Cavalock and The Raiders of The Lost Jewelry Box

Was clearing the old family home a couple weeks ago and I found this jewelry box in the back of my aunt's cupboard. It's quite a sturdy box, about one and a half times the size of a regular shoe box and I'm guessing it's at least over 50 years old. It's really a weird feeling whenever I unearth something like this (for awhile, it was on a pretty regular basis too!), you feel a tinge of sadness yet you are excited.

Check out the intricate cravings on the lid, it's gorgeous. The old-fashioned lock is rather interesting too. Unfortunately it's empty inside and it definitely needs a good dusting inside and out. I think the outside just needs a good polish and it'll be fine. Geez, I got some much stuff I'm thinking of starting a vintage sale one of these days, maybe before Xmas. But really, would anyone want something like that?

Time for a quick supermart run! Spotted these at the cold section of NTUC Finest. I think they are new, never seen them before anywhere else. They are all from the US and they actually do look rather tempting. You can slide the cheesecake box out and look at the individual slices too.

Oh wow, just remembered exactly a year ago, I was on my way to Italy. Awwww man, now I'm really bummed since I can't travel anymore.... :(

Cavalock and The Other Bedside Experience

Its been ages since I did some bedside reading before hitting the sack but last month I picked up David Lebovitz's The Sweet Life in Paris. A very entertaining and informative read, filled with his amusing insights as a gay American pastry chef and cookbook author living in the City of Lights.

Now if I had read this book before visiting Paris I would probably think twice about making that trip cos Lebovitz certainly doesn't paint a very flattering image of the Parisians. Yes, I know he's just exaggerating all their faults and idiosyncrasies. But still, ain't no smoke if there ain't no fire, if youse knows wat ah mean.

When I was in Paris last year I had a terrific time, almost none of the annoying little French quirks mentioned in the book crossed paths with me. Well, I said 'almost' cos I think the closest I got to experiencing anything like that was at the supermarket. That's when I found out that the checkout ladies don't bag your groceries instead they'll all just let them gather in a heap at the end of the checkout aisle (your groceries, not the checkout ladies). I guess I should count my lucky stars that's the extent of bad Parisian customer service Lebovitz talked about that I was privy to.

Writing this just makes me wanna go back to Paris but not for this!

But back to the book, I really enjoyed it and there are recipes at the end of every chapter although I think you should pick up his cookbooks if you are planning to try them out, cos there aren't any food porn in this book.

Check this out! Spotted it at Meidi-Ya and I don't think you can find it at the other supermarkets. I really can't imagine how carbonated coffee tastes like ... but I'm in no hurry to find out either.

Cavalock Says Thanks Again

My little ‘expedition’ through Italy and France wasn’t without …er… missteps. In Rome, I lost my beloved camouflage buff after dinner one night.  Strolled back to my room and then I realized, “Dude, where’s my buff?” This was the freakin' buff that saw me through single-digit weather across Japan and England. Well, that left me no choice but to buy a brown Italian handmade scarf in the small hilltop town of Sienna a few days later. The kind serious adults wear. Otherwise anything above my chest would have been frozen solid before my first week is over.

Another thing I had to say good-bye to was my big ass Swiss Army knife in Paris. Don’t ask me how or why l had to part with it. It ain’t a pretty tale. Would you believe if I told you I lost it in an illegal gambling den run by gypsies at the back of a French restaurant?    

Now if you are into food and in Paris, you must check out the market area Marché Montorgueil. Down the street, that’s where you’ll find numerous bistros, boulangeries or pastry shops. And if you are there in the summer or spring, I can imagine there’ll be much more fresh fruits and vegetables on display. The fruit stall in this post is from the area too.

If you bake or cook, you’ll definitely appreciate finding certain ingredients that you can hardly find back home like 100% cacao chocolate. Outside one of the shops was where a nice French lady struck up a conversation with us and advised us on the finer points of preparing foie gras.

Well, this is my last post on my trip so I figured if you have been reading all this, I just wanna say thanks! And here’s a little something to show my appreciation for sticking around, hey, that’s five minutes of reading my stuff that you’ll never get back! <^;^>

Leave a comment and/or email in my comment box and at the end of the month, that’s January, I’ll randomly (using one them online randomizers) pick one where I’ll then email back to you for a mailing address. And here's what I’ll be mailing to you, four postcards depicting popular French patisseries and bread. Yup, one lucky person will get a set of four yummy postcards. I did a giveaway couple years ago (just so you guys know I'm legit!) and I hope to have another one in the near future too.

