Mish Mosh

I feel like the last week or so has been a mish-mosh of stuff. Nothing that singularly lends itself to a blog post, but together, gives a glimpse of Montpellier life.

  • Last week’s Weekly Veggie was parsnips (and turnips 2.0). I roasted them with sweet potatoes and regular potatoes and some rosemary. They were ok. Parsnips have a bit of a black licorice flavor, of which I’m not a huge fan, but Dave liked them. It was mild enough to where, if I play my flavor cards right, I could probably mask it. The turnips on the other hand, were tasty, so score one for turnips.
  • This week’s Weekly Veggie is artichoke hearts. I know. It seems like I should already be familiar with this one, as Molly’s Country Kitchen often served artichokes when they were in season. But I always let my parents my duke it out over who got my artichoke heart after I ate most of the leaves. It just never seemed appealing to me. So I figured it was time to give in…and I found a recipe that sounded good, even though I couldn’t pronounce part of it at first pass: Linguine Avgolemono with Artichoke Hearts and Green Beans. I had to buy jarred artichoke hearts, so bearing that in mind, I think I was right to shy away from them in my youth. It’s not that they taste bad…it’s the texture. I feel like I’m eating an artichoke leaf that won’t allow itself to be chewed up. (You’re welcome for that description.) Anyway, I have a weird thing with food textures. I love raw tomatoes any way, shape and form. But I hate cooked tomato chunks. The texture just….ugh. Not for me. Blend it up in a sauce? Good to go. I’m weird, I know. But back to artichoke hearts. I think I’m going to rank this Weekly Veggie up there in the category of “if it’s served to me, I won’t turn it down, but good news for Tom & Molly, more artichoke hearts for them.” The recipe, above, by the way, was tasty and an easy weeknight dinner, even if there are words I can’t pronounce without sounding it out like a second-grader.
  • Speaking of things I can’t pronounce, I’ve started teaching myself Italian. I gave up on French because really, we’ll only be here a few more months, then it’s off to Italy for a year, along with the distinct possibility of frequent return visits after. So far, I can say: hello, goodbye, ‘do you understand English?’, ‘where is the street?’, ‘where is Saint Mark’s Square?’ (I have no idea where Saint Mark’s Square is—unless the answer is ‘here’ or ‘there’— or why I should need to know, so I suppose it’s a good thing I know how to ask) and finally, I can say, ‘I don’t understand Italian.’ Seems like I’m off to a good start.
  • I don’t know if you’ve heard but they found King Richard III’s remains under a parking lot. They have recreated a bust of what he might have looked like. Which, if you ask me, is like Lord Farquaad from Shrek.
  • If you’re looking for some good TV viewing, I recommend House of Cards from Netflix. It’s about politics in DC and we’re hooked around here. It’s well done. And with Netflix I don’t have to wait for weekly installments— we can watch at our leisure. I like that.
  • I am a champion at maximizing the number of garments on a drying rack. Just sayin.

3 comments on “Mish Mosh

  1. You might work on these phrases as well. “Where is the bathroom?”, “yes I will have another glass of wine” and “where can I watch American baseball?”

  2. Your Shrek pic is SO right on…made me giggle!!!

    Also love House of Cards…enjoying that one…anything with Kevin Spacey…

    I wonder if they have Rokus for wireless streaming from Netflix to TV in France…I have one in the US and have to admit to marathoning through all 68 (!) episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs (on 33 right now) and coming up for air for a few days 🙂 from time to time….

  3. DWebb: all good tips! I was planning on just saying “vino” and “baseball” adamantly and often to get my point across 🙂

    Kassandra, you’re the second person to tell me about Upstairs, Downstairs in two days. I’m definitely going to check it out!

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