WEEKENDS IN PARIS........Local Color

Welcome back to our second installment of Weekends in Paris.....Along with the most magnificent architecture in the world and beautiful golden statues adorning the bridges there is also color to the extreme...from toy boats pushed around with sticks by the little children in all the gardens to the street vendors and the hues of fresh fruits and vegetables.......it's a photographers dream. Here are some glimpses while walking around the neighborhoods...The Red White and Blue...........of a different kind.

Cozy Kitten sitting in a window sill............

Wandering the streets of Montmarte..........

stained glass.....P'ere Lachaise Cemetery

colorful boats for the kid in all of us.......the Luxembourg Gardens

Behind the Ivy

Painted concrete walls.....the Paris Mosque

boating on the Seine

Blue Skies.

carousel Champs de Mars......built 1913

Heart graffiti and a cute Parisian auto

Subway Tile.....at the Concord stop


Hope you enjoyed a little color today.....Stop back next weekend for the "Grande Tour" of the infamous.......Rue Mouffetard.....the name behind the Blog....

Have a Great weekend!!

Sue and Daughter..............

TABLESCAPE THURSDAY.........MONET'S TABLE...American Style.

Welcome to another edition of Tablescape Thursday hosted by the talented "Head Tablescaper" Susan at http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ This is the most fun I have had in a long time.....If you haven't joined in on the fun you should give it a try. You probably have more things around the house to dress up your table then you think....This week I decided to do a take on Monet's Table in Giverney France.....If you have ever seen a picture of his home Claude had the original designer kitchen.....We had the pleasure of visiting the home while in France and we even had a picnic on the grounds before touring the home and gardens. When we got back home daughter bought me this lovely book. It's a combination picture book of the home and gardens and a cookbook....It can be found on http://www.amazon.com/

I thought I would call my tablescape this week Monet's Table....."American Style"...using the colors of Monet's kitchen, yellow and blue.....The Boss put his foot down when I suggested painting our dining room chairs yellow.......Hope you enjoy my interpretation.....


If Monet painted my table I think this is what is would have looked like.


A view from above.....I used a king size quilt for the table cover.
I use quilts all over the house and find them to be very useful when making drapes and especially shower curtains....I think they also look great as a table cloth. The bright yellow napkins are from IKEA.

my dining room is actually my living room....with it's cathedral ceiling and porcelain parlor stove it makes for a cozy eating area. How can a room with vaulted ceilings be cozy? Lots of books and warm colors...wide wooden blinds on the windows.... a roaring fire in the stove and a colorful table setting....

The ultra high ceilings also allows for a tall centerpiece....It's high but you can see right through the forsythia....

Monet always had loaves of fresh baked bread on his table.....So I baked a loaf.....

Yes, it is as good as it looks....and easy too!!

I bought these blue glasses over 35 years ago and have no idea who they are by. I'm thinking perhaps Fostoria?? If they look familiar to anyone please let me know...I did see the same ones at a flea market years ago and they were very costly.... I paid just a few dollars for them.

Fish Platter!! A Williams Sonoma purchase...

Isn't this the cutest blue Kingfisher teapot you have ever seen....I found this at the Lakewood Flea Market here in Atlanta....

French Cafe au lait bowls.....schlepped all the way home in our luggage.

Monogram plates.....no, not my monogram....I like Martha's idea of telling people that you inherited them from a rich relative...

This really was inherited but from a poor relative.....I love it anyway!!


Hope you liked this weeks table and I'm already in the works for next week.

Remember that this weekend will be our second installment of

"Weekends in Paris"

This week we'll be posting pictures called "Local Color" so stop back for some colorful glimpses of the City of Lights.....

real men DO eat quiche...........

I have been making quiche for as long as I can remember but it wasn't until last week that the "Boss" finely did a taste test....Yes, real men do eat quiche.....He had no choice....For years I've been seeing people win big bucks in the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest and this was going to be my year!!

