March 30

Again...no internet! The two people i have talked to on the phone WHO SPOKE ENGLISH said they couldnt help me unless i spoke french! jerks! So today I had class at 8:30 again and we made the guinea fowl! It was the most waiting around we have ever done in class before. It was because the bird was supposed to be in the oven for an hr so we waited for a long time because we couldnt make the sauce til it came out!! Anyway...I didn't peel my celery for the veggie medley...so while I was making my bird, I remade my celery so that kept me busy for about...oh two minutes! Well, Chef said my cooking and the color of the bird was good, the sauce tasted like the trimmings were colored too dark, which they were, and the veggies were cooked perfectly (whew!). Overall he thought I did a nice job. Guinea Fowl is a very rich bird...and i don't think I would eat it on a daily basis...but it's very good.

Then we went for coffee. We had a LONG time today which was nice and relaxing. I actually had some coffee :) Then for PD we learned two tarts...YUMO! A lemon tart and a passion fruit and raspberry tart. Both so super delicious! just amazing. Went home a happy camper :) anyway...after school lauren and I went to transfer over some of her money and run errands. I went home and made myself some dinner and then went to kaili's and put her french lessons onto my computer. I will know french when i come home. you can be sure of that :) Then I came home at midnight and went to bed after trying to futz with my internet again! argh

March 29, 2007

Once again my internet has crashed and I can't steal it unless I am sitting in madame's bathtub or my roomates room...so currently I am doing the latter :) So...the 29th! I had class at 8:30 as usual. We went to class and look what we had here...a visiting HOT chef ;) He was tall, dark and handsome and young ;) And spoke a little english...but thought I spoke french so spoke a lot of french to me and i just went along! anyway...we made the french sushi rolls! Best class because we was so helpful. And i'm not saying that because he was a sight to see. But at the end of class when we did our tasting, he made us taste with him and he asked what we thought of our dish. I told him what i thought. Then he said what he thought. He said i needed more salt in my stuffing, but I stuffed the rolls to the right size. He said the salmon was slightly over cooked, but the cabbage was perfectly cooked. He said the sauce was good flavor even though i disagreed. He said a bunch more but I don't remember because i didn't get to blog that day! argh! anyway. here it is. I wasn't pleased with my plating either...but it was hard.

Then after that i checked my email and then met the kids for cafe and just sat with them. Then we had class and we learned roasted guinea fowl with calvados sauce (YES!), fish stew (which was VERY good) and an apple and honey butter tart (which was sadly dissapointing!) After class I was in DESPERATE need of groceries so I went to the grocery store and you will never believe what i found...an entire section of kosher for passover goodies! I was so excited! i didn't buy anything. I have to go back. But it was thrilling. I came home...actually did some homework...don't ask...im changing my ways this trimester! Then i obviously couldnt go on the the computer...so I putzed around and went to bed!

March 28, 2007

Day after birthday! I feel like a new woman ;) Well almost! hah! I didn't mention gifts! but let's just say...i got amazing ones! I couldn't be happier. Anyway, class at 8:30 this morn was PP. We made the almond cake and the streusel. My almond came out fine, and my streusel was ok, but my dough was uneven. Chef said to me, "it's ok, you're pastries always look fine all of the other times" so I guess that means this one wasn't too good...and it wasn't but im fine with that. it tasted good :)


After that class we went to grab some food at the daily monop then went for coffee. Then we went back for CD. We learned shellfish soup, salmon and cabbage rolls (french style sushi), and souffle crepes with pineapple and apples. All three were pretty amazing! After class Lauren and I went to get my birthday gift. if you wanna know what it is ask. Then I came home, did some cleaning of my room and organizing and chattin online. Gonna go read and go to bed! Start of intermediate is going pretty well...so far ;)

Joyeux Anniversaire

Today was my birthday! I wanted to post earlier...but the daily activites didn't allow me to! I started my day off right with cafe with Kaili and Trephene at 7:30 before class :)

Then I had 8:30 class and we made Cockerel. Not bad. Quick and easy! Chef said it could have been cooked 5 more minutes, i agree here. But my veggies were cooked right, my sauce had good flavor, but too sweet which was from too many veggies in the reduction while cooking. (learned that earlier in that class though) and that the cockerel had good flavor. So overall i did a nice job. (and class sang happy birthday to me because there was a girl next door who's bday it was so my class tried to sing louder afterwards...i think we won!)

