July 6, 2007

Since I went to bed a little late last nite I slept in a little bit. I woke up at 9:45 and went to the gym shortly after. I came home and made the BEST breakfast! It was cereal bread (it must be a french thing...but it's really good) toasted, with a over easy egg, and petit billy goat cheese that was slightly toasted! AMAZING! it was like my version of an egg mcmuffin! Then I got dressed and ready to go and made a few phone calls. Found out I can't find my camera that I sent in to be fixed. it's MIA. I have to make another phone call and hopefully they will be able to find it. Then I left to go to school with a stop at the post office. I have a 3:30 demo which was hot plated restaurant desserts. We learned french toast with carmelized apples and cinnamon ice cream, and carmelized apricots with vanilla ice cream and crispy praline and carmelized pistachios. Both simple and pretty tasty. The french toast in france is AMAZING! Anyway...the demo was QUICK...and we were done early. But we had practical at 6:30. None of my friends wanted to go...but i did. We all went. When we got there we each took a component and did it. We got done within the hour. They all left and plated their plates quickly. I wanted to add a sugar component so I stayed an extra half an hour to make my plate look spectacular. I also did a different mounting of my phyllo dough because I knew what we learned wouldnt look good on how I wanted to plate my dessert. So I worked really hard. At the end of demo chef said to me, you did a great job today and I am giving you the maximum amount of points you can get in a day. So that last 30 minutes was well worth my time. You can decide for yourself. We were only supposed to do one dish, but I was waiting for my sugar to be ready so I did two :)


After class I walked over to Sarah's and we met up. We went to some place called Banyane for dinner. It was pretty good except for the LONG wait to get a table and the even longer wait for our food. It was pretty absurb. We finished dinner at 11 pm and was seated at 8:45! I mean it took a good 45 min for our main course to come! I was pissed. Lucky for them I can't speak french that well otherwise i would have complained! Anyway, I walked home and went to bed around 1 am. Good day!

July 5, 2007

Today was a GREAT day! I woke up at 8 and went to the gym. Had a great workout, came home got ready for school and met Kaili at my house at 10:45 to go to my market! I have the best market ever! We bought so much good food. Specifically Gambas that were as big as my head (almost 9 euros for one piece!) and calamari! Plus some great olives, onion, garlic, and BREAD! Just great food. Then we walked to school because at 12:30 we made LOBSTER RISOTTO! Yummy! I brought tupperware today :) There were a lot of parts to this class...but it went rather quickly. My risotto was so tasty I ate so much after the class finished! Chef did my plating for me today. So when you see the picture...it was all chef! I wasn't SUPER enthused by it...but it was ok. Chef was pleased with my dish. He said the fennel puree was supposed to be more liquidy and more like a coulis. I told him that was how the other chef made it, so he said ok. And my lobster sauce was too salty. But my lobster was cooked well. I had some ups and downs today.

After class Kaili and I went back to her place and stopped at the market to pick up a few more things. Then back at her place we watched a few episodes of Coupling and then Lauren and Dane came over. We started to cook dinner. Dinner consisted of Calamari, Gambas, Shrimp, (all on the grill with marinade) and Cous Cous with olives, garlic, onions, pinenuts, feta, and tomatoes. All of it AMAZING! Plus wine and bread. GREAT dinner. We watched two movies. Notes on a Scandal and Children of Men. OMG. Brilliant. Loved them both! Then for dessert we used this orange bread that we bought in the morning and toasted it and made a caramel sauce and sauteed cherries and nectarines in honey and added vanilla ice cream! AMAZING! Overall GREAT meal. At 12 Lauren, Dane and I took the Metro home. I went to bed at 1 am satisfied with an AMAZING DAY!!!!

July 4, 2007

YAH HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!!!! Well, it was a long day! Wait...aren't they all long :) Yes...but worth every minute! I had class at 8:30. I told myself if it was raining I was going to sleep in. It wasn't raining :) So I went to my CP. We made the lamb tart. It was SOOOO tasty. I wish I would have brought tupperware! Anyway, class was fine. I worked well again. However right at the end I put a little too much mustard in my sauce. But it was so tasty to me, I ate my entire plate. And as a personal goal, I finally cooked my potatoes all the way through without burning them :) They were never bad...but I actually got the hang of it now! Chef said my lamb was cooked perfectly and everything on my plate tasted good. This dish is really outstanding and I will be making it again.

