Wine minds think alike

How absolutely beautiful is this photo by Carina Okula? Vince and I are both missing France bigtime right now. Vince thinks it's that weather and I think it's Guelph. Could be a mixutre of both, the damp grey skies are definitely reminiscent of winter in Paris and then there are the old brick homes and horse motifs around exhibition park in Guelph that remind me of Fontainebleau....
Either way we are on a bit of a wine kick. (You can't think France and not taste wine right?) We've been researching the vintages at the LCBO along with Beppi's suggestions in the Globe and have come up with some good bottles such as this outstanding Languedoc from Foncalieu for $15.95.

It's soft and full and just want I have been missing from French wine this past year. Can't wait until I can have more than 1/4 of a cup a day!

If you'd like a few more tips about buying and choosing wine please check out my post on the Foire aux Vins from last year.

Love and Hugs

A very raclette New Years

Holy macaroni it's been 10 days since I updated my blog! Yikes you must be super pissed. I'm so sorry but things around here have been nuts! Every morning we get up I'm either heading to my new job or we are going to appointments at the bank and getting SIN cards and health cards and the like. I'm hoping after the New Year things will settle a bit and I can get back here every day.

But for now we are on our way out the door to buy all the fixings for a proper Raclette dinner to ring in the New Year.

Source

Mom and Dad bought Vince his very own raclette set for Christmas and he can't wait to get at it. Do you think we will be able to find Raclette cheese in Toronto? Hmmmm.

Happy New Years Eve my friends! I miss you guys so much and wish we could all be together tonight. But I hope wherever you are it's full of happiness and love and fun for goodness sakes! 

Love and Hugs

Wear Wednesday where'd ya go?

 

Sorry you guys I totally flaked on Wednesday this week. Holy crap I've been busy since getting home with new jobs and apartments and family and doggies and well you get it. I promise to be back here next Wednesday bigger and more fashionable than ever. I've got an idea already that I think you're going to love.

Just to tide you over here is an image of total deliscous/fashion/ruffle/feather/love/insaness from ZsaZsa Bellagio!



Love and Hugs

Taste- What we ate: a week in food photos

This is the last installment of 'A week in food photos' for the year and boy was it a yummy one!

Wednesday was bean and barley stew with thyme, tomatoes and sweet potatoes oh my!

This is so funny, I can't get this photo to rotate correctly! It appears in the right angle on the upload but when added to blogger turns the other way. So weird. Anyways Thursday delicious! Roasted chickpeas, onions, herbs, brussel sprouts on radicchio and escarole.

Friday is usually a cheat kind of night and since Vince wanted meat I cooked him a steak and had a seitan one for me. And what steak or faux steak would be complete with out gorganzola and toasted hazelnuts? Exactly!

I just love puting shit on a base of lettuce. I love veggies, there I said it! Whew! Add some roasted beets, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, sundried tomatoes and I'm in heaven. Don't forget about the hunk of cheese though. ;)

Sunday was comfort food all the way. Vince usually cooks on Sundays and always makes a risotto. And I am not complaning, especially when it turns out like this! Pumpkin and parmesan risotto to die for!

Monday is back to basics with soup. This time it was roasted onion and brown rice. Looks yummy right?

Now that I'm back in Toronto the daily dinner photo thing has fallen to the wayside a bit. I hope when Vince gets here and we are a little more settled in we can get back at this project cause it's fun!

So tell me what did you eat last week? Are you eating whatever's in the fridge? Are you getting to the market and buying in season stuff? Did you try any new recipes lately?


Love and Hugs

Taste- A Michelin starred restaurant

Have you ever been? I'm usually drawn to the cosy 10 table home style bistro to be honest. But when our 5 year anniversary rolled around in late September we decided to look for something a little more special and came up with the 1 star restaurant in Barbizon called Les Pléiades. 

We made the reservation 2 weeks in advance which is a little unheard of in France but we wanted to be sure. (Also asking the chef to throw together a completly vegetarian menu for me)

The restaurant is located in a gorgeous art hotel of the same name in Barbizon which is about a ten minute drive from our place in Fontainebleau.

Everything was spectacular. The service, the menus, the table setting and the music. But especially the wine. It was Château Haut Maurac Bellecour, Cru Bourgeois 1996. Both Vince and I can say we have never tasted a better bottle which is no small feat!

The cuisine is molecular. So everything we tasted was made to challenge the eye and tongue. The picture below is one of the many amuse-bouches that looked like a small shot class of beer and an egg yolk. Not so, it was ginger vodka cider and the 'yolk' was pineapple that was meant to be burst on your tongue at the same time as comsumming the cider.

