0 Financier Pastries

Petit Four Immersion watercolor, 9" x 11"
I'm been going through serious petit four immersion.
Really I should be immersed in the pool doing water gym...
I recently discovered a very French NYC patisserie, Financier Pastries. I bought their little beauties this past weekend to paint. Here's what's left of the original 16...
Unlike the other brand's petit fours that jumped around in transit-these could have used some plastic surgery once home...
Foodwalker, a professional caterer, asked me if they taste as good as they look.
Petit Four research sketches...
They do!
Perfect to get in the right frame of mind to see Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris homage to the city of lights.

I happened to pass by another Financier shop yesterday to check if their pastries really were as good as I thought they were...

They are. Green and white stripped awnings, lots of French-esque details. And they have macarons.

Their signature pastry is the golden bar-shaped almond 'financier' cake - their first shops opened near Wall street. Chef Eric Bedoucha grew up in Paris and got his training at Dalloyau...

Some of you asked after Yellow Bird. I almost called this post 'My Left Foot'. Yellow bird is recoverying from a foot injury but he's back with a bit of Scotch (tape) to the rescue.

BONJOUR Petits Fours!

0 Birds of Paris

Birds of Paris, birds of London, birds of New York and possibly India(?) are raising a ruckus right now in my studio, though I can't think why? The AC is on high and no one is going hungry... Birds in London are upside down in the Underground at South Kensington station. Don't ask me why. I had nothing to do with it. Olha took me along to the Royal Academy Summer show and we started bird watching - there were many onsite. That started it.
Everafter I saw birds everywhere and wanting to bring them home, like this appropriately named plaster of Paris number on sale at Comptoir de Famille.
No way was I bringing home these French homing pidgeons or love birds or doves or whatever the hell they were...On the other hand this silver charmer at the same restaurant was begging to be set free. Sadly he/she would have been missed if I'd rescued him/her for future portraits...

A Frenchie humming bird spotted in Paris minus binoculars - I didn't see many real birds at all in Paris come to think of it. have you?

I did buy the matching cup and saucer to this lovebird teapot, but I left it behind at French Girls'.

This metal bird was just the right size and shape, but he/she was firmly attached to a metal tray. No amount of twisting was going to change that...

I loved everything in the toy exhibit at the Musee Arts Decoratif. I cannot reccommend this exhibit enough - you'll have a ball. And if you should see a burley museum assistant carrying a very large blown-up bear, please tell him I regret not taking his picture in the stairwell. ALWAYS have your camera ready! Lesson learned.

Voila! Thumbnails for the day of M. Rusty formerly of Petersham Nurseries but of French origins.

M. Rusty takes a bird bath, watercolor, 9" x 11"

Tea in the afternoon in London, watercolor, 9" x 11"

Well it appears the newest bird on the block, Mistress Henny (an American breed) has taken charge and is now top bird of the flock. The others are acquiescent and have settled down after just a few peeps of annoyance...

BONJOUR WEEK-END!