Scenes of Money Well (?) Spent

A display of Pakistani "Truck Art" outside the Alliance Francaise, where I finally bit the bullet and shelled out for formal French lessons. Later I stumbled across one of Paris' little alleyway shopping spots when searching for a nail salon - never got my pedicure but did find some cute shoes... ~A

Palaiseau to Paris and the Trains Inbetween

Oh, how I love good public transportation! Ate breakfast in the lovely sunny kitchen, train-hopped to make a BBQ in Melun (the smudges were on the train window, not the sky), returned to meander a bit in central Paris, and then took the commuter rail back home. (Sadly, the train window and my limited camera failed to allow me to capture the pretty rainbow I saw from the train window - bottom right photo, top right corner?) ~A

Scenes by St. Michel

A space age brass band plays to protest nuclear power near the St. Michel metro station. Down the road, bio-engineered fast food chicken is deemed tasty enough to grace one of the main boulevards. ~A

Eiffel Innards

Very much enjoyed my first stroll in Paris proper... ~A

My morning view...

So pretty! If only I could get the neighbor's big orange roof to quit hogging the shot... ~A

Arrived in France at last...

... and unpacking in my little attic bedroom... ~A

Picture #4: Spring Flowers with Snow Showers

I know, I know - I'm a little obsessed with these ceramic milk bottle vases. But how cute are these cheery yellow flowers against the snowy New York street? ~A

Picture #3: Best of Summer 2009

This summer I rowed with a team in D.C., and had the chance to race with them at the Canadian Henley. The taxing workout schedule kept me too tired to record it properly, but it was amazing to have the chance to see the river change throughout the day, from sunrise to sunset. And of course, Niagara Falls is pretty incredible! ~A

Recipe #4: Chicken and Sweet Potatoes with Shallots

Our second Real Simple recipe definitely lived up to the promise of being simple AND delicious. The salty pan-fried chicken and shallots is a tasty counterpoint to the creamy sweet potatoes, and though it always takes longer than the advertised 30 minutes (who ARE these speed cooks they base the time on?!), it certainly wasn't hard. A delightful companion to an evening of Mad Men episodes.

MODIFICATIONS: It should probably be clear by now that Heron and I view the given amounts of items like olive oil, salt and pepper as mere starting points - we usually increase them to taste. Definitely ignored the "hearty-healthy" suggestion of only using the sweet potato cooking water to mash and added butter and milk, as well as a tablespoon of brown sugar. We also cut up some baby mushrooms to add to the shallots.

MAKE AGAIN? Absolutely - eating the leftovers for lunch today and it's just as tasty as the night before. Click below for the recipe. ~A

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Recipe #3: Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens

This Real Simple recipe is the first of two this week, and I was interested to see if they really are as quick and tasty as advertised. This one was not bad, it's comforting and homey - and makes enough to easily feed a small army. Yay for easy leftovers!

MODIFICATIONS: None, really, though it's likely we exceeded the 2-oz recommendation for the Brie. (CHEESE!!) Also added a bit more barley than asked for to finish out the bag - probably made the cooking more difficult.

MAKE AGAIN? As we feel with all foods, this one could be easily improved with a strong dose of garlic added up front. But I think this could be a nice pasta substitution to feed a large group or provide several meals for a couple. Click below for the recipe. ~A

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