Feb 9, 2007

Today I had a very easy day (except for the fact i left my keys at home for the first time in my life! Luckily i have a roomate that ended class early so she picked them up for me and dropped them off)! At 8:30 I had PD and we learned Honey filled Barquettes and a Pear tart with an almond dacquoise type toppping. Both pretty great! We got out of demo the earliest we have ever gotten out, about 10:30ish...so we went for coffee and I was starving today so I had a salmon salad which was great! Came back for 12:30 PP. We made the pear tart! Fun class. However a few of us needed to redo our pears because we didn't let the butter and sugar carmelize enough the first time. Not a big deal. At the end we had left over time so we practiced pipping chocolate in a handmade paper bag. Not that easy! Anyway, Chef said my pipping on my tart was "tres jolie"=very beautiful. Then it came out of the oven...and he didn't say the same thing! However...he did say that it colored perfectly and that's the sign of a good tart! He said it tasted good also. I was pleased with it overall. It tasted amazing...so that was number one importance to me :)

Then we had CD. We learned this AMAZING raw salmon dish that was marinated, a sugar tart (bland), veal stew and rice pilaf (both bland also). Then after class I went to the gym with my friend Michelle in my class. Came home, drank a corona and ate some of my food...and crashed! I think after the first day at the gym, my body needs some rest!

Feb 8, 2007

Today was a FABULOUS DAY! Maybe because I got so much sleep (if you didn't read the last post, I slept from 6:30 last nite to 8 am this morn) It was beautious! I guess I must have needed that sleep! I felt bad that i missed enchilada night...but oh well! It will happen again! Anyway, class wasn't til 12:30 today, so I woke up, showered and went to have coffee with Katie. Then Kaili, oh so nicely, brought us the best baguettes from a place by her house and some sweet treats! So that was a great morning. Then in CD we learned deep friend shrimp and tartare sauce, veal marengo, and a fruit flan (made with raspberries and pear). All three AMAZING! Then we had a break so I went to go make a dr. appt to get some tests done that i need for my carte de sejour. Then I came home and it started to downpour. Then I went back to school for CP. I made the fried shrimp and sauce plus a cheese souffle that we learned forever ago but we finally made it today. It was so much fun! We had to de-head and skin the shrimp. I took a picture of my shrimp friend and then the goofy chef and the shrimp.


He said my shrimp were cooked perfectly and they tasted good as well.

As far as my souffle. He said it was beautiful and that it had perfect seasoning :) I have to agree with that myself! I loved my souffle...it looked great!

Anyway...it was fun! Then I came home (in the rain) and am about to go get some more wonderful sleep so I can have another great day tomorrow!!!!

Feb 7, 2007

Unfortunately this was a short day! I had class at 8:30 and it was Pastry and we made the meringue based cookies. Lots of egg whites, so more whisking! It wasn't that hard today. And today we had a new chef, and they call him silent chef cause he seriously DOES NOT SPEAK! But he has a very tender heart and is easy going! So class was very laid back and went so smoothly. This class was also great because we did a lot of helping each other. A lot of the recipes that were called for were too big for one person so we shared amongst the four of us and it was just a very friendly atmopshere today! Chef said my cookies looked very good and that was that!

We got out very early but I decided not to go get coffee today because earlier in the morning it was quasi-snowing...so it was very yucky out and I didn't want to leave the building. So i sat on the computer and talked to friends. Then at 12:30 we had cuisine demo and we made the bouillon and the puff pastry which we turned into kinda cheese rolls. I've never made bouillon before so I was very intrigued in the process and it was so cool because all we were doing was clarifying it, but you have to add ground beef and egg whites and veggies and it forms this crust on the top which eventually makes the soup clear! WEIRD! but so cool. Anyway, i had to cut my veggies into the smallest of cubes. Chef said my soup tasted good, no complaints on the salt factor! And he said the puff looked good as well. Once again another short class!

After class a few peeps went for a beer, I went but I started to get a headache so I had a coca light thinking the caffeine may help. Then I ran some errands, and went home because my head still wasn't feeling up to par and I was planning on going to Kaili's for enchiladas. I layed down and watched Mrs. Henderson Presents (great movie!!) then at 6:30...get this...FELL ASLEEP! and didn't wake up til 8 am the next morning!

