March 3, 2007

Well I woke up too early for a saturday, but I took it. All i can say about today is that I tried to study on and off. In the morning when I tried to study I kept dosing off, so I tried to take a mini nap. Then I realized that was stupid, so I left the house to take a mini walk. I went to The Real McCoy, a mini american grocery mart. However the cafe was open, but the market part wasn't. The cafe did sell some products so I bought three things...diet cherry coke, diet dr pepper, and philly light chive cheese. All for too much money...but they will be worth it when eaten! Then I walked to buy Melissa's bday gift! Came home, made myself an exceptional lunch, wrapped her gift, did some london research, and then hit the books again. All afternoon I studied, did london research, and talked online to Lauren/Kaili. Fun afternoon...wasted away. Then I eventually showered later in the evening. And walked to meet Kaili and Lauren at Rick's House. There I met up with a bunch of peeps to celebrate Melissa L's Bday! I bought her tupperware and wrote her name on it, plus 3 pens. Long story unless you know Melissa! But she loved it! I stayed for two hours, then I came home cause Sunday I have a big day ahead of me! To bed for now!

March 2, 2007

And yet another great day in Paris! I woke up early as usual, but didn't have school early! I had a 10 am dr. appt...nothing big...just checking out a little rash I had, which had practically gone away since i had made the appt! He was a very nice guy and spoke PERFECT english. He is from Ireland and his last name is Slattery...brought back memories! We talked more about pastries than dr stuff! He sent me to where HE thought were the best macarons! So after my appt, i went to office depot to buy some stuff and send a fax. Then I went to the dr's suggestion called Carette. They were pretty good, ESPECIALLY the butterscotch one. I hadn't walked that area much, so I was seeing new things I hadn't seen yet. It was very pretty. Then I met up with Katie over near Bon Marche and we first went to La Maison du Chocolat which is supposed to have the best chocolate, but Katie begs to differ ;) However, they are also said to have the best chocolate and caramel eclairs. So I got a caramel one...i took one bite...amazing! Then we walked to a restaurant where I want to have dinner for my birthday and made reservations. It's gorgeous. That's all I'll say for now :) Then we walked to Pierre Herme which is where Katie thinks the best chocolate is from! So she got some chocolate which she has been craving! I'm glad i could be of assistance in times of need ;) Then unfortunately we had to walk back to school cause we had a PD. Atleast it was at 3:30, it was ONLY a demo and it was pastry! So we learned a Pistachio Ganache log, and a Genoa cake. Both pretty tasty. However the ganache overpowered the pistachio so all you could taste was chocolate. THEN...we trekked over to what is said to be the best mexican restaurant in Paris, Anahuacalli! It's in the 5th and it was pretty damn good! I had 2 glasses of margaritas, i ordered an appetizer for the table, and then I had a chicken burrito. Pretty good food! I'd go back...often actually. Oh and chips, salsa, and guacamole!!! yummers. And i tried nopalitas, which is cactus, for the first time! That stuff is GREAT! I hear it's great for pregnant woman. no worries...not prego!

Rick, Melissa L., Lauren, and Kaili

Ana Victoria, Katie and Melissa A.

Jackson, Trephene and Ben

Then entire dinner crew (minus Ana Victoria who was sweet enough to take the picture and Katie who couldn't squeeze in!!!)
Then after dinner people went out, but I came home and studied for about 2 hours then went to bed :)

deux mois

Today marks the day that i've been here for two months! So MANY good things happened. Well I woke up at 8 am...obviously you can tell not early enough to make it to my 8:30 class. I did that on purpose. I know...bad kid! But we were making the fish terrine and I thought I may spew on the class if I had to make that! Since I hadn't had any food in my house for over a week because I was sick and my market was today I thought it would be a good excuse to miss class and go to the market! SO i did just that! Shopped til I dropped for YUMMY, healthy food! Then I came home and saw my internet was working...except when I put in the code it didn't work. So i waited til Madame woke up and she called Orange for me and we worked it out and NOW I HAVE INTERNET! YAH!!!! it only took 2 months! hahah. So then I made myself some good lunch and walked to school. At 12:30 we had CD. We learned Sea Bream Fillets and fennel, Guinea Fowl with cabbage, and Pears in fried puff pastry. Not a bad tasting day if i say so. I actually ate smoked bacon and smokes sausage and liked them both! shocking huh?!?! Then at 3:30 we made the Sea Bream. However, class started late because the class before us was baking bread! YUMMO! So we ended promptly at 6 today. It was pretty easy though. However, cutting fennel is not that easy. Pretty tricky actually! And I'm still not the best at filleting a fish...BUT getting better. At the end, chef said my sauce was perfect, fish was cooked perfectly but the fennel was a bit salty. And when I tasted it again i was like...OMG it's WAY too salty...he said just a little. But over all, he gave me a high five. So to him that means way to go all around. I've never had sea bream before...but it wasn't bad.

After class I came home and felt daring! So i made myself dinner!!! I used the left over chicken I had from school a few days ago and made myself some chicken salad. I put it ontop of tomatoes and my roomate brought home some of her baguette that she made and Voila! Great dinner! And great end to the day. Talked to my roomie for a while, talked to Kaili online, looked at my french terms, and figured out my schedule for tomorrow! Going to bed!

