bonne année

Happy new year and best wishes to everyone in two thousand eleven.  Bonne année.

Our celebrating this year will be very low key.  Maybe a little wine and maybe a movie. After having company for a few days we are looking forward to relaxing.

As is a custom in the Chinese New Year, I will do a little house clean today to "sweep away any bad luck" and then relax tomorrow because with the new year comes new luck and you would not want to sweep that away.  Although the Chinese New Year is not celebrated until much later, I still like the little tradition.  And no cleaning on New Years day sounds great to me.  

lavender vanilla sugar

 Note: Add this sugar to your baking (muffins, cupcakes, loaves...) or try some in your next cup of coffee for a nice little treat.  For something a little different, use citrus zests instead to make lemon sugar or grapefruit sugar.  Or play it safe, and just make vanilla sugar as it goes great with anything. 

You will need:

 

1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon dried lavender blossoms

1 vanilla bean

small Ball jar

cute ribbon  

……………………………………..

Pour sugar into a medium size bowl.  Top with lavender blossoms.  Cut one small end of the vanilla bean off.  Split the vanilla bean down the center, revealing tiny, sticky vanilla bean specks.  Scrape vanilla beans out with a small knife and add to the sugar and lavender.  Cut the vanilla bean pod in half and reserve.

With the back of a spoon, work the lavender and vanilla bean into the sugar.  Be sure to press on the lavender blossoms to release their oils and to disperse any vanilla bean clumps that may try to form.  Add the reserved vanilla bean pod and continue to press the sugar and lavender and vanilla together.  It should smell amazing.  Pour into the jar.  Tie a pretty bow.  Maybe you want to make a cute hand written label.  

image & recipe courtesy of joy the baker

christmas festivities

Christmas has come and gone in a flash.  Following a very yummy Christmas eve dinner at a friends house (thankfully with an oven), the babies exchanged gifts.  It took a while to get the wrapping off, but both little guys were very focused on the task.

Christmas morning was cozy and quiet.  Jacob slept uninterrupted for nearly twelve hours so we all slept well, and all slept in.  Starbucks coffee, Christmas music, pancakes and a couple presents followed.  Jacob loved the shine and crinkle of the paper probably more then the gifts themselves.  We loved the fact that we are now a little family of three (plus Hailey) more then any gift out there.  It was a lovely first Christmas. 

Jacob received his very first and very own jersey to wear to Dad's games.  Thompson number 41.  Go Dad go.  It is huge on him but will fit perfectly over top of his fleece suit at the games.

And although poor Hailey didn't make it onto our Christmas card this year (she was certainly there in spirit), she was not forgotten on Christmas.  She had a present all her own to open, ripped into it with joy and loved her new chew toy.  She caught onto this gift thing real quick, and after finding such a nice dog toy in one present, she was interested in them all. 

It was such a sweet and special Christmas and I look forward to many, many more to come.

merry christmas & happy holidays

Best wishes to all those we love and miss back home.
Joyeux Noël et bonne fêtes!

"Today in the town of David
a Savior has been born to you:
he is Christ the Lord."
~ Luke 2:11

eggnog

I am busy making a few sides for tonight's Christmas dinner - broccoli grape salad, sweet potato pecan supreme and maple glazed carrots (with real Canadian Maple syrup)  - as well as some Christmas cookies.  But the holidays just wouldn't be the same without a little eggnog.

Of course eggnog is not a European thing, so I decided to try to make it from scratch.  I must admit, the whole raw egg thing creeps me out a little so I thought I would try a recipe in which the egg is cooked.  Problem solved.  It turned out wonderfully so I thought I would pass the recipe along.

 

 Note: This eggnog recipes can be spiked to your liking with 1/2 cup rum, bourbon, and/or brandy, or enjoyed by all ages in nonalcoholic form.  I reduced the amount of sugar in this recipe so if it is not to your liking, add and additional 1/3 cup of fine sugar.  For eggnog inspired sugar cookies, click here.

You will need:

4 cups milk 
1 cup fine sugar 
12 medium egg yolks 
1/2 cup alcohol (optional) 
1 cup chilled cream 
1/2 tsp vanilla
Grated nutmeg

……………………………………..

In medium saucepan, whisk milk and sugar over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. 

In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks. Whisking constantly, pour hot mixture into yolks in a slow and steady stream.  Adding too much too quickly could cook the egg yolks and result in clumps. 

Return mixture to pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often.  About 20 to 25 minutes or until thick enough to coat back of spoon; do NOT let this simmer. 

Transfer liquid to a bowl, strain if necessary.  Add nutmeg and vanilla.  Stir in rum, bourbon and/or brandy if desired, followed by the cream. 

Cool completely; cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled. 

