Toulouse Revisited

Dear readers, do you remember my blog post from 2 years ago about Toulouse?  I quote, "Unfortunately this meant that I wouldn't have my nice camera for the second part of my European trip which was in France. :( This just means that I'll have to go back sometime soon with my nice camera to take better pictures, obviously. :)"

Well, guess what. I did just that! I took tons of photos to make up for not having my camera last time.

I took photos of the inside of my favorite church in Toulouse.

I took photos of my favorite street.

I took photos of my favorite boulangerie.

I also took photos while biking on the Canal du Midi. 

 

 

On the Canal du Midi, my Toulousienne friend and I ate a picnic we packed. Afterwards, we went to the nearby restaurant on the bike path for a glass of wine.  

When I was perusing the menu I just happened to inquire about dessert. Imagine that! And the most magical thing happened! I just happened to order the dessert sampler. 

And I just HAD to take photos of it for my blog. 

There was a nice blackberry cobbler, vanilla ice cream with the thinnest slivered candied almonds, custard, super chocolaty cake, an apple tart, and whip cream to put on whichever dessert I wanted to put it on. Oh, and a glass of muscat.

I was in heaven. 

The other heavenly thing about this dessert sampling? It was very reasonably priced!

 

After my nice, quick jaunt over to France, I'm ready to get back into my kitchen and bake. Fall's right around the corner which means heavier desserts will be made soon. Yay!

 

Oh, by the way, I was back in Toulouse for a coworker's wedding in the countryside nearby. I got to sing at her wedding. Isn't this one of the loveliest settings for a wedding?!

Bake well and prosper!



Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies - Toulouse, France

While I was on my European vacation disaster struck! I LEFT MY CAMERA IN SYROS. IN a BODEGA. And I realized this WHILE the ferry was LEAVING the island.

I had a slight freak out for 15 minutes and then calmed down. It's just a thing. A possession. It's not my passport, which would be a problem.

Once I got a hold of my friend on Syros (4 hours after I left the island), he secured the camera from the bodega. Whew!

Unfortunately this meant that I wouldn't have my nice camera for the second part of my European trip which was in France. :( This just means that I'll have to go back sometime soon with my nice camera to take better pictures, obviously. :)

Toulouse was lovely (even with a normal point and shoot!) This is the view from my friend's apartment. Incredible, right?!

The city of Toulouse had a wonderful City Hall and operas are performed there. Some day maybe I'll sing there too!

After eating days of healthy Mediterranean fare, I rejoiced with being surrounded by buttery goodness again. I probably had 2 types of croissants a day. Yes, TWO. I also had about 1.5 desserts each day too. Mmmm. The above picture is of a famous patisserie in Toulouse where I had a chocolate almond croissant. Yes. Chocolate AND almond filling with sliced almonds and powdered sugar on top. I was in heaven!

One of the coolest things I did while in Toulouse was sing on top of my friend's apartment, which happened to be a tower from the 12th century. My voice bounced off the tiled roofs and cut through the gloomy clouds. People of the neighborhood opened their windows and enjoyed my impromptu concert. I even received applause! :)

My friend Marie and her boyfriend enjoyed the private concert very much. Then we went back inside to enjoy Marie's WONDERFUL vegan chocolate chip cookies.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Post Punk Kitchen)

Makes two dozen two inch cookies or about 16 three inch cookies

1/2 brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil (Marie felt that the cookies were too oily so we suggest you cut this amount down by a teeny bit)
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important to not skip this step. Mix in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stuff so use your hands to really work them in.

For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes – no more than 9 – until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For 2 dozen two inch cookies roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.

I had such a lovely time in both Greece and France. I can't wait to go back!

I get my camera back this week and will be back in the kitchen to share tons of goodies with y'all!

Bake well and prosper!