Wow! My last post was in August. So much has happened since August!
Happy New Year! I've noticed a lot of people are either starting blogs or starting to write on theirs again and I figured perhaps it was time for me to do the same.
Let's see...what have we been doing? We continue to cook a variety of things and we continue to eat out at the same old places. I am trying to write a review on the Hodo but it's proving to be difficult because it's so good I can't keep all the thoughts in my brain straight!
Since August I've been to Berlin, Las Vegas and NYC!! Berlin was for work and was a lot of fun. Las Vegas was for our 1st anniversary and we both think it's the forgotten circle of hell. We don't drink a lot, we're not cool enough to go to clubs and we like our money too much to give it away to gambling--although we did anyway.
NYC was for Christmas and was spectacular!!!
The food was amazing. The shopping was great. No, not Prada/Gucci shopping--FOOD shopping! We went to Chelsea Market twice! We bought freshly made country pâté (that even I like) and a jar of mushroom flavored lardo. Yes, it's made from lard and yes, lard as in fat. The guy at Dickson's Farmstead Meats said this wasn't for cooking but instead of putting on your toast or as a condiment for your sandwiches. Umm...not so much for me. I used it instead of butter/olive oil when we fried up some potatoes. YUMMMMM!!! I'm going to fry an egg in it too someday (eggs, btw, are my all time favorite food.)
We also went to the seafood market within Chelsea Market. It was here Olivier was finally able to eat his beloved oysters. He had 6 the first visit and 8 the second. It was cute to watch him eat them. He was like me eating a really good chocolate bar.
After the seafood market we went to some little Italian grocery store. We loaded up on pasta, honey, smoked duck, sopressata sausage links and some dried porcini mushrooms. We then found magret de canard which is duck breast but not like duck breast from a wild duck. It's like a steak; huge, red and always eaten medium rare. This is not something we can find in Fargo. We have had duck at the Hodo and while it's good it isn't the same. It's like trying to find a good burger anywhere outside the US. it's just not going to happen.
The next stop was The Filling Station! I've become a salt connoisseur and this was the perfect store for me. I think I have around 10 different kinds of salt at home and yes, they each have a purpose. I bought the Spanish Rosemary salt--it's a very herbilicious sea salt that leaves you feeling as though you just picked the rosemary from your garden. It's a course grain and would be perfect for lamb or pork. I also bought Velvet De Guérande Salt which has a very fine grain. It's almost buttery in texture and melts in your mouth. This is a good salt for baking or for popcorn! I adore this salt.
Conveniently Olivier gave me Fleu de Sel for Christmas as well. Fleur de sel, literally means "flower of salt," and has been collected off France's Atlantic coast since the seventh century. This is the foie gras of salts. The fine, light crystals have a delicate flavor and high concentration of minerals, making them the perfect finishing salt. Don't bother cooking with it. It's too expensive to be put into your soup; top your eggs, soup, pasta, or duck with it. It has a nice delicate crunch to it--like a pop rock!
My favorite part about our vacation was coming home and spending New Year's Eve together. I had my hair done and bought a new dress and we went to the Hodo for the 7 course dinner with wine pairing. O.M.G. This was the best food I had had all year. I ate an oyster!!! I ate lobster ravioli and crab stuffed chicken. Ahhh-mazing.
Update (10 minutes after I posted)--I went to Mumbai!!!!! How could I not mention this. Other than NYC this was the highlight of the last several months. Words cannot begin to describe what a trip this was. I'll save that for another post.
Happy New Year! I've noticed a lot of people are either starting blogs or starting to write on theirs again and I figured perhaps it was time for me to do the same.
Let's see...what have we been doing? We continue to cook a variety of things and we continue to eat out at the same old places. I am trying to write a review on the Hodo but it's proving to be difficult because it's so good I can't keep all the thoughts in my brain straight!
Since August I've been to Berlin, Las Vegas and NYC!! Berlin was for work and was a lot of fun. Las Vegas was for our 1st anniversary and we both think it's the forgotten circle of hell. We don't drink a lot, we're not cool enough to go to clubs and we like our money too much to give it away to gambling--although we did anyway.
NYC was for Christmas and was spectacular!!!
The food was amazing. The shopping was great. No, not Prada/Gucci shopping--FOOD shopping! We went to Chelsea Market twice! We bought freshly made country pâté (that even I like) and a jar of mushroom flavored lardo. Yes, it's made from lard and yes, lard as in fat. The guy at Dickson's Farmstead Meats said this wasn't for cooking but instead of putting on your toast or as a condiment for your sandwiches. Umm...not so much for me. I used it instead of butter/olive oil when we fried up some potatoes. YUMMMMM!!! I'm going to fry an egg in it too someday (eggs, btw, are my all time favorite food.)
We also went to the seafood market within Chelsea Market. It was here Olivier was finally able to eat his beloved oysters. He had 6 the first visit and 8 the second. It was cute to watch him eat them. He was like me eating a really good chocolate bar.
After the seafood market we went to some little Italian grocery store. We loaded up on pasta, honey, smoked duck, sopressata sausage links and some dried porcini mushrooms. We then found magret de canard which is duck breast but not like duck breast from a wild duck. It's like a steak; huge, red and always eaten medium rare. This is not something we can find in Fargo. We have had duck at the Hodo and while it's good it isn't the same. It's like trying to find a good burger anywhere outside the US. it's just not going to happen.
The next stop was The Filling Station! I've become a salt connoisseur and this was the perfect store for me. I think I have around 10 different kinds of salt at home and yes, they each have a purpose. I bought the Spanish Rosemary salt--it's a very herbilicious sea salt that leaves you feeling as though you just picked the rosemary from your garden. It's a course grain and would be perfect for lamb or pork. I also bought Velvet De Guérande Salt which has a very fine grain. It's almost buttery in texture and melts in your mouth. This is a good salt for baking or for popcorn! I adore this salt.
Conveniently Olivier gave me Fleu de Sel for Christmas as well. Fleur de sel, literally means "flower of salt," and has been collected off France's Atlantic coast since the seventh century. This is the foie gras of salts. The fine, light crystals have a delicate flavor and high concentration of minerals, making them the perfect finishing salt. Don't bother cooking with it. It's too expensive to be put into your soup; top your eggs, soup, pasta, or duck with it. It has a nice delicate crunch to it--like a pop rock!
My favorite part about our vacation was coming home and spending New Year's Eve together. I had my hair done and bought a new dress and we went to the Hodo for the 7 course dinner with wine pairing. O.M.G. This was the best food I had had all year. I ate an oyster!!! I ate lobster ravioli and crab stuffed chicken. Ahhh-mazing.
Update (10 minutes after I posted)--I went to Mumbai!!!!! How could I not mention this. Other than NYC this was the highlight of the last several months. Words cannot begin to describe what a trip this was. I'll save that for another post.
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