obsessed: macarons.

serious eats.

i went in search of the correct pronunciation of the french comestible "macaron," (sometimes spelled "macaroon").

is it pronounced like the coconutty cookie of US origin? i guessed not. serious eats was a helpful site as well as a few others.

heretofore, when i order them at the lovely provence breads in hillsboro village, i'll pronounce it "mac-uh-RAW(n)," with the "n" barely there and the "r" with a soft h sound added in.

for a non-french speaking american, it's as close as i'll get to saying it correctly.

but i'll be doggoned if i'm gonna call it a mac-a-ROON, y'all.

simply sweeter

making them at home, is simply not an option for me. i'm much too inept in the kitchen for such a complicated confection.

but if you are so inclined, simply sweeter seems to have it figured out.

salt and serenity.

salt and serenity, too. who are these people and how do they do it? it's a mystery to me.

no way i could pull these off.

but, the truth is, i really don't want to.

i like having my macarons and a nice cup of dancing goats blend coffee on the sidewalk patio at provence breads.

i just do.

the crack of the shell as you bite in, the chewy cookie, the light, refreshing filling.

mmmm ... worth every penny.

laduree

one day i'll visit laduree in Paris, the motherland of macarons.

provence breads.

but until then, i'll just visit my own little corner of provence in nashville and think happy french thoughts.

join me and my friends at provence breads in hillsboro village april 24 for lunch to benefit dine out for nashville.

à bientôt!

bits + pieces.

lovely weekend. went to the lake. dined on scrambled eggs and goat cheese. went to the food trucks. hijacked a dog named riley. how was your weekend?

#1-5 Gorgeous Long Hunter State Park.

#6-8 Elmington Park, where the food trucks come, including Dixie Belle's Cupcakes!

#9-11 Provence Breads and Cafe, feat. Dan the Barista Man and his fancy hot chocolate.

happy monday!

the advantages of books over e-readers.

when you drop a book, it doesn't crack. it never runs low on battery power or gets stolen, and your child doesn't constantly ask for it so he can play "angry birds."

books give you a reason to spend more time at the library ...

... and the last time i checked, digital downloads aren't usually free. just sayin.'

when you spill tea on a book, it's no big deal. no need to panic.

and books stand up well to cappuccino foam.

books look handsome lined on your bookshelves ...

and stacked on your nightstand.

and you don't have to power down a book when the airplane is taking off or landing. books are handy like that.

you could fall asleep hugging your e-reader, but it wouldn't be the same.

best of all, books look nothing like an office computer screen.

do you love books too? tell me why!

Bits of my weekend vol. 69.

oh, the lovely weather! it's fall.

we saw this sweet ride. candy apple red.

had a lovely breakfast ... and worked on my novel ...

and got a free chocolate mousse at provence breads!

loaded up on books from the libary.

the boy is starting to read! hurray!

we swung and spun.

and were blessed with an iveycake. (thanks, Chris!)

ours was a sweet weekend.

how was yours?

wednesday wuvlies: provence breads in hillsboro village

provence breads is my not-so-secret haven. i love to spend a quiet weekend morning reading and sipping dancing goats coffee or having a late breakfast of herb-goat-cheese-infused scrambled eggs, brioche with butter and creamy cheese grits. and don't get me started on the lavender macarons.

the back stairwell is flowering with rosemary and lavender, cool euro-scooters are always parked nearby, and even the neighborhood graffiti is completely civilized.

bits of my weekend, volume 49.

i had a lovely weekend.

a delicious mother's day breakfast at provence breads.

scramble eggs and cream cheese grits.

there was a giant mother's day card.

even flowers.

what could be better?

and to top it all off, the boy lost his first tooth!

and then another!

how was your weekend?

mommy is leaving. :(

after a week of organizing my life and making the move super smooth, and loving me like crazy, mommy's heading back to illinois to care for the ones who need her so much more.

here she is at provence breads and cafe. my favorite, favorite place.

we feasted on scrambled eggs and creamy grits (who knew you could get that at a european bakery?) and english breakfast tea and it was divine.

no matter how old we get, we always need our mamma. especially when she drops everything to help, love, encourage, and teach you to shop thrifty.

i love you mom.

secret valentine wish.

i love the linzer heart cookies from provence breads and cafe, and secretly am hoping to get some for valentine's day.

true story: this was the one thing i demanded to eat after having the boy via c-section.

those mean nurses make you wait two days to eat after surgery, and all i could do was dream about those sugar encrusted heart-shaped morsels squeezed together with raspberry jam.

i sent hubz and twinnie to get me a boxful, which I ate at around 2 in the morning in the hospital bed, as soon as the nurses gave the go ahead.

every time i eat them i think about my little boy -- my love -- coming into the world.

what is your favorite valentine treat?

bits of my weekend vol. 34

saturday morning we went to nashville's downtown public library for the anansi the spider puppet show.

the boy's buddy winston came along.

they immediately found about 50 books they wanted to check out.

the kids section is amazing.

other best friend ryan met us there and the three musketeers could barely contain their joy.

they love the story of anansi the trickster – there's something in the character they relate to, i guess.

the puppets were amazing and it was a terrific show.

a wonderful free event for kids (minus the $2.50 i spent on parking).

well, almost free.

i threw down $30 on various snacks at the fantastic provence breads.

what can i say? i couldn't leave without feeding them snacks.

oh, and i can't resist their coffee.

here's ryan's little bro jack.

what a cutie.

and here's the french fruit tart the boy enjoyed. and by enjoyed i mean he ate the fruit off the top.

sunday we went to loud church and the boy wanted to pose in his dinosaur tie. that's chip-chip, his hamster, he's holding.

here he is jumping for joy after a nice lunch at red robin.

later we had a fire drill due to a burst water pipe.

the boy does not like the screeching alarms.

other than that, we slept ...

watched football ... and cried over the bears ...

and the frogs danced.

how was your weekend?