"You will return home through arches of triumph".

So said Napoleon Bonaparte to his Grande Armee after their victory at the Battle of Austerlitz. He commissioned an arch for them to march under, based on the Arch of Titus in Rome, only bigger (cuz Napoleon wanted everything connected with him to be bigger and better...including himself). The Arc de Triomphe, as it came to be called, was commissioned in 1806 and finished in 1836, long after Napoleon was ousted and exiled to the island of Elba in 1814, returned to power in 1815, was defeated at Waterloo in 1815 and exiled again - this time to St. Helena, and finally died on 5 May 1821. (Whew!) The names of 128 battles of the first French Republic and Napoleon's Empire are written on the walls under the vault, together with the names of the generals who took part in them. Also located under the arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, interred in 1920 in memory of those who died during the first world war, but also now representing the soldiers of World War II as well. An eternal flame burns at the site of the grave.We used the fabulous metro to go everywhere in Paris (after we ditched the car at the Alamo station that is) and the stop for the Arc de Triomphe drops you off at the perfect spot - go up the stairs, turn around, and there it is!

I was puzzled at first about how to get to the arch. I mean, it is in the center of a rond-point, or roundabout, that spins off to twelve different streets, like the spokes on a wheel. I figured trying to cross the street would mean certain death, but I really wanted to see the arch up close, so I was considering this special form of tourist suicide when we found the tunnel that goes under the rond-point and up to the arch. Hooray! The detail on the arch with all its different sculptures and friezes is amazing.

The eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The Arc de Triomphe is at the head of the Champs-Elysees, so instead of hopping back on the metro, we walked the length of that famous avenue gaucking at the finery in all the stores. We passed names like Cartier, Louis Vitton, Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent. I'm not much of a fashionista, but even I couldn't help drooling over the cashmere scarves, shiny boots, glittering diamonds, and elegant clothes. Dad laughed at us and exclaimed, "I can't imagine why you all are staring at things you'll never be able to afford." I gleefully parroted that back to him when he became glued to the window of a car show...













We continued all the way down the Champs-Elysees until we reached the Place de la Concorde and the Luxor Obelisk. I snapped pictures and couldn't help but think of The Da Vinci Code...oh well.

We also got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.
With our feet tired and sore we found our way to the nearest metro station and went home to collapse.

Test Kitchen Tuesday - What's wrong with a mushroom or two?

I found a recipe on Hot off the Garlic Press that I just had to try. The pictures looked so scrumptious but I was left with a problem. The dish was Beef Fillet with Gratin of Mushrooms and Chad doesn't like mushrooms, but I do. My spouse's taste preferences shape what kind of food I make to a great degree. He is very good, however, to at least try new dishes - but I know that some things are just persona non grata with him, like mushrooms. I figured I could get away with this dinner, though, because it's a big fat steak topped with a golden, crispy crust of mushrooms and cream. If he really didn't like it, he could always *SOB - SNIFF* scrape if off. Well, he didn't like it, but I loved it.
Beef Fillet with Gratin of Mushrooms

1 shallot, finely chopped (can use 1/4 of an onion)
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 T. olive oil
7 oz. mixed mushrooms (whatever you like - I used baby bellas and regular ole buttons)
2 T. chives, finely chopped
4 T. heavy cream (can use whipping cream)
1 large egg yolk
4 fillet steaks, about 6 to 7 ounces and 4cm thick (do the best you can or find something thinner and adjust the cooking time)
3 T. freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare the topping by gently sautéing the shallot and garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes until nicely softened. Add a further 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the mushrooms over a high heat, stirring frequently, for about 7 minutes until browned and cooked. The mixture should be quite dry. If necessary, tip it into a sieve to drain off any remaining liquid.

Remove the garlic clove and transfer the mushrooms to a bowl, allow to cool. Whip the cream until softly stiff. Fold in the mushrooms along with the egg yolk, chives and a tablespoon of the grated Parmesan, then season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Season the steaks all over with salt and pepper. Heat a large non-stick frying pan until you can feel a strong heat rising. Sear the steaks for about 4 -6 minutes per side (if using steaks 4 inches thick).

Remove from the pan. Put the steaks on a shallow baking tray. Pile the mushroom mixture on top of the steaks and dust with the remaining Parmesan. Cook in the oven uncovered, for about 5-7 minutes until the topping is bubbling and golden. (I put them under the broiler for a bit to get the look I wanted.)

YUM!

I DID IT!!

I just want to announce to the world that I FINISHED reading the Old Testament. In the end it took me a lot longer than I had originally planned, but that was because I was actually studying, and because I was studying, I learned a lot and my love of the Old Testament has expanded so much. I'm so grateful it is our course of study for Gospel Doctrine this year. I want to share a quick thing that I learned on my last day of study, when I read Malachi chapters 3 & 4. Malachi 3 is famous for it's verses on tithing. Whenever anyone teaches the principle of tithing, they quote Malachi 3:8-12 and bring out the temporal blessings that we receive for our obedience to this law. Children or posterity are often referred to as "fruit" in the scriptures and, with that thought in mind, verse 11 took on a new significance for me. "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts." The "devourer" is most often seen as natural calamities, but can also be Satan, so our obedience to the law of tithing will protect our children from the power of the adversary. They will learn the importance of keeping our covenants because they see US do it, they will know the blessings that come from tithing because they will hear US testify of it, and they will be strengthened because of OUR example. Isn't it great?! I love, Love, LOVE the Old Testament!!

Test Kitchen Tuesday: "That's exactly how they make goose liver pate!"

I have been making many a mystery dinner/dessert/snack, but have forgotten to take pictures for a lot of them. :( I decided instead that for my neglected test kitchen I would highlight the four course French meal my family and I enjoyed on our trip to France. It was delightful! The Chateau Brou had a gorgeous and fancy dining area with a more private alcove that was set up just for us.
Our server was a tiny, charming, smartly dressed, young French mademoiselle who was quick to catch a joke and make one too. She recommended that we choose from the ala carte menu so we all chose those things we thought we'd like best. We were first served a tiny dish of cold tomato soup that was delicious, as well as an assortment of bread and toppings. Next came salad for everyone and foie gras for me. I like to be an adventurous eater (within reason) and I have to admit that I was wildly curious about the foie gras. You see it everywhere in France - it is sold in the gourmet food shops in the airport, it is prominently featured in the grocery stores, and in every touristy place you go, someone is selling foie gras. I'm sure you are dying to know what foie gras is by now, so here it is...goose liver. Mostly, foie gras is sold as a pate, but at a resturant you can get your goose liver without the squish. I asked the waitress what her favorite first course was and she promptly declared foie gras so that sealed it - my adventure was about to begin. While everyone else ate salad...
I tucked into this divine looking dish...Isn't the presentation amazing?! More importantly, it was actually really good. And that is a BIG compliment coming from the girl who used to drown her liver dinner in ketchup. The foie gras was served on grapefruit segments, which gave the dish a tangy-sweet undertone and all the sauces were wonderful. I could definintely see why foie gras is so popular in France and why PETA will never succeed in inducing people not to eat it. (The geese are force fed large amounts of feed to make their livers grow larger...it sounds awful but you can watch it on YouTube and see that it takes about five seconds and that the geese just look confused when it is over...yeah, yeah, I'm justifying my delicious meal.)

Main Course:
The main course options were fish, duck, or beef. I chose duck, again - adventurous me - I'd never had duck, and I wasn't disappointed in my choice. It was excellent and served in a broth with vegetables. Yummy!

In what will be a moment of supreme amazement for many, I will confess that I actually opted for the CHEESE COURSE. (I'm so brave.)
Served on a chilly piece of slate, the cheese course included a tangy salad of wild greens and sweet bread topped with goat cheese. I have to admit that I didn't eat all the cheese, but I DID scrape a thin layer over my bread and enjoyed it. I felt very French...eating cheese and all.

Finally, we had dessert. There was chocolate cake, apricot crumble, and rhubarb flambe! Of course, the idea of a flaming dessert had me all excited so I ordered it. It was delicious, but to my disappointment, they lit it on fire in the kitchen. Still, it was good and I loved all the crispy sugar carmalized on top.

We spent about three hours eating and I loved every minute of it. The conversation was excellent, the food was perfect, the setting was lovely, and I felt so lucky. When we were finished we waddled out...
and I spent the rest of the evening here:

What is a chateau??

Did anyone other than me always assume that a chateau was some kind of nice French country manor? A little bit fancy? A little bit quaint? A whole lot charming? Forget that! A chateau is a miniature castle and some of them are full on castles. The places are nutty and enormous. They scream, "I'm the lord of all I see...bow down to me French peasants!" I understand not a few of them were torched during the French Revolution - I wonder why?

The Chateau de la Rochefoucauld is a monster, a beautiful, beautiful monster. It was so easy to stand on the sloping green lawn and imagine begowned (I just made that word up) and bejeweled ladies strolling the grounds in powdered wigs and tiny hats, being attended to by fussy servants, and crushing simmering peasants beneath their heels.

I snapped a picture of everyone (note all the stylish hats) coming through the gate and up the path to the front door. The gate house was part of a much larger building...

the STABLES! Now that is one fancy horse house!! The stable of the Chateau de la Rochefoucauld could have easily held my house, and my sister Heather's house, and my parents house, and half my neighborhood. Good grief!

Here is a side view of the chateau. The ruined part in the center is actually the "keep" and is the oldest part of the building. Our understanding was that they were trying or wanted to rebuild it.

This is as close as we came to going inside. That is my one regret from the trip...I wish we would have toured the chateaus that we stopped to see. If we HAD gone inside, we would have seen a Gothic chapel, a guard's room, furnished bedrooms, a library, and the boudoir of Marguerite de Valois who was Queen of France and Navarre in the 16th century. Okay, so that got me wondering...what exactly is a boudoir? Well, it is a lady's bedroom, sitting room or dressing room and the word is derived from the French bouder, which means "to pout". Do women pout in their bedrooms? What is that all about?

Our next stop was the Chateau de Langeais, another castle/chateau that stood in the heart of Indre-et-Loire. We were walking along cobblestone streets, past charming shops, and then BAM - there it was. (Sorry, I think I just had an Emeril Lagasse moment.) It was originally built as a fortress in the 10th century by Foulques Nerra, the Black Count of Anjou (he was a really bad man - one of those raping, pillaging, burning type guys who also built two abbies and made pilgrimages to the Holy Land - freaky religious zealots are the worst!). The chateau was expanded by Richard I of England (a.k.a. Richard the Lionhearted) and later destroyed in the Hundred Years' War. King Louis XI rebuilt it in 1465, and the wedding of Anne of Brittany and King Charles VIII occurred there on December 6, 1491. I'm not much for wax figures and such but the wedding scene is recreated within the chateau and it would have been neat to see.

These gardens are part of the Chateau de Langeais' grounds...and are all fortified - of course. You never know when someone might try and take you out while you're enjoying an afternoon stroll.

In the background of this picture you can see a wall. The wall is actually part of the ruins of a donjon, or keep, which served as the dungeon. (OHHH! Donjon...Dungeon - wink!) This ruined wall is all that is left of the Black Count of Anjou's original fortress. The chateau's caretakers have set up a wooden walkway behind the wall where you can climb up and look through the windows. Sweet, eh?

Did I say we didn't go into any of the chateaus? I said that, but it's not an entirely true statement because we DID go into one...the Chateau de Brou. We, uh, actually stayed there! OVERNIGHT!! HA! Mom and Dad were really starting to hustle us along as the day stretched on. We ended up driving on all these back roads and through tiny towns that passed in a blink as we rushed by. Finally Dad pulled over to ask directions (all in a very hush-hush manner, but we couldn't have known what they were saying anyway since the entire conversation occurred in rapid-fire French) and this quintessential young French man with a hand rolled cigarette behind his ear hopped into his car and led us to where we needed to be. Dad drove down increasingly narrower roads until we pulled up to a big iron gate. Another indecipherable conversation ensued between dad and the intercom, the only part I caught was "la famille de Metcalfe", and then the gate swung wide and we drove into a forest. I'm not kidding, it was a forest, the woods, whatever you want to call it, complete with wild boar. We crept along the path feeling like we'd stepped back in time, when all of a sudden there was a break in the trees and we saw this:Of course, there was lots of girlie shrieking when we realized this was a super fancy B&B where my parents had rented four rooms and made reservations for a to die for, honest-to-goodness, four-course French dinner (more on that later). We admired the building in the rosy and quickly fading afternoon light...

walked in...and made ourselves at home. I found that my sweet parents, knowing that I am nutty about turrets, had reserved the Joan of Arc turret room for me. Jaime and squish-face Chase were my roomies. Here's mom and Chase hanging out in my room:

And here's me hanging with Joan.I still can't believe we stayed in a chateau and I stayed in the turret room...it was so much fun!

The Nap Time Bandit Strikes Again!

HA HA HA HA HA!!
He was curled up on his seat and snoring so loud I could hear him downstairs.

A Fete

My mother turned soixante-dix recently, so we held a small fete in her honor. It was fun and she is darling. I love you Mom!

Heather and I split the food duties. She made this darling cake (white with a lemon filling) and I made pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw, tater babies, and a chef salad. We also had sparkling cider. :)

Heather forgot candles and the only one I had was a sparkly red 2 left over from Grant's birthday. We put that on and Dad declared that Mom was celebrating her second childhood. When Grant saw that it was time to blow out the candle, he climbed up on Heather's lap to "help" and spit on the cake with great gusto.

We wore party hats to eat our cake and ice cream in...

and Dad popped into this picture of the kid eating their cake. Chad said, "Poppa is a picture bomb!" which had Merritt giggling and questioning all night. ("Why is Poppa a picture bomb?") Doesn't Dad look like a unicorn or a bull with one horn in his hat? So cute!

Mom opened presents from her darling sister Laraine...

and from us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!