Amazing dinner

So for our second anniversary, we decided to stay in and cook dinner, to be served on our new set of china. We got the Ostindia pattern by Rorstrand, a Swedish company (the ones that make the china for the Nobel Prize dinner). Bangladesh manufactures a lot of china, often producing things for expensive Western brands that go for a fortune in department stores in affluent countries. Thankfully, though, they sell the overstocks here. I was pretty happy with the purchase (well, gift from James, actually--the second anniversary is the china one, conveniently enough), but I got even happier when I looked up the prices European department stores are charging--the sugar bowl alone is 150 euros. Um, wow. So we got a deal. It's quite nice, too:


Continuing the Scandinavian theme, we made chilled cucumber and dill soup with smoked salmon and creme fraiche (okay, fine, in Bangladesh we had to use thick yogurt instead... it was still amazing):


Of course, this was served with French champagne, courtesy of our charming visitor and favorite parisien, Alex:


Then onto the main course: seared duck breast with cherries and port. Also really, really, really delicious. We served it with rosti (sort of a giant potato pancake) and green beans, but those were less photogenic:


And we finished with a lovely orange cornmeal cake. I finished it with confectioner's sugar myself. Can you tell I'm proud of how this all came out? Pretty, tasty food:


How did we get all the ingredients in Bangladesh, you may ask? The Commissary was a big help. We did have to substitute yogurt for creme fraiche, and we had to leave the parsley off of our potatoes because, unlike in the U.S., parsley is only available here when it's in season, which is not now. Someone was musing to me once about how we are suddenly forced to eat locally and seasonally, not because it's trendy but because that's what people do here and that's what's available. And it's true. But that doesn't mean I won't take credit for it in self-aggrandizing, smug, Bay-Area fashion.