French Baguette Bread Hors d'oeuvres Recipes by Ruth Paget

French Baguette Bread Hors d’oeuvres Recipes by Ruth Paget 

One of the reasons the French seem so adamant about eating their white bread baguettes is that they can easily turn them into rounds for toast, topping, and microwaving into hors d’oeuvres or dinners depending on how many hors d’oeuvres are eaten. 

Baguettes from a bakery are pretty reasonably price, but if you make your own even for weekend consumption on a regular basis, the savings can be tremendous without sparing flavor or texture. If you are interested in seeing how baguettes can be made at home, I have provided the following link to my daughter Florence Paget’s forays in the kitchen.  The recipe makes 2 to 3 baguettes:

Traditional French Baguette Recipe with Photos and Videos

The seven recipes below require you to cut 12 round slices from one baguette that are about ½-inch wide. Then, the baguette slices are grilled or toasted to make a solid base for your hors d’oeuvres. 

*Baguette slice with melted gruyère cheese rectangle sprinkled with crushed Calabrian red peppercorns. It takes about 45 seconds to 1 minute to melt the cheese in the microwave. You can butter the toast first, if you would like.  

*Baguette slice with melted goat cheese slice studded with halves of black Niçoise olive. It takes about 1 minute to microwave to melt goat cheese. You can drizzle on olive oil on the toast first, if you would like. 

*Baguette slice with shrimp-mayonnaise spread made with Japanese mayonnaise or homemade mayonnaise (1/2 cup) and ¾ to 1 cup cooked shrimp without their shells. Place the mayonnaise and shrimp in a blender and mix to a paste. Spread shrimp paste on baguette rounds and sprinkle with Calabrian crushed red pepper. 

*Baguette slice spread with sour cream with a slice of smoked salmon on top and garnished wit dill. Whipped cream cheese can also be used as a spread. 

*Baguette slice spread with tapenade – a mixture of pitted black olives, capers, crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and parsley. My family does not like tapenade, but this spread is a popular one and is often served with melted goat cheese on top. 

*Baguette slice with a cream cheese and walnut spread that is made by blending the two main ingredients in a blender.  Other nuts can also be used in a spread this way.

*Baguette slice with a cream cheese and black olive spread that is made by blending the two main ingredients in a blender. 

Suggested Beverages: San Pellegrino Sparkling Water, white wines like pinot grigio (pinot gris), sauvignon blanc, and dry Riesling, hard cider like Henry Hot Spurs, and lager beers like Peroni Nastro Azzuro (Official sponsor of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics). 

Suggested Side Salads: Grated carrot salad, lentil salad, and organic greens 

Bon Appétit! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of Teff: The Global Flour Game

Making Traditional French Baguette Online Exhibit with Florence Paget by RuthbPaget

Making French Traditional Baguette Bread Online Exhibit with Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

In 1993, the French government decreed that bread that is sold as French traditional baguettes can only contain 4 ingredients in its Décret Pain (93 – 1074): wheat flour, water, salt, and yeast. 

My daughter Florence Paget wanted to bake baguettes as a family heritage project, so we bought organic ingredients and she set to work on the following recipe, which I recorded in step-by-step photos and videos below. 

Traditional French Baguette Bread Recipe 

3 ¼ cup flour 

1 ¼ cup warm water 

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast (1 package active dry yeast) 

2 teaspoons sea salt 

Oven temperature: 480 degrees Fahrenheit 

Baking time: 20 minutes 

Florence first sprinkled yeast on the warm water and mixed it up till it was cloudy and beginning to slightly bubble. 

Florence placed all the flour in a mixing bowl and all the water and blended the dough with a mixer while it was liquid. As the water was absorbed by the flour, she then mixed the dough with her hands. This is a sticky operation. 

