Friday, October 10, 2008

I Suppose It Really Is All About The Food

So today has been an interesting day. Let me start off by explaining that my husband switches shifts, so currently we are on nights, with us staying up until early afternoon and then sleeping until about 7 or 8. So my food schedule is always quite different than other peoples. Basically, we eat items at times of day that are not considered "normal". Like today for instance, when for one meal at 6 a.m. we had a glass of wine to accompany. Most people here would consider that a bit early to be opening a bottle of wine.

Pretty much all day I have been cooking. I took a quick nap early in the morning and then got up and began preparing our morning meal. I heated up a pan on the stove for salmon filets with lemon and salt, pulled out a dish to roast asparagus, all while half asleep. The meal turned our wonderfully, my husband opened a bottle of white wine (a rarity in our red wine household) and we sat and talked over our small meal for a good 30-40 minutes. Then we went out running errands, including going to the grocery store. I had planned on our mid-day meal to be something simple, maybe sandwiches, but in the meat section they had some beautiful turkey breasts that were less than $2.50 a piece. My husband was quite confused as to why the turkey was cheaper than the chicken breasts, even at full price. To which I explained that turkey really isn't as big in France, where the poultry at our store comes from. So now, having the turkey breast, I decided that I would fix a simple meal of roasted turkey breast (I put sea salt, freshly ground pepper, a little butter rubbed in, and a squeeze of lemon--which came out as a hint of lemon, yum!), mashed potatoes (adding the broth from the turkey breast gave it nice flavor), and more roasted asparagus. My husband ended up helping out by making the potatoes, which was nice. We always enjoy cooking together. I also put together a salad of tomatoes, buffalo mozzerella, and marinated garlic cloves. Add in another small glass of wine, and it was a lovely way to enjoy the beautiful afternoon we were having.

The best part was that while preparing that meal I was also prepping for the next meal, which had been planned a couple days ago, and we already had bought the ingredients for. I love quiche. I can admit it, it's a popular meal in this household. I actually made one last month when a friend was visiting, and was horrified when she asked for ketchup! Apparantly she always puts ketchup on her quiche, even her own. But I asked that she at least try it without, and she agreed. Turns out she ate 2 pieces of it without a drop of ketchup, declaring it the best quiche she had ever eaten (high praise indeed from her). So while the turkey was roasting I was cutting butter into flour for my crust and chopping up onions. After the midday meal my husband and I went out to buy a book for me (more on that later) and then headed to bed. I got up several hours later and began frying bacon, mixing up the egg custard, and grating the Gruyere. All in all, it made the house smell delicious, and provided a lovely meal for us before my husband headed to work.

I should mention that I love food. My husband calls our cookbooks and any food blog I read "Kate porn" as I become enthralled with the beautiful pictures and reading off the ingredients. I could go on, but think I should probably save it for another post. Needless to say, I enjoyed my day of cooking, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been to make my French chocolate cake from scratch (always a good way to kill time, as it has so many steps).

Hopefully I will be able to post more regularly now. We had nearly a week of dealing with car issues, so I was a little off in my chic-ness. But today re-established our routine, and I am happy to say, this blog has been very helpful for me. The comments have been supportive, and it's becoming a place where I feel I can be open and honest about this crazy life my husband and I lead. Over the midday meal today we were discussing that while I love our lifestyle I find it hard sometimes to be open about the way we do things with other people our age. Both of us at 24 seem to be interested in the way of living most don't experience until much later. We sit and sip our wine, enjoy conversations over long meals, love walking through the markets figuring out which stalls we prefer, or sitting and enjoying tea and a good book. This blog has become a place to share all that with readers who are interested in the same things, and often have lovely things to share themselves. So feel free to leave comments, to suggest things to me, and of course mention your own blog, as the ones I have read have been delightful to read!

3 comments:

  1. I'm a lurker on the French Chic yahoo group and saw your blog address. I love the Tartelette site also, and read cookbooks just for fun. Have you ever read the Goldy Bear mysteries by Diane Mott Davidson? She's a caterer, and I always get inspired to cook after I listen to one as a book on tape. Best wishes! Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know that this is not a cooking blog, but can you put up the recipe for the quiche? It sounds lovely........ I already plan to try the duck sometime soon (I have always been a bit to scared to try duck, not knowing how to cook it).

    Thanks,
    J

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your salmon dinner (breakfast) sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete