Month: January 2024

Eating in Paris and Peñiscola

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Food and drink, Trips and travel4 Comments

We have been eating well these last couple of weeks. We started off in Paris, where we met up with some friends before heading off to Spain.

A couple of the meals stand out. It doesn’t get much better than falling-off-the-bone braised lamb with sauerkraut.

Then there was this amazing meal. Three kinds of grilled fish, a shrimp, and mussels – served over sliced potatoes with a cream sauce. This one was memorable for sure.

In Spain, and particularly when near the Mediterranean, seafood is ubiquitous, with of course Iberian ham and chorizo just for good measure.

For our first meal here we went to the Taverna just next door. We shared patatas bravas and grilled veggies. I had flaming chorizo.

The next day I had grilled sardines and we shared a seafood paella.

And of course another paella on another day – both were perfect.

Yesterday, I had one of my favorites in this part of the world, grilled octopus, with patas bravas, at the taverna next door.

Add in plenty of green olives, a sip of cava, along with some spectacular views and you have the perfect place for a couple of foodies like us.

I hope your travels and meals are delicious, we are constantly reminded that the best seasoning is the people you are eating with, so gather a friend or two and eat, it just doesn’t get better than that.

Home – wood stove, missing Neville, and food

On By Terry ChristophersonIn France6 Comments

We got back home on 4 January after a month in the US, so what has it been like?

First off it has been pretty cold most of the time, morning temperatures in the 20sF, we even had a dusting of snow. We try to use our wood stove as little as possible, it is just too much bother and too much smoke, yet we have had a few fires out of necessity.

I took that photo last winter when Neville was still with us, he did like the fires. Though we always miss him, and talk about him often, since returning we are missing him for another reason – mice. It seems the cold has driven the mice to seek warmer places indoors, so we have been setting traps and cleaning a lot, yuck. If Neville was here it would be pas de problème .

We eat quite a bit differently when we are home. While traveling, and especially on this trip to visit friends and family who all wanted to share amazing food, we eat a lot. Here in Normandie we are pretty much vegetarian and eat our main meal at lunch, though still pretty light. Then we have just an appetizer type nibble in the evening.

Our first Sunday back I made crisp, thin polenta cakes with a light Roquefort sauce, topped with beets, walnuts and crispy shallots.

We have had flatbreads, salads, I made a cauliflower soup, and Tricia made a lentil soup. For her birthday last Friday I did polenta cakes again but with a mushroom sauce – it didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked for a birthday meal, but she said it was a good birthday, which is all that mattered. It feels good to eat a bit less, and I am sure my girth is happier for it as well.

Friday we head to Paris, then on to the south of Spain for a couple of weeks, it will be good to get out of the cold for a bit. We will leave traps for the mice just in case. And in Spain I can get all of the tapas and grilled fish I can eat, we can hardly wait.

A whirlwind with a couple of calm breaks

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Trips and travel4 Comments

We left San Diego and our California family and headed to Portland, Oregon. It has been a whirlwind, mostly. Our first stop was Newberg, OR, with our daughter and son-in-law, Alexis. We had lunch with my son and daughter-in-law, visited my other son in Vancouver. We stayed with friends in Portland, then back to Newberg for a few days then back to Portland. We drove from Portland back to Seattle, stopping along the way to visit my stepmother and my stepbrother. We were invited to multiple gatherings and met some wonderful people. This was a Christmas season we will long remember. Here are a few photos I took along the way, I could have taken many more for sure.

Peacock Lane in Portland with Alexis and Joe

Dinner at Papa Hayden’s with Alexis and Joe

Dinner at Clark Lewis with Tim and Lisa.

Tricia worked hard to bond with Cleo

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Zoo Lights at Woodland Park Zoo with Dave and Rosanne

At a New Year’s Eve party in Seattle with Tricia’s sister and family

One of the kittens tried to get a snack

We are at the Doubletree Hotel next to SeaTac airport, we head to the airport in an hour for a flight to London. Thanks to our many frequent-flier-miles we get to go First Class, should be fun. Then it is the Eurostar to Paris, and the train from Gare Montparnasse to Flers, then a short drive back to La Thebauderie. Our place in rural France seems like a world a way, and it is, yet right now, sated with love from friends and family, saturated with wonderful memories, it is a welcome destination. We have had a great trip, better than I could ever have imagined, yet as Dorthy said so simply, “There’s no place like home.”