At this point, she made the dough into a ball and covered it and placed it in a cool oven to rise. The time for rising will vary depending on the temperature in the room. Dough rising can take between 1 and 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, Florence set out her bread baking pan on the stove and pulled the risen dough out from the oven. Florence turned on the oven to preheat to 480 degrees Fahrenheit and placed a pan of water on the lower rack of the oven that would steam the bread as it cooked to make a crunchy crust. Next, she floured the kitchen counter for kneading the risen dough. (Note: We have a well-seasoned pizza stone in our oven which also helps keep the oven warm when baking other items.) 

As you can see from the photo, the dough has doubled in size. Florence carefully peeled the ball of dough out onto the floured counter to avoid crushing air bubbles in the dough. She gently kneaded the dough a few times before shaping it into long loaves by cutting the dough in half, shaping it into a rectangle, and rolling up the rectangles into loaves. Do a minimum of dough handling to avoid popping air bubbles. 

Florence stretched the dough loaves out and placed them in the baking dish. She then scored them with a knife into diagonal shapes on one loaf and down the center of the bread on the other. She then covered the loaves to let them rise again. 

When the stove had preheated and the dough loaves had risen, it was time for them to go in the oven on the rack above the steaming water in the pan on the lower rack. 

The bread should be done baking in 20 minutes. It should have the characteristic round patterned bottom as seen in the photo. The thick crust on the bread keeps it fresher for an extra day it seems when you bake baguettes at home. 

The photos and videos below will walk through the baguette baking process that Florence Paget used:

 

Note: French baguette bread hors d’oeuvres serving suggestion follows:

 https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2026/02/french-baguette-hors-doeuvres-recipes.html?m=1

Note: When baguettes become a day old and rather hard, cut them into thick rectangles and use them for dunking in soup.

Note: When baguettes are a day old and become hard, they can be cut into chunks and placed in a food processor to make bread crumbs.  You can add the bread crumbs to pasta or on top of casseroles.

Note: Of course, cubes of day old baguette are used in fondue.  See my blog below for details: 

 https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2026/01/family-fondue-night-for-sustainable.html?m=1

Bon Appétit!

Photos, Videos, and Text By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of Teff: The Global Flour Game

Celebrating French Chandeleur with Crêpes Photo and Video Essay by Ruth Paget

Celebrating French Chandeleur with Crêpes Photo and Video Essay by Ruth Paget 

When I lived in France, I learned that all French people seem to observe the Catholic holiday of Chandeleur whether or not they are practicing Catholics or not. 

Chandeleur occurs 40 days after Christmas on February 2nd and celebrates the presentation in the temple of Jesus Christ by his parents Mary and Joseph. The temple referred to is not pagan, but a Jewish synagogue. Jesus was born a Jew to Jewish parents. 

Chandeleur marks the beginning of Christ’s life in society and prepares believers for the celebration of Christian Easter in spring. 

The French celebrate Chandeleur with a pile of crêpes that can last several days if wrapped in plastic and kept in the refrigerator. I love the nutrition in crêpes at an economical price. 

The crêpe recipe my family developed for California uses milk, eggs, flour, water, fleur de sel sea salt from Guérande (Brittany, France), and California olive oil. The recipe follows: 

Paget Family California Crêpes Recipe

When your crêpe batter is made, it should be liquid with no lumps. Heat your crêpe pans with olive oil on high. Pour two ladles of crêpe batter into a hot pan and swirl the batter around till it coats the pan with the batter. 

The batter will begin to set so that you can move the crêpre back and forth gently like in the videos below. Carefully flip the crêpe over. You are working with extremely hot oil so you might want to use spatulas and mitts to turn over the crêpe. 

The flipped crêpe has a golden brown color and dry texture. Let the other side cook for 1 to 2 minutes before placing it on a serving plate. 

The French drink hard cider (alcoholic cider) with crêpes. If you prefer sweet cider try Martinelli’s. It pops open like champagne, but has no alcohol. We drink Henry Hot Spurs Cider from Trader Joe’s. 

According to webMD.com, hard cider retains vitamins like Vitamin C and antioxidants in its production. Apple cider is also considered to be a laxative by WebMD.com . 

The typical French additions to crêpes are butter and grated gruyère cheese. Spreadable Laughing Cow is also liked but not traditional in crêpes. 

