Weekend in Paris? Yes please. Last weekend Ryan and I spent three great days in Paris with our friends Adam and Angie. It was glorious, and rainy, and beautiful, and busy. We walked a ton, we saw practically everything, ate a lot, and went to bed exhausted every night. There’s definitely more to be done in Paris, and you can spend more time, but if you’ve only got a weekend here’s a jam packed recap of what we did and saw. I’ve tried to include lots of pictures but you can also see more here on Flickr. 

We left on Friday after work and stayed near the Arc de Triomphe. The weather was gloomy an unfortunately stayed that way for most of the weekend. On Saturday we woke up early and awkwardly bumbled our way through ordering croissants and coffee at a nearby cafe. Then we started off on our epic, over 10 mile, trek across Paris. We started by walking around the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champes-Élysées, and towards the Louvre. In spite of the rain, Paris is still really beautiful. The stone buildings have gorgeous ornamentation and romantic looking wrought iron balconies with flowers spilling over the side. The sidewalks and roads were so wide and lined with large trees. London streets are so narrow and crowded that all of us relished in the wide open spaces. The four of us are all also former Washington, DC residents and we could see exactly the French influence on DC’s city planning. Specifically the long streets with beautiful views ending in roundabouts made us think of DC. But, between you and me Paris does it was better. Paris has wider streets, longer roads, and amazing views. Although, to be honest it was so foggy the first day we couldn’t even see the top of the Eiffel Tower.

When we got to the Louvre the whole plaza was teaming with people all lined up to visit the museum. We looked at each other with trepidation. Did we want to wait in such a long line?! Isn’t the Louvre something you have to do? We decided to skip it for now and keep on walking. We walked over to the Seine River and crossed multiple bridges bursting with locks from couples. It was scenic and lovely, and even in the rain a bit romantic.

We arrived at Notre Dame and there was yet another gigantic line. Adam and I had been before, Ryan and Angie weren’t bothered so instead we walked all around and enjoyed the architecture from the outside. Obviously Paris is an international tourist destination, but we just hadn’t pictured such gigantic lines!

Next stop, lunch. We went to the Latin Quarter and browsed the shops and ate. The four of us shared a box of sweet macaroons, which I loved. Later in the trip we saw savory macaroons with flavors like tomato and basil and chevre foie gras. I didn’t try them, but I was curious. And after food, we went to the Musee ‘Orsay. There was yet another gigantic line but at this point in the day we felt that it was time we saw something, so we waited.

And I’m so glad we did! The museum is glorious. I love paintings that are colorful, somewhat abstract, have bold brush strokes, and great texture. This museum had everything I wanted in paintings because of their excellent collection of impressionists and post-impressionists. I was most taken with a Van Gogh self portrait. I’ve seen it a billion times in books and online, but in person it had more emotion and personality. I felt like he was staring at me. I felt sadness, and defiance, and strength all in the portraits gaze. I loved it and it just proves to me that visiting museums is important because it provides something you can’t get from a post card. For example pointillism – the paintings where everything is made up of tiny dots. I love it! I love seeing the blending of color and I love the juxtaposition of abstract color and form with really constrained order and attention to detail

.After that more eating! We shared a cheese plate, and wine, and then went out to dinner. Adam had a friend and her fiance who live in Paris and they organized for us to have dinner at restaurant specializing in food from Toulouse. They took care of the ordering and we had lots of pâté (which looked like a fatty meat cup but was actually silky and full of flavor), charcuterie, and the absolute best leg of lamb I’ve ever had. It was juicy and tender and was like steak. It was great having locals show us around and take care of us a bit. We went to bed exhausted and full.

Sunday we started the day with more pastries and coffee. Then we decided to walk a little less and wait in a few more lines. First we took the metro to see Sacre Coeur. This is one of the few places I remember strongly from when I visited Paris ten years ago. I’m not a religious person, and I wasn’t when I was nineteen either, but it’s one of the first amazing churches I’d ever seen. It was the first place that sort of astounded me with its beauty and it was nice to see it again. The church is sat on top of a hill and you can see all of Paris – and I just love views because you can imagine what’s going on in the world below. And inside the church (where photography isn’t allowed) there are some gigantic gold and blue mosaics. After touring, we then walked around the nearby neighborhood and snacked on nutella crepes.

