Jan 26, 2006

What a horrible day. The fact that my heater is broken is not making me happy. And i woke up this morning feeling sick. I'm so glad it's the weekend so atleast i can get some rest! I did have a nice start to my day with a drunk dial from a friend :) That's gotta be the best and worst part about being so far away...my friends in the states are going to bed when i'm going to school! Madness i say...just madness! Anyway...after i woke up sick i had to try hard to have a better day! I wore sweats to school and couldnt even put on my makeup cause my eyes hurt! At 8:30 we had CP and we made Stuffed Veal with carmelized veggies. It was ok but at 8:30 in the morning working with fatback and pork shoulder was not too appetizing. So practical is going fine til I went to go take out a knife...mind you, all of the hot plates should have been off, and one of them must have been turned on by the chef or something and my knife kit got burnt badly! I can't carry it by the handle anymore and there are bad holes in it. Luckily none of the knives got ruined...so I am thankful for that. However, it's 98 euros to get a new one...or I can buy one of the cheap hard cases that everyone else is buying for 20-30 euros. I don't really like them...but to save the money i may have to do that. So that was that. Chef said my veal was coooked correctly, as well as my veggies (however my carrots were turned poorly...but i got better as the class progressed and he said to give me 6 months and i'll be a pro! hahah!), my sauce was the right consistancy, color and taste. So overall he said I had a good dish. He was pleased with our class which was nice. For an 8:30 practical it ran very smoothly.

For break I did some tedious stuff on the computer that I had to take care of. Then at 12:30 we had a CD and I sat in the front row. It was interesting but a little on the boring side cause chef did a lot of decorating work. He finished the duck terraine and made this stuffed chicken dish with a white mushroom sauce which was outstanding! I can't wait to make it next week! YUMMY! The whole class however I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open and my stomach hurt...but I didn't know why? (i think it could have been the 1/2 lb cherries i ate for lunch!?!?!) Anyway, at 3:30 we had PD and we made everything you could imagine with Choux Pastry. The important thing was eclairs which we are making next week. Chocolate and Coffee flavored ones. Really good. Chef made 4 other types of Choux besides that...all tasty as well. Then after class I went to my locker to notice that my UGG's had something on them...some sort of food...but I couldn't figure out where it came from cause I hadn't worn them all day and they had been in my locker all day and I didn't take home my veal today so it couldn't be from that. Nonetheless, I have a stain on my boots! ARGH! So I walked home with some friends because we heard we lived really close and we do, which is nice to know. When I got home my roomate, who made some really good cake today and was supposed to bring some home, said something happened with the cake pan so it crashed and burned and couldn't make it home. So no cake for me. I was looking forward to that all day! Anyway, I ate some salad with my chicken, my spinach, some baguette and then one of my apple turnovers. I still don't feel well and i'm stuck in my unheated room (ARGH!) so I'm gonna bundle up and try and get a goodnights sleep so hopefully i can go out this weekend!

Jan 25, 2007

LONG day! They seem to be getting longer not shorter! But it was a fun one! And ended on a high note (and a smelly one at that!) So at 8:30 my class met at school for a Market tour. We didn't have to put on our uniform and we went to a market and got to pick out things we wanted for lunch. Well, we so conveniently went to the market next to my house...so needless to say I was a little upset that I woke up 2 hrs early to walk to school when I could have rolled out of bed to go to my market ;) AND it is in the negative temps here this week (Celcius that is!) so it was freezing walking around today and I was dressed warm but my toes i think fell off for a few minutes! The picture below is of my cuisine class minus one person who slept in a little too late today!

This other picture is Kaili not paying attention infront of the olive stand :)

Anyway, after the market we came back to school and ate what we bought. Litchis (anyone remember my 25th bday?!?! i dont!! hahahahaha!), blood sausage, pork intestines, goose pate, pork pate, pork sausage, chorizo, 4 different kinds of cheeses, red wine, 2 different kinds of bread, quiche lorraine, pound cake, some other kind of foie gras type foods...and they all were pork and goose...i truely told them not to tell me what i was eating til after i ate it or i wouldnt eat it. Then when they told me...i tried to forget it all cause it made me sick! Then for break Katie, Kaili, Melissa and I went for coffee. At 12:30 we had a demo and we learned Duck Terrain (some sort of pate) and Veal with more pate stuffed inside. I don't really care for this stuff. It didn't taste bad...but I don't really want to make it. Anyway, at 3:30 we had a break. Kaili and I ran errands then came back to my house to relax for a little. Came back to school for 6:30 class. Chef Cotte was a blast today! We made Grilled Salmon and he was in such a rush because his parents were coming into town, but he insisted on taking pictures! He was hilarious! So below you can see how funny he is. (well maybe not to you, but I think the grill steam was getting to us!!!) We had a blast!


