First Impressions. The building itself is modest but decorated with little French touches. Each meal came with a house salad and homemade vinaigrette and an abundance of freshly-made bread. All food is made from scratch using local ingredients whenever possible and the quality is reflected in the great taste of each dish.

The Menu. La Galette Berichonne is a bakery/cafe so the menu includes lots of pastries and sandwiches. A chalkboard lists the hot entrees, which change on a regular basis. Everything on the board looked good to me so I peeked into the open kitchen and asked the chef for his recommendation: he suggested the Seafood Croustade and I was favorably impressed with the result (see below for pictures).

Seafood Croustade

Spinach quiche

Lamb

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Fellow diners after a great meal (notice the open kitchen in the background)

The Verdict. What a surprise to find authentic French fare (though in American-sized portions) prepared by a genuine French chef at very decent prices in the heart of nowhere! This restaurant is a real jewel.

Casual lunch? Date night? This restaurant would fit any occasion and any budget. One suggestion: call before you go. They are open different days for different meals, and even offer a once-a-month 7-course evening dinner for those who reserve well in advance. Chef Parny offers some culinary classes as well.

Why Fordland, MO? So why did Chef Roland Parny choose Fordland, a town of 684 situated 20 miles east of Springfield, for his restaurant? Apparently this part of Missouri is similar to Le Berry, the region of central France where Parny grew up. “Berichonne” means “from Le Berry” and “Galette Berichonne” is a savory stuffed pastry typical of Le Berry.

Bon appétit!

Though you may be told not to judge a book by its cover, you can certainly learn a lot from its opening line. The line above, uttered by an exasperated Raymond Boynton in Agatha Christie’s Appointment with Death, is my favorite opening phrase in literature. Here are other outstanding first lines from classic works — See which ones would inspire you to keep reading.

1.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

2.

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

3.

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

George Orwell, 1984

4.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

5.

“You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain’t no matter.”

Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

6.

“It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not.”

Paul Auster, City of Glass

7.

“Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing.”

Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

8.

“All this happened, more or less.”

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

9.

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.”

Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

10.

“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”

C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

11.

“The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children’s games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up.”

G.K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill

12.

“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”

Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle

13.

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley.”

Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

14.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Genesis 1:1, The Bible (King James Version)

And, of course, that classic line …

15.

“It was a dark and stormy night …” Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford

Every semester, my former boss’s sweet wife, Mrs. Dunn, hosted a brunch for Dr. Dunn’s students. They graciously invited me every time and I was only too eager to go! This sausage-mushroom breakfast bake and Mrs. Dunn’s French toast casserole were always huge hits and I’m thankful she was willing to share the recipes with me. Making them reminds me of the good times, great fellowship, and delicious food we invariably enjoyed at those brunches. I’m posting the breakfast bake recipe today and will post the French toast casserole recipe next Saturday.

Bake: 50 minutes + 10 minutes standing

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

1 pound bulk pork sausage

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

6 cups cubed bread

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes

10 eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups milk

2 teaspoons ground mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, cook sausage and mushrooms over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish; top with 2 cups sausage mixture and half of the cheese and tomatoes. Repeat layers (starting with bread cubes). In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper; pour over bread mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Nat’s Notes

• Do not substitute regular mustard for ground mustard, and do not skip ground mustard.
• This recipe can easily be cut in half to accommodate a small group.
• Because this casserole is very salty and not exactly low-cal, I serve it with a fruit salad (for example, fresh pineapple, orange, grapes, and strawberries).
• If you like onions, consider throwing in a finely-chopped regular onion in the first step of this recipe, or adding chopped green onions in the last 5 minutes of the meat cooking process.

She had asked me yesterday if, the next time I watered the plants, I would mind adjusting a loose strand of leaves from a pathos ivy nestled in the hollow area above the kitchen cabinets. It was a gentle request, but it was also a way of subtly reminding me to water the plants. I made a mental note but it was more like a note you scribble on a brightly colored sticky sheet and then lose in the next moment. I completely forgot about it in light of the work deadlines I was facing.

