Classic San Francisco Garlic Fries with a Healthy Twist~

 Photo Credit: Jonny Valiant

Above along the Côte d'Azur, is Cap d'Ail adjacent to Monaco. Its shimmery gloss of Belle Époque remains picturesquely sedate until July when summer people storm the beaches and take the towns.

The French, of course, love their fries, garlic, and San Francisco, too. The City by the Bay is the sister city of Paris, France, where transplanted San Francisco Food Trucks are popular: (here).

The recipe from Epicurious is a snap to make--with less hands-on time as the 'fries' are actually baked. They'll still deliver the nice crunch of signature Gilroy Garlic Fries served at the San Francisco Giants' home venue. Use organic potatoes for health and to optimize flavor. Information on Non-GMO: (here). 

More delicious Father's Day recipes: (here). 

San Francisco Garlic Fries~

Ingredients:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 1/4 pounds russet potatoes, cut lengthwise into 3 x 1/3 x 1/3-inch batons
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Toss potatoes with 2 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer on baking sheet.

Roast the potatoes, turning occasionally, until browned and tender, about 30 minutes. Increase heat to 500°F. Continue roasting until fries are deep brown in spots, about 5 more minutes.

Whisk remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil, garlic, and parsley in a large bowl. Add hot fries, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. 

While they bake, sip a glass of wine and dance around the kitchen to Charles Aznavour and Frank Sinatra's "You Make Me Feel So Young" (here). And Julio Iglesias and Sinatra's "Summer Wind" (here). Enjoy!

How to Be Svelte as a 2013 Cannes Film Star~

Celebrity favorite: Hotel du Cap-Eden Roc

Nicole Kidman is a judge at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes Festival waterfront locale

The official 2013 Cannes poster features Paul Newman
and Joanne Woodward  from their 50s film, "A New Kind of Love'~

 Cara Delevingne 

'Hey, Girl. You're lookin' so slim-a-licious'~ 

Steven Spielberg is presiding over judging at the 66th Cannes Film Festival (May 15 -26) along with the vibrant Nicole Kidman on the panel. The festival opened with the ‘The Great Gatsby’ based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. 

In real life, The Fitzgeralds spent winters along the Cote d’Azur with a stylish and sporty coterie of friends living the good life in chic spots like: (here). 

Americans prove what is desirable by what they've made popular. Yet, 63.1% of adults in the U.S. are either overweight or obese according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. This leads not just to disease...an astonishing 64% of all bankruptcies are medically related too! 

It's Incredibly Simple. We Are What We Eat~ 

Many, I believe, are fooled by advertising and don't understand it's not about discipline. It's what we tell ourselves about, and how we think about and  conceptualize, food. 

Most folks, for example, will not sprint across a busy highway at night because they tell themselves there's a good chance of being smashed by an oncoming SUV.

Just as most folks will not charge into a burning building because they tell themselves they'll be fried like bacon. 

Same with nutrition. We eat according to how we represent what things mean. 

Those healthy looking people at the local Farmer's Markets filling their baskets with high quality fresh produce equate what they eat with creating a higher quality of health and life. Healthy looking people earn more money and attract more opportunities, because they value their well-being, are informed in their  choices, and the visual results are interpreted as care that is extended to other realms of their life.

Those overweight folks pushing carts around Walmart over-loaded with supersized diet colas, gigantic boxes of snacks, and other chemical-laden, factory-farmed, commercialized Frankenfoods...eat for the illusion of comfort. Stuffing down what ails them with quantities of toxins to feel better for a moment. It's a false sense of temporary security, because in actuality, every unhealthy swig or bite rolls the dice in favor of an increasingly uncomfortable future.

Dead Foods Are Deadening. Live Foods Are Enlivening~

It's basic, cumulative chemistry. The human body is 70% water. Foods loaded with GMO and laced with chemicals then microwaved in their plastic containers, added to unhealthy bottled salad dressings and other sugar-loaded condiments, plus loads of bread, candies, baked goods, animal products and over consumption of alcohol, added to lack of exercise, creates a stagnant, acidic 'pond'. An inner petri-dish that creates weight-gain, rapid aging, disease, and diminished vitality.

