Most ex-expat Parisians moan their loss of French cheeses, many still practically unheard of in the US. Personally, while j’adore le fromage Francais, I find the cheeses at specialty stores – such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and other gourmet shops – and the cheeses from my local farmer’s markets do a pretty good job of satisfying my craving for fresh, rich, indulgent cheese.

Until recently, the same couldn’t be said of yogurts. While many Americans jump off the plane and head straight to a Parisian street market or the local fromagerie, I headed straight to the Inno or Monoprix refrigerated section to indulge in richy, creamy, tangy French yogurt. While I  would readily have risked confiscation by smuggling yogurt into my luggage, I sadly feared 9 hours on the plane (plus 2 hours waiting for my luggage to bump down the belt) would curdle or liquify the yogurt.

Why French yogurt? I’ve always been a yogurt lover, but prior to my 1st trip to Paris I thought yogurt was overly-sweet, bright blue or red, lumpy, and pudding-like. More like a snack or dessert: good but not a meal. Back in the day I even bought myself a yogurt maker, and with a little plain yogurt starter I made my own plain yogurt and sweetened it with honey, fruit preserves and wheat germ (who’d heard of granola back then???) But lack of time (and counter space) due to family, job, house and dogs eventually buried the yogurt maker.

But now, Greek yogurt is firmly ensconced in the US and my craving for rich tangy yogurt is satisfied. Chez Moi I’m a huge fan of Fage, and TBG prefers the slightly sweeter Chobani. But this week, TBG made a grocery run and as usual, he didn’t stick to the shopping list.

And brought home Cabot Greek Yogurt. We were familiar with Cabot Cheeses: we love the American brand, always buy their cheddar. But I didn’t know they’re now making greek-style yogurt. Its rich, creamy, tart and a little sweet. Perfect with my morning berries and granola.

Yes, I’ll still buy Fage. But when I find only Cabot Greek Yogurt in the fridge I’ll be looking for a spoon, not my car keys.

Bon Appétit!

• Fage Greek 0% Yogurt: 17.6 oz $6.99

• Cabot Greek-Style Plain Yogurt: 2lbs $5.99

• Chobani Fat-Free Greek Yogurt: 32 oz $5.99

NOTE: Dairy prices vary widely by region. I’m in SoFlo now, so your prices may differ. For the best price, try Target or Costco.

Greek yogurt: it makes me happy!

I was Christmas shopping with niece Rachel and we found the perfect gift for her dad…and for TBG! Rachel’s dad has long been making dehydrated fruits and vegetables, which she says takes 3 days so they never do it. Shopping at Genevieve Lethu in Chicago we discovered TopChips for making chips in the microwave!

$25 for a set of 2 stackable trays. Machine washable, finished in 3 minutes: Done!

So this weekend I pulled out an idaho potato, sweet potato, and a couple Fuji apples. I peeled the potatoes, and sliced all 3 on 1/8inch on the mandolin.

First, the idaho potatoes:

I spread a single layer on each of the 2 trays, stacked the trays, and set the microwave for 3 minutes at full power. After cooking I let them set 2 minutes, but they were still soft and flexible, not at all crispy, so I put 1 tray in for 1 minute. Much better: thin and crispy and crunchy. I immediately sprinkled them with sea salt and put them in a little dish for the ultimate taste-test: TBG.

TBG’s vote: Make some more!

Next, I finished the remaining idaho potato slices, then went on to the sweet potato. I found they need to be cooked even longer than the idaho potatoes. I recommend closely monitoring so the chips don’t burn: after 3 minutes just continue cooking in 30 second intervals, remembering the slices continue “cooking and crisping” once they’re removed from the micro.

Finally, the apple slices. I left the peel on, did NOT core them, and just sliced them thin and microwaved for 3 1/2 minutes. I liked them plain, but they would be good with cinnamon or nutmeg too. They’re a little more chewy than crunchy but a easy healthy snack.

Moi tip: Mignette likes the chips too: without salt or any other seasonings, the perfect puppy treat! (btw…she likes potatoes and apples raw too.)

You can buy TopChips at specialty kitchen shops, amazon or online. $20-25, depending on the accessory package.

Lil Sis Mary was being released from the hospital after surgery, and had to be sure not to get her incision and staples wet in the shower. I’m on it: my friend Carla just shared a showering after surgery tip and I was thrilled to be able to pass it on to Mary:

Press’n Seal! Cut off a piece of cling large enough to cover the area you need to keep dry, press carefully around the edges to “seal” the cling to the skin, then shower! When finished, just toss out the used cling and tear off a fresh piece for the next shower. In addition to surgical scars, Press’n Seal would have worked great when TBG had a PICC line after surgery, and when he had his knee in a cast.