Garnish with a pinch of nutmeg, if desired.

|Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart|

|Recipe modified from Martha Stewart|

père noël

Père Noël  has found us in France.  

And Jacob did not mind Father Christmas in the least.  

He happily sat with this stranger and smiled.

If he thought this was all a little strange, he never let on.

I was pretty impressed with the set up there.

Big beautifully decorated tree, Christmas quilt, a sweet Santa with a very authentic beard and ornate suit.  

How very perfect.

What I cannot get over is how big Jake looks here. 

How is that even possible!?!

le marais

The highlight of our day in Paris was walking around le Marais neighborhood.  What once was a marsh is now the place to go for the latest in fashion, trendiest restaurants, best galleries and the most beautiful, old and authentic streets to walk.

One of our first stops was for lunch and if you are in le Marais you cannot leave without going to L'As du Falafel - for falafels of course.  Tucked away on Rue des Rosiers, in the heart of what was once Paris's most vibrant Jewish neighborhood you will stumble upon L'As du Falafel.

If you were to judge it on its appearance alone, you would certainly not know that it is world renowned and more often than not, it's lined-up down the street.  You may easily pass it by for something with a slightly more Parisian facade.  Big mistake.  Their falafels are a must.  They are so tasty, completely filling and probably the only place, in all of Paris, you can get a delicious lunch for two for only 10 Euros.

At this point I was too busy eating and savoring every bite to take any more pictures; which is a bit of a shame really because le Marais is so beautiful and very picture worthy.  You will just have to take my word on that. 

Next we went up the Champs Elysee to see all the Christmas lights that it is so very famous for and to look around their Marche de Noel.  The lights were bigger, brighter and more beautiful than the pictures below illustrate but the traffic, people and noise cancel a lot of that beauty out.  It was quite chaotic.  

The Christmas market was pretty bizarre to say the least.  All the booths were decked out in blue and pink lights which gave off more of a carnival feel then a Christmas-y feel.  On top of that, most of the booth contents were not Christmas related at all.  The only thing we stopped for was a cupcake, which although delicious, definitely did not belong at a European Christmas market.  Additionally, the market lines both sides of the very busy and very crowded Champs Elysee and there is at least four lanes of traffic that runs between the booths. 

Billy and I both agreed that we prefer our Marche de Noel here in Amiens.  We appreciate it even more now.    

we made it

It was a little spontaneous and a lot of fun, we made it to Paris before Christmas after all.  Billy called after his practice Monday morning and said "let's catch the one o'clock train".  This literally gave us twenty minutes to book the train and pack the diaper bag but we were off.

Our train there was on time and uneventful.  Jacob was a great passenger; we played and read books and he couldn't have been happier.

On our way home we hit delays. I know there have been delays all over Europe, but this particular one was a little confusing to us as there had been no new snow or rain anywhere along our route.  It was not even very cold out but nevertheless we were stuck at Gare du Nord.

When this happens you are not given a lot of information. There is no information booth, no customer service representative, no expected departure time.  Just "RETARD" in huge red print beside your destination. Your only option is to stand there and wait.  Eventually you get a track number but still no departure time.  You hop on your train and wait some more.

We ended up arriving home two hours late, just after eleven o'clock.  Despite the late night, Jacob was in a glorious mood.  He didn't let out a single cry.  Not one all day actually.  All day he was either happy or sleeping.  In other words, perfect.

I still have not uploaded all of my photos yet so there will be more to come.  

snow day

Big fat snowflakes are falling.  They have blanketed the already icy roads and the city is slowing down.  15 cm of snow has already fallen and and more is forecasted.  I'm not sure if they have ever seen this much snow here.  They are certainly not prepared for it.  No winter tires.  No sanding trucks.

We have witnessed more cars getting stuck then we can count, a few near misses with poles and other cars and a lot of people wiping out while walking on these slick roads.  People are carrying their umbrellas in the snow (which I guess actually does make sense but seems a little unnecessary).  Snow ball fights are breaking out everywhere.  Snowmen are popping up on street corners. 

It couldn't be more beautiful.  I think you really appreciate snow when you know you possibly might not get any.   

We are loving it. 

Except for the fact that it has caused a few problems with our planned trip into Paris.  We have postponed twice already.  Trains have not been running regularly and because we do not have snow tires, driving is not a good option.  We were hoping to get there before Christmas to check out the market and all of the lights.  Our days are numbered now as Christmas is quickly approaching and Billy has daily practices.  So we will see what the next couple of days bring.  

I have no beautiful snow photos.  I left the camera behind as I feared it would get soaked.  But here are a few I took indoors.  Jake is sitting by the window and the snow outside was so bright I did not even need a flash.  

le marché de noël

The Christmas market here has been wonderful to explore.  It is a little different from other European Christmas markets we have been to - namely there is not as much for Christmas crafts and decorations and instead a much bigger focus on food and drinks.  No complaints here.

