Signature @ La Grande Epicerie

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Delighted to invite you to a signature at the storied department store Le Bon Marché / La Grande Epicerie this Tuesday where I’ll be signing my latest book Eaux de Fruits: Les Aguas Frescas Désaltérantes (Editions Marabout). Come say hey and try a few recipes from the book.

Tuesday, July 4th 2017 5pm-7pm.

La Grande Epicerie 38 Rue de Sèvres, 75007 Paris, 1e étage dans l’espace La Cornue

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© Christie Moore/ Dark Blue Stripes

P.S. Christie of the blog Dark Blue Stripes stopped by my studio to capture my creative process and organizationally challenged work space. More here. 

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New Book: Eaux de Fruits

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Agua Fresca_thefrancofly.com_Jessie Kanelos WeinerHere’s a taste of my sweet new book chez Marabout Eaux de Fruits: Les aguas fresca désaltérantes, including 33 easy recipes for the freshest never-before-seen-in-France agua frescas. Take a chill pill and order here.

Save the date: Live portrait drawing and book signing at the Jumble Sale June 17th 12PM-5PM, Le Mary Celeste 1 Rue Commines, 75003 Paris. More here.

Photos © Richard Boutin

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Summer in motion!

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There are two types of Americans in Paris.  Those who go home the month of August and those who stay.  Although I secretly envy those who can binge on a month-long ice cream headache of Americana, my summers are a more local affair, doing a mini Tour de France of friends’ vacation homes throughout this fine country.

I’m pondering what France’s summer traditions are, but I’m blanking.  Oh, yeah the month of August not at home, fleeing to everywhere but here?  Merguez on the grill? Spritz on a terrace? Summer reading and late dinners?  A bottle of chilled rosé on ice?

Ok, these new traditions work just fine for my developing adult tastes.  But I still can’t help but miss those sticky childhood summers at home in Chicago: the twinkling bell of the paletas guy selling my favorite ice pop arroz con leche, shucking the golden husks off sweet corn hot off the Weber grill, the self-inflicted pain of watching daytime tv all day long and the call of arms when the ice cream truck roll through the neighborhood.Although I come from the Klondikian school of frozen treats, the Magnum bar is my good-to Euro replacement.  I quickly learned last summer that “A Magnum-a-day keeps the bikini bod at bay”. But every now and then, it’s the only thing that will do the trick.  Happy Summer!

6 insider tips for beautiful coloring!

EP-how toYes, I published a coloring book, Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables (Universe).  But what do I actually know about coloring?  To fully embrace the experience from black and white to color, I took on the looming task of coloring in 3 copies of my book (And they’re almost finished.  To be continued soon…)  I not only noted that the many ladybugs on each page begin to move around by the time I started the third copy, I also compiled 6 tips for effective and beautiful coloring.Cardinal_Jessie Kanelos Weiner

  1. Pick an engaging topic.  Coloring books are like relationships.  A good part of it just needs to click.  Since you’ll be spending an exorbitant amount of time getting to know your coloring book, pick an engaging topic that ignites your need to color.  Whether that’s Ryan Gosling,  4-letter words or seasonal fruits and veg,  hold out for the right one.  pencils_thefrancofly
  2. Know the paper and medium.  There’s nothing worse than opening the first page of a coloring book with “first-day-of-school” anticipation, only to find out that the markers you are using bleed through several pages at once. Try out your desired medium on the last page of the book.  The paper will cue you in if it will hold up to whatever you want to color with.thefrancofly_Jessie Kanelos Weiner_how to color_artichoke
  3. Think about light.  For a realistic final product, pick a direction from the where the imagined light source is coming from.  This will act as a global guide for the where the highlights and shadows will be placed.  This is especially important when coloring in my book Edible Paradise. Don’t be afraid to leave white on the page, a very important thing I learned using watercolors.  It gives the page volume and lightness.Edible Paradise_Jessie Kanelos Weiner_Illustration 3_thefrancofly
  4. Edit!  This is a lot like cooking.  Sure there is the execution and technique that transforms brut ingredients into a meal.  But it’s the drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, the pinch of sea salt and the touch of lemon zest that takes a dish from dinner to degustation.  The same goes for coloring, a lot comes out of the final touches.  Once I think I’m done with a page, I revisit it a few hours or days later.  If it looks flat, I’ll add more shadows and contrast.  If it is way overdone, I’ll consider using more white space in my next pages.  Fraise triptique_thefrancofly.com
  5. Use color as highlights.  Take a look at the example above.  Yes, a strawberry is identifiable just when in red, but when it has a slight touch of orange in the mix, it sings.  Don’t be afraid to mix colors.  Edible Paradise_Jessie Kanelos Weiner_Illustration 2
  6. Have fun!  Sure I just compiled some “rules” for coloring, but there shouldn’t be any.  Coloring is all about experience.  Sure, something may not work out mid-book, but it doesn’t mean you’ll have to scrap the whole thing.  Don’t think about the subject so literally.  Pick a totally crazy color scheme and go nuts.  Or color in everything using opposite colors on the color wheel.  It’s all up to you!

Want to take on Edible Paradise as your next coloring adventure?  Order it here.

Kale gets animated!…an unrecipe recipe

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Parisians have turned their frowns upside down; it’s back to the grind! Nonetheless I love that early September still hangs onto the Summer harvest.   Summer fruits and vegetables are a god send because they can be thrown together laboriously into long, outdoor summer dinners or quickly slapped together with an iphone between a shoulder and a cheek.  This is non-recipe recipe I improvised for my lunch the other day during a multitasking frenzy, but it can easily be adapted to anything else fridge dwelling. But I’ll let the gif do the talking because it took 1000 times longer to make than the salad itself… 🙂

Summer scramble

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This week I dedicate my Instagram account to the fleeting fruits and vegetables that evoke the fleeting Summer.

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Hold on tight!

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More here.

Tourist at heart

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I recently celebrated my 7-year Parisversaire!  Yes, that is 7 years of morning boulangerie runs, nauseating boughts of cultural differences, and a bookshelf unapologetically filled with administrative proof that I do indeed live in this enchanted city of Paris, France.  As much as I try to steer away from the Pretty Postcard Paris that is so much better captured by my blogging compatriots, I recently found myself in a giddy state when I saw there was a Ladurée in Megève where I am currently vacationing.  Twice removed, Ladurée here has all the charm and appeal it did when I was just a young American navigating the cold cobblestoned streets of Paris.  It was no little blue box, but the little green bag worked just as well.  Scraping together a few hard-earned euro pieces promises a few glorious macarons and a few moments of pure pleasure.  Yes, I am a tourist at heart.