After we decided to check out the catacombs, which is an ossuary which houses the remains of about six million people. The space itself was a mine, but became the catacombs in the 18th century. Basically because of disease and space issues, nearby church grave yards were exhumed and the bodies moved to the catacombs. Inside the bones are artfully stacked and line long winding corridors. It’s haunting and engaging. There were just so many bones, all stacked, and arranged, and staring. So many people. It was a bit intense. Adam said something which sums it all up for me: If this doesn’t remind you of your own insignificance, I don’t know what will. I didn’t take great pictures here, so please Google them, it’s worth looking up.

When we left the catacombs, thankfully the sun had come out (and decided to stay out until we left on Monday). We decided to take that opportunity to see the Eiffel Tower. It was glorious. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the grass was green, and the Tower was reigning above it all. For awhile we sat on the grass and people watched. It was one of those great moments where you feel like you’re doing exactly what you should be doing.

As with everything we’d done so far in Paris, there was a gigantic line. We stood in it for about two minutes before we decided to quit and have dinner instead. The guide book recommended a nearby place called Les Cocottes and I pushed my eating boundaries. The thing I had initially wanted to order was out, so I went with the thing I was curious to eat – pigeon. I’d never had pigeon before and was curious and nervous. Let me tell you all, it was delicious! Really freaking delicious. Small portion, but meaty and hearty like a steak and bursting with amazing flavor. I don’t know when I’ve tried something so drastically out of my comfort zone, but I’m glad I did. Both my meal and Ryan’s meal (which was lamb) came with little pieces of liver. I did try both and didn’t like either – but I’m still pleased I lived on the edge with the pigeon.

After dinner we went back to see the Eiffel Tower at night, and luckily there was no line. We went up to see the views and enjoy Paris at night. It was a nice night, not too crowded, windy, and the city looked beautiful and twinkly. However, I did try to get out of the way of a couple taking a selfie and I tripped and fell into a bolt sticking out of the tower. Now I have a giant purple welt on my leg – a unique souvenir from the Eiffel Tower if I do say so myself.

On Monday, our final day, we decided to brave the Louvre again and were delight to find a really short line (like 30 minutes long vs the original 2+ hours from Saturday). Moral of the story, try to visit these places at off hours. Angie and I knew what we wanted to see – she wanted to see the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. I wanted to see the Dendera Zodiac (which I learned about from an awesome book called Loot) and the Nike of Samothrace. We planned our route, got lost a bit, stopped to see other cool things, and tried to see as much as we could.

Tired and heads full of art, we stopped for one last delicious meal before heading to the train station. I rode home with a full belly, tired feet, and a pretty satisfied wanderlust.

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People, get ready for a little bit of bragging. Last weekend, Ryan and I went to Munich. Ya know, we just popped over to Germany for the weekend as people do. Sound fancy right? But seriously, my Titi Pascale and Uncle Willie were doing a holiday in Europe and asked Ryan and me if we wanted to meet them for part of it. My aunt told me about the Christmas markets and I was all,”we’ll be there.”

In booking the trip, I did have some travel craziness where I felt guilty about spending money on a two day trip. But, Ryan and I moved to London so we could easily travel around Europe, and we were going to see family so it was totally worth it. And let me tell you, Germany was just lovely. Below is a picture of the view as the plane was landing. In the background are mountains (although a bit hazy and hard to see), and then in the foreground perfectly manicured fields and villages. It was so beautiful!

Once we met up with my uncle and aunt, we hit the markets to do some eating. We ate with abandon. We had potato fritters with apple sauce and Titi Pascale had them with some delicious garlic sour cream. We had cookies. We had bratwurst sandwiches. We had beers. We had roasted almonds with Nutella – which were so good we bought a second pack to take with us on the train to the airport. They were so good I’m going to have to look up a recipe. We also had giant pretzels which were soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Those were so good we took one on the plane and ate it on our layover in Copenhagen. And every single thing we ate was delicious. Even when we ate at the stand by the tourist-y ice rink, the food was perfection.

One of my favorite markets was Medieval themed. At this market I had a gargantuan glass of wine punch. I don’t totally know everything that was in it, but they poured wine out of the big jug, then splashed rum around on top, added a sugar cube, and then set the whole thing on fire. It was a huge cup and no one wanted to drink it with me (probably because it was so boozy), so I got a little tipsy given that I’d had the giant beer shortly before. I was a little shocked because the wine cost 15€ and I was all, “whoa… but I really want to try it.” But, when I returned the cup I got 10€ back, so then I was really please because I’d pay £5 for a regular glass of wine at a pub. All in all, felt like a good deal.

The city itself was really nice. We saw a man yodeling and we walked through a park and saw a beautiful waterfall and sunset. The whole weekend we had really nice weather. It was a perfect winter day with a nice crisp chill, but we could still have jackets open and hats off.

But what of the things I love most about Christmas time are the decorations. I love Christmas lights – and there were everywhere. They were on lamp posts, on windows, on buildings. The whole city felt really nice and festive. There was a store display window that was decorated in a woodland scene with lots of moving stuffed toys. It was pretty elaborate and cheery.

On Sunday we took the tram to Nymphenburg Palace. Side note, we found German people to be so nice. Someone helped us figure out the tram tickets, and earlier someone else gave us directions – both times unbidden. Anyway, Nymphenburg Palace was really beautiful. In front there is a lake with loads of ducks and swans. They swans were astounding! Really large, plush looking, with perfectly white feathers. We saw a women petting and feeding them. We were just waiting for her to get bitten – but it didn’t happen. The palace itself is an enormous complex.

Inside, was even more astounding. The main room where we entered was two stories tall, with gorgeous chandeliers, and an amazing painted ceiling. Throughout the whole place the ceilings had really detailed and elaborate paintings of mythological figures. Words can’t express how beautiful those paintings are. One, which I didn’t take a picture of, had such incredible perspective that it looked like the figure was standing on a cloud right above you, and that you were underneath her feet. We all stopped to look at one painting  that had a deer hunt (middle in photo below). This painting was huge, maybe 15 feet tall, but at the very bottom center is a large pack of dogs swimming after a fleeing deer. It was a cool painting showing a village and a hunt, but I thought it was curious that the main action was in such a tiny portion of the whole.

After we toured the palace, we checked out the carriages and sleighs exhibit. I didn’t have huge expectations, but I left blown away. The carriages were more ornate and beautiful than I have the ability to convey with words. There were nymphs holding torchs, there were geese squawking, there were gods blowing horns, and there we suns on hubcaps. Every since surface glittered and shone.

Some of the sleighs had built in ermine blankets and thick slippers for foot holds. These were truly amazing ways to show off the wealth and power of the monarchs. I felt bad for the poor horses who would have had to carry all this weight. One of the coolest sleighs (above) was of Hercules killing the Hydra. The hydra itself was made from one single hollowed out tree!

I left Munich glowing. I was well fed, I had seen some beautiful things, and I had spent some wonderful time with my family, and I was filled with the Christmas spirit. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it was true. I was sad to leave. I had so much fun with my family, and it was nice to be with people that I felt so comfortable with it. It was such a pleasure to just have some food and hang out. It made me more excited for when Ryan and I go back to the US next week! Anyway, Munich was delightful and now I want to drink a beer and make some soft pretzels, even though it won’t be the same, so I can hold on to this weekend feeling a little bit longer.

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I was so proud of my turkey! It came out of the oven and I was like, “The turkey is beautiful! Ryan look at the turkey! Look at it! It’s so beautiful! Take a picture of me with the turkey.” This was my first turkey done by me without the aid of a veteran (AKA someone who has done this more than a few times). You know how as you grow up there are lots of little things that make you feel like an adult? Well, cooking Thanksgiving dinner and preparing a really nice turkey made me feel like, “yeah, I got this, I’m an adult.”

