Costco Faves

What are your favorites at Costco?  I'd like to share mine with you because sometimes we get stuck buying the same things by habit, overlooking great products until a friend mentions them.  [Reminder: Click on images to see larger version if available.]

My latest favorite is the Kirkland 4-pack Frozen Cheese Pizzas for only $9.99. They're medium-sized and you can add your own toppings. I like them especially because the ingredients are relatively good, compared to other frozen pizzas. I'm always checking ingredients because Jordan has many food allergies, such as corn products which is in almost every processed food known to Americans. I had overlooked these pizzas until I read about them in the Costco Connection magazine.   

Wedding card and envelope

Are you paying over $3 apiece for greeting cards?  Even the "budget" cards are about $1.00.  Well don't read this if you're boycotting Made in China products, but Costco has been selling the most adorable 3D greeting cards for about 50 cents a card!  For about $15 you can buy a box of 30 a great assortment of cards (birthday, wedding, congrats, thank you, etc.). 

New Baby card
(click for larger image)

I bought a box several years ago and still had over half a box left, but when I saw a new set being sold recently, I couldn't resist buying it. I get enjoyment just looking at them and it's almost agonizing when I have to give a card away! Seriously, I don't believe you can find cards that compare to them being sold separately in the card aisle of most stores. The envelopes are designed for each card, too. This could turn me into a greeting card hoarder.

Gift bags, sadly no longer found
at Costco.

Another Costco find a few years ago that unfortunately I haven't found again is a large plastic "briefcase" filled with decorated gift bags.  I suspect they were manufactured by the same company that does the greeting cards.  All were three dimensional and again, I found myself hoarding the sets.  I bought one set, took it home and was so in awe of them, I made Leonard look at every...single...one...of....them. I then went back and bought two more sets.  To my credit, I did end up giving one set to a friend as a gift.  Hmm....usually you use gift bags to put gifts in, but she was thrilled to get those gift bags as a gift!

Here are a few more of my current food favorites: 

Frozen Organic Broccoli Florettes--$5.99 for 4 lbs.  What I love is that they're packed in 4 individual bags.

Celery Sticks -- $3.99 for 2.5 lbs  Totally worth it because they're ready to eat!  Celery is an excellent snack for both dieting and to alkalinize your body.  For a special treat, eat them with Laughing Cow soft cheese wedges (sold in those flat rounds). Just 35 calories per wedge!

Evergood Pineapple Sausage-- And are they ever good!  Maple syrup + pineapple in a sausage = onolicious!  $8.89 for 3 lbs. 

 

Kirkland Lavash Chips--Whoa, I--errr we, yeh WE--ate this up within a couple of days.  It's replaced Stacy's Pita Chips as my favorite carb crave.  The pita chips taste great, but are a bit hard.  These chips are thin and crispy.  $5.99

Kirkland Peanuts-- Ok, not only are these roasted peanuts in a super large can, the peanuts are super large.  What I love, though, is that they're harder than your usual Planter-type peanuts.  Reminds me of those Chinese peanuts in the shell.  These are salted, but not overly salty.  Leonard ordered me not to buy them anymore because they're bad for him.  Well maybe because he eats 2 cups at one sitting?  I am gonna buy them again and put them where he can't find them. 


Kirkland Organic Strawberry Spread-- Soooo strawberry-y and not overly sweet.  We buy the Fage Plain Greek Yogurt and mix some of this in.  Ohhh so good and good for you!

Golden Grill Hashbrown Potatoes -- Mr. E loves hash brown potatoes, and these are so amazingly convenient to store and easy to prepare.  Just add hot water, let soak 12 minutes and fry!  I try to avoid preservatives and sadly there are some in here, so we only eat these a couple times a month.

I'm waiting for Costco to catch up with Sam's Club and sell SALMON BONES. [See my blog post about them.] Whenever we go to Honolulu, we buy several trays, freeze them, then bring them back to Kauai.  They're best broiled or grilled.  Again, so good and good for you!

