Lettuce Planting for Dummies

This is one of a series of posts to get you in the mood to garden. Short of serving your guests stuffed rhubarb leaves with a castor bean stew, growing your own food is easy and fun and not too hard if you don't over think it.

So many cute lettuces to choose from these days. 

There have been spring showers galore in Seattle, but we’re now in a pretty stable weather pattern of the slow and long Spring.  We’re likely to get more rain, but the ground has warmed up sufficiently to start planting all of the things we’ve been buying at the grocery store and letting disintegrate in our produce crispers.

I’m talking to you lettuce.

Lettuce is one of the easiest things in the world to grow and honestly, is one of the most satisfying to harvest.  There is nothing more gratifying (smugger) than serving a salad that you picked yourself from your back garden beds. There are a million varieties out there for the small garden and ones that are way more interesting than the run of the mill iceberg, romaine or loose leaf we see at the grocery store. Lettuce requires a little warmth, not a lot of space and minimal soil prep.

If you have about a two by three foot area, you can grow lettuce from now until mid July.  First, prep the soil by removing all the overgrown weeds and tags from last year’s plantings.  With a trowel, loosen the soil to about 3 inches and to lightly aerate it.  Next smooth it out again and let it settle for a few hours if you have the time.   If you don’t have such a big area, scale down what I’m about to tell you. If you don’t have a bed prepped – go buy a 2 cubic yard bag of planting mix and use that bag as your new raised bed.

If you have purchased some lettuce seedlings at the grocery store or nursery, good on you.  Starts are a great way to get your garden going. Just make sure to separate out each plant if they are planted in a mass by teasing them gently from each other and plant them into individual holes. I try and space them about six inches apart on a grid if possible so that they have a little room to grow and can crowd out any weeds. Try to be careful not to destroy the root structure when you pull them apart and make sure that the roots and the base of the lettuce plant are covered with soil. 

We've resorted to growing lettuce in gutters around here. It works, mostly.

At the same time you should sow some seeds to keep that lettuce train going into the summer.  I usually plant one or two short rows nearby the grid of lettuce seedlings.  Lettuce seeds are pretty narrow and long, so I create a ½” furrow to drop in the seeds and then cover them over gently with some soil to keep the seeds from being exposed.  Under the right conditions, the seeds should germinate within 10 days.  From these rows you can directly thin your lettuces by either transplanting some of the seedlings to another place or put them into a salad. 

Baby lettuces are great mixed with other things  such as baby kale and herbs

About ten days later, I do another sowing, either in rows or I broadcast the seeds (lazy gardeners FTW) in a small (1x1 ft) square to use a nursery area.  These seedlings can go into the spaces where we’ve harvested the first seedlings we bought to encourage us to keep going.  The trick is to keep sowing to stagger the harvest.  There is only so much lettuce that one family can eat in a day.

As the season continues, you might find that your lettuce has bolted and turned bitter.  This is the time to pull most of it up and calls for a lettuce holiday.  In this case, I encourage you to let a few heads go to seed because they are both pretty and the seeds germinate the following season giving you a new crop of free seedlings and start eating all those beans and chard that has taken off.

You can start the lettuce train again in early September when things cool down a little bit, the days are getting shorter, but if you pick a lettuce variety with a short harvest time, you’ll be golden.

Here are a few of my favorites –

Ruby Gem - nice compact romaine 

Ruby and Emerald Duet 

Bon Vivant Mix 

Sunday Musings - on Travel

A photo posted by Nazila (@nazilam) on Nov 10, 2014 at 8:38am PST

My friend Joan just posted to Facebook a great article from the NY Times on what makes a good travel companion - you can read it here.

I met Joan by posting on Flyertalk in 2000 (remember that far back?). I had posted that we were visiting Paris for a day and would like to meet up with anyone who wished to go exploring with us. Joan took a morning train from Brussels and we spent a delightful day wandering, eating and marketing.  From that trip a million miles ago, we've traveled to Paris again, London, Japan as well as the US. We talk about doing some more traveling soon. What made our trips work is that we have many of the same interests (quirky museums, eating, markets and fine hotel lounges), we have similar schedules and stamina for long days of walking and know when to give each other space.  We're also pretty good planners and communicators and this helps tremendously.  Joan is also the only person in the world who could get me to eat sweetbreads and I sort of liked them.

The past July, I took another short break with my friend Elaine to Paris. We had seen each other off and on over the years when she lived in London, but had never traveled together.  Again, we had a great trip because we had the same interests (sight seeing, shopping and eating), similar levels of energy and stamina and were mature enough to enjoy our own company.  I would repeat the trip again in a heartbeat.

Trips together don't require flying on the same flights or the same day, but they require some discussion prior to leaving to figure out logistics such as reservations at hard to get into restaurants and booking that burro ride down to the bottom of the gorge in 100 degree heat.  They also require a little flexibility, which can get harder as we get less flexible in our bodies and minds.

Where to go next?

Saturday wrap up

Grand Central detail 

2600 miles flown

Many rows of needlepoint completed

Awesome catch up with a friend

Great food at Craftbar 

And a high of 78 tomorrow 

May Day

A photo posted by Nazila (@nazilam) on Apr 29, 2015 at 8:12pm PDT

I'm not calling for reinforcements -  but I am making my May goal public. I would like to blog every day this month, no matter where I am and when.  I like those gold stars that mark my calendar for completing tasks.

Last month my goal was to record everything I ate - that was interesting. I learned I love sugar and early in the day and late at night. I don't eat enough vegetables and that I walk a lot and get plenty of exercise.

All these goals start to snowball in a good way - I track my food, I try and exercise daily and I need and want to write about all sorts of things.

Happy May.

What are you goals for the month?

Needlepoint Mania

Peanut is nearly done and I'm starting something new #theyearthatis2015 #2015yip #091/365 #needlepointmania2015 cc: @rittenhouseneedlepoint

A photo posted by Nazila (@nazilam) on Apr 2, 2015 at 5:32pm PDT

I have not really mentioned my new obsession here, but my friends and family have seen me stitch up a storm. I'm not making my own clothes, but I have gone back to needlepointing.  Needlepointing is something I did in high school. I wasn't very good, nor did I really finish any one project, but my mom was happy that I picked up a "domestic art" that I could do pretty much anywhere.

Fast forward a few decades later and I have nearly completed one of my high school projects - a needlepoint pillow sampler in a lovely pale pink. I've also finished two other tapestries and am now struggling loving my new project which uses a 18 mesh canvas and cotton thread.

The truth is that the more I needlepoint, the less I look at my phone. I also seem to be eating less because you can't really eat or drink with a canvas in your lap. I like the fact that for the most part, I'm working on portable projects and that they are good conversation starters.  

It is great for me because TH is also doing some needlepoint, so she's okay with me dragging her to needlepoint stores wherever we travel. 

My favorite thing to make - pillows.  I estimate that I'll have completed six of holiday accent pillows. I can't believe I've become that person.

Step by step, goal by goal

Sproingadelic Sakura Laurelhurst style #theyearthatis2015 #2015yip #090/365 #seattle #98105 #hashtagabuse

A photo posted by Nazila (@nazilam) on Apr 1, 2015 at 1:59pm PD

Happy April.

I have set goals the last two months and will continue to do the same for this month. I'm not into setting huge goals but little ones that build upon each other.

February I focused on tracking my sleep using my fitbit. I continue to do the same thing in March and hopefully for ever. In March, I tracked (for the most part) what I spent money on and it was very interesting. I've been super lucky to never have to budget and given my current job situation, I thought it might not be a bad idea to consider trying it and seeing where it takes me.

This month I'm focusing on writing daily and trying to capture what I eat in some sort of written form. I'm also adding some new stuff to my work out mix including swimming and barre. I thought about running, but that will have to wait until I can find a good sports bra.

My other goal is to start using the new Story Corps app to get my parents talking about their life in Iran and what it was like for them when they first came to the US. Whenever my mom tells the tale, I start crying and I want my niece and nephew to realize what their GaGa and GrandPa did to make a better life their kids.

I started this project a while ago, but am excited that there is an easier way to do this now.

Marching On

Yay.  February is over. 

I hate February. This year has been especially trying from a trying to keep myself up and happy point of view, but I made it.

The sun and early (very) spring has been a great help. 

What does all of this early spring mean for the late spring and summer? As a gardener, I'm delighted and scared that the summer will be long and dry. I'm scrambling to figure out what to plant and how to mitigate for any long dry spells.  I'm also using some of my newly acquired spare time to work in the garden to clear away debris, mulch like heck, decimate weeds and pull out the things that I do not love in the garden.

While I can't control the weather, I can control to some extent what I cultivate and want to make it the best year we've had in a while. 

I've been reading a lot about organization, decluttering and productivity and trying to apply some of these principles to my life at home, but also to the garden and how I approach this craft.  

My biggest concern is not getting so in the weeds (HA), that I lose the big picture view of what the garden means and how it functions.

More on this later.

March is moving forward - this is my favorite month of the year - it is our New Year and that makes me happy.

Happy happy

How to not be a wall flower

I listen to the radio in the car when running errands, this is not helping me to get through my goal of listening to my whole iTunes collection sometime this year.  I think I have something like 35 days of music.

I typically listen to the local NPR station and was fortunate enough to get to  listen in on the Gardening Panel a few years ago.  The subject of hellebores came up and how to grow them. I have to admit, I listened closely.  At one time in my life, the hellebore was my holy grail plant. I thought only expert gardeners could grow them, they were mysterious and so gorgeous.  They are one of the first things to bloom in the early winter garden and if you are lucky, their gorgeous seed pods will see you through until June.  They are both delicate and hard as nails depending on the kind you have growing in your garden.  Some of the more fleshy varieties, such as the Corsican hellebore  (Helleborus argutifolius) look down right alien depending on the size and placement in the garden.  I suppose it is partially due to the climate in Corsica and CAM metabolism, but let's not go down the plant photorespiration cycles of my misspent youth.  

The more delicate forms (Hellebore niger) Christmas Rose and these are the kind I and many other gardeners cherish.  They flower stalks pop up in early January (or earlier) and wow you with amazing displays of flowers ranging from clear whites to dark purples with all sorts of strange crossings that occur. They emerge right when we are starting to lose hope that anything will emerge from our damp soil.  These hellebores are not difficult to grow, just find a few smallish plants you like at your local plant sale, put them in the ground in a location with partial shade and remember to water while they get established. 

Here's the thing about hellebores - they older varieties of Hellebore niger are really really shy plants -with flower stalks full of gorgeous flowers that spend most of their lives looking down at their feet.  In order to take in their beauty, you have to lift up their chins and give them a good look.   They remind me of someone who just can't seem to get it together and summon the courage to say "HELLLLLOOOO WORLD" look at/to me."

It takes an persistent person to keep lifting up these flowers to see their beauty and qualities.  The other option is to cut the flowers off and float them in a dish of water to get a good look.  In both cases, you see all the beauty, variation and details of the hellebore.

The newer hybrids that are being bred for their lovely flowers that tilt upwards to reach the sky or look you right in the eye. Pow. There is nothing shy about these beauties.  While the ones I have seen seem to lack some of the delicate grace of the Hellebore Niger, they still are lookers that last for months. 

I realize that there is something  aloof about not showing off your colors, spots or petal count.  I wonder if this is such a good way to go on the world - remaining quiet and retiring and letting others capture the glory, the spotlight, the credit, when you may have spots, color or some other feature that deserves attention. 

It might not be such a bad idea to start breeding in new habits into your life.

Sunday

My wicked cold remains wicked, but at least it is now just in my nose. I'm not sure that is good or bad. I am going to offer my seat opponent a nice chocolate bar and some hand sanitizer for having to sit next to me for eight hours. I'm also going in search of a nice sinus pressure reliever for my flight. That should be fun!

Friends, wash your hands religiously, drink lots of fluids, get lots of sleep and never don't touch your eyes with your fingers, especially after taking public transport. I have managed to stay healthy more months if not nearly a year by doing these things,  but something out there caught me off guard this time and I'm going to fight to keep myself well for the rest of the year.

Sunday, you were awesome, what I saw of you after I stayed in bed until the last possible moment before my check out time.

Saturday

I ate a lot of lemon cake today 

I read a lot. 

Slurped noodles and did nothing. 

I highly recommend it. 

Buy this now - the St. Valentine's Day edition

You could always just buy your true love some bubble wrap to keep the plants warm and toasty, Chelsea Physic Garden, 2015.

I'm not much for St. Valentine's Day as it is gushed and shoved down our throats by my kindred marketers.  I hate watching desperate people flocking to the candy store or into lingerie stores looking for a little something at the last minute. St. Valentine's day is a foreign concept in Iran, but one my mom worked hard to integrate into our childhood.  I loved getting little presents from her - little notes or new pjs.

I was not a terribly popular kid growing up and didn't get tons of cards or had sweethearts in my youth who cared about such things, as a result my feelings about the holiday soured until I met TH. She was skeptical about the holiday as well. Over time we both warmed up to the holiday. For the past twenty plus years,  we've enjoyed some nice dinners, bought flowers or plants near the day and exchanged some lovely mementos that we both still use.

I think on our first Valentine's day she gave me a flat bladed shovel.  Romantic? To me, yes. Practical? Hell yes. I still have that shovel and use it often.

As I walk around the gardens of the Shires, I wonder what I would get a gardener to celebrate the holiday - something that would last and be special. I have spent a little time today listing a few of these. It may be too late to order some of these things for delivery next week, but the gardening season is coming up and lasts a while, so I'm sure they will still be appreciated.

Here's my favorite wash basket that we use for carrying seedlings, shears, and seeds to the garden and fill up with produce on the way back. It is sturdy, gorgeous and goes well with your wellies.

I can't live without my Felcos.  I have to change out the blade occasionally, but these size 6 right handed pruners are by my side or in my skort all summer long.

I cannot get enough of seeds from  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, especially these chicories or these Renee's garden sweet peas.

I do wear gloves when I garden and these are the best I've found. They go right into the wash and hang dry. Do yourself a favor and buy two pairs.

If you love a good garden book with some awesome recipes, I highly recommend finding a used copy of this great book by Christopher Lloyd.

If you want to read about an amazing story of gardening and family, pre-order my friend Tara's book The Orchard House and go to her Seattle reading.

That garden spade - it is still worth a million boxes of truffles.

Go out, get dirty and then get romantic.

Snowdrop Mania

I'm in London for the next few days partially to clear my head, but really to see the snowdrops that are popping up all over gardens in the UK.  I love snowdrops. I have a few different varieties in my garden, but nothing like the crazy number that are cultivated here.

I wish I could take them home, but I can't.

They are some amazing beauties.

Follow me on instagram to see my latest pictures.  Today I visited the Chelsea Physic Garden and got to talk around with the head gardener to hear what he liked to see in the winter garden.  Some of his choices were amazing and gave me some great ideas. He also hit upon something that I have queued up and ready to go for next week - the new hellebores.

Tomorrow, I'm going North to Cambridgeshire to visit Anglesey Abbey and their gardens. I'm really excited also because I haven't been to Cambridge in a really long time.

Saturday, I'm off to Welford Park in Berkshire to see their collection. It is a little crazy to get places like these houses and gardens without a car, but I'm going to give it a go.  It was gorgeous and a little chilly today. I believe Saturday is going to be much the same.

I am debating if I want to add two hours to my visit.  The thing is that even with a tea room, I'm going to be freezing and a little bored. The buses are conspiring against me in this case. If I feel like I was shorted, I'll just come back next year with TH.  Every place I go I wish she was here.

Ack, it is nearly midnight here. Time to hit the hay.

So.Many.Snowdrops.So.Little.Time.

I would share the photos, but they are taking their sweet time to upload, so I'll add them later.

nm

Two letters, one sentence.

I really meant to write this post on January 2, but then I got busy with AMS and soon the job thing followed.  I didn’t get a chance to share with you what I believed then and still believe is my “Focus” word for 2015.

That word is NO.

One of my childhood friends stated recently that No is a complete sentence in two letters.

Saying No means that I will not overcommit and under deliver which disappoints both of us.

Saying No means that you have more time in your life for the Yeses that are important and usually come after someone hears you say No.

Saying No does not mean that I’m being selfish with my time, nor being a slacker and pulling my weight.  This year it means I am being more thoughtful about the choices I make, the projects I’m willing to take on and the people I’m going to spend time with in 2015.  To me, by saying No I’m going to do the best that that I can and give what I can give.

I wish I could say it was a more cheerful word like embrace, joy, smile or what what, but it is what it is.

I say yes to that.

Anticipation

Snowdrop mania starts tomorrow 

The brighter side

I get to spend my days with Ernest. 

A month late

The last month has been a bit of a trial.  I'm still working through it. I'm happy to say I'm healthy as a horse and my family is fine.

My job, however, is not.

I knew working at a startup was going to be risky, but I was willing to take that risk.

I'm happy to take it again.

I learned so much and I can give so much. I just need to figure out the best way to approach my next opportunity.

More later.

I'm challenging myself to write everyday this month. I missed it last month.

nm

The day

Has been long and so much to process!

I'm in Phoenix, away from my home, but blessedly with TH and my friends.

I'm happy to be part of this amazing community of climate scientists, meteorologist,  and some of the smartest people in the room.

2015

The first thing I baked in 2015 was sweet and fresh. I am hopeful that this year will be much the same. 

Winter's Light

Ernest basset does Rudolph. 

Does a week's absence from writing makes the heart grow fonder? I know I missed writing, did you miss reading?

I'm still battling a cold I picked up somewhere over the Atlantic. I'm very glad it is nearly over. For the first time in a long time, I decided to forgo all social activities and lay low. It's amazing how that helps.

I missed the longest night. I missed decorating many cookies. I missed shopping.

I'm not sure how much I missed shopping.

I hate the frenzy of shopping that happens this time of year.

The panic that sets in because you think you need to pick up a present for someone.  I used to be a person who was completely afraid of offending someone by not buying an extravagant gift or forgetting every possible permutation of relative or distant friend I might run into during the festive period.

I have long given up on such things and I hope as we all get older and hopefully wiser, this is happening to you as well.

Panic, anxiety and guilt are things we don't need to box up and present to others or put ourselves through this time of year.

I'm trying to relax, breathe, not jump to conclusions and stop being my own worst critic when it comes to holiday cheer.

Perhaps being in a good mood and being present is the best thing you can give to anyone this year.

Sunday Wrap Up

Penguins - all of them are mine. Patrick Roger, St. Suplice, Paris, Dec. 2014.

Discovering the joy of chocolate shavings on buttered toast made with Pain Polaine
Not seeing the top of Tour Montparnasse due to heavy fog
Seeing the Christmas decorations in all the shops without shopping
Stocking up on punitons and salt (that I guess is shopping)
Watching a movie in English with French Subtitles
Being happy to go home because I get to return soon

Happy Friday

Went Paddington hunting -- 

and was marginally successful. 

I highly recommend it.

Wordless Wednesday

Too tired to even type.

Musee de l'art modern, Paris July 2014.

I'm off to London tonight.  Wish me luck.

Patience and the Parking Place

Sometimes all I need to do is stand where I am to be blessed. - WORD. May 2014. 

This time of year is a test of my patience and I'm sure yours.

Lines are long, people are desperate to get things right, expectations can be high because the holidays are supposed to be perfect. Right?

I can do without all that. I am impatient and I like to get things crossed off my list.  Mainly, I just want you to finish your shopping, go to the car, drop it off, take your shopping cart back, get back into your car, start the engine and drive to your next destination. It is that simple - shop, load, return, leave.

It just doesn't happen like that any more.  Now we do our shopping usually while taking a phone call, pay for our groceries without interacting with the clerks or cashiers,  dump our stuff in our car, get in our cars and .... JUST SIT THERE checking our mail, tweets, stocks and snap chats until we're happily caught up with the world that we just interacted with 10 minutes ago.

There are others who need that parking place.

There are other shoppers who would love to move freely around the store without you blocking the aisles talking about what you are having for dinner.

I have now given up any hopes of getting a parking place by stalking a driver with bags going to their cars. I figure I'll just earn a few more fitbit steps by parking further in an already vacant stall and save myself the aggravation of watching your fiddle in the blue glow of your screen.

I'm not immune to this either, but watching others has made me so much more self aware.

You can either let it go or be like me and just go further.

Top Ten gifts for your dog - From Ernest

Ernest basset esq. and his chicken. 

E is guest blogging today - He dictates and I type.

We are pet crazy here in the USA. Annually,we spend over $500 per household on our pets. I think in Seattle we're especially fond of dogs and my devotion to Ernest the puppy is pretty evident in the number of toys I seem to be tripping over in the middle of the night.

Every year, E gets a stocking full of treats, a squeaky and a small check that goes towards his college fund from my parents.  He has a stocking at home as well and it is always fun to fill it.  There are lots of cool things out there for dogs these days beyond the Nylabone and Chuckit toy to outfit your dog for the year.

Without further ado, I present Ernest's Holiday gift list for your well-appointed hound of a certain age.

1. Bassets get cold in the winter - here's my favorite lounging around the house outfit  - The Teckelklub Fuzzie, its way nicer than your Snuggie. 

2. If you are going to force me to go out in rain, I might as well stay dry with this cool Ruffwear Jacket.   

3. I love a good bed including yours, but you snore.  This bed is as comfortable and the cover comes off for you to throw in the wash - Memory Foam dog bed.

4.  Thanks for keeping me itch free  by bathing me with this awesome shampoo.

5. And safe with a  Buka-lite collar that lights up for those dark mornings and evenings. 

6. Now you are making me eat kale too? Kale treats from our friends at Wet Noses. 

7. 30 minutes of day of lap/cuddle time without you staring at your phone/tablet, its better this way.

8.  Walk me somewhere I can meet and greet other people and get treats and you can get some exercise.

9.  Take me the groomers on a regular basis to get my nails clipped so I can stop clicking on the floor and wake you up. I promise not to bite them.

10.  Donate a bag of dog food to other puppies who are not as fortunate as me - Mudbay taking in collections for 32 different organizations right now.

Happy Howlidays.

Ernest basset esq.

Sunday wrap up

Garden clean up is both a drag and very rewarding at the same time, January 2014.

300 bulbs planted
many presents wrapped
3 pounds of maple walnuts made
two dogs walked
one baby feted
zero naps taken

It is going to be a long short week.

Buy this now - The travel edition

Fortnum's opened at St. Pancras last year. That isn't such a bad place to shop, is it. 

What I loved about being in Bruges over Thanksgiving Weekend was the lack of frenzied shopping that starts here at  4 pm on Thanksgiving day and goes until 6 pm on Christmas Eve. While the Christmas decorations were up at the Galleries Lafayette on November 10th, Bruges and Brussels were a little calmer.

This year I am trying to stay away from the chain stores and buying from independent sellers where possible. I scour Etsy for things I think TH would like, the kids get a zoo pass (no secret) and something else fun, my parents get their AAA membership (again, no secret).  