Vince ordered his favourite, the Pigeon which was delivered to our table in a courier envelope of it's own!

The cheeses were hand selected from a fromagerie in Fontainebleau and you know we tried every one of those babies!

We had no room whatsoever for dessert but when the coffee came it was accompanied by home made marshmallows, pate de fruits, caramels and a few extra little sweet amause bouches to send us on our way.

We stayed for 3 hours. It was heavenly and unforgettable. I can't say we will be dining like this every day but if the occasion arrises well, why not!

Are you curtious about the Michelin star system? Have you ever been to a restaurant like this? Do you know if there are any in Toronto or Canada for that matter?



Love and Hugs

Do- Get spooked at Père-Lachaise cemetery

Last Saturday Mom, Dad, Vince, Sunny and I drove into Paris for a day of sightseeing in the 19e-20e arrondissments of Paris including a stop at Père-Lachaise cemetery. And holy moly was that thing big. When we left Fontainebleau in the morning we had planned to see Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Chopin. No big deal right?

Think again! We made it to pay out respects to Jim and that was it. I think either you come back over multiple visits like when visiting the Louvre or stop for drinks half way through.

This is Jim's grave. There were a lot of people hanging around taking pictures, smoking hash and writting on trees. Mom made friends of course!

Lots of the graves were like tiny chapels. Apparently many members from one family will all be buried in the same grave as time goes by.

We could have honestly stayed all day meandering through the small alleyways and avenues of the cemetery but it got dark quick and the grey foggy sky hanging over seemed to be closing in and asking us to leave.

So instead we headed to Le Baratin for dinner! And what a lovely dinner it was. Actually we don't have any pictures of it because we were just too busy enjoying it!

So there you have it my last Saturday in Paris for a while! We are back in Toronto now and looking for jobs. So the big question is, when are you coming for a visit?! ;)

Love and Hugs

Freeforall- Guess who's here?

It's our favourite funny travel partners, Mom and Dad! YAYAY! They arrived Thursday morning around 9:45am by airplane not vespa. (I know you were wondering)

So this weekend we will be getting into all kinds of trouble and fun and probably lost like we always do in Paris but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Be back next week with lots of pictures. Have a great weekend you guys!

Love and Hugs

Do- Where to take your dog to the park in Paris

Here's in France dogs go everywhere, the hair salon, fancy restaurants, jean shopping with you but they do not go to the park! I'm not sure why but if I had to guess I'd say it's because Parisians do not pick up their doggies poop and they can't be trusted to go in the beautiful parks and lovely grassy spots you find throughout the capital. So unfortunately most of them are off limits for your dog.

Thankfully there is one off leash park in Paris and it's at the Louvre, naturally. My new friend Jennifer had a party there last Sunday for her girl Moxie's 4th birthday and we got invited!

Source: Thanks for the pic Jennifer!

The old Monkamonk was pretty excited to be there. When she saw Moxie from across the park she ran over as fast as her little fluffy legs would take her.

Here's a great shot of the off the park with the Louvre in the background so you can see what I mean. Thanks Mairin!

 

Sunny obviously got down to the serious business of playing. She is a social little monkey chatting with DSK the American Cocker spaniel and a small baby monkey.

She fell in love with a three month old Boston Terrier named Georges. Obsessed with younger men just like her Momma! ;)

While the dogs played we enjoyed vin chaud, pasta salad, muffins, apple crisp and more wine!

The weather was perfect and we stayed all afternoon soaking up the view and great company!

Soon it was time to go and give the birthday girl one last kiss before we were on our way home with a very happy and exhausted doggie.

What a success! We are so going back there Tuesday afternoon so Sunny can run and get tired before the big 8 hour flight home and to have one last look at one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in Paris! 

What's it like for dogs in your town? Can they roam where they please or are they confined to your homes? Apparently Toronto has a off leash dog park every few meters like the metro in Paris so we are pretty excited about that! Right Sunny?


Love and Hugs

Wear- A Very Swell Mad Men outfit

Last Wednesday was the long awaited Very Swell event at the Alcazar mezzanine bar in the 6e. I'd been wanting to attend since reading about the first one on HIP Paris. Alisa and Louise organise the soirée concentrating on a private cocktail/food/art type vibe with a Mad Men lean. How fun does that sound, right?!

In order to go you have to dress the part. Since the pocketbook isn't overflowing this month I decided to make due with what I had and buy a few cheap pieces to complete the look. Noelani also gave me great advice by suggesting I play with makeup such as matte lipstick and winged eyeliner, so I went for it!

I bought these 2.99 euro earings at Camieu and wore a vintage broach belonging to my great grandmother that I love.