Simple, effective and cheap! Press’n Seal can be found at your grocery or home goods store, $5 – $8 depending on size.

Who knew?

From the bed of…

Little Sister Mary is unexpectedly in town this week: she flew from Texas to Chicago for an unplanned surgery, so arrived with 1 suitcase and 1 daughter, 1 husband and 1 son to follow shortly. In all the rush and confusion of course things were forgotten, so from her hospital bed Mary started giving me lists of things she needed from Target, Gap, Bed Bath and Beyond, grocery store, etc:

• hot pink pillowcases
• pink eyemask
• cotton t-shirts
• bottled water and Crystal Light packets
• Monistat Chafing Powder

Monistat Chafing Powder? Wait: you’re in the hospital, shouldn’t we check with your Doctors before you order yeast infection ointments?

Mary looked at me like I’m crazy: Don’t you read the blogs? I use Monistat powder as a primer for my BareMinerals makeup.  Hunh?

Once home I spent an hour googling it: she’s right. Since being introduced, women have discovered that Monistat Chafing Powder has similar ingredients to much more expensive makeup primers: $7.99 for Monistat v $20, $30 or more for similar cosmetic primers. I just converted from wearing moisturizer and concealer to BareMinerals make-up, and living in very humid climates, had been trying to deal with makeup dripping down my face. That’s why I need a primer!

(What’s a makeup primer? I didn’t know either, so I looked it up: it’s a basecoat for your foundation, that leaves your skin smoother and helps the makeup adhere better. So on hot humid days, your expensive powder foundation isn’t running onto your white tank top! Apply after moisturizer, before foundation.)

Who knew? Monistat is now in my medicine cabinet…and happily not for a yeast infection.

Thanks Lil Sis!

No matter where you look, you know it’s October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And with my friends and families we’ve unfortunately had reasons to discuss all forms of cancers these past months. But this month, whether we’re watching TV, taking the bus, at a football game, reading a magazine, or shopping at the mall we are reminded that cancers are among us every day.

In one of our ongoing email chains, I happened to mention to several friends that I’d watched The Talk that day, and that Dr. Kristi Funk said women who have birth under age 20 were at a lower risk for breast cancer: yea for me! And later I emailed them that Dr Kristi also strongly recommends 3 cups of green tea daily as a cancer preventative: it’s those antioxidants at work. And I like to drink with style, so I’m sipping my hot tea from a zebra-striped thermal mug with a hot pink straw!

No problem: hot or iced green tea lemonade, I drink green tea daily because I like it. And the health benefits are a welcome bonus.

So do yourself a favor and drink up: Santé!

moi tip: Today I’m drinking Daily Green Tea The People’s Green Decaf

A few months ago I had an emergency closet intervention from Closet Works when my entire wire system collapsed. In a few days I went from this:

to this:

But sadly, even Tyler couldn’t make my closet any bigger, or help me add to the bags of clothes that had already been donated to the shelter. So, I’ve been trying a few tricks to maximize my closet space:

• switch from wooden to slimline flocked hangers ($29.99 for a box of 50)
• buy hangers with hooks so that blouses or tshirts can hang in rows
• add flocked clips to convert plain slimline hangers to pants or skirt hangers

But I have alot of skirts and trousers, and they simply take up too much room on a single hanger. The clips were an OK solution, but they too often fell off the hanger and really added to the width of each hanger, taking up even more space. The hooks built-in to the hangers tend to get caught on everything. In the good old days I had sets of metal and plastic pants and skirts hangers, with the clips attached and allowing 4 or 5 pants or skirts on a single hanger. Not available any more. I have a few sets left, but I had too many hangers holding only a single pair of pants or skirt.

Voila: Real Simple 4-tier skirt hangers. I can hang 4 pants or skirts in the space of 1. Sometimes the old ideas are still the best ideas. $7.00 at Bed Bath and Beyond. I bought 4 sets and had a $5 coupon.

And my bulky trousers have gone from this:

        to this:  

I’m highly competitive, and love word games so I’ve been a Scrabble addict since I was a kid. When we lived in Paris I bought the Scrabble version Francaise to help expand my French vocabulary, but never mastered French spelling so stopped playing that game. Moi husband and kids have refused to play Scrabble with me for years. Now with Moi iPhone and iPad I’m a Words With Friends addict: I have simultaneous games going with a young mother in England, a Marine in California, a Canadian in France, and countless sisters, nieces and nephews, and friends across the US: even my daughter will play WWF with me. I play in bed, in the car, on buses and train, in planes with WiFi, in line at Target (and to the annoyance of TBG at the dinner table, while watching TV, and anytime or place I can sneak a peak at my iPhone.)So while searching for the perfect birthday gift for a young friend turning 10 this month I bought him Bananagrams: sort of a free-form Scrabble/cross-word game. For 2-8 players aged 7-97. I’m ensuring I’ll be playing WWF for years to come! Completely portable and with its own case it’s perfect for home or on the road. $14.95  Fruits games also available: Appletters and Pairs in Pears.

Friend me on WWF!

For sister Lisa’s 40th I needed to celebrate both the big 4-0 and her recent move to the burbs.

With two little girls she’ll soon hit soccer mom status, and cold windy Chicago Fall days ensure some long Saturdays with a folding chair and a venti extra-hot Starbucks while the teams learn the rules of the game.

How to heat-up the day? Try a mini-flask studded with pink Swarovski crystals, and personalized with her name.

39 years 51 weeks...and counting

I bought it at McAdams Ltdfor $35.00, plus engraving. Lisa can provide the liquid heat.

Tres chic! Bon Anniversaire Lisa!

Moi tip: if anyone is reading, Christmas isn’t far off and Moi would love her own personalized crystal flask!

Recently (ok, 6 years ago, but still…) we removed the beige wall-to-wall carpeting furnished by our condo developer and installed hardwood floors in the living room, dining room and kitchen. With our blue and white beachy decor we enjoyed the new feeling of lightness and openness. But the last 2 years, TBG has been asking for an area rug under the coffee table: he just thought it looked a little bare. Since we usually only visit the condo a few weeks a year, it was never a priority and we casually glanced at area rugs when we shopped, I checked out rugs in the mountains of catalogs the postman delivered, and I honed in on the flooring selections in my baskets of shelter magazines. Finally, a decision: flokati!

Flokati is a traditional handmade Greek rug made from longhair wool. I thought a white shaggy rug would be perfect for the living room: light and open, casual and fun, easy and clean. So the serious shopping and price comparing began. After being shocked by prices in the $$$ thousands (I decided I didn’t need it to be that authentic) we narrowed it down to choices at West Elm and Ikea. And because at that moment there was not a West Elm near our SoFlo condo and Ikea was only 30 minutes away, (and I had a sudden sense of urgency that I couldn’t wait 2 weeks for delivery!) TBG and moi made the short drive to Ikea, and $79.99 later, we finally had flokati.

Quickly installed under the coffee table, we stood back and admired our new area rug.

Too simple, right? What did we overlook?

Mignette.

When Mignette adopted us on a cold snowy day in Paris, it was mutual love at first sight. We’d never been owned by a Maltese before, and once she and all her Burberry accessories moved in, we were happy to learn that Maltese don’t shed and they are “hypo-allergenic”: because they have hair, not fur, Maltese don’t shed. Sure I find white hair on my black knit yoga pants, but no different than a human’s hair: when you brush her hair, some ends up in the brush. You should see moi bathroom after washing and drying my hair: it looks like a hair salon! Second, Maltese hair is considered non-allergic. Basically anything can cause allergies for some people, but TBG and both kids suffer from allergies, and for years we suffered through dog allergies with our great danes and golden retrievers. With Mignettes, no sniffling, no sneezes.

No problem, right? Wrong.

Mignette and the new flokati are the same color and have the same hair length. Fortunaltely Mignette is always decked out in a hot pink bow and collar or we’d step on her when crossing the room. Details!

2nd miss: Mignette doesn’t shed but flokati does: who knew?

So everyday I have to get out the electric Swifter and vacuum the living room, dining room and kitchen for little white fluff balls. How does it spread so far? In SoFlo the fan is on year-round, and the air-conditioning at least 9 months of the year, and all that air circulation keeps flokati fluff floating.

Doesn’t sound like such a big problem, does it? With less than $100 invested, it’s easy enough to find another rug.

Not so fast…Mignette loves to cuddle on the flokati. And what Mignette wants, Mignette gets. We just watch where we walk, and keep the swifter nearby.

The reminder email just landed in my inbox: Fathers Day Brunch hosted at my sister’s, pool-side. No time to procrastinate: I needed a Fathers Day gift for my 81 year old father; who tends to toss all gifts on the end of the couch, and ignore them, denying he received any gifts. A quick exchange of emails with the Queen Mum, and Dad’s gift is ordered and in the mail. Check below what Dad’s getting!

