May 4, 2007

Today I woke up too early for not having to start school until 3:30. I was out of the house by 9:15 but it turned out well because I got all of my errands done. With a little too much money spent! BUT i got my new gym shoes and they have orthopedic soles, but they are still cool! They are adidas...so i'm happy with them. I ran some other tedious errands that needed to be done and then I went to school at 2:30ish. ALL day I was reading that book by Ruth Reichl that I told you about a few blogs ago. I haven't been able to put it down! I finished it today. It was so uplifiting and made me want to become a food critic! Anyway, I had a 3:30 PD but it was savory petits fours. Too many to explain but we made about 7 diffrent kinds. All with different kinds of meats and fillings. I mean...boring class and I could learn how to wrap prunes with bacon in cuisine. Teach me pastry! so after that was done at 6:30 we had the first ever CP that I was EXCITED about going to! It was the tuna marinated on a puff pastry with tomatoes, onions, garlic, olives, and green pepper. Most amazing dish! The 4 of us worked together a lot today because we wanted to get out of class early. We succeeded at that :) But it made the class go smooth and a lot of fun! Chef commended me on my plating. But he said the balsamic was a bit too much because it's so strong. I like that he tells me what not to do because I want to get better at plating. Anyway...here is my masterpiece :)

I walked home in the rain, but when I arrived I dug into my favorite meal! So excited. Enjoyed everyminute of it, but saved some for tomorrows dinner. I did some laundry and got ready for my fun day tomorrow and am about to head to bed! niters.

May 3, 2007

In the morning I got to wake up at 9 am because I didn't have class til 12:30 today :) I made a pitstop at Carettes to get some Macarons for class (the banana passion fruit ones are amongst the favorites of my friends!) and then went to the dr. He said I have tendonitis in my foot. No gym for atleast a week, new tennis shoes, and medicine orally and topically. How fun. So I've been gimping for a while now and it didn't help that the dr put pressure on it...BUT atleast now I know why i have pain. So hopefully that will heal soon. Then I went to school for my 12:30 CD. We learned braised beef with olives, tuna carpaccio with tomato, olive and basil and other fun stuff over a puff pastry (i think my favorite dish that we EVER make!!!!! AMAZING!), and a tuile with a lemon emulsion. My roomate brought home that tuna dish last trimester and I've been looking forward to this the ENTIRE time!!!! So i can't wait to make it. After class, we had a break but during break there was a guest pastry chef so I went to pass the time by. He made some wonderful dishes. A shortbread with strawberries and rhubarb with a strawberry sorbet and strawberry tuile, a pink wine jelly with raspberries and rasberry coulis with a mint sorbet and an orange tuile and a chocolate millefeuille with chocolate cream and a cocoa bean tuile and white chocolate ice cream. All very tasty. He works at a Michelin starred restaurant...so needless to say, he did a great job! Then at 6:30 we had PP. We made the Plaisir. Well..it wasn't my day. My mousse was HORRIBLE the first time. Too cold. Notice i said first time. I had to start from scratch and make it over again. Oh well. I still finished on time and managed to do well in the end. Chef poured my mousse in my cake for me and poured too much so my layers are uneven. He apologized. I didn't care because I wasn't taking it home. Although I liked the vanilla cream MUCH better than the chocolate, so if i DID eat it, i would have been upset. But otherwise Chef was impressed with how much better my piping skills have gotten :) We didn't have to pipe, but I'm practicing every change I get!!!! Overall I guess I was pleased with it. Melissa took it home for her aunt's dinner party.


Then at 9 I walked home and took my medicine the dr gave me which has made me drowsy and I'm ready to pass out!!!!!

May 2, 2007

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I woke up, got dressed and got back into bed til I had to leave. Just one of those days. I had a PD at 8:30. We learned the Plaisir. It was ok. It was joconde, chocolate mousse and vanilla cream. Everything we've already done before in a different way. Get's rather boring! But taste good. Then during break I made a dr appt and sat outside and talked to some people. I'm fine...well i think I am. Just a pain in my foot that I better check out before I continue working out like I do and standing at school daily :) Then at 12:30 we had a CD. We learned Pig Trotters (thats the foot) with foie gras and veggies on toast, Stuffed Cabbage (the basis of intermediate cuisine!!!), and a strawberry soup and sweet flan!!!! I ate it all...can't say I loved it...but it tasted ok. Then at 3:30 I made the stuffed cabbage. Today I just worked. Worked it out. Except for my turned veggies. I really need to do some homework on those! But other than that...i knocked the crap out of that recipe. I had my stuff in and out of the oven like nobodies business!!! Anyway...chef had NOTHING bad to say. He said all my veggies were cooked perfectly, my jus tasted good, my cabbage and farce were cooked well and he even commended me and said I was a great student for cutting it for my presentation. Most students didn't do that. So i think i got bonus points ;) However...I need to work on my turning!!! But overall i did a great job today!

As I was walking home I ran into Alex so we ran to the grocery store together cause he needed some things and i needed batteries for my toothbrush. Then I came home and made myself dinner and am about to go do some homework and read and get a GOOD nights sleep! LONG day tomorrow. au revoir

May 1, 2007

It's already the first of may!?!?! wow! I've been here for 4 months! Anyway...today we had a day off of school because of May Day. Whatever it was...i accepted it with pleasure :) I woke up at 9:45...i was PLANNING on sleeping the entire day (well as much as I could) but you know me! So I made myself eggs and toast with a side of poptarts! hahaha. yes there is an american grocery store here and everyonce in a while u crave weird things! then at noonish I walked to Trephene and Oscars so they could borrow my computer. And I brought over bananas, Erik Kayser goodies and flowers and Trephene made me banana fritters! Yummers. Then a few hours later...like 6ish they walked me home. Then I spent the night cleaning, doing homework, booking italy, and talking on skype (my new found love!). Other than that it was a peaceful day off! The rest of the week is still hectic though!

April 30, 2007

Week of hell! Why you ask...well I have 3 classes this week til 9:30!!!! ARGH! so annoying! Anyway...first long day was today! I had an 8:30 CP in which we made the Lamb Chops with onions and potatoes. We had yet ANOTHER new chef...but today I didn't mind :) This one was cute...and i was flirting badly. But he was young and we had 45 min of waiting time while the chops were in the oven...so what else was I supposed to do?!?! ;) hahaha! Kaili was making fun of me. But it was fun! Anyway...the chops were too easy and i kicked but on my jus! I must be getting better or something. Chef was speaking to me in French during class and then at one point he asked me in english why i peeled my potatoes instead of turning them right away? I proceeded to ask him why he was speaking to me in french and not english? he chuckled and said because I was trying to learn french. Good point i guess. So, my plate in the end turned out well. He said the meat was cooked well, the jus was good, but i needed more salt. I didn't think so...but oh well. To each his own! Anyway, I was sad to leave class because I wanted to talk to him more (and get his number!!!) but I didn't wanna be pushy and I'm JUST a student...so I left.

Then I went to the gym. Came home showered, ate some chops, went to the post office to send someone's bday gift :) and then went to school for my 3:30 CD. We learned a salmon and watercress salad, basque chicken and an apple and phyllo dough tart. They were all pretty good. However the demo wasn't done til 6:30...NO LIE! And 3 out of the 4 classes in that class had the Practical for that demo right after that started at 6:30. Plus 2 people in each of those classes were assistants and they are supposed to start preparing the food at 6:10ish...so needless to say classes started a bit late! Not a big fan of the chef that did the demo. He is the one who does the demos that I say are boring. Anyway...we got to class and i had ANOTHER new chef! We have a lot of chefs on vacation and a few that went to japan to teach. So these chefs that I say are new are called "visiting chefs". They don't work here on a regular basis...they just come and teach when needed. So, this guy was young too and friends with the other chef, who happened to be next door so i got to see him again :) Anyway...i REALLY didn't wanna go to this class...but it usually winds up on the exam we've heard...so i went. It was the basque chicken with saffron rice. It was pretty easy. Chef and I were arguing about the cook of my chicken. I don't like to cook chicken in the first place because of salmonella and he was so sure my chicken was cooked but it was still pink!!! But i insisted i put it back in the oven. And I did. And he agreed that I was right. He also taught me a different way to cook my onions because he said they were crunchy. But I said I did them the way I was taught in class. He obviously wasn't there. It's so frustrating sometimes when the chef doesn't like the way something tastes but you did it the way you learned!! Anyway, he also said he thought my plating was pretty except the sauce. I probably could have reduced my sauce and made it thicker anyway. He did like the taste though. He said something about the rice...but i dont remember because he was speaking to me in french. At the time I understood it...but now it's slipped my mind. Anyway...I was happy that class was over! I said by...and then I said by to the other chef :) I told him I hoped I'd see him again! Oh I have no shame.

