Yummies

This sandwich may not look like much, but trust me it was.  I branched out from my usual "club" sandwich (oh, I'm just mad for hard-boiled eggs on a sandwich and the club has them a-plenty... with jambon to boot!), and tried a "Provincial."  Of course, I've found a favorite sandwich shop, so there was already a level of trust.  (By the way, one of my requirements for a sandwich shop is a menu of options on display since my French ain't so hot and neither is my imagination to make up sandwich varieties.  You've gotta give me something to choose from.)

OK... so this "Provincial."  It was sliced chicken with emmental, grilled chopped veggies (onion, eggplant, zucchini) tossed with some balsamic, and topped with microgreens.  Oh, and the bread was perfection, as well.  Such a perfect sandwich.  Shoot.  Now I'm craving it....

This has become my favorite snack.  Cheese with this delicious forest berry jam on slices of bread.  Here it is with a chevre, but I've also got a Tomme de Savoie that I top with the jam, as well.  Mmmm....

This may be the freshest, most delicious nougat on earth!  There was a new nougat guy at the market yesterday, so I had to dig in.  He had so many varieties--nougat with cherries, nougat with figs, even nougat with speculoos (more on those later), but I wanted to try his basic nougat with lavender honey and almonds first.  All of the ingredients were fresh and organic, and it's quite evident.  What a moist and fluffy slice o'nougat.  Well done, nougat guy!

This is speculoos ice cream.  Speculoos is a biscuit rampant in Brussels.  And, boy, are they tasty.  Turns out, they use 'em to flavor ice cream, as well.  (Oh!  I once bought a mustard on tap at the Maille store in Paris that was flavored with speculoos, as well.  Yums.)  Where had this ice cream flavor been all my life?!?  Because we are totally best friends now.  LOVE.  It almost tastes like the ice cream is the flavor of the cone.  But this is a good thing.  Really.

Cochino's prezzy from the market--cat grass!

Went back to Cafe des Spores last night.  It is truly some of the best food in Brussels.  And such a great space, as well.  Had to take a (crappy iPhone) photo of this boiled egg topped with truffles.  Oh... those... truffles....

Recent selections... the Palm is a nice, easygoing one.  Nothin' fancy.  And I figured it was high time I sampled some gueuze and some kriek--especially since the kriek is "St Louis" brand.  Love that.  Of course, these are the more mainstream brewers of gueuze and kriek.  Now I need to get out there and drink some on tap!

Someone just *had* to model with the bottles.

Same someone knows that she should not be on the kitchen table, but here is heartily yawning upon being awoken from a nap.

Local flavor

Art in the bathroom at Chez Moeder Lambic.

Vive Belgique!  Window art in St-Gilles.

Beer in the vending machine at the gas station down the street from our apartment.  Can you believe it?  There was no wanton drunkenness or destruction at said gas station!  Beer is available everywhere here, but people seem to be able to handle it.  Imagine!

Some recent eats...

Sure, I've been eating well.  Don't worry about me!

Pasta with truffles.  Cooked perfectly and, oh-so-indulgent with the truffes!  It's not much to look at, but how I wish you could have tasted it!

All we do all weekend is happen upon outdoor markets.  Saturday we came upon a big flea market in front of the Hotel de Ville in St-Gilles.  With flea markets come delicious food stalls.  We sidled up to this one, which was featuring oysters, shrimp, snails and--what you see here--grilled mussels.  We went for the mussels and they were one of the best things I've eaten since I've been here.  They were grilled for about 10 minutes, with a smidge of butter and some minced herbs and garlic added at the end.  So simple and so delicious.

Just *look* at them!  Beautiful!!

La nouvelle vie de Zebulon

Walking around the other day, I saw this:

"Toute la famille est inquiete" The whole family is nervous

And then I was reminded of this window kitty I snapped the other day:

I am sorry you are all upset, but maybe now you will understand that he was serious the whole time in asking for something so simple as a nice front window with maybe a little bamboo.  Maybe you won't hold out on the next cat.