Are you looking for gift ideas for the Dad’s in your life? Here are a 5 tested, sure-thing Dad-pleasers:

1. Zaggmate: In our house I’m the iPad-aholic. TBG gifted me for Christmas, and it’s pretty much been glued to my left hand ever since. (I have iPad-thumbitis: am I the only one? So far its not listed on webmd.com)  TBG also gifted me a gorgeous blue Burberry iPad cover, which j’adore, but for Mothers Day our kids gifted me a Zaggmate. This protective carrying case/ keyboard is made of aircraft-grade aluminum, weighs practically nothing, and features a bluetooth connection keyboard that allows your iPad to function like a computer. If your writing long emails, business documents, journals, scripts, business accounts: the Zaggmate will make using your iPad so much easier, while protecting it: with style! On the beach, on a plane, or in the car: Zaggmate and iPad are the perfect combo!

Zaggmate for iPad  $99.99

I love the aluminum case that matches the iPad, but you can style Dad up by adding a standard or custom skin to personalize Dad’s iPad. How about his favorite sports team or mythological character? From $19.99 up.

Tips: Be sure to order the correct Zaggmate: there’s a different version for iPad and iPad 2.

2. Car Cup Charger: I talked about this great car accessory on my last year’s Father’s Day gift post, but it’s still a no-brainer for the wired Dad. This great cup-shaped charger for the car is one of my favorites. Cameras don’t work well when the battery is dead. Same for mobile phones. Or iPads. Traveling by car requires multiple adapters and accessories to charge the iPhone, Blackberry, camera, and baby bottle heater. What’s a guy to do? This clever latte-cup shaped adapter plugs into the car’s cigarette lighter and rests in the cup holder. Brilliant: it charges both 120 volt and USB ports.

PowerLine On-the-Go Power Supply Cup $29.99

Last month we used the PowerLine on a 22 hour roadtrip, with 4 adults, 1 dog, 2 iPads, 1 laptop, and 4 mobile phones: all fully juiced and ready to go!

3. George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Electric Barbeque Grill: We’ve recently transitioned from a 300 square meter NYC rooftop terrace to a small SoFlo condo balcony: where gas and charcoal grills are forbidden. There are 5 gas grills on the property to share, but too often TBG has gone down to find the closest is all out of gas, or a neighbor is already grilling, or its just too dark to grill. So for his last birthday, the kids gifted him the George Foreman electric grill. He was skeptical at first. But after I assembled it (in less than 10 minutes, no tools required!) then grilled shrimp, TBG wandered out to the balcony and pronounced it really hot. And easy to clean. And definitely convenient: I plug it in, heat for 10 minutes, and its ready to go!So far we’ve grilled shrimp, burgers, steaks, swordfish, vegetables and salmon: love it!

George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Electric Barbeque Grill $109.99

Tip: I have the George Foreman Next Grilleration G5 countertop grill, and it simply didn’t get hot enough. So I am really happy with the patio grill, which could be used indoors: but why?

So, what’s on moi Father’s Day shopping list? Shhhhh, don’t tell: it’s a secret:

for Dad:

For years I’ve been gifting Dad the tiny white traditional anis candies from Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, a picturesque little town in the Burgundy region of France. We first discovered Flavigny after reading that the charming yet-to-be-released film Chocolat was filmed in Flavigny. Just a few hour’s drive from our Paris home, we drove down one Sunday, and along with the charming little village, we discovered Les Anis de Flavigny: tiny little anise-flavored mints, presented in charming oval retro tins and made in the village’s abbey. We adore the original anis flavor, but there are other flavors including violet, rose, lemon and mint.

I carried them home on the plane to Dad for years, but now we’re able to easily find them in the US at specialty groceries or online, including Williams-Sonoma or amazon.com. But what I haven’t found yet in the US is the large refill bag that I still carry home from Paris. Good news: this week I contacted the manufacturer in France, and the large quantity bags will soon be available in the US. This year, Dad’s getting a gift box of 8, for about $25.00.

for TBG:

Forty Beads: The Simple, Sexy Secret for Transforming Your Marriage book and The Forty Beads Gift. I saw it on The Today Show last week and it looked fun: after all, he’s not moi father! I bought the book for $10, and the gift set for $40. (I tried everything I could think of but I had to purchase them separately online: no vendor sold the book and bead set, not even the author’s website: annoying!)

Bonne Fête de Pères!

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