Learning to Crochet

This summer, the boys asked me to teach them (again) how to crochet. So we got started. And it's actually held their interest for weeks. Benjamin can do a pretty straight chain, and has started learning single and double crochet. Noah even used his own money at the store to buy skeins of yarn.
 

 

And once they learned how, their next goal was to teach Daddy...

 

Chef en herbe

Noah is still passionate about baking, and his favorite activity on any given day is making a cake. We take full advantage and let him bake cakes when we are invited somewhere.

He made this masterpiece when we had dinner with our friends. Often we make a smaller "test" cake to be sure there's nothing weird going on (massive amounts of almond flavoring, chili powder, etc), but this time we didn't. Noah never has any doubts, though - he tells us all his cakes are "delicious" or "succulent!"

This one certainly was!

Homemade Macaroons

First things first: this kid lost his two front teeth this summer, and promptly began lisping. But his adult teeth are coming in quickly, so he's just about back to speaking normally again.

The boys had a joint baking project when they worked on a macaroon mix together. In America, you have cake mixes, in France, we have macaroon mixes.

Chocolate and vanilla macaroons with raspberry filling. Mmmm.

And the best part... boys working together!

Puiseux in the Summer

We actually had summer in Puiseux this year... for about three days. Shorter than our usual two weeks.

But we took advantage of it when Frédéric's cousin and her daughter came for the day, and went on a walk/ride around the village, which is just as cute as ever.

 

Culinary Creations

There has been plenty of baking around here this summer - if anything, there is even more than usual. Even Benjamin got into the act and made his own pizza dough.

Noah continues to impress with his recipe-less cakes. He is in a sprinkles and frosting phase, with delicious results! He's also very generous with them, sharing with the neighbors and letting me take some along when I go have coffee with friends.

Frédéric made some delectable bread, and Noah branched out, learning to make baguettes.

He made the cake at bottom left for our annual lunch with Frédéric's aunt and uncle, and the one at bottom right for our friend Rose Mary's birthday. For that one he experimented with yeast, so it turned out more like a chocolate bread than a cake.