Food for thought...

So, the spring semester has been humming along. We've mostly been working, but we have ventured into the realm of French cooking. So there might be disproportionately more food shots than usual, but really, we have to balance the dog shots out somehow. Speaking of food, for my birthday a few weeks ago we went to the Mirbeau Inn and Spa for dinner. It was a total splurge, which was made affordable thanks to a gift certificate I won over the summer at the horse shows. We had the four-course meal with wine pairings for each course. It was marvelous--a great place to go if you ever have a small fortune to burn.

The results of our second Julia Child recipe--"Coquilles St. Jacques a la Parisienne" (Scallops and Mushrooms in White Wine Sauce). This one took a measly one hour to make, and again turned out great (probably because of the butter and cream...). One of the perks of living somewhat near the coast (compared to Wisconsin) is the fresh scallops available at our favorite grocery store.

Braden and I recently decided to challenge our collective culinary skills by venturing into a new era of cooking. We purchased Julia Childs "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" along with a book about a woman who cooked and then blogged about every recipe in the book over the course of a year. We thought about one a week or two would be good enough for us--and our waistlines. Our first task was "Beouf Bourguignon" (Beef Stew in Red Wine, with Bacon, Onions, and Mushrooms), which turned out smashingly (surprisingly). Actually, it's not so surprising considering that the beef was browned in bacon fat, the onions braised by themselves in wine for 45 minutes, and the mushrooms were cooked separately in butter. And it took a total of 5 hours to make.

Reducing the stew sauce...

Rachel's 27th birthday on February 17... and her favorite mint chipwich for dessert.