F is for 'en famille'

en famille :: with the family

a few weeks ago, the pedens were here on their annual european adventure. this year they hit barcelona, bordeaux, and paris (we've already planted the seed for ireland 2010 - if we're still here, which sadly is still up in the air (will keep you posted). the logic is thus: enough with wine already - let's drink some beer! plus, i'm irish, and i've never seen me roots!).

anyway, they were here for 4 nights, which meant knox and i each put on 5 pounds! we came home one night with enough leftover steak to feast on steak salad, steak and eggs, and two nights' worth of steak, tomato, and spinach stew! i love that!! and speaking of steak, we discovered the best piece of meat in town (maybe any town, it was that good): restaurant severo. turns out, the owner, a celebrated parisian butcher (did you even know that butchers were celebrated?? this one is!) is our neighbor, and his restaurant is on the corner. for a very pretty little penny (try 36E), you can have yourself the purest, happiest, most glorious filet you'll ever sink your teeth into. now i know why rare is best. i cannot recommend this place enough. make reservations though - it's tiny.

but we had fun, even when we weren't eating red meat....

falafel en famille

fine art en famille

fizzy drinks en famille

betty crocker, i am not

a few weeks ago, knox discovered kiri, the french version of philadelphia cream cheese, and in a fit of unchecked domesticity, i decided to make a carrot cake upon which we might spread our new treat...



a couple of things i learned and/or have surmised:
1) cutting the sugar by more than half really makes a difference, and maybe not a good one
2) chinese ginger and the other ginger aren't quite the same
3) this might seem obvious, but a casserole dish is NOT a cake pan
4) apple sauce is a pretty fine substitution for canola oil

anyway, knox ate it and called it "interesting," which given his enthusiasm for food means it was borderline inedible. oh well... baking just isn't my thing. c'est pas mon truc, as the frenchies say. lesson learned.