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February was a big and happy month for me. Most notably, we celebrated my youngest son Mika’s second birthday (where’d my baby go?) and I completed the manuscript for my new cookbook, Tasting Paris! I have a couple more sections to write, but the bulk of it–all 100 recipes and accompanying headnotes–is done, and I am proud and excited.

The photos will be shot later this spring by the amazing Nicole Franzen, and the finished book will come out in the US in early 2018. (We’ll be looking for publishers to publish it in other countries and other languages.) I will continue to share the process with you in the coming months.

Things That Made me Happy in February

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I am keeping my nose to the grindstone (not as painful as it sounds) finishing up the manuscript for my new cookbook Tasting Paris, which is an ode to all the good things one can eat in Paris, and there are very many. I am stoked to announce that the photography will be done by the amazing Nicole Franzen, and I cannot wait to see my recipes and my home city through her eyes.

I have to get back to writing headnotes and processing feedback from my fabulous recipe testers and tying up all sorts of fun loose ends (“check weight of average orange,” “why is rue des Écouffes called rue des Écouffes,” “look into the biography of Arlette Lenôtre,” “OK to recommend as hangover food?”) so I will leave you with these quick notes from January:

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How are your holidays coming along? Any fun plans for New Year’s Eve? Be sure to check my post on French Holiday Meals, and my 12 Best Food Gifts!

We had such a lovely, quiet Christmas celebration this year. Now that my children are respectively 4 1/2 and almost 2, we are really getting into the magic of it.

In addition to the big-boy bike for Milan (training wheels? who needs them!) and the adorable crochet vegetables and mini dining set for Mika, Maxence and I had a blast hunting for vintage toys from our own childhoods, such as “real” Lego blocks (not the hyper-specialized, imagination-thwarting crap they put out now) and Smurf figurines (I mean Schtroumpfs) with an actual! mushroom! house!.

Currently loving

1. As part of my Monthly Museum Challenge, I went to the Grand Palais to see the Hergé exhibition all about the creator of Tintin, joining a private guided tour led by the amazing Catherine Rosane of Fred & Kate. I loved the exhibition and Catherine’s insightful take on it, and doodled along gleefully (see below). I am now engrossed in Benoît Peeters’ biography of Hergé, Hergé fils de Tintin.
2. How to Throw a Dinner Party Like a Parisian, with some of my thoughts thrown in.
3. In addition to my Monthly Museum Challenge, I’m enriching my life further with a Monthly Poem Challenge: I’ll be choosing a new poem to memorize each month. For years and years I’ve known just two (Mon Rêve familier and Le Dormeur du val), and I’ve just memorized this new one, which jumped up at me in a copy of Les Fleurs du Mal lying around at Aloha Café. I love the idea that by the end of 2017, if all goes well, I’ll know twelve more. Are you in?
4. Meals at La Mascotte, a wonderful Belle Époque brasserie in Montmartre where the food is excellent and the waiters are genuinely nice.
5. Our new hand-crafted clay mugs in moss green and yellow, which I found at Amami in Paris. I plan to spend all winter with my hands wrapped around their smooth, soft sides.

My sketch of Hergé’s 2CV

Find my top Paris spots on this map of favorites, and follow me on Instagram to see many more food shots and Paris recommendations throughout the month!

I write this from Stockholm, where I am spending the fall break with my family. I have developed a serious crush on the city and can’t wait to tell you all about it. In the meantime, I come to you with Parisian highlights from the month of October! Please chime in with your own MMM’s (most memorable moments), I’d love to hear about them!

Best Eats Last Month

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