Until I saw her on the ladder.

I took over plant-watering duty just over two years ago when I moved in to help with my mom’s care. She had just suffered a second stroke and the doctors did not give her much chance to live. My mother has been a lifelong fan of plants — and, fortunately for her, has the requisite green thumb to go with that passion. Our house has never lacked in the area of pathos ivys, palms, philodendrons, bromeliads and various other combinations of healthy, growing plants.

My mother’s method of plant care is quite different from my own. My attention is usually attracted to the plants when I see something abnormal, like a yellowing or browning leaf. I’ll think, “Wow, how long has it been since I watered those plants? Two weeks? Three?” Then I reluctantly drag the step stool from the closet and grab the oversized plastic measuring cup and step up on the counters to reach the plants high above the kitchen cupboards and on top of bookshelves and china cabinets.

The smell of wet earth and plant mold fills my nostrils as I watch the water slowly infiltrate the earth and rise again, sometimes dangerously high, in the saucer beneath the pot. I pluck off decaying leaves and sometimes am a little too hasty in trimming (what I think are) dead strands. When I finish with them, the luscious locks of the pathos ivies look like they’ve been sheered by a very bad hairdresser — a little like the trim I gave my younger sister back when we were both kids, much to my mother’s horror.

On the other hand, my mother “tends” to her plants. She names them, talks to them, nourishes and grooms them — treats them almost like pets. They thrive under her care.

Are the plants mad at me? I’ve wondered that so many times. Do they know I’m not her and I really don’t care about them and that’s why they always seem to be pouting at me?

So today I caught her balanced precariously on a ladder. Well, it was only a two-tiered stepping stool but it might as well have been a fireman’s ladder stretching to the sky. She was reaching high above the fridge trying to restore to its original home a cascading strand of glossy pathos ivy leaves.

My first instinct was to jump up and scold her: “Mother, how many times have I told you not to get up on stools?” Fear is always my first emotion when it comes to my mom. The “what ifs” race through my brain faster than thoroughbreds at the Kentucky Derby. I’m her caregiver, the one in charge of her wellbeing, her health, her life. The weight of responsibility nearly crushes me sometimes.

I take a deep breath. What’s the worst thing that could happer to her? She could fall and hit her head. But then a voice inside my head asks, Is that really the worst thing that could happen to her? No, not really. The worst thing would be to treat her like a helpless child, to deprive her of control over her own life, to take from her the need to feel needed.

And so I let my mother climb a ladder today.

Wright Brothers Memorial

Ask any schoolchild in America who the Wright Brothers were and you’ll receive a pat answer along the lines of “They invented the airplane!” Yes, we owe this fantastic mode of transportation we call “airplane” to them; but beyond that, what do we really know about Wilbur and Orville Wright?

Did you know that Wilbur and Orville were lifelong bachelors who didn’t even graduate from high school? Their neighbors and friends were convinced that the eccentric Wright brothers would never amount to much. Little did those acquaintances know that the brothers were “afflicted with an idea,” as Wilbur put it in a letter to his mentor Octave Chanute: they were afflicted with the idea that man could fly.

Many other inventors had attempted to make flying machines. Competition along those lines was pretty fierce in the late 1800s. What made the Wright Brothers succeed where so many others had failed? Four characteristics stood out to me as I discovered more about the Wright’s story.

What made the Wright Brothers different?

They were willing to DREAM. They were crazy enough to think that just because something hadn’t been done before didn’t mean it couldn’t be done.

They were willing to FAIL. And they did — again and again and again, even to the point of putting their own lives in danger. And yet they never gave up, though the temptation to quit nearly overcame them many times.