Feel free to let me know what your favorites are!  I know I'll remember some others later, so I'll post again....hopefully it won't take me another six months.

Never Despair, We Shall Prevail!

Just when you thought I'd given up blogging, here I am back...but I'm totally copping out by posting some photos I got in my email box  and with the Dow Jones plunging down lately, we sure need some cheering up.

How on earth could the stock market be down when we have such amazing products on the horizon, sure to sell by the millions?  Our fellow human beings are constantly thinking of the next hot item that we can't live without.  I tell you, it's so inspiring and reassuring to know that our enterprising friends will always be around to boost up our economy.  Dow Jones down 2000 points?   Big deal, wait til they get a load of these gems, I'm telling you, the economic outlook will shoot up for sure!

Okay, so I've been wanting something like this because it can be such a pain to carry crackers or cookies while drinking my mocha latte.  I'll probably spend more on cookies now that I have a place in my mug to stash 'em.  So you see how this mug will stimulate the economy in TWO ways?  Woohoooooo!

Next we see that the prayers of thousands of waithelp have been answered.  Oh--my--god--this will surely revolutionize the restaurant business...NOT.  I mean the concept is there, but what's with the finger bumps that take up a third of the tray? 




Uh, I guess some people have to be silly 24/7, even while drinking their Starbucks coffee.  Of course people who drink Starbucks coffee--$4 for a small cup that's called "Tall"--may automatically assumed to be a little crazy.  And they should've colored the teeth coffee-stained.

Now this one is something legitimate!  A teabag dunker/timer!  I can't tell you how many times my tea was too strong because I put the teabag in and walked away for more than a couple of minutes.  You know how it is (read this blogpost).  This is both cute and practical for tea drinkers!

 

 Here's another great idea!  No more searching for someone to take your photo!  When Jordan and I were at the fountain of Saint Michel in Paris, people kept coming up to me to take their photo.  It was very weird.  I think it was because I was Japanese.  They figured I wouldn't steal their cameras because I probably already had ten.

We needed this at every single bon dance we attended this summer!  Although we had a large umbrella, it wasn't quite big enough so we tried using two.  We had to hold them at perfect angles or someone (usually hubby) would get dripped on.  This would certainly take care of that!  Awesome!

Probably the same person who invented the finger tray above invented this one.  Not a bad idea, especially for kids and drunk people.







Ohhhkay, now this ladder is definitely not for drunk people. It looks iffy to me. It somehow reminds me of some teen boy climbing up a trellis to sneak into his girlfriend's bedroom. Then the trellis breaks away from the wall....






I love this one. Makes me wish we had stairs in our house! Hmmm, maybe others will feel the same and build second story extensions on their homes. That will provide construction jobs and see, more economy boosting!

I don't like this one because there's no way I'm wearing this!  Do you really want to advertise the number of a potbelly?? This is for the bold and beautiful ...or maybe the boastful.  





If indeed we experience the "double dip" recession despite the brilliant inventions seen above, it doesn't mean we will stop having brilliant ideas.  No siree Bob, poverty inspires even more inventiveness!   First of all, thank you to ThereIFixedIt.com for the following:

Hopefully grass prices will remain low...















Of course there's foot power.  That way this guy can actually afford to put some food in his shopping cart.

Plastic shopping bags are illegal on Kauai so unfortunately we may not be able to make these nifty thrifty "backpacks". 
Speaking of plastic shopping bags, did you fellow Kauaians ever imagine there'd come a day when you scrounge around for these bags and treat them like gold?  When I go to Honolulu, I'm thinking of raiding my mom's closet and bringing some home. 








"This here is called a Dust Book. In the ole days, your grandpappy an' me used to have World Books that we had to use to make school reports.  There was no such thing as Google.  Wikipedia?  Nope, Encyclo-pedia.  But now I got me 22 Dust Books to sweep the floor." 