We still have a lot to try but so far there have been many highlights.  Real hot chocolate made only with melted dark chocolate and cream.  Tartiflette, a dish from Southern France made with potatoes, bacon and an unknown French cheese.  Gaufres, big Belgian style waffles made fresh and hot and topped with countless sweet options.  Our favourite topping being powdered sugar and whipped cream.  And of course the vin Chaud or jus d'orange chaud is always delicious.

There is even a Canadian booth here, all the way from Quebec.  They have a huge assortment of everything Maple - tea, syrup, butter, sugar, cookies...  and also Canadian whiskey.  Every time we walk past I get something.  First it was maple syrup, then it was maple tea and now I am dreaming of the maple sugar for our morning coffee.

It is a very family friendly affair and almost equal parts Christmas market and carnival.  There are children's play grounds, rides, music concerts, climbing walls, snowless cross-country ski track, mini golf, and a carousel.  Quite an interesting assortment. 

good samaritans to the rescue

Clearly I was not one of them.  Instead I took pictures from our upstairs window with the lights off and no flash, so no one would see me.  Basically the exact opposite of a good samaritan.   

This is what happens when you get two and a half inches of snow here.  Although it is virtually imperceptible in the picture, this car is stuck.  It takes thirteen people, two shovels, what I'm guessing was kitty litter and four people pushing to get this car moving.  On a completely flat road, I may add.  And there really were thirteen people.  No exaggeration there, I just didn't have the best vantage point to get everyone in the shot.  

To this poor cars defense, he was not the first car stuck here (he was at least the fourth) and it was pretty slick.  I also have to note that it is pretty great that thirteen people even stopped to help at all.  Okay, I'm sure a few stood by to watch, but still it's impressive.  And to think that we are always hearing French people are so rude. 

 

This morning we were pleased to see that the snow has not yet completely melted.  We bundled up for swimming lessons and when we arrived at the pool we found no one else there.  I guess we were lucky the pool was even open.  It just ended up being ourselves and the other Canadian couple.  I think there is close to twenty babies enrolled so today's attendance was pretty dismal.  Especially because it was our last class.  We made the best of things and took full advantage of a pool all to ourselves.  Lots of splashing ensued. 

merci beacoup

We have had some very special things arrive in the mail lately.  Some much needed pajamas for this growing boy and the sweetest, softest fleece suit for winter.  How very thoughtful.  We are so lucky to have such kind and loving families back home.

Thank you all for the lovely gifts, they are keeping Jacob warm and cozy now that winter is upon us and are greatly appreciated by us all.  Merci. 

Here is just a glimpse...

 

holiday at home

We have all been relaxing here on Billy's break from hockey.  It has been a very enjoyable but uneventful week.  We are thinking of maybe going into Paris one of these days to see the city all lit up for Christmas.  But until then, we are just enjoying doing a lot of nothing.  

Jacob at five months old

lille

Yesterday we went on a little day-trip to Lille, France.  Just an hour and a half North of us.   Although Lille is much larger then Amiens their Christmas market was surprisingly a lot smaller.   Nevertheless, the city was completely decked out for the season with lights, music and a stunning 18 meter high Christmas Tree. 

We enjoyed walking around the market and snacked on waffles and croustillions while watching the huge 50 meter high Ferris wheel turn.

Jacob was a happy traveler, playing and sleeping in the car and laughing and babbling while walking around the city.   

The final highlight of the day was a humongous book store (rumored to be the largest in Europe, although I haven't verified that) with a very large English section.  Billy and I both came home with a book so I couldn't be happier. 

   Gingerbread in every shape and from imaginable.

Croustillions.  Similar to a fair doughnut covered in sugar.  And every bit as tasty as they sound.

Our happy baby, bundled up warm and enjoying his tasty mittens.  He was probably wishing he was old enough to have some gingerbread.

babe nageur

Finally a couple of pictures from swimming lessons.  I decided to stay out for the beginning of class to take a few photos.  Jacob is becoming quite the water baby, he loves to kick, splash water all over his face and never cries when Billy dunks him under.  So much fun. 

celebrating seven months

Jacob is officially seven months old.  

I can hardly believe it.   

Today we have been enjoying a new book.  A gift.  And just about one of the sweetest books there ever was.  

Thanks Grandma Jean.

Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You

by Nancy Tillman

We have been reading it over and over and just loving it.  It is so sweet and is filled with the most beautiful and unique illustrations.  

I knew it was going to be lovely just as soon as I read this on the book jacket...

"Love is the greatest gift we have to give our children.  It's one thing they carry with them each and every day."

Images courtesy of Amazon