my first Birthday Belgian Style

Apologies for not writing more recently, but having Emily here, going back to Glons for the weekend and my wireless at the house not working has been keeping me busy... Enough of the excuses.

What a birthday I had today!

Firstly, we were in Glons (and I'll entreat you to visit Mathew's blog to find out all the details about the Fete we participated in--tres incredible and don't miss his recounting of it, since it tells you EXACTLY why we've chosen this country to adopt as our current (and future?) home...www.matthewzadow.blogspot.com)

My breakfast in the loft: we awoke to the sound of our rez-de-chaussée (ground floor) bedroom door being pulled closed ever so quietly by our host Michel, but when I checked my watch, it was 8:45 a.m. and time to "allez, allez"...I went upstairs to the kitchen and smelled fried bacon (petit lardons) with caramelized apples, fresh coffee, and soft boiled eggs. As I was brushing my teeth and saying "bon matin" to my boys and their adopted cousins (Tristan and Anaiis, Michel's children), Michel came in with "pistolets" (little buns made from the same dough as the best baguettes in the world) and apricot confit croissants and pain chocolate still hot from the "patisserie". Quel divine!...Michel had made petit dejunier prior to leaving the loft for the bakery and when he laid the treats on the table, we all dove in with fervor and salivating mouths. What a great way to start my bonne fete: with a Belgian homme cooking an authentic meal for us and our children...it was perfect.

The next task of the day (and was it ever a belle journee: boucoup de soleil, sans humide--22 degrees in the sun, 16 in the shade) was to visit a neigbouring town that we've been to before called Tongeren for their Demanche marchee of antiques from all over the continent. Matthew purchased a very delicate and exquisitely crafted piece of Belgian cut and coloured glass (called Val Sainte Lambert) made in the early 1900's as well as a bronze sculpture (about 18 inches high) of a dancer with a tambourine made in a France foundry. I've named her Freya, in honour of Jean-Remy's fondness of Northern Europe. This broke Matthew's bank, but I can't say a word since he says it's coming out of his own account, or his "mad money" used for scotch whiskey, cigars and gifts. I'll just hint that four weeks of groceries left his wallet fairly rapidly this morning... I, on the other hand purchased something equally delicate, if not antique: a beer glass for the geuze (natural yeast, sour) beers for which Belgians are known...it cost me 2.50 Euro...This was a most appropriate purchase, since when we had a moment, we stopped during our hunting and gathering for fortification, and I of course had a Landemanns' Geuze beer in a similar glass!

When we left there, it was about 1:45 p.m. and we were expected at Mammie's for a 2 p.m. lunch. It was a Congolese chicken dish, with appropriate accompanying veggie dishes (a kind of African spinach that sounded like "marrol" or "maron" with my uneducated ear) served with a piquant sauce over rice...what flavour! Like an Indian curry but much more rich, with a unique brightness and heat I've never tasted before. Mammie was born in the Belgian Congo, married her Belgian husband at the age of 18-19 then had two children before being dispossessed (kicked out) back to Belgium...so she knows how to cook Congolese food! I was very much surprised that for dessert the cake was presented to me, accompanied with the french version of Happy Birthday...absolutely incredible chocolate sponge cake with vanilla whipped cream and chocolate drizzles making up my name and the swirls for decoration...beyond compare and home-made (I understand) by Nathale and Mammie just this morning.

In addition to making a cake for me, Nathalie had orchestrated the children for gift making...what wonderful, sweet and delicate tokens they made for me: the oldest (Gerome, 10) breezed in on roller blades and thrust into my hands a petit pink paper heart and a sachet of lavender he had gathered himself; The next was Nell who presented me with a tiny gathered fabric trinket--I opened it to find a hand made bracelet in pinks, blues and iridescent white--set so sweetly with a pink perle on a stretchy band. Then Francois arrived and caught my attention. He, too had une cadeau pour moi...another tiny parcel with an accompanying pink paper heart. This time I opened it to reveal a precisely made, most delicate necklace, mostly in blue beads but with a lavender and blue beaded 8-petaled flower at the centre, accented also with the sweet pink perle as his sister had used on the bracelet. I was astonished that such care and dedication to task had come from anyone 8 years old, regardless of gender! It was just too much when the last child came in...(Carol-) Line's gift made me cry poignant tears: she had gathered pink and white flowers from her mom's garden (wild roses, dwarf primroses, tiny pink-and-white versions of buttercups) and had gotten help arranging them into a tiny cup and saucer complete with a dogwood "handle" and lacy leaves as accents. If that wasn't enough, she ever so carefully wrote on her little pink heart in English, "happy birthday--Line". I could barely hold it together, and lost composure when the cake had arrived...thankfully not in an embarrassing way...see the picture that heads this blog for an example of a typical Sunday dinner at Mammie's!! (*right, Bruce??)

Duncan summed it up for me when he said an hour later, "but, I don't want to leave". We unfortunately had to make the trek back to Brussels on the 5:21 train, but I KNOW we'll be back very soon.

We arrived back home just before 8:00 p.m. and got the kids quickly into the bath and PJ's. As I was cooking a quick "repas" of pancakes and bacon, the doorbell rang. To my surprise, there was Kristin, our neigbour from across the street. She and her daughters Emma and Lara came to wish be a happy birthday and to give me their gift: a very expertly crafted homemade scarf in amethyst and sage colours made from the most exquisitely soft yarns that are like kitten's eyelashes. I will have to write some thank you cards tomorrow, as I think this is the BEST European birthday EVER!!