Steve and I had a wonderful weekend in Paris! He wanted to stay near the airport, but I begged him to book our hotel in the 5th, which he did, and it was wonderful. We bought metro passes, but walked everywhere we wanted to go, which included up and down banks of the Seine, to the Cluny (which was less than a block away), the Musee D'Orsay, and to various restaurants. Dinner last night was at a restaurant that bills itself as the oldest cafe in Paris (founded in 1686, and previously frequented by the likes of Voltaire, Danton, Robespierre, Moliere, Diderot & Ben Franklin). We could see out our window that the building across the street was the one Marat was imprisoned and died in. Our dinner was pretty awesome. We both started out with a bottle of wine and escargots, and I thought of Sheila and how much better off I'd be stomping the buggers with my shoe than maneuvering that teeny fork and the grabber thingie. (They were yum!) Next, Steve had some chicken thing and I had braised ox-cheeks served in a cast iron pot with carrots, potatoes, and a sublime sauce. We finished off with creme brulee --- a favorite of both of ours. I did manage to sneak a couple photos (with the camera flash turned off) when no one was looking and I'll post them when we get back next week. This morning we flew to Nice (via Munich). I was disappointed not to be able to take the TGV, but flying was cheaper. We have a lovely view of the Mediterranean from our balcony. Steve was to have a conference call at midnight (our time) with coworkers in the US and a business partner in China (there's no good time to have that call) but it got postponed and instead, they scheduled a different call for 8:00 our time, which we only found out about at 7:00... so we got some Chinese take out to eat in our hotel room since dinners take hours here. The call got canceled at the very last moment, and he is on the hook for a proper dinner tomorrow night! (I have to be cool about his schedule since this is a business trip for him.) I am enjoying speaking French again. I'm a little rusty, but I've been able to communicate all our needs thus far without reverting to English, and have enjoyed the conversations I've had with all sorts of people. Everyone has been as polite, charming and engaging as I remember from my last time here nearly 20 years ago... (that thing about French waiters being rude is a lie --- they're efficient and unbelievably accommodating.) Steve started out the week with meetings in England, Wales, and Germany. We have lost track of the number of people who have congratulated us on our election and have broached the subject of American politics with us. We have strong opinions on the subject and have enjoyed these conversations (though we'd never be the ones to bring the topic up ourselves). Tonight's a wash, but I'm looking forward to exploring tomorrow. If Steve doesn't have any work responsibilities, I think we'll rent bicycles and ride them along the beach. If he has to work, I'll shop. I have a whole day of cooking class and various market tours scheduled for Wednesday. We've noticed lots of poppy pins on lapels. It will be interesting to spend 11/11 in Europe...

A copy of our ad: Hi Mr. Schiermann, Thanks for responding so quickly to my inquiry regarding the placing of a notice in the "What's Happening" section of the "Coffee News". I have placed word of your generosity in my post on GardenWeb informing everyone of "CN", and hope we'll all respond by asking our local establishments to not only offer it, but to consider doing business with those who advertise on it's pages. Kindly consider including the following in the next volume: -------------------------------- Oct. 1 - Central Alabama Plant Swap; Oak Mtn. State Park from 10am until, at the Cardinal Pavilion. We swap anything garden related, from live plants to compost, driftwood, mulch, river rock, garden "junk" - even homemade goods. But we mostly have a good time and establish friendships based upon our love of gardening. Lunch is potluck, so bring your favorite dish to share. A donation of $1 to $2 toward pavilion rental is appreciated. For more information e-mail: ourhighlandhome@aol.com. --------------------------------- Hope this meets with everyone's approval. Look for it in the next volume of "Coffee News", and let Mr. Mike Schiermann know how much we appreciate his publication, please. Also, that same day, just outside the park entrance at the Verizon Wireless Music Center, from 1pm until 9pm, there is a "Shelby Blues & BBQ" event (www.shelbybluesandbbq.org). There will be MUCH TO DO there besides food & drink, including watching both the 'Bama and 'all-Barn' games on big-screen-TV's (no bias intended). ;-D In addition, The Plany Odyssey, Myer's Pottery, Hanna's Nursery and John Deere Landscapes are four of the most notable nurseries in the plant business - all within easy driving distance of our swap. 'nuff said..... Me