**Note... these lost cat signs are EVERYWHERE here.  It's really sad, but frustrating because so many cats are left to roam outdoors freely, where it's dangerous for them.  The window kitties may wish they could go outside, but they really do have it better.**

Indoor leash kitty

This is somewhat embarrassing for Cochino... well, and maybe for me...  But more her.  Because she's the one at the window on a harness/leash combo.  Yup, I'm leashing my cat up inside now.  Though I fear that the Euro-cool courtyard kitties probably laugh at the new American kitty whose mom keeps her leashed so that she won't jump out the window, I don't really care.  The temptation of the screen-less window is no joke.  (I mean, look at those roses!  I may jump!)  Celia's cat just broke its leg jumping out of the window in Brussels.  Cochino will not suffer the same fate!

So now we have a routine.  Whenever the giant kitchen window is open, my friend begrudgingly lets me tether her to the kitchen chair.  I suppose she figures some fresh air on a leash is better than a closed window.

Look at her sniffing in that delicious Brussels air!

She can almost smell the roses...

To market, to market!

Really, I am.  In fact, the Chatelain market makes me freak out a little bit.  I just can't get over it.  Can heaven be like this?  Can it just be one big browse-around, sampling and ogling baked goods, cheese, and produce?  I could do this for eternity.

So it's a rainy day--not bad enough to keep me from doing a preliminary stroll-by of an apartment, though.  On my way back, I stumbled upon our neighborhood market.  And I got right to it.  (Of course, the whole time I was thinking I *can't* move from this neighborhood, I can't move from this *MARKET!*  That's me and markets for you.

This is an apple cake.  It looks odd in the photograph, well, and odd in life.  But I bet you it's delicious! Stop it now... the apple cake wouldn't make fun of YOU!

This is a brownie, of course.  Again, I'm sure this will be perfection.  (And in case you haven't noticed, I put the iPhone away in favor of the big camera for these shots... finally!)

And this, my friends, is a gourmandise au foie gras.  It was 2 euro (!), and is just over an inch in diameter.  I am fairly certain it will prove to be money well spent, however, as it's got a big chunk o'foie gras in the middle.  I got one for B, too, and I'm saving mine so we can revel in their mind-blowingness together.  Stay tuned!

Cochino waits patiently (...or perhaps devises her plan to capture the foie gras puffs for herself).

If You Like Pina Coladas...

We got caught in the rain in that damned Bois de la Cambre yesterday.  (Love the bois when it's sunny, mad at it in the rain...)  We were ducked under a tree until i could not hold the water off any longer, forcing us to find another refuge... and at that point, most of the trees couldn't hold off the rain so we got pretty soaked.  I was thriving on the survivalist element of it all at first, but that got old and we just wanted to the rain to let up so we could leave.  Never have been much for camping and the outdoors...

You can't really tell, but it's raining.  Boy-o, is it raining!

Before our tree sold us out.

This is a window dog who popped out to say hi while we were eating outside at a cafe.  I was tempted to post him on the window kitties site, but I'm trying to keep it real over there.

Yes!

Possibly the cutest mini in the world.  Sorry, Mini Driver, but it's true.

State of the Blog

It was brought to my attention (thanks, B) that this blog has become more of a travelogue (move-o-logue?) when it was originally a capture of my outfits.  Yes, that is true.  And I plan to get in the routine of taking outfit photos again, but I'm currently working out of one suitcase and, well, I'm just not that inspired.  But once I am reunited with my stuff... outfit photos will abound yet again!

That said, here's a crazy goose cart that appeared around the corner.  I think this cowboy goose is all excited about the foie gras sold in the store he's repping.  Which leads me to think he has been misled because what goose in his right mind would wanna rep that?   

Saturday Surprises

What's that music in the distance?  Surprise!  It's a flea market/neighborhood festival!  You know you're always gonna stumble upon something good when you just follow the music...

One of the communes in St-Gilles was having a neighborhood festival, with bands and jugglers and food and beer (Of course!  Nothing is done without beer here!) and a flea market.  

We browsed for a while on foot, but clearly being strolled around is the way to go.

Then we hit up Chez Moeder Lambic, which is an incredible (and delightful) bar in St-Gilles.  It is known for its vast selection or beer.  They have a well-stocked cellar of dusty old beers, as well.  But it's really just a nice place to sit outside for a spell.  Such a nice place, in fact, that Byron didn't even make a face when I took his picture.