Dessert crêpes are usually made with jam. Both kinds of crêpes are rolled up and can be heated in a mircrowave. 

The following photos and videos illustrate the process of preparing a French Chandeleur celebration at home with crêpes, cider, and fillings for this February 2nd holiday.

No-lump batter is necessary.

Fleur de sel is a fine grain sea salt that 
reduces lumps in the batter

American, Swedish, and Crocheted French Kitchen Towel by Laurent's grandmother

The flipped crêpe has a golden cooked sid.

Henry Hot Spurs Hard Cider is similar to apple cider
from Brittany, France

Typical crêpe fillings for a home celebration of Chandeleur.

So easy to eat, but time consuming to prepare.

A little butter and cheese for filling before rolling up the crêpe.

Time to eat!

Bonne Fête de la Chandeleur!!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and Novgorod War Game Developer

Plexus Polaire French Puppetry Company Reposted by Ruth Paget

French Puppetry Company Plexus Polaire to Perform at the Year of Games at the University of Chicago on January 28, 2026.

Information about tickets for this event follows:

https://events.uchicago.edu/event/258228-plexus-polaire-trust-me-for-a-while

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Steak au Poivre Made by Florence Paget posted by Ruth Paget

Steak au Poivre Made by Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

Steak au Poivre is a charred steak dish served with a heavy cream based sauce made with shallots and a mixed variety of crushed peppercorns. Steak au Poivre is a simple yet elegant dish that is usually paired with a Bordeaux wine. 

Our family ate this dish with a 2021 Château Giscours from the Margaux region of Bordeaux. (Photo below) 

Serves 4 

 

Ingredients: 

 

-2 (1/2 pound) rib eye steaks that will be cut in half 

-3 tablespoons olive oil 

-1 large shallot, peeled and minced 

-3 tablespoons mixed peppercorns, crushed 

-2 ounces cognac (2 shot glasses) 

-2 tablespoons salted butter 

-3/4 cup heavy cream used to make whipping cream 

Steps: 

1-Brown steak for 7 to 10 minutes per side depending on the doneness desired. 

2-Remove steak from the pan and keep warm. Place time on 10 minutes for steak to rest before cutting it in half. 

3-Add minced shallots to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes. Add crushed peppercorns to the pan and sauté for 1 minute. 

4-Add cognac to the pan. Heat cognac for 1 minute. Remove pan from the stove. Ignite cognac and gently swirl till the flames die down. 

5-Place pan back on heat. Add butter and heavy cream. Stir until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. (It is ok to hold sauce while the steak is resting for 10 minutes.) 

6-Cut the steak in half and serve the au poivre sauce over them. 

Serving Suggestion: Florence Paget served the steak au poivre with mashed potatoes and homemade Yorkshire pudding. Step-by-step photos follow:

 

Et Voilaà!  Bon Appétit!

Photos and Text by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Snacking on French Montelimar Nougat at The Market in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget

French Montélimar Nougat at the Market in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget 

During a stop to buy coffee at The Market at Pebble Beach, California, my husband Laurent found Carlier nougat from Montélimar, France on sale. 

Laurent naturally bought some to bring back memories of chewing Montélimar nougat while crawling through holiday traffic jams outside Lyon, France highway tollbooths. 

All the freeways in southern France eventually lead to Lyon and its bouchon, meaning simultaneously wine cork, traffic jam, and Lyonnais bistros in general that are famous for offal (variety meat) tarts and Beaujolais as the house wine. 

To put off the bouchon, drivers buy bags of Montélimar nougat for themselves and all children on board outside Lyon at Montélimar. 

Nougat without anything added to it is a mix of hot sugar and honey that you add whipped egg whites to. Next you fold in sliced nuts and/or candied fruits. Carlier nougat features sliced almonds and pistachios. 

Once all the nougat ingredients are mixed together, it is allowed to cool before being sliced into chewy pieces that can be packaged like the Carlier brand we bought at Pebble Beach. (Picture below) 

To add a little treat to you coffee order at The Market at Pebble Beach, California, you might want to try the Carlier nougat to give your coffee break a slice of French lifestyle on the Pacific Ocean. 