Yiyeeeeee I'm both repulsed and impressed at the same time.

And lastly, if the stock market crash makes it impossible for us to see the lovely old fountains of Europe, never fear.  As Humphrey Bogart might say, "We'll always have Plastic."





Thanks to ThereIFixedIt.com and Humorsharing.com for the photos!

You Save Hundred Fifty Dollah Here!

This is a re-broadcast of a post I did last year.  It's that time of year again for graduation photos and for anyone on a tight budget, I thought this may be helpful:



I know I just posted about more ways to save money a couple of days ago, but I just came across another one today while going through a pile of "stuff" that's been sitting in a box for...uhhhh...YEARS.  [No sense in my trying to hide that fact since those who know us well know that Jordan graduated two years ago!]  As school will be starting soon and some of you will be faced with the expense of Senior photos, I decided to post this immediately.

When we decided to let Jordan go through the graduation ceremonies, we found that the senior photo deadline had already passed.  We had to rush to get a photo for the yearbook so we went outside and took some photos of her in our backyard.  Happily they turned out pretty well and I emailed one to the yearbook class.

As graduation approached, I realized that we'd need photos to pass out, so after ordering more prints from the drugstore,  I went to a photography studio in Honolulu and was able to purchase black photo folders for under fifty cents each.  I think you can probably find them online for even less.  I'd advise using either a rotary cutter or paper cutter to make trimming the photos easier.

Next I went to Vistaprint.com and using their template, easily designed those name cards for the graduation announcements and photo folders.  They cost under $20.  Note: Try coordinating the cards with the photo to create a theme.

All considered, we spent under $50 and maybe 3-4 hours (taking photos, ordering prints and cards, trimming photos, etc.).   A photo package from a professional photographer will cost from $200 to $400, so wow, by being "late" we ended up saving money...and not just fifty cents either!  (See posts below if you haven't already.)  Russell Peter's father would be impressed, I think!

Now I realize if everyone did this, the professional photographers would lose business.  Rather than blame me, they ought to take it to whoever originally had the idea to go "natural."  Remember when all annuals had those senior photos where everyone had to wear graduation caps?   Or how about those fake tuxedos and fake gowns?  Even worse.. the FURRY gowns?  Oh my god!! [For the integrity of good journalism, I am selflessly inserting an example of a typical "fur" photo.  That's not me, it's some typical late 60's/early 70's conformist Hawaii teen who contributed to the demise of many hair salons back then.]

That photographer thought he was being clever by letting seniors to go "casual," and the students probably cheered him, thinking "Thank god I don't have to wear that goofy furry thing!!" but inadvertently, he/she now allowed us to do it ourselves.  Big oops!  So as Stephanie Plum always says, "It's not my fault."

More important than just saving the money, doing it yourself gives you such a great feeling of accomplishment.  Besides, the money you save will be spent on something else, I'm sure, still contributing to the economy! 

Sweet Teeth in Paris



A common sight in Paris: enticing pastries of every color and flavor
imaginable...pig flavored too?? (Click for larger view).

Paris is the home to Euro Disney, but I didn't have to go there because the city of Paris itself was  Disneyland enough for me--especially for my taste buds and even more for my sweet teeth (yes I'm pretty sure I have more than just one).