They were willing to LOOK FOOLISH. You can fail repeatedly in private without anyone knowing. You can experiment in a laboratory hidden away from others and risk little embarrassment at a lack of success. But the Wright Brothers, though they were private people who tried to keep their experiments secret for as long as possible, chose to put themselves “out there.” The people in Kitty Hawk had never seen anything like these well-dressed grown men chasing through the sandy dunes after their gliders. The brothers were misunderstood and ridiculed. But they kept experimenting.

First landing strip, with museum and monument in background

They were willing to KEEP FIGHTING. In the years that followed the first successful flight, the brothers had to fight hard to protect their patent and their reputation. Though it made them unpopular in their latter years, the men (and especially Orville after Wilbur died) had to fight to secure their rightful place in history. The Smithsonian wanted to put one of its own as the inventor of flight; had Orville not fought tooth and nail for recognition of their idea, schoolchildren may be learning about Samuel Langley, not the Wright Brothers, as the inventor of the flying machine. Heritage and legacy are important.

The Wright Brothers took a complicated problem and made great headway with it. Through their willingness to dream, willingness to fail, willingness to look foolish, and willingness to keep fighting, they invented the first successful flying machine and affected the course of history.

Have you ever been “afflicted with an idea”? Ask God to help you have the same single-mindedness the Wright Brothers exhibited in their pursuit of aviation. Your God-inspired idea can change the world!

And I’ve had my share. The “wisdom” behind posts like Tips For If You Miss Your Flight usually comes from really stupid things I’ve done while traveling — like missing my flight because I’m sitting at the wrong gate or I’m waiting at the gate for a plane that’s going where I need to go and I think it’s my flight but, oh, it’s not my airline. I’ve slept overnight in airport lounges enough times to feel like a supporting cast member in Tom Hank’s movie The Terminal.

But every once in a while an experience falls into your lap that’s too good not to share.

Thanks to my uncle who trains pilots for a major airline, I was flying “non-rev” from Dallas, Texas to Norfolk, Virginia. Flying non-rev is a gamble: sometimes you don’t get a seat and get bumped to the next available flight, sometimes you manage to slip into the last seat available on the plane, usually a middle seat. And sometimes — blessed times — you get to fly First Class.

Yesterday was one of those blessed days. As I sat there in my luxuriously roomy seat watching the other passengers go by, I was trying to look sufficiently calm and composed on the outside while I was doing a happy dance on the inside. Thank you, Uncle Robert, thank you, thank you for your choice to work for the airline and support your family members’ addiction to travel. You are my hero.

I’ve already described in detail the pleasures of flying First Class, and how humbling it is to be given this gift through no merit of my own, symbolic in a way of that Other great gift we’ve been given through no merit of our own. So I’ll limit this post to describing what I had for lunch at 30,000 feet: grilled shrimp and cheesy grits. And they were surprisingly good.

This writers’ retreat week is off to a great start. Bring it on, Lord. I’m ready.

I read the summary and was intrigued. The heroine of the story, like me, was a journalist and was, also like me, an older single who has had her share of unpromising blind dates. Another thing that caught my attention was that the book was put out by a Christian publishing house, Bethany House. The last time I read a “good” mainstream novel there were so many bad words and compromising scenes in it that I had to put it down in disgust, even though it was captivating, well-written, and had won numerous awards.

Because of life’s craziness and lack of leisure time, I haven’t read a book “just for fun” in about six months. I decided to indulge — and read the book in three days. I liked how the author created such a warm and complex main character and also the inviting way in which she described the Outer Banks, with so much local color sprinkled in. There was a lot of real, human emotion in the book.

As I read, I was reminded of a novel of my own I had begun many moons ago but put aside to pursue more “serious” writing, i.e. the kind that pays the bills. Currently, the manuscript sits in my laptop under several layers of virtual dust. The file has the optimistic label “My First Novel.” I first started it in 2003 and haven’t written in it (or thought much about it) since 2005.