Note: The Pebble Beach Market sells Peerless Coffee and Tea Products from Oakland, California.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Smoked Norwegian Salmon and St. Germain Royale Cocktail Brunch by Ruth Paget

Parisian Vacation Brunch in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget  

For an après-Christmas brunch 2025, my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I had St. Germain Royale cocktails with smoked Norwegian salmon.  

One of Florence’s Christmas gifts was a 400-page cocktails book, wo we had to let her practice a cocktail on us. She prepared a Veuve Clicquot cocktail with St. Germain liqueur made from flowery, white elder flowers. (Alone elder flowers have high amounts of Vitamin C, an antioxidants.)

I liked the St. Germain Royale cocktail and thought the sweet, effervescent flavor paired well with salty, Norwegian smoked salmon. 

Costco’s Kirkland brand uses farmed salmon from Norway that is smoked in the Netherlands the packaging relates. Laurent and I shared the package meant for four to six as brunch. (Florence had a taste and ate legs from a Costco rotisserie chicken.) 

The smoked salmon was tender and buttery in texture and had a delicate smoky flavor, which is what I like. I love fish in all its preparations including smoked. 

If you are someone who likes smoked fish, the Kirkland Norwegian salmon at Costco would probably be a welcome addition to your New Year’s celebration (price: approximately $24 per package). 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

De Tierra Winery in Salinas, California sells excellent Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wine - shout out by Ruth Paget

De.Tierra Winery in Salinas, California sells excellent Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wine.  These are the two wine grape varietals that also grow in France’s Burgundy region.

We order about two cases per year for delivery to have them on hand for coq au vin, poulet a la moutarde,, and steamed Alaska king crab throughout the year.

They have a tasting room in Carmel for people who would like to sample their wines.

De Tierra’s Website Link

My daughter Florence Paget and I recently snuck a peek at the secluded winery and vineyards in the Corral de Tierra Valley outside town.

De Tierra Winery sits on a hillside off Corral de Tierra Road outside Salinas, California.  California magnolias bloom in the foreground.  Palm trees of varying sizes line the road up to the winery. Text and photo by Ruth Paget.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Calvados Mushroom Sauce Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Calvados Mushroom Sauce Recipe Created by Ruth Paget 

Note: 

This is my go-to sauce when I lived in Paris, France in the early 1990s was a buttery, mushroom sauce that I made with Calvados, France’s famous apple brandy with the best ones coming from the Pays d’Auge, the A.O.C. region in Normandy. 

This sauce is loosely based on the mushroom sauce for sole Dieppoise.. The ingredients for this sauce were sold by fishmongers in fall at the weekly covered market in the Centre Charras in Courbevoie, a Parisian suburb just across the bridge over the Seine by the La Défense skyscrapers. 

I used this simple sauce on sautéed white fish, sautéed chicken breasts, fried pork chops, pasta, and mashed potatoes. 

For 4 People 

Ingredients: 

-4 tablespoons butter with sea salt 

-2 cups sliced mushrooms 

-1 or 2 shots of Calvados 

-1 cup heavy cream 

-2 tablespoons chopped parsley 

Steps: 

1-Melt butter in a sauté pan. Add mushrooms to the pan and stir over medium-high heat until they render water (about 10 – 15 minutes). 

2-Continue stirring until the water in the pan evaporates. 

3-Add Calvados to the mushrooms and stir 4 to 5 minutes to burn off the alcohol, but leave the flavor.  

4-Add cream to the mushroom mixture and stir till steam rises from the mushrooms. Serve as soon as possible over cooked fish, pork chops, chicken, pasta, or mashed potatoes with parsley sprinkled on top. 

Note:

This recipe can be made with Sicilian Marsala as in chicken Marsala.

Other fortified wines like Marsala can be used including:

Muscat de Rivesaltes - France

Muscat de Samothrace - Greece

Oloroso sherry - Spain

Sweet porto - Portugal

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Amazon Italy is carrying my book Marrying France posted by Ruth Paget

Thank you Amazon Italy for carrying my book Marrying France.  Molto Grazie!

