3rd Birthday American Style + Frenchies = ;-)

We were battling over whether to throw Little Man a 3rd birthday party or not.  And if we did who would we invite (friends from the neighborhood, English speaking friends or family and close friends)?

We have been really getting to know a lot of people lately.  Not just from Little Man's halte de garderie (part time daycare) but also through an English Group we are a part of.  It was hard to decide since SOME of the English Speakers aren't all French Speakers.  And I wasn't sure if the French Speaks could all speak English since I have only spoken French to them.   So we did not know if they would mix well.  We decided to go with just friends from the neighborhood!  So the Frenchies it is...

With a little help from Little Man we decided to throw a Robot Party ;-)

Here are pics of our invites we handmade!

I decided to do something VERY American and have cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies!

OH MY the cookies were to die for!

For the cupcakes I decided to be French Friendly and just do a dollop of frosting (homemade btw!)

Here is Little Man saying he is ''tree years old'' ;-)

All in all it was a good time and we got to bond a bit more with our neighborhood friends.  Who btw will mostly be in Little Man's Preschool (Maternelle) Class in the Fall!

Recipes:

Cupcakes - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/simple-white-cake/detail.aspx
Cookies - SOOOO GOOD! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Frosting Recipe -  4 cups sifted confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
                              1/2 cup butter softened
                              1 teaspoon vanilla
                              3 tablespoons milk
                              food coloring optional
                              -in large bowl beat with an electric mixer

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving 2011 we celebrated it with my sister, mom, aunt, cousin (and cousin in law) and my in laws (their first Thanksgiving Celebration).  With all the fixins Turkey, Famous Family Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Cranberry Sauce (yes I found fresh Cranberries here!), Olive Bread, Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Cheesecake!  We also threw in a few Korean and French foods...kimchi, sitcky rice, fois gras, fancy cheeses and Champagne!  We all had a great time and plenty of leftovers ;-)  

Thanks to my cousin in law for all his help at pulling off a successful Thanksgiving Dinner!

Christmas 2011

Our Christmas this year was action packed since we had a newborn to tote around as well ;-)

We started a new tradition this year of making Christmas Cookies!
 It was fun Little Man had a blast.  The has had a lot of practice this year with playdoh so he knew just what to do with the cookie cutters ;-)

A mess but well worth it

They were not beautiful but yummy!

We then spent Christmas Eve Lunch at the Gparents followed by an evening of wrapping presents

Christmas PJ's is another tradition of ours

Little Man in his PJ's

Little Man leaving cookies and milk for the Big Guy

After all the wrapping done...and finally ready for bed

 I didn't get a wink of sleep...I was so worried I would miss Little Man's face when he saw all the presents under the tree.  I popped out of bed when I heard him waking up.  And got the camera ready.  Too bad it was still dark and Little Man was too fast opening the gifts they turned out too blurry.

Admiring all the gifts

Look Santa came and ate all the cookies!

Little Miss's first Baby Doll

One of Little Miss's gifts an adorable spinning music box

Here is another Christmas tradition making Overnight French Toast Yummy!

Afterwards we went to F's Aunts house for Christmas Lunch...it was a long 2 days but fulfilled!

3 day easter weekend!

In France the Monday after Easter is a holiday (called Easter Monday) and F had off of work!

We had an action & fun-filled packed weekend:

Saturday ~ we enjoyed Jardin d'acclimatation which is a sort of theme park for children.  It is located in Bois de Bologne (which is the other Central Park type park just outside of Paris - located in Neuilly-sur-Seine which is a very nice and expensive suburb of Paris.  It is only 3 euros to enter (M was free - children under 3 are free).  They have amusement rides, animals, train that goes through parts of Bois de Bologne, water park, lots of jungle gyms for all ages, pony rides, baby gym (Gymboree), a Korean Garden and a Puppet Theater where the famous Guignol & Company perform.

We met some friends at Jardin d'acclimatation for a picnic and exploration of the amusement park.  I believe it was their first time there also.  Their 5 year old had a great time.  

We are so lucky to live near metro lines that go directly to Bois de Bologne and Bois de Vincennes (largest parks in Paris).

Sunday ~ was Easter of course.  I had dyed some eggs for M so we could have an American style Easter Egg Hunt.  It turns out it is also a tradition here in France (normally with chocolate) but F's parents got into it and also decorated their own "brown" eggs ;-)  (we were lucky to find some white eggs).  F said after the hunt that his parents never painted or decorated eggs for him as a child (just hid chocolate eggs).  But grandchildren are different aren't they ;-)?!?