Tomorrow, I head out to the East Coast for a writers retreat in the Outer Banks. I’ve decided to take “My First Novel” with me and see if I can’t resurrected it. Might even give it a more exciting title. Thanks for the inspiration, Alice J. Wisler!

Hummus

A few days ago, I was on vacation in Greece eating souvlaki and swimming in the Mediterranean (not at the same time!). So today, to extend the experience a little, I decided to make that staple of the Mediterranean diet – hummus.

HOMEMADE HUMMUS

This recipe, posted by ROYHOBBS at Allrecipes.com, is super simple and easy to make.

Ingredients

1 (19 oz) can garbanzo beans, half the liquid reserved

4 TBS lemon juice

2 TBS tahini (I put in 3)

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper to taste

olive oil

Directions

1. In a blender, chop the garlic. Pour garbanzo beans into blender. Place lemon juice, tahini, chopped garlic and salt in blender. Blend until creamy and well mixed, adding in liquid from can as needed.

2. Transfer the mixture to a medium serving bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and pour olive oil over the top.

BAKED PITA CHIPS

The recipe for baked pita chips has been modified from an online recipe located at theshiksa.com.

Ingredients

4 pita bread rounds (I use whole wheat)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush your baking sheet with olive oil, coating the entire sheet evenly. Brush the top of a pita round evenly with oil oil. Sprinkle pita with salt to taste.

2. Cut the pita in half, then in quarters, then in eighths to make eight equal sized triangles.

3. Place pita triangles seasoning-side up in a single layer on the oiled baking sheet. Repeat process for remaining three pita rounds.

4. Place baking sheet in the oven. Let the pita chips bake for 8-10 minutes, turning the sheet once during the baking to ensure even heat distribution. Chips are done when they’re golden brown and crisp. Towards the end of baking keep an eye on the chips, as they will brown quickly and can burn if not watched.

5. Remove chips from oven and allow to cool. Serve the chips on their own or with a dip like hummus or baba ghanoush. Store in a sealed Tupperware or Ziploc bag.

Nat’s Notes

* Hummus can be served with vegetables as an even healthier alternative

* Chickpeas contain loads of fiber and nutrients

* Hummus makes a healthy snack as well as a great sandwich spread

My first attempt is seen below:

Clockwise from left: black olives (wrinkly kind), Greek yogurt, stuffed grape leaves, and green olives in brine.

These products were all purchased from the local store in the closest village, Agii Apostoli. The descriptions were all in Greek so I relied entirely on the label photos. They all had a Greek flag on their packaging, which I’m assuming means “Made in Greece.” Yum! Everything tastes so good!

Near village of Agii Apostoli

On Monday, I flew from London to Athens. After 3 1/2 weeks of rain in England with highs barely reaching the 60s and lows in the 40s, I had one desire: warmth!! And Greece delivered. It’s been lovely, with temperatures in the 90s, beautiful, consistent, reliable sunshine but a gentle breeze from the ocean and lots of shade to cool things off.

I flew Aegean Airlines, the largest Greek airline. Flying a non-US airline was something I hadn’t done in a while but I was impressed by the quality of the service (okay, so that’s code for “they served a free hot meal and it was good!”). We arrived an hour late but no one seemed too concerned. Everything is so laid back. No customs forms to fill out and just a short passport control line to get through, separated into EU and non-EU members.

The owner of the villa we’re renting picked me up in her car and we drove about an hour to the village of Agii Apostoli where I’ll be staying for a week with my sister, her husband and my two little nieces. I was pleasantly surprised at the modern infrastructure — nice highways and a subway system — and Amelia, my hostess, said all of that is new since the 2004 Olympics.

I found out a lot of information from Amelia concerning the political and educational system here and Greece, and asked her lots of questions about the political climate since the recent elections. As we drew closer to the ocean, the views grew increasingly dramatic and I’d interrupt her every once in a while with a gasp. What a beautiful country!