Fun soiree in Santa Monica

What a fun evening we have just had! Friends came over for dinner and we laughed and laughed, enjoyed each other's conversation, and had an excellent evening.
First of all, I forced myself into cutting a few roses from the beautiful back garden. I know there are many flowers, and that roses need to be cut to become stronger, but somehow, it's always difficult for me to cut flowers in a home garden. The picture does not show, but I chose the roses that were about to end their cycle of beauty!I set the table using pale blue plates, and a heavy textured white tablecloth. Interestingly enough, the tumblers are preserve jars. I think it looked very pretty! After a glass of wine, dinner started with a large avocado and organic baby spinach leaves salad, where I had added black olives, cilantro, and almonds. I seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice. Bread was from La Brea, wine from Napa, and company a true regal. The sea food risotto was delicious, I was told, and the pear and chocolate clafouti presented in individual ramekins, a treat. I had added dry cranberries which enhanced the fruit flavor of my dessert.
What a delight!

Wine Weekend at a Château

Being that I just wrote about Juliet Bruce-Jones and her Wine Tours in the Languedoc, I thought I should tell you that there are a few spaces left for a Wine Weekend at Château Ventenac at the end of March.
Juliet will be there to introduce the guests of the Château to wines of the area and take them to visit wineries throughout the Languedoc.

Minestrone: No excuses, you can prepare a great meal (4)

While at the market I was tempted by the many vegetables available and decided to make a MINESTRONE, a thick hearty Italian soup that can make an easy whole meal in its own right.
Duck Liver terrine (bought ready made from the charcutier)
Vegetable minestrone
Fresh Pears
I bought a thick slice of panceta, 1/2 cabbage, a celery branch, 2 carrots, 2 medium leeks, 2 potatoes (pink) ...
At home, I diced the pancetta. I always have onions and garlic, so I chopped one onion and I crushed 2 garlic cloves.
I heated olive oil in a large pan and put the panceta, onion, and garlic. I used medium heat.
In the meantime, I cleaned, peeld, and diced the vegetables.
When it was golden brown, I added the sliced leeks, diced carrots and potato, chopped celery branch.
I covered and let cook over medium to low heat a few minutes.
I added 8 cups of home made vegetable stock I had in the freezer - if you do not have any, simply add water; add the fresh white beans and one can of Italian peeled and diced tomatoes.
After 20 minutes, I added the cabbage cut in stripes and let cook 15 more minutes.
Season to taste, beware, pancetta is salty so you willl need less salt. Add pepperoncino or another pepper.
Freeze what you wil not use and choose one of the follwoing "finishings" when you use.
> add penne pasta, let cook 10 minutes and add one Tbsp of pesto genovese (pine nuts, basil, parmiggiano, peccorino, gralic, and olive oil mixed).
> add 1/2 cup arborio rice and serve with fresh grated parmiggiano.
We had a delicious duck liver terrine as an appetizer and fresh pears for dessert.

Perfect Paris - Day 3

A good night's sleep helped to revive my aching feet.
Surprisingly only one blister had appeared on my left heel, and this was the first trip I've taken in ages when my lower back wasn't in agony from miles of walking.

Besides, little aches and pains weren't going to stop me from enjoying another gorgeous day.

After a quiet morning of coffee, pain au noix and checking email, I bandaged up my feet, put on my most comfortable shoes and we finally left the apartment.
We agreed that a picnic in the Square des Batignolles with Döner kebabs from my friend's favorite place in the quirky, vibrant Batignolles neighborhood would be an excellent way to kick off the afternoon.

We soaked up some sun in the park and hopped on a bus for a leisurely trip across town to check out the cheese shops on the rue Mouffetard, then on to the Butte aux Cailles neighborhood in the 13th to see Aimée's little jewel of a tea house, l'Oisive Thé, and to meet another blogger, Samantha, for tea.
It was great to connect with these two women and hear about their lives in Paris. (Aimée's delicious, moist, chocolaty, chocolate chips cookies were another reason to stay and hang out)


I spent the late afternoon on my own, window shopping in the Marais, passing some time in a café watching the world go by, and walking past Notre Dame with its dazzling new facade on the Île de la Cité to my destination; a tiny bookshop on a tiny street in the 5th to attend Heather Stimmler-Hall's launch party for her new book, Naughty Paris, a book that every woman living in Paris should own.
There was one familiar face in the crowd, who were all happily drinking wine and enjoying some nibbles outside on the cobblestone street, and a couple of familiar voices; Katia and Kyliemac!

By the time I left the party, I was absolutely exhausted.
My trip home on the very, very busy Metro took two changes and almost an hour of being packed in like a sardine. Not used to this crowded city life, I tell you!

Finally crashing on the couch and taking off my shoes was pure heaven.

Saint Séverin church

La Gastronomia Italiana (3)

This is the place in Tremezzo where we had most of our meals. Very near where we were staying, at the Piazza Roma, by the Lago itslef, a small ristorante without a name, catering good home made style food for Italians - and some tourists, like us!

The menu was always tempting - and so were the prices! And the last days we were in Tremezzo, I opted for the full fare to feel more Italian! I had the antipasto de la casa, an abundant plate of locals cold cuts (bresaola, parama ham, coppa) with a side dish of vegetables (pictured above): pickeled onions, artichokes, and beans. All delicious. I had this and dessert as a full meal other days! Among the many primi piatti, mostly different types of pasta, I chose the simple fresh tagliatelle al pomodoro (fresh tomato sauce) with a leave of fresh basil. We had the pesce del lago as secondi piatti: a grilled lake di Como fish the size of a very large sardine. Are you already feeling you had too much? No? Good, because then comes the cheese: a local mountain cow milk cheese (aged about three months). And as you have guessed, I am a fan of Tiramisu, so I gave it a try! It was too sunny outside and the dining room in the first floor, a cozy room with only five tables, had a splendid view! What agreat Friday! I had only mineral water, wine does not do me any good for lunch when it's hot.

Photo du Jour

This was...
interesting.

The Boulangerie/Patisserie in Peyriac-Minervois is using a female mannequin dressed in a chicken costume to advertise that they have roasted chickens for sale over the weekend.

A rather surreal sight.

Meuhhhh!

When I visit an agricultural show in France, cattle owners are impressed I can identify the different breeds. I do enjoy these visits, I like cows. They reminds me of the Agricultural Fairs of El Prado, in Montevideo. I grew up in Uruguay, a cattle country.

There are 14 different breeds of cows in France, and here are some of them. So meet the Blonde d'Acquitaine, the Charolais, the Limousine, the Holstein, the Normande, and check for a Montbeliard veal in the previous post! Meuhhhhhhhh!