"Little Chef"

If you've seen "Ratatouille" you know: A. it's a good, but not great movie, B. it takes place in Par-ee, and C. it's about a "little chef" - a rat with a big culinary dream...

Jonah is actually terrified of this film (crazy lady with a shotgun? Check. Lovable rodent in mortal danger? Check.), but the message of small creatures having big gastronomic goals was not lost on him. I realized this back in San Francisco when, sampling some oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough, Jonah intoned, "Hmmm, needs more vanilla!"

France can give even those who loathe the kitchen the yen to cook. The ingredients are so attractively displayed at market stalls throughout the city. It is the season of "cepes" right now, for example, and this display of 'shrooms made my head spin with creative options, most of them involving butter, cream and eggs....

Jonah has become my little doppelganger in the kitchen and says unbearably endearing things like, "Mom can't do the work all by herself, can she?" and, "NO, no, no, I am going to peel the carrots. Not that peeler, the other one!"

We are full of plans, my little chef and I. We found baking soda and, with the excuse of "Mimi" (my mom) coming tomorrow ON her actual birthday, we decided to make chocolate chip cookies. Not very French, I know, but tracking down the ingredients provided a compelling challenge. But with Jonah, you can always expect an extra bit of flair. I mean, this is a child whose favorite fruit is pomeganate... So he turns to me as we are discussing the chocolate chip cookies and tells me, "You know how the peanut butter here is kind of sweet?" (They DO now sell peanut butter in France, but only the sweetened Skippy variety) "I think we should put the peanut butter in the cookie recipe."

Mais, oui, mon petit chef!