As I mentioned in the last post, I ate a lot of both sweets and savories and did not gain a pound.  Paris may not offer the outdoor sports activities that Hawaii does, but to see Paris properly you're on your feet a lot more than on your butt (although the most fun I had was sitting and eating!).  That said, many people claim it's not just the walking but also the fact that French (also Italian and Spanish) food is much healthier with less additives.  See below for a link to an interesting, yet embarrassing obesity chart by country.  Embarrassing for us Americans, but when in Paris, you can relax knowing you're in skinny territory and can do like we did (Reminder: Click on photos for larger image):


At Angelina's on Rue Rivoli near the Louvre Museum

1) You don't have to wait for lunch to have dessert.  At the famous tearoom, Angelina's, we had their famous hot chocolate which was dark, thick, and rich.  We each had our own little pitcher of whipped cream.  With it we had a huge palmier (buttery sweet flaky palm leaf) which was a childhood favorite of mine--anyone remember the old Alexander Hotel in downtown Honolulu?  We also shared a pain au chocolate (croissant-like roll with dark chocolate inside).  Charlie continued his Parisian chocolate eclair taste testing.  After this breakfast we were ready for the trek up the Champs Elysee.

Clockwise: fresh whipped cream, chocolate eclair, palmier,
the famous Africain hot dark chocolate, and pain au chocolat.



2) Before arriving in Paris I didn't know what a macaron was.  It's related to neither macaroni or macaroons.  It's an interesting "sandwich cookie" made of two delicate meringue shells (egg, sugar, and almond powder) with a cream, jam, or ganache filling.  Flavors are endless and creative ranging from the usual chocolate and vanilla, to the exotic passion fruit, rose, and licorice.  Being flourless, you could say they're more a candy confection than a traditional cookie.  It's easy to get obsessed comparing the macarons around Paris and finding your favorite flavor.   The consensus seems to favor Laduree as the best source for macarons.  After all, they're credited with being the creators of the modern macaron.



The famous Laduree macarons--they come in every color. 

3) Another dessert we sampled more than once in Paris was the profiterole.  It's not as exotic as the macaron, but for a chocoholic ice-cream-addict like me, it's just as good and much easier to understand.  It's simply a small cream puff with an ice cream filling (usually vanilla), topped with chocolate sauce.  Many of the cafes we went to offered this dessert due to its popularity.  Our first profiterole was the best because it didn't taste like what you'd expect.  Somehow the vanilla ice cream tasted different and the chocolate sauce obviously wasn't from a squeeze bottle.  I was happy to find that although the components were

This one's a bit large and messy...or possibly someone
got to part of it before my camera did.

"ordinary" to us Americans, the flavor managed to say "Yes, it was worth traveling for two days to get here!"   The profiterole in the photo was the second or third we had.  It's relatively large, while the first ones we ate were smaller (three on a plate rather than one large).  Susan, Jordan, and I devoured it before realizing that we'd forgotten to take a photo.  We waited in vain for the waitress to pass by with another order, but it was just as well.  Would we really have had the nerve to say "Wait!  Let us photograph your profiteroles!"



Fruit Tart from Le Croissanterie at Forum de Halles

4) One of my favorite pastries are fruit tarts.  The one pictured here was part of our first lunch in Paris purchased at La Croissanterie at Les Forum des Halles, an underground shopping mall.  The raspberries were so large I thought they were strawberries.  Like all of the desserts I tried in Paris, although the tart appears to be very sweet, it wasn't overly sweet.  This could be another reason we didn't gain weight there.

La Croissanterie, I learned later, is part of a chain of "fast food" cafes.  Brioche Doree is another similarchain that we inadvertently visited.  Thirty-five years ago Paris didn't have these chain cafes so it didn't occur to me that we'd been frequenting

 Click on this photo to see a larger version of the little pink
pigs made of meringue.

chains--duh! I probably would've avoided them knowing they were indeed part of a chain, but I think the food was still delicious regardless.

5) The best part about walking the streets of Paris is definitely "window licking" (the literal translation of the French term for "window shopping",  lèche-vitrine).  If you ask me, that's an appropriate term since so many of the shop windows in Paris pretty much make your tongue hang out. 



Patisserie de Sud Tunisian
Photo taken by Denis Prezat



The delicious windows are not limited to just the French patisseries, but to other cuisines as well.  While visiting the Latin Quarter, I found the "South Tunisian" (similar to Greek) pastries irresitible in the window of Patisserie du Sud Tunisian.  Again I neglected to take a photo, but found this online.  I chose something similar to baklava and Jordan chose, of course, a chocolate cookie.

