All day, both mom and I said we were done eating and that we were going to take it easy. Lunch menu:

Appetizers: Nothing (good start!)
Starter: Leftover pate from Mr. & Mrs. Bire
Entrée: Boudin Noir with mashed potatoes
Salad: Arugula with vinaigrette
Cheese: Brie, Chevre, and Roquefort
Dessert: Skipped
Truffles: Jacques de Bruges

Not exactly taking it easy, but a little better, right? I’m so sorry stomach…..

Christmas is over which means the celebrations should be over, but not so much. We didn’t spend Christmas with my cousin Benoit and his wife, Marise, and daughter, Lysa so they invited us over for dinner to once again, celebrate. Marise is also a great cook, is Portuguese and works at a Butcher shop, so I knew we were in trouble. The second we walk in the door, I’m handed a cocktail. Screwdriver for me, Whiskey & Coke for Mom. Two cocktails later, we start our appetizers. Benoit shows me all his latest tech gear and starts telling me how great EBay is. I’m still skeptical, but apparently he’s made quite a bit of money from it. Their daughter Lysa is 5 years old and loves me. She’s adorable and is my best friend from the start. We play Barbie, princess and run all around the house. She has recently discovered Michael Jackson and knows all the words and dances to all his major songs. Her bedroom is a princess fort and next to the Snow White Poster, is one of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. A little creepy, but kinda cool.

Our menu:

Appetizer: Pate on Croute
Starter: Plate full of salami, Prosciutto. Garlic Sausage, Pate
Entrée: Boudin Blanc with Sauce Forestier and Mashed Potatoes**
Salad: Arugula Salad with vinaigrette
Cheese: 2 kinds of Chevre, 2 kinds of blue cheese, Brie, Gruyere, Morbier
Dessert: Ice cream cake
Truffles: Handmade by mom!
Post Dinner Drink: Home made Orange liquor that her family in Portugal makes by hand

**The asterix are for a reason. I eat and have eaten pretty much everything. I’m not scared of any food and consider myself a closet foodie. However, there are two things I cannot eat. One is Andouillette. The second is Boudin Blanc. I like Boudin Noir, which I had eaten at lunch, but could not stand the taste, smell, texture of Boudin Blanc. However, given she spent so much time on it and went out of her way to make something special for us, I didn’t have the heart to tell her I didn’t like it. I ended up eating it and then eating other things in excess to hide the taste. I did not sleep a wink that night as my stomach finally told me to relax. I’ve been sleeping with mom since we got here and between my heartburn and her snoring, I was done. This time I was serious. No more eating!

We went to bed at 2am that night and I finally got to sleep at around 8 when my mom went downstairs to make coffee. I texted friends all night and actually finished one of my iphone games. She kindly let me sleep until 11 and we were back to my other aunt’s house in Ormoy where she was waiting for us to eat lunch. I got there and went straight to bed. No lunch for me! For real this time!

Overall, a wonderful day even though I still cringe at the fact that I ate the Boudin Blanc. I won’t go into what it actually is. You can research that on your own. But it’s a very common and typical French dish that is enjoyed and apparently very good. Never again…..

Mom and Lysa


Boudin noir


Boudin blanc


Me and Lysa

Cheese plate