Lentil Tacos

I made lentil tacos a bit by chance, but they will become a regular addition to our menus, because they were FABULOUS.

My wonderful husband E had made a huge pot of not-so-wonderful lentils as a side dish for dinner on Friday night. No flavoring, nothing, just plain boiled lentils. They weren't a big hit, but they weren't bad either, just bland (and perfectly cooked). I put the leftovers in the fridge and when looking online for recipes using lentils on Saturday before lunch came across several for tacos.

Since all things Mexican are a-ok for me, I jumped on it and read 3 or so recipes and then improvised. I personally think they tasted just as good as the beef ones I make from time to time, but the sauce wasn't quite as good as I usually make it. The boys felt it was good but not quite as good as usual, probably because they knew it was vegetarian... next time I'll add some meat and fib about the proportions, and go back to my normal seasonings too.

The worst part of tacos here in Paris remains the taco shells - just horrible stale industrial stuff, we're better off w the soft flour tortillas for soft tacos or biting the bullet and frying the corn ones (but ugh, what a mess and time consuming process...)

Anniversary Weekend - Champagne France

We had a WONDERFUL anniversary weekend in the Champagne region of France. We went to a champagne tasting at Françoise Bedel et Fils on Saturday which was incredible - we discovered a complexity level in champagne that I didn't even know existed. (We also heard all about bio-dynamic agriculture which seems partly interesting but mainly strange!).

We had a lot of wonderful meals, most especially at the wonderful Chateau Les Crayères where we came for our wedding night a year ago. Like last year, we were blown away by the excellence of the cuisine (and this year I was really able to appreciate it). I am still re-living the various lobster dishes, the incredible stuffed vegetables from last night, an amazing raspberry dessert, and at least 4 types of champagne, of which the Cristal from Roederer will probably forever sing in my heart. Pure perfection.

Disgrace, J.M. Coetzee

I read this book over our anniversary weekend, which was not a mood very well adapted to a book of this type, but it was incredibly well written and I guess you could say it makes you appreciate the strengths in your own relationships.

Winner of the 1999 Booker Prize, along w the first of this Nobel-winner's works I have read, it made a powerful impression upon me (no surprise, as I picked it up in London under a display marked "books that will change your life").

Extremely well-crafted and well-written, this story was compact and hard-hitting, talking about both disgrace and true human grace as well - and various definitions and incarnations we might find in that.

Six Sick Hipsters - Rayo Casablanca

Well, the reading pace picked up when I switched genres.

I read 6 Sick Hipsters in just a few days, which was helped by the fact that the book is a mystery and there were tons of fun cultural references (most of which I didn't get, but I enjoyed the ones I did). I particularly liked that the main bad guy came from the town where I lived before moving to Paris...

I liked the pace and the story, although I felt the end kind of fell apart as the author raced to tie the ends together - it didn't quite work for me.

The Autograph Man - Zadie Smith

I've been reading The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith since I finished Tender is the Night. Between the two of them I dramatically slowed down my reading because I didn't really like either book, and I found them both rather plodding to get through. I read a lot of magazines in between...

I finally finished The Autograph Man last night, and although the last 100 pages were better than most of the rest of the book, it was the weakest of the Zadie Smith books I've read, and I found neither the story nor the characters very compelling.

My next book is written by my brother in law and is a thriller, on the first 20 pages on the Metro this morning there was already a death, so I'm guessing this will go faster!

Torn Curtain

We watched this Alfred Hitchcock movie in 2 parts over 2 nights (a welcome change from Law & Order).

It was not one of Hitchcock's best, but it was amusing and certain elements were interesting. A young and cute Paul Newman was a highlight.

Fontainebleu

We went to Fontainebleu forest this weekend to do a little light hiking. The weather was beautiful despite the threat of rain, and we had a nice time.

It was a quick trip, as it's not that far from Paris, and we spent the night in a hotel in nearby Barbizon.

Next time I'd like the time to do some longer hikes.