My salmon was cooked correctly, my spinach was hot (not too many people had hot spinach!!!), my potatoes needed more browning but it was normal, and my butter broke because i heated it and I shouldnt have. But everything was flavored correctly. (and check out those grill marks! I grilled the salmon myself...so technically i did those myself! not horrible for a first timer?!??!)

So because he was in a rush, we finished an hr early. I came straight home, put my uniform in the wash, gave myself a wash...and STILL smell like smoke from the grill! NASTY! but oh well...what can i do?!?! I had a fun but LONG day! Gotta go to bed so it can happen all over again tomorrow :)

Jan 24, 2007

Hey folks! Busy, but FUN day! i finally woke up not feeling like crap :) I actually was feeling refreshed! So, I had 8:30 CD and it was great! (well yummy great...for the most part!) We learned Pork with a herb crust (i tried it...but didn't like that one so I tossed it), salmon with a butter and chive sauce (so glad i get to make that) and my favorite (which im posting a picture even though i don't get to make it) was profiteroles! (picture dedicated to my mommy!)

I know I am not making it in class...but now i can make it and anyone who wants me to make them for you...i am ready and willing and can't wait! YUM!!!! So that was a great class! Then for break I sat with my friends while they ate hot dogs and crepes! Weird combo :) I had a coffee! At 12:30 we had a PP, which was CHAOTIC! The Chef kept yelling at us to finish and I don't blame him because we were WAY behind schedule. They make the classes 3 hrs but 2 1/2 are to be working time and the last 30 min are to be for us to clean and leave not to still be working. Well, we were! It was bad. Anyway, this class was not a good one for me! I personally did well...but I made so many palmiers that not all of mine got to bake cause there wasn't room in the oven and THEN the chef dropped half of mine that DID bake...so the ones in the picture are the ones you see that I got to take home, when everyone else got to take home double the amount...and I had even more than everyone else if I could have baked all of them! ARGH! Whatever...better for my waistline ;) But I stole a few of Kaili's on my way to the Museum (I'll explain later) So my apple turnovers came out ok. I didn't like my decoration, but the puffed nicely. I was in a rush cause I thought I had to be at the Museum at 3:30 so I asked the chef to look at my stuff at 3:30 (when class was SUPPOSED to be done) and he said they both looked good and i ran to change.


Anyway...I went to the Museum of Natural History cause I was working an Alliance Francaise Gala. Nothing huge, but they said to be there at 3:30 cause at 4 there was a tour. So i knew I had SOME time to play with. Well I got there at 4pm on the dot! Well the tour was self guided (after i ran from the metro!!!!) So i walked around (and took a few pictures of things i liked! we couldnt use our flash otherwise i would have taken more!)


After I walked around a bit, went into the gift store, I came downstairs to meet the other LCB people and we got into uniform. I'm gonna make a long and boring story short. I hung coats for a while, served champagne, ate crappy boxed food, and complained that they kept me too long, so they sent group A home! But truely I had fun with the people I was with, plus I met some cool people, so that was a bonus! Then I came home and crashed cause BIG day on Thur :)

Jan 23, 2007

Well, I woke up feeling crappy again and i figured out why. (sara you will appreciate this) Well, as most of you know, before I came here I was in the beginning stages of becoming a vegetarian. Well then as school started things were good till we started with the meats! Well, as i started eating them and not just tasting...things in my body are not adjusting well. I feel overall more lethargic than normal (and trust me when I say this is not just from waking up everyday at 6:30...i mean i go to bed at 10!!!), my eyes feel heavy, my stomach is acting upset, my mood swings are bad, i have headaches, and overall i just don't feel good. It's not making me happy. So from now on when I make red meat, I will try it cause that's what I have to do as a chef, but I won't take it home (like i do everthing else) unless my roomate wants it, and I will toss it. It doesn't taste THAT good to feel crappy over. My health and happiness are more important than red meat! Anyway, i think we are moving away from the meat for a little :) So, I went to school at 8:30 not feeling well, also worried that that chef i didn't like was going to be our chef. But we had Chef Cotte, the one i like! So we made our roasted chicken! i was SO behind today! But i did finish. My chicken was 5 min undercooked (something i'm very paranoid about and it's the reason i don't cook it at home!) But it was cooked enough to be eaten and nice in color! My aus jus was perfect he said, in everyway...including salt :) FINALLY! The greenbeens were undercooked (i made them the american way...we like them crunchy!!) same as the carrots...but not as bad at the GB...they just needed a few more min...and the radishes needed to be smaller. He didn't comment on the celery root or the artichoke. That's that!

Day was over! So i went to ask Christel about my Carte de Sejour appt. She called and they said I had to go in to change my appt. And this is where my fun day starts! So i go to the office out in the middle of nowhere (to me...that just means far from my house!) The woman at the front desk spoke no english, but the woman who just walked in from lunch break did! So she walked me upstairs and told me to wait...she just said it would be under an hr...she had to call her boss! So i waited like 10 min and then she called me up and asked when i could come back. I gave her some dates...she chatted on the phone with the woman...got off and goes "can u do it now?" i was thrilled and said "OUI!" there were millions of people there i tell you!!! So i waited a bit. (i'm making this really long story short) i got my exam (the scale was in kilos i think so it was great not to know how much i weigh!), my heart xray, my dr appt,(need to go get a TB test sometime) then i waited in line for the actual carte. I get up there and the woman speaks NO english and she said in french i need to come back March 22nd to get the actual card because mine hasnt come in yet! so after all that...i have to come back! argh! So then i came home and here I am typing this. I'm sure the rest of my day will be boring. So check back tomorrow cause i know i have a fun day tomorrow and thur! au revoir ;)

Jan 22, 2007

Woah...long day! Woke up feeling so so, but i knew i had to get through my LONG day! Anyway...8:30 am was a PD, which was nice and laid back...and i finally sat in the front row again! I decided to do that so i wouldn't fall asleep! It didn't work. The translator said she saw me dose off a few times...but it was ok! I didn't get in trouble. anyway, we learned apple turnovers, palms and palms but with raspberry filling (don't remember the name and we aren't making them!) All so good. But after class was the best!!! I walked out and my roomie was there and she made macaroons (french ones though...not the jewish kind!!!) They are sooo good! I ate a really big one and it made me happy! At break time I just checked my email and relaxed. Then at 12:30 we made our beef bourguignonne! It was kinda tough to make just because there was so much going on at once. Not to mention we had to "turn" potatoes! You can't really see in the picture (and i used 3 i think of the ones the chef made for me!!!) but mine were HORRIBLE! i can't turn a potato for the life of me. i tried so hard...and i will keep trying...but that's impossible! i dare you all try to turn a potato or a carrot and come tell me u wanna be a chef still! ha! Chef said my sauce was good and the perfect consitancy, but a bit on the salty side! (now im going overboard with the salt!) But my meat was very tender compared to most peoples...don't know how that happened! Personally I don't like this dish...however you will hear later in this blog that I ate it for dinner ;)

Then at 3:30 I had a cuisine demo with a chef that I am not too fond of so it was hard to pay attention! However, he was VERY speedy and got done an entire hr early with the demo. Because of that though...he spoke so fast that I couldn't take good notes! We learned roasted chicken in it's own aus jus and veggies with turned artichokes. As well as your typical omelette with onions...however they don't put cheese in theirs in france! go figure! Both ok in taste. Then I changed clothes, ran to get a demi baguette from across the street and sat in the winter garden (the area for students to chill out in) and ate my beef (cold) with my baguette, a diet coke, and listened to my ipod while talkin to my friends before my first wine class started at 7 pm! FINALLY we started! IT was thrilling! Kaili said I looked bored...but I was truely tired and didn't feel well (will post more about this in next blog) We drank 4 wines and had a cheese with every wine. NOT GOOD! i mean good for the palate...some of them...u know i dont eat stinky cheese, but NOT good for the stomach! i was a MESS after class. great class and thank god it's only once a week...but WHEW i was in pain! so i made it home ok and was so tired that I just crashed!

Montmartre

OOOh fun day!!! I tried really hard to sleep in, but because my body is so used to waking up everday at 6:30 is just doesnt wanna sleep that late. However, after waking up every 30 min starting at 8, I finally woke up at 10 for good. I did some laundry, cleaned my room, washed dishes and ironed. At 11 Kaili called and said to come over! We were about to go do our first City Walk together and my 3rd! We've decided that we are gonna swap off who gets to pick every other week and this week was my week! So i chose two cards which went together, Montmartre 1 and 2. I chose these because there were two parts of them which where in the movie Amelie and I got very excited :) Anyway, after we ate some lunch and relaxed a little, we left her house for our adventure. The pictures pretty much say it all. The highlights of the day were Moulin Rouge, Tabac des Deux Moulin (the cafe where Amelie was filmed), Sacre Coure, Au Marche de la Butte (the grocer from Amelie), and some lady singing the street! All of which I have pictures for! Plus you will see in the slide show the AMAZING views that we came upon. I don't know exactly where we were, but they were kodak moments...so i took advantage of them ;) Such a fun day! Then we came home completely exhausted...ate some food and I came home to shower and I'm about to crash any second! LONG week at school but it's gonna be a great one...so if I were you I'd tune in this week! au revoir!