Cheese, cheese and some more cheese

ok italy is not letting the formatting happen, so until we can figure it out. sowwwwwy

Since arriving in France, we have been doing some serious cooking (besides the few delicious meals we have had out). We have also been indulging in the vast amount of the most delicious cheese (I mean come on, we're in France). Why not sneak a little chevre with herbs into the salad?? I'll highlight our favorite meals and snacks that we either enjoyed out or cooked ourselves!

 Toulouse
*Restaurant: La P'tite Gouaille Jackie: grilled meat platter with duck, saucisson, steak and ratatouille Emily: roasted duck with olives in a tomato sauce
*Crepes with homemade orange marmalade (compliments to Emie!)
*Pounds of baguette with camenbert, sausage and raspberry jam (and red wine of course)
*Fresh spring rolls with rice noodles, avocado, carrots, basil, corriander and peanuts with a Thai peanut dipping sauce


Barcelona
*Tapas at Piscolabis: fried brie covered in sesame seeds with tomato jam, catalonian ham, asparagus with brie and truffle oil, patatas bravas
*Lunch at Rincon de Galica: Appetizers of roasted artichoke with red pepper sauce Jackie: roasted fish Emily: meatballs in a tomato sauce Dessert: chocolate cake with orange sauce
*More tapas at La Tramoila: Mushrooms with garlic, onion and olive oil, escalaridas (roasted eggplant, red peppers and onions topped with goat cheese), and patatas bravas
*Sangria!


Saturno
In this little dream house in the Spanish Pyrenees, we had meat-free homecooked meals by a lovely Spanish woman named Carol for 6 days mostly consisting of grains and veggies and always delicious.
*Typical breakfast: museli with raisins, apricots and chopped almonds from the almond trees outside of the house, yogurt with honey, brown bread with fig jam and cheese
*Lunches and dinners: Curry stirfry with rice, veggies and seitan Lentil stew Homemade hummus Pumpkin soup with toasted sesame seeds
*Sweets: Membrillo (a sweet paste made from quince and typically served with cheese) Cake with sweet chestnut spread Marance This is where Jacklyn and I played chef for 10 days and we loved every minute of it. We utilized all sorts of veggies and took advantage of the vast variety of French cheese in the market. With lunch we typically had delicious fresh salads and used lemon and olive oil as a refreshing dressing.
*Crepe party with a crepe machine: we made two different batters since Nada is gluten-free. We raided the fridge for anything that could possibly go in a crepe. Savory items included roasted peppers, smoked salmon, cheese and tomatoes and the sweet filling included raisins, honey, strawberry jam, and lemon (my personal favorite being the goat cheese with honey and lemon).
*Morrocan chicken with tomato, raisins, chickpeas, onion, carrot, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon served over spiced cousin cous.
*Beet and cucumber salad with goat cheese and a balsamic Dijon dressing
*Confit de carne (duck) with an orange brown sugar glaze with roasted carrots and potatoes
*Spanish omelet (complements to Rosey) with potatoes, eggs and onion
*Lemon penne with roasted red pepper and poached egg


Paris
We did not eat many sit down meals here..but rather did our fair share of picnicing and light meals. My favorite was a picnic near the Eiffel Tower consisting of goodies that we picked up on Rue Cler (a small street with tons of shops and cafes). We enjoyed a baguette, saucisson, spicy chevre and a good bottle of Bordeaux. For another meal we stopped at a market and made a mango avocado salad with onion, olive oil, and hot sauce of course. And for dinner one evening we shared a panini and quiche Lorraine. We found ourselves gravitating towards the cheese shops (fromageries) and picked up a young cheddar infused with Irish porter.

We will be posting about our time in Italy and Germany soon!