Raspberry, Crumble & MascarponeCB is an excellent cook and lovely hostess. But then, she is French and by definition, good food is in her culture and heritage. The French in general are not programmed for mediocrity in the food department.
Gougères
The living areaThe rain that was supposed to come held out for about 2 days. So we were able to enjoy a drink out in their garden before moving into the house for lunch. The warm gougères were lovely and I shamelessly helped myself to a number of them.
Zucchini cake with its Tomato coulis
Osso BuccoWe had a lovely Provençal Zucchini Cake with Tomato Coulis to start. It was followed by a very tender Osso Bucco with Basmati Rice. Then she floored us all with her desserts - from a really yummy Chocolate Mousse with Cat's Tongue to an amazing Raspberry, Crumble and Mascarpone Dessert. Then EB tried to poison Hub with a potent but good liquor at 4 in the afternoon. :-)
Langue de chat, Mousse au Chocolat
Potent stuffI have brought along my flute and music books as CB is a pianist and I have not been touching my flute outside my lessons as I hate playing the instrument alone. We had a nice time checking out a few scores and will try to work on some of them so that we'll be able to play together another time.
Did I mention that I adore their dog? She's a nice big bundle of fur and so very loving. I wish we could have a dog like that, but it's such a responsibility I am not sure I'll be able to manage. But I must say that I'm really tempted, we'll see in a year or 2 when the Babies are older...
A real love...Voilà a lovely way to spend Sunday afternoon, sure beats skiing in slush anytime. I'm glad I had managed to convince the Hub to cancel the ski trip...
Meanwhile I've been reasonably productive between yesterday morning and this morning (after starting out about 2 weeks ago though). I have finished booking for our June trip to Alghero (in Sardegna) and am almost done with our coming Easter trip to Rome. Hadn't known before that Easter is one of the most expensive periods for visiting Rome or I would have planned it for another time. Now even though we're agnostics Hub said that maybe we should go check out the Pope's Easter Mass or something.
I would think Rome is to Easter what Mecca is to Ramadan.
RépondreSupprimerSeeing your post makes me yearn to entertain European style again. I really miss it.
Honey, you can still do it.
RépondreSupprimerAs for Easter and Rome, we're super not religious as you know - somehow didn't make the connection until we were slapped in the face with the prices.
Does that mean you will be heading to the Vatican City as well? It will be so crowded.
RépondreSupprimerNever mind the prices, how did you even get accommodation in the first place? The hotels would be fully booked, no?
Talking about the dog.
RépondreSupprimerI have the same breed and he is currently 15 months old. Smart, easy to train, tranquil and loves to be cuddle. I would strongly recommend this breed.
J, we've gotten a flat smack on Piazza Navona which is supposedly the place to be in when you're in Rome. If we feel up to it, we can walk to the Vatican in 20-25 minutes. But if there is going to be a big crowd, I'm not interested.
RépondreSupprimerI was going to give up because trying to find a room or 2 for 5 people for under 400 euros a night was starting to look impossible. Then at the very last minute, someone cancelled and this flat was available...Still, this trip is too expensive.
A, with a dog like that it probably means that you won't be travelling much, would you? CB's bitch is 3 years old and she will probably breed in a year or 2. Apparently they can carry like 11 puppies...Amazing dog.
A, I forgot to ask you - are you attending the OSU dinner in Venice?
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