Tuesday, July 13, 2010

TARTES de LUNE

I love travel blogs. I love to see the places people choose to visit, to see, to immerse themselves in, far from home. It’s wonderful to see what they choose to do and see and buy when they’re on their journeys, and I especially love the ones which visit cooking stores and food shops and the open markets with their arrays of vegetables and fruit and flowers and herbs arranged in those fleeting still-life bouquets.

I’ve looked with tongue-curling envy on all the lovely boxes from Laduree’ and Fauchon, their jewel-box presentations of chocolates and pastries and small, perfect creations of sugar and cream and cake. I especially enjoy the photos of all the luscious pastel macarons, set like precious stones in the velvet of the distinctive boxes, carried gently home for another sweet taste of the trip.




We purchased these in a quaint little shop on our travels; the colors were intriguing, and the creamy ganache smooth as baby-skin. They’re called Tartes de Lune---round and luscious--- one softly tinged with essence of orange, one with the crisp tang of lemon, and the third, scented with delicate vanilla.



I’d never seen a pastry quite like them before, save for their more robust chocolate brethren, but they have a second layer of the fluffy mousse, sandwiched with another of the tender pastry rounds. We’re looking forward to trying them for dessert this evening.

Their scent is enticing, their demeanor, lovely still perfection. Their blush of color, smooth and shining, with the creamy interior cushiony and lush, all belie their humble origins and their purveyor’s plebeian atmosphere. Far, far from Paris, I admit, but so aptly OURS, so perfectly ME, that I find them charmingly alluring and simply delightful in their humble way.

TARTES de LUNE:


From the famous patisserie and purveyor of all things delicious and enticing: THE SMOKEHOUSE, in Pine Apple, Alabama.


12 comments:

  1. Heeheehee! I love them! Didja have a "Crown de Royale" to go with them?

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  2. I loved this so much! I loved all the French, and thought you had been to France! I was saying they do look so similar to our cherished Moon Pies! Oh, and they are! lol Great post! Come link over to Tea Time Tuesday! I so enjoy your comments! Thank You for leaving them!

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  3. Thanks fo the smile and memory of a yummy treat of land ago. You had me going, my mouth watering, wanting to try these tasty morsels!
    I am so glad you were able to see, hold your new little one and inhale his sweet goodness. Thank you also for leaving such a kind comment. I am late returning all the wonderful kindness in the land of Blog. ~♥

    I also smiled to see you dwell in Towandaland. I once thaought of obtaining ToWanda on my license plate. :)

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  4. I was there!! She speaks the truth!! Alas, I saw no R C Cola to wash down my Moon Pie. Besides, something just wasn't right about a colored Moon Pie. Not sure I really want to eat one and possibly confuse my memory of a real Southern treat. I might possibly try one tonight after I have some boiled green peanuts.

    What's next?? Colored baloney?? Probably not, my Mom always said to not eat the colored baloney. It has to be nice and pink with a mild garlic smell. Can' be be slick either! Yuck!!!

    rachel's CHRIS

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  5. This many years together, and he's still a CHARMER!! <3

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  6. You made it all the way home without tasting them? Hard to believe. Have never seen orange or lemon. May have to try to find some.

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  7. Oh, the good 'ole Moon Pie! Great post! I ate so many of these when I was a girl, I don't even want to smell one now! But, they were so very good back in the day. With the RC Cola, to be sure. I have not looked closely at the Moon Pies in a long time, so I did not even know they were lemon and orange flavors.

    I am so glad you had a wonderful time. And, that baby! Did you just fall in love and rock and walk and sing and sway? I am green!

    Did you find green peanuts to boil? Or did you buy some already boiled? We have a certain brand of boiled peanuts here that come in a can. They really are decent...especially if you put them in a pot and heat them through. Never as good as the real thing, though. Did you know that the Dothan area is called the Peanut Capital of the World? We even have the National Peanut Festival in November each year. The only downside is when they start turning the fields, every other person you meet is sneezing and sniffling, and has red, itchy eyes!

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  8. thanks for the laugh!! Glad you're back safe and sound.

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  9. You know we gave Moon Pies as favors for Shawn's wedding. We just didn't know we were giving such a sophisticated gift. Ha!

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  10. I was thinking that sounded an awful lot like a Moon Pie!

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  11. Oh my goodness, girl. You have me laughing aloud. This post is prize-winning.

    I am always drooling over the photos of all the gorgeous macarons, and I have been wanting to try them for quite some time.

    But, now you have shown me an attainable substitute. And, I graciously thank you.

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  12. Really, they are moon pies! That was a surprise.

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