About 13desserts

13desserts is a blog that was started to find out wether I really like writing about food as much as making food. I am French, but grew up in Germany (where I live today) and am now married to a Canadian. We live in Berlin and have 3 little boys, two of which are twins. On top of blogging and being a mother and a wife, I also work full time in culture, and that’s all I will say lest I be you know what.

The title of this blog was suggested to me by my husband after a true story: the 13 desserts are a Christmas tradition in the French region of provence where some of my family live. Our first Christmas there – I must have been maybe 6 or 7 – I was listening in on the food planning and the mention of 13!DESSERTS! made me just about faint. 13 desserts to eat (no question of choice here folks!) you see, was quite simply my idea of paradise. The reality of what it in fact was remains one of the biggest disappointments in my life: amongst those ‘desserts’ were such fabulously fun things as dried fruit and nuts (fun!), as well as fresh fruits and various dry-as-a-bone boring cookies. The worst of all however, in my eyes, was the “pompe à l’huile”: a sweet cake made with olive oil and flavoured with orange blossom water. Now, I admit that to a grown up food nerd, this may sound interesting, but if you are 6 years old and expecting chocolate, cakes and chocolate cakes, imagine the disappointment…

Add to that the fact that I was known to hide in the dark pantry (despite being acutely afraid of the dark at that age), just to be able to eat chocolate without being policed! I also snuck out my brother’s easter candy from his room, because I considered his disdain for all things sweet to be a waste of my tastebuds. You get the picture.

My actual knowledge of cooking and food comes from my family and my own ‘gourmandise’, and from the fact that as a frenchie, I am supposed to know EVERYTHING about food and cooking – and to know it better than anybody else. in short: ze cooking, it eez in my bloodeuh.