Feb 1, 2007

Happy one month in Paris anniversary! Anyway...I didn't have class til 12:30 :) However I woke up at 8 am...went to the market to buy carrots, mushrooms, potatoes and zucchini. Not to eat...TO TURN! This weekend I am going to practice turning my veggies for school :) how fun! Then...yes I have a weakness for sweets...I walked back to Laduree (the place I went yesterday) to buy more macarons! AMAZING! I tried some of their other sweets too, like brioche and kugelhopf! Yummers ;) Then I walked to school and got ready for my class. At 12:30 we made the dacquoise with praline butter cream! Not one of my favorites. We have a community table in the winter garden where people leave their finished product if they don't want it and it's a free for all (i love it when intermediate and superior people leave things!). SO i left mine there and it was devoured! Anyway...today was the day of WHISKING! We aren't allowed to use machines at school, so I had to whisk 8 egg whites to a stiff peak today by hand and then another 7 egg yolks. ARGH! but i survived...just a little sore in the arm! Chef said my dacquoise was good and my pipping was ok. He was short and simple today. That's that. The flowers are nasty marzipan and it was the first time, and we have MUCH more practice on them...and I need it. So he didn't even bother to look at it!

Then at 3:30 we had PD. We learned almond tuiles, raisin biscuits (both of those we are making), cigarettes, and duchesses. They all were pretty bland. That's really all I can say about those. Then after class my roomate came out of her class and handed me a box of chocolates she made in class today :) so that was good. came home...showered...did my hair differently (gonna try and take a picture tomorrow) and am gonna go to bed fairly soon. Pretty average day! Au revoir

TRES BON!!!!!!

This is a blog not to be missed! Today was a great day. One because of the surprise that I didn't say in yesterday's blog that I made today and two because i celebrated an anniversary a day early today! I will start with what I made today, so this will be a two section blog :)

So today was RABBIT! YAH! if you tend to get sick from dead animals, I warn you now...DON'T WATCH MY SLIDE SHOW!!! But if not...continue on! When we watched this in demo yesterday I was a little hesitant, but after I tasted it (which I've eated rabbit before!) I knew I was in this for the long run! Chopping the head off was a bit much but it was thrilling. I not only ate the meat, but I also tried the liver, the kidneys, the brain and the heart! All very tasty...but the liver was the best of the four. Well, the entire dish was amazing! It was made with a mustard sauce. It was so much fun to actually be doing this! A little alarming at first with the blood and the eyes...but what excitement! We all survived :) And with great response! Chef said my potatoes were great (we had to peel them a certain way which was hard so I'm glad i did them right) and they were seasoned correctly. He said my insides were cooked correctly, as well as my rabbit. He said my presentation was beautiful and my meat tasted good...however once again, more salt for the sauce...but he was nice about it and said that he was being specific to himself. So, to each his own! But overall it was a GREAT day in cooking.

Then I had a huge break (which i will talk about in the second part of my blog) and then I had a CD. We learned fish...Hake and Sole. Both SOOOO tasty. I love fish. I am branching out and eating more types which is even better. I know a lot of people who say they don't like fish...but i guarantee if you try some you may like it ;) Very mild these two! And the way they were prepared...so yummy! The Hake which we are making is with hollandaise sauce and it makes it taste even better! So that was that! Good day in school.

Now for the best part of my day. We got out of school SO early after cooking...like 10:15. So I went to the bank, then went home to drop off my rabbit, then back to school to meet Katie :) the sweetest girl in my school (no joke)! Anyway...we walked to Laduree(google it and they are the first to come up! however u may want to translate it!)...the most AMAZING place in the world. It's my new heaven. They make macaroons there that are to die for! We both got dessert (i had macaroon pommes caramel and Katie had Isphan)


