La Fête du Muguet et La Fête du Travail

Today is La Fete du Muguet and la Fete du Travail--May Day and Labor Day all in one!  People give Lilies of the Valley (Les Muguets) to their friends to symbolize happiness and friendship.  The flower shops are all open and people are selling Lilies of the Valley from stands on the sidewalk.

The sun is shining!  We strapped on helmets, jumped on the elevator,  unwrapped the girls' bikes, brought them up from the cave (our basement storage),  and rode them to the park. 

 The ride on the sidewalk involved a lot of cafe table and pedestrian dodging.  Once at the park, a road was blocked off for riding.  Scooters are very popular among French kids and adults.  Being a pedestrian can be very dangerous.

Impromptu Grammar Lesson: L'accent Cironflexe

The sun is shining into our apartment and we can hear the Sarkozy rally going on outside.  I baked some zucchini bread to celebrate the return of sunshine.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (from an ancient Cooking Light magazine)

3/4 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup applesauce

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups finely shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (177 C.)

2. Mix it all up (Make sure to squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the shredded zucchini)

3. Grease the pan (9x5 loaf pan) and pour in the batter.

4. Bake for about an hour.

5. Cool for about 10 minutes before removing it from pan.

This recipe is for one loaf.  I doubled it.