Anyway, it was a really lovely evening. Our friends Alessia and Raffaello came over for their first Thanksgiving and they were the best sports. We were feeding them a number of foods they’d never had before and they tried everything. Having guests over meant I got to use these wine glass charms my friend Mala had sent me. They are little monster guys and they hang on to the stem by their mouth. It’s adorable and helps you keep track of your glass. Silly, but cute – see the picture below.

I made stuffing for the first time,and usually I don’t like it. And because I don’t like it, I thought why not lean in, so I put mushrooms in which I really don’t like. But it turned out to be amazingly delicious. I’m semi-converted. I also served cranberry sauce, canned shaped, cut into slices. I bought the can when I was in Raleigh. My family might correct me, but I have no recollection of ever having this kind of cranberry sauce as a kid. But, since the can shape with the lines on the side is an iconic American Thanksgiving image, I had to serve it.

We also all had to share what we were thankful for and we had to make trace our hands (with crayon) and color them in to be turkeys. I had such a blast, I went to bed full, woke up full, and went to work on Friday feeling all warm and fuzzy and aglow with the holiday spirit. Cheesy I know, but true.

Then over the weekend, we decided it was time to embrace Christmas so Ryan and I went to Hamley’s, which is a famous toy store in London. It dates back to 1790!! It was really crowded and felt a lot like going to FAO Schwartz in New York City. There were five floors of toys! They also had stuff on the floor doing demonstrations with the toys. I thought that seemed like a really fun job, until I realized that my job is the same just instead of demonstrating toys I demonstrate science. Ryan was into the the remote controlled cars and planes. I was into the Legos. I also go to toy stores, look at the Lego Star Wars items and sigh and wish they weren’t so expensive. People can do such cool stuff with Legos. Look at these AMAZING statues of the royal family!! Also, just fyi, the Santa and reindeer are all Legos, but they are in Covent Garden, not Hamley’s. We left Hamley’s with a present for Boden and a small toy for me and Ryan.

We then went over to Covent Garden to check out their Christmas scene. They had a nice big tree, a big silver reindeer, and some lights. I didn’t take a picture, but they also have ENORMOUS Christmas bulbs hanging from the ceiling. They are really impressive in size. It was a beautiful afternoon and I really nice way to kick-off the Christmas season. I even talked Ryan into stopping at Costa Coffee for a few holiday drinks. What could be better? Nothing, that’s what.

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Have you ever used meetup.com? Since moving to London I have used it as a way to get out of my flat, explore the city, and make some friends. I’ve gone out with an expat spouses group a number of times and the women I’ve met have been just lovely. (I know men can be expat spouses too, but I haven’t met any yet.)

Anyway, a few weeks ago I went to Vagabond Wines on Charlotte Street (there is more than one location) with the expat spouses and had a blast. Wine and girl talk is always a lot of fun, but having friends to go out with also helps make London feel more like home. The surrounding area is really cute with lots of other shops and restaurants. Vagabond itself has large wooden tables, fat leather chairs, and a cozy vibe. This location isn’t too far from the British Museum, so it is a perfect place to go to unwind if you’re tired after sightseeing.

They have food there too, but their tasting machines are what really makes them noteworthy. You can see the machines in the first picture at the top. When you go in to the store, you buy a card and can put whatever amount on it that you like. I put on £20. In the back of the shop there are tables and about 100 wines on “tap.” The wines are arranged in categories like “spicy” or “bold” or “citrus.” Then above each particular wine there is a little card with more specific details about the flavors and smells of the wine – and if you like it you can take the info card (or buy a bottle).

To taste the wine, all you do is put your card in the machine, place the glass under the spout and press the button. And the best part is that there is a choice to buy either a taste or a full glass! No need to commit when you aren’t sure what you like! The cheapest taste I had was a bubbly rosé for 65p. The most expensive taste I had was somewhere between £3-5, which might seem like a lot, but the bottle itself cost over £100. That was my absolute favorite part! I would never buy myself such expensive wine, but I loved being able to try the high end wine without blowing my budget.

