• Frenchie

    June 6, 2012

    One of the differences between our trip last summer in Lyon and this summer in Paris is the food.  For many reasons, the food for us has been different.  I’d say it’s because of one or more of the following reasons 1) Paris has more food options, 2) we feel more comfortable going to restaurants, 3) we’re here a week longer giving us more time to schedule dinners, 4) we’re better acquainted with the food scene, and 5) we have a working iPhone (that has a map, making it easier to find places).

    Dusty has been researching the Paris food scene for months and has a lengthy list of places we need to eat.  They range from a food truck (which we ate at today) to some of the highly rated restaurants in the world.  Some you must make reservations for months in advance and others you can’t even make reservations for but must stand in line with other food-loving patrons (while drinking wine to keep you busy).

    We’ve went to several restaurants since we’ve arrived including a couple in London but here’s one of my favorites so far.  Gregory Marchand is the chef and owner of Frenchie, a small place with just a few tables that serves a three course prix fix. Here’s a picture of the window to the kitchen and a picture of me sitting by the window.  We had a perfect seat that enabled us to see the entire place including what was happening in the kitchen window. The window spot also allowed us to see and hear people trying to get a table, making it even more special that we were one of the lucky ones (and confirming how much we loved the food).

    left: Dusty’s lamb dish; right: My amazing fish dish

    right: Dusty’s carrot cake for dessert and my rhubarb tart

     

    1 Comment | Posted in: Food, Paris | Tagged with: , ,
  • Life Lately

    June 6, 2012

    (Lunch at Paris Food Truck)

    (Kate’s Last Night in Paris)

    No Comments | Posted in: Daily Life | Tagged with:
  • Laundry in Paris (and I’m sure in most parts of Europe) is an event. It’s even more of an event when it’s just a little bit cold and rainy outside and it takes twice as long to dry anything. I actually don’t mind doing laundry.  My routine at home is to do laundry once a week or even once every two weeks on a Friday when I have the day or afternoon off. I sort our clothes into three to four piles and then begin washing. Before putting things in the dryer I sort out what should be hung up. Then I do the ironing, hanging and folding part of the process.  It’s a little bit different in Paris because our washing machine (and dryer) is half the size and we don’t have an endless supply of clothes. We probably enough clothes for 2 weeks, if the weather worked in our favor every day.  Once you’ve worn your two pairs of jeans or two pairs of capris you need to wash them.

    (left: washing machine/dryer in kitchen; middle: drying rack; right: clothes to be ironed)

    I started the laundry this morning and I’ll be finishing it tomorrow (and maybe the next). Our washer and dryer is all-in-one.  It still amazes me that a machine can both wash your clothes and dry them (in theory).  The thing about this two-in-one contraption is that it doesn’t really dry anything. Which means you have to hang dry everything and that means finding places to hang all of our clothes around our very small apartment. We not only use the drying rack but chairs, bath tubs, etc. That also means very still clothes and having to iron everything.

    And ironing, I actually like ironing or at least don’t hate it. Ironing always gives me a good reason to listen to my audiobooks but lately I’m despising ironing. One reason being that there’s more ironing to do because I have to iron everything. Second, I only have a miniature ironing board and third, the iron trips the circuit breaker every so often and after realizing my iron has gone cold I have to switch the circuit breaker back on. One thing that baffles me is how all the beautiful French women’s clothes always look so pristine with no wrinkles.  Even with my very skillful ironing I still find wrinkles!

    No Comments | Posted in: France, Paris | Tagged with: , ,
  • Big Omaha 2012

    May 10, 2012

    We celebrated Big Omaha’s fourth year and I can’t believe how successful it was.  I love being a part of this great event and everything else that Dusty and the rest of the SPN group does.  Here are a few pictures from the three day event.

    bigomaha2012_002

    No Comments | Posted in: Work | Tagged with:
  • Book Club

    May 2, 2012

    In February a few friends and I started a book club we call B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Book).  Our book club is very similar to others, we meet at someone’s house each month to discuss the book that the host has chosen for that month. We have food and plenty of wine and end up talking more about our lives then about the book in particular.

    I’ve grown close to all of these wonderful ladies and can’t imagine why I waited so long to start something like this.  It’s hard to get a group of women together once a month because of schedules and daily lives but when you create a specific reason, like discussing a book that you’ve spent the month reading then it’s not nearly as difficult.

    I like my book c lub so much that I’ve started thinking of how I can create other groups or clubs, like a knitting club or quilting club or drinking wine club, just so I can find an excuse to get together with my friends more than once every six months.

    This year we’ve read: Hunger Games, What Alice Forgot, Never Let Me, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Room, Escape, Half Broke Horses, Modoc – The True Story Of The Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived, The Night Circus, Sarah’s Key, Still Alice, Teacher Man.

    I hosted the first book club and we read Hunger Games because the movie was coming out shortly after.  We even planned a movie day for those who could come.  Here are a few pictures from when I hosted. I found a website that had great Hunger Game party favors, bookmarks, and decorations.

