really don't have to bid for some other item. JUST EU37 to win this fabulous bid item.

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so they can claim the corporate match.

5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Wishing everyone luck as you bid on your favorite items, and a very happy holiday season 2009.

The Bouchon Lyonnais

On a visit to Lyon, you can have one great meal in a bouchon, and this can be a definitive event. Your first meal in a bouchon tends to form an imprint. The dining experience is so unique and your gustatory pleasure has been so aroused that it extends down to the place in your mind for memories that will eventually become life stories. The next place simply can't measure up.

You might sink your spoon delicately into the majestic communal creme caramel at Chez Paul and from then on out, any bouchon that doesn't have it, isn't... perfect. You might feel enveloped in good cheer at Le Garet and then never feel that satisfaction the same way anywhere else. You might get that tangy delicious poulet au vinaigre that seems to set off a delicate counterpoint with the austere flourescent-lit hole-in-the-wall atmosphere at Cafe des Federations. After that, nothing can compete.

Legends are born from these gustatory milestones in the mind of a food enthusiast well after they've had a chance to simmer and mijote, mixed with the delight and relish in telling the story again. In my opinion, every single one of Lyon's official bouchons, the ones bearing the Authentique Bouchon Lyonnais label, are going to build personal rich gustatory memories, but most of all, each bouchon remains unique.



The best way for me to explain the authentique Bouchon Lyonnais is to explore what it is as a genre, then get into the nitty gritty of what makes a number of these individual restaurants worth your while.

Since this subject is too vast for one post, I am devoting many more to the Lyonnais Bouchon, making it a label. Look forward to the restaurants' stories, their quirks, visual details, menu items, news worth noting, what a Lyonnais bouchon was, is, and what it's not.