Happy Birthday Edie

Goodbye

Ciara is heartbroken to say goodbye to her best friends Veronica and Victoria (and doesn't appreciate my "it's not goodbye...it's only au revoir" joke). We have one last BBQ together. Thanks for everything Cormiers, (especially for turning me on to The Biggest Loser). We'll really miss you guys.

Tour De France

Having missed the caravan to Fort L'Ecluse (I guess we're more French than Swiss in our timekeeping), we went with Graeme, Fiona & family to Mijoux to watch part of Stage 8 of the Tour. We brought chairs and pitched them outside a kind Frenchman's garage for our own grandstand view. It was lovely to sit outside on a Sunday morning, enjoying a glass of chilled rosé. We scored major swag - the kids loved the sponsors' cavalcade, it was like a carnival on wheels. The anticipation builds and finally the helicopters whirl overhead to herald the pack's arrival. I could not believe how fast the cyclists went, it was all over in a minute. So exciting! See what we saw:

Here comes the cavalcade

Getting hosed (in a good way)

Not too sure what's going on here.. I guess these pole dancers are really dirty!

That's probably a Lucozade!                  (Note the manpris)

Shameless Hussies

Very excited and proud to host the inaugural meeting of the Shameless Hussies of Thoiry Bookclub. We chose for our first book The Lover by Marguerite Duras. Much to discuss, including the (hopefully) apocryphal story of her downing 5 - 6 liters of wine daily while dictating the novel to Yann Andrea .

Sesame noodles with asparagus tips

This comes from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and I absolutely guarantee whoever you serve it to will love it. The only person I know who doesn't like it is Doug (and that's only because he is sick to death of it, seeing as I make it for every gathering we have or have been invited to for the last 15 years). I don't like asparagus, so I leave them out, and it still tastes really good. (Apologies to my metric friends for the imperial units).

Marinade	The Noodles and Asparagus
¼ cup light sesame oil	Salt
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil	2 lbs asparagus, trimmed and lightly sliced on a diagnonal
7 tablespoons soy sauce	1 14 oz thin Chinese egg noodles
3 tablespoons Chinese black or balsamic vinegar	10 scallions, including firm greens, thinly sliced
3½ tablespoons dark brown sugar	¼ cup sesame seeds, toasted until lightly browned
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons chili oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Mix the marinade ingredients together, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. add salt and the asparagus. Cook until bright green and tender but still firm, a few minutes. Scoop the asparagus out, rinse it under cold water and set on a towel to dry.

Pull the noodles apart with your fingers, add them to the boiling water, and give them a quick stir. Boil until tender but not overly soft, tasting them often as they cook. It should only take a few minutes. Pour the noodles into a colander and immediately rinse under cold water. Shake off the excess water.

Toss the noodles with all the marinade and most of the scallions, sesame seeds and asparagus. Mound them in a bowl or platter, then garnish with the remaining asparagus, scallions and sesame seeds