    No Comments | Posted in: Fun Times | Tagged with:
  • A little over a year ago Dusty and I took a trip to Chicago as a little retreat.  We were able to get a reservation for dinner at Grant Achatz’s Alinea. After a mind blowing experience we discovered that Grant Achatz was opening another restaurant called Next with a new concept that many would say couldn’t be done.  Every three months Next changes it’s menu and essentially opens as an entirely different restaurant.  The first menu was ‘Paris: 1906’ and included some classical French foods served at the Tour d’Argent in Paris for more than 200 years.  Some of the dishes included whole lobes of foie gras baked in brioche, clear turtle soup with Madeira, duck pressed and sauced with its own blood and marrow.  The next two themes were ‘Thailand’, and ‘Childhood’.

    In February, Next transformed into ‘A Tribute to el Bulli’. El Bulli was a gastronomic destination in Spain and served its final mean in July 2011.  Reservations to Next, as you can probably guess, are really difficult to get but Dusty was very persistant or lucky and was able to get reservations at the chef’s table for this 28 course adventure.  Here are a few pictures from our food journey!

    No Comments | Posted in: Food | Tagged with: , ,
  • Dinner at Bret’s Table

    April 12, 2012

    Last weekend we were in Minneapolis visiting Dusty’s dad, Dean and stepmom, Julie before I get overly busy with the end of the semester and Dusty gets inundated with last minute details for Big Omaha.  Dean and Julie have some good friends, Bret and Jon who we have become close with, in part because they love food just as much as we do (if not more).  Bret recently traveled to France and lead a culinary tour around the country, including Provence, where they went to the former home of Julia Child.  He also runs private events and classes in the Minneapolis area as well as in his home.

    It just happens that this past weekend Bret and Jon were having some friends over for a little day of cooking, eating, and drinking, and we got the privilege to attend.  We got some excellent culinary lessons from Bret (who is an excellent teacher by the way) and then ate the beautiful masterpieces we had created.  One of our prep jobs was to be in charge of choosing the wines to pair with each dish and I must say we did an excellent job.  Minneapolis had this great wine shop, France 44, that had an excellent selection of French wines.

    bretstable

    Here’s a look at the menu we prepared:

    Aperitifs
    Anchovy Tapenade with Crackers
    Kir Royal (a popular French cocktail made with creme de cassis–black currant liqueur topped up with champagne)

    Plat
    Cuisses Poulet farci avec la saucisse avec jus (Stuffed Chicken Thighs)
    Pomme de terre parisienne (Parisian Potatoes)
    Steamed small carrots

    Salad Vert
    Fromage

    Dessert
    Tartelettes au chocolat individuels avec des framboises et crème à la pistache (Individual Chocolate Tarts with Raspberries and Pistachio Cream)

    No Comments | Posted in: Family, Food, Fun Times | Tagged with: , , ,
  • Dante Cooking Class

    April 11, 2012

    Dusty and I really enjoy food and wine! We absolutely love eating at Dante Ristorante and Pizzeria. Nick, chef and owner, is brilliant and Andy, wine director, has so much energy and passion for not only Italian wine but all wine.  The entire staff at Dante’s is the best.  If you live in Omaha and haven’t eaten there you need to.  Dusty likes to say that it’s a phenomenal pasta place disguised as a pizza shop.  Seriously, the pizza is the best in town (Pitch being a close second) but the pasta and green salads are the hidden gem.  All of their pasta, dough, mozzarella, and most everything else is made fresh in house.  Most everything (if not everything) is locally grown and raised.

    Dante’s started offering wine dinners a few month ago that Dusty and I started attending.  It’s a great reason to try excellent food and wine and to learn how everything pairs together.  For months Nick and Andy have been talking about hosting a cooking class where guests can do a little Italian cooking and end the night with a great dinner.  A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to be able to attend and had an absolutely wonderful time.  They closed down the restaurant for the night  and we were able to go to four different food stations and two different beverage stations to learn about wines, beers, making fresh pasta, making neapolitan pizza, homemade sausage, and breaking down poultry and fish.  I learned and did so many interesting things. It was a great date night out with Dusty. I can’t wait to do it again.

  • Spring Omaha Fashion Week

    April 10, 2012

    A few weeks ago we attended one of the Spring Omaha Fashion Week Runway shows.  On the runway that night were collections by designers Emma Erickson, Megan Hunt for Princess Lasertron, Jane Round and Paddy Tarlton for Dancin Yogi.  The event was held at Kaneko, which is one of Dusty’s and my favorite venues in the Old Market.  It was an excellent event all around–the best front row seats, phenomenal models, and of course, inspiring collections.  To our surprise Jerell Scott, of this season’s Project Runway All Stars was there (See picture below of Jerell with my friend Kate and me, lower right).

  • Weekend in Oklahoma City

    April 9, 2012

    We spent the weekend visiting family in Oklahoma City.  We drove down with my sister and her two kids, spent the weekend at the medievel festival and went to one of my niece’s softball games.  Photos from our weekend adventures.

    okc2012

    Top left: Nieces playing video games and watching movies on the iPad under the blankets. Others: Medievel Festival.

    No Comments | Posted in: Family | Tagged with: