A Walk in the Park...

[click on photos to enlarge]
Can you guess which house is my favorite?

... around the 'hood Outremont, and on up to Avenue Van Horn... a stop for a so-so bol de cafe au lait at Premiere Moisson (not a great one, alas! Toi et Moi cafe's much better,

so is Pain Dore).

Back home for lunch : duck liver pate on the yummiest leetle egg bread rolls ever... Mini tart tatin for dessert (yes, there's a bite missing) from Mamie Clafoutis on Avenue Van Horn (over rated a mon avis). They make a kind of French African 'sloppy pastry' –all butter though – and the tart was good, and I got two of those little Celebes (?), made with "crepe" batter poured into a mold as seen above and with a light rum flavored crunchy top. A little more dense than our popover. Yummy! And those petites fraises! So small! SOOO sweet. The sweetest strawberries I've ever had. Grown right here in Quebec. And cheap! I am bold to ask, in every single pastry shop I've visited, whether their goods are made with beurre pur seulment, or are there other gras (fats) added. And every employee makes an instant moue of disdain at the very idea and shakes their head that they would use anything but butter for their pastry. It's just so.... reassuring.

Lastly, stop at the gorgeous little marche (Cinq Saisons) for a lovely little steak for dinner (I think I had cereal last night). Nicest meat guy ever, young and very knowledgeable; saw me eying the tournedos and recommended a nice steak (for one) at less than half the price avec plus de gout (more flavor! kissing his fingers for emphasis). A nice package of fresh mache to go with. WAALAA! C'est la vie en rose! as they say...

I came across this today reading an essay about the Bard and anger, (a truly interesting series of essays about anger, by the way) and it made me think.

"My tongue will tell the anger of my heart,

Or else my heart concealing it will break."

The Taming of the Shrew – Shakespeare

Anyone who has ever accused me of being bitter simply because I express rage at the insane state of affairs in much of the world can make such a claim only by completely disregarding the well over 50% of my personality (and majority rules) that is so willingly and easily charmed, seduced even and with regularity, by such things as found in these photos, all of which possessed me so completely I had to capture them in a photo to share them with you.... so there. On the other hand, if you insist on maintaining that angry women are necessarily bitter, I shall use your position in defense of my intense need for sweet things, like pastry and babies; strong doses of both are clearly needed to provide counterweight to the bitterness in my soul...Nyah. Nyah.

Thunderstorms moving in.... i like thunderstorms.