Beloved Brussels

Last month we went to Brussels to attend a Duran Duran concert, since they don't seem to want to come to Paris anymore (sniff sniff).

We've been to Brussels so many times already, so that when we do visit, we tend not to do much sightseeing. We did go to the city museum on the Grand Place, but other than that, we spent a lot of our time relaxing at cafés (above), taking long strolls and browsing some of our favorite stores.

Of course, I had to have my favorite carbonnades flamandes

No trip to Brussels is complete without some chocolate (yes, that's a chocolate orangutang)

Valentine's Day being around the corner, all the shops have their window displays up

Pierre Marcolini, above and below, in the quartier Sablon. We went into a few stores as well on the place du Grand Sablon, which reminds me of a real gem of a blog I found recently, Belgian Pearls. It's a great source of design inspiration.

The photo in this chocolate shop in the Galeries royales Saint-Hubert does not do it justice

Just slightly chicer than your typical supermarket aisle display

Of course I had to visit my all-time favorite cooking equipment store, the International Home of Cooking.

Good thing I live 3 hours away by car, or I'd probably be bringing home 600 euro surprises each month, like that hot pink pearl-finish KitchenAid mixer.

 

Not wanting to leave empty handed, I bought a top-notch potato masher and a cheese grater.

Macaroni & Cheese

Not typically what I would post on this blog, but this is a dish that is equally as comforting as any cake. By an enormous stoke of luck, my local supermarket stocks real English cheddar cheese -- in two versions, sharp and extra sharp(!!!). This may not seem like something to celebrate, but after having to substitute Emmental for cheddar in recipes for about 5 years, I was thrilled when I saw bonafide cheddar in the cheese case.

This recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook. It makes a ton of macaroni & cheese -- we had enough for at least 5 meals. It freezes well too. Highly recommended.

Let it snow

It's snowed quite a bit this week in Paris. Snow is great, especially when I don't have to go out in it much and can admire it from afar. All of this cold weather got me into the mood for some comfort food. Over the past few days, I've made some soup, roasted a chicken and baked a cake. I have to admit, though, the funnest part of it all was watching Simon as he "chased" the snow in the kitchen window.