Chocoholic

Chocoholics (you know who you are) have a preference in how they consume their chocolate ranging from "I'm really desperate" to "OOOooo mmmmmm."

Mine scale looks something like this - 1 being desperate 10 being my very favorite

1.  Dry Nestle Quick
2.  Cookie with chocolate in it
3.  Chocolate cake
4.  From a box brownies
5.  Chocolate pudding
6.  Single source dark chocolate
7.  From scratch brownies
8.  Angelina's Hot Chocolate **
9.  Flourless Chocolate cake
10.  High quality chocolate ganache


** Via the sister-in-law network (Anne to Susan to me) I learned of a lovely restaurant in Paris called Angelina's.  They are known for their hot chocolate for good reason.  It comes served like this.  The hot chocolate (and it is chocolate not cocoa) is in the little pitcher and it is nice and hot.  There is a small cup of whipped cream (unsweetened).  From here, you create your perfect cup of hot chocolate.

Kyra and I shared this cup.  As I have taught my daughter well,  we did not add sugar to the hot chocolate.  It was nicely sweet as is.  If you like yours sweeter, there is sugar on the table.   We did add some whipped cream.  Which gave us a cup that looked like this ...

I wish I could give you a taste of it, as it was lovely.

And if you like croque monsierus, Angelina's had the best croque monsieur I've ever had.  All in all an enjoyable place for lunch.

Patisserie

I'm in trouble.

There is a patisserie between our house and SHAPE.  I drive by it almost daily (sometimes multiple times a day).  I have never been in it before today for a variety of reasons most of which have to do with the fact that it is always raining, I'm usually going somewhere else, there isn't any parking and I'm an American and  it is not a one stop shopping kind of place.

Today though I wanted bread for lunch.  I only needed one thing and it is the closest bread store - a bread store with all kinds of yummy looking treats in glass cases.  I'll have to take my camera on my next visit so I can show you.

I bought bread and I also bought a chocolate ganache thing.  I would have taken a photo of that, but Kyra and I devoured it too quickly.  It was about 4 inches high and 2 inches across.  It was layers of meringue and fresh whipped cream with raspberries all covered in gooey chocolate.  Very good.  I did have the sense to buy only one and then show it to Kyra so I would be compelled to share.

However, good sense will not keep me from making return visits to the patisserie.

Halloween

When the kids were younger and we had au pairs living with us, we made an effort to share American culture with our au pairs.

There are a number of holidays that both Americans and Europeans observe - Christmas, Easter, independence days, New Year's, etc.  Yes we had different cultural spins but these holidays were familiar to our au pairs.

Halloween has no European cultural equivalent.  The pumpkins, the costumes and the candy are uniquely ours.

Even though we are far from home, we are not far from Halloween.  The commissary sells pumpkins and Halloween candy.  The PX has Halloween costumes and decorations.  Club Beyond (the youth ministry here) had a pumpkin carving evening.  Americans are kind of spread out throughout the Mons region, so trick or treating is not quite possible - but the kids can dress up and enjoy trunk or treat.

Here and there I've noticed shades of Halloween among the Belgians.  There are some Halloween type decorations for sale in the local supermarket and I've seen some small nods to it in the neighborhood.  I'm not talking about lovely fall decor - pumpkins, hay and mums.  I'm talking jack-o-lantern pre-printed/factory made stuff.

If one must adopt American stuff, I think, they should take the best part.  Factory made decor not being what I consider the best part.

The best part is trick or treating - costumes and chocolate.  And here that would be costumes and Belgian chocolate.....

Food Shopping Local Economy - Supermarkets

When it comes to grocery shopping on the Belgian economy, there are a few options.  In the Mons area there are a few "supermarkets" - the chains are Carrefour (think French wal-mart), Colyrut and Champion.

These markets are about the size of a Trader Joe's.  They have a bakery, cheese counter and a meat counter in addition to the standard produce section, canned goods, wine section, cleaning supplies, paper goods, etc.

Shopping in these places is fairly similar to what you would find in the US.  Grab cart or basket, load up with what you want to purchase, put stuff on conveyor belt, stand in line and pay.  There are a few slight differences.

If you want to use a shopping cart, you must have correct change.  The shopping carts are all chained together.  To release a cart, one must have a 50 euro cent coin.  Not 50 cents in assorted change, but the actual 50 cent piece.  When you are done shopping and link the cart back with its friends, out pops your 50 cent coin.

You are your own bagger.  Most people bring their own shopping bags, but there are bags available for purchase.

In general there is a greater emphasis on fresh food versus prepared food, though prepared foods are available. Potatoes are plentiful and cheap.  Pork and beef are also plentiful and reasonably priced.  Chicken is quite expensive.  Leeks seem to be a popular food item as well.  Outside of the fresh food a good amount of floor space is given over to wine and chocolate.

We were pleased to discover that there is a soy brand that is well stocked in local markets.  Alpro Soya makes several flavors of yogurts and puddings in addition to boxed soy milk and soy margarine.  This helps us add some variety to Allen's diet, as this type of soy product is not available at the commissary.

In general, I enjoy shopping at these local markets, it is good for practicing my French skills and I can buy goodies - tiramisu, chocolate mousse, fresh bread, brie, etc that I can't get at the commissary.

Tomorrow- traditional food shopping