When the temperatures turn cooler, I crave sweets. That makes September a dangerous month for me.It has less to do with food, than it has to do with habit and fantasy. Some of my best childhood memories revolve around after-school snacks. I'd come home from school to find my mother outdoors, raking leaves or preparing her flower beds for cold weather and I'd drop my books and enjoy the brief moments of weekday freedom, by playing in the leaf piles or just hanging out. I'd work up an appetite.
"Let's go inside for cookies," my mother would say, and then we would linger in the sunny kitchen while I gave her the day's news, a glass of milk in hand.
In college, meeting friends for a late-afternoon coffee and pastry was a fall ritual. We gossiped, we commiserated, we dreamed over steaming cups and something sticky. I did not need a companion to enjoy this little ceremony. Often, walking home from class alone, I'd stop for something, a brioche, a muffin - anything that in some small way recreated those childhood moments. And then I'd walk home with a sense of anticipation.
I liked the idea of stopping off at a bakery. It was something my sweet-loving family always did, and I continued it, less for the taste of something suguary and more for the tradition. The notion. Just doing it added something to my day, to my life.
"We stopped for cinnamon buns" (or eclairs or coffee cake) was something I liked. Food was and still is and important part of everything in life. And, I liked sitting in a bakery-cum-coffee shop in the late afternoon and watcning the passing parade of oddballs who populate downtown Madison and any other big city.
In Paris, I've spent a fair amount of time sitting on a bench in Rue St. Antoine in the Marais. The windows of this Paul bakery inevitably draws me. Such beauty! Imagine one of these with your coffee today.
What are your end-of-the work or school-day rituals?
28 comments:
Those look so good Mimi.
Not so much at the end of the day, but I call it my 3:00 ritual -- a cup of coffee, hot or iced depending on the season. A cookie, or some other carb. Sometimes grapes, or a piece of fruit. Preferably with a friend, in a cafe somewhere.
They were good, Julie!
Ah, Yes, Lydia, that is exactly it!
Ya know. This blog is gonna make me fat; but I love it just the same.
I've gained weight since I started blogging, Violette, but I try to stick of a mix of South Beach and Mediterranean diets to keep the weight down.
The nice thing about photos is they have no calories
The women in my family usually stop at 3 or 4pm and, together, have a cup of coffee with a bite of something sweet. I still do that even though I am far away from my mother and Aunts. I'll have a cup of espresso as a sort of "pick me up". Nice post :)
No sweets at the end of the day...I usually light a fragrant candle and pour a vin...like I'm about ready to do now.
missn ya
Maryann, I know that ritual well. My mother is from a family of sweet toothes and my father loved to bake. Which is why I shun carbs and fat today!
You are a smart cookie, CF. I have a three-day weekend coming up and I will pop over to your place!
I try not to crave a glass of wine too much when I get home...a good cheese and bread would be optimal if my waistline wasn't also optimal...thanks for the reminder of PAUL!
Chris, I have been craving wine when I get home lately. Usually, iced tea is fine with me.
You're making me miss those bakeries. I always loved stopping to pick up something fresh and delicious on the way home. I find most of my French in-laws and friends don't do much baking, much less than among the people I know who like to cook in the U.S. I guess it's easy to figure out why...
A bakery on every block, that's why. LOL. Laura, every time I saw an appealing bakery, I stopped. Must have driven by husband wild. I spied a few on Rue St. Dominique that looked interesting. But I was on the No. 69 bus headed into the Marais...
oh boy, I am missing something wonderful like the goodies in your beautiful photograph!That's one of my favorites bakeries! I coud eat sweets around the clock~especially aound 10;00am.Is there such a thing as a non-fat pastry?
Jann, if there were, I would feature the recipe here!
On my Mimi your writing always conjures up memories. You draw people in which is why your are such a gifted writer. THANK YOU!
End of the day ritual for me is all about TEA. Years ago when I was first married and renting a cottage on the water our neighbors were a an older couple. She was from Canada. I had tea with her often. It was such a ceramony. She'd warm the tea pot and dress it in a cozy serving it in fine REAL china cups on saucers. I do have just a cup and suacer in Spode
that I found at a shop during my travels. On occasion I'll resurrect it and have my tea in style or in other moods I'll sip it from an oversized mug. Tea Time for me is personal and alone time.
I vary the flavors as well to suit my mood and the day. I always, always brew my tea. No microwaves!
Different blends comfort me in different circumnstances. The only thing missing from my Tea Time is a window seat. I still have that on my list but I'll get there.
The Milkmaid
Tea is a very ritualistic thing, MM. I have my own tea rituals, usually involving green tea and lemon.
I don't have a ritual to share, but rather a story inspired by your Paris bench. In Manhattan, people take full advantage of every square inch of outdoor space. On the upper west side, Broadway becomes a boulevard around the 70s, with planter dividers. At the end of blocks, where streets cross Broadway, there are benches. On more than one occasion, I've sat there with a croissant and some orange juice watching New York swirl around me.
I love city benches, TerryB. I think you've given me an idea for another post. Got to mete those Paris posts out a bit more...
My after school treat would usually be an ice cream or candy - if I passed the shops on the way home that is.
If I went straight home it would be some of my mothers home-made cookies or cake with cordial or a home-made milk shake. I used to like spreading butter about an inch thick onto water crackers too ;)
As an adult I rarely snack, I stick to my 3 daily meals and at work have a morning tea scone (I suppose you could call morning tea a snack).
But its fun looking back and remembering running home to mom, the kitchen, and the after school nibbles.
I nevr bought snacks on my own, but I liked the idea of it because it was something people did in books and movies.
Yesterday, I had the most wonderful carrot cake. Oh my.
It's amazing to me how words can transport me instantly back to another time!
I'd drop by my Polish grandmother's house after school and she'd give me money to run to the corner bakery and purchase some Eclairs. Then we'd sit and chat, her in her limited English, me in my limited Polish. But what warm memories this just brought back for me.
As for now......I try to avoid the sweet in the afternoon, but that tradition must also have been left over with me....because EVERY afternoon (NO matter where I am) I must have my afternoon cup of coffee between 3 and 4:00. And of course, having it in Paris makes it that much more special.
When the weather is cooler in the evenings, I love being on our roof deck with my husband and a bottle of wine with dinner snacks!
Terri, yes, they taste especially good in Paris! Even juts plain coffee is better.
I crave something sweet nearly daily, but try to limit myself to 1-2 a week. But the idea is what I like.
Oh, Tanna, I like that idea. It sounds like you deck is very private, too. Our deck used to be terribly sunny, but we planted a lot of stuff around it a decade ago and now it is quite shady and private.
I love Paul bakeries! We don't have one in Rodez but enjoy them in big cities. Great olive bread.
Last school year, my end-of-the-work day ritual was having a glas (or two) of wine at home and collapsing in a heap. I hope to do better this year!
Betty, I am collapsing in a heap these days and drinking wine. I hope to do better, too!
Which bench on rue St. Antoine?
I'll be there next month...
Those Paul goodies look irresistable!
Our bench is more or less in front of St. Paul-St. Louis Church, Carol. We rested to the west of the church a few years back and to the east of it last May. Two years ago, it was a boulevard with a Wallace Fountain. But according to Richard Nahem of Eye Prefer Paris, the street is being "de-Hausmanized." So it is a bit narrower, with a bus lane, and a wider strip that is sort of a traffic island.
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