Paris with Kids

Paris with kids is easier than you think. Armed with an iPad and kid-friendly snacks, the flight from LAX to Paris flew by (it helped that Gigi and I sacked out for about four hours). And despite the fact that she had bronchitis the entire two weeks we were in France, she was a trooper.

We stayed in the apartment of a friend of a friend, in the heart of the Marais, across the street from a park and down the ways from a supermarket. Gigi loved Paris so much she wants to go back. Here’s why – a list of kid-approved Parisian activities, no museums required.


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Paris with Kids

  • The Eiffel Tower: From Little Einsteins to Phineas & Ferb, if your kid watches the Disney channel, she knows the Eiffel Tower like the back of her hand. If you want to take the elevator without waiting in line, be sure to order your tickets online a few months in advance.
  • L’Aquarium de Paris: Gigi could have spent the entire trip here! She loved petting the fish (something she’s never allowed to do in the States). I loved the air conditioning. We even watched an American movie, dubbed in French. Combine this with a visit to the Eiffel Tower, they’re on the same (or close enough) metro stop.
  • Deyrolle aka the taxidermy museum: Filled with all sorts of animals and spanning a few floors, we spent hours here wandering around gazing at all the animals. And true, this is a museum, but unlike any other I’ve ever seen.
  • Boat tour of the Seine: We used this company and it was fantastic. Board right below Notre Dame, and slowly tool around the river, basking in the glory of high-rent townhomes, spectacular views of the Orsay and the Eiffel Tower, and an all-around peaceful way to while away a few hours. Gigi was so relaxed (i.e., jet-lagged) that she slept the entire time!
  • Notre Dame: Easily Gigi’s second favorite (after the aquarium) sight of the week. She loved sneaking through the cathedral in search of gargoyles, and even knew enough of the Bible stories to tell us what was going on (which was the original intent of the artwork, I’m sure). Take your kids to the garden behind the cathedral for even more fun – twisty-turny saucers that go round and round, something kids never tire of.
  • The Pont Saint-Louis: This little bridge is filled with performance artists. The day we were there we saw roller-skating mimes, a jazz pianist and a guy who could make bubbles bigger than most kids. He also let the kids help out, which Gigi loved. The bridge connects the Île de la Cité and the charming Île Saint-Louis.
  • Berthillon Ice Cream: What kid doesn’t love ice cream? This place was a huge hit with Gigi and Mr. Gonzo alike. They both got extra-large scoops from the generous ice cream man, thanks to my limited but apparently welcome French.
  • The Metro: Any train, any station, any chance to glide up an escalator or shove a ticket into a ticket machine met with much glee.

What didn’t work?

  • Versailles: I thought for sure my little girlie tomboy would love going to a real queen’s castle; she even watched Marie Antoinette with me on the trip over. But, as I discovered, Versailles is not a castle, at least not to a kid. In Gigi’s own words, “Mommy, this is, like, a really big house.” Turns out, a castle is more like this one, with moats and turrets and knights in shining armor. It didn’t help that it was uncharacteristically cold and windy. The McDonald’s outside the train station was a big hit, however.
  • Walking: Bronchitis plus jet lag equals zero interest in walking. At least I stayed in shape carrying a 55-pound person through more than one metro station.

Afternoon boat cruise on the Seine – Gigi fell fast asleep

Behind Notre Dame is this incredible park, we found loads of kids for Gigi to play with! Kids = zero language barrier

Our apartment for the week

Gluten-free Chiffon Cake


I’m convinced I lack the gene responsible for allowing one to successfully beat egg whites into a frenzy. Today was the second time in as many months that I dutifully watched Julia Child whip egg whites into peaks. I refused to move my eyes for even a moment, barely allowing myself the right to blink in case I missed the key, crucial moment when the whites went from soft to medium, peak-wise. Julia is effortless. My attempts require much effort. In short, I need to practice.

Continue reading Gluten-free Chiffon Cake >> “Gluten-free Chiffon Cake”

Grill More, Cook Less

I continue to use the heat as an excuse to keep out of the kitchen, but nothing makes a girl want to grill like Labor Day weekend. Or at least, nothing makes a girl want to ask her guy to grill like Labor Day weekend. (After all, someone needs to be in the kitchen mixing up those V&T’s.)

