Following the recipe. 

Recipes are a helpful tool when we are learning how to cook a new dish that we have never attempted before. But similar to training wheels, they can hold us back from experimenting and discovering new flavor combinations once we have mastered the basics that please our palette even more when we muster up the courage to cook or bake by memory and engage in creative experimentation. 

A recipe, whether it is one we use in the kitchen or for life as we listen to those we love, absorb the advice of books or look to the world around us, are important to give us options and ideas. But we shouldn't forever adhere to someone else's recipe. Why? Because that particular recipe was made for someone else. 

There is no other person like you. No other human being has the genetic coding precisely like your own, nor was anyone else born, raised and surrounded by the events, people, conversations that you were as you walked your journey thus far through life. 

Consider all of the elements mentioned above as the ingredients and yourself as the cook, but also the pièce de résistance that will be the outcome when you choose to take on the challenge of making sense of the magic that resides within combined with the experiences that have been shared with you. 

Speaking of sharing, this week I am excited to share with you a post (and a playlist) that a reader requested I compile: the Escape to France . . . playlist. Consisting of 16 jazz songs and running 45 minutes, you will find new and old, lyrical and non-lyrical, well-known artists as well as fairly new, some with French lyrics, some with English, as well as a couple of favorite songs from soundtracks of films such as Paris Can Wait and Something's Gotta Give. It was fun coming up with the list, and be sure, there will be more playlists to come now that I know how to curate them on Spotify. As well, be sure to share what you would love to listen to as I am always listening and looking for reader requests.

The newsletter this week is full of intriguing posts and a wonderful new episode of the podcast in which I talk with my guest, Susan Hermann Loomis about France, Food and yes, even her time spent with Julia Child. Susan was truly a pleasure to talk to, and many listeners who have already tuned in want more about the mini lesson she gave about salt during our conversation. You won't want to miss it.

Thank you for subscribing to the weekly newsletter, and I do hope you have a wonderful final weekend in January. Until next week, I'll see you on the blog.