After class we went to get coffee. Well coffee..yah...but then Katie went to buy champagne and we drank it through the streets and infront of school! HOW FUN and illegal :) The slide show shows as many pictures as i got from my camera and melissa's camera!!! Also included in the slide show are pictures from when we got back to school, my friends bought me a birthday card that sang and balloons that they put in their hair! So we were crazy! We also, during break, bought candy for our demo! Btw- we learned an almond cake, scottish, and streusel. They were all pretty bland for me. I was too excited for dinner!!!

After class we all left each other and I went home and read a bunch of emails! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO WISHED ME A HAPPY BIRTHDAY! it was very sweet of you! Then I got dressed and walked to dinner at L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon! What a wonderful evening with 7 of my favorite people (katie we missed you immensely!!!!!!!) My dinner is in french and was in the order i ate it...but if you have a question email me and i can explain what i ate! Whatever it was it was fabulous! Also I drank wine and a kir royal!

The next slides are the pictures people snapped at dinner along with some of the other people's food which was JUST as amazing!!!! Enjoy ;) oh and feel free to laugh at the pictures they snapped of me! and check out the amazing birthday cake they made for me at the restaurant! my friends also sang happy birthday to me 4 times. twice in english, once in spanish, and once in french :) love them!

After dinner, I went home. I had a great day! I don't know why people say at 25 things go downhill...because for me....life just began at 25! I couldn't ask for anything better! Thank you my french friends for giving me the best birthday ever! Beyond birthday...thank you for giving me your friendship! Au revoir :)

Premier jour de intermediaire

Well today was my first day back! JOY! I met up with lauren at about 10:30 to grab lockers at school :) We didn't want the basic students to get the good ones since they had to be at school at 9 am!! we got good ones for all of us luckily! Then we went to the phone store and got my phone hooked up! After that we grabbed some lunch and eventually met up with Kaili, Melissa, and Katie for coffee. It was so nice to be back! At 3:30 we had a cuisine demo. We learned goat cheese stuffed tomatoes, herb butter cockerel, and some nasty egg white dessert thing. Boring. It was the first day back so i couldn't excpect much! Then after class I walked home and picked up pizza hut and ice cream! lauren came over and we pre celebrated for tomorrow. if you don't know what it is, then you need to. Find out :) Enjoy the previous blogs and get ready for a fun semester! Au revoir!

Going Home

Well I woke up and decided it's my last day and no toast for me! We don't have bagels in france and I wanted a lox and bagel sandwich so i got one! I also transferred my money back to euros, got a starbucks, and finished packing. I said goodbye to all of my friends at the backpackers. I made friends with Anna (sorry bout the spelling!) who was the nicest reception girl ever. We swapped emails and stuff. She rocked. If you read this...thanx for all the tourist help ;) Then I was off on my way. Here are pictures of my room and the bathroom.

The only complaints I have about the hostel are...I didn't have towel for 3 days (i know...u don't have to tell me!), nothing was ever working (internet, toilets), showers were cold even when it wasn't 8-10am (the hrs they said not to take showers), the fire alarm always went off, toast EVERYday, and ok...pretty much everything...the list could go on. But, it was cheap and i met some great people. My roomates came from, france, england, australia, columbia and the czech republic. Pretty interesting. They all spoke english. Anyway...it's nice to be home. I've almost finished reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidentials and i started it JUST this week. I'll prolly finish it tonite. I'm done unpacking. anymore questions, just email me. Oh, I can tell you...i WONT be going to london anytime soon. I just can't afford it :) Cheers

Day 8

Last full day in london. Had my toast and then had a little more shopping to do since i think i had enough touristy stuff! I went to Notting Hill...specifically the Portabello Street Market! WOW! So much antique stuff! I bought some nice things here. It seems so cheap, but then you double it and thats what the american price is! Crazy! It was a really nice market. They had clothes, food, everything, you name it! Then I came back to my area and went for lunch at Porter's and ate pie and mash! Which translates to meat in a puff pastry with mash potatoes! YUMMY! Mine had guinness inside with mushrooms. SOOOO good. I also had a honey stoudt. Best beer i've ever had! I could have had a few...but i had a show to see. I also had a bread pudding. It was also very yummy!




