Mmmm...we're in the middle of cooking up our take on a salad that we discovered one lunch in Paris. We read about "Relais Gascon," a restaurant in Montmartre that was known for its big salads...a great find! Here's our take on their recipie...amounts of each ingredient are whatever is on hand or desired on the day :)
-mixed greens
-corn kernels (ideally, fresh off a cooked cob)
-beets (roast at 450 F for 60 minutes, then remove skins and chop)
-shredded carrot
-fried potatoes (mmmm...do up with olive oil and salt)
-fried egg(s)
-shredded hard cheese (currently using asiago)
For dressing:
-olive oil
-balsamic vinegar
-salt and pepper
One of the many fun things about being in Spain and some parts of France was eating amazingly good salads which weren't "disguised" by flavoured dressings. Often, the waiter would bring cruets of olive oil and balsamic to the table for us to make our own dressings (along with salt and pepper)...yummy :)
Happy cooking to all!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Running Doggle...
Forget "running man"....our little running doggle Lucy is quite the star these days. My (H's) parents whipped her into shape for us while we were in Europe, with multiple frisbee sessions each day and lots of walks. Frisbee sessions are, to adapt a quote from our friend Andrea, "intervals on crack." [editor's note...the original quote, "Kentucky Fried Chicken on crack" was used by Andrea to describe the yummiest duck dinner EVER on our last night in Paris! More to follow when we actually get back on track with the trip blog!!!] Anyhoo, thanks to her frisbee sessions, Lucy is running like the wind these days. It sure helps my leg turnover when I've got her attached to the other end of the leash :)
Andrew and I are aiming for a fall marathon...it has been a while since his last marathon, and I've only ever run one and have some seriously unfinished business :) The great meltdown (time and heat wise) in Chicago 2007 left me feeling pretty unsatisfied, so I'd like to erase that with a good run. Miss Lucy is a star training buddy for us!
So, life right now is consisting of running, some riding for fun (and to try and keep the great fitness we got riding the big mountains across the pond), normal day to day stuff, and some extra work for me (our other vet is on holiday for the month of August...back next week. Yay!) We're loving the remaining days of summer...it is gorgeous here right now, though there is a slight chill in the air at 6 am now. On a random personal note...being married to Andrew rocks :)
Trip blogging to resume next week...no, really :)
Andrew and I are aiming for a fall marathon...it has been a while since his last marathon, and I've only ever run one and have some seriously unfinished business :) The great meltdown (time and heat wise) in Chicago 2007 left me feeling pretty unsatisfied, so I'd like to erase that with a good run. Miss Lucy is a star training buddy for us!
So, life right now is consisting of running, some riding for fun (and to try and keep the great fitness we got riding the big mountains across the pond), normal day to day stuff, and some extra work for me (our other vet is on holiday for the month of August...back next week. Yay!) We're loving the remaining days of summer...it is gorgeous here right now, though there is a slight chill in the air at 6 am now. On a random personal note...being married to Andrew rocks :)
Trip blogging to resume next week...no, really :)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Sweet Spot in Spain!
And so begins our after-the-fact blog chronicles of our amazing honeymoon in Europe! We flew out of the Toronto airport on July 10 (and got to see the Airbus A380 parked at the gate as we taxied...huge plane!)
After a few hours between plane transfers in the Charles de Gaulle Airport (which provided us with our first "pain au chocolat"...croissants with chocolate filling that Andrew might almost kill for!) we arrived in Barcelona. Car rental took a while, even though it had all been set up over the internet. Or so we thought. Anyhow, we wound up with a compact VW minivan-type-of-thingy which served us well in the following couple of weeks. Off we headed to find the farmhouse that we were staying at. After about an hour of driving, we came across this gem of a town, much of which dates back to the 12th century. We didn't stop as we were beyond exhausted, but there was NO way I'd leave Spain without going back to see this place sometime during the week :)
We pulled into "Can Cruanyes," an incredibly beautiful stone farmhouse about 35 km from Girona and in the middle of countryside and were greeted by roosters and the neighbour's dog. We can't remember her name, so decided to call her "Esmeralda," or "Ezzy" for short. Ezzy soon became a good buddy, especially when we were cooking dinner :)
We ventured into Tortella, the nearby town, for dinner and were amused by the spoon-shaped streetlights. Off to bed after dinner....as climbing the Col du Tourmalet for our first rendezvous with THE Tour de France lay ahead for the next day!
After a few hours between plane transfers in the Charles de Gaulle Airport (which provided us with our first "pain au chocolat"...croissants with chocolate filling that Andrew might almost kill for!) we arrived in Barcelona. Car rental took a while, even though it had all been set up over the internet. Or so we thought. Anyhow, we wound up with a compact VW minivan-type-of-thingy which served us well in the following couple of weeks. Off we headed to find the farmhouse that we were staying at. After about an hour of driving, we came across this gem of a town, much of which dates back to the 12th century. We didn't stop as we were beyond exhausted, but there was NO way I'd leave Spain without going back to see this place sometime during the week :)
We pulled into "Can Cruanyes," an incredibly beautiful stone farmhouse about 35 km from Girona and in the middle of countryside and were greeted by roosters and the neighbour's dog. We can't remember her name, so decided to call her "Esmeralda," or "Ezzy" for short. Ezzy soon became a good buddy, especially when we were cooking dinner :)
We ventured into Tortella, the nearby town, for dinner and were amused by the spoon-shaped streetlights. Off to bed after dinner....as climbing the Col du Tourmalet for our first rendezvous with THE Tour de France lay ahead for the next day!
Friday, August 7, 2009
We're Back!
Hi to all! We've been back in Canada for a few days now....our trip was PHENOMENAL. We managed to keep ourselves busy with lots of riding (including a couple of 9 hour days on the bike and multiple climbs up Mt Ventoux), sightseeing, and great eating. All of that led to no blogging...but we'll make up for it!! Starting next week, we'll post every day or two and do a retrospective day by day trip album.
Gooberette will also have some fun photos to post on her blog...lots of travels for a small bear. Unfortunately, she has now developed a taste for fine wine, coffee, and chocolate and insists that we receive air mail of such from France at least once monthly. She may need a job to support her new habit :)
Heather's parents stayed with Goosey while we were away, and we are still visiting with them for a couple more days. There is talk of a trip to St Jacob's market on Saturday :)
Happy weekend to all! Here's a first "teaser" photo...
Gooberette will also have some fun photos to post on her blog...lots of travels for a small bear. Unfortunately, she has now developed a taste for fine wine, coffee, and chocolate and insists that we receive air mail of such from France at least once monthly. She may need a job to support her new habit :)
Heather's parents stayed with Goosey while we were away, and we are still visiting with them for a couple more days. There is talk of a trip to St Jacob's market on Saturday :)
Happy weekend to all! Here's a first "teaser" photo...
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