Like most French children, the boulangerie played a big role in my earliest food memories.

The corner bakery was the mythical place where snacks were purchased after school, where grownups could be observed closely while waiting in line with one’s mother for the Saturday lunch baguette, and where one secretly went to buy a few centime’s worth of candy to sneak into one’s room and share with one’s sister.

My allegiances to after-school snacks came and went. There was a long period of getting a milk bun (pain au lait) with a bar of milk chocolate unwrapped, unfoiled, and pushed right in. I never cared for pain aux raisins (eww raisins) but I was all over the almond croissants.

One of my all-time favorites was the lunettes à la confiture (“jam spectacles”), a football-shaped, sugar-dusted cookie sandwich with scalloped edges, and two holes cut out to reveal the layer of jam holding the sablés together (see this video).

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Do you want to hear one of the least publicized benefits of working from home? You get sick less often.

Not only can you choose to stay in when it’s cold and drizzly and icky outside (pyjamas optional), but you also spend less time in crowded public transportation, shake fewer hands and kiss fewer cheeks (in French office environments, it is common to kiss your close colleagues hello when you come in in the morning), and touch fewer shared coffee pots and bathroom door handles.

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If you’re one of the millions of lovebirds who embrace Valentine’s Day, you are no doubt in the throes of trying to decide just what to do this year that will be fun and unusual and romantic.

May I put in a vote? Don’t go out.

It’s Restaurant Goer 101 that Valentine’s Day is among the worst days of the year to eat out, and I have a much, much better idea for you: stay cooped up at home, and cook something simple but delicious.

My menu suggestion would be:

• Start with beet hummus: it’s super easy, it’s pink, and you can spread it on little toasts or cucumber slices for one another;
• Move on to spatchcocked chicken: it’s a fun performance-style recipe to make together, the resulting chicken is finger-licking good, plus there’s something ever-so-slightly suggestive about the name, and the way the chicken is splayed out in the pan (made you click!). Serve with a green salad to keep things easy and light — just be sure to check your teeth afterward;
• Finish the meal with my three-ingredient French hot chocolate.

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I am ordinarily immune to the pre-holiday rush everyone talks about. I am not in charge of cooking an elaborate Christmas meal (I contribute but don’t host), I don’t attend a trillion holiday functions, and we don’t go crazy with the presents in my family, so the lead-up to the holidays isn’t significantly busier than other times of the year.

For some reason though, the end of this year has felt particularly intense. Not with holiday-related stuff, but with various work projects I was striving to complete before taking a little time off to cuddle up at the foot of the Christmas tree and sip hot cocoa while humming Petit Papa Noël (you’re welcome).

Few people actually take the time to make their own spiced and roasted nuts, yet they are so much tastier homemade than store-bought.

Of course, when you’re a freelancer, having a lot of work is something to rejoice — not complain — about, but what it means is that I have had zero time to get my act together and prepare edible gifts as I aspire to.

Fortunately I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and just a couple of days ago I decided I was going to be giving little bags of the chipotle cumin roasted almonds I’ve been making for myself (and love love loving) lately.

They are a great example of something simple and easy that is still absolutely lovely to receive: few people actually take the time to make their own spiced and roasted nuts, yet they are so much tastier homemade than store-bought. They disappear in an instant when you offer them with a pre-dinner cocktail, and I also love to nibble on them in the afternoon, or chop them coarsely and add them to my lunch salads.

So if you’re sitting here wondering whether there’s still time to whip something up before the gift-giving commences, chances are there is: all you need is a handful of pantry ingredients and half an hour.

And if you want more edible gift ideas, here is a selection from the Chocolate & Zucchini archives:

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