Fresh, vital foods and fresh-air exercise create an inner clear alkaline 'pool' of energy and light. Energy and light are literally magnetic. It's why we call people like Nicole Kidman 'stars'. It's why we attribute words like brilliant, megawatt, sparkle, and glittery to describe them. To the degree a person eats a fresh, healthy diet they literally shine. 

The 20-Best Foods To Look Like a Star:

The #1 rule to look like a star is to eat an alkaline based diet. An excellent simple visual explanation that can transform your life: (here). Good nutrition is the best medicine on earth. How to save the planet while eating like a star: (here). Raw is best. Juicing even better. 

Choose from these alkaline organic foods as staples of your eating plan: 

Almonds, avocados, asparagus, berries, bell peppers, black beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, edame, eggs, flaxseed, garlic, onions, spinach, salmon (wild, not farmed), sweet potatoes, tomatoes, Greek Yogurt. 

Radishes, beets, carrots, turnips, horseradish and rutabaga. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. Kale, Swiss chard, turnip greens and spinach (#1 choice). Garlic helps lower blood pressure, cleanse the liver and fight disease. Cayenne peppers are highly alkalizing and fight off free radicals. Lemons are a natural detoxifier. 

Check out your usual purchases to ensure green, healthy and safe selections, or alternatives: (here) 

Where to go in Cannes: (here) Great advice from Will Smith: (here) Sinatra's "You Brought A New Kind of Love to Me" (here). Happy Le Weekend!

You Can! You Must! You Will!~

Hotel Balzac Paris

His grave in Père Lachaise

While in prison, Balzac ordered dinner from the
world famed La Grand Véfour~ 

Scene in La Grand Véfour from Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris"~

French writer, Honoré de Balzac, lived in the first half of the 1800s and would have been simpatico with Maria Shriver's credo, “You Can! You Must! You Will!” . Balzac also demonstrated iron-clad willpower and labored in fifteen-hour days. He said: “All happiness depends on courage and work. There is no such thing as a great talent without great willpower.” Though unlike Maria who was blessed with affirmative parents, his own let him starve.

As a four day old babe, Balzac was banished to live with a wet nurse until the age of four. At 8 he was packed-off and abandoned at a boarding school where his parents visited twice in 6-years. And while fellow students were brought regular gifts of pocket money and food, Balzac eventually departed the institution at age 14 so weakened from poor nutrition that he was sickly for life.

Unsurprising then, that in his 1835 “Le Père Goriot” Balzac depicts the post-Napoleon era of heartless greed in Paris society as it manifested within families. His genius was a fine-tuned comprehension of human foibles that were fleshed-out in his characters by evoking their trappings and mannerisms. His realism influenced Proust, Zola, Dickens, Poe, Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Henry James, Faulkner, Kerouac, Italo Calvino, and others. 

Balzac's studies at the Sorbonne in classical literature and philosophy were augmented at his father’s behest by training in law followed by three "banal and dehumanizing years" of toil in his father's profession. He quit, preferring to freeze in a garret while churning out dozens of potboilers in order to eat: "Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn't, bleed, like colors, on the whole of our existence."

As his life became more comfortable he had the luxury of time to breathe intense life into characters that were as real to him as if he’d met them in the street.

In 1836, Balzac, now a best-selling author, was sent to prison for not serving in the French National Guard. He would order dinner from the world-famed Véfour to entertain associates in his cell that was outfitted with his desk, chair, bed, and crammed with fine food and wines. 

Balzac corresponded with a married fan, Ewelina Hańs, for years, even visiting with her in St. Petersburg. After her older, wealthy husband died, they married in March 1850 despite that Balzac's health was in steep decline. He joined illustrious Heavenly scribes within six months of their vows. And wrote: “When women love us, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even our virtues.” 

