BOOK REVIEW: Picnic in Provence - A Memoir with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard
France is a beautiful country, both its people and most importantly, food! The French show love through food and French kids are the first to be introduced to a wide array of adult foods so as to sharpen their taste buds at an early age. The author portrays the love of food and family in this wonderful memoir.
10 years ago, the author, who's a New Yorker, followed a handsome Frenchman up a spiral staircase to a love nest in the heart of Paris. Now, with a baby on the way, the author takes another leap of faith with her husband, Gwendal, when they move - lock, stock and Le Creuset - to the French countryside and open an artisanal ice cream shop.
Filled with such enticing recipes as stuffed zucchini flowers, a fig tart and honey-and-thyme ice cream, this book is the story of everything that happens after the happily ever after - an American learning the tricks of French motherhood, a family finding a new professional passion, and a cook's initiation into classic Provencal cuisine.
With wit, humor and a scoop of wild strawberry sorbet, the author reminds us that life - in and out of the kitchen - is a rendezvous with the unexpected.
Elizabeth's previous book, Lunch in Paris, is said to be equally good but I only managed to get my hand on this one from the BBW sales. I can't wait to get my hands on the first book!