Over the course of the afternoon I bought 2 full glasses and maybe the equivalent of a third glass in tastes. It was a really cool and fun experience. I don’t know anything about wine, I always buy based on label design, and  usually when I go to the store I feel like I have to make choices. This time, I could try a little bit of everything and see what I really like. It was great fun to spend a leisurely afternoon, tasting wine, and having some girl talk. I loved it and highly recommend it.

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Part of the reason I love Rome is that I studied abroad there seven years ago during my junior year. Living in Rome was the first time I was away from home for so long and the first time I lived in a city. I ate so much pizza, pasta, and gelato. My roommates and I also cooked dinner together almost every night and befriended the local shop owners. We’d buy the fresh pesto and the guys in the store would give us free chocolate. My roommate Inga became one of my best friends, and with our upstairs neighbors Charlie and Michelle, we tore up the city.

We toured all over and took lots of day trips to nearby gardens and beaches. We went dancing at Coyote Bar in Testaccio, which depending on your point of view is a bar that is super authentic/divey/sketchy. We befriended the DJ and he’d let us dance on the stage and he’d play any song we liked. My classes were also awesome. I took Italian, Classics, and two art history classes. My art classes were mostly outside touring churches, museums, and ruins. It was all the best parts of college amplified. I remember going out dancing, coming home at 6am to the fruit vendors opening their stands. My friends and I went to bed for about three hours and then went to meet an Italian friend of a friend who was going to show us a church. Hope you enjoy the throwback pictures – try not to judge the duck face.

I also love Rome because it is where I fell in love with Ryan. He and I had been dating for less than two months when I left for Rome. I was sad to leave him and worried about what was going to happen. But it all worked out. Ryan had studied in Rome the year before me and set me up right. He lent me guidebooks to the city. He lent me The First Man in Rome, a historical fiction book about the Roman Republic, which sparked my interest in the city’s history. He also made me a map and marked off his favorite places to eat and tour. We also talked over Skype every day (and I had a headset like a telemarketer). We even met up in Spain for spring break. When I left Rome, I couldn’t wait to one day come back together.

Anyway without further ado here are pictures from this weekend’s trip. We took the bus from Ciampino to Termini and then walked to our rental flat in Campo dei Fiori.

We dropped our bags and then stopped for pizza. It was glorious! So crunchy, the ingredients so fresh, and also so tasty!

After that we decided to hike over toward the Vatican. We passed Castel Sant’Angelo. And we admired St. Peter’s Basilica and the beautiful piazza designed by Bernini.

But our real reason for heading that way was to eat at Old Bridge Gelato. It is the best gelato we have ever had. The places is a small hole in the wall on the way to the Vatican Museum’s entrance. It doesn’t look like much, but for €2 you can have heaven.

We then walked over toward Ryan’s old place. We sat one some nearby steps and people watched. We also went to the grocery store and loaded up on Kinder chocolates, lemon Fanta, and buffalo mozzarella. Ryan made me laugh so hard that I spit out soda (and then people stared at us).

After that we went back to Campo dei Fiori and got dressed for dinner. We went to Alfredo e Ada, a place I went to seven years ago with my art history TA and his friend who were visiting Rome. The restaurant  is down a windy road, it is cozy, and the interior is wood paneled. They have a small menu, written on the paper table cloth, that lists just a few options for first, second, and side courses. It’s simple and with some of the best cooked pasta I’ve had.

The next day we walked our butts off. I did a rough Google mapping of what we did, and we walked somewhere around 13 miles. We walked around the grounds of Villa Borghese, we looked down on the Piazza del Popolo, we ate pizza at Ryan’s favorite shop Pizza Rustica. And we walked to the Spanish steps and down Via del Corso and looked in the shops.

Then we went to the Forum. As students Ryan and I used to visit the Forum all the time. Visiting used to be free, but now it costs €12 for the Forum, Colosseum, and Palatine. We were sad that it wasn’t free anymore, but we were happy to pay the price. We also saw some new ruins we hadn’t seen before.