Here are some pictures from the hunt...M did so great and he understood immediately what to do. We kept telling him that the eggs were hidden (caché) and he should search for them (cherche!). He was walking around with his basket saying caché and cherche! very cute ;-)

M also received his first tricycle on Sunday.  He couldn't figure out how to use the pedals or how to steer...but he had a good time with his Papa pushing him around the garden and at the park.  We decided to get him the tricycle before his birthday since we are having exceptionally warm weather so early in Spring.   And to prepare him for a fun-filled summer of biking around while on vacation.

Monday ~ was a day of relaxation for all and golf for F.  He enjoyed a long awaited break and 9 holes of golf.  He came back relaxed and happy.  This 3 day weekend was just a taste of relaxation so our countdown for our June and August vacations have officially begun! 

What did you all do for Easter weekend?  We hope you had as much fun and made new memories like we did!

TN

la chandeleur

La Chandeleur is celebrated on February 2nd (same day as Groundhogs Day in the US) and it's the day of Crepes for the French!

It is really a Catholic Holiday celebrating a feast to commemorate the presentation of baby Jesus.

I made the crepe batter this year, here is F's recipe:

250 grams (2 cups) Flour (all purpose)
300 ml (~10 ounces) Milk
200 ml (~6 ounces) Beer
Salt
1 tablespoon Vanilla Sugar (or regular sugar)
shot of Rum
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of Vegetable Oil

Put flour/salt/sugar mixture into a mixing bowl and put the eggs into the center.  Beat eggs and flour mixture until incorporated.  Then add remaining liquids slowly to avoid lumps.

Grease a hot non stick crepe pan (we got ours from Bed Bath and Beyond OR 10 inch non stick omelet pan) with vegetable oil (do this after ever crepe). And pour 3/4 of a ladle and move it all around to cover the entire pan. Wait till crepe is browned slightly and pulls up from the pan easily. Flip and brown the other side. Normally we make all crepes ahead of time and place them on a plate over boiling water until ready to eat (to keep warm). 



With this recipe you can make sweet crepes or salty ones!  For the salty crepes we usually fry an egg (on a separate pan) and place it on top of ham and cheese then fold the crepe!  For sweet crepes I prefer strawberries and cream.  While F's fav is just white sugar with lime juice ;-0  We also like nutella and bananas.

There is a good luck/fortune tradition with making crepes on La Chandeleur. While holding a coin in your right hand, when the crepe is ready to be flipped make sure you flip it 180 degrees without dropping it! It will mean a prosperous year for you and your family ;-)

a french new year's eve and new year's day...

We decided to stay at home and relax this year since M and I are heading to the US (before F he will join in a week) for 3 weeks!

We made a Swiss/French winter dish called Raclette.  Raclette is melting of a special kind of cheese onto assorted deli meats (fancy ones...in my mind at least), potatoes, small pickles (NOT sweet ones!) and usually pearl onions too.  In the old days they would melt and scrap off the cheese but now we use a Raclette machine and place the sliced cheese for a few mins and pour the melted cheese on the accompaniments.   It's DELISH!

 I have no clue what types of cheese I bought...I just know 3 different kinds and 200 grams of each (which was plenty for all 3 of us (including the bout chou) for dinner and lunch!  Being in France helps since I just asked the fromagerie what I needed.  He recommended a few and I took them all!

For the meats it was easier since I asked my belle-mere what I should get.  She recommended de la viande des grisons (this one is a type of cow I think...), jambon de bayonne (similar to prosciutto), rosette coupée finement (kind of like salami but better), saucisson à l'ail (garlic sausage), andouille de guéméné (it's pork but the sausage is pressed together hard to explain google it!), jambon blanc (white ham - or traditional sandwich ham).   I took 10 slices of each and we had plenty for the dinner and lunch as well as some still in our fridge!

As for the NYE shows on the TV...they were not live (this is what F said)...and no live shots of the Champs-Élysées or any fireworks (on the TV that is!).  Also the shows were far from spectacular.   They were mostly B or C actors/singers.  No Jay-Z and Beyonce singing with Dick Clark (or now should I say Ryan Seacrest).  Anyway enough of the boohooing...Bonne Année ~ Happy New Year!

For New Year's Day I made some Overnight French Toast...hmmmm...miam miam it was good!  We have some leftovers for tomorrow!

Later on we met up with F's parents and old friends of F's to go to Cirque d'hiver!  It was so magical and M had a great time seeing the Lions and Tigers.

a french christmas

Yes we had a Very Merry and WHITE CHRISTMAS!

Oops his head fell off

Back on top

That's better

Christmas PJ's

M's Christmas Pile

Our Christmas Pile haha!