Then I went to go see Equus! What an amazing show! And yes...daniel radcliffe did a great job. the whole show was wonderful. No wonder it's gotten such great reviews! Then I walked to another shopping street which was eh. I didn't get anything so that makes it eh ;) Then I went to see Guys and Dolls with Don Johnson.

They were being VERY strict on no picture taking...as they should be like in the states...however in the UK people take pictures in theatres like it's their job. anyway...i tried to take a picture of how close i was to the stage. second row. i was in their faces!

The show...LAME. you could clearly tell they didn't want to be up there. Don Johnson...well he was ok...just cocky. Oh well...i enjoyed the music and it reminding me of camp "if we only had a lousy little grand we could go to camp harand!" I always sing that line...i dont know the real one! hahah. Anyway...I came home and packed a little and went to bed.

Day 7

AHHHH....Shopping Day! After my fill of toast, I went to Camden which is where there are loads of thrift stores and markets! It was thrilling. I didn't take pictures because I was SOOOO overwhelmed with everything. After Camden, I went to Oxford Circus and did DAMAGE on the credit card :) oops...hey my bday is coming up i deserve a new outfit...or two...or a few ;) anyway...i had a blast, but my feet were killing me!!!!!!! I really didn't do anything special today. But at 8:30 I went to see Dirty Dancing.

It TRUELY was the movie. Exactly! I actually loved the show. And i cried a little. It's such a good story. Anyway, I came home and went to bed cause a long day of shopping wears you out!!!

Day 6

Today was my day to NOT eat toast and treat myself to an english breakfast (i should have stuck with the toast!) I went to St. James Park and ate at Inn The Park.


It was a beautiful place...however english breakfast is nasty! I ate bacon, some sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms, an egg, and black pudding (DONT ask...seriously...i did) and i also ordered crumpets so i could have something sweet with blackberry butter with coffee.

You can see for yourself how nasty that is! and you can BET on your life I didn't eat it all! Then I went to the changing of the guards...in the rain! If you look closely at the pictures there are two funny ones. One, when the horsemen first entered the horse took a pee and i captured a shot. Two, I took a picture of a horse that had his tongue out the ENTIRE time and it reminded me of Tarzan! Also within this slide show I went to Buckingham Palace.

As I was walking to my next destination I saw some kings and queens...ok I don't know who they were...in carriages going someplace. But I did peek inside and saw some sort of royalty inside! It was cool!

My lunch...since i was NOT really hungry and i had that nasty breakfast, consisted of gelato and a waffle :) heehee. It was apple crumble gelato and banana toffee gelato. Pretty damn good I must say!

Then after that I went to see History Boys!

It was amazing! I'm sad I missed it in the states, but so happy I eventually got to see it. i must read the play now! Since I was not hungry at all, I went to an internet cafe and sat on the internet for a while. Then I went to see Mary Poppins!

Great spectacle as usual from Disney. Wouldn't expect less. But the show in itself was a good one. I enjoyed it! And my highlight of my trip was getting to speak to Gavin Creel again!

He's so hott and talented! He apologized for not remembering me, but he said next time i saw him in a show to stop by again and he would for sure remember me. Fat chance, but it was nice to say! I'll send him and email :) Anyway, we chatted for a while and he said he'd talk longer, but a bunch of people came out, whom he introduced me to, and said they were going to a film so he had to run. But it was nice anyway. I went home on cloud nine. As I approached home...everyone was outside because there was another fire alarm! Atleast i missed this one!! it was early enough! hah

Day 5

Today I woke up, after eating more toast, I walked to the London Eye. It's sponsored by British Airways and I thought it was a complete waste of my time and money. It was rather boring. But I guess it was something you had to do. It was like a giant ferris wheel. It went pretty high so you can see pictures of all of London. Enjoy it more than I did.

