Chez McDo

We might have made a shameful trip to McDonalds aka McDo (pronounced mack dough) while we were in France this past week.  Even more shameful, it might not have been our first visit to a French McDonalds.

Bagels seem to have become a big thing in France.  This "Bagel Stories" looked pretty gross.

Chevre McWrap - Goat Cheese on a McDonalds menu.  Who knew?

They serve macarons! Fancy.

French Thanksgiving

We just got back from the South of France, where we spent the Thanksgiving holiday with my husband's family.  They sweetly wanted to do a real Thanksgiving for us Americans, and his dad insisted on making a turkey, stuffing, and yams.  My husband had to hunt for the closest thing he could find to a pumpkin to make a pie.  He ended up finding a potimarron  aka red kuri squash.  The pie was more yellow than orange with a mellower taste than pumpkin pie... it was very good and gourmet.  A restaurant could serve a chic version of it on a seasonal tasting menu.  I contributed some wine that came highly recommended by Carrefour (a French store that is similar to Costco).

Turkey and Stuffing

Potimarron or Red Kuri Squash Pie

My slice of potimarron pie

Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grain

New Sink and Running Gear

We have a bathroom sink!

I really need to start running more (am shamefully out of shape).  Tonight, I ran 3.5 miles in my new shoes:

ASICS Women's Gel-Kahana 5 Running Shoe

I bought them on Amazon for around $50.  Tonight they tore my feet up and felt like the interior was made of steel wool, but they might just need to be broken in or stretched out.  It gets really dark really early now; so I just ordered this headlamp (also from Amazon) for around $20:

Petzl E91 Tikkina 2 Headlamp

Weekend Wrap Up

The weekend is winding down.  We watched Diamonds are Forever yesterday, and are halfway through The Man with the Golden Gun.  Bond films are so messed up.  I enjoyed yesterday's movie thoroughly, and so far this one is decent if ridiculous.  When I was 11 years old (around 1996), I rode in an elevator with Roger Moore at the Ritz Carlton in Boston.  My niece was with me and, as most 2-year-olds do, was throwing an enormous and embarrassing tantrum.  We'll probably end up seeing the new Bond movie at some point.    

Dinner tonight was Hale and Hearty.  I got my usual chopped salad (romaine, chicken, cucumbers, carrots, croutons, Parmesan, and hale and hearty vinaigrette).  They currently have a Chef Series going on, and the current chef is David Burke; so I tried his "crazy corn soup," which is described as a "creamy, lush, soup [that blends] farm fresh corn with Monterey Jack cheese and Yukon gold potatoes then [adds] in even more corn!"  It was pretty good. 

We are now on a Starbucks pumpkin scone kick.  In a  little bit, I'm going to have half of one (my husband and I split one) with a nespresso.  Also in my future tonight is the Real House Wives of Atlanta.

Hale and Hearty Salad, Crazy Corn Soup, and sourdough bread.

Salad

Starbucks Pumpkin Scone

Everything but the Bathroom Sink

Our bathroom sink was just removed by the super.  The neighbors downstairs have been having water come through their bathroom ceiling vent, and the super thinks it's because our sink is jacked up.  I'll be happy to have a new sink.  In the meantime, we are left with a big blank space.

Our old sink.  I won't miss it much 

Our current bathroom situation.  Note the missing tiles
in the left corner.  That is apparently where water from our showers
has been sneaking down to our neighbor's apartment.

Triple Decker Grilled Cheese

Tonight's dinner was grilled cheese, tomato soup, and chips.  I made the grilled cheese a triple decker grilled cheese (3 slices of bread, 2 layers of cheese) to make it extra decadent.

Easy cold weather dinner

Triple Decker Grilled Cheese - Note the middle layer of bread.

The Fall Harvest Donut

Does this snowstorm outside mean that the Fall Harvest Donut is done and that the Holiday Star Donut is right around the corner?  I don't want to say goodbye yet.  

Here is a photo of my first Fall Harvest Donut of autumn from back in October.  It was a very early morning - I had taken a super early Amtrak from NYC to Philly and had to wait for the SEPTA train to the suburbs to even start running it was so early.  The Dunkin Donuts had just opened, and I got the freshest donut possible.  It was a truly beautiful moment that I will remember and savor for always :-)

Fresh Fall Harvest Donut

Trying on Clothes

I went to Urban Outfitters this past weekend and tried on some random clothes.  Here follows two successes:

Sparkle & Fade Knit Circle Dress with some sort of old man sweater -
I got the dress, but not the old man sweater.

Sparkle & Fade Knit Circle Dress on Web site

Cooperative Metro Dress - an adorable dress covered in little Westies (I grew up with Westies).  It was a bit expensive for Urban Outfitters at around $60.  I didn't get it, but mentioned it to my mother who immediately ordered it for me.  She's the best!

Westie Dress on Web site

Side note, here's me trying out this really cute, Martha Stewert-esque beige/neutral poncho at T.J. Maxx.  I really liked it, but thought it was maybe too Eileen Fisher for a 27 year old.

Whole Foods Indian Food and Beer on a Snowy Night

I didn't feel like cooking tonight as I am tired from staying up late last night watching the election results, concession speech, and victory speech.  Also, there is a pretty vicious snowstorm outside, and I just wanted to be cozy in front of the t.v.  

The Indian Food at Whole Foods always smells really good.  Tonight, I decided to find out if it tastes good too.  The answer: sort of/not really.  It's kind of like fast food Indian Food; the chicken tikka masala was both bland and cloyingly sweet and the rice dish had some suspect chunks of cauliflower in it.  Also, the food was served at a tepid temperature, which makes me nervous about food poisoning.  If Robert Irvine from Restaurant: Impossible had tested the temperature of the buffet, I think he might have started to yell about how dangerously cold they are keeping it.  No food poisoning yet.  The beer, on the other hand, was yummers.

Snowstorm

Box of Indian Food and a bottle of Franziskaner Weissbier

Rice, Chicken Tikka Masala, and Naan

FOUR MORE YEARS!!

I stayed up to watch Obama give his speech.  So tired and have to get up early for work tomorrow, but feeling very patriotic.  Here is a photo of my couch buddies:

Sleeping through Obama's speech

Pasta Sauce

As I mentioned in a previous post, my husband makes a delicious pasta sauce.  Last night, he decided it would be a good way to cap off our extremely long weekend together. 

Pasta sauce ingredients or "ingredientses" as Teresa Giudice
would say.  They include: red wine, diced tomatoes, tomato
sauce, onions, garlic, ground beef, ground pork, olive oil, salt,
pepper, and Jarlsberg and Parmesan to top it off.

Sauce simmering on the stove

He tops the pasta with cheese before adding
the sauce

Generously ladling sauce on pasta

Dinner with wine

Member of the Clean Plate Club

Essie - Miss Fancy Pants

The hurricane meant a lot of time cooped up inside.  On Tuesday, I ventured out to see what was open around us.  The nail salon had only two ladies working at it (usually there are around 10).  They have a deal on mani-pedi's Mondays through Wednesdays; so I decided to treat myself.  I chose an Essie color called Miss Fancy Pants.

Essie Miss Fancy Pants

I had to wear open toe shoes to work today just to flaunt my cute gray tootsies.  The shoes are from 2009 from Urban Outfitters and called "Starburst" sling backs.  I love them.  Fairly comfortable for heels.

Did I choose the color based on my cats' fur color?  Yes.