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Better World Books is carrying Eating Soup with Chopsticks and my chapbooks posted by Ruth Paget

Thank you Better World Books for my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks and several of my chapbooks.

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Vegetable Simple Reviewed by Ruth Paget

Vegetable Simple Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

Michelin star chef Eric Ripert writes in his introduction to Vegetable Simple that vegetables have become more important to him for three main reasons: 

-he eats more vegetables as he has aged 

-he serves vegetable buffet dinners to his friends for entertaining on weekends 

-he opened a wine bar with a vegetable-centered menu next to his Michelin-starred restaurant 

All of these reasons prompted me to carefully read the easy if you have great vegetables recipes to put together a French buffet dinner: 

Most of the following dishes can be made ahead of time and served cold or room temperature with the exception of the baked mushrooms, which can be placed in the oven as guests arrive: 

-sweet pea soup – made with frozen peas that are boiled in water and blended till smooth with crème fraîche and mint added just before serving. Ripert serves this soup hot, but in the summer I would chill it in the blender and pour it in champagne flutes to set the tone for the vegetable lunch. 

-endive blue cheese salad – the leaves of bitter endive are set out spoke fashion for this dish with a blue cheese-cream dressing place in the center of the leaves in the middle of the spoke 

-grated carrot salad – so simple, so good for your eyes with the Vitamin A in the carrots that is good for the eyes.  So easy to dress with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil. 

-cold basil past salad – a “sauce” of grated fresh basil, garlic, grated Parmesan, olive oil, and pepper fragrantly coat linguine pasta that is preferably made from semolina flour from durum wheat for its protein content 

-baked cremini mushrooms made with the butter used for snails – butter, parsley, and garlic 

-tomato “croquet sel” – fresh tomato halves sprinkled with sea salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil 

-melon balls “au porto” – If you do not have a melon baller, cut cantaloupe into fourths and scoop out the seeds. Place about 2 tablespoons of Portuguese porto in the cavity of the melon. Eat with a spoon to scoop up all the porto. 

This French vegetable buffet is very doable at home with a little planning and well-suited for American potluck lunches where everyone brings a dish to share. 

I like these recipes, because I live in an agricultural community that grows all organic produce (Salinas, California and its surrounding region of Monterey County). 

I also love Vegetable Simple by Eric Ripert for its recipes from many cultures that young people might enjoy making on their days off for international flair on a budget. 

(Just making one of these dishes at a party qualifies as a rallye game in my book.)

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France 

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Croque Monsieur Grilled Sandwich at Café de la Presse in San Francisco, California by Ruth Paget

Croque Monsieur Grilled Sandwich at Café de la Presse in San Francisco, California by Ruth Paget 

On a weekend trip to San Francisco, my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I went to Café de la Presse in San Francisco, California for Parisian bistro lunch. 

Laurent and Florence ordered a classic French lunch combination of French onion soup with cheese melted and browned on top of the soup followed by steak frites (steak with fries). 

I was going to order another bistro classic combination of French onion soup with a croque monsieur, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with salad on the side. 

Instead of soup, I ate a daily special of warm goat cheese salad before my main dish. The salad came with a large ball of fresh chèvre goat cheese on top that been warmed and sat on top of baby greens with a vinaigrette. 

I mashed down the ball of chèvre and liked to think the cheese had arrived from an artisanal creamery in Sonoma County along with freshly picked greens in the wee hours of the morning. 

For my main dish, I ate a grilled croquet monsieur sandwich made with béchamel sauce, a cooked creamy sauce made with flour, butter, and milk, that is spread on two thick slices of bread. Then, you add sliced ham and gruyère cheese, place the slices together, sprinkle Parmesan and gruyère on top of the top bread slice, and run the sandwich under the broiler until the cheese is toasted and bubbly. 

This salty, delicious treat came with more baby greens on the side. I loved the crunchy melted cheese on the sandwich that was lightened up with bites of the baby greens. 

