Tag Archives: illustratrice culinaire
Bonjour Kale Gimlet!
A few weeks ago, I got to tell my long story about how I ended up in Paris on my favourite podcast Radio Cherry Bombe. Although it really is like any other coming-of-age story set to a slightly soundstage-y backdrop, I talked about the moment where I finally decided I would move back to Paris for good and commit to the complicated life of being a professional illustrator. And I would not look back, doing whatever I could to manifest that dream. Luckily Paris has introduced me to many other wonderful women who have moved to this difficult city and have created and pursued their own projects with great zeal and grace.
My great friend Kristen Beddard of The Kale Project’s new book Bonjour Kale: A Memoir of Paris, Love, and Recipes (Sourcebooks) is a heartfelt story of starting over in a freakishly foreign place like Paris, sans job, sans projects. The biggest cultural difference was she couldn’t even find her ideal comfort food, kale. Kale in France had disappeared throughout the decades as it become an unpalatable taste of wartimes. In the meantime, it had even become a decorative plant. When I moved to Paris 8 years ago, I chuckled seeing kale cozied in next to the pansies in my neighborhood flower garden. (Foraging for Dummies, right up my ally!)
I can truly say that Kristen was one of the courageous people who brought a new wave of eating to the French plate. Three years ago, I tried and tried to pitch veggie-based cookbooks to editors and it was firmly always “too soon”. But now there is cashew cream served in carnivorous restaurants, organic grocery stores outnumbering their contemporaries, a general curiosity about things like chia seeds and how to eat better to feel better. And that’s no small feat in a country steeped in tradition like France. 
In honor of the release of Bonjour Kale today, Kristen let me illustrate one of her favorite recipes from her book, a kale gimlet. It’s a sweet and spicy ode to her single days before her monumental move to Paris.
Order Bonjour Kale HERE.
Oh, and I also illustrated the cover, too! 🙂
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Kale and Tequila Gimlet (from Bonjour Kale by Kristen Beddard, Sourcebooks)
Ingredients:
1/2 bunch kale
1/2-1 inch piece fresh ginger
1 1/2 shots lime juice
1 shot tequila
1/2 shot Grand Marnier
Agave syrup, to taste
1 handful cilantro
6 ice cubes
Preparation:
Juice the kale and ginger in a juicer. Measure out one shot of the juice. Pour the kale-ginger juice, lime juice, tequila, Grand Marnier, agave syrup and cilantro into a shaker with the ice. Shake vigorously. Pour and enjoy!
Yield: 1 drink
6 insider tips for beautiful coloring!
Yes, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Color Me Seasonal: 1er Avril!
Still in need of that April Fool’s Day je ne sais quoi for your special someone? Before Saran wrapping the toilet seat, take a note from the French tradition of offering the farcical gift of fish on the first of the month.
Download and color in a very special card here…https://www.dropbox.com/s/879pbpykolg8y0m/1er%20Avril_Jessie%20Kanelos%20Weiner_thefrancofly.com.pdf?dl=0
Color me Seasonal: Edition EP!
My book baby is born today, Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables (Universe). Now go forth and color!
NYC! Don’t miss my signature and coloring extravaganza this Thursday, March 17th from 5-7pm at The Vale Collective in Williamsburg.
Columbus, OH! I’ll be signing books Wednesday, March 23rd at 6pm at Book Loft.
Chicago! Come color with me and get your book signed March 26th at 2pm at 57th Street Books.
EP: The Book Tour!
Book tour alert! I’m on my way back to the motherland to celebrate the release of Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables (Rizzoli’s Universe Imprint). When I won’t be stuffing my face with all the burgers, bagels and enchiladas La France has yet to perfect, I hope to meet you. Come show some francofly love, buy a book and get it signed.
Here’s a fun little interview about EP and all things Paree…http://www.s-w-e-e-t.com/culture/art-design/news/a308/an-american-in-paris-who-draws-everything-she-sees/
P.S. Stay tuned for an NYC event.
