
On the flight to Paris she promised herself she’d try her best to keep it loose and let her emotions stretch out, go wherever they wanted. Not fight against them so much. When she wants a croissant or pain au chocolat, that’s what she eats.”
– Half-Blown Rose
Half-Blown Rose is filled with desire and hunger of all sorts. Vincent, naturally, has some apprehension and guilt when it comes to taking a lover in Paris. Her lover, Loup, is twenty years younger than she is— the same age as her son— and she and Cillian haven’t officially called off their relationship. But the word guilt is not in Vincent’s vocabulary when it comes to food. She takes great pleasure in eating. Her close friend, Agathe, loves to bake treats and stop at boulangeries for croissants, millefeuilles, chouquettes, before making her way over to Vincent’s apartment for wine and chats.
A pain au chocolate recipe is an easy choice to spotlight: one of my favorite things to do, while I was in Paris, was to get a bag of pain au chocolat and wander. I gave Vincent those same feelings and let her dig in. Vincent enjoys grabbing a bag of pain au chocolat and noshing on it while she saunters. Much like a long bubble bath or ignoring “responsibilities” to finish a good book, making and eating pain au chocolat (just because!) feels so decadent. A true pleasure!
-Leesa Cross Smith
Note, Menu and Book Giveaway: Book Club Buzz