Then we wandered and wandered in St-Gilles, came upon the old prison of St-Gilles (which was rather foreboding), and just marveled at the art nouveau architecture.

Rachel Comey Mac

I am really liking this mac jacket from Rachel Comey.  It's so versatile that it even comes with its own illustrations to show you some of the ways to wear it.  So cute!

(As featured over at Le Train Bleu.)

(I have these shoes.  They are so comfortable.  Really!)

Urban Woods, etc.

Oh, I went on a fine stroll today! I found a great organic (or "bio" as they say here) pet food store so that I can keep my babycat fed with the good stuff. I also stumbled upon the border of the Bois de la Cambre, which is a giant park in Brussels. I only nipped the edge of the park (honestly, without any breadcrumbs to drop I was afraid of getting lost), but I will come back to explore further. Also encountered an organ grinder and... oh, just see below!

One of the entrances to the Bois de la Cambre.

It's probably hard to tell from the iPhone shot, but there are tiny saplings they're nurturing (with stabilizers) that are only about 1-2 feet tall. It will take hundreds of years before they reach the height of their predecessors, but I love the idea of fostering a new generation of trees in this old forest.

I heard the most enchanting music as I was walking along the Chaussee de Waterloo... and then I stumbled upon this new friend. I gave him a 50-cent piece so that I could snap a picture without rushing (or guilt), and he lit up for me. Of course, the two dogs were a major selling point. (And, if you must know, of course they were intact. Does no one neuter their dogs over here?) But anyway, I totally want to hang out with this guy more--pet reproductive choices aside.

This was a new development since I've come back. Someone livened up one of the stones on Rue du Prevot (the street where our temporary apartment is).

And you know I love this. A Shih Tzu waits patiently at the Delhaize grocery. Oh, what a good day!

Cochino's Big Adventure

Move to Europe without my cat? Not an option. She is family (and possibly one of the coolest, most easygoing cats on the planet--I swear! Ask anyone who's met her!). She goes where I go. Consequently, she's lived in St. Louis; San Francisco; Columbus, Ohio (and was a good sport about it even though our only window looked out on a bleak alleyway); Philly... and now Brussels (with a possibility for some Amsterdam in her future, as well).

So, it's been planned all along that I would bring the cat with me. I can't say that I prefer traveling with a cat, but it had to happen. Despite having taken up her food the night before, I was sure I was going to have to deal with some cat-ily functions--something for which I'm rather ill-equipt. That and she might just freak the freak out. So I was rather dreading the trip.

I have to say that, really, it went pretty smoothly. Despite being shaky and stressed, she did well. She was perfect on the long flight from DC to Brussels. (She expressed her, uh, "displeasure" on the commuter flight from Philly to DC, however. Not fun.) And after some jet lag--I swear, the cat had jet lag, she now is enjoying her new (temporary) home in Brussels. And I am thrilled to have her finally here with me.

Cochino wants to make it all go away at Dulles.

One tired cat.

Loving her new curtains, er, windows.

Pretty Chi.

Mustache Chi!

Philly Finale

(Notice how I didn't make it "Phinale"?? It's so hard, but I resisted the cheese this time.)

Some shots from the last few days in Philly. I am really going to miss it there. (Of course, today I arrived in Brussels and the weather is lovely and I was walking to the grocery and there was a giant hound tied up outside a little store and people at all of the sidewalk cafes... and I just breathed deeply and smiled and felt this exuberance that this was going to be my new city!)

But still, I will miss Philly. It's a singular place.

Incomplete thoughts.

Pretty city 1.

Pretty city 2.

Delicious burritos at El Jarocho, where they have some of the best carnitas I've ever had.

Cochino says goodbye to her foster mom, Nicki. Cochino shows all of the gratitude she and I have for the past year's friendship with our darling Nicki. Since I can't very well rub my head on Nicki's knee to express this, I'll let Cochino speak for both of us. We'll miss you, Nicki!

Randomness on 13th. A spontaneous healing and subsequent disposal? I appreciate how it's placed on top of the recycling bin. But really, those things get pretty gnarly and are probably better trashed. Sorry, environment; it's true.