Multiple people e-mailed last week to say, "Quit writing all the boring crap; focus on the food." Alright, maybe they weren't that harsh, but the food definitely gets the most comments. (Not that you could tell that from the comments on this blog, mind you.)
So, you asked for it: Here's last weekend, in food.
Friday afternoon: Bought some British strawberries. SO good. Always sweet; never tart.
Friday dinner: A nearly bi-weekly Friday dinner for us -- minty lamb chops from the local butcher, broiled. Served here with mixed vegetables and potatoes tossed in whole-grain mustard. The mustardy potatoes originated from a lack of butter one evening, but has become a staple side dish in our house. SO good. The potatoes, should you care, are a British variety called Maris Piper, often used in chips (that's French fries to you) -- they're very creamy. The beer is Belgian -- Westmalle, I believe.
Late Friday evening: We walked over to Parker's Piece, where a three-day music festival and French market had just gotten started. Didn't take long to realize that we'd be spending much of the rest of the weekend there. We came home with a bag of cookies. Why didn't we buy more? We did. We ate them.
Saturday breakfast: 1 fried egg, 2 lean bacon rashers, 1 toasted mini baguette with strawberry extra jam. British WW Points: 5. (Always good to start the day with good intentions.)
Saturday: A stroll back through the French market. This place was the source of the cookies. It is possible that another rather large bag of cookies was bought. Perhaps. Also, aforementioned good intentions promptly flew far, far away.
Charcuterie at the French market -- including bison and ostrich sausage!
Saturday lunch: A spicy sausage (actually 2) in a baguette (no clue who those people are), and ...
a bowl of tartiflette, which is basically potatoes, cream, bacon, cheese, and wine. Nuthin' wrong with that.
Later: Chocolate crepe. Nuthin' wrong with that, either.
Saturday's haul from the French market: A swank shopping basket; a container of olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat-cheese-stuffed peppers; sausage -- pork with bleu d'auvergne cheese and a peppered sausage; and 4 cheeses - a petit bleu, natural muenster, brie au poivre (with peppercorns), and pyrenees cheese.
Saturday evening at the fireworks: JT's pint of Guiness, and my Pimm's and lemonade. Pimm's is a popular gin-based alcohol here. Lemonade, it should be noted, is roughly equivalent to 7-Up. It's a fizzy lemon-lime soda, not a juice derived from lemons. KT drinks diet lemonade by the gallon.
Saturday dinner: a pork and stilton burger, with completely gratuitous mature cheddar cheese. SO good.
Sunday breakfast: see aforementioned cheese, and warm baguettes and ham and cheese fougasse.
Sunday lunch: see aforementioned sausage in baguettes.
Sunday dinner: see aforementioned burger, but switch it to lamb.
So, it was a pleasant weekend. We're still in detox mode. :)