Victor Hugo served as eulogist at his funeral attended by most every notable writer in France, after which Balzac was buried alongside the greats in Père Lachaise. (here): "The smallest flower is a thought, a life answering to some feature of the Great Whole, of whom they have a persistent intuition." 

May Day 1950s Tea Party~

From Grace Kelly's 1955 film 'High Society' with Bing Crosby
and Frank Sinatra, music by Cole Porter 

'To Catch a Thief' co-starring Cary Grant

'Rear Window' with James Stewart

'To Catch a Thief' filmed close to Monaco

Let's quaff gardenia-entwined May Day nostalgia for a moment, shall we? Floaty dresses. Young ladies offering Lily of the Valley nosegays and Heavenly little cakes from white-gloved hands. Whispery, tissue-wrapped thoughts. There. All better. 

In April 1956, Grace Kelly’s “High Society” graced big screens as she sailed the USS Constitution across the Atlantic to wed Prince Rainer in Monaco. 

To celebrate the freshly minted May why not don charm bracelets and materialize a 1950s tea. Pour the Sauvignon Blanc and view newsreels of Grace Kelly's nuptials: (here) (here) Today is the Fête du Muguet in France. (here)

Smoked Salmon-Wasabi Tea Sandwiches

Makes 24

1 tablespoon wasabi powder

2 teaspoons water

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

12 very thin slices whole wheat bread

8 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

Mix wasabi powder and 2 teaspoons water in medium bowl to form paste. Add cream cheese; using electric mixer, beat until well combined.

Place all bread slices on work surface. Spread each with wasabi cream cheese, dividing equally. Top 6 bread slices with smoked salmon, dividing equally. Sprinkle lemon peel, then cilantro over salmon. Top with remaining bread slices, cheese side down. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Wrap sandwiches individually in paper towels and refrigerate.

Trim crusts. Cut each sandwich into 4 triangles. Transfer to platter cut side up.

Apple Tea Cakes

Makes 56 tea cakes

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons light butter

56 paper petit four cups (1 inch)

14 ounces almond paste (pure marzipan)

1 tablespoon pure apricot spreadable fruit

3 whole eggs

1 egg white

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 large apples (preferably Braeburn or Golden Delicious), peeled, cored and chopped into 1/4-inch cubes

4 teaspoons confectioners' sugar

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. Place butters in a bowl and microwave until melted, 30 to 45 seconds. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes.

Arrange petit four cups on a large baking sheet. Combine almond paste and spreadable fruit in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape inside of bowl to incorporate all ingredients. Beat in eggs and egg white one at a time. Beat in flour at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add butter and beat until blended, about 30 seconds. Pour batter into a 1-gallon plastic resealable bag. Force air from bag and seal. Snip 1/4-inch piece off one of the lower corners and pipe batter into cups, filling them three quarters full. Place a few apple cubes on top of each cup. Sift sugar over cakes. Bake until light golden, 26 minutes. Let cool.

Grace Kelly's 1955 'To Catch a Thief' filmed around Monaco: (here)

A Theory of Miracles~

'Life itself is the miracle of miracles' -George Bernard Shaw. 

'Out of difficulties grow miracles' -Jean de la Bruyere. 

'Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles' -Edwin Louis Cole. 

To the Ancient Greeks theory was not hypotheses, but a practice. An act of faith that this was the way things worked. With that in mind, my Theory of Miracles is: 

1) Emblazon the hyper-realized desired result in your mind. 
2) Determine the steps you would take if you knew you would not fail. 
3) Always take the next best action towards your miracle in faith. 
4) Ditch naysayers, and your own dream-slayer thoughts. 
5) Set-backs are merely that. Refortify and start anew. 