Between giant porterhouse steaks one night and rosemary grilled chicken breasts the next, I have plenty of leftovers for the week ahead. Not to mention those ripe heirloom tomatoes and fresh corn you see here. Now if only I could get Mr. Gonzo to pick up a bit more tonic water on his way home, I could keep the weekend going right into next Saturday.

End of Summer Farm Stand Salads

This is not so much a recipe as it is a plea to enjoy the last heavenly days of summer. San Diego is heating up again but the breeze that sweeps in from the coast makes up for it. Little GG went back to school today, sparkling in sequins from skirt to shoes, with a pony shirt thrown in for good measure (she even – surprise! – matched her buddy – the power of shopping at Target!).

We spent the last Sunday at the beach with friends, body boarding, stealing snacks from each other and repeating to ourselves and each other, “This is the most gorgeous day ever.” Days like that beg for cold beer and easy-breezy dinners, which is what you see here. I spent $4.30 at the farm stand on the way home and picked up heirloom tomatoes, fresh corn and a juicy slab of watermelon. I’ve managed to not kill off the basil in the back forty, so I snipped a few leaves of that onto thick slices of tomato; feta and a drizzle of balsamic and olive oil finished the dish.

Later, after dinner outside and a cold gluten-free beer to boot, we snuggled up on the couch to watch Phineas & Ferb: Where’s Perry, Part 2. For the third time. Or maybe it was the fourth. But no matter, family movie night is more about cuddles than anything else.

Not a bad recipe, am I right?!

Celebrating Julia Child’s 100th Birthday


Julia Child would have turned 100 on Wednesday. She died in 2004, just two days before her 92nd birthday. According to PBS Food, her last meal was French onion soup. The first – and only time – I attempted French onion soup it tasted like something I envision a medieval prisoner slurping up deep within the dungeon keep.

It was that bad.

But a cheese soufflé? That I can make. Sure, there are lots of steps: separating eggs, whipping egg whites, making a béchamel (gluten-free, in my case), shredding cheese, and so on. Just watch Julia prepare it once and you’ll be convinced, it’s as easy as 1-2-3.

Well, maybe not so much. I found this recipe for making a gluten-free béchamel which validated my guess that sweet rice flour would be a good substitute for regular flour in Julia’s Soufflé au Fromage, found within the pages of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. After reading the eight-page recipe, I downloaded the new Julia Child iPad app and watched the video of her preparing the dish. After all, overbeating the eggs or improperly folding the béchamel into the whites would certainly mean defeat. I did, however, ignore her when she told me to use a 6-cup soufflé mold; my 8-cup mold had worked perfectly well in the past when I’d made a Barefoot Contessa soufflé recipe.

Somewhere along the way, however, some piece of the chemistry puzzle slipped out of place. The soufflé didn’t rise and in fact, as you can see above, it became positively concave just seconds after emerging from the oven. I don’t know if it was the flour or the mold or the chef herself, but my soufflé didn’t match the photos in the Julia Child app or video. Le sigh.

Nonetheless, each and every morsel was divine: creamy bites of silky cheese surrounded by a cloud of egg, seasoned with just a hint of Himalayan sea salt. So even if my dish wasn’t the prettiest on the table, it tasted like a million bucks.

I think Julia would have been proud, even without the pouf.

Visit PBS Food’s Julia Child tribute site for recipes, trivia, interviews and more!

California Cioppino

Before our trip to France last month, I decided to start experimenting with some of the food we’d discover along the way. As my mind wandered into French fantasy food land, I experienced visions of dining on gluten-free sole meunière, popping over to Marseille with our six-year-old to slurp up bouillabaisse, and consuming bottle after bottle of cheap yet robust French wine.

Let’s just say this: the wine vision is the only one that came to fruition.

So, back at home, far from the land where fresh mussels can be had on every corner, I decided to create my own fish stew. Being from San Francisco, I opted for cioppino, which is related to its French cousin in that it was traditionally whipped up with the last of the day’s catch. In my case, the catch of the day included a pound of halibut and a few cooked prawns; I’d had a run-in with mussels in Sacramento earlier in the summer and didn’t want to repeat that experience.

This dish is quick, easy and full of flavor. If you’ve got a bottle of cold white wine waiting to be opened, all the better.

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California Cioppino
Serves: 4
 
This dish comes together quickly and then simmers, giving you time to enjoy a quick glass of wine with friends (or even on your own).
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 cup white wine (Chardonnay works well)
  • 1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, puréed, juice and all
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 pound firm white fish fillets, such as halibut or cod, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 6-8 jumbo prawns, cooked
  • Fresh basil leaves, julienned
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat; add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
  2. Toss in the thyme, salt, pepper and crush red pepper flakes; sauté for a minute or so.
  3. Add the pureed tomatoes in their juices and the water, increase heat to high until just before boiling, then cover and reduce heat to low; simmer for 30 minutes.
  4. Add the fish and continue to simmer until cooked through, about 8 minutes.
  5. Add the cooked prawns, let them simmer just long enough to heat up, a minute or so.
  6. Pour into four serving bowls, garnish with the basil and serve immediately.
Notes
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living .
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Chicken with Fennel & Tomatoes

Today is a day for swimming in pools with friends, lazing in the sun and sipping iced tea jazzed up with mint. But at 80 degrees – and we’re talking indoors, here – it’s definitely not a day for cooking.

But a girl and her family have to eat, right? Which is why I made the ultimate sacrifice for my family and did the unthinkable: cooked in the mid-day heat.

Let’s back up a bit and hear a confession … are you ready? I really, really didn’t want to cook today. After I dropped off little GG at camp and ran the requisite errands, all sorts of thoughts floated through my head, a great many of which involved rotisserie chicken, store-bought potato salad and gluten-free beer. But after spending a ton of Euros on vacation, I came to the conclusion that I should be a good girl and cook at home, using stuff I already have in my pantry and freezer. Stuff like sliced fennel, chicken breasts and a big can of tomaotes. I grabbed a lemon off the tree, some basil from its patio container, and decided, no more excuses! I must cook!

So this is what I came up with. It’s easy, it’s fast, it’s delicious, and right now it’s hanging out with the gluten-free flours and beer in my garage mini-fridge. Which completely opens up my afternoon for the important things in life: swimming in pools with my kiddo and a few good friends.

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Chicken with Fennel & Tomatoes
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
  • 2 shallots, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 2 tablespoons capers
  • ¼ cup fresh basil, julienned
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil over high heat in a large skillet. Meanwhile, use paper towels to dry each chicken breast, then season with the salt and pepper. Once the oil is hot, arrange the chicken breasts in a single layer and brown for four minutes per side. Remove the chicken breasts to a plate and cover with foil.
  2. Turning the heat to medium, sauté the fennel and shallots until soft, about five minutes. Add the wine, and scrape the bottom of the skillet to stir in the browned bits of chicken and vegetables. Place the chicken breasts back into the skillet and pour the diced tomatoes, juice and all, over the chicken. Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
  3. Add the lemon zest and capers; stir to combine. Pour the chicken and sauce into a serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with the fresh basil. Serve immediately.
Notes
Adapted from a recipe by Food Network.
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Homemade Taco Seasoning

The other night, as I was making taco seasoning from scratch and posting it all over Instagram like it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, I realized I owe you an apology.

About the taco seasoning post I did awhile back, and the fact that I left you in the lurch, asking you to click through to the blog Use Real Butter which features the recipe for homemade taco seasoning mix instead of just teaching you how to do it all by your little ole self. Sorry ’bout that.

I also realized, as I was again converting teaspoons into tablespoons into quarter cups that not everyone likes doing math. Or fractions. I do, but just because I like math doesn’t oblige you to like it as well. So I updated the recipe to include easy-to-follow measurements and while I added a pinch here and took away a dash there, it’s just as good as the original.

Maybe better, because now you don’t have to do the math. So toss away those store-bought packets of taco seasoning mix, get out your spice jars, and get to it.

Oh, and if you’re gluten free? You’ll notice this has zero gluten. None. So if you’re missing the taste of your favorite Lawry’s or McCormick’s taco seasoning packets, give this gluten free taco seasoning mix a go and embrace the taco once again.

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Homemade Taco Seasoning
 
Making taco seasoning mix at home frees you from those store-bought packets. This makes enough for about 6 pounds of ground turkey; store in an air-tight container as you would your other spices.
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup chili powder
  • ¼ cup paprika
  • 2 tablespoons cumin
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne
Instructions
  1. Combine all spices in a small air-tight container.
  2. When it's taco time, brown two pounds ground turkey or beef.
  3. Add 2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning and one cup water to the meat; simmer for 10 minutes.
  4. Serve!
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