Belated Valentine: AFIEP's 100th Post

"Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event."
            - Oscar Wilde

It's been an absolute whirlwind of anniversaries and events around here, and even though I haven't had a moment to post any of the many cheese sandwiches I've eaten recently, I'm aware that Pete Wells would find my benchmark moments even less interesting than would dear Oscar Wilde.   

Once again, it's not so much that I haven't had material about which to post -- quite the contrary.  In addition to the usual time crunch, I've been enveloped in the tizzy of indecision that occurs when so many things have happened, so many gifts have been bestowed, so many delightful treats have been created and consumed that I haven't quite been able to fix upon a single topic for blogging.  So allow me just a bit of backtracking.

First of all, the glorious tart you see pictured above.  On Valentine's Day I was the tiniest bit saddened by the fact that I was going to have to spend four excruciating hours in a less-than-fascinating class, rather than making an intime dinner for G chez nous or nuzzling in some out-of-the-way boîte.  Sadly, yes, I'm back in school, not just teaching but allegedly learning.  The end which will ultimately justify these very mean means is an administrative license, which, although not immediately necessary, is supposedly a good thing for me to "have in my back pocket".  Enough of that.  Suffice it to say that my best beloved came and picked me up after class with a romantic red rose and a sack of positively spine-melting chocolate bouchées from La Maison du Chocolat.  "Wow, more Valentine surprises!" thought I, already having been the recipient of a gorgeous huge chocolate-themed cookbook.  But that wasn't all, not by a long shot.  We arrived home and I found another dozen roses in the living room, the beautiful tart pictured above (also a La Maison creation), and a few more surprises as well.   I like to think of myself as having, at the very least, mixed feelings about the HallMarkesque nature of Valentine's Day...but when you get spoiled, well, you get spoiled. 

Three days later -- well, yesterday to be exact -- it was my birthday.  Yes, readers, I'm 29 -- yet again, year after year! How that keeps happening, I don't even know.   But I was fêted and celebrated quite royally, from morning till night.  Once again I had two birthday cakes, one at work and one at the lovely birthday dinner hosted by my delightful brother and charming sister-in-law at the home of dear (albeit somewhat housebound) old dad.  Prior to that I had come home to more flowers (!) and a coveted copy of The Silver Spoon, which had taken G no small amount of time and effort and probably exorbitant shipping fees to obtain, since it's already out of print, apparently.  Funny thing about that G.  He's a spooky guy who knows things.  I hadn't once mentioned my interest in and desire for a copy of The Silver Spoon;  G heard the book mentioned on NPR a week or so ago and decided that it would make a good gift for me.   And despite the fact that no bookstore had it in stock and no company was mail-ordering in under a month's time, G tracked a copy down and had it express-mailed (from Vegas, no less) in time for my birthday.  And another thing.  My brother called me to ask if we could pick up candles for the cake, and as G heard me repeating the words "candles?" on the phone, he whipped out a packet of glitterized birthday candles from one of the day's errand-laden shopping bags.  "How did you know?" I asked with some amazement.   "I don't know, I just thought maybe they'd come in handy."  Spooky guy who knows things, I'm telling ya. 

In any case, we took the candles up to Dad's, where my brother had roasted a gorgeous organic beef tenderloin, which he served along with delectable, also roasted creamer potatoes, carrots and little tomatoes, as well as a delicious green salad and then champagne and chocolate-mocha cake.   My sister-in-law and he, recently returned from a brief Paris jaunt, gifted me with a gorgeous little box from Fouquet filled with candied rose and acacia petals as well as something called "sucre a l'ancienne" which looks very intriguing, to say the least (photos to be posted later).  In addition, my SIL gave me the prettiest box of note paper I've ever seen, from Les Papiers Jean Rouget, and my brother bestowed upon me a copy of Harold McGee's comprehensive tome On Food and Cooking, which promises to provide me with many hours of what we here in the learning industry like to refer to as "edu-tainment".

So it has been a time, indeed.  And it's not over -- I have prospective outings with various friends still in the works, but looming even closer on the horizon is vacation -- which begins tomorrow, to be exact. 

AFIEP goes on hiatus for a bit, since I have yet another birthday gift to enjoy.  G, that man of mystery, spooky knowledge, unending dish-doing and derring-do, has booked us into a lovely inn in Montreal for several days of R & R.  I can't remember the exact name of the place, which we tend to refer to as the Auberge Ooh-La-La.  We're driving, so we'll be using Vermont as our midway point both up and back -- and on the back half of the journey, we have a couple of nights at a swank inn in Randolph, the Vermont town where G's parents now reside. 

I've just now noticed the somewhat Francophilic nature of this post -- and I suppose that's appropriate, since we're headed for Quebec.  As much as I adore French food, I'm quite sure there's also some smoked meat in our near future -- and if you have any great Montreal restaurant recommendations, please let me know.   In the meantime, á bientôt...

Comments

[Ivonne]

I can't imagine a better way to celebrate Valentine's Day or a birthday!

Happy belated Valentine's Day and Happy belated Birthday!

[Lea]

Well, for heaven's sake! We're the same age! HAPPY BIRTHDY, JULIE!

We're in love with The Silver Spoon. In fact, we're cooking our way through it. It should take us until 4006 since it has a couple thousand recipes. So far, we're on number 9. :-)

Have a terrific vacation.

Much love,
Lea xo

[Mona]

happy belated birthday! sorry i'm so behind. i enjoyed reading your post. and funny the year 29 keeps popping up :)
that tart looks delicious.
i haven't seen a copy of the silver spoon yet in person, what do you think your first recipe from it will be?
are you French? i lived in france for three years and love the french sprinkled in your post.

[Julie]

A very late thanks to Ivonne, Lea and Mona for their sweet birthday wishes...