I could chalk my choosyness up to sophisticated taste, but that would be a misrepresentation. Mostly, I just don’t like a lot of things. I’m not a fan of olives, capers, most fish, or orange & chocolate together (although I enjoy them quite a lot separately). I don’t like lemon flavor unless it comes from real lemons or tarragon (a newly discovered dislike). I abhor well-done beef, Miracle Whip, and brown mustard. The list goes on and on.

Despite my limitations, though, I actually do savor most food and probably do so with more fervor than the average person. In view of this fact, when my family started planning a food-centric trip to Paris France, I was ecstatic. The occasion was my mom’s 60th birthday although we celebrated a few months early in order to accommodate everyone’s (read Tim’s) schedules. With an apartment reserved and tickets booked, it fell to my sister and I to do most of the activity planning.

Since we all agreed that we could focus on food while in the city of lights, I didn’t feel pressure to pack in every museum and tourist attraction. Instead, I searched for fantastic restaurants, some unusual experiences, and activities in Paris that were off the beaten path.

For this trip, I used research tools that were new in my trip-planning arsenal. I like to know what I’m getting into (I guess the pickyness isn’t limited to food), so I do my research. Most of my past attempts at travel agentry have centered around guidebooks and sites like TripAdvisor. While I did consult these, I was happy to find Twitter, blogs, and a cookbook or two to be most helpful.

If you’re planning a trip (especially a food-centric one) to Paris, you might also find these resources useful:

•Follow these people on Twitter: @davidlebovitz @clotildenet @HiddenKitchen @parisiensalon @GirlsGuideParis @ParisExperience Then follow who they talk to. I learned about restaurants, food trends, and must-go places from their tweets.

•Read these blogs: David Lebovitz, Chocolate & Zucchini, Girls’ Guide to Paris, Haven in Paris. Unlike the guidebooks we used, these blogs gave us info about upcoming events, whether or not a restaurant was still good, and obscure tidbits that would never be included in print.

•Buy the Streetwise Paris Map. It is a million times better than the other maps we had. It folds accordion style so you don’t have to open a giant paper in front of your face just to see where you are and it has an index of all the streets and metro stations in Paris (a must-have). It sounds kind of silly for me to be so enthusiastic about a map but really, it was amazing.

•Check out Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris Cookbook for info about classic food and cookware stores, Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris for restaurant reviews and recommendations by arondissment, and A to Z of French Food, French to English Dictionary of Culinary Terms (I know it’s spendy but I think absolutely worth it. If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe David Lebovitz).

And lest you think we went to Paris and were too consumed by food to see any of the sites, here are a few photos from our trip.

The windows of Saint Chapelle

The Arc de Triomphe

Luxembourg Gardens

The Tour de France

Tim at the Louvre

I’ll share my own edible adventures (and more about my discriminating taste) in tomorrow’s post.

I couldn’t wait to taste every morsel of this locally-sourced meal. When I received the tickets for this event, the food was the thing I awaited with the most anticipation. To be honest, I’m not a die-hard organic purist and I would never consider myself a locavore. I am a big fan of freshness and creativity, however. The idea or eating something that has been recently harvested and creating a menu from ingredients immediately available intrigues me.

Upon arrival at this picturesque farm surrounded by mountains, we were served wine and appetizers. Crostinis with carmelized onions, pixie tangerines, and pesto were passed before our tour of this farm with an interesting history. Rio Gozo used to be a state prison that produced many of the vegetables consumed by the California penal system. Now locals join the Rio Gozo CSA to receive fresh fruits and vegetables every week.

After the tour, we gathered at the communal table for four more courses. We began with fresh bread and avocado spread served with beet, avocado, and blood orange salad with mint and goat cheese. Next came grilled squash, meyer lemons, fennel and wilted romaine. The main course included braised short ribs, carrots, and the most delicious creamed chard I can imagine. We finished with limoncello and mulberry brioche french toast for dessert.

