0 L'Amour Fou

L'Amour Fou de Petits Fours, watercolor, 9" x 11" Still crazy for petits fours, I thought I'd try the competition. Mais quelle disastre! I opened the box and they were slip slidin' away.Staff grabbed the box, ran in the kitchen and tried to patch them together :( Where are the little protective caissettes plissées that go under each petit four bien sur? Mon dieu! I was mad. I was growling like these amazing not-to-be-missed animal sculptures of Ai Weiwei by The Plaza Hotel. C'est la vie. I picked myself up off the ground and returned to Financier Pastries for a 2nd set of petits fours. A pastry artist has to have something to paint. As a consolation...

0 Les Meilleures Tartes au Fraises de Paris!

Berries by Fantin- LatourThe French have always been mad for their fraises/strawberries...I can't remember all the species they have (fraise de bois, gariguette, charlotte, mara des bois, ciflorette, etc.), but try to buy a box from Espana at Monoprix and you'll get a slap. Buy local bien sur! Is there a pastry chef in Paris who dips his brush into the strawberry patch more than... Gerard Mulot? I think not. Name a contender and we can duke it out. Really it's no wonder Gerard Mulot won hands down this month's Le Figaro contest for the BEST Strawberry tarte in all of Paris. Who doesn't want to be in this taste testers shoes?Photo courtesey...

0 Bonjour Happiness

Bonjour Happiness, watercolor sketch, 9" x 11"A week ago I went to hear Jamie Cat Callan talk about her newest book on finding your inner 'Frenchiness'... 'Bonjour Happiness' Jamie was recently injured in her car (by a possibly texting driver) but she reminded us, "You can still have joi de vie whilst hobbling around in a leg cast". Jamie is nothing if not an optimist. The French have recently adopted the cheesecake as a favorite dessert... But they've always had the best 'cheesecake' of all - matching lingerie. Jamie says"your lingerie MUST match and be frilly' or just furgettaboutit if you wanna find your inner French girl. Jamie proceeded...

0 Financier Pastries 2

Financier Petit Fours, watercolor, 9"x 11" Drinking too much Champagne once-a-year is not that big a problem... But becoming attached at the hip to a Patisserie just a short train ride away is another matter... Dear PBers,I need an intervention... What started out as mere research for a petit four drawing project... Has turned into an obsession. Ouch! I tell myself I'm buying these delights just to paint them. Ha! They're disappearing faster than I can paint them :( A few years ago I kept pastry temptation under control easily... I only painted miniatures... Under an inch high. Help me PBers. Especially since I haven't tasted "Le Tropical....

0 French Champagne!

Red Fruits with Rose Champagne, watercolor, 9" x 11" Yesterday I learned I can drink rose champagne with red fruity, chocolatie desserts. Do you LOVE REAL French Champagne? You would have adored yesterday's French Comite Champagne tasting in Hotel Plaza's ballroom... You got a chance to speak directly to 30 champagne makers from Rheims and Epernay... They were happy to explain to you with passion the whys and wherefores of their brand's characteristics... You got just a slug to taste, but after many slugs...hmmm Of course you can 'nose' champagne to enhale the aromas, floral or fruity - as long as you have a tall glass and wait for the...