When you consider that every individual born is the result of a 1 in 400-trillion chance, your life is one of the greatest miracles of all. A few miracle faves:

Miracle #1: In the year 1017, when the entire global population was two-thirds of the U.S. today, a half-mile out in the English Channel on the border between Brittany and Normandy where waves crest at 45’ at high-tide... construction of Mont St. Michel began. You can bet your morning croissants that sheepherders up on the bluff were exclaiming, "Mon Dieu! Regardez ces gens ridicules building in the sea!" When all of Normandy fell into English possession--only fortified Mont St. Michel remained French. Not a miracle? Depends on your P.O.V. If you lived on Mont St. Michel dining on freshest ocean fish under the stars while the rest of Normandy was dying in epidemics, famines, and being sacked by mercenaries--it was a blessed miracle.

Miracle #2: On May 8, 1429, 17-year old country-girl Joan of Arc liberated occupied Orleans and broke the back of the 100 Years War as the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in mere days. Nearly 600-years later she remains #7 of the Top-10 Generals in between Caesar and Patton. Her annual festival in Orleans for 2013 runs April 29-May 8th: (here) She's the patron saint of the most visited nation on earth, and the subject of countless films, books, TV shows, with her likeness revered around the world. Can you name one of the highly educated, uber-righteous 100-University of Paris men who could only prosecute her via dirty tricks? 

Miracle #3: Grace Kelly was not the favorite child of her overbearing father, who didn’t approve of actresses. She departed for NYC at age 20 and began to model and appear in TV productions. By age 24 she won a Golden Globe and an Oscar. She retired from filmmaking at 26 to marry the Prince of Monaco. She remains #13 on American Film Institute Best Actresses of all time. The beautiful ice queen quietly showed her bullying Dad which of them knew best.

If any of the above simply materialized 'out of the blue' they’d be considered miraculous today. To the Ancient Greeks that they culminated from a progression doesn’t make them any less so. Expect miracles to the degree you work at them. Act in faith, and never, ever give up. As Joan of Arc said, "Act and God acts." And she had a private line to the Main Dude.

As Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Hope the May 1st Fête du Muguet brings you good fortune: (here) 

Looking Good and Doing Good~

With William, leader of the Maasai at a UN event

Olivia Palermo is the ‘IT’ girl.  An Audrey Hepburn gamine for the Instagram-Age. Growing-up on the Upper East Side she absorbed 5^th Avenue International style that college in Paris further polished.

The face of Rochas fragrance...she writes travel and fashion pieces for her own website, along with her two full-time writers, and a host of contributors from around the globe. And she’s the ambassador for a fascinating project that's helping the endangered Kenyan Maasai tribe. Olivia explains from Kenya: (here) 

She writes: “In our often hectic and full lives, we…forget that there are millions who starve, and millions that die from easily treatable diseases…we forget that there are millions who don’t have the opportunity to earn a living…

“Pikolinos…focuses on providing the Maasai with a better quality of life. The Pikolinos team supplies Maasai women with the leathers and materials used in the production of their brand’s shoes. The result is a gorgeous sandal collection, hand embroidered by Maasai women with the patterns, colors and designs that convey their unique cultural identity…

“Thanks to Pikolinos, Maasai women now earn stable wages for the first time in their lives (something that only men had the right to do before). Pikolinos and the NGO ADCAM are helping the Maasai community with the construction of schools, as well as providing access to basic goods, such as food and medicine. I am so proud to be a part of this project, which encompasses so many things that I value in life: fashion, women’s equality, and the right to an education and healthy life.”

Reading about the Maasai made me recall 'Out of Africa' as the tribe was integral to the story, and beloved by author Karen Blixen. Remember the gorgeous theme song? (here) I was so intrigued by Blixen's amour, Denys Finch Hatton, and years later stumbled upon his remarkable tribute in the London Times: (here) It's heartwarming to read about how a man was a giver and a light, instead of about his net worth.

We might not all be able to jet off to Kenya, but everyday, we can make life a little more stylish, and a little better for someone else.

Olivia and longtime partner, Johannes Huebl, slow dancing in a Paris park. Sweet: (here) Happy Happy Weekend…