NB: Just a quick yet sincere thanks to everyone who left me such kind comments on this post! You all really made my day! I’m not ready for Etsy yet (it hadn’t even occurred to me) but now you’ve got me thinking!
It’s that time of year : Summer Vacation! Before putting away our textbooks and red pens and breaking out the SPF 200 and beach towels, we need to have a little fun, and with the Shellyfish that means some tasty vegan fun! I’ll warn you now, I could have sub-titled this entry : The Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero French Ad Campaign… with a little plug for ma chérie, the polyglot and chef extrordinaire, Céline.
One of my jobs is teaching Adult English Conversation Classes. I absolutely love my job & my students this year who were all fabulous, intelligent, witty and groovy women with lots of different experiences and talents to share. I also love parties. Cool chicks + party = 🙂
Un de mes boulots est d’animer des cours de conversation anglaise. J’adore mon travail et surtout mes élèves qui cette année étaient des femmes géniales, intelligentes, avec beaucoup d’esprit et de classe qui avaient toutes des expériences et des talents variés à partager. Des filles très cool + une fête = 🙂
Ce n’est pas une fête sans champagne!
Des jeunes filles en fleur!
I made these Chocolate & Raspberry cookies from Veganomicon, though I used some of my homemade strawberry jam instead. These are some of our favourite cookies, though I make these much bigger than called for (I’m such a rebel) and cut down on the cooking time a little so I end up with a very chewy, almost gâteau fondant centre, and a lightly crisp outside. Divine!
After raving about the glory of the Snickerdoodle (because it is virtually unknown here en france), I was obliged to also bring some of Céline’s Veg-Times Redoux Snickerdoodles. I actually had to make three batches because Mr. Fish kept sneaking them and I didn’t have enough to bring with me (I of course didn’t sneak any, ahem.)! If you haven’t made these yet, don’t. I mean it. Once you make them, you’ll fall in love with them and will be making them all the time. You won’t be able to stop yourself! These are seriously our most favouritest cookie of all time ever in the entire galaxy!
And because peanut butter anything is considered inherently North American, I always try to reinforce those stereotypes with some “Big Gigantoid Peanut butter Cookies” from Vegan With A Vengeance (yes these are the same cookies as here – I made a ton!). These are usually the cookies I make for folks here in France who declare “eeww, I don’t like peanut butter!”. I sneak these babies in and they usually really like them and then we have a little laugh about clichés, stereotypes, the North American’s and their peanut butter, the French and their Nutella…it’s all good!
before
after
While there are many culinary differences between France and North America (I need to do a post on that sometime), one fundamental difference is SUGAR (and snacking, and junk food, and ice cream consumption… I really need to do a post on this!). When I started getting my baking groove on about a year or so ago, I’d make my vegan buttercream and be all thrilled about it, but Mr. Fish who is most definitely a gourmand (that’s a polite French way of saying that he is incapable of controlling himself when faced with all that is delicious) can’t take it. Same for fudge! This is also one of the main reasons that as a country the French are collectively much thinner and remain in far better health until a far more advanced age, despite the heavy consumption of fats (also the snacking…). Anyway, all that to say I wanted to make a fun cupcake sans frosting and not too too sweet, so I made the Agave cupcakes from VCTOTW. This was the first time I made them and they were great! Very moist and a little heavier than the traditional cupcake, though this also could have been due to the fact that after baking up a storm for the Open House I was out of cupcake liners!
I had more cute pics of my lovely students, but as I mentioned, I had an evil happening with the technology and lost a host of pictures… hélas.
Musings From The Fishbowl 
OMG, Shelly those Chocolate and Rasberry cookies as well as the Snickerdoodles look amazing! I definitely have to try them once I’m up to baking again! Yum Yum Yum!!!
Everything looks fabulous! I’d really like some of those chocolate-raspberry cookies right now!
What a wonderful fete! Your students look lovely–and those treats! I’ve made the agave cupcakes (but with spelt flour) and they’re always yummy. Would love to read a post on the eating habits of the French vs. North Americans!
Yumm, what incredible treats! Those chocolate cookies are not only fool-proof, but completely irresistible.
Oh man, the Chocolate & Raspberry cookies (loooove that recipe), Snickerdoodles, Big Gigantoid Peanut-Butter Cookies, and those cupcakes look marvelous!! Yum!!
Je parle du français, mais pas beaucoup :0)
MMMMMMMMMM
You are absolutely correct about those Snickerdoodles! I had never had such a cookie until Amy from Vegan Addict sent me some. Now I have snickerdoodles on the brain!
Inanna Mama – Great questions! I really need to dedicate a post to all that! The short answer is that having been a vegan both in the states and in France (and a vegetarian before that for half my life) I find it’s actually pretty similar in both countries, because of course there are open and closed-minded people everywhere (unfortunately). Reactions depend on the individuals, their own experiences, biger cities vs. smaller villages, etc. There are lots of great vegan places to eat in Paris (not to mention all the great fresh produce available everywhere), and in lots of other smaller cities, too. I no longer live in Paris, but even in my smallish city I find the restaurants very accomidating as long as I contact them in advance (that being said, I very rarely eat out, because on the hole we eat out less often here than in North America). Let me know if you’re heading over, I can email you some great recomendations!
What fun! Do the French think being vegan is an eyerolling, typically American thing to be? Have you done a post on vegan dining out in France? I just heard that a new law was passed in Paris to allow 15 story “skyscrapers” I’m devastated. Must go again before they start building them! But will be sad if there’s no place to enjoy yummy French (vegan) cuisine. Sorry…I digress…a bit off topic.
Please do – just drop me an email. Prague’s really lovely in the fall. It’s also getting more and more vegan-friendly – though some of the fake Czech meat is a bit spooky. I think there’s a young czech punk backlash happenin against their meat-eatin parents – Debra
Your chocolate and raspberry cookies look far better than mine! I’m jealous! ;-). Hehe, no…I’m not…
I’m not going to try the snickerdoodle, thank you for the warning. Because I’m the kind of person who can’t stop eating her cookies, so better if I stay far away from them.
Debra- Geeze, thanks! I’m hoping to visit Prague this fall with my family…now I know who I’ll ask for some vegan tips! 🙂
Celine – mais c’est quand tu veux! Je pense que j’ai même une bouteille au frais…
Ah, I wish I could speak French. A few years ago, my family took a trip to Montreal, and I bought a translation book; I was all set to teach myself the language… but alas, I can only remember a few words from this endeavor (and one of the words I remember is “formage” which isn’t too helpful to a vegan!).
the raspberry cookies made with your jam? that would be pure heaven.
the gigantoid ones are my favorites too. Chaz asks for them all the time! 🙂
et alors, pas de champagne pour nous?
Hi Shellyfish,
I just wanted to say that I’m another English-speaking (well, um, Australian) vegan washed up on the continent. I’ve been living in Prague for the last six years. I’m really enjoying your blog, which I just found – and I would totally buy one of your vegan-crafted bags!
Take care,
Debra