The James Bond of Chairs, Maybe.

I gushed about my Klismos desk chair finally being finished and lookin’ pretty gorgeous last Friday and today I grabbed some pictures to show him off! We bought two of these chairs for a great price on the other side of Paris and dragged them back home on public transportation but they needed a lot of work. They had been coated in (what seemed like) three-inches of brittle, cracked varnish. It was like the chair had been dipped in really strong Jolly Rancher liquid and it took me forever to get it all off. It cost me a lot too: a lot of joint angst over the following days. But once I got it all cleaned up and put a coat of satin black paint and a new black velvet seat on, I couldn’t believe the transformation.

Above is the chair after I managed to get everything off it, including the dirty and water-stained old vinyl seat covering. See all those little dark spots on the seat frame? That’s how many old staples I pried out. Ouch.

And who better to demonstrate the chair’s strong-but-sexy (dare I say James Bond-like? Yes, I dare.) lines but Albert? Work it Bug! Look at those curves. The chair lives at my desk which is next to the kitchen so I can see it in profile when I glance over while cooking. Seriously, did you see those legs in the first picture?! Sexy. I love it. And I’m so glad it’s done!

Just had to share it with you. But I’ll be back tomorrow with a recipe that I trying to use to ward off the endless Paris drizzle. Are you keeping dry?

xo,

A.

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Marché Photo of the Week

Summer’s marchés are hard to resist. Of course, fall and winter, and even spring offer favorite fruits, vegetables, and even cheese that we covet when they arrive, but summer is seductive for it’s sheer variety of goodies. And that’s why I tend to get ahead of myself. I routinely buy more than we need and often more than I can use in the week. The possibilities and low prices are hard to resist. So it happens that some weekends I haven’t really bought much of anything at the marché because I’m trying to catch up with the goodness still in my fridge. It’s happened one or two times that we arrive at the marché Sunday morning and I realize my list may have been a bit to small to warrant the trip but it’ s a weekend ritual we must carry out none the less.

This week I am back to a sort of equilibrium. The fridge is looking emptier and the freezer too since I’m pushing to make space there that I just want to fill again with summer produce preserved for winter. So, what I’m trying to say, is that I finally have a marché picture to share after several weeks without one. Here’s what we came home with for the week:

– radishes

– 2 pounds of tomatoes to eat every time we walk past the bowl on the counter (addictive) and 4.5 lbs (not pictured) to roast and freeze because they were being sold for 50 cents a pound and how can I walk away from that?

– yellow and purple carrots

– demi polka loaf

– green kohlrabi

– eggplant

– cucumber

– red sweet peppers

– potatoes

– “fontaine” onion

– zucchini

– dill

– parsley

And here are some dishes they will go into:

Stir fried Vegetables with Mediterranean Flavors and Sesame Quinoa Pilaf (from) – Summer Quesadillas – Insalata de Pomodori, Finocchi, e Seppie – Pizza – Roasted Vegetable Tart with Chevre and Herb Salad (coming soon)

~

Also this past weekend, we had an adventure picking up two klismos chairs from a lady selling them on the other side of Paris (one hour away on public transport, 10 minutes if we had a car. ugh.).

Here is the picture I posted on instagram while we were waiting for the tram. I can’t wait to strip the chairs and redo them completely! I’ll share when they are done. They came as a pair for a great price but for the moment I only need one at my desk and I love it already. If you want to see other little bits like this, find me over on twitter or on instagram (abigaillabranche).

One other quick note: I had a request on the Facebook page for a little tomato roasting guidance so I’ve edited last Friday’s post with some tips for roasting and freezing them. Check it out.

So, how was your weekend? Any great finds?

xo,

A.