For the folks on the fence about the CC. Say the 30" manual clean is a stretch money wise, you only have room for the 30", you don't do Beef Wellington, souffles, wok cooking etc. on a regular basis if ever. I would add this... With a real good stovetop with great burners you will get better results with almost any meal save for stews, soups, and such. Searing,sauteing,pan frying you will get better results. This will encourage people to cook more and more challenging meals. Have you ever tried to do something from the food network or cooking channel and you follow the steps exactly as you see on tv or the computer? And somehow the results are not what you expected? These burners will help you get there. Friends and family will give you complements. Positive reinforcement. You will want to try more exotic dishes. This is exactly what happened with me in regards to my BBQ grill. I was doing an ok job with burgers now doing full tenderloins,tandoori chicken,grilling steakehouse perfect ribeyes.

Crab cakes are not super common in the PNW. I usually make them with lump crab, and try to get a loose patty that is mostly crab and barely holds together. These Krabby Patty types were an experiment and not my fave. I don’t know if we’re going to have any more mono-ingredient raves this holiday season. We have prime rib for NYE, they are salted and dry-aging in the fridge. After that I kind of feel like eating kale, egg whites, and protein bars for a couple months. Among the 2020 things I’d like to leave behind is about 20 lbs . . . If anything, probably going to get back into Japanese dishes. DS got a bunch of Japanese cookbooks from Santa and DD and SWMBO plan to go back on keto in the New Year. Ms Bao is a Himalayan that our friend in Eugene found as a stray. She was so matted that they had to shave much of her fur off. It grew back, obvsly. She was declawed in front, sadly. When Eugene went into Covid lock down early in 2020, DD was stuck living alone in her college apartment so our friend “loaned” her “Missy”. Missy was renamed Ms Bao and became DD’s permanent cat, and moved to our house with DD. Unfortunately she has taken over the house and dominates my cat - which is interesting, since my cat has a full set of claws, but Ms Bao doesn’t seem to realize her lack of fighting power, and she has a rather terrifying personality when she’s angry - maybe it comes from growing up on the street. The two seem to be ever so slowly coming to terms, finally. At the end of this school year, DD will go to California to work at the Berkeley Echo Lake camp again, training the new staff and developing recipes and processes for the 2022 reopening of the big Berkeley Tuolume Camp that burned down in the Rim Fire several years ago. In fall 2021 she’ll go to France to teach English in the TAPIF program, assuming she gets accepted - if not, she’ll probably go anyway to travel around, visit our friends in Brussels, Marseille and Poland, and check out schools. When that’s over in spring 2022, Berkeley will hopefully hire her to run the food operations when the Tuolume camp reopens. Then she wants to go to art grad school in Europe, maybe. All that is by way of saying that I’m going to be stuck with Ms Bao for a while. That’s fine, she is very cuddly and has an interesting personality, even if keeping up with brushing her coat is a pain in the you know. She likes to sleep in cute places and don’t mind wearing hats. Our theory is that she is actually an Ewok spy, altered through plastic surgery to look more like a cat, and sent to earth to investigate our defenses. Which explains her lack of front claws (Ewoks don’t have claws, they kill stormtroopers with spears and slings), her cuddly cuteness (she’s been trained to infiltrate our household), her fierce side (the Ewoks would only choose their fiercest for this mission, and she’s pissed at the plastic surgery), and why my cat was so afraid of her (“miaou miaou that’s not a cat can’t you tell miaou miaou” and “hiss spit if you blow my cover I’ll freeze you in Carbonite you worthless earth cat hiss spit”).