Last Supper(s) and Cleaning House

As you all can I'm sure imagine, we didn't hold back on the delicious food in those precious last few days on the other side of the Atlantic.

The gourging started off with this extra old (that was seriously the name on the label) mimolette cheese, so old in fact that the woman at the counter asked if it was ok broken because it literally crumbled when she attempted to cut off a chunk. For reference, mimolette cheese is similar to gouda in it's aging.

Veal chops in mushroom sauce and braised endives made the dinner-time cut one evening. The recipe was taken from our new Paul Bocuse cookbook (purchased in French so I will be forced to remember something) all about cooking with fresh, market food.

As a special treat, I made a rare trip to the patisserie to pick up dessert (I know, I am a pastry chef and should be seeking out the spectacular French sweets but *gasp* I don't really like sweets very often). This particular treat is called the Paris-Metz (in honor of the new high-speed train line); it is a raspberry and citrus macaroon large enough for sharing. 

The next big dinner was a re-creation of a restaurant meal. I am realizing only now just how often I ordered smoked salmon while out to dinner. This dish was composed of some potato pancakes topped with an herbed crème fraîche and smokes salmon which we served with some delicious mâche salad that Megan and Joe had introduced us to a few days prior.

 

And so began the cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. It's amazing just how dirty a teeny tiny apartment can get while still appearing clean. We cleaned and scrubbed for hours our last day.

And then I painted and painted...I want to know who the brilliant person was that decided that decided to cover the dorm walls (including the kitchen??) with textured white walls that disintegrated if you tried to clean them?

Somewhere in there we took a break from cleaning to break into this fun little basket...

...full of some amazing oysters.

Michael let the newly purchased oyster knife and oyster shell get the best of him on this attempt.

But regardless of blood loss, the final product was a great mid-cleaning treat with one last bottle of Champagne.

And finally, the next morning, after lots and lots work while the fluffy white stuff fell outside (which would prove problematic the next day), we finished cleaning. It looked creepy.