EDIBLE PARADISE, edition limitée
Ever wondered what it looks like when a coloring book author colors in her own book? As my weekends and all my free time can attest, it looks a little something like this. Flaunting my book around town, my friends and family have experienced a bit of premature performance anxiety seeing my edition limitée copy of Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables (Rizzoli’s Universe Imprint) But fret not! This like a serving suggestion for when you receive your copy.
When I was in the process of dreaming up the book, I didn’t think of it solely as a black and white artifact. Working so passionately with color in the rest of my work, I definitely thought of the color breakdown by seasons, the potential for good shading and all the little details (hello ladybugs!) to bring the still lives to life. So coloring in 3 limited edition copies brings the project full circle for me. But more about that very soon!
Preorder Edible Paradise here!
And celebrate the countdown to the release date March 15th, 2016 on Instagram.
Hazelnut & Nutella Thumbprints
Ask any French person what “cookie” means to them. It is nothing other than a round, chewy, chocolate chip-studded package of Pepperidge Farm. I know for a fact. That was my cookbook editor’s reference point for a “real cookie”. Thanks again globalization! Whatever may count as a Christmas cookie, I still hang onto my tradition of giving something sweet and homemade to my nearest. The latest to make its way onto my roster is my Hazelnut & Nutella thumbprint cookies. Their form is classically American, but the flavor is heavy on hazlenuts with the added allure of Nutella. I know it’s the devil, but for me it still represents the matinal promise of European indulgence. So whether they get the French pass as being a cookie or not, they will add a little euro appeal to any cookie plate. Happy baking!
Hazelnut & Nutella thumbprints
for 20 à 22 cookies
Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, hazelnut powder, hazlenuts, baking powder and salt until the hazelnuts are finely chopped. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar 5 minutes until light and pale in color. Add the egg, vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture little by little, mixing until just incorporated. Form the dough into 4 cm balls and roll in the canne sugar until completely coated. Place the balls on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Push a thumb into the cookies to create a hole. Bake the cookies 14-18 minutes until firm and lightly golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Fill each cookie with a teaspoon of Nutella®.
Ingrédients
190 g all-purpose flour
125 g hazelnut flour
100 g toasted hazlenuts
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
220 g unsalted butter, room temperature
70 g sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
60 g coarse canne sugar
200 g de Nutella®
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Noisettes & Nutella® thumbprints
pour 20 à 22 cookies
Préchauffez le four à 175 °C. Dans le bol d’un robot, mixez la farine, la poudre de noisettes, les noisettes, la levure et le sel en un mélange homogène avec de petits éclats de noisette. Dans un saladier, battez le beurre et le sucre 5 minutes en un mélange mousseux. Ajoutez l’œuf et la vanille. Incorporez la farine aux noisettes puis mélangez jusqu’à l’obtention d’une pâte homogène. Formez des boulettes de pâte de 4 cm de diamètre puis roulez-les dans la cassonade. Déposez-les sur une plaque recouverte de papier sulfurisé. À l’aide du pouce, faites un trou profond dans chaque boulette. Faites cuire 14 à 18 minutes jusqu’à ce que les cookies soient fermes et légèrement dorés. Laissez-les refroidir sur une grille. À l’aide d’une petite cuillère, remplissez chaque cookie avec le Nutella®.
Ingrédients
190 g de farine
125 g de poudre de noisettes
100 g de noisettes entières, torréfiées
1 cuillerée à café de levure chimique
½ cuillerée à café de sel
220 g de beurre à température ambiante
70 g de sucre
1 œuf
1 cuillerée à café de vanille
60 g de cassonade
200 g de Nutella®
Looking for a detoxifying gift to yourself to ring in a healthier and less stressful New Year? Preorder my forthcoming book Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables (Rizzoli’s Universe Imprint).
Color Me Seasonal, November!
In anticipation of my forthcoming coloring book Edible Paradise (Rizzoli’s Universe Imprint), Color Me Seasonal will be back the first of every month until the book launch, February 9th, 2016. November flaunts the thick-skinned pumpkin and all of her kissing cousins. Print it out, color it in, share and tag with #colormeseasonal. And for loads more coloring fun preorder a copy of Edible Paradise here today.
Kale gets animated!…an unrecipe recipe
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… 🙂