6) Berthillon ice cream was born the same year I was and it's said to be the best ice cream in the world so obviously it was a very good year.  We went searching for it one day on Ile St. Louis.  On every block on the little island there was a shop selling it so we got a little confused.  We then learned that the original store was closed that day, but happily we still got to purchase some at one of the other shops.  I love almost any ice cream so yes, it was at least as good as Haagen Daaz. On any given day they offer over 60 different flavors which change with the seasons.  Check out a list of the flavors linked below--pretty amazing.  Unlike American ice cream, Berthillon relies less on add-ins such as candy bits--although they're not above adding them--and more on varying the flavor of the base ice cream itself using fresh seasonal fruit, spices, liquers, etc. And again, natural ingredients.

I could be wrong, but possibly the Cochon (pig) is France's
mascot or national animal.  "La Vie En Rose" is on the right.

7) One evening on Rue Montorgueil it was fun to find Jordan's idol Edith Piaf honored with a dessert called "La Vie En Rose,"  a concoction of rose ice cream and strawberry sorbet...and a pink piggy.  Naturally we ordered it for her.  Susan's dessert also came with a cute meringue cochon.  Well, the cafe is called "Le Pied de Cochon," after all! 

8) Research before, not after, your trip. On our last evening in Paris, I was panicking.  It was a Sunday.  I had promised Jordan, after denying ourselves a few days earlier, that we'd have "fancy pastries" on our last day.  I found several patisseries that I had hoped to buy from closed.  The French are not like Americans.  They actually like to rest on Sundays so most stores are closed or close early.   Just when I was feeling very disappointed, we discovered a patisserie open on Rue Montorguiel.  I didn't even notice the name of the shop since I was just so relieved that we'd found our "fancy pastries."  We chose a few to take back to the apartment.  Again, they looked super sweet, but oh my goodness, they were so incredibly delectable, I'm not ashamed to admit I was glad Charlie and Susan were too full to want any!

  

Pastries from Stohrer's on Rue Montorguiel.  The chocolate
one in the middle was a-maz-ing.

Now keep in mind that we had just two months to plan this trip so procrastinator that I am, I didn't get to do the research I should have.  I actually read more about Paris after our trip than before or during.  It was during this after-the-fact research that I discovered that Stohrer's is  the oldest patisserie in Paris and one of its most reputable...and located on Rue Montorguiel.  I ran to look through my receipts and sure enough, that "last resort" patisserie we'd found open on our last day was indeed Stohrer's!  It had been a blessing in disguise that the other shops had been closed because if I had returned to Hawaii without sampling Stohrer's wares, I would've been devastated, considering we'd been staying just a block away! 

I know there are a hundred other patisseries and cafes I'd love to try in Paris.  You can be sure I'll have my list ready with me if I am lucky enough to return to my Disneyland of Food. 

Links:

Obesity chart by country

The Berthillon Ice Cream Story 

List of Berthillon Flavors in English! Amazing variety! 
French Photographer, Denis Prezat's Photostream

19 for 19 = No Bad Meal in Paris

I may have lost all four of my readers due to my neglecting this blog.  Aside from sheer procrastination and a million other distractions, it seems my trip to Paris is what really disrupted my flow.  Of course I did write the previous entry about our trip, but I wanted to write more about Paris and somehow couldn't get my thoughts organized.  Paris is just too overwhelming.  To complicate matters, I've been reading "French or Foe?"  It's a fascinating book about the French and their culture and my "processor" couldn't handle all the new data. My memory was already full of  Paris-bytes so my blog-writing abilities froze up. Strangely, both my laptop and desktop computers seemed to mimic my own "onboard computer": the former got a trojan and went kooky, while the latter lost its voice (soundcard driver is messed---help!)...as I said, a million distractions.

