Bastille Day Celebration at Easy Bisto! Bonne Fete Y'all!

Bonne Fete! It means Happy Holiday, and it's what the French tell each other on Bastille Day. Bastille Day is celebrated as the French independence day. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille and thus the people's victory during the French Revolution. Learn More Here. 

Aperitif at Easy Bistro.

Bastille Day is July 14th. I will be cooking some traditional French food this evening, but I'll have to tell you about that later. So we did a little French food celebrating early.

Easy Bistro is our city's French Bistro. According to the Bonne Femme Cookbook I have been using, Wini Moranville writes about starting the French meal with an Aperitif- a little pre-dinner drink that prepares the palate. This one was a concoction created with herbs and a little beer.

Chilled soup- buttermilk custard, cucumber, corn and herbs.

Tuna with crumbled nori and heirloom tomatoes.

I really love their presentation!!!

If you are looking for somewhere to enjoy French cuisine in the Chattanooga area tonight we can highly recommend Easy Bistro. http://www.easybistro.com/

Chat O Brassiere (also a favorite for me & the Hubs) is also having a Bastille Day Celebration, but call and make reservations...I think there is a special menu tonight! http://www.chatodining.com/

If you want to stay in, make some crepes or simply pick up some Brie and enjoy a nice bottle of Burgundy or Bordeaux. Just enjoy something French! It's a fun way to explore another culture through food and wine!

Bonne Fete Y'all!

And Thus It Begins

I have always had an interest in cooking. My uncle was a great cook, so was my grandfather, my mother is an excellent cook...my dad is a fantastic cook. I love to eat, to explore with food, to be creative!

It is also therapy to me.

I lost my dear friend, Linda H. Mason recently (her friends called her "Mason"). The loss is tremendous. 

So what did I do...I began to cook! 

Mason and I loved food! We also love to cook- me more than she, but we loved eating what I cooked. I thought: I should begin cooking, creating, and exploring as a way to heal through the loss of my friend.

Mason also loved anything French. I love French food. One of my favorite movies is Ratatouille- a movie (set in France) about a rat who becomes a chef. (I named my cat after the main character, "Remy"!)

Hmmm...I thought: Mason lived "the good life"- "la bonne vie". She had many friendships, cooked, ate, enjoyed the company of others...enjoyed French stuff...

Yes- that's what I would do! I would begin a blog of recipes, tastes, and smells that remind me that:

life is good. 

It doesn't have to be stuffy food, or expensive food, or require super-skills in the kitchen...just easy, creative, fun, "catching up over a good meal" kinds of dishes. Often the way we humans connect is over a meal. Mason and I always did our best "catching up" over a meal.

So join me! Join me on an eating, drinking, cooking journey to explore the good life...the way Mason would- over a good meal!

My Friend Mason at the Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX.