A Baker's Feast Day

As mentioned in my previous post on le printemps, May 16 is a worthy day to mark on your calendar if you have a sweet tooth like moi. Happy St. Honoré's day! This feast day celebrated by bakers in France is THE moment to forget your diet, your curbing of sweet cravings and head your way to baker's heaven in a boulangerie/ patisserie.

the famous pâtisserie in different flavors: pistachio and chocolate

pink strawberry madness!

 A reason to stop by ave Daumesnil & no, it's not
 because I'm promoting a former neighbor!

In France, I noticed that more importance is put on feast day of saints. Daily, a saint is honored, to the extent that some frenchies bearing the same namesake also claim it as their day of celebration! My husband's friend treated us to apero during his "namesake day" or saint's feast day, Wladimir, and his guests were actually wishing him "bonne fête!". Also,  in most calendars made and sold here, each day states its corresponding patron saint. A tip for future parents, if you're in the process of researching for baby names, although very french, it's a good source!

Alleluia, praise St. Honore!

Merci beaucoup St. Honoré, à la prochaine fois (until next time!).

Hello Sweet Spring!

Welcome spring! Bienvenue le printemps!

It's been a while since I have seen people wearing T-shirts, shorts and tongs (slippers) and yesterday was the perfect day for them.

Something else went perfectly well on this day of spring, pâtisserie (pastry)!

                                                                  St. Honoré

As it looks, this creamy, sweet dessert is only for the decadent! The french would term this overindulgent desire for food as la gourmandise! Love it.

It's composed of rings of choux stuffed with cream, the same pastry dough and stuffing used for éclair and the base is a Pâte feuilletée (a multi-layered buttery and flaky pastry). The caramel coating on the cream puff rings give it a delightful crunch making its over-the-top sweetness forgivable!

St. Honoré is named after the patron saint des boulangers et des pâtissiers (bakers and pastry chefs) and May 16, the day of his passing, is celebrated as his feast day. Last year during this day, there was a spread of booths in front of Notre Dame selling all types of bread and pastries made on the spot. They were also doing baking demos for the public.

Mango Coco fit for spring

Another trivia to share: several french pastries have religious namesakes. Aside from St. Honoré, there is the religeuse, sacristain, and jésuite. Now if only you could feel "holier" after gorging them down your throat. Oh holy gluttony, I will never resist your temptation!

My Friendly Boulangerie

I live right next to a bakery, as in directly adjacent, sharing-walls-kind of close. And as I type this, I am hearing dough-pounding noises starting as early as 6am, 5 days a week, but for some insane reason, I am totally unbothered. I find it amusingly....French. There could be people like my husband, extremely noise-sensitive (seems like most French are) who will file a complaint--he really did--but as for myself, I ask: where else could I wake up to the smell of butter or see from my window a long queue of morning customers itching for their sweet pastries or baguette for the day? Only in a place called France. I could be wrong but who cares, I am happy to have this bakery next to me, as my friendly, noisy neighbour.