Pinay New Yorker

I’ve been weighed down by a major headache since this morning which two extra strength Tylenols in the morning and 2 regular Aleves this afternoon did not alleviate.  I dread to think I’m coming down with something, but the weekend is here so I am happy.

I managed to create my first four layouts for the scrapbook.  I’m also moving forward with the paper backgrounds.  I’m piecing together small pictures/graphics from these very interesting free papers and magazines I got from my last trip to Paris.  I’m concentrating on our first day there, which was the visit to the Louvre. 

Meanwhile, it just hit me that it’s practically a week to Christmas.  Goodness, I didn’t even get my Christmas cards out so I will probably do a Happy new year blitz instead.  (This always happens, so next year, I’m sending them out right after halloween.)  I got an early Christmas present because my Mom’s extension got approved!  (I will write about this later.)  Of course the Paris trip was the big present, if you ask me.  And leaving the City of Lights with the Champs Elysees lit up for the holidays was truly a grand intro of the holidays for me.

I’m thinking about dinner as I write this.  It’s 28 degrees out right now which is below freezing (which is 32 degrees for us on the Fahrenheit scale..)  I am thinking of getting some striped bass which I steam with some lemon slices and then I dress it with a mixture of olive oil and soy sauce, garnished with a lot of scallions.  The only thing is it means walking to the Chinese grocery before hopping onto my bus home after the subway ride.  I dread to go into the city at this time because of the christmas shopping traffic.  I think I will live..so maybe I will get the fish.  It’ll make Alan happy, and it will be good for the Lolas, too.

Friday!

I love cheese.. and I mean I LOVE CHEESE.  From the Queso de bola back home which is actually EDAM Cheese to your everyday Kraft Cheddar Cheese (and I’m talking about the one in Manila and not the American cheese you find in groceries here), I have learned to sample cheese not just as a sandwich ingredient but as an appetizer, pica-pica to go with drinks, and since I had it in Paris, dessert.

Locally, my favorite remains to be Edam which they never get quite as sharp as the PATO or MARCA PINA brand back home.  (Which reminds me, I must go to the Filipino store this coming weekend to get our cheese for the Christmas Noche Buena and the New Year’s breakfast.)  I love to munch on Swiss and Sharp cheddar with my preferred wine, Reisling, and although some friends love brie, I prefer camembert.

When we arrived Friday morning at the Hotel Westminster, there was a small fruit basket and a bottle of champagne as a welcome gift from the hotel waiting for us.  When we transferred to the Hotel Warwich Champs-Elysees Monday morning, a huge basket of fruit was on the coffee table.  Although I arrived in the evening from Chartres and we had decided to eat in the suite, I stepped out to grab some cheese from the Monoprix not too far away on champs Elysees.

With mounds of grapes in the basket, I played safe by getting a small camembert.  It went perfectly with the grapes and was a delicious dessert after we had our meal.  Not even the macarrons that came compliments of the chef equalled the pleasure of having the fruit and cheese melt in your mouth together.

I am no expert on cheese, but I like cheese and I grabbed two small rounds of camembert at the duty free shop on the way home.  (They pack it in aluminum foil and seal it in plastic before putting it in the regular duty free bag.)  I can’t wait to have it for dessert one of these days with the family or with friends.

Camembert is apparently a place in the province of Normandy in France, and legend has it that " (it) dates back to the 18th century and is named for a Norman village in which there is a statue of the creator of this particular variety (Marie Harel). Originally, this cheese was dry and yellow-brown, but after a few modifications it became softer and more earthy. In 1855 one of Marie Harel’s daughters presented Napoleon with a piece of that cheese, saying that it came from village called Camembert. He liked it a lot and from that moment Camembert became known by its contemporary name. At the beginning of its ripening, Camembert is crumbly and soft and gets creamier over time (usually 2-3 weeks). A genuine Camembert has a delicate salty taste." (Source: Cheese.com)  Perhaps next time I’ll try and see if a day trip to Camembert is doable from Paris or Lyon.. meanwhile, I have some cheese I can’t wait to enjoy.

  Alan has been to Paris a half dozen times since he joined this company 3 1/2 years ago, but it wasn’t until this last visit that we finally found a Starbucks branch and I got my Paris mug.  It was a welcome addition to my Starbucks mug collection which has Manila, Cebu, Madrid, London, Singapore, Geneva and the local state mugs here.  I even have a few mugs with the original logo before it evolved into the new one.  Even if I have over 50 mugs in the collection, the Paris mug is special to me.

It’s one of the things I collect which I don’t pursue as passionately as my postcard collecting.  First rule of thumb is that I only buy mugs when they go on sale, unless they’re a state or city mug.  (Because then they never do go on sale.)  My latest acquisition is one of their halloween mugs bought just after halloween.

The goodies in Paris are just a little more expensive than the ones we have here in the US, so unless it’s a city mug, you’re better off buying it here. 

Originally posted at Pinay Francophile