Ooh la la, C'est Si Bon!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bixentro/ / CC BY 2.0
Translation: LORDY LORDY, IT'S SO GOOD!
The flaky layers, the dark chocolate, the buttery goodness...and to think, dear pain au chocolat, if things had been different, you might not have curled my toes this weekend!
Shall I tell you the story, friends? It's full of dramatic tension. Prepare yourself.

My sweetheart spent more than a week in France, working (so he says) and eating up my favorite French foods: confit de canard, foie gras, pommes de terre dauphinoise, and clafoutis--not to mention a week of sumptuous breakfasts. Grand crèmes and pastries that make me cry.

Oh. I think I might weep, just telling it.
I will try to be strong.

He was finally on his way back to me on Saturday, and being a smart man, he'd brought a bag of pastries he'd bought at the airport in Paris. He had an awful flight and was met in Atlanta by news of snow and ice in South Carolina. All the flights home were canceled through Sunday.

Of course I worried about him. How would he make it home? It's a 2 1/2 hour drive home from the Atlanta airport. The roads were icy and he'd been up for more than 24 hours trying to get home. How would he keep himself awake?
HE WOULD EAT OUR FRENCH PASTRIES!

Our pains aux raisins!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roboppy/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

So luscious!

And our viennoises!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roboppy/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Heaven.

I have reason to worry about this. Once when we were young and wrinkle-less and lived in Washington DC, we got stuck in a traffic jam trying to get out of the city and back to the Carolinas for Thanksgiving. As we sat parked on the highway, the chocolate pie I had placed on our back seat started calling to us, swirling its chocolaty aroma into our nostrils.
We were both exhausted and hungry and emotional and weak.
Todd handed me the pocket knife off his key chain.
We ate the entire pie.

Would he have the moral fiber to restrain himself all the way home?
Sarah came home from college and the boys told her about the pastries.
We were all waiting. Wondering.

I'm thrilled to tell you that this story has a happy ending. Todd got home safely, all pastries intact. (At least I think they were. He might have eaten one or two.)
Pain au chocolat, favorite of Ben.
Pain aux raisins, my favorite and Sarah's.
And viennoise, the love of Sam's life.

Ah, the memories make me drool.
Excuse me while I try to get a hold of myself. And wipe the chocolate off my cheek.

There we go. I'm all clean.
Too bad I can't say the same for this guy.

Where in the world is this boy's mama?

Some things never change.

Have a wonderful Monday, y'all!
Love, Becky
PS. That plate of goodies wasn't all for Sam, just so you know. I do have some motherly standards--and the rest of us wanted them too!