A delicious lunch

As he's been doing for thirty-eight years now, Ken made my favorite birthday meal on Saturday: steak au poivre with a cognac cream sauce. Except we used calvados (apple brandy) instead of cognac. This year we splurged for beef filet, what Americans call filet mignon. In France, the term filet mignon refers only to pork tenderloin. For beef, they say filet de bœuf.

Crispy-dry but still fruity. Senior moment: I forgot to wipe the water spots off the glasses before I took the picture.

We started with some Champagne, a generous gift from California friends Jill and Peter. As usual, we served the steak with French fries. We drank a 2017 Bourgeuil (cabernet franc). Then we had a salad course, and cheese after. Dessert was an apple tart that I made with gorgeous Belchard apples from the Pays de Loire glazed with Ken's home-made apple jelly. I didn't take a photo of the main course, but Ken did and posted it here.

Tarte aux pommes. The apples are layered on a filling of our home-made applesauce.

Everything turned out perfectly and we enjoyed the day. And now I'm eligible for senior discounts on the trains. Woo-hoo!