The Issue of Wine

So as many of you probably can attest to, I have a propensity for drinking wine out of mustard or nutella jars, or pottery barn kids glasses with spiders on them... This Christmas, I did christmas dinner in our little aparment for Mum Lyaz and I and Lyaz's family. All of which was decided 4 days before "the day".

Prior to this I had maintained that anything we did not NEED was too much, however, at this juncture it became clear that the 4 plates and 4 bowls in the cupboard paired with a rare collection of Toy Story 3 mustard jars were not going to cut it for a "Christmas spread" for 10 people.

So I went out with the newly imported set of wheels that mum had brought me and bought 12 large plates (they didn't have the same as my current plates and they only came in boxes of 6) 8 small plates (these at least matched the 4 small plates that were currently in my cupboard, 12 long drink glasses, for pop and water, and 12 wine glasses. All of which I carried home, and up the 6 flights of stairs to our little apartment.

Christmas dinner went fantastically (with much help from mum) and a good number of trips up and down the stairs!

dinner

the entrées

my favourite (actual) nephew

After the clean up, half of the new dishes and glasses etc were put away in their boxes while the cupboard was reorganized to accomodate its new burden.
So starting 2011 with a new outlook I decided that I would USE the wine glasses that were taking up valuable cupboard space, however I was soon reminded of WHY I never drank out of wine glasses prior to this.

The following photos are a testament:

my Toy Story mustard jar

the new wine glass from christmas

what happens to my wine glasses

So, I find myself at 11 wine glasses and counting. I guess I'll have to pull out all the mustard jars that got put away or else eat more mustard so as to save the wine glasses for the grown ups!

I must add, that I'm sorry for not having added more prior to this... I have about 3 backissues from the fall, that just got forgotten about before making it to the inter-web... They'll come... just perhaps not in chronological order!

The Finished Product

The couch and the chair. After A LOT of hand sewing and quite a few movies! They may not be perfect, but they're a heck of a lot better than they were before... so until I have an income, and can replace (at least the sofa) they'll be just fine!

the sofa

the chair

The sofa's the only significant problem for the time being. It really does not make a very comfortable seat for 2. One at a time it's great... but for our quiet sunday nights there's just no good angle to snuggle and watch tv!

The SPROUTS!!

So in my days of being spoilt in the west end of Toronto, I had access to all the fresh sprouts I could imagine (and a dehydrator). How I miss those ammenities (not to mention I rarely did my own laundry). In any case, my sprout intake had been at an all time low since arriving on this side, until I re-entered the Bio Co-op (Organic Co-op). I was bombarded with greatness and freshness and I was so happy! So the organic store combined with the local market, made for some pretty fantastic spreads... the following one was just the first.

the first 'fresh' dinner

A few other treasures that 'took my breath away:

dehydrated beets (and that's it)

To boot... I think they're better than chips... and they come in beet, sweet potatoe and carrot versions!

tomato purée

Tomato purée with, really, nothing but tomatos (and a little bit of salt). MMmmmmm!

The Cover Up

my workbench

So the day we moved it rained... and rained... and rained... and the couch got quite a few smears and stains on it... that I scrubbed and scrubbed to no avail. So Lyaz and I went and bought 7ms worth of basic cotton so as to fabricate some covers. Lyaz's idea was to throw a piece of fabric on upholstered item of choice, and sew up some seems so as to make more or less a form... then cut away the extra... I didn't follow that method.

the chair in pins

I decided to do the chair first, not sure why anymore, but it worked out okay. It's not quite perfect as you will see, but certainly looks better than the stains.

the couch in pins

The couch had much longer seams, and was certainly not as interesting in terms of the sewing part... long and straight... kind of like the 401! In any case... they were a fair bit of work, but some enjoyable entertainment and certainly a sense of accomplishment.

The Fruits of Market Day

I forgot to add... this is what came home with me from the Market. At least the raw ingredients for this came from the market. And although this plate looks very healthy, all steamed and boiled... I made a hollandaise sauce to go with it.

a late lunch after the market

In the end, the sauce didn't work out too well (I'm very out of practice and I tried to half the recipe), so we just ate everything with a bit of salt, pepper and mustard. Not too bad in the end, health wise. Of course it's no live salade with a malt vinegar and olive oil dressing. I need to find some good mason jars in order to start my sprouts!

We're off to the Flea Market this afternoon to browse for the two pieces of furniture missing from the living room. Hopefully I can stumble across some mason jars there.

The Market Day

Tuesday and Fridays are Market days and I'm appreciating them very much while I don't have a day job!

To and from the Market I walked along the canal. It's kind of nice to have a lush green strip that meanders through the city. I mean, the water's green, which isn't perhaps beautiful, but there are lots of trees along the edge too, at least around here there are. After Faubourg du Temple the canal goes underground and appears as just a nice boulevard with an ample garden down the middle. La Grisette stands at the head of the garden, looking north(ish) up the canal.

La Grisette

Grisette is a term that refered to the working class women of France. The term began as a reference to their typically grey clothing. The title developed over the centuries:

The 1694 edition of the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française described a grisette as simply "a woman of lowly condition". By the 1835 edition of the dictionary, her status had risen somewhat. She was described as: "a young working woman who is coquettish and flirtatious." 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grisette_%28French%29

As did most lower class women's titles, into the 20th century it became associated with sex. But that's all in the wikipedia explanation. As for the MARKET..

The first tuesday we went (it was before the end of Lyaz's holiday) there was a lebanese stand that did manoushe... mmmm... manoushe... I didn't see it on this occaision. But as always there were veggies and fruits and meat and fish galore... some more mouth watering that others... but all for sale!

some veggies

some life aquatic

The rest are bits from the walk home.

The lock marks the point where the canal goes underground, or comes out from underground, which ever your direction of travel. Picturesque, the image is well known from its starring role in Amelie! Mostly though, it's just a great place to sit and relax for a bit.

The locke along the canal

Chez Prune is a great bar. I spent a very animated evening there with some friends a while back. Their food it a little expensive, if I remember correctly, but the beer is relatively cold and costs an average sum. Patios are the key to any bar's success it seems... Prune's is good. It looks right out to the canal and the intersection is relatively quiet in the evenings. All in all a nice bar to occupy for an evening!

le coin de chez prune

The Larger Picture

I figured it would be nice to have some orientation as to where exactly all this is taking place... 

Paris

 

 

So Paris is this big mess'a roads... If you want more details as to the roads and buildings I would urge you to read my thesis or any other of the vast number of publications written on the subject... I may get around to putting some more of that up here... after all that was what this blog was meant for originally... but 'fer now' this is what you need to know...

The Old Digs versus the New!

 

 

The street views will follow shortly... I forgot my camera today when I left but tomorrow is a market day... so there will be lots to enjoy and share!