I am so glad our menus seem to be useful and spark some ideas with many of you. Thank you for your wonderful feedback and insightful questions.
A bit of housekeeping… Speaking of useful, I wanted to let you know I’ll be starting a sort of Q&A page, with many questions I’ve received and my answers. I will be posting also the 8-12 months baby feeding page very soon, as well as a page with a list of places we sometimes go out to lunch when we’re on the go and healthy and tasty options I’ve found for Pablo.
Also to stay connected with us and get all the updates, subscribe by email (box on the right) or like us on Facebook here.
Now that that’s over with… here are some images that have inspired our tastebuds this week, from the San Diego farmer’s market we visited, to our CSA delivery, to our very own backyard.
Pablo has very much been enjoying picking tangerines from our tree, it has become his afternoon ritual to pick one, peel it, separate the pieces and eat it.
I read this Magda Gerber quote recently:
“Be careful what you teach, it might interfere with what they are learning.”
It stuck with me, as it is more challenging for a parent to apply than it seems. But in this spirit, I am amazed at how rich this simple activity of fruit picking has been for Pablo. He’s outdoors, learning about food that grows on a tree. Learning that the local squirrel quite enjoys the ones that fall from the tree on their own. He’s learning about patience. “No, that one isn’t ripe yet, it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.” Peeling and separating is great for those fine motor skills. And he’s probably learning a million subtleties that escape me completely. He enjoys that whole process thoroughly, all the way to the moment where he takes the peelings to the trash can. I should start a compost really, to make that process complete, of going back into the earth to regrow more delicious foods. Just writing this has gotten me determined to get that started soon…
Would love to hear about your experience growing your own food.
In the meantime, wishing you a good flavorful week.
Cheeses of the week: Following French tradition, I always offer a little bit of cheese at the end of every meal, between the main course and dessert. Rotation this week: Burgundy Cow Cream, Petit Basque sheep’s milk cheese, and Goat Brie, and Munster (great with cumin).
Desserts: At lunch, I offer a fruit yogurt (or plain yogurt with fresh fruit), but at night, I prefer sticking to plain yogurt (regular homemade* whole milk, sheep’s milk, goat’s milk and Greek yogurt for extra protein) to avoid too much sugar before bedtime.
If you would like a particular recipe on the menu, feel free to contact me! (I marked with a * the recipes that will be the topic of upcoming posts).
MONDAY
Lunch
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Grated carrots French-style
Main course: Pan fried chicken livers salad with raspberry vinaigrette
Goûter (4pm snack) – Apple blueberry compote, tangerine
Dinner
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Boiled leeks with vinaigrette
Main course: Buttermilk chicken from Life is Great, with coconut rice
TUESDAY
Lunch
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Authentic Greek salad
Main course: Lentil cakes with poached egg from Cannelle & Vanille
Goûter – Apple peach compote
Dinner
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Grated carrots French-style (leftover)
Main course: French lamb stew (navarin) with new vegetables*
WEDNESDAY
Lunch
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Hearts of palm and cherry tomatoes
Main course: Ham and cauliflower puree
Goûter – Banana
Dinner
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Watercress sorrel soup
Main course: Pan-fried Dover sole fillets with microgreens puree
THURSDAY
Lunch
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Blue potatoes, garlic & green beans salad
Main course: Beef patty, rutabaga & dino kale mash
Goûter – Apple pear compote
Dinner
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Leftover Watercress sorrel soup
Main course: Sardines and Roasted cabbage from Food Loves Writing
FRIDAY
Lunch
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Broccoli couscous salad
Main course: Garlic Shrimp with peas
Goûter – Kiwi
Dinner
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Spinach, pear, pomegranate salad found on Williams-Sonoma site
Main course: Pork loin braised in milk from Bon Appétit with roasted baby butternut squash
SATURDAY
Lunch
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Green asparagus with vinaigrette
Main course:Herbed lamb meatballs in coconut milk, with quinoa, from Cannelle & Vanille‘s cookbook,Small Plates and Sweet Treats (Those were so amazing I will be blogging about them very soon.)
Goûter – Tangerine
Dinner
Appetizer / Finger Foods: Mâche, beet, Feta salad
Main course:Leftover pork loin (cold with mustard), broccoli puree
SUNDAY – OFF TO THE MOUNTAINS FOR A FEW DAYS!
I will be sharing great hearty recipes for snow weather, like French tartiflette!
If it's not too much trouble, could you sometime post the recipe for the chicken liver salad, or anything with chicken livers that you make? I have some in my freezer and have been meaning to do something with them… Thanks so much. I just read "French Children Eat Everything" and love the whole approach, and have just started looking online for concrete examples and recipes. I'm not sure if you ever do youtube videos, but as I was reading about leeks I thought how I'd love to see a French person prepare them because I'm never sure if I'm doing it right. But any videos of you cooking these things would be awesome. Thanks for sharing with us!
Hi Charity, I will definitely post the chicken liver salad soon. However, for this salad, you want to make sure they were frozen when super fresh. And you will want to thaw them right before cooking them (I actually asked my mom this, as I'm used to buying them fresh the same day or day before we make the salad). To be honest, it's not much of a recipe, just sauteed in a pan with olive oil and tossed in a simple butter lettuce with vinaigrette (1 part raspberry vinegar, 3 parts olive oil, salt pepper, dijon mustard). This salad tastes best if the livers are cooked on the rare side, otherwise it's just too chalky. Other uses for them would be a stuffing (for bell pepper, or winter squash, or eggplant for example), mixed with some ground meat, soaked bread, herbs, egg… As fas as the videos, I haven't done any, I must admit I'd be a bit nervous to be on camera… Perhaps I will have to try 🙂 But what I can do right away is a post on leeks for ways we eat them most often. They're pretty simple to cook, nothing to be intimidated about. Thanks so much for your questions and input!