Friday, April 3, 2009

An April Weekend In Paris~

I wish~ ! But...
My Daughter went on her honeymoon and took this photo...

I thought it would be a nice start to My Darling Baker's April In Paris Weekend~
A DB is going to Paris tomorrow and we are celebrating her trip~
Thanks in large part to my personal shopper in the USA..:)and things I had.. I was able to pull 2 placesettings together~



We loved the escargots so much .. the recipe France gave me..that we made them again..





The Main dish.. mussels because Frédérick's were so fabulous!



I tried making his dill sauce and let's just say no one makes sauces like he does..Well maybe his mom:)


They were good though~


Believe me..as a child I never thought I would like eating this type of food.But I grew older..and although this meal is very rétro for us..like fondue..we still love it.

I had fun with the desserts..



My Brigitte cookie cutter is still one of my favorite cutters..and Ina's Shortbreads are perfect for this cutter!(And the EBAY Seller was great!)



I made some Fleur De Lys and one Eiffel Tower..



I made the little tag..but the clipart to the pastries were on a blog I restumbled upon by chance and it is gone again..so I can't link..Sorry!
I made little shortbread cakes too..to try the Fancy Flour transfer sheets w/ the crowns and they worked perfectly..I wish they shipped to Canada more affordably.
The little tag was a gift from a sweet sweet lady..Go peruse her site if you want to dream~



All in all ..there are just so many venues for Paris..I had to stop myself..
But I couldn't have just one bite;)





It's fun to make believe~

Here is Ina's Shortbread recipe..I did all my cookies with it except the crown shortbread cakes.

..
Yield: 24 cookies

¾ pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 ½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough ½ inch thick and cut with your choice of cutter. Place the cut-outs on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.



I added Charles for today.. because we love him..Have you seen the Montmartre Power Point Slide show w/ him singing La Bohème? It's goosebumps nice.
A co worker sent it to me while my daughter was honeymooning in Paris and I was getting her e-mails about Paris.
They LOVED it!

20 comments:

  1. J'adore toute cette vignette, Mme. Monique!

    Une grande attention aux détails, il est ~ perfection. Je crois que vous avez capturé la magie de Paris, très, très bien! Il est tout beau. xo~m.

    Bon voyage à nos DB, Cathy! Je suis vert.

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  2. Lovely post, Monique. You went all out!
    I never used my Brigette cutter since the first disaster..I am so glad you tried it with this recipe and it came out well!
    Maybe I will attempt again..you inspired me!
    Remember the first time?? I almost threw it out the window!! :)

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  3. M, I don't have to tell you that I love this post, do I? ;-)

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  4. Oh, Monique, I'm jumping up and down with excitement and want to give you a big hug for this very wonderful Paris post. I'm pinching myself and trying to believe I'm actually leaving two weeks from Monday. Gasp!

    Will I want to buy everything in sight? Oh, dear. I LOVE those plates. This could be big trouble.

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  5. Lovely, as always, Monique. I'm loving Charles, too! :D

    Your plates are wonderful, as is all the food and your photos. Coming to your site always makes me smile and feel warm all over! C'est tres bon!

    Et, Cathy? Je suis vert, aussi!! ;)

    Please forgive my poor French!

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  6. Well, I don't know about the Darling Bakers - but sounds good to me! Great post, and thank you for sharing your adventure!

    Oh My! I see now you don't allow URL identity! I'll sign off here as Timeless Gourmet

    Best Regards

    Sue

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  7. Wow...you really know how to get to a Francophile! Thanks for the mini trip! Just beautiful. I hope your daughter has a wonderful honeymoon.
    Diane

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  8. you are so so incredibly talented in food as well as photo....


    I can only shake my head....
    and mumble something like wow and a few other words that really don't do you justice......


    I'm so glad we've met.

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  9. I remember when you bought the Brigitte cutters as if it were yesterday. It also seems like yesterday that my DD was in Paris also with the Tour Eiffel in the background and standing inside Stade Roland Garros with her tennis team.

    I could eat that whole bowl of mussels! Yum!

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  10. I love your site! I can't believe I haven't found it before today. Such beautiful photos of France! I'll be back.

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  11. You don't want to know that I got food poisoning from mussels in Paris. :( But all that is definitely forgotten while perusing this post! Splendid!

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  12. Hello - I like your blog very much. Found it via Tastespotting. I'll be back! I like that French word of the day thing. :) And of course all the talking about food.

    Lynn

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  13. hi monique,
    really really nice post. I love the parisienne tableware and the pictures of the mussles are looking so mouth-watering. I was merry as a lark when I saw that you ad my blog to follow... You were already added ;-) greetings
    Anja

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  14. Life.. in cyberspace...is wonderful with such lovely serendipitous aquaintances~

    Au plaisir!

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  15. What a lovely post ~ the Eiffle Tower always looks so romantic in black and white, like the old days. How lucky that your daughter was able to go there for her honeymoon.
    My husband took me there for my 50th birthday, for the first time. A place, I have always wanted to go to - so standing near the Eiffle Tower was like a dream come true.

    I love your dinner ware and those cookie cutters are wonderful.

    Enjoy your weekend
    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  16. OO-LA-LA, LOVED IT ALL DARLING! this one was made for you~ you know my very fav is that last pic... thanks so much nbf, it was a wonderful send off~

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  17. I just bought a set of the Brigitte Cutters. Your blog is the most inspiring one of all that I read. Wow! I learn so much from you, and your stunning tablescapes always get my heart pounding. :-) Is there any chance you'll post the recipe for the shortbread cakes? That's a new one on me.

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  18. Hi! I wanted to thank you for sharing you find of Brigitte cookie cutter. I bought one too & Im so excited. I thanked you on my blog:
    http://bakingatmidnight.blogspot.com/2009/05/coo-kees-tea.html

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  19. Monique, I got here from your current post, and I adore this one. I'm off to Paris soon and this just made my heart sing. I always love to see your exquisite details with all that you do. Thank you, thank you!

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