Paris Mushroom Soup - French Fridays

First bite: Delicious!
Second bite: Great!
Third bite: Hmmmmm, pretty good
Fourth bite: Interesting....
Fifth bite: I think I'm done.

That, in a nutshell, was my experience with this soup. I think what it boiled down to is that I loved the smell of the soup. The mushrooms, garlic, onions, and spices just smelled divine. However, the taste...not so much.

I determined at the beginning of this French Fridays exercise to make the recipe exactly as written, but I may change that. I had serious reservations as I was pureeing the gorgeous mushroom soup in my blender. It was turning a gorgeous soup into a muddy mash. In hindsight, I wish I would have left the mushroom soup non-blended.

Disneyworld!!!!!

Last week we were in Orlando. It was the first time Adrian or I had been there. It was fantastic! We loved it, and the kids loved it. I was afraid that Adam would be too young, but he enjoyed it as much as Abigail did. I loved going at Christmas, it was gorgeous. We only went to the Magic Kingdom and Sea World. We liked them both, but I definitely liked the Magic Kingdom better. We also went to "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party." Loved it!

Here is Main Street decorated for Christmas:

Here is a Christmas show we saw during the party:

Adam enjoying himself. He loves his Mickey:


Abigail and I feeding the dolphins at Sea World:


All of us:

Adrian, Abigail, Adam, and Shamu ( I think):

Adrian and Abigail before we dined with the princesses:


The castle lit up for Christmas:



Abigail wishing on her "wishing star":


Abigail and Belle:

Abigail and Ariel:


Abigail and Aurora:


Abigail and Cinderella:



Abigail and Snow White:



Abigail found her name outside the Haunted Mansion:


After we went on the Pirate's of the Caribbean:


The kids and Aladin and Jasmin:


Abigail's favorite ride, the Flying Carpets:

Anyway, sorry for all the pictures, but I just couldn't pick a few. And, I have tons more I haven't gone through yet. I haven't gotten them off my phone, or gotten some off my mom's phone. My parents were there, too. We all had a great time!

When Abigail is a preteen...

...and she claims that I am mean and don't love her, I am going to show her these pictures.

Yes, these are turkey's I made for her preschool class at her request. She happened to be standing by the computer one day when these were on a blog I was looking at. She wanted them, and I complied. Because I love her.

Semolina Cake - French Fridays

This cake was interesting.

I couldn't decide if I liked or not.

This is a gorgeous cake made out of Cream of Wheat of all things. After you make up this deliciously sweet Cream of Wheat mixture, it bakes in a caramel sauce like a pineapple upside down cake.

My gut told me to leave out the raisins, but I didn't. And, my gut told me to leave out the squeeze of lemon juice from the caramel sauce.....and, I didn't. I think if I would have left those two things out and added just the tiniest pat of butter to the caramel sauce--I would have enjoyed it more.

However, my 4 year old really like it. She must have a more sophisticated palate then me. (Like I always suspected.)

See this nice close up:

I contemplated only posting the close up, but I believe in full disclosure...I had a little mishap when extracting cake from pan.

Potato Gratin - French Fridays

Every Friday I am going to be posting a recipe that I cooked out of Around My French Table. I joined an Internet group called "French Fridays with Dorie." I bought the cookbook because a couple of blogs I read mentioned it, and I am excited to try some new things. This week we had Potato Gratin. (Potatoes Au Gratin for the Betty Crocker fans.)

This potato dish was delicious. There is a subtle garlic flavor because you infuse the cream with the finely chopped garlic, and the cheese is also subtle because just a sprinkling is on the top, so the potato and cream flavors really dominate. It is a simple dish, but decadent because I don't often cook with heavy whipping cream!

I wish I could have taken a better picture, but a friend had borrowed my camera, so I took it with my phone...

And, if you will notice my link to the book title directs you to Barnes and Noble because I am quite annoyed at my beloved Amazon over the whole pedophile book thing.

Halloween 2010

Halloween seemed to go on forever this year. Abigail had two parties, a Halloween cookie decorating class, a trunk or treat, and then finally....actual trick or treating. The kids loved it, of course. They are my little candy monsters.

I wish I had a cute picture of them together, but Adam was not into it. He was into this book.

Pet Peeve

Waitresses and Old Ladies at the Grocery Store. I used to like both categories of people until I had Adam. Now, not so much.

I have two adorable children. So, why-waitresses and old ladies at the grocery store-do you act like I only have one?


I get that Adam is a baby, he has very blond hair, and very blue eyes. I get that. But, come on people....