While I enjoyed each dish (especially that chard), I was surprised by my experience at Outstanding in the Field. I expected that the food itself would be the most important element for me. In fact, the most powerful part of the experience for me was the people. We talked with a couple from Palo Alto about Paris and gardening. Two couples who sat with us during dinner shared about their careers, supper clubs, and language studies. I met the president of a southern California historical society and a young dentist from Atlanta.

What a joy it was to be with such interesting fellow diners sharing a meal in a beautiful space. I’m glad that the table was so enriched by these people and that the experience was truly outstanding.

I planned the menu with a few elements in mind. Because Erin is a foodie, I wanted to have really good eats and lots of them. She has a masters degree in Food Science and I wanted her to feel like the menu for her party was really something special. I also knew that I wanted to serve several courses but not spend the entire evening in the kitchen.

Here’s what we ended up with for our six courses:

une
Salty Pear Martinis and Lemonade
Pomme Frites with Red White and Bleu Dipping Sauces
including
Ketchup
Bleu Cheese, Walnut, & Bacon
and Garlic Aioli

The Salty Pear Martini was derived from a drink Erin & Tim both had at A Restaurant in Newport Beach. He taught me his secret recipe just for the party.

deux
Pear, Red Onion, and Candied Walnut Salad with Shaved Parmesan
Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing

The salad was uncomplicated and had just the right acidity with lemon instead of vinegar in Ina Garten’s Green Salad Vinaigrette from Barefoot in Paris. I served the salad with salt-crusted homemade bread.

trois
Asparagus, Mint, and Mascarpone Raviolis

I used Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Ravioli of Minted Asparagus with Potatoes and Mascarpone from The Return of the Naked Chef. Tim received a pasta maker attachment for our KitchenAid Mixer for his birthday. We used it to make these and have eaten all the homemade pasta we can make since. It is so easy to use that we can’t get enough.

Since we’re planning a family trip to Paris this summer, I thought a French theme for her party would be fun. The Eiffel Tower introduced the celebration on the casual handwritten invitations. We planned a French menu and tried to incorporate as many Parisienne touches as possible.

I was so excited to use several vintage pieces from Jeni Maus’ incredible collection at Found Vintage Rentals. Her farm table, chairs, trunk, and end tables really made this a special occasion in Erin’s honor. I’m so thankful for Jeni’s impeccable eye and style. The furniture was just the right touch for this outdoor 30th birthday party.

My pièce de résistance was a reproduction of a “La Vache Que Rit” (Laughing Cow) cheese vintage poster. It tied together the theme, the color scheme and even the menu for me. Check out the cow wearing earrings with a cow wearing earrings with a cow wearing earrings…

I also chose to include some bold red accents. I created striped pillows and red napkins just for the party. Red sweet peas and garden roses from my backyard and my sister’s front yard graced the tables along with bouquets of fresh parsley. Even though I initially planned to use more elaborate florals, these casual arrangements seemed just right for the special day.

We started the evening with cocktails as guests arrived. What a treat to have the talented Maxwell Garces set the tone with gypsy jazz guitar. The live music definitely added an unexpected flair to the party.

I wanted to create an opportunity for guests to share what they loved about Erin and special memories they have with her. I know that she doesn’t love to be the center of attention, however, so I created a little museum, the Musee d’Erin, using an antique hutch.

Everyone brought a photo of her or an object that reminded them about Erin. What fun it was to see each person’s perspective on my beautiful sister.

Thanks to my friend Sarah Maizland for taking the wonderful photos.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s post. I’ll share about our menu and the rest of the lovely evening.

I’d love to hear what you think. Please leave me a comment.

This year for Tim’s birthday, I used leftovers from another project along with scraps from an old swatchbook. The back of each piece had printing and a hole punched out. With some scissors, accordion-folded paper, and lots of things I love about Tim, I think I created a wrap job as fun as the gift inside.

He seemed to enjoy it too.

Feel free to leave a comment.

