Fist Pumping in Strasbourg

Wow! Hard to believe that it has been 5 weeks since we've been off the farm. But our new friends Line (who used to work on the farm) and her boyfriend, Sebastian, invited us to stay a night at their flat in Strasbourg. They live right across the river from the Cathedral, and directly above the delicious restaurant we dined that evening, "Gavroche." It turned out to be, thus far, our favorite meal in France! Side Note: We definitely owe our adoring fans some more blog posts - about making Schnapps and cheese - but we are currently waiting for the search engines online to update their caches. In order to protect the confidentiality of the farm, we have removed the name from all of our entries. Unfortunately, the interwebs aren't as up-to-date as one might believe, and the blog still appears when "google"-ing the name of the farm. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to fix this, please let us know! Otherwise, we just have to wait for who-knows-how-long before we can post the juicy stuff publicly.

Warm potato bread, creamy butter.

Complimentary amuse bouche (from the left to the right): "baked potato soup"! - hot potato veloute with creme fraiche, scallion, and bacon; fois gras brulee with caramel crisp (HEAVENLY, I could have eaten 12 of these little plates); crispy choucroute (fried light & fluffy dough with saurkraut inside)

**At this point in the meal, we had meant to split a plate of seared fois gras with bacon and poppyseeds. The chef is friends with Line and Seb, and sent us EACH a plate of the livery glory. We ate it too fast for me to take a picture. Owen thought the flavors reminded him of a Whopper. I think that's degrading.**

O & I ordered the same appetizer: seared sea scallops with bresaola (kind of like proscuitto, but leaner) and chorizo sauce/broth/foam/whatever is the coolest thing to call it these days.

Line & Seb also ordered the same appetizer - big 'ole grilled prawns with some finely chopped veggies and a lemongrass froth.

Dinner - this is what Line & Seb ordered: Roasted lamb (saddle & loin) with fried polenta and artichokes barigoule. Looked amazing, but I'm still happy with our choice...

Bunny rabbit (it is near Easter, we just wanted to be sure to be seasonal)! Abso.eff-ing.lutely delicious. It was stuffed with mushrooms and something else. Potatoes, brussel sprouts (I could've popped a million of those little guys in my mouth, yum!)... the skin was crispy and the meat was succulent. And the sauce! The chef came out to speak with us a few times, and Owen (whose French is far surpassing mine - he really held his own in conversation! I'm so proud of that handsome man of mine) told him that the sign of a great chef is the sauce - and this truly was a magnificent sauce. Bravo!

So, how about a little cheese for dessert? How about TWELVE different kinds! The left row are goat/sheep cheeses (the top left was my fave of the whole plate, the one below it was O's). The middle and right row are all cow cheese, to be eaten in a certain order (which Owen did not follow because he's a cheater) - start on the bottom right, go up, turn left and go down and end with the bleu. All were quite delicious. I've never seen such a spread on a cheese plate.

**Another missed photo - Owen and I also split a chocolatey dessert that was, obviously, quite good as we devoured it before taking a picture.**

Here is a picture of Line & Seb's dessert - passion fruit panna cotta (in the tall skinny class), chocolate passion fruit cake, a slice of passion fruit, and a passion fruit milk shake. Excellent decision.

Now, what better way to end an evening full of gastronomical bliss than to head to the clubs, take some jagerbombs, and dance to some pretty terrible euro techno music?!
I have successfully taught Line the fist pump:

Order a bottle of vodka and a few red bulls? Obviously, one must set off fireworks to commemorate the occasion.

A store-front full of creepy brightly-colored gnomes that are giving us the middle finger. Owen reacts.

Good morning! These are traditional little cakes in the shape of lambs made for Easter. A delicious breakfast spread ensued.

After filling up on espresso and pastries, we hopped in the car for a "lovely" drive through the "wine route" of Alsace, to the town of Obernai. The weather wasn't the most beautiful we've seen, but it didn't rain! And Obernai is such a pretty spot!


We headed to the Robert Blanck winery for a quick tour and a few tastings. Alsatian Muscat is our new favorite.
This family has been making wine since 1732, and they have barrels that are that old still in use! Also, I made a new best friend:

Many thanks to Line & Sebastian for hosting us for an evening - we had a wonderful time! The four of us are trying to plan a trip to Baden-Baden, Germany before we leave, known for their hot springs (and perhaps a Casino?). More soon, we promise, and we'll see a lot of you quite soon!

To Tide You Over...

Our loyal fans have been whispering in our ears that we are long overdue for another post. Well, to that I say - ummm, yeah, I guess we are. O & I are currently collecting the last of our "Making Booze" post, as well as compiling our "How We Make Cheese From Start to Finish" post. In the mean time, here are a couple of random pictures to tide you over until we are able to get to the juicy stuff.

O's birthday spread - nice!

A close-up of the card from Melina. That's me with the green hair and O with the blue lips.
My professional and beautiful card for O. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

My first-ever carrot cake! I had to substitute fromage blanc for the cream cheese in the frosting, but it still turned out absolutely delicious. If anyone would like the recipe, let me know! G nearly fell out of his chair when he found out there were carrots in the cake.

LOOK AT THIS DOG, HE IS THE NEW LOVE OF MY LIFE! This big huggable beast meandered over from a farm a few miles away. I think he purposefully came to see me. He visited two days in a row!
Oh yeah, scratchin' that sweet spot. I mean honestly people, look. at. that. face. How could you not fall in love with a face like that?

Ok. I did say only a few pictures. Sorry to disappoint, but there you go. I am hoping to get the next to posts finished and online over the next week or so, so keep your eyebs peeled!



P.S. A tiny reminder for our lovely friends and family who like to send us things (and believe you me, we love getting things! correspondence brings us the biggest smiles!)... we are beginning to wrap up our time here and have about 6 weeks left on the farm. If you are intending to send us any goodies - get on it! Packages can take anywhere from 5 days to 2-3 weeks to get here! :) Thank you, thank you!