Dinner In The Latin Quarter

Since the air show was somewhat of a bust with the cold and the rain, we decided to go downtown for a bit on the Saturday evening.  While there, we had lunch at a little French restaurant and I discovered that Andreas loves raclette, something I didn't know before.  While he had all that cheese and pork on potatoes, I had an onion soup and beef bourgignon.  The soup was wonderful on a cold and drizzly day, but the stew's meat was dry and overcook, so somewhat of a disappointment.  The photo at the end is the restaurant front.  Andreas, by the way, enjoyed his raclette immensely despite not being able to finish it.

X'ed Up

The X is now made.  One more step done!

Ooooh, Pretty!

This little raspberry tart was from the bakery between our hotel and the metro station in Paris.  Isn't it pretty?  It tasted good, too!

Bands Of Blue

I can't believe how full this is looking.  I'm pleased with the progress!

Italian Dinner In Paris

 Our hotel was just to the south of the Buttes Chaumont in Paris (19th arrondisemont).  A block away was an Italian restaurant.  It sounded good for Friday dinner, so we went in.  The name of the place is Osteria Sicilia, and the demirigatoni had a very intense fresh tomato flavor, and the cheese was wonderful.  Andreas' pesto linguine was gone very quickly, as he loved it.  We had a meat and cheese plate as an appetizer, and it was both good and filling.  It could have been a meal in itself.

Almost Halfway Up

I've managed to get almost halfway up the side, meaning I'm almost halfway done with part two.  It's coming along, finally.

Cupcake Lessons

 Stephanie, a fellow embassy spouse and professional baker, shared her tips and secrets for making cupcakes a few weeks ago.  Thank you to Luidmila for the photos!  I learned a lot from observation, but I didn't really get much in the way of hands on practice.  It wasn't Stephanie's fault.  One lady brought her nine year old, who monopolized every part of the process.  It meant that the rest of us got imposed with a nine year old's sensibility of style.  I learned later that children weren't supposed to be there, but it's nearly impossible to be nice and to turn away a child at the door.  

I've practiced some with my own Wilton tips later and have had some good results.