Ah, la bonne cuisine Francaise!

(Hey, if I got that French spelling or grammar wrong, don't bother to correct me; it's been MANY years since college French, and I've had more occasion to use the Spanish I didn't take than the French I did, living my life in California and Texas.)

My experiments with Julia Child have continued. I made some shrimp in a white wine and fennel sauce (with butter, of course) and little French green beans with shallot and mushrooms for dinner on Thursday, and then re-purposed the leftover shrimp and sauce as a lovely chowder for lunch on Saturday. (Bags of frozen corn and diced potatoes o'brien, that's heart of your system when it comes to fast chowder!) Then I made Pasta Norma for dinner.

I also made the Jacques Torres' French kiss cookies but from a mix I received with the previously mentioned hot chocolate for Christmas (ooh, and looking at that link makes me want to try the Wicked Hot Chocolate!)

Then for Sunday supper (our last one with Tia Elsa, who has decided to move back to San Antonio after several years in Irving):

• Puree of Green Pea Soup (requested by Julian, who ate his and most of mine and his Dad's)
• Duck with Cherries (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking)
• Warm Lentils with Spinach and Vinaigrette (adapted from Bistro Cooking)
• Salad of Butter Lettuce & Shaved Fennel with lemon juice, dijon, and olive oil
• French Kiss Cookies & Ice Cream
• A lovely Robert Craig Affinity 2003 (which must've made it into our cellar courtesy of Mr. Weintribe; thank you sir, you're a gentleman and a scholar!)