While looking around I found these gems.

Map your city and wear it proudly on a skirt. 

Thinking about upgrading your crossbody? 

Need a new dopp kit? 

This is a cool passport case with room for your loyalty cards. 

Bamboo is just not for pandas, iPads love it too. 

There is that Sarah Morris Longchamp tote you need and it folds up for travel. 

I hate carrying more that three beauty items per trip and this fits the bill. 

We are pretty (mostly) good about keeping a journal of our travels. 

If only I was 25 years old again and liked to take selfies, Quartz will give you the low down. I can't choose just one. 

Happy wrapping.

Beating Holiday Weight Gain

Guilty of enabling many with these wicked gingerbread snowmen.  Recipe likely never to be blogged but I probably should.

If you look on the Interwebs these days - there is a lot of content about holiday eating and weight gain. Some says to enjoy  the season by having another plate of little smokies and peppermint latte because there is a juice fast just around the corner. Others may list hacks to make those holiday treats less caloric and offer coping strategies for avoiding the buffet at the dreaded holiday party.  Both camps will provide sage advice, call on expert opinions and use a stock photo of someone in a sequined Santa hat.

This year I'm trying something different.

I'm upping my cardio gym time by 15 minutes every day between Thanksgiving and New Years to see if that can keep that dreaded Rumaki3 off my body.

If you go to the gym five days a week, another 15 minutes adds up to an extra work out per week. For me, It is not so much the calories burned, but that commitment to trying harder to keep things on an even keel means that I'm making an effort and it may affect my behavior outside the gym.

What do you think? Would you wrench yourself away from a warm bed or the Good Wife for an extra 15 minutes a day if it meant you could maintain your weight throughout the festive period? If not, what do you do?

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas

Chestnuts roasting on a 22" monitor.

I love this so much.  What a nice way to brighten up your work day - with a roaring fire, some Frank Sinatra and a ton of code reviews. 

Happy Humpday.

The Sweetest Thing - Marquis de Ladurée Chocolate Workshop in Paris

Up Avenue de l'Opera is Foucher.  They do pate aux fruits right. 

A lot of people wax poetically about the pastries and cakes that they find in the bakeries and tea salons in Paris. Me, I'm all about the confectionery. I'd much rather look at caramels, those weird marzipan fruit, the fruit pastes in exotic flavors and the boxes and displays of fine chocolates.

The French love their chocolates and elevate them to a form that I have never seen before. One day a few years ago, I was walking by an abandoned storefront on the rue de Castiglione and noticed that something new was going in. Was it going to be a perfume store? Another designer handbag store? I noticed display cases and the furnishings were so ornate - it looked familiar and yet, so fancy. 

Interior shot taken by me does the store no justice, you have to go see it yourself.

Ladurée, the brand best known for lovely teas, pastries, beauty supplies and the macaron had decided to open a chocolate shop near the Tuileries. Suffice it to say, I was happy to return a few short months later to see it open and full of chocolates with little else, even the pastries were chocolate - chocolate croissants with gold foil, pain au chocolat with chocolate pastry and some of the prettiest boxes of pralines I had laid eyes on. In the back of the store I noticed a few people standing around a big table whisking away at cake batter. They were learning how to make some sort of amazing chocolate tart and I was determined to join them.

Lately, I've been seeking out cooking classes when I travel.  I have had the grand luck of having some amazing instructors and learned some great things. My experience at the Marquis de in Ladurée was in the same league.  I learned a ton about making confections and about myself.

Let's talk about the class.  The website is hard to navigate and although they tell you there are workshops held every Thursday night and Saturday morning, they don't necessarily tell you what you might be doing. It took three web browsers and two laptops to get the pdf version of the schedule to come up for me.

Bonus. Lots of lovely pastries to have for le petit dejeuner. 

