Interlude

You know how much the image you use as a background says about you? And how nice it is to change it up sometimes to reflect your current mood and likes?

Well, today I am delighted to offer a free bundle of backgrounds that you can apply to your desktop computer, laptop, or smart phone.

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Maxence, Milan and I are happy and proud to announce the arrival of our second son / baby brother, Mika, born in Paris ten days ago. I feel immensely grateful that things went perfectly smoothly. Mika is a healthy and beautiful little boy and we are all doing well.

I will be taking a little time off to rest and enjoy this longest shortest time, and I look forward to coming back with new ideas and recipes in a few weeks. In the meantime, I will republish a few seasonal favorites for you to discover or re-discover, and I hope they will provide inspiration for your daily meals.

Be well, eat well, and see you soon!

The gorgeous decorated loaf sent by Poilâne.

Something looks different around here, no?

I am very excited to unveil the new version of Chocolate & Zucchini! I have been working on it for a good while with the extraordinary team over at cre8d, and it’s been wonderful to see it take shape over the months as we dreamed up my ideal C&Z.

So take a look around, see what you think. There is still a bit of fine-tuning to do, so I hope you will forgive any glitch you run into. And if you have a moment to report back and share thoughts, suggestions, and general feedback on the new site, I will be very interested to hear from you.

Here are a few quick notes on some of the new C&Z features :
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Ten years ago, after a conversation with Maxence over shabu-shabu at a wonderful — but now extinct — Japanese restaurant in Montmartre, I decided to create Chocolate & Zucchini. I needed a space to write about the many things that make me happy at the greenmarket, in the kitchen and at the table, and I wanted a chance to reach out to like-minded cooks.

The first recipe I ever published was one for chouquettes, or sugar puffs, and I’m really glad it was, because ten years later I am still just as excited about them as I am about this blog.

I have said it before, and I will say it again: Chocolate & Zucchini has changed my life. It has allowed me to build a career around the things I love the most: cooking, writing, learning, eating, sharing, exploring. It has widened my world view while simultaneously making me feel connected, it has taught me that nothing beats pursuing your dreams, and it has allowed me to meet — virtually and in real life — more fascinating and passionate people in ten years than I expected to in a lifetime.

Naturally, none of this would have happened without you, your presence, your support, your messages, your stories. So I want to thank you for everything that you’ve given me over the past ten years, and tell you how grateful and honored I am that you come here, and read what I have to say, and cook what I suggest you do, and come back to tell me about it. Here’s to ten more!

As a 10th anniversary gift to the blog, I am preparing a complete redesign of the site: it is well under way, and should be ready in the next couple of months.

And as a 10th anniversary gift to you, I will be holding ten giveaways throughout the month of October, each offering you a chance to win one of the many fabulous things I’ve discovered and fell in love with these past ten years.

Please come back on Wednesday for the first one!