For bigger appetites, you can add an over-easy egg on top of the sandwich, which would make it a croquet madame. This is a classic bistro dish as well. 

There are two garages close to Café de la Presse. One is across the street on the corner of Grant Avenue and Bush Street. The other garage is about three blocks up the street on Powell Street. 

Whether you come for a weekend trip or for a day, Café de la Presse offers French fare comparable to what you would eat in Paris, France at the gates of Chinatown, which is ideal for strolling and shopping after an espresso. Our family takes I-280 to Highway 101, which comes out near Tully Road south of Gilroy Outlet Malls on 101 back to Salinas, California. 

There is always something good to eat at Café de la Presse in San Francisco, California, which is easier to get to than you would think. 

Bon appétit! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Seafood Simple Reviewed by Ruth Paget

Seafood Simple Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

Seafood Simple by Eric Ripert is an all-inclusive reference for all things fish. Ripert begins Seafood Simple with several pages of explanation and photos about how to skin, debone, and fillet different fish body types. 

After the preparation technique chapter, Ripert provides recipes organized by cooking method as follows:

-raw, cured, and marinated 

-steamed 

-poached 

-fried 

-baked 

-sautéed 

-broiled 

-grilled 

-preserved 

Some of the recipes I consider outstanding include: 

-oysters mignonette – raw oysters on the half shell with a red wine and shallot served on the side for dipping 

-halibut en papillote – baked white fish with tomatoes, onions, white wine, and basil that is wrapped in foil  

-moules marinères – steamed mussels with shallots and white wine

-halibut mushroom casserole 

-linguine vongole – steamed clams with linguine pasta 

-salmon and tomato à la Gilbert – poached salmon in tomato and cream sauce 

All of these dishes remind me of the food I ate in Parisian bistros when I lived there and are items that I can make in my home now. 

Readers who might enjoy Seafood Simple by Eric Ripert include: 

-France lovers 

-young professionals like accountants and lawyers 

-musicians 

-artists 

-marketing workers 

-caterers 

-dieters 

If you like fish, Seafood Simple by Eric Ripert should be in your kitchen library

(Note: In Salinas, California, you can buy fresh seafood at Star Market and Safeway. Close to Salinas, you can fresh seafood at Phil’s Fish Market in Moss Landing and Castroville.)

(Note: Just making one of these dishes at a party qualifies as a rallye game in my book.)

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Majorelle: The Lorraine France Touring Game Created by Ruth Paget

Majorelle: The Lorraine France Touring Game Created by Ruth Paget

I named this touring game after one of France’s major decorative arts craftsman Auguste Majorelle (1825 – 1879), a native of Lunéville, France. 

Lorraine is a rewarding region to visit for travelers interested in history, art, fine dining, and sips of mirabelle, yellow plum liqueur. The main cities are Metz, Nancy, and Lunéville. The medieval monastery at Gorze is the home of Gregorian chants and sister monasteries in Germany. Verdun is the site of one of the most important battles of World War I. 

A two-week tour of the region would provide ample time to visit these places and indulge in some gala meals and shopping. (I have linked my blogs about these places into an itinerary. Click on the links to see the blogs.) 

*Metz is a 3,000 year old city. Each district has a different history. The city is set up well for walking tours and has many cafés where you can take a break with a beverage. 

Walking Tours: 

Day 1: Exploring Franco-German Metz 

Franco-German Metz

Day 2: Cathedral District and Downtown 

Downtown Metz

Day 3: May Day Metz 

May Day Metz

Day 4: Urban Ecology

Urban Ecology

 *Metz Meals: 

Day 5: Gala Pork Dinner: 

Gala Pork Dinner

Day 6: Gala Seafood Dinner 

Gala Seafood Dinner

*Nancy is a city of majestic public art and decorative arts. 

Day 7: Rococo Public Art 

Rococo Art in Nancy

Day 8: Art Nouveau Museum

Art Nouveau in Nancy

 *Lunéville is home to a château inspired by Versailles and a current concert venue 

Day 9: Lunéville Château Visit

Luneville Chateau

*Gorze Monastery still uses ancient Roman sewers. You can spot a few Roman aqueducts on the way there. This is the site where Gregorian chants were invented. 

