Fromage, fromage, fromage!!

span style="font-size:100%;">For an amateur foodie like myself, the thought of grocery shopping for 20 people is thrilling. And going shopping in a French grocery store is just pure bliss. I have done a fair amount of food shopping in about 30 different countries and nothing can compare to what you find in France.

We all know that the French take their food seriously so imagine all the finest ingredients needed for gourmet food all found under the same roof. It’s truly a must for any epicurean. There are 5 aisles of fine wine, 2 whole aisles of yogurt and mousse, 2 aisles of fromage (not including the gourmet cheese deli!) and baguettes as far as the eye can see.


(we'll have eaten approximately this much bread by the end of the 40 days)

Dare I mention the perfect Whole Foods-esque produce department or the rare spices or the aisle with about 100 different choices of fresh already made for you pie crusts? For my shopping partner, Xaundelle, there is even an aisle with fresh vegetarian & soy choices. Sure, we are shopping on a shoe-string budget, but we make the most of it and have a blast a couple times a week.

I was so embarrassed to take these pictures (as we got a lot of weird looks-can anyone say tres americain?) but we just had to share with you!


For erev shabbat, we went as a team to a Cambodian-Thai-Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant. My in laws befriended the Camobidian owner and he agreed to give us a great meal for a reasonable price. We all started with a delicious Vietnamese soup (“pho”) and then had three choices of chicken, fish and lamb for our main meal.



It was a special treat for all of us and we are praying for the salvation of the owner. Here is a picture of the soup we ate. Imagine spicy broth laced with a sweet asian sauce, basil and rice noodles topped with medium rare beef. Nothing like a big bowl of pho to warm up any winter day.