Bread

French bread is fantastic! We have become quite the bread connoisseurs...Bucky treks to the boulangerie almost every morning. There are two boulangeries in our small town and we frequent Le Mitron d’Eygalieres which is on Rue de la Republique, the main drag through the village. They are closed on Mondays, so Bucky is forced to go to the other place, but he is faithful to Le Mitron and always goes back on Tuesday. Besides being a great place to buy bread, pastries and other edible delectables, Le Mitron is a place where Bucky gathers knowledge about the town, its traditions and its current goings-on. That is where he learned about and acquired the St. Barbe wheat that we planted prior to Christmas. He checked the status of their grass daily to compare it with how ours was doing. He constantly has tidbits to report that he has learned from his morning outings…the state of the weather, the latest on the regular coffee drinkers at the bar, and announcements about town meetings or events that are happening and are posted at the boulangerie. Funeral announcement are also posted there, but luckily we have yet to recognize anyone.

His main task during the boulangerie trip is to get breakfast and the bread that we eat for the rest of the day. The French eat bread with every meal. They use it as a compliment to the meal or to sop up the sauce after the food is gone. They eat it with cheese at the end of the meal and give it to their kids for snacks after school. Bread is everywhere. You see people roaming the streets with long loaves wrapped in brown paper or waxed bags filled with warm croissants. It is still remarkable to me when I see people after their trip to the boulangerie…it is just so French. Bucky usually gets a baguette and a banette which is a “more rustic” baguette. We eat pieces of each with butter and jam for breakfast. Lucie likes her bread with heaps of Nutella and since we had visitors from the US in December and January, we have had a constant supply of peanut butter which is delicious on a baguette with a bit of raspberry jam. When my mom and Kate were visiting, Bucky started buying croissants for breakfast in addition to our regular loaves. They are crunchy and light on the outside. The outer layers just flake off. Then, the inside is this soft, doughy, buttery bliss. Kathleen likes to pull all of the soft stuff out of the croissant and eat it first and then spread Nutella on the crunchy bits for the finale. It reminds me of when we lived in Germany when I was a kid and I loved to eat the “brot” or bread that was shaped in a small dome about the size of a baseball. I would break through the crunchy shell of the brot and dig the soft, doughy center out with my fingers. Yum.

The other day, Kathleen and I went to the boulangerie for a baguette at the lunch hour. We were having omelets for lunch and didn’t have any bread – Kathleen was in charge of ordering and she saw a baguette that was shaped sort of like a dragon’s tail that she wanted. The group of “dragon’s tail” baguettes was sitting above the section called “baguette parisienne” so Kathleen asked for a baguette parisienne. The lady behind the counter informed us that they had no more baguette parisienne, and moved the group of “dragon’s tail” baguettes out of that section. We told her that we really wanted the one that was shaped like the dragon’s tail so while she wrapped that up, I asked her what a baguette parisienne was…Basically, it is a baguette that is cut open at the top and then olive oil is poured in before baking. Yum again. When we arrived at our house for lunch, Kathleen showed Bucky the cool-shaped baguette and I told him about the baguette parisienne. The next morning, Bucky brought home a freshly baked baguette parisienne that was even better than it had sounded. So, now we have a new addition to our bread repertoire.

With Lent approaching, I have been thinking about what to give up…I usually try to give something up for Lent not because I am such a religious person, but I do appreciate the challenge and the sacrifice. In the past, I have given up sweets and diet coke. I don’t eat or drink much of either of those now so it would not be much of a challenge to give them up. I do drink lots of wine and I have been asked by my loving husband not to give that up because he says he doesn’t enjoy drinking wine on his own, so I’ve got to support him, right? My girls have both asked me not to give up coffee because I am pretty much unbearable without my morning caffeine. So, that leaves bread…I am contemplating giving up bread for Lent. It would be quite a sacrifice having no baguette parisienne, no banette, no croissants…or any of the other fabulous deliciously doughy bread items that the French are so famous for. But I am thinking that I might be able to do it for 40 days. It might even help me get rid of the muffin tops that have formed above my jeans thanks to all of this delicious bread. We shall see.