Counting My (Food) Blessings

French berries

I never envisioned life as a retiree, because I never expected to retire.  I always thought I would just die on the job, like an old horse that drops over in its traces.  Fortunately, somewhere along the line, the light dawned.   So, with no plan or outline about how life should be, I am blazing a new path--for me. Part of that new path is shopping for and cooking with wonderful ingredients.

I have wanted to live in France ever since I was a teenager.  It took a long time for that to happen, but I am enjoying every single day of it.  One of the major blessings I count is the food: the quality, the variety, the abundance, the fact that fruits are ripe.  I know that there is a lot of food in the US, but frankly, what I got at the supermarket never tasted that good.   I now know that food is raised for ship-ability, rather than taste.  So, yes, there is plenty to be found in the market, but who wants it?

The other issue I love about buying food here is that I don't have to buy in quantity.  I found fresh asparagus this morning at the local fruitier....and I bought only enough for one meal for me---about 6 spears.  If I want only half a dozen clementines, I don't need to buy an entire bag.  This has taken some getting used to, as it's easy to fall into the trap of over-buying. Everything looks so tempting and I know that it tastes good.  I am better about it now, because I keep telling myself that I can get some tomorrow if I am still craving it. (whatever it may be)  I can buy only one pork chop if that's all I want.  I don't need to get the big family-sized anything. 

With all this obsessing about food, one would think it might be easy to gain weight like crazy.  Actually, the opposite has been true for me.  Since leaving Brookings, I guess I have lost about 25 pounds....the first half without even trying.  I found myself eating less and enjoying it more, and of course, I had to walk to get it!  I told the doctor when I had my health exam for my visa validation that living in France was good for my health.  She smiled, but I wasn't kidding.

A closer look...carrots, onion in the background are for soup

The second half, I have lost by consciously altering what I eat. Plenty of real food--nothing marked lite, low or non-fat, or pre-packaged.  Plenty of water, and no GPS...grains, potatoes or sugar. Crazy to think that I moved to France and now don't eat bread....To prevent bingeing I budget maybe one piece every two weeks--I actually find that I don't really miss it.

Fortunately, the market makes it easy to stay on track.  Lots of vegetables:  leeks, squash, cabbage, and now that spring is around the bend, spinach and asparagus are showing up.  Artichokes by the dozens, beautiful lettuce, wild garlic, avocados...

Now the strawberry wars are on--Spain vs France.  Since I live so close to the Spanish border, I don't feel terribly guilty about buying Spanish berries if I can't find French ones, because the energy to ship them here isn't so costly.

If only I could transmit the aroma.....

I treated myself to a little barquette of French strawberries....with just a little dab of creme chantilly, it will make a nice dessert. True; they are small--not the fist-sized berries of California, and they don't crunch. Imagine that!

From time to time I send a box of goodies back to friends in the US. What do I really want to send them?  The wonderful fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables I have access to on a daily basis. I won't get into the food policies of the US government: all I will say is that I am indeed blessed.