After that we headed to the Colosseum, which was so much better than I remembered. I didn’t remember being able to go up as high as we did. The stairs were really steep but worth the climb. They had a small museum exhibit about the inner working of the Colosseum and they showed how animals were lifted into the arena. They also had skeletons of bears, wolves, and boars! It was crazy.

For dinner we crossed the Tiber and went into Trastevere. We ate at Carlo Menta, which was where my friends and I used to go. The food is pretty good and the price is amazing. Instead of both ordering a first and second course, Ryan and I decided to share three pastas. We had pesto gnocchi, carbonara, and cacio e pepe. The pesto was so good and I realized I haven’t had good pesto since the last time I was in Italy.

After dinner we walked around Trastevere and it brought back so many memories! Ryan and I walked from dinner to my old apartment building. It reminded me of walking home from school, of going out for breakfast at a nearby cafe, and the time Inga and I tried to play Italian Bingo but couldn’t figure out how to do it. To get to my apartment you used to have to walk through a dirt lot and alley way. Today, it is under construction and being paved. It looks much nicer, but I sort of missed the grit and scary charm (below is a before and after). The apartment building itself looks like the same and still has the same graffiti. It was great fun checking it out and reminiscing about what it was like the first day we arrived.

On Sunday we decided to be more low key. We spent a lot of time at the Pantheon, which is my favorite building in Rome. It is an architectural marvel. I just love it. Inside is a perfect sphere! You could fit a giant basketball inside. Also creating the dome with an oculus – just freaking genius.

We also spent some time at Piazza Navona eating mozzarella and people watching.Before dinner we went to Lungo Il Tevere, a summer festival along the Tiber. Then we went back to Trastevere for dinner. I like Trastevere a lot because there are so many vendors selling jewelry, art, and nonsense things. There are also lots of outdoor restaurants where you can just look around and absorb the wonderful city. It’s a busy and vibrant area. Monday was our last day. We visited Santa Maria Maggiore and a few other sites. We made sure to eat more pizza and gelato. Also, we found shady spots and relaxed. I loved just being in the city, looking at the beautiful buildings, and feeling like a part of the Rome. I made Ryan promise me that would come back every 7-10 years forever. I continue to love Rome.

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On Saturday, Ryan planned for us to go to Hampton Court Palace. This was Henry VIII’s home. What you might not know about me is that I’m crazy about Tudor history. I have read so many books, both fiction and non-fiction. I was obsessed with the Tudors TV show. I had TWO mugs that when you put hot water in them, Henry’s wives would disappear. I love Tudor history so I was really excited for this trip. I was buzzing with excitement. I was the kind of excited children get when you take them to Disney. For all I have read about Henry VIII, I never thought about going to see his palaces or anywhere else related to him. So Ryan planning all this, was fulfilling a dream I didn’t even know I had. It was amazing.  He won some major husband points. Anyway, let me nerd out a ton so I can tell you about my greatest day.

We get there and we’re in line to buy tickets, and I convince Ryan that we should become members. We get free admission to Hampton Court and five other places! One visit to Hampton Court and the Tower of London (which I haven’t done yet but am DYING to) covers the cost of the membership. So now we’re members and I’m so flipping exciting because now I can go back whenever I want. We walk in and I’m overwhelmed with things to look at. We started in the kitchens where costumed interpreters were actually cooking meals. One guys was making a crown out of marzipan and gold foil! He was saying you can actually ground up lapis lazuli into fine powder and put it on the crown, but that it doesn’t taste very good. We saw huge casks for wine and ale and a gigantic fire place. It was so amazing.

We then went out to the main courtyard to meet up with a costumed interpreter for a mini tour. The main court has a fountain that ran with wine! WINE. How cool is that? We met our guide, Jane Seymour’s father (before he was father-in-law to the king), and he took us to meet the king himself! I took one picture and it has half a guy’s head in it but oh well. We listened to that for awhile, then peeled off from the tour to look around for ourselves. Ryan and I picked up the audio guide, which was well worth it! The guide is told with lots of voices, from curators, historians, and costumed interpreters. The screen on the device also shows images and videos, which was a really cool touch. Not only did the guide tell us about the history, but it also told about the conservation of the palace and its contents.

We used the audio guide to tour Henry’s apartments. I was blown away by the great hall. There were amazing tapestries and huge stained glass windows. The room was arranged with long tables and on the table cloths were printed period appropriate etiquette tips. Over the course of the tour we saw where he married Catherine Parr, where Katherine Howard screamed for her freedom, and where Henry went to church. In one hallway there was a painting of Henry with his children and the deceased Jane Seymour. I have read so much about that painting that when I saw it, I audibly gasped.

After that, we toured the gardens, which were truly spectacular. There were immaculately trimmed trees, bright flowers, and beautiful fountains. I can’t adequately describe the love, attention, and beauty that is evident in the gardens so you’ll just have to look at my pictures to understand. Also, I took a creeper photo of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour’s father strolling through the gardens. Is it possible to be star struck by a long dead monarch? If so, I totally was. I loved the trip and left with a souvenir kitchen towel. It’s completely tacky with pictures of Henry VIII and all his wives. I don’t care that it’s tacky. I love it.

Sunday, it was drizzly and we were tired from our long day trip, so we stayed in. I made breakfast and then we went out to the pub later to watch the Arsenal game. I decided to make this breakfast because I thought it looked cool – and that’s really the only reason to make this. It does look cool, but basically it’s toast and eggs. So unless you’re showing off, save yourself the effort and make a regular breakfast. If you’re looking to get mildly fancy, then this is the recipe for you. It’s yummy and satisfying and a nice Sunday brunch treat.

Ingredients:

butter

bread (as many slices as eggs you want to make)

eggs (as many as slices of bread)

salt & pepper (to season)

Directions:

1. Use a glass, or a circular cookie cutter, to cut a hole out of the center of the bread. Set the circle aside.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat. If you’re making more than one slice of bread, you may need to lower the heat between batches so you don’t burn the bread.

3. Melt the butter in the skillet. When it’s melted, add the slice of bread. Let it cook until it is just getting golden brown. For the first slice this may take 5 minutes or more, for later slices when the pan is hot, it can take 1-2 minutes.

4. When the bread is getting golden, crack the egg into the bread’s hole. I cracked the egg in a glass first then poured it in the skillet.

5. Let the egg cook until the egg white is set enough that you can get a spatula under it. You can flip it after 1 minute if you want a runny yolk, or you can wait longer.

6. Flip the egg and bread. Cook for 1 minute, more if you want the yolk mostly cooked through.

7. Remove from the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Use the bread’s circle to sop up extra yolk.

8. If you’re making more than one, be sure to butter the skillet between times.

Messy level:  Two spoons. The first one I flipped I splattered egg white all over the pan. After that I was more careful and let it cook longer. Other than that, there was no mess!

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In addition to enjoying our neighborhood, I’m also trying to get back in the kitchen and do some real cooking. One the the best gifts we got from our going away haul, were two British cookbooks. Today, we can get practically any ingredient whenever we want, so it’s hard to know about traditional foods. I feel these cookbooks are giving me some good insight on traditional British cooking. There’s lot of recipes using lamb, pork, and part of the animals I’ve barely considered before. Alternatively, there aren’t many recipes using turkey or poultry. Vegetable recipes use mostly root vegetables, and barely any light leafy greens. These recipes give clues to what would have been available, before everything was available. I love it!

I also love the cookbooks because the recipe names are wonderful and amusing. Here are some examples: Yorshire Fat Rascals (cookies), flummery (custard), bubble and squeak (potatoes and cabbage). It’s so much more delightful than just describing what is in the dish. I love it. The name, soles in their coffins, is part of the reason that I c
hose today’s recipe. The sole, is the type of fish used. And the coffin is a hollowed out baked potato. I find this dish’s name both gruesome and adorable, I think that’s part of the fun. But I also thought the recipe sounded tasty. Seriously, fish, potatoes, and shrimp? That sounds yummy to me. I also wanted to push myself to try more fish recipes, and the technique seemed straight forward enough.  Although all the steps are pretty easy, it is a time consuming recipe. To make it quicker Ryan and I did the whole thing together, and that made cooking even more fun.