The blouse is a year old from a shop in Malta and the skirt was 12.99 at Camieu as well. I couldn't swing for a pair of 50's style pumps so I went with my good old go to black Nine West pair, topping it off with a fake cheetah clutch from Aldo.

We showed up just in time to order a fancy Vodka Gimlet and talk to the other guests. Paul the Pastry boy was there along with Alisa (one of the event creators) who also runs Sweetpea bakery. We had a swinging time and can't wait for the next one!

 

Do you guys go to dress up parties? Or attend private dining clubs? Do they have them where you live? I was thinking of making a supper club in my own home when we settle into Toronto. Would anyone come?

Love and Hugs

Freeforall Friday- Around my web table

These are my friends and inspirations from around this crazy blog/internet/twitter/virtual place I call home. I hope you have fun reading what they've been up to this week.

Source

Where not to go for afternoon tea in Paris.

Finally a contender for Best Crossaint in the city.

Was there ever a stronger girl crush than the one I have for this lady?

How does browned butter icing sound to you? Yeah I thought so.

What?! You haven't been to Campagnolo yet?

Chocolate and Paris, a match made in Heaven.

Things you say to your husband in the bathroom.

Wente vineyards on Wino Wednesdays.

How to know if what's going in your mouth is good for you or not.

Who you should have been for Halloween this year. Don't worry there's always next year.

Have a great weekend my friends!!! I don't know about you but I'm getting all excited for Christmas, it's only 1 month and 20 days away! Are you ready?!


Love and Hugs

Do Thursday- First time Pumpkins

As you know last weekend we were in Metz. It was a long weekend, Vince's nephew and sister's b-days and Halloween all rolled into one. Léo is really getting into Halloween lately and was disappointed last year when not one kid came trick or treating to his house. So this year we decided to help him out by decorating his front gate with a pumpkin! That way the kids would surely know he was open for business.

We prepped the table with newspaper and Léo drew his desired scary face for the pumpkin on paper first as a stencil. Uncle Vince helped him cut ou the shapes.

The kids were a little less than impressed with the gooey insides and having to empty it with their bare hands. Lise decided to use a spoon instead.

Tonton Vincent trying to scare Léo and it was kind of working!

Lise preferred to wash and rinse the seeds for roasting later. (better than getting your hands dirty and slimy right?!)

Léo is pretty proud of his very first attempt a pumpkin carving!  And I must say it is pretty spiffy!

Mr. Pumpkin taunted us from the top of the fridge for the rest of the afternoon!

Did you guys carve a pumpkin this year? Was he friendly or scary? My Mom did a white one with flames! I also saw some that were just painted with no carving at all. I can't wait to get back and carve my very own next year!



Love and Hugs

Taste Tuesday- Quiche Lorraine by a real mec from Lorraine!

This weekend we've been in Metz with Vince's family. Metz is a gorgeous town in the northeast region of France called Lorraine. That's right folks where Quiche Lorraine comes from, and José, Vince's Dad makes the best version. He was so kind to share with you his technique here on the Sentimental Suitcase. Would you like to see?




I must tell you that José also makes the crust from scratch the day before. He also adds 1 or 2 onions which is not the norm but tastes great!

Many many thanks to José and Léo and Lise for all their help! We hope you liked it!

So tell me will you be making this for yourself? Do you like quiche? Did you know what a vrai Quiche Lorraine looked like?

Love and Hugs

Do Thursday- Fontainebleau Castle

While Sunny was getting her hair done last Saturday we took the opportunity to visit our castle. (There are no Dogs allowed, not even sweet little fluffy white ones.) We decided to just visit the gardens and the grounds this time. Mom and Dad are coming to visit in November and we plan to visit the inside with them next month.

The Castle was built by King Francis in the 16th century and is apparently the inspiration for the massive gorgeous gardens at Chateau Versailles.


I was just like, "Welcome everybody, come on in!" "Oh this little place? Well no haven't you been to Marie's place at Versailles? This is nothing! Just a humble abode we like to say."

And then there were the peacocks. Holy crap I was standing right beside one and thought it was a statue and then it moved and so did I! I actually screamed. Poor birdie. But seriously how cool are peacocks??!!!

Reflecting on how lucky I am to live here. 

Wait there's more wildlife! Don't forget about the swans for goodness sakes! They are so hypnotic. I couldn't stop staring.

Photo for my Mom and Dad.

Then is was time to go. But not before our favourite weekend thing, Apero! Having a beer on a terrace. Oh yeah!

What did you guys get up to last weekend? Have you ever been to the Fontainebleau Castle? And Versailles? How would you compare the two?



Love and Hugs