Charlotte's 17th Birthday

Charlotte turned 17 on the 26th December.  This year has had many ups and even more downs when it comes to Charlotte, but things are settling. 
She requested a cheese cake for her birthday, she's crazy for cheese, even for breakfast. The smeller the cheese the better, however, this cake called for soft cream cheese and it really was delicious.  

After much waiting, we got to meet Charlotte's boyfriend, he's on the photo, well a part of him.  His name is Julien and he's really nice and so very tall too!  We immediately liked him and hope he'll stay around a long time, because as I said at the beginning of this post, things are settling and boy it's about time.

Sewing with MK

Busy weekend before Christmas, still last minute presents to buy, and lots of cooking ahead. We managed to get the sewing machine out and this afternoon MK is going to make some clothes for her doll that's sitting read and waiting.

This is our first floor landing, we kept Mr H's table (was in kitchen at the beginning)  It is a good space for sewing and other activities with a nice view of the garden.

Art at La Defense

I went t visit one last office last Friday, so now we have a wide choice to choose from.
We are going to make a decision the second week in January.
For now, here's a picture of a sculpture of giant thumb that I'd never noticed before at La Defense.

Shang Palace, Paris

We left the office around 11.45 to travel the 7 km to the Shang Palace. It took over 45 minutes to get there, as the traffic was thick and made worst by the pouring rain.

Parking places are hard to find in this area so we used the hotel's valet service which turned out to be free if you are a diner. 

J & N (two of my colleagues) arrived before us, and were still taking in the opulent surroundings and enjoying an apéritif.

I had booked a private room and it was quite something.  The photo above is of the lighting above our table.

The photo is not good, but this is of our salon area in our room.  Only J & N got to sit here as they arrived earlier than us.

Our director asked if we minded if he ordered all of the food and of course we weren't going to say no.  From this point onwards, I only took a couple of photos as we were all too busy eating and talking, but especially  eating.  One of the dishes we shared was a Vegetarian Pagoda (above), this was very refreshing and delicate.
We all had soup, I chose Bouddha Jumping Over the Wall.  I was curious to try this one, mainly because of it's title.  It was excellent, but I'm not sure it was worth 55 Euros!! (I was not aware of the price until today, Sunday)

We shared Roasted Peking duck with Pancakes in two services, this was good, but weird to have one service with the meat with lettuce leaves and the other with just the skin and pancakes...I would have liked just some meat still to be attached to the skin and this was expensive too, 200 euros for based on five people eating it.
The Shang Palace Rice cooked in a Lotus Leaf was ok, but at this point we were all becoming rather full* and I much preferred the Fried rice Chef style that even when full I managed a couple more chop sticks full. 

We were service great tea throughout the whole meal and myself and M (anther colleague) enjoyed a few glasses of some excellent Meursault.  Culinary wise, I just love the Fried rice Chef style and the Barbecued Meat Combination (with meat and skin this time) and a special mention has to be made for the "plum sauce" . The wine was excellent, would have enjoyed another...and this was the first time I drank tea with a meal and I just loved it.

Some of the dishes  were a little fade, including the Deep Fried Cod and the Crispy Bean curd Rolls and the seasoned celery with dried shrimps and fired garlic which lacked garlic and taste.
Our waiter was amazing though, really professional and main some great suggestions that improved the overall experience greatly.

I would go back again, however not with colleagues, but with my family, and we'd go with the set lunch menu.


*Even in a one star restaurant you can ask to take your left-overs home...I wouldn't, and I didn't, but my boss did.

Company Christmas Lunch in Paris Shang Palace

Today I'm eating out with my boss and colleagues at the Shang Palace in Paris.
This restaurant looks great and it has just been awarded a Michelin star this year.
I'm looking forward to the experience.   I'll try and take a couple of photos.

M-K's Chocolate Orange nibbles

 Marie-Kate receives Astrapi, a magazine for children, once a fortnight (thanks to her Mamie & Papy) and most of the time there's a recipe to do, and this time, this was it.
Organic orange peel, cooked and dried, then dipped in dark chocolate, then left to harden.

They were good, really good in fact and we'll be making some more this weekend.

Corner of Marie-Kate's room

Mari-Kate has a new chair, this time not a thrift shop find but a Skruvsta chair from Ikea. She has a new desk too, again from Ikea.  Her desk gets pretty messy, but she loves it, and actually does her homework here. She chose the chair, she loves it, I so do I.

I took this photo last night, Marie-Kate is under her duvet, fast asleep. She still has her mushroom night light. She tends to look after her things, like her sister Charlotte. MK is by far the tidiest child in the family, this is about as messy as it gets.