She managed to get together nearly everyone we work with & usually run around with–PLUS their significant others. This is an immense success, so it should be a wonderful weekend walking around the woods & eating cheese-based, fattening foods.
To get ready for this, I spent the evening working. Joe was out of the apartment, which means I had a chance to revert to my normal cleaning practices: destroy everything, get it all out there & then start over with organization. I have a lot of dishes to do...
It felt like I made the first dinner I'd made in ages. On the way back from an afternoon date with a friend, I stopped by the market to grab some produce, stopped by the bakery to get some bread & stopped by the butcher to get some chicken breasts.
It was my first time in a French butcher shop, since I don't usually buy meat. I'd long been admiring this traditional-looking shop, & I'd had several people recommend it to me. No wonder. Their prices were low; their meat was all French & all top quality. I had the best customer service I've experienced in France.
"Service" isn't exactly an industry in France. The custom, when approaching a member of the "service industry" is to first say, "Excusez-moi de vous dérangez, mais...." Excuse me for disturbing you, but could I ask you to do your job for a moment? No? Okay, I'll try again later.
But in this shop, I couldn't stop smiling. The three young workers behind the counter were eager to answer any questions, helpful finding just what you were looking for & quick to round down on the scale's price. I felt like I'd been shopping with them for years.
So I got my fillets, two for dinner & one for sandwiches tomorrow, & made my way home. I set the chicken to soaking in an orange marmalade-barbecue sauce. I then tried to made caramel mousse... which was a disaster.
It all started out well. I spent 20 minutes of my life breaking my arm trying to whip light cream into firm, mousse-ish cream. I then tried to make caramel using course, natural sugar. Warning: This. does. not. work. At all. The second you remove it from heat to add the other ingredients & fold it into your mousse base, it turns into a Health bar. This isn't all bad, but it does not equal mousse & it destroys your dinner plans & it makes you realize how bad your arms hurt/how hungry you are & you melt the whole things on the stove again before throwing in the freezer.
The mess that comes out of the freezer isn't all bad... a bit like a melted Health blizzard. Eat with moderation or you'll spend the next two hours wanting to die. (I know from experience.)
At least Joe hugged me when I started throwing cream around & screaming in the "kitchen." I put the chicken in & tossed around the roasting carrots & potatoes. Dinner was a success, even though dessert wasn't the traditional French masterpiece I wanted it to be. Plus, our table was even brighter thanks to the flowers Joe got me.
He'd been sick all day, so the gesture to brighten my day when he was down counted for double thank-you points. Plus, he helped out a seemingly homeless person. She was selling them outside of our usual bread & pastry shop, which he had stopped by for an afternoon treat. (Guess what it was?) They were less expensive from us & meant more to her than it would to a florist. So one bouquet of daffodils served to make at least three people happy.
Hope your April is starting out happy! How are you welcoming spring?
Enjoy what you're reading? I'd love to know that we're on track. Click Follow on the right side of the screen to stick with us.
0 comments:
Post a Comment