and coffee and then we bought macaroons and other bread goodies to go. Well we ate a bunch of them on our walk home...then we stopped at another chocolate shop to get MORE macaroons to try those ones. One tasted like salmon...it was SO funny! THEN we got a baguette and some bread and cheese thingy and I ate some of that!!! I LOVE KATIE! she eats as much as me! it's great. I could hang out with her forever :) YOU ROCK KATIE (if you read this!) Anyway...we walked back to school and had a diet coke and that was where I had to go to class again! But this was BY FAR the best day in paris so far :) (thank you katie!) As I was saying before I have an anniversary to celebrate! Tomorrow marks my one month mark being in Paris! I have survied. The first week...a little messy...but from then on things have been wonderful. Everyday I have to remind myself, even pinch myself that I am living in Paris. It's truely a dream come true. I would never imagine it, nor still can believe it's happening to me. Thank you mom and dad for allowing me to live this life. I am forever thankful to you. I love you both very much and wish you could experience this with me (not all the time though! haha) This is truely an amazing experience and I will cherish every minute of it! Thanx for reading my blog everyone! Stay tuned for more of Chef Penny! I have 6 more months to go!!!!!

Jan 30, 2007

"Oh, what a great day" (borrowed from Ellie!) It truely was one of those days where u just have to laugh. I had a PP at 8:30 am and we were making Eclairs and Chouquettes. Eclairs consist of the Choux Pastry, Pastry cream, and fondant (sugary stuff on stop). We had a choice of chocolate or coffee. I made coffee. Chouquettes are choux pastry with course sugar on top...kinda like doughnut holes...but light and fluffy. Exactly the cream puff, but without the cream and sugar on top...so just the puff! Anyway...things were going smoothly...UNTIL...get ready for this folks...I was whisking my pastry cream...boiling milk into my eggs...back on the burner...whisking and all of a sudden a bubble comes up and pops inbetween my eyes and I now have a little burn between my eyes! Pastry cream is thick so it kinda stayed there for a while and I couldn't remove it cause I was whisking! In the meantime, I also got burnt on my wrist. (i got one yesterday in cuisine too...but I'm not telling you all of the minor burns I get cause that would be SO intense you would all think I was trying to kill myself) They don't hurt...but this one was just too funny so I had to share it. I took some pictures to post so you can all laugh with me. Kaili made it the joke of the day..."remember when Penny burned herself with her pastry cream?!" pretty funny! (well not everytime!)



Anyway, my eclairs were said to be the perfect size but I could have concentrated more on my fondant he said. The sides were messy. He made a joke and said he was going to give me two bonus points today cause I burnt myself. Then he laughed and said no he wasn't. But overall he said I worked really well today. He also said my chouquettes looked nice. So that was that!


Then we went for coffee. We are having a feud between friends of who pays when. I was supposed to pay today and Katie insisted. Well I tried to sneak in to pay and Rick already payed. It was rather amusing! Anyway...tomorrow is my turn to pay :) Then I had CD which was VERY tasty to eat...but not too tasty to watch. I think I may surprise you on that class because I am doing it tomorrow and I want to take pictures! Hopefully I can :) The other things we learned were an artichoke and veggie greek dish thing (ha!) and like a creme caramel/vanilla/tea dessert. Yummy. But look out for tomorrows post! You will be interested! Anyway...then we had PD! BORING. I mean, the first hr was interesting but then he worked on making a flower out of marzipan for what felt like 3 hrs!!!! and sitting in the back u can't see anything so I was a little bored. We learned dacquoise and meringue (yuck!) I could do without either of these. So i came home showered...put some lube on my burn :) and am going to bed rather shortly cause I didn't get much sleep last nite! and my burn needs to get better! Enjoy the pictures and feel free to laugh all u want :) toodles

Jan 29, 2007

What a day! I woke up feeling great! But then it progressively went down hill...but back up again by the end of the day. So hopefully when i go to bed it will end on a good note! So, I went to school at 8:30 and all i had today was a CP and we actually finished class at 10:30 an entire hr before we were supposed to end! Although the chef wasn't too friendly, he did a great job on getting us out of class quickly! C'est bon! Well, we made the chicken breast with white wine and mushroom sauce...AMAZING! I loved (am still loving!) every minute of eating it. And the chef said it was good too. He said it was seasoned perfectly and the thickness of my sauce was good and my moussaline was very good too. So I had a good class...and that is going to be eaten no worries! (and probably be made again at home!!!)

However, this week I am assistant. And I happen to be assistant in Cuisine AND Pastry. How could i get so lucky?!?! It all depends on your last name. So i am at the end so it took me a while. Depending on how many people are in your class depends on how often you do it. This is my first time of many I am sure. I had no clue what to do, so I was a little late to class and got reprimanded in French a little :) Anyway, got done super early and had a few cups of coffee with Melissa, Katie and Kaili...the B crew! Then I headed home cause it was internet day...or so i thought! Long story short (again) this guy spoke a little more english and actually called some of his friends to help who spoke english. The locked room was now unlocked, I found my cable/electricity box but they need to open a wall (to hook some cables up for a telephone line) and i couldnt authorize that cause it's not my place. So he left, internet not done. ARGH! So i left all pissed. But I was very excited cause I was going to buy these boots I saw at a store (and they didn't have my size but another one did) that I thought were %50 off of 280 so that meant 140! Not bad and they were the perfect boot. I went to the store...they DID have my size...I tried them on and i'm SO glad they didn't fit cause originally they were 600 euros and they were on sale for 280 not half of that! and i would NOT have paid that! So i was kind of upset cause I wanted them so badly! So i moved on. I went to little cute places and took cards because I didn't really have time to shop. Then I went to get my bangs cut for free. Well I'm not happy with them...but they'll do. It was free and I need to get my hair cut sometime soon cause I can't stand it anymore...but whatever. I couldn't see anymore, so I had to do it. So that was upsetting. Then I went to BHV and they didn't have anything I needed except thread. By this time I am running so late because I had to get to school for wine class that i had to take the metro home which I was trying to avoid cause I want to try and walk everywhere. I got home at 6...picked up my book and left for school. Had wine class from 7-9! It was great! We actually learned how to taste wines and I'm starting to appreciate them more instead of just drinking! It's truely amazing what you can get out of just looking and smelling a glass of wine :) OH...and for all of you keeping up on my cheese excursions...I tried a goat cheese i liked! However, they threw away the package so I don't even know what kind it was. But when i find out, I will let everyone know! Now I am home doin some online stuff and going to head to bed soon! The cheese was my high point ;) (even though I have a slight tummy ache!) Bonne nuit

Je cale.

Well this weekend for me was very chill. Like i mentioned on friday I was worried that I was getting sick, so i tried to stay low key. I did a lot of sleeping. Saturday I walked around for almost 5 hrs specifically to E Dehillerin (the best kitchen store in Paris), Village Voice Bookshop (a popular english bookstore) and Poilane (a famous bread place)...and I didn't buy anything (except some bread)! I continued to walk around for a few more hours (tried as hard as I could to shop!!) and I came home with nothing but groceries and cooked myself some dinner. Sunday though was a lot of fun, but filling! After I putzed around on the computer for a while, I met Kaili at her place and we trekked over to Breakfast In America...the ONLY and best place to eat american breakfast in Paris (as u can see from pictures below) I ate a veggie omelette with cheddar cheese, toast (that we toasted ourself because the toaster was placed behind us!), greasy potatoes, orange juice, bottomless AMERICAN coffee (with cream and sugar!!!), yogurt, and a brownie (cause I've been cravin one of those!) all for 15 euros! Kaili had pancakes instead of the yogurt and brownie...but those were just as delicious! (and check out the mugs! So funny!!!) SO american! We are definately going to go back! This is the only place I've been so far that 1) tax was NOT included 2) you had to tip the servers 3) everyone spoke english. I truely felt like I was at home. It was rather nice. However, we left SO full that we decided not to do a city walk today. We did walk around for a little, but we both felt the need to go home and relax our tummies :) I don't think I will be eating for the rest of the day. Those americans eat too much! hahaha.



Anyway, that was my low key weekend...but I do feel refreshed and not sick...so that's good! Ready for a new week to begin! Thanx to all reading my blog. It truely means more to me than you know!