I remember the year when the lady won $40,000.00 for making a zucchini something...

It was original.....it sounded inventive....Last year a lady won a million dollars with a peanut butter cookie....come on..... a peanut butter cookie?....a million dollars!

So I tweaked my recipe, made some adjustments, picked a name other then "quiche" and entered the contest........I do realize that I have a better chance of winning the Georgia Lottery then winning the Bake-Off.....but I thought I would give it a shot....Here is the recipe I entered.

We had it the other day for lunch and I made the Boss try it.....He was my taste tester....my main critic......He loved it! Of course who wouldn't love something filled with cheese and ham and pineapple and then covered with a cheese sauce....A real artery clogger but pure

comfort food....

Here it is.....my "Hawaiian 3-Cheese Quiche"

1 Pillsbury Pie crust......in the red box, not frozen.

8oz. white cheddar cheese, I use Cabot's Seriously Sharp Cheddar

8oz. Swiss Cheese

8oz. Asiago or Gouda cheese

8oz. of good quality deli ham either boiled or Tavern (baked) ham, thinly sliced then diced

8oz. can of pineapple tidbits...

1/2 cup good quality Mayo...like Hellman's

1/2 cup of heavy cream (you could also use whole milk)

4 sprigs of Thyme

a bit of Kosher salt and a twist or two of fresh ground pepper

4 large eggs

for the sauce

3 cups of cheese

1 1/2 cups of whole milk

2 tablespoons of butter

1 1/2 tablespoons of flour

salt and pepper to taste

Lets Build a Quiche

Preheat oven to 400 degrees..spray a 9" high side quiche pan with cooking spray. Unfold and place the pie crust into the pan fitting it into the folds on the sides. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs with the mayo and the cream until smooth. Set aside......Grate the 3 cheeses, keeping them separate. Set aside 1 cup (loosely filled) of the Asiago and 2 cups (loosely filled) of the white cheddar, this will be used in the sauce....

Take the deli ham and dice it, then add to the cheese, blend well. Drain the pineapple and pat dry with a paper towel to remove all liquid....Add to the cheese and ham mixture. Add the Thyme, salt and pepper. Put mixture into the pie shell then slowly pour the egg mixture on top, making sure it's evenly poured over the whole quiche.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, rest for 25 to 30 minutes before cutting.

CHEESE SAUCE

2 Tablespoons of butter....1 1/2 Tablespoons of flour....1 1/2 cups of heated milk and the 3 cups of grated cheese. Melt butter and whisk in the flour...Heat the milk in the microwave then whisk into the flour/butter....keep whisking to avoid lumps....Add in the cheese and whisk until the cheese has melted. Add salt and pepper to taste....You can add more milk to thin out sauce if you prefer....any milk you add does not need to be heated....

Here is what I served with the quiche......Ina's fresh roasted beets with an orange vinaigrette.

I happen to love roasted beets.....I have to say the husband was not game to try these....

I do have to give a shout out to the son-in-law who turned us on to Hawaiian pizza...it turned out to be the inspiration for the recipe.....

WEEKENDS IN PARIS.........The Locals, Big and Small.

Welcome to our first weekend in Paris!! Myself and Daughter would like to take you on a little photo tour of the time we spent in the world's most beautiful city...For the next 14 weekends we will be showing you a little slice of Paris life and a few side trips along the way......we enjoyed our time we spent together and to say it was a bonding experience doesn't apply.....we bonded the day daughter was born...it has just gotten better and better.........we lived in a basic studio apartment from May until August 1999.....I'm talking basic as I had to cook most of our meals in a toaster oven. I shopped for our food daily on the famous "Rue Mouffetard".....and only came away knowing two words in French....Bon Jour and Merci......it got me through our time there and it was the only time in my life that I had nothing to say.... We hope you come back because the last week we will show you our luxurious accommodations......we didn't want to scare you from the get go.....Enjoy!!!daughter caught this little boy fixing a flat in an alley.....

