Food, Glorious Food

If you've been following us for a while, you know that an inordinate number of posts are about food... but what could be more important? Especially here in the beautiful, bountiful countryside where we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at home and the available ingredients are so stunningly good - our lives have slowed down to the point that just the simple act of making a meal is like a meditation.

However, really silly things continue to happen when we do venture out to eat. Interestingly enough, the worst snafus have come through the ordering of a simple Steak Hache - a hamburger! Dick ordered a Steak Hache au Cheval (with an egg on top) in Paris and our waitress (who was British, by the way - no language barrier) decided to bring it to him without the egg because she didn't think he knew what he was ordering. Yesterday at lunch when we were out shopping in Mamers, he ordered Steak Hache Sandwich avec Frites - burger and fries, right? If you look at the photo, you'll see what he got - a baguette full of chopped steak and fries stuffed right inside with the meat - no plate - just set down right on the place mat - who knew?

We all know Dick is the true talent in this family, but his talent doesn't extend to ordering meals. In an instance eerily similar to the Mamers story above - he ordered French Toast for breakfast in Laos and got a giant plate of fries - I mean a MOUNTAIN... and in one of the great steakhouses of the world in Buenos Aires, he didn't order a steak, he ordered a Mixed Grill Criolla (the Irish have a phrase for this - "fookin' eejit"). The Mixed Grill included such unsavory bits as intestines that hadn't been completely cleaned out... you get the picture.

Meanwhile, everybody eats well in this little Eden of ours... sheep, cows, even camels grazing on the Champ de Foire, because the circus has come to town! We went to check out the circus while they were setting up yesterday, and the circus cook was merrily slitting the throats of chickens when we walked by her truck. Bon Appetit!