Day 10: Gorze Monastery Visit 

Gorze Monastery

*Verdun is a major World War I battlefield site with a museum 

Day 11: Verdun Museum Visit 

I hope this Lorraine touring game will encourage you to think about traveling to Lorraine, France to experience its art and culture, indulge in some delicious food, and learn some history about France’s relations with Germany and Poland. 

Click for Ruth Paget’s Books

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

The Complete Book of Cheese Reviewed by Ruth Paget

The Complete Book of Cheese Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

The Complete Book of Cheese: History, Techniques, Recipes, Tips by Anne-Laure Pham and Mathieu Plantive provides readers with all the information they need to obtain the best value for their money when buying elite cheese products, especially French cheese. 

The Complete Book of Cheese contains information such as:

-cheese production processes from selection of milk to aging 

-French cheese classification system 

-cheese buying tips 

-pairing suggestions for beverages and food 

-cheese board composition ideas depending on event 

-cheese recipes for appetizers, savory dishes, and sweet desserts 

The French cheese classification system helps with purchasing decisions and is broken down as follows: 

-fresh cheese 

-blooming-rind cheese 

-washed-rind cheese 

-uncooked pressed cheese 

-cooked pressed cheese 

-blue cheese 

-goat cheese 

-processed cheese 

-stretched curd cheese 

-whey cheese 

Among the cheese recipes, there are recipes for fondue and raclette. These two dishes are quickly eaten and require lengthy preparation time. If you want to make these dishes from scratch, the recipes are well written but require patience. 

The recipes I prefer are veal cordon bleu (pan-fried veal with ham and melted cheese), tartiflette (made with potatoes, bacon, onions, and cheese), and a dessert crisp made with Beaufort cheese, pears, and ginger. People interested in the following careers might find 

The Complete Book of Cheese useful:  

-sommelier 

-server 

-bartender 

-elite grocery store worker 

-chef 

-caterer 

-health inspector 

General readers might enjoy the great introduction to the world of cheese in The Complete Book of Cheese by Anne-Laure Pham and Mathieu Plantive. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

78th Cannes Film Festival starts today reposted by Ruth Paget

Click on the link below for information about films being shown at the 78th Cannes Film Festival and news releases:

Cannes Film Festival Media Page

Make a Salade Nicoise to eat while reading each day’s updates!

Salade Nicoise ideas:

Salade Nicoise Recipe Ideas

A goat cheese and dandelion greens salad would also go well with red carpet viewing;

Goat Cheese and Dandelion Greens Recipe Idea's

Salmon Salade Nicoise Ideas

Salmon Salade Nicoise Ideas

Happy Film Watching!

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget’s Books

French Mustard Chicken Video by Florence Paget posted by Ruth Paget

Florence Paget made her first food video featuring French mustard chicken (poulet a la moutarde).  

This is a delicious recipe.  The hardest part of making it is browning the chicken.

Mustard has several health benefits according to WebMD:

Mustard Health Benefits

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Visiting Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina by Ruth Paget

Visiting Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina by Ruth Paget 

The first time I visited Asheville, North Carolina was with my mom. She was driving me home from my childhood vacationland – Murrells Inlet, South Carolina (outside Myrtle Beach) – where I had stayed with my sister. 

Mom drove her black Thunderbird, which I thought looked like a movie-star Mercedes, back to Detroit (Michigan) up and around the Appalachian Mountains. The ride is thrilling since a lot of the freeway sits on stilts around the mountains with treetops below. 

We listened to country music on the radio. The only other choice at the time was gospel. We stopped to visit “an American castle” when Biltmore Estate surged into view. 

Biltmore looks like a French Loire Valley château notably the fairy tale Ussé château but on a grander scale like Chambord château further down the Loire River. I was so happy they had room on the guided tour for us despite not reserving ahead of time. 