My sister gave me a collection of books including The Dressmaker’s Technique Bible, Take One: 80 Structural Design Ideas, Wreck This Journal, and 25 Kites That Fly (she got that one at the Fullerton Library sale). She also subscribed me to my fave glossy: ReadyMade Magazine.

Hayley gave me my very own copy of Fran Bigelow’s Pure Chocolate. I’ve enjoyed some of her recipes myself, some vicariously through this dear friend, and I’ve dreamt about others. I’m excited to not only try them out but learn more about the ever-enigmatic substance that is chocolate.

Knowing that I have envied her side of our yard for a year now, Melissa delighted me with white Iceberg rose bushes for my little flower bed. They were gorgeously blooming when she brought them over and now I’m anxiously waiting for round two of blooms.

To support my growing love of power tools, my brothers- and sisters-in-law gave me a Dremel 300 Rotary Tool. I’ve been stumped about what to use it for first. I’ve got to come up with a project that requires some intricacy. I’m often a slap-it-together kind of gal but my projects can now be much more precise with this addition to my tool collection (yes, I have a tool collection).

With some coaxing from Tim, my parents gave us tickets to what promises to be one of the best nights of my life. This coming Saturday, we’re headed to Ojai for the meal of a lifetime at Outstanding in the Field. It is a traveling restaurant that takes place on farms across America. They’ll have a regional chef, locally-sourced food, and a table for 200 people in the middle of a field. Doesn’t it sound amazing?!?!

I also received a spectacular gift from Tim and my in-laws. They gave me a Brother Serger! I can’t believe it. I’ve loved dabbling in the little bit of sewing I’ve pursued but I feel like my world of projects is now wide open. I’m sure I’ll just be serging all the time. In fact, I am probably serging something right now as you’re reading this.

Thoughtful gifts have always been very special to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just a material girl. Good gifts just make me feel known and loved. I’m thankful that I was blessed so much this year on my birthday with well-wishes, cards, phone calls, friendship, …and this great stuff!

Although it wasn’t originally motivated by my desires to borrow or live for free, Tim & I have recently been enjoying our fledgling little garden. We’re troubleshooting, watering, and practically daily measuring the growing height of our fifteen tomato plants (yes, I did say 15). Although we swore that we would only focus on one kind of plant this year, somehow we’ve also ended up with sweet peas (delicious smell but don’t eat them; they’re poisonous), watermelons, lettuce, and spinach. These plants supply me with daily chores and delights. I continue to surprise myself when I jump up and down with glee at the sight of a new flower or the joy of seeing the sweet peas finally climb up my homemade trellis.

All of this gardening has made us focus on our soil in new ways. We dug out our raised beds from last year, lined them with weed cloth, filled them up again with new compost, and crossed our fingers. For the most part this experiment has gone fairly well. It seems that the only tomatoes that aren’t going to make it are the ones I accidentally sprayed with Round-up (don’t ask). Most of the plants are healthy and happy. I’ll keep you posted as to whether we ever actually do get mouth-watering tomatoes out of the deal.

Our new-found soil fascination led us to a dramatic decision: to compost. After a few false starts, promises that I would build a compost bin, and lots of rotting fruit under our kitchen sink, we finally started the process of making black gold. I’ve read books, watered, turned my vegetables, and added every manner of plant material I could find. The big missing component, however, was more brown (apparently you’ve got to be a chemist to be a composter… carbon/nitrogen ratios actually matter). I solved the problem today by reusing in a way I never had before; I mulched the cherry blossom branches from our Easter celebration.

I never could have done this without the ability to borrow. Our friends Rick & Melanie (yes, the same R & M from the apple tree adventure) graciously allowed me to lug bags and bags of branches to their place to chip them up into little sawdusty bits of brown. This was accomplished with the help of their amazing, powerful, and invaluable super duper power chipper/mulcher. It is the sort of thing that I would never buy but am so glad to be able to use.