  

Who is this Parisienne eating a Lebanese dinner?

There's so much I want to share about what I've learned over the past two months, but at the same time, I don't want to bore readers with "vacation talk".  You know, like when the Smiths invite the Jones over to see vacation slides.  [Personally, I don't mind looking at photos of people's trips...as long as it's a place I'm interested in and it includes food photos.]  Not that I didn't make organizing my photos  my #1 priority after returning to my trip, and I am guilty of forcing a few friends/relatives to either look at Jordan's thick 200-photo album or viewing the Smilebox slideshow I made, but I will leave blogging about the Paris city tour to those who are good at both recalling and writing about the details. I came across one such blogger, Noelle Clark from Australia, and if you'd like to read about her week in Paris, it's a wonderful read. (Link will appear below).  My own Paris blog will be less disciplined, for sure. 

Food blogs seem to be the most popular genre for both writing and reading, so who am I to buck the system?  The way to a blog audience's heart may be through his/her stomach, so read on... Reminder: photos can be clicked on to see a larger version.



Endive and salmon salad at Le Boui Boui on
Rue Marie Stuart off Rue Montorguiel

Anthony Bourdain claims there's no bad meal in Paris (click for video), and although I'm sure there must be a few somewhere, my 19 meals were all good to excellent, from the simple baguette sandwiches of sidewalk carts to the decadent confections of Stohrer's;  from the most French of fares--crepes,escargot, and Confit du Canard---to the least French fare--kebabs, shawarma, and stuffed grape leaves. All good!

Why is the food so good there? First and foremost, the French take their food seriously. I believe they consider food more important than money, and consequently their food tastes better than money does. But seriously, my understanding is that the EU is quick to ban additives they consider unhealthy, unlike in the U.S.  In fact, new food additives must be first proved to be safe before they are allowed to be used commercially, whereas it's the opposite in the U.S. where anything "reasonably safe" may be added then only banned if it's proven harmful.  Isn't that special?  Money talks, American health walks. Look below for links to some interesting articles.



Seafood vendor in the Latin Quarter

Paris is full of small, specialized markets with fewer supermarkets and big box stores, which may indicate that people there shop more often and use fresher ingredients.  I was surprised to see a huge selection of yogurt in all of the grocery stores we visited, even in small convenience markets.  It was a pleasant surprise to find that most of the yogurt was free of corn syrup, which Jordan is allergic to.  For instance, they had a plain yogurt that was lightly sweetened with sugar that we enjoyed daily.  No such flavor here in the U.S., at least not in Hawaii anyway.  C'est dommage.

Confit de Canard at Au Compas D'Or on Rue Montorguiel

Like that yogurt, all of the food that I ate in Paris was not too salty nor too sweet.  Even when you'd expect something to be salty, such as their baguette sandwiches with cheese and ham or sausage, it surprised me that it was not.  Looking at the array of fancy pastries in the windows of countless patisseries all over Paris, you could almost feel a toothache coming on, and yet I was surprised that the majority were delicious without being overly sweet.  Even the canned "pate" that I brought home (duck and rabbit meat) did not contain any additives except salt and pepper, and again, not salty. 

I never doubted Jamie Oliver and now I've seen for myself: despite the thousands of cafes, patisseries (pastry shops), fromageries (cheese shops), charcuteries (sausage shops), and boulangeries (bread shops) in Paris, I rarely saw an obese person, and probably they were American tourists.  I ate anything I wanted to and assumed I'd gain a few pounds like I usually do when visiting Honolulu or Las Vegas, but shockingly I didn't gain even a pound.  Of course we weren't sitting around much either, but considering all the french fries, profiteroles, and pastries I ate, it was quite a shock when I got on the scale at home.  I've gotta go back there!! I was in heaven without even knowing it.

Although modest looking, these stuffed peppers were
absolutely scrumptious.

