FRENCH FOOD. FRIENDS AND FUN

We have had another busy week. Aside from studying and doing the usualt things, we went to a little French restaurant last Friday night with friends from Dallas.

Walter is an antique dealer and they were in Fort Worth this weekend as there was a show there, so they called us and we joined them for dinner.

Saint Emilion is a quaint little place and they start you out with a blackboard filled with the specialties of the day.

Of course, as soon as you have selected what you want to eat. the somelier magically appears with wine suggestions to accompany your meal.

The wine list was extensive and expensive, so we settled on something that was suggested and it was the perfect compliment for our food.

There was a large selection of appetizers and they were all very good.

As you know, I love to cook and I really love to eat, so I always take photographs of the food both at home and when we are out.

I had a mixed green salad which was followed by a steak and pomme frite. As good as it looked, I was a little disappointed in my entree as the steak was tough. What a disappointment!

However, I wasn't disappointed very long. Dessert came and it was wonderful! I had the Moitié - Moitié, which is a tarte that is topped with half raspberries and half chocolate. It was dark chocolate and I'm a milk chocolate person, but this was to die for!

Anne had Oeuf à la Neige which is also known as a Floating Island. It consisted of poached soft meringue on top of a rich English custard with caramel sauce drizzled over the top. She said that it was delicious.

It was a delightful evening and we had a great time with old friends. Don't remember if I mentioned this before, but we met on a cruise in the Mediterranean three years ago and have seen a lot of one another since then. They live in Dallas and have a second home in Santa Fe (does that sound familiar?), so we are with them both at home and at our homes away from home!

We took Saturday off and had what I call a "gown day". It was wonderful to have a full 24 hours to do absolutely nothing. It was a dreary, rainy day, so I took advantage of the weather and read a book and stewed a chicken for our evening meal of chicken and dumplings.

I make drop dumplings using Bisquick and they are always good. They make this wonderful rich gravy as they cook and you can put it both on the chicken as well as the dumplings. It was the perfect comfort food to end a very comfortable stay at home day.

We attended church yesterday morning, went to breakfast with friends after as we always do, and then had a party to attend in the late afternoon. We were going to Ridglea Country Club in Fort Worth to help celebrate Donna Iker's birthday.

I'll be nice and not tell which birthday it was. All I can say is that she still looks like a teenager and is as beautiful as ever.

We all had a wonderful time and were back home by 9:00. I gave her one of my paintings for her birthday. It's entitled "Fruit of the Wine" and I hope that she likes it. She promised her grandchildren that they could help her open her gifts, so she took them all home with her unopened so they could enjoy that part of her special day.

I have a busy week ahead and am really looking forward to next weekend for several reasons. We will have our family day over at Nicholas and Dayna's home on Sunday and my dear friend from childhood will be coming in town from California for a week's visit. We have promised to spend some time together, so I'm really looking forward to that. We were to have seen him when we were in California several weeks ago, but if you remember, we had to cancel the trip as poor Frank had the flu. We're all up and running now, so maybe things will work out better this time!

Speaking of running, I'd better run and get ready for church and book club. I'm looking forward to Father Matkin's lecture to help me understand what I've been reading! Have a good week. I'll be back in touch soon.

XOXO, Pcasso