This recipe comes from the book Great British Cooking: A Well Kept Secret. This book is adapted for the American kitchen, which is awesome except that I’m an American cook using a British kitchen. So, I like measurements in cups and tablespoons, but Fahrenheit isn’t helpful anymore. More specifically, the recipe writes temperature in Fahrenheit and my oven is Celsius. Needless to say, Ryan and I did some Googling and converting mid cook.  I think after today, I’ll have to start putting both temperatures on the blog to keep my mind straight.

If you’re going to attempt this recipe, my most important recommendation is to trust your eye on how much to buy. The original recipe calls for 8 small sole fillets and 4 baking potatoes. When I saw the size of the available potatoes, compared to the size of the sole fillets, I knew that wouldn’t work. I went with three sole fillets, and 4 potatoes. The biggest fillet was cut in half and fit nicely in the two smallest potatoes. While at the grocery store, use your judgement on what will fit best. Ok, that’s enough direction. Let’s get cooking.

Ingredients:

4 baking potatoes

3-4 sole fillets

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cups white wine

4 tbsp butter

1/3 cup flour

2 cups mushrooms, sliced lengthwise

1 cup peeled and uncooked shrimp

salt

pepper

butter & milk for seasoning potatoes

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425°.

2. Scrub the potatoes clean. Use a fork and poke a few wholes into the potato. Put the potatoes directly onto the oven rack, or on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, or until a knife pokes through with no resistance. (I took this picture because I was so excited to have an oven light. The oven in Arlington did not have a light)

3. While the potato is baking, chop the onion.

4. In a small roasting pan, or oven proof dish, roll the sole fillets (like you’re rolling up a carpet). Pour the wine and onions over the fish. Season with salt and pepper. Cover loosely with aluminum foil.

5. When the potatoes are finished, take them out and set them aside to cool. Keep the oven door slightly ajar for a few minutes to let some heat out. Reset the oven to 350°.

6. Put the fish in the oven for 8 minutes. If you’re worried your oven is too hot, take it out a little earlier. You don’t want the fish to be overcooked.

7. While the fish is cooking, chop the mushrooms. Also, take the potatoes and cut a slice off lengthwise. This is the lid to your coffin. Use a spoon and hollow out your baked potatoes. Set the insides in a bowl to use later.

8. Take the fish out of the oven. Turn the heat up to 400°. Carefully remove the fish from the pan. Keep the cooking liquid, but strain out the onions.

9. In a saucepan, melt the 4 tbsp of butter. Then add the flour and cook for two minutes. Gradually add the strained wine cooking liquid. Stir until you get a light-colored creamy sauce (you might not need all the liquid). Taste. Season with salt and pepper if desired (Be careful! I didn’t realize my pepper opened two ways, one way with small holes and one with large. I accidentally opened the large size and dumped so much pepper in I practically ruined the sauce!)

10. While you’re making the sauce, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, then add the shrimp. Cook until they just turn pink. Remove from heat.

12. Put the potato coffins in your roasting pan. Spoon a bit of sauce into the bottom of a hollowed out potato. Then place a fish fillet inside. Spoon a bit more sauce on top. Then spoon the shrimp and mushrooms on top of that. If you like the sauce, you can pour lots more sauce on and smother the whole thing. Finally put the potato lid on top.

13. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes. While this is cooking, mash the potato insides. Gradually add milk, butter, and salt until the mashed potatoes are to your liking.

14. Remove from the oven. Place a coffin and a dollop of mashed potatoes on your plate. Serve!

Messy level: 4 spoons. This has a lot of steps, and requires a lot of spoons, pots, and finesse. The maneuvering between steps isn’t hard, but we made a mess straining the wine sauce, stirring the flour sauce, and all the pouring that has to be done. Also, hollowing a potato and stuffing it with a sole fillet makes for some gooey fingers.

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