I can't decide which was my favorite meal so I'll say I had two. The first was Confit de Canard (pictured above: duck leg cooked in duck fat then sauteed until crispy) with sliced garlic potatoes (the yummiest potatoes I've ever had) at Compas d'Or on Rue Montorgueil. Rue (Street) Montorguiel is a foodie's paradise of over a solid quarter mile of food shops and cafes.  Our second apartment was located just a short block from there and for me, it was like being in Disneyland and staying at the Disneyland Hotel. 



Adana Kebab at Cafe Istanbul in the Latin Quarter

 The other favorite meal was our Turkish lunch in the Latin Quarter at Cafe Istanbul.  Jordan and I shared the adana kebab, which the menu calls "ground beef" but it was nothing like hamburger--more like slivers of beef pressed together, deliciously seasoned and grilled; and rice-stuffed bell peppers which were so tasty I had to refrain from hogging it all. 



One of the restaurants we dined at is famous for its longevity and being open 24/7. Its name, "Au Pied de Cochon" means "at the foot of the pig" and guess what its specialty is.  I can't vouch for the taste of the very impressive-looking pigsfoot because I opted for the trout instead (Again, the French know what they're doing, it was very good.)

Creepy, but crispy looking Pied de Cochon

Speaking of the knowing what they're doing, I found the French waithelp to be very professional, efficient, and polite. Most were extremely patient and every cafe and restaurant we went to had English-speaking help.  The only problem we encountered was when Susan wanted a doggy bag for her dessert and was told that they had no takeout containers.  Susan was quite persistent until finally we got to witness the classic Gallic shrug from the waiter--it was quite funny.  He was clearly disgusted with us, but when he saw her wrapping it up in a paper napkin, he came back with more napkins.



I couldn't HANDLE the trout!  At least not the whole trout,
although it was quite good and Jordan ate all of hers!



Tips at restaurants are included in the bill, so there's really no incentive for the waithelp to impress, but nevertheless, we got good service.  Be advised, however, that food is not cheap in Paris.  Even a modest baguette sandwich at a sidewalk cart will cost about 4 Euros (close to $6) and it's not even close to a footlong.

Speaking of sidewalk carts, we had some very filling and tasty crepes on the street near our St. Honore apartment and also next to the Notre Dame Cathedral.

  

Here are more photos of some of our meals:

We chose our first cafe because they had Jordan's favorite French Onion Soup on their menu.  I chose quiche (below), keeping with the "stereotypical French food" theme.

The escargot we ate in Paris seemed to be less butter-drenched than what's usually served in the U.S.  Yet another example of how we tend to overdo things, perhaps. 





Osso Buco with teeny, cheesy macaroni--Jordan had this at Compas d'Or on Rue Montorguiel









I don't remember what this was, but I ate it at an Italian restaurant on Rue des Pyramides and it was delicioso!  Oh, and dogs are allowed in restaurants there... 



Our last meal in Paris was Lebanese on Rue Montorguiel.  Shwarma in pita bread, hummus, stuffed grape leaves, moussaka, and rice.  We don't have Middle Eastern food on Kauai so I had to get my fill!

Check out Jordan's video taken at Le Croissanterie at the Forum des Halles, which is an underground shopping mall. I laughed in surprise when I first viewed this because I never noticed her boywatching before!  ("Sandwiches, sandwiches....ohhhhh cute boy...ok, sandwiches, sandwiches....")  *LOL*

The menu at Au Pied de Cochon.  One Euro is roughly $1.40

Lastly, if you're wondering where the desserts are, stay tuned for the next post!

Links:

Noelle Clark's Paris blog---this is just one entry of 6 (one for each day of her trip).

Fooducate---Interesting article on European food safety vs. U.S. unsafety

 

PlanetGreen---Corporate interests are trumping American food safety

DivineCaroline--7 Food Products Banned in Europe Still Available in the U.S.