Thanks to Rick & Melanie, we are on our way to having rich beautiful soil to successfully cultivate more than mere tomatoes. Now that we’re expert composters and on our way to figuring out the whole growing thing, I bet we’ll be ready to start a farm stand by next year around this time. Maybe I’ll even barter with my nutrient-rich produce.

My composting beginnings

My first encounter with a chipper

The chipped up cherry branches

The focus of our services was John 11-21. After hearing about Lazarus’ resurrection and the Triumphal Entry earlier in the week, Thursday night’s service focused on the Last Supper in John 13-17. To reorient ourselves, all of the chairs in our dimly lit sanctuary were turned towards the center and the communion elements. What a sobering and impacting experience.

Good Friday’s service followed with a reading of John 18 and 19. The “Service of Darkness” allowed us to remember Christ’s crucifixion and burial.

Easter Sunday tells a whole different story, however. We focused on John 20 and 21 where we see the empty tomb and Christ alive again. To remind us of the Resurrection of Christ, we used lots of white to transform the room. How different it feels to celebrate with so much joyous white after the somber days we’d just experienced.

We used flowering cherry blossoms and butcher paper garlands to fill the space and orient our eyes to the empty cross; a reminder that Christ has risen indeed.

As a closing thought, I wanted to include a quotation that my friend Melissa just sent me from a Lancelot Andrewes Easter sermon on Mary Magdalene’s reunion with the risen Christ. Mistaking him for the gardener, she asks Christ if he has removed the Lord’s body from the tomb.

“Now He that was thought lost is found again, and found, not as He was sought for, not a dead body, but a living soul, nay, a quickening Spirit, then. And that might Mary Magdalene well say. For He quickened her and her spirits that were as good as dead. For, in very deed, a kind of resurrection it was… in her, revived and raised from a dead and drooping to a lively and cheerful estate. The Gardener had done his part, made her all green, on the sudden.”

Having said that, I was so glad that Karisa allowed me to be part of her wedding day in this way. What a joy to come alongside so many others from our church family to help celebrate the beginning of Karisa & Arvind’s marriage. It was an amazing experience to see so many people offer help with parts of the celebration they were good at: baking cakes, building all manner of things from light posts to coffee tables, and negotiating catering contracts. I was glad to see the body come together in that way.

Arvind is a pastor in India. He and Karisa now live there together as they serve in an Indian church. Their wedding was a celebration of their faith, style, cultures, and passions. Karisa planned lots of details to incorporate their personalities. Everything from a chartreuse green couch, Scrabble, and living room-style seating, exuded what they love.

The flowers for the day were an eclectic mix of dahlias, China berries, mums, cocks combs, artichokes, cabbage, crespedia (a.k.a. billy balls), marigolds, teddy bead sunflowers, fever few, tulips, and spray roses.

Karisa’s bouquet was my favorite part of the flowers. She wanted whites and greens with lots of texture. We used big garden roses, scabiosa, lisianthus, China berries, cabbage, artichokes, dahlias and China mums. Each bouquet was wrapped in ribbons Karisa had been collecting for the big day.

The groom and groomsmen wore diy ribbon boutonnieres made by one of Karisa’s bridesmaids.

The reception was a fun celebration with lots of coffee tables, low arrangements, and a photo booth.

Thanks to Ellie Grover for the fabulous photographs.

The orange and purple sari-style isn’t something I usually gravitate towards but I tried to infuse some of my aesthetic wherever I could. Utterly Engaged encouraged their participants to incorporate atypical materials in their designs. Our team utilized a lot of metal (custom metal umbrella drum shades, metal spheres, elephant statues) and traditional Indian fabrics. I used pieces of galvanized metal (from Home Depot) as the base for menus with embroidered dupioni silk accents. I also created embroidered place cards in the eggplant, gunmetal, and orange color scheme.

Be sure to check out the whole article for fabulously creative design ideas and a peek at the winners.

Thanks to Melody of Sweet & Saucy Shop for these photos.