Found: dried cranberries!

Spotted at LIDL in bags of 200 grams for 99 centimes.

Why should you eat dried cranberries? They provide antioxidant vitamins and flavonoids, and they also have an anti-adhesion quality that keeps certain bacteria from sticking to cells in the urinary tract, the mouth and stomach.

Lidl is a European discount supermarket chain of German origin that operates 7,000 stores.

Found: Yellow squash!

Just last week I told a friend that I hadn't seen yellow squash (also called summer squash) since moving to Lyon three years ago.

Today I am happy to report that huge baskets of the bright yellow beauties are available at Monoprix for 4.90 euros/kilo. They're imported from Holland and sold as courgette jaune.

Need some recipe ideas? Go here.

Happy Fourth of July!

Just in time for this weekend's picnics, Mark Bittman has come up with 101 picnic dishes that can be prepared in 20 minutes - and most of the ingredients are easily found in Lyon.

Read his full article in the New York Times here. Or, read by category:

9-19: Raw Vegetables

20-30: Cooked Vegetables

31-42: Bean, Rice and Grain Salads

43-54: Potato Salads and Egg Salads

55-60: Fruit

61-70: Seafood

71-80: Meat and Poultry

81-90: Sandwiches

91-94: Cold Noodles

95-101: Desserts