Got them from the famous Stohrer Patissier along Marché Montorgueil. So many to choose from....there were lots more mouth-watering food postcards, on all kinds of French food like summer fruits, different sorts of cheese, candies, honey (yah, I never knew there were so many kinds of honey) etc. I bought like ten different ones! 

Cavalock and A Dinner Date with Josephine

I kinda like how the some of the restaurants in Paris are given names like Angelina and Josephine, I think it makes a lot easier to remember. So on my last night in Paris, it was dinner at another famous place, Josephine Chez Dumonet. So how hot was this joint? It was so hot that I had to call and make my reservations couple weeks before flying to Europe.

I made the reservations for 7.30pm, that’s when they open too. But we got there at bout 7.10pm. Place was still closed but we could see through the shutters there were cops in there. Waited in the cold for almost half hour before the doors opened. No cops in sight. What I do see are nice white linen-draped tables and cool 1930s light fixtures. Nothing too fancy but old world bistro charm that you just can’t find anywhere else ...er... besides France of course.

Well, it’s definitely more than just the interiors that people are interested in. Their Grand Marnier soufflé has been proclaimed as the best in Paris if not the world, in more than a few reviews. And you got the beef bourguignon that’s also on the must-have list.

Started with an excellent pumpkin soup, followed by an all-star parade of delectable French cuisine including the above-mentioned beef bourguignon, crispy-skinned duck confit, tender piece of veal and the foie gras that we all agreed was better than the one we had at Angelina. 

Then came dessert, what else but the Grand Marnier soufflé. It doesn't collapse like others do and pouring in the liquor, geez it's that good.

Now dinner was the best part of the night but the BESTEST part of the night was me discovering a comic boy toy shop on the way back to the hotel! Bought a bunch of action figures for myself and as gifts. <^;^>

Cavalock and A Lunch Date with Angelina

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A new year and I still got a couple more Paris posts to share so bear with me, and I promise you I'll make it all up to you with some of my best food porn to go.

So it was on a wet, drizzy afternoon that I found myself stepping into the famous Angelina Tearoom in the heart of Paris. As expected, the place was packed. But we were fortunate enough to be led into a more private area where we could at least hear ourselves talk.

If you ever find yourself in Paris, I think this is pretty good place to set a lunch date. Their speciality is Mont Blanc or chestnut, which you'll find not just in their pastries or desserts but also in their starters., like their chestnut cappuccino soup.

My soup od the day which if memory serves me right, was mushroom soup

Chestnut cappuccino soup and no, I didn't try it

Now they are also famous for their hot chocolate but my throat was already feeling a little worse for wear so I passed on that. I had the scared scallops served with creamy polenta. Very nice and no complaints. After the scallops, you got the beef fillet served with potato napoleon and below that is the duck foie gras.

Ah finally, zee desserts! Zee famous and much anticipated Mont Blanc. Gorgeous meringue covered with chestnut puree vermicelli. I also had the millefeuille, that's the first pix. Great food, good service but it didn't come cheap. Still, it's one of them once-in-a-lifetime foodie experiences that you just can't say 'no' to.

Cavalock and The Quest for Soupe de Poissons

Just like in Italy, it was so much food but so little time. Throughout the trip, dinner was always about 7pm, before 8pm at least. I was told this was pretty early by local standards but that also meant we'll always get a table.

Here's what we had for dinner near our hotel. A nice and fresh seafood meal at a little roadside restaurant, sorry but once again I forgot the name. Yah, I really suck at remembering foreign names and places.

Now when I was in Cannes, Nice a lifetime ago, almost all the joints I been to had fish soup or soupe de poissons on the menu. It was the best thing I had there back then. So when I finally returned to France, I figured I must at least try a fish soup dish and see if the whole experience could be replicated.

Well, the one I had that night was definitely tasty with lotsa seafood flavors coming right at you, but I think after the tuscan soup I had in Florence, the Italian dish is now my new all-time favorite European soup.

Everything else we had was great. Fresh oysters, hot delicious mussels and a rather simple yet gratifying salmon meal.

A bunch of random food pix and other kinda pix too as I made my way across Paris. Hope you like them! Do leave a tick or comment below! <^;^>

Unlike Italy, it was awfully cloudy on most days in Paris 

Awwww.... these just look too cute to eat

Of course I had to drop by an Apple store unfortunately I didn't get anything for myself 

This here is a pretty famous escagot place that wasn't open for lunch yet when we were there

Game for almost €12 each, I thought that's kinda expensive

Now you can't be in Paris and not try some Vietnamese food, rite?

I kinda like the narrow European streets, don't ask me why

Great festive mood along the Champs-Elysees with rows of stalls selling holiday stuff

Ah, those crazy Frenchies, they just luv to hang stuff everywhere