I’m not sure Halloween still qualifies as back-to-school time. In fact, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t, and I for one feel like we have been steeped in our routine of early morning mad scrambles and late-afternoon homework-review-while-stirring-the-soup-and-supervising-piano-practice for quite a while already. For the second part of the summer, once my two older children came back from camp, I had the unpleasant feeling that I was sucked back into full Spring 2020 mode, dealing with the children day and night for a month with barely any help, and I have to say that I came back from this “vacation” rather exhausted - and wondering how on earth I managed to live that way for six full consecutive months last year. So much so that I was immensely grateful to have the children back in school in September FOR THE ENTIRE DAY – well, not quite for the pre-school ones who get out at the shockingly early hour of 2:30 pm. But still, still, it was a normal school day with NO LUNCH TO PREPARE FOR ANYBODY EXCEPT MYSELF and this “rentrée” felt like an absolute luxury to me after a year of hybrid (e.g almost non-existent) schooling. Heck, working also felt like an exotic pleasure, and I was almost – almost – happy to be back on my Metro North suburban train to go teach in-person myself again. I guess I was so relieved to be back on a normal schedule that I forgot to think about my blog. To be more accurate, I did think about it every day but kept deciding I had plenty of time to get started on it again. After all, it was only September 15. And then September 25, and then October rolled around and the kids were on vacation again, and then I had to recover from that vacation - which, thank goodness, only lasted a week.
And so here we are, Halloween is around the corner and I am finally ready to write my back-to-school post. I had grand visions for it and thought I would do an extensive recap of our best family and culinary moments in France – of which there weren’t actually so many because of my father’s health concerns and a death in the family. But still, I wanted to mention a few glorious places we discovered, including a wonderful coffee roaster and cafe in my family hometown of Biarritz, that serves the best cappuccino and the best cookies in town - or anywhere I know for that matter. And the fish soup and fresh shrimp with homemade mayo we buy from the fish store in Ile d’Yeu, which seems to have a few bad reviews online but is just perfection to me. It is probably quite puzzling to witness for my fellow Frenchmen, but when I go back to my country I turn into a complete American tourist oohing and aahing over the slightest food item and finding single bakery and butcher shop the most charming thing she has ever seen.
So, to cut a ridiculously long story short, even though we had quite an extended Indian summer in New York (read: a warm and sticky October, which was never what I signed up for when I fell in love with this city and its deliciously crisp and sunny Fall days twenty years ago), August feels like it belongs to another era and I am slightly embarrassed to even be writing this post. But this is what I intended to do a distant few weeks ago, so I decided to stick to it, because I am in a stick-to-it phase and trying to remain FOCUSED and COMMITTED, my friends. At least for the next 24 hours.
So, I guess this means you will have to bear with the perfect back-to-school recipe I was planning for you. You might want to replace it with good old-fashioned oatmeal now that the weather is finally cooling off. But in September, I assure you that this cold Bircher muesli seemed like the perfect breakfast to be enjoying every morning – and to have at the ready for the children when we were still struggling to wake up and leave the house on time with everything we needed. Not that we don’t struggle now, but we can report a steady streak of three weeks without forgetting either the little one’s bunny and nap mat or the middle-schooler metro card or the fifth-grader swim cap – which confirms that we are indeed a long way past "back-to-school" and now officially deep in the much less exciting "school year".
I have been using this charming mom recipe from as a base, and I add new toppings every time. I particularly enjoy having it with almonds, banana slices and pomegranate seeds, but needless to say the options are endless. And nothing is more satisfying than to wake up in the morning with a breakfast that’s already fully made. Yes, even if you toddlers declare that they don’t like it and want their Cheerios and their piece of toast. At least your husband – and maybe even your teen on a good day – will thank you for it. And yourself of course, which is obviously the most important thing and the whole reason you are even bothering with making breakfast in the first place.
Bircher Muesli (fancy name for overnight oats)
Ingredients
2 cups/150g rolled or quick oats
1¾ cups/420ml milk
¼ cup/60ml apple juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 apple, cored and grated with the peel
1-2 tablespoons honey
1½ cups/375g plain yogurt – I actually do not use yogurt and like my muesli with only milk – I find it makes for a slightly sticky, gooey texture that is quite deliciously regressive, but you might not agree with me.
A dash of cinnamon (optional) – I’m not a big fan of cinnamon so I skip this.
Toppings: anything that strikes your fancy - a good mix of fresh and dried fruit and nuts.
My favorites: banana slices, pomegranate seeds, raspberries and other berries, raisins, almonds and hazelnuts.
Not mentioned in the original recipe but an absolute must-have in our family: a dash (OK, let’s be truthtful, half a cup on reasonable days) of good Maple syrup.
Instructions
Combine oats, milk, apple juice and lemon juice and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.
In the morning add the grated apple, honey (to taste), yogurt if using, and mix well.
Top with your favorite fruits and nuts.
Don’t forget your “dash” of Maple syrup.
Enjoy!
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