After class, around 9ish, Trephene was downstairs waiting for me because I took too long (flirting too much!) and we went to her house. Trephene, Oscar and I ate dinner, dessert, and drank ourselves silly to celebrate Valborgsmässoafton. Whatever that is :) It's a big night for the sweeds. Oscar is Sweedish. Pretty much...u just drink a lot! So that's what we did. We eventually went to a bar for one drink...but i was EXHAUSTED since i was in the kitchen since 8:30. At 1:30 I took a cab home and went to bed at about 2. LONG but fun day :) (and no school tomorrow for may day!)

Parc des buttes chaumont

Today was a perfect day...including the rain at the end! I woke up at 10...after I woke up at 7:30 to use the bathroom and forced myself back to sleep! Then I went to the gym and came home and once again procrastinated and left my house at 1ish or thereafter. I took the metro to the 19th district which is on the outskirts of paris and i had to take metros i've never taken before to get to this beautiful park!!! It had a 98 foot waterfall which you will see in the pictures. Also in the pictures, you will see views from atop. Those are from me standing on top of the gazebo which overlook the city. Not the best view but very pretty! I layed down in the grass for an hr and fell asleep to some music. It was so beautiful outside because it wasnt hot out.

After the park I went to a cafe called La Kaskad' Cafe. I had a cafe creme and read my newest book called Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl...HILARIOUS! Then i proceeded to walk and I walked by the CRAZIEST restaurant i have EVER seen in my life. It was a pizzeria, creperie and sushi bar...but get this...it was KOSHER! I mean what?!?!? crazy man! Then i got on a metro and decided to stop at Kaili's on my way home. We watched a few episodes of Weeds (great show!) then she asked if I wanted to order Dominos...no convincing me man! we popped some popcorn while we waited and the pizza came, lauren came, turned on sex and the city and we chowed down. At 9 pm I decided to leave and walk home which brings me to now. I'm about to hit the sack because this is going to be the worst week ever and i apologize now to my blog readers if I don't update on time! Toodles

No sushi :(

My body loves to wake me up at 7:30 even when we don't have school. So i just go with it. Actually I think I woke up at 8 today. Anyway, I went to the gym. Weird things happen at the gym. As I was leaving, a group of about 20 goodlooking men walk in (maybe my age) and one guy dressed up in a tiger suit with a yellow noise maker and they start taking pictures of him on the machines. I had to walk through them all while I was nasty and sweaty! How fun. Then I came home and was very lazy but eventually left the house. From 12-5 I walked around and shopped and did a whole lot of nothing. I didn't get anything accomplished but my feet hurt really badly. OH!!! yes yes yes...i DID get picked up buy a french guy who managed to walk and talk to me down the street because I told him I couldnt do coffee with him but I would chat with him. English ofcourse. Come to find out, he went to college in Israel and he is fluent in Hebrew. Not my type though. He did say I was his. It was rather amusing. I was flattered. Anyway...at 5 I found a grassy area and layed down for about 45 min til it got cloudy. Then came back home and read a little and talked to my parents. Then at 8:15 I left to go meet my friends for sushi. Now...we had talked about this since the middle of the week. We were supposed to do it last nite. That didn't happen for some other reasons. So we were going to do it tonite. I was the first to arrive at the restaurant...CLOSED! I was so upset. So when everyone else arrived...we looked for another place and since I was with a group I didn't want to be the rude one and say we HAVE to eat sushi if the majority didn't want to. Well the majority was so hungry so we just picked a place we knew was good. So we went for italian. I was kinda upset so I ate a salmon salad which was inplace of my sushi while everyone else was eating pasta and pizza. Oh well. This week though...i BETTER get my sushi! Then after that we went to a bar and i had a few beers. Took the metro home and was in bed by 2 :)