The infamous Paris Mimes at the top of Sacre Coeur de Montmarte

There are no shortage of mimes!!

we love to photograph little children

Daughter's other favorite subject.....Nuns!

Jardin du Luxembourg

the Luxembourg Gardens......

seen near the Paris Mosque

Talented little ones

Does the nose look familiar......Yes, that's our Boo getting his portrait done from a photograph.

On the Seine near Notre Dame

Like a fashion shoot....only real wedding photo's
Only in Paris!!

standing above on a bridge to get this shot.....

Dress a little small on top? Leave it to me to catch this somewhat odd shot.

Next week......Local Color.

Hope you enjoyed meeting some Paris locals and we'll see you next week....

Sue and the

daughter

*all images are copyrighted and all rights reserved.

TABLESCAPE THURSDAY.............Postcards from the Edge.

My very first Tablescape Thursday hosted by talented tablescaper Susan at http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ Yes, that's right folks, Sue still can't figure out links!! Anyhoo, you can go over to Susan's blog and see all the other participants and wonderful table setting ideas....

When I decided to join in on the fun I thought what would be a fun table to put together? Being a "World Renowned Souvenir Junkie"

I'm not talking tasteful classy souvenirs......No, I'm talking tacky stuff.....I'm the grown women at the Statue of Liberty

that buys then wears the green foam crown while touring Miss L.

So I dug out my massive collection of State Plates....Yes, those colorful but toxic dinner plates from the 1950's.......I say massive only because I have all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. and I'm currently working on a second set to leave the daughter in my will.

I also have picked up along the hi-ways and by-ways other souvenir plates like Atlantic City and Coney Island.......

Your probably wondering how I got started collecting these plates......I know what your really thinking. What made her start collecting "cheap crap"......Mom back in the 1950's had a collection. Whenever one of her friends would travel she would have them bring her back a plate. I loved those plates , they were so colorful, so happy......So I was surprised one day when she gave them all away to to local Rummage Sale.....When I started seeing them years and years later at flea markets here in Atlanta I started to buy them all up.......$2.00....$3.00 a piece until I was buying so many that the flea market dealers thought they really had something good and they raised the prices.....I stopped buying, prices went back down. Now that I have bored you with how I ended up here today with my Tablescape of Vintage State Plates I hope you enjoy my design.....

every table setting needs a menu......



A view from above.....


It's not just about Jersey....As you can see I have postcards as well, but that is a New Jersey embroidered napkin in the forefront and inside the basket is the matching placemat....All from http://www.catstudios.com/


I spent every summer at the Jersey shore and we would take a day trip to the Boardwalk at Atlantic City.....so this is one of my favorite plates.....As you can see I have clear glass plates on top of the state plate just in case that paint is toxic......


New York!! another favorite......

I also collect green pitchers and thought they went well with all the other colors...

Closeup of the embroidered placemat....I only have two so that would explain why the whole table isn't set with them.....

We love the Garden State!!!

But, it's not all about New Jersey.....here's a little Delaware thrown in.....

I just found this one recently and love the graphics......

Of course I also had to have the matching Jersey glasses.....Not old and also from Cat Studios.

Here's a pretty one.....some plates are painted nicer then others....Some also come in just one color like green or all blue....They are a bit more expensive.
I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at tablescaping and I look forward to joining in every week until I run out of ideas......

Starting this Friday night I will be having "Weekends in Paris"......for the next 14 weekends I will be posting pictures from all over Paris.....photo's from both myself and the daughter...As alot of you know we spent a summer while daughter studied at the Sorbonne. We came home with 45 rolls of film......no digital camera back then......and I picked the best of the best.....They will be shown in "like" groups.....I am also leaving the best for last. The apartment....and I use the term loosely.....that we lived in....If I showed you pictures of it first you might never come back......So stop back and spend your weekends in the City of Lights!!!