Feb 28, 2007

Wow....Feb flew by! Anyway, woke up and felt much better today. However I still sound like a man ;) Well my first class was a CD at 8:30. We learned a hot fish terrine (which made me gag!!!), scrambled eggs with smoked salmon (look...if all else fails i can come home and make scrambled eggs...the FRENCH way!!!), and a bavarian cream dessert with coffee sauce. If I didn't get near that fish thing class would have been good...but it got in my way of everything! Yucko! Then during break, Trephene and I went to the Daily Monop and I got a sandwich and orange and we sat and talked about life :) Came back and had class at 12:30 which was a PD. We learned MORE puff pastry! This time it was a Pithivier, Dartois and Puff Pastry Twists. He also made some extra thing that was supposed to look like whole wheat dough...and it did for the most part, and an apricot tart. All i know is that EVERYTHING had WAY too much almond cream in it! But it was still good! duh. Then, as usual, he ran class to the last minute and i had to get ready for my PP which was making the Pithivier (Three Kings Cake) and the twists. Class was fine except the chef was a bit uptight today. He kept getting mad when Kaili and I were talking. He also had an issue with americans liking cinnamon?!?! Anyway, he said my cake was very clean. I was actually very impressed with how well i did today because before i baked it, it looked like ass. But when it came out of the oven it didn't look half bad! So i'm happy. He said good work today even though he scolded me for talking!


Then after class I came home and I studied once again because I realized my first exam is tuesday already! AHHHH not ready! but i will be...as usual! Penny the Procrastinator WILL pull through! Then off to bed ;)

Feb 27, 2007

Well I woke up this morning feeling a little better. I took just what the chef ordered and it worked! No more listening to drs! listen to chefs :) Well I tried to sleep as late as I could, but I slept til 8:30, woke up ate breakfast, then got back into bed til 10. Got up showered, got dressed, did some research and stuff around the house, laundry, cleaning up, and didn't leave my house til 12:45 or so. As I was walkin to the coffee shop near school, which I was planning on going to to eat some lunch and read my paris guide, I ran into Katie. She said it was closed. So we picked a restaurant to go to. I had a GREAT sandwich and she had a cup of coffee. Then we left and we had 3:30 CP. We made the tarragon chicken. Since I was quite drowsy the day before and drugged up I didn't pay much attention in class, so I was pretty lost in practical today. I really couldn't understand how to cut a chicken into 8 pieces. So chef showed me how. I felt really bad, but I just couldn't get it. Oh well. And my turned vegetables...NOT so hot today :) My sauce though...very good. Chicken cooked well. And that was that.

After class I came home, had a craving for a baguette...ate half of a REALLY crappy one and YES, I studied. I think so far I have studied more for this exam that I ever did in college. So that says a lot to me! However I don't feel prepared yet. I think they are trying to freak us out. So i'll work my ass off. For me, it's not about the grades...it's about if i'm learning. NO ONE is gonna see my cooking/baking report card...only I will be the judge of how much i learned! So i better get "crack-a-lackin" as Katie would put it!!! Then to bed at a decent hour.

Feb 26, 2007

Woke up still feeling miserable, but i HAD to go to my first class because it was an option for my final exam. So at 8:30 I had my PP. It was to make the mogador. I was pretty much out of it. Chef felt bad for me and gave me a hug, pinched my cheeks a few times, and actually gave me the name of a medicine to go get when class ended. I tried my hardest to work efficiently, but I just wanted to get out of there. I did ok, but my genoise needed to be soaked more. I was in a rush, so I didn't think about small things like that. Anyway, the finish product looked good, and I'm glad I went so atleast if i get it on the final I know what to do.

After that I had to go home. I skipped, yes i know, skipped my next practical. It was the pork which 1) i didn't like in the first place and 2) wasn't on the final list so I didn't feel that bad. I went to the pharmecie and picked up more drugs then went home and napped. When I went back to school at 3:30 for my CD everyone said I had more color in my face and looked better so I guess i was feeling better. In the demo we learned tarragon chicken, gnocci (made with pate a choux) and apples with meringue. To me they were all pretty bland since my taste buds weren't back yet. We got out pretty early, but I had to stay at school cause it was my last wine class. Tonite we had the test. I didn't study all weekend so I thought maybe I should look over things. Well I looked over it for maybe 10 min and then I gave up. We went into class and took the test. I don't think i failed, but i didn't do that well. However, cold medicine and wine DON'T mix. I went home a little tipsy! After class I was so happy that I made it home safe and so excited to go to bed I crashed in my clothes :)

jours de congé pour maladie

I woke up saturday morning so sick :( I woke up at 11 am, at a small breakfast, did some stuff on my computer and then at 12 got back into bed. Slept til 2. Then from 2-4:30 watched Almost Famous while almost dying. Then at 4:30 at some dinner. Got back into bed at 5 woke up at 6 to take meds back to bed and slept til 9:30. Woke up. My roomate came home. Talked to her for a second. Went back to bed at 10pm. Woke up at 1:30am. Ate a piece of bread. Went back to bed. Woke up Sunday at 8 to take my medicine. Went back to bed til 11am. Woke up to eat something small since i can't smell or taste anything. Got back into bed at 11:30am til 5pm. Woke up, walked around and washed my pants for school. Decided to shower and freshen myself up. Then back into bed at 6pm. Slept til 9:30pm. woke up to take my meds and my roomate made me a cup of tea. Then I slept on and off pretty horribly til the morning. THAT was my sick weekend :(