Feb 6, 2007

Today was a fun day because at 8:30 am we made crab bisque. Not tasty, but fun because the crabs were alive ;) I took a picture of my new friend Claude the crab...who is now in my soup!

But, it was an easy class. Short and sweet. First we started with a recipe of Puff Pastry which a good amount of us didn't know we were going to have to do! So i didn't bring my recipe, but chef was cool about it, so he wrote it out. So we whipped that up for the next class. As for the bisque, I accidently put in one of the ingredients too early which inturn made my production get messed up, but I didn't tell chef and just let him taste it. He said it tasted fine. So, i guess it's true that it doesn't matter how you get there...just get there! He also said my croutons were nicely cut.

Then after class a few of us went for sandwiches and coffee. Came back and had two demos in a row. CD and then PD. In cuisine we learned Boullion, French Onion Soup, and a fish soup. All much better than the day before, but still not amazing. Then in pastry we learned meringue based cookies (but they don't taste like meringue, you just make them the same way) and macarons were included. I was a little dissapointed in chef's after I heard his were the best out of everyones that I've tried so far. Specifically I didn't like the buttercream filling. We also got our Pastry midterms today. Anyway, after school Kaili and Lauren and I went to this amazing grocery store which also sells american food products. (not like i need proccessed boxed food!) but it was still fun to shop around at! Then Lauren and I went to an italian restaurant for dinner cause we were starving! Then I came home and was so exhausted that I crashed!

Feb 5, 2007

WOW! Two hrs of sleep and went through the day with a lousy...and i mean lousy 1.5 hr nap! Luckily I had one class today and it was a CD. We learned 3 soups. All just as lousy as my nap. Crab Bisque, Watercress soup, and Cauliflower. Blah! Today however, we got midterm grades. Only in cuisine. I am sure I will get pastry tomorrow. Then after class Kaili, Katie and I went to the other famous macaron place, Gerard Mullot. We got a little lost...but refused to give up! We bought tons of food! We are still in process of comparing...but my thoughts are, texture is better at GM, but taste is better at Laduree (except for a few...like caramel...they rock at GM!) So then we got Lunch at this place called Leon de Bruxelles which serves ONLY mussels and frenchfries or salad, just in different varieties. Kinda cool. It's a chain restaurant. Not bad. I had mine escargot style. Then I walked home, made some stops and looked in stores then when I got home I plotzed and took my crappy nappy. I woke up showered and got ready for wine class. Wine class was a little long and boring. French Law. and it didn't help that i was on 2 hrs of sleep. But i drank and ate cheese and came home and crashed!

Rue Du Bac et Football

Today I woke up, very groggy, but couldn't wait to do a city walk! It's been too long since I've been sight seeing! However since I did have a long weekend, I wanted to do one close to home so I could come home and nap, for my LONG night ahead of me (go bears!) So i walked Rue Du Bac which started with the Musee D'Orsay. All museums on the first Sunday of the month are free. I only waited for 15 min til I got in though which was great!!! I think this museum gave me a better appreciation for art. I can tell you out of all of the artists I saw, I am in love with Degas' work. I love his subject matter, and the pieces themselves. I found two other pieces of work that I really loved. One is the last picture on my slide show, and the other is not too appropriate to put on my page. Overall, I liked this museum better than the Louvre...can I say that?!?! At their bookstore I bought my all time favorite book that my mother used to read to me as a kid, but this one is in french...Goodnight Moon which translates to Bonsoir Lune! I can't wait to read it to my unborn children ;) that's what my mom said! haha.

anyway, I walked around a little more, but because it's a sunday things are closed. I did have a good sandwich with hardboiled egg, lettuce, tomato and a little mayo. Kinda reminded me of home when I used to eat egg sandwiches. Then I came home and took a mini nap but not a long enough one to get me through my night! I turned some veggies as you can see :) It kept me occupied for an hr or so...but I don't know if it actually helpd me!

Then I putzed around on the computer waiting to get dressed because I was meeting a friend at 9 downstairs to go to a Pub to watch the bears game. Long story short, we got there...kick off started at 12:25 pm...I watched the game...some of my friends went and grabbed food at a local store and brought it back cause we were famished...Melissa fell asleep around the 4th quarter (see below!),

the game ended at 4 am...I got home by 4:30...went to bed at 4:45 and woke up at 6:45 for school. Read next day for more :) Congrats Colts.