I emailed the store and started corresponding Jonathan who coordinates the workshops for the store. I paid my 84 Euros (105 dollars and change) and set my alarm for early.  I wore comfortable clothes and shoes for class and enjoyed the short walk from my hotel to the workshop.  I arrived around 850, and was one of the last to arrive.  We were offered coffee and chocolat chaud and chocolate pastries while waiting for the workshop to start.

Before we set off to work, Jonathan gave us a tour of the store (en francais), but he did some translating for me.  The store is all about chocolate - it has the usual delicious stuff such as a complete range of pralines, their flagship disks with the marquis embellishments in various flavors and chocolate bars that we all covet. They are Ladurée, so expect to see macarons, however the macarons are filled with chocolate ganache instead of your typical fruit and cream flavors and the pastries are all chocolate. It is truly amazing to behold.

Our gracious hosts.

Our instructor was name Aurora and she had been working as pastry chef for a few years. Before we started work, we were given clean aprons and asked to wash our hands. Each person had a station with a recipe, pen and water and tools we would need to complete our project - making chocolates.

This was not easy - skim coat the chocolate, mush in the paste, smooth it out and then skim coat chocolate on the top before cutting into "squares".

The workshop focused on making TH's favorite thing in the world - orange filled chocolates. These were almond paste mixed with orange rind and then dipped in chocolate.  We learned to prep the work surface, how to smoothly put down a layer of chocolate as a base (think skimcoating if you do such work), incorporate the almond with the orange to form a paste and to try and neatly and smoothly set this sticky concoction into a mold.

That took patience, something I lack.

And then we smoothed chocolate on the top, sort of like a crumb coating on a cake. After that dried, the paste was cut into small squares in anticipation of dipping them in chocolate.

They were more like trapezoid or parallelograms.

The thing about the squares was they weren't very square.

The great thing about chocolate, it hides a multitude of sins. It is like the faux-wrap dress of the food world.

Tempering chocolate requires a lot of work, time and elbow grease. Like most things, it needs a little pampering. You overheat it and it is crumbly and burnt and a drop of water will cause it to seize up. Tempering chocolate requires stirring a an even rhythm to keep the chocolate melted, not splashing it up sides so it creates seed for the chocolate to grab onto and solidify. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but it also took three times of reheating the chocolate in the microwave (!) to achieve that beautiful consistency with the lovely glossy sheen.

My final product.  My team loved them and so did TH.

We then dipped the marzipan squares in the tempered chocolate and garnished them with a piece of candied orange.  Those trapezoidal attempts at neat squares started to look much more like squared off chocolates.  The base helped shape the exterior and by the time we were done, things looked pretty fancy.

Ladurée provided us with lovely take out boxes much like the ones they use to package their own chocolates. We were also allowed to keep our leftover almond paste, which I carefully carried home and hope to use soon. It was an amazing morning where I learned a little patience and a lot about chocolate.

The Chocolate Workshops at the Les Marquis de Ladurée are held Fall, Winter and Spring on Thursday nights and Saturdays in their gorgeous store at 14 Rue de Castiglione. If you arrive early I recommend having breakfast at the Castiglione around the corner on Rue St Honore or walk up to Eric Kayser on Rue Danielle Casanova for a quick bite but save room for a pain au chocolat and the chocolat chaud.

Many thanks to Jonathan and Aurora for leading this workshop and to my patient Parisian classmates. I had a blast.

One Month. Thirty Posts.

I need this. Just saying.

Dang that was fun and hard.

I loved it.

I really appreciate all the feedback.

I am not sure I can continue at the pace of NaBloPoMo. The days I was exhausted or sick, it was hard to get enough enthusiasm up to post. I was glad I could do it from my phone.

I have an editorial calendar at work, I need to do the same for this blog.

I promised a few recipes and didn't deliver. I have a bunch of ideas scribbled down and need to start writing and doing a little research.

During the month of November, I flew two Europe twice and went to California once. I am nearly done with travel for the year. I cannot wait to go and come home again. I see so much when I travel that I want to share - places, things I see and things that make me go hmm...

Thanks for sticking it out with me.