I think I was in the fourth grade at the time and vaguely remember that the guide said the Vanderbilts made their fortune in transportation (railroads and shipping) in the 19th century. I was impressed that the Biltmore Estate had 100 bedrooms each with their own bathroom. 

I asked if each room had a telephone when I saw what looked like a manual dial phone by the door of each room. “Some rooms have telephones, but that is an intercom. If a family member or guest needs something, they call the butler on that intercom. The butler decides if what someone requests is a job for him or the head of housekeeping,” the guide explained. Modern hotels still function like this when you make calls to guest services to request something. 

My next question was, “Do you have a hotel here?” 

My mother intervened at this point, “We have to go home, so I can work Monday.” 

I was disappointed, but understood. The tour guide mentioned at the end of the tour that the Vanderbilts had a university nearby, if we wanted to visit that, too. 

Back in the black Thuderbird on the way to Detroit, my mom drove around Vanderbilt University to check out the campus. I thought the campus was pretty, but even as a child I liked cities. (Detroit was fun.) 

I thought about Biltmore a lot in high school. I had two pairs of favorite jeans by Gloria Vanderbilt with swans on the label next to her name that I wore to be cooler than the Calvin Klein wearers. We had anorexia wars to see who could be thinner in their straight leg jeans. 

On some more recent visits to Asheville, my husband Laurent and I toured the University of North Carolina – Asheville campus and bought a 501 German Verbs book at the university bookstore to do some verb conjugating as a souvenir of living in Stuttgart, Germany. 

The Biltmore Estate now has become a tourism magnet for Asheville, North Carolina offering an outdoor concert series, garden tours, exhibits for families like the current one on Tutankhamun, biking trails, wine tastings, and a hotel with a spa no doubt. 

I like it that this American castle can be maintained by offering services to the public that allow everyone a chance to be a prince or princess for the day. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Salade Niçoise with the Works at La Parisienne Restaurant in Aiken, South Carolina by Ruth Paget

Salade Niçoise with the Works at La Parisienne Restaurant in Aiken, South Carolina by Ruth Paget 

After a morning of touring the Savannah River Site Museum where my husband Laurent and I learned about the physics and chemistry used in running a nuclear power plant, we set out for the La Parisienne Restaurant and Bakery located just off Chesterfield Street in downtown Aiken, South Carolina. 

The day was warm already in the 70s in January in Aiken. I ordered one of my favorite French lunches – a salade Niçoise, which comes with the works at La Parisienne. 

When Laurent and I lived in Stuttgart (Germany0, I made salade Niçoise every week to help fight colds. My easy version of the salad has tuna on top of a mound of baby greens. I place rinsed, canned green beans around the sides of the lettuce along with a few anchovies. 

On the bottom of the salad mound, I alternate boiled egg halves, tomato quarters, and large Greek Kalamata olives. We used Paul Newman vinaigrette most of the time in Germany. 

My salade Niçoise is good for everday, but La Parisienne’s version is really tops with all the garden fresh ingredients they use. La Parisienne places a generous helping of dandelion greens in the bottom of a large salad bowl as the foundation of their salade Niçoise. 

On top of the dandelions greens, they place the following ingredients:  

-flaked tuna -boiled potato halves 

-sliced small peppers of various colors 

-sliced red onions 

-sliced boiled eggs 

-small Niçoise black olives 

-sliced tomatoes 

-sliced radishes 

-thin green beans 

The small and thin vegetables are supposed to offer concentrated and distinct flavors, which is true of the layered flavors in the salade Niçoise at La Parisienne. It tasted great on a warm and humid day. 

The vinaigrette especially made the salad taste good. It was made with white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and sunflower oil. That flavor combination always reminds me of eating in the countryside in France. 

The salade Niçoise at La Parisienne Restaurant and Bakery in Aiken, South Carolina filled me up, but dessert lovers might like a piece of the lattice crusted pies that remind me of linzertortes from Linz, Austria. 

Travelers will be well rewarded with a stop for lunch or dinner at La Parisienne in Aiken, South Carolina. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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