Monaco (You haven't cried this hard since Titanic)

Monaco join the UN May 28th 1993.  (Same day as Eritrea, but we'll get to that later.)

Just one short week after the last dinner we had yet another planned.  This one was unique since it coincided with a weekend getaway to Long Beach, WA, home of Jake the Alligator Man!

Cooking was done in stages, starting with Amber making some home made chickpea flour for the Socca she was making before leaving for the cabin we were renting.  I thought she was doing this because she couldn't find it in the stores, but she actually wanted to make it.  Kookie girl.

After our first night at the cabin and our morning visit to Marsh's Free Museum to see Jake, first up for the kitchen was Jenny in the early afternoon to prepare her Onion Monegasque since they needed to sit for a few hours.

Next was Travis, preparing his Cassoulet.  Cassoulet is named for the type of pot it is traditionally cooked in, the Cassole.  It it were named for the pot he cooked it in it would be called the "slow-cooker-oulet".

Before starting to cook Travis tried to get someone else to cut up the onion he needed for his dish.  Upon further inquiry we found out that onions make Travis very, very sad.  I didn't believe it was any more than anyone else, but once he got going it became very clear why he didn't want to chop that onion.  Being the sensitive person that I am, I immediately started laughing after seeing his red puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks.  

Once his Cassoulet was slow-cooking away it was my turn.  I made Barbaguians, which are little pastry dumplings that first required you to make the dough, then the filling, then cut out the rounds, wrap them up, and fry them.  They were quite the effort.  Meanwhile the rest of the gang start a game of monopoly with Bryan standing in as my proxy, aka, rolling the dice.

Despite my limited involvement, it was, in fact, the best game of monopoly I every played.  That is to say, I did not immediately go bankrupt.  I addition, I was up against Jenny, the most ferocious monopoly player you will ever meet.  Pity is not in her vocabulary.

Bryan held on as long as he could, but was the first to go.  Meanwhile Amber and I have to put the finishing touches on our dishes so he steps in for Amber.  And goes bankrupt.  So I let him stand in in for me.  And promptly looses the game.  Not his fault. He might as well have been going hand to hand with the Hulk.

If you can't tell from the photo, Jenny really enjoys this game.  The entire time not only is she ruthlessly negotiating her way to the top, but jumps into other's negotiations to broker deals without being solicited to do so.  The entire time with that silly grin on her face.

Once we were sufficiently beaten down by Jenny it was time for dinner, so I finish frying up my dumplings...

 ... and Amber finishes up frying her Socca...

 ... and we finally get to set the table for dinner!

What was Bryan's contribution this week you ask?  How about some really delicious wine to drown our monopoly sorrows.

I'm sure he regretted the contribution later, as it directly resulted in the evening ending in Twister, somersaults, and cartwheels, instigated by his significant other.

(Celebrated March 12th, 2016)

Andorra (I bread your pardon?!?!?!?)

On July 28th, 1993 Andorra joined the United Nations.

Andorra (aka, the Principality of Andorra) is located between Spain and France.  It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe, covering an area a little over 180 square miles, and has a population of a little over 85,000 people.  The cuisine there is primarily Catalan (Catalonia is a part of Spain), but has French influences as well for obvious reasons.

I was interested in making two dishes which was forcefully reduced to one as Amber tried to steal them from me, but I managed to hold onto pa amb tomàquet which is bread, primarily peasant bread, smeared with tomato and oil, and sometimes garlic.

I have made many pastries before, including breads, but the recipe I chose threw me off as the dough turned out a lot wetter and stickier than I expected it, even with all the extra flour I added.  Anyways, I poured it into some pie dishes (bad choice, which I regrettably did not lubricate beforehand) and packed them to go.  As you can see, unwrapping it was a bit challenging.



Actually, now that I think about it maybe the consistency was fine.  Shoot.  I don't know, it was all tasty in the end!

I baked it once I got to Amber and Bryan's (nothing is better than the smell of fresh baked bread!), and after that I popped in the garlic to roast (nothing is better than the smell of garlic roasting in the over except for fresh baked bread!).  It smelt good!  My goal was to have the pa amb tomaquet as a sort of appetizer, but the rest of the dinner was ready soon after.

I really enjoyed this meal.  Simple and delicious!  As proof I offer you the following:

Before:

After:

After scraping our plates clean, Amber put the finishing touches on the dessert which was a sweet berry Coco.

The crust was crispy on the edges and doughy in the middle and was a little tart, not overly sweet like some desserts.  Nice job Amber!

Compared to previous meals, Jenny and I agreed we had it easy.  The recipes we chose didn't take much effort.  Meanwhile, the entire time we are cooking Amber is talking about "Bryan's dish", and what "Bryan was making".  In reality, Bryan was busy shooting things on his TV as Amber finished prepping and cooking two dishes!

It's okay Bryan, I'm not giving you a hard time.  Really.  Quite the opposite.

ALL HAIL BRYAN!
KING OF CLEAN UP!
LORD OF KITCHEN TIDINESS!
WE ARE BUT INSECTS IN THE VAST SHADOW THAT IS YOUR CLEANLINESS!!!

As the rest of us ladies proceeded to enjoying some drawing games Bryan spent the next hour?... hour and a half?... cleaning up after our kitchen Armageddon.  Thanks Bryan!

(Celebrated March 7th, 2016)