Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

-
Image
A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
5 comments

Paris in July - My French Dinner

-


The Content Reader


One of the things I wanted to do in July was a French dinner, and I did. Not a big one, just my friends Ingalill and Benny who are neighbours. It was decided to have it on the same day as France and Croatia played the final in the football world championship. What can be better than hit "two birds with one stone"?

Here is the meny from my wonderful "Guest and Menu" book I received as a gift many years ago. It always comes in handy on occasions like this.

The Menu

I started with foie gras on biscuits with pickled cucumber and a fig jam, served with champagne from Serge Jumel, a blanc de blanc. We also had the starter, pan fried scallops with garlic and chili before the match. To this I served one of my favourite Alsace wine, a Pinot Gris, 2016 from Wolfberger. After this initial eating we settled down in front of the tv to watch the game.

Foie gras and champagne

I started preparing the main course, Duck l'Orange in the pause and we continued to eat during the game. Duck is one of my favourite dishes and I must say, I found a nice recipe for the sauce. It tasted very well. To this I served another Alsace wine, a Pinot Noir, 2016 from Cave de Bennwihr. It went very well with the duck. It seems I was too take up by the cooking and forgot to take a photo of the duck.

Pan fried scallops

For dessert I wanted to make a fried Camembert with fried parsley and cloudberry jam. My friends were full though and we decided to take it another evening. We settled in front of the tv with a glass of wine to see the end of the game. Victory to France! Congratulations.

Wine for the evening

We ended the evening with another glass of champagne on the balcony. It was a very nice, relaxed evening. No pressure when you invite good friends you know very well. I was quite pleased with the menu, favourite things of mine. The only thing which did not exactly match was the Pinot Gris for the scallops. Only because I added a little bit of pressed lime on the scallops, which made far too much acid in the food to go with the low acidity wine. Just to remember next time. Another wine or no lime!

Comments

  1. Mae Travels21 July 2018 at 16:38

    What a great dinner! Wish you had invited me. Was it real fois gras? So many places don't allow it any more. (I think they are nuts.)

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisbeth 22 July 2018 at 11:47

      Thank you. Yes, it was the real stuff. I know one should not eat it, but from time to time I give in. It is really excellent.

      Delete
  2. Tamara21 July 2018 at 23:06

    The evening sounds just lovely. I like the way you give consideration for pairing the wines, and like me, over catering always occurs when planning to host such a party. I hope the camambert dessert isn't waiting too long.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisbeth 22 July 2018 at 11:48

      Thank you. I have taken some courses in wine and food, and it is always nice to try to get the right wine to the right food. It tastes so much better. I hope to do the camembert tonight.

      Delete
  3. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz22 July 2018 at 02:53

    What a wonderful meal you prepared! And wines for everything. So impressive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisbeth 22 July 2018 at 11:48

      Thank you. Planning a meal is sometimes the best part! I like pairing the wine with the food. If you get it right, it tastes so much better.

      Delete
  4. Sami23 July 2018 at 11:02

    What a wonderful meal to celebrate France. The scallops look delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jeanie23 July 2018 at 17:26

    Oh Lisbeth, it looks and sounds just splendid! There's nothing better than dinner with friends no matter what the menu but a French one makes it all the more special. I am wildly impressed by your efforts!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lisbeth 24 July 2018 at 13:40

    Thank you Sami. Just live scallops. This was a first time recipe and It tasted very well.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Magical Room, Saloons in 1920s Paris by Ingrid Svensson

-
Image
Better late than never as they say. This post was supposed to go up last year. At a museum in Sweden I found a book about 1920s saloons in Paris. Very interesting and it generated the post:  Paris in July - French Saloons.    As promised then, here is the first of two posts about four of the main hostesses.  Still picking from the "Magical Rom" and events from Paris in the 1920s. There were four main characters who put their mark on the literary scene of the time; Gertrude Stein, Natalie Clifford Barney, Adrienne Monnier, and Sylvia Beach. For most of you, they are already well known. These ladies had one thing in common, as well as many of the women holding salons, in that they were all lesbians. This was maybe one reason why they ended up in Paris, being more liberal (although you had to be discreet) than many other countries, and the US specifically. They were very creative and talented and did a lot for the cultural scene in Paris, introducing new talents and hel...
Read more

The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

-
Image
This is one of those popular help yourself books that seems to overflow these days. However, it defies all the good advices we have been given during the last years, that is; stay positive. Manson says: "Let's be honest; sometimes things are fucked up and we have to live with it."  Right! That is life after all. "One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful." Sigmund Freud  With this quote in mind Manson argues that values such as "pleasure, material success, always being right, staying positive", are poor guidelines for a persons life. After all, some of the greatest moments in our lives are " not  pleasant, not successful, not known, and not positive". Which leads him to the belief, and I am bound to agree with him, that it is the individual who is responsible for everything in his/her life. We just have to act due to external circumstances. We are not always in control of all aspects of our...
Read more

Die Manns (The Mann Family) by Tilmann Lahme

-
Image
One of my favourite books is Buddenbrooks  by Thomas Mann. It was Thomas Mann's first novel and it was published in 1901. It gave him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. Tilmann Lahme's biography of the Mann family is an interesting account of a family where the author rose above everyone else. Thomas Mann was born in 1875, but the biography starts in 1922 when he was already an established writer with part of his production behind him. It covers the years in Germany, the exile years during World War II (France, Switzerland, and the USA), the peace years, and the final years in Switzerland.  The Manns was a troubled family. The mother Katia, took care of the family and the business that was Thomas Mann. They had six children; Klaus, Erika, Golo, Monika, Elisabeth och Michael. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reviewed the book and this extract says it all. " Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, says Tolstoy. One should read this book to  understand the ...
Read more