Feb 3, 2007

Ew...class! I woke up at and went to get Katie and told her I didn't want to go, but I had to cause it was my last day this week of being assistant! FINALLY! So at 8:30 in the morning here I go to make fish :) We made Brill Fish. Never had it before. It tasted pretty good. This was the fish before I got to cut into it. It's rather large. And pretty easy to cut into because it's firm. I did get a little frustrated with my potatoes though! Turning is just hard for me. So I will practice this weekend! Anyway, Chef said I needed more parsely for my sauce, and if I wanted I could have added more butter to thicken it a bit. He said NO more salt...just on the edge of being too salty, but not too bad. The fish was cooked perfectly. All the chefs say I have the turning motion down, it's just the size that is inconsistent. Oh well! I was personally frustrated with this dish and I didn't like the sauce...so I wanted to get it over and done with.


After we got out of class I started to feel very sick. (assuming it was from the meat the night before) So I went home and took a LONG nap! I didn't want to sleep the whole day because it was the BIG rugby tournament day! So i finally woke up feeling a little better and met my friend Alex at a bar at 6:15 to catch the tail end of the Scotland vs England Rugby game. Thrilling. Not as much as Football, but thats probably because I didn't understand it. England won. I was at an irish pub...so it was rather amusing. Anyway...we went back to his place, picked up some booze and he made some pasta and I hadn't eaten all day cause i felt sick so I was starvin! I ate, drank and finally my friends showed up. We had a merry old time. At like 12ish I decided I wanted to go home. I knew I was going to do a city walk on sunday and the bears were playing so i wanted to be well rested. So i took the metro home and CRASHED!

Feb 2, 2007

Friday was a long but FUN day! at 8:30 we had PP...which was VERY funny because we just got confused! Our teacher lost us from the start of class trying to explain to us how he wanted us to do the recipes, then before we could get too far he stopped us and said scratch that...everyone just do half a recipe. So needless to say it wasn't the most comprehendable class, but it was fun. Chef didn't have much to say. He borrowed one of my almond tuiles to show some of the people in the class of how they should look, so I assume they were good. He said they were good size, and he ate one and said it tasted alright. He said my raisin bisquits were also of good size. But that was pretty much it!

Then we got done VERY early...10:30...so Kaili and Katie and I went to the local food shop and got some salads and ate an early lunch. We walked back towards school and had some coffee, then I had to go back to school early so I could be the assistant for CP. Todays practical went smoothly. Nothing really to say. I mean, yah my vegetables need a LOT of help turning...but I'll get there! This is the only chef that truely came around to every person to show them how to turn each vegetable correctly and I actually understood the movement. It was a big help! Chef said my Hake was cooked correctly, my sauce (hollandaise) needed a little more paprika, he helped me with my garnish to show how to put it on correctly and that was that. Overall he said it was nice.

Then we had a CD and we learned 3 more fishes. One was like fish sticks, the other we were making, and the other was salmon. All three not too interesting. My friends and I were anxious to get out of there because we were going for a good dinner! So class let out early and we got dressed really quickly and took the metro to L'Entrecote.

AMAZING! I know, I know...I shouldn't have eaten meat (trust me...i felt it the next day) but it was too good to pass up! So this is how this place worked. They ONLY serve meat there. It is served with a salad, french fries and this AMAZING sauce (secret family recipe) and you choose how you want your meat done. It's only one kind of meat too. You also can get wine if you want. I chose not too. Then you get a choice of dessert. I had the profiteroles which you can see :)




The food was AMAZING! (I went with..from L to R...Lauren, Katie, Kaili, Melissa A. and Me!) THEN...we left the restaurant and walked a little cause it was right by the champs elysees...and to our amazement Laduree (the macaron place) was OPEN! After being so stuffed...we STILL went in and bought macarons and I also bought a millefeuille (also know as a napoleon to the non frenchies). And you can see Kaili takin a bite out of crime...i mean the pastry in the picture below!! SOOOO good.


Then we walked a little more and then we all decided to go home. Katie slept over that night cause she lives too far away and we had school the next morning to i told her to spend the night. So we went home and talked for a little then crashed!