Postcards From Washington

Spokane, Washington. My hometown.

These were taken several years ago. I've had very little time to get out and use my camera since arriving!

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Photo du Jour - Childhood

The quiet, suburban neighborhood where I went Trick-or-Treating every Halloween, hurled myself down a steep, snowy hill on my sled, rode my bike to the store for ice cream, went to the river to hunt for frogs, played Ghost in the Graveyard on warm summer nights and enjoyed the freedom of childhood. Pin It

The Crescent City

My annual trek to the Crescent City begins tomorrow. At 3:15 AM. Oh joy.
After thirteen hours of flying time and more than eight hours of sitting in various airports I will finally land, very excited, yet exhausted from not being able to sleep in those instruments of torture they call economy class seats.

I try very hard not to complain about flying and to remember that it is only several hours out of my life, and so worth it to have the ability to get halfway across the world in less than a day, but when you're as short as I am, those headrests that are there to support the necks of normal sized people actually thrust the heads of us shorter people forward, causing agonizing neck pain after 11 hours on a transatlantic flight.

The other night I had a dream that the airline gave away my seat before I got on the plane so they offered me a big, roomy one in first class to apologize.
Ah, if only my dream would come true...

I'm not holding my breath.




Anyway....
You won't be reading about cheese and wine and France, or seeing any photos of the local markets, villages and vineyards for the next few weeks.

It will be all about New Orleans - friends and festivities, po boy's and Mardi Gras parades, and hopefully a visit to The Marigny Brasserie, the St. James Cheese Company (you can't expect me to go 3 weeks without at least some cheese, can you?) and Donald Link's new charcuterie place next door to the spectacular Cochon.

Then I fly off to Spokane, Washington, where I grew up, to visit family and friends and buy as much soft peanut butter brittle that can fit in my suitcase. My only disappointment about going to Spokane...no Trader Joe's to loot!


So I'll be around, posting photos and writing a bit from the road.

À bientôt.


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Things I'm Taking Back to France

Before each trip to the States we have a look around the house and (mainly) the kitchen to make The List.

Last trip it included;
tofu for making Szechuan mapo tofu
Reese's Pieces for our young, English neighbors
tea for Riana
Crystal Hot Sauce-I have a love affair with this stuff
hominy for making posole, a Mexican soup that includes pork, avocado, lime and cilantro
clothes and shoes I'd ordered with a gift card
and not on the list-a virus I caught on the airplane

This trip I have a lot more space in my luggage;
Airborne to keep me from getting sick again when I fly home!
Emergen C-same as above
bagels for my husband-his great love
chili powder for it's obvious use
dried chili peppers to use in recipes from Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen
Reese's Pieces (the girls ate the last bag in three days!)
Karo Syrup because I sometimes need it
assorted birthday cards as they are difficult to come by in our little corner of France and usually really expensive
peanut brittle from the Davenport Hotel here in Spokane, Washington-addictive and divine
rewritable DVD's as they cost a fortune in France
M A C lipstick in Odyssey
cans of chipotles in adobo sauce for use in dozens of recipes
Snoqualmie Falls Lodge oatmeal-never mushy

As soon as I have a chance to get to the grocery store I know I'll find many more items and end up with a suitcase that I can barely zip shut. It happens every time.


Update
My mom is doing much better and should be going home from the hospital today. She'll be so happy to be home and her cat will be very happy to have her there! Pin It

Leaving on a Jet Plane

In a few hours I'll be boarding an airplane in Toulouse and heading to Spokane, Washington to be with my mom. I hope to be able to use her computer while I'm there, but if not, I'll be writing again around the 20th.
A bientôt. Pin It

What's Happening Here in France

Seems like I haven't written about France much lately. And I've hardly cooked a thing in three weeks, so there hasn't been much to write about that either. I was looking forward to settling back in to "life in general" here in our little village when a call came Monday afternoon from my sister in California. Our mom had been checked back into the hospital Sunday night and was needing surgery as soon as they could get the raging infection in her body under control. I'll spare you the details, but she's been sick for a couple of months and was in the hospital two weeks ago, but it looked like everything was ok. It wasn't.
Surgery took place last night, everything went well and she should be heading home from the hospital Sunday or Monday. My sister is going there today to help and I'm heading back to Spokane, Washington on Tuesday morning to be there when my sister has to go home.
So, "life in general" is being put on hold until I return on the 19th of March. I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that I have to head back across the pond. Another 20 hours of airplanes and airports. Merde.

Until Tuesday I plan on getting over the virus I contracted last week either on the airplanes, airports or in New Orleans and enjoy some cooking!
I'm making dinner for six tomorrow night and want to try either a coconut chicken curry or a chicken and potato curry recipe that I found on Hooked on Heat and some vegetable side dish with cauliflower.
Spring is definitely in the air which means driving at night is a toad obstacle course. They're out and trying to mate and they're all over the place! The almond trees are in bloom and the bulbs are coming up. We're looking forward to asparagus and strawberries and sitting outside in the sun. Pin It