Then I walked briefly by "Big Ben" and the westminster abbey. I didn't want to go in because I didn't feel it!



After that I walked into the National Gallery and realized it was boring as hell so I left pretty quickly. I walked over to Rock and Sole Plaice where I was told to eat fish and chips! My first ones!!!!!

They were absolutely delicious! I should eat them more often. I ate them exactly the way they should be eaten. With tartare sauce and vinegar on the chips! yummy!
Then I went to see Les Mis.

It was a very good production. I'm glad I saw it in london. Then after the show I managed to get lost at some place called Yo Sushi! This concept was brilliant!



They have it in france and I can't wait to take my friends ;) Anyway, you sit down and there is a conveyor belt infront of you. Each plate is color coated. You have a book with the descriptions of all the plates in it. You take as many plates as you want. When you are finished with your meal, the server adds up the amount of each color plate and thats how much you pay. In the book it tells you how much each color plate is so you can know how much you are spending. Plus infront of you is still and sparkling water from a fountain. You can drink as much of it as you want for 1lb. Pretty sweet! I loved it. The sushi also doesn't stay on the belt for more than two hrs and it's marked at the top. They also have desserts. I could have stayed there forever. But I had to go to see Dancing In The Streets.

Eh. I could have done without this show. Oh well. Came home, went to bed and once again at 1:45 am ANOTHER fire alarm. Same drill.

Day 4

I woke up and luckily we were back to toast! I walked to the tower of london. I took a tour with a really funny wardsman. And i did get to see the crown jewels. However, today was the day I realized that touristy stuff isn't for me. I could give two BLEEPS when king whatever died. Sorry. Anyway...enjoy the slideshow. It's short.

Then I went to go see London's longest running play, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. It was really well done.

I walked around, ate something, then went to see We Will Rock You...Queen's Musical. Voice's were great but the story line was a bit weird for me.

Then I walked home and crashed!

Day 3

Todays breakfast was BREAD...not toast! i thought...oh...was it because yesterday was sunday that we had a special breakfast! OY! And this morning i FINALLY got a towel :) Anyway, I walked the river to the Shakespeare Globe museum and Theatre. Below you can see pictures of the beautiful place!!!!!

Then I walked to the oh so cool Tate museum. Has to be one of the coolest museums I have ever been to! I took a picture of two of the exibits there. One I was allowed to take pictures of, which were the slides going through the buildings which you were actually allowed to ride. One went from the 5th floor to the ground.

The other exibit I illegally took a picture of and you can't see it that well, but it was called sliding doors and they were doors that were mirrors and they kept opening one after the other and it was just really cool to look at.

Then I walked to Kensington Palace! OY! That was the longest walk ever. On my walk, infront of the National Gallery I saw a woman singing opera. Just standing outside singing. So i sat and watched her amongst the birds all around my feet!


I walked by the ORIGINAL Hardrock Cafe...where it all started!

After i walked through the Palace I had afternoon tea at the Orangery. Not only did I have champagne and tea, but with it I had three different kinds of sandwiches (all pictured below) cucumber and creamcheese, salmon and creamcheese, and some sort of smoked ham. There were two kinds of scones, orange and raisin, with strawberry jam and gooseberry jam and their famous clotted cream! There was a strawberry tart, and chocolate eclair, a chocolate cake, and a white cake with raspberry jam and white icing. They were all very small mind you!


Then I walked Kensington Gardens for a little. The only thing that really caught my eye was the statue that was named for Peter Pan. You can see it in my slide show.

Since it was raining I took the bus to see Billy Elliot.

It was great! I was very impressed. I took the tube home since it was still very rainy out and the theatre was far and went to bed at 12. At 1 am, the fire alarm went off. We all went outside for atleast 15 min and waited to get back in. Oh what joy.