Fusion snack

  My friend Sara and her son joined us for dinner tonight and we opened a box of French sugar cookies for dessert.  Not just any cookies mind you: Gaufres Flamandes - Flemish waffles from my hometown of Dunkirk ( <--- click on this link for the recipe and nice pics of the waffle-making process).

My parents brought more than five pounds of cookies with them for Christmas: three boxes of thin butter waffles in special-edition tin boxes, three packages of made-to-order waffles stuffed with butter cream, an extra large pack of Belgian honey cookies (Speculos), two rolls of Nonettes (round spiced honey cakes stuffed with orange marmelade) and a large spiced gingerbread.

My pancreas is begging me to pace myself. 

I will.  Actually I am thinking of stretching the cookie supply well into the summer bu instituting a new daily tea-time ritual using my new Japanese cast iron tea-pot, a gift from my friend Karine.  The waffles taste better when they are dunk into hot liquid anyway.  And isn't Texas the perfect setting for a Franco/Flemish-Japanese fusion snack?  I'll just need to break the waffles into small enough pieces to fit into the Japanese cups.  My grandmother would be appalled who thought French espresso was the only appropriate drink for waffles (that and a small glass of cognac), but she's no longer here to enforce standards of cookie consumption.

I think I'll start experimenting with the Mexican lemon grass tea blend I bought the other day, after which I'll move on to Chai and then to the nice Jasmine tea that came with the pot.  I might sneak a hot mug of Oolong and a cookie to the office on weekdays.  And how about a dab of strawberry jam or a spoonful of Nutella Hazelnut butter on the cookie? A drizzle of Texas honey?

My love handles might expand and my stomach will grumble, but I know my soul will thank me for the break.

Comments

[Joan Spaw]

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[Marie-Pierre Stien]

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