Do you want the good news or the bad news first? I’ll start with the good–spring is definitely coming to Belgium! How do I know this? The bad–I am apparently allergic to Belgium. Time to fill the prescription for the hard core allergy medication, the over-the-counter stuff ain’t cutting it anymore. But, flowers are coming up, the temperatures are rising, it’s staying lighter longer, more fruits and vegetables are appearing at the farmers markets–spring is on its way!
This week I made 1 1/2 new recipe’s. I say 1/2 because one was a new twist on something we’ve done before. We made pesto, but with spinach instead of basil, and we served it with risotto instead of pasta. Simple, yes, but new to us and the results were delicious. I also made a new dish from our cookbook, Starting with Ingredients, an enormous tome that is structured around individual ingredients rather than dishes (chapters on squash and salmon instead of appetizers and main courses). I made a white bean and tomato gratin and it came out good, but not great. I didn’t have the Japanese panko breadcrumbs it called for and instead used a breadcrumb-ish coating that they sell here that was a bit too fine, but worked nonetheless. It was another fairly successful outing in the kitchen. I think my Grandma Fannie (a fabulous cook who let me eat more cookie batter than probably advisable) would have been proud.
It has been a busy couple of weeks for both of us, work wise. I have had (and do have) a few deadlines, so I’ve been working more than usual, and Dan is preparing for a conference in Finland and the launch of a satellite, so he has been busy as well. We are also readying ourselves and our house for visitors. My brother, Sam and his girlfriend (and our friend) Libby are coming this Friday and my mom is coming the following week. We can’t wait to take them to our new favorite places and show off our lovely city.
And speaking of our city, last weekend Brussels had its version of New York City’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, complete with giant inflatable cartoon balloons of many of Brussels infamous sites. We haven’t loaded up our pictures yet, but lets just say you really haven’t lived until you’ve seen a 30-foot naked boy floating down the street.
If that doesn’t get you check back for pictures, I don’t know what will.
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