[Banana Pecan Muffins]

Brunch. What a fabulously promising word, evocative of lazy Sunday mornings, meeting with your friends at a sunny terrace, all of you a little sleepy and deliciously carefree, to share the kind of simple and comforting food that makes you feel like a kid again. Runny eggs on toast. Bacon and potatoes. Blueberry pancakes. Puffy French toast.

I adored our brunches in the US — each occasion was cause for elation and excitement — and making the transition to Parisian brunches has been a cruel disappointment. Over the past few years, the concept has evolved from completely foreign to ubiquitous, but very few places get it right (by that I mean getting a little more creative than just eggs, cheap smoked salmon, average bread and industrial jam). And when they do, chances are it will cost you a small fortune and/or the place will be packed and you’ll have to wake up at dawn, or stand in line for a table because none of those places take reservations. Too much stress for a Sunday morning in my book.

So what Maxence and I like to do is invite our friends over. Since a brunch is supposed to be a lazy thing, we rely on our neighborhood shops to provide ready-to-eat scrumpadillies — fresh bread and croissants from the boulangerie, different kinds of hams and terrines from the charcuterie and an assortment of cheese from the fromagerie. We round that out with freshly squeezed orange juice, your choice of tea or coffee (free refills!) and a selection from my ever-flourishing collection of jams and spreads. Needless to say, we usually have leftover stuff to eat for about a week afterwards, but that’s a clear benefit.

And since this is all so easily put together — apart from the bread and croissants everything can be bought in advance — I will usually bake a little something, to add a nice homemade touch to the brunch feast.

When my sister Céline came over for brunch last Sunday, I had plans to make the recipe Molly gave for her friend Glenn’s Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Candied Ginger. Maxence wasn’t too keen on chocolate chips and ginger in his banana bread so I opted for the classic pecan companion, and I baked muffins instead of a loaf, just because muffins are small and single-serving and cute, and because it was a good occasion to finally use the silicon muffin tins I bought last October.

They turned out delightfully moist and flavorful, and the banana and pecan pairing is just perfect — generations of bakers can’t be wrong. I like them best fresh out of the oven (after the necessary cooling down), before their inimitable crusty hat turns soft. But you can refresh them the next day by returning them into the warm oven for a couple of minutes.

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[Spirulina Gomasio]

I’m always happy to try new and intriguing food. It’s a hit-or-miss kind of habit and I have on occasion bought things that turned out to be nasty (in that ugh-nasty-nasty-bleh-spit-spit kind of way), but it’s all in the name of science and research, yes?

My organic grocery store in particular seems very much aware of that penchant of mine, and regularly puts out displays to subtly direct my attention towards this or that product. I generally steer clear of the things that are too obviously targeted at the health-food nut, because they often cease to look and feel like real food to me. But I recently let one such display convince me.

I bought a little bag of spirulina gomasio, something I had never ever heard of before.

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I had been told wonderful things about MFK Fisher (1908-1992, full name Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher), but had never had a chance to read the work of the brightest shining light in American food writing. I had been looking for her books in the English-language bookstores I frequent, but they never seemed to have them in stock and since I wasn’t sure which one I wanted, I didn’t wish to have them ordered for me.

Just last week though, I stopped by Galignani on the rue de Rivoli, went straight to the section I had been pointed to on a previous visit, and with a jolt of excitement discovered a selection of five. There was just one copy of each so I pulled them all out from the shelf, lest another customer snidely took one before I had time to examine each of them properly.

After an intense session of picking up, leafing through, putting down and picking up again, the finalists were announced: The Gastronomical Me (food memories from 1912 to 1941, from California to Mexico by way of Dijon) and An Alphabet for Gourmets, which compiles 26 of her essays and instantly won me over with the first chapter I read standing in the store: “A is for dining Alone”.

Unable to decide between the two, I did what any sensible book lover would do and bought both, even though the price tags very clearly stated: “1 arm + 1 leg”. (The cost of imported books in Paris is one of my pet peeves, so I suggest we not go there.) Now I can’t wait to finish the book I’m currently reading and immerse myself into Mary Frances’ world — but one problem remains: which one will I start with?

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Joyeuse St-Valentin!

Head over to NPR’s website for a special Valentine’s Day commentary and the Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlet recipe I created for the occasion!

NPR (National Public Radio) is a nonprofit producer and distributor of radio shows that serves over 750 independant radio stations in the US. In particular, their shows are broadcast on KQED, which was my radio of choice while cruising the Silicon Valley freeways — ah, “Fresh Air” and “All Things Considered”!

NPR also offers web-only content to their online visitors, and this is where I gladly step in. The article and recipe will be back announced on today’s “All Things Considered” V-Day special…

And for my dear metric-minded readers, here is a converted ingredients’ list:

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