After class, since we got out super early, i went and sat with my friends for coffee as usual. Then at 12:30 we had a CD. We learned guacamole and fish ceviche, lobster risotto with zucchini flowers, and for dessert a molten cake with pistachio ice cream. I was impressed by the guac and ceviche. I really thought it was going to be bad. And the molten cake...NOT COOKED. i mean I KNOW it's supposed to be runny in the inside...but COME ON. Because of this...i HAVE to show you how bad this chef is. check out this cake AND horrible plating. (keep in mind this is NOT what I witness daily....just with this chef)

After class I went to the gym. Great workout. Came home, showered and put on red tights, a blue dress with a white shirt and white belt and felt FESTIVE! then i went to wine class. We focused on the region of Burgundy. After class there was a party going on at school for Alliance Francaise and a few of us hung out to drink some more and eat horrible macaroons :) One chef called me superman, another said spiderman, and another said I looked pretty! I was the joke for the night! but i HAD to support my country! Too bad france has the same colors!!!!!!!!!!! On my walk home I saw a dog sitting at a fancy restaurant with his owner on the chair at the table eating off of a plate. At first I thought it was cute...but then I was disgusted at how they can allow that at a restaurant! atleast it was outside! I went to bed at 11 after talking to an old friend of mine.

July 3, 2007

I did NOT want to go to school today. It was COMPLETE downpour this morning and i was in the middle of my REM stage when my alarm went off. If it wasn't pastry this morning...I wouldn't have been there :) AND...we were plating! So i HAD to go!!!! Anyway, I woke up at 6:45 and went to school for my 8:30 PP. It was just Katie and I. Melissa had missed demo so she couldn't go and Kaili did what I wanted to do :) So Katie and I knocked out the two dishes. One of the chefs had injured himself yesterday so he couldnt' teach today, so we had one chef between two classes. It was pretty nice actually. Never was bothered by a chef behind me! Anyway...we split everything up between us. However I made half a recipe of sorbet and then found out we were supposed to do it as a class. Oh well. Then Katie and I made half a recipe for the financiers as we were told. Well it only made 6 and we were annoyed...so we made another full recipe ;) YUMMY! Everything else of ours came out great! On my first picture of the financiers... one of the raspberries fell out of place...very annoyed! But...chef said he liked my plating...but it wasn't big enough. If you are going to charge people 12-13 euros for a dessert it needs to have more. However, I have to disagree. I see desserts all the time that are tiny that have quality not necessarily quantity and that's why they charge an arm and a leg :) So...I see what he is saying...but it's ok. I am getting better though!



During break I checked my email and went over my recipe for the next class. At 12:30 we had a CP. We made the stuffed veal with foie gras in cabbage and stuffed tomatoes with broccio cheese. Class went by pretty smoothly. Once again, we got done super early. 2:10. We had the master chef who is good at everything. I did my own plating and he commended me on how good it looked. He also said everything on my plate tasted great and was cooked perfectly. Overall I was pleased with myself. I think I forgot to peel my celery though. Oh well!

After class I sat in the winter garden and drank a diet coke which did absolutely nothing for me. I was too dead to talk, think, or even put my head on the table! I had 3:30 class which was a CD. We learned a red mullet dish with julienne veggies and a fennel sauce, a lamb tart with yummy stuff, and for dessert was tapioca with an orange caramel sauce and whipped cream. I wasn't a fan of the mullet. Never have been! hahah. After class I went to the gym and i realized that "you can't stop the beat" from Hairspray is a GREAT song to run to! But when you get a bad song...you don't wanna run anymore! I'm getting better though. I came home to find a note on my door saying we had hot water! It has been since May 31st that we haven't had hot water! That was 1 month and a few days....CRAZY!!!!!!!! But finally, I can shower peacefully, BY MYSELF, at my own home after the gym! It's now approaching 10 pm and I am EXHAUSTED! so i am going to hit the sack. Another long day tomorrow :) Ciao

July 2, 2007

Holy crap....July already...I've been here 7 months already!!!! CRAZY! Anyway, today I had to wake up extra early to go get my uniform at Sarah's house since she forgot to bring it to dinner last nite. Then I went to school at we had 8:30 PD. We learned a lemon cream with berry foam, pistachio financier with raspberry chocolate ganache, and mango and pineapple brochettes with mango and pineapple sorbet. All were OK to me. Nothing to die for. During the break i went on the computers to write a few emails. Then at 12 we had pictures. BLAH! At 12:30 we had a CD. We learned a mushroom and foie gras terrine, lamb stuffed with lots of stuff and wrapped in no other than cabbage, and dessert was a claufoutis with mango passion fruit sorbet. Eh. I was starving so I ate it. After school I was planning on going to the gym but I left my lock and id at home. So I went to the grocery store and went home. However...when I got home...THE TONY AWARDS (the dvd my cousin sent me) HAD ARRIVED! well worth not going to the gym! I blogged from the weekend, and sent some emails, made some dinner...then sat down for a relaxing (yet sad) night of the Tony's! HOW EXCITING! now to all my friends who want to discuss them...we can :) They were great and I can't wait to get to NY to see all the shows out. Makes me sad...but at the same time...makes me feel SOOO good at what I'm doing. I think my new career is going to be really good! Anyway, then I talked on the phone with a new friend i made! Long story...don't wanna talk about it. Yes it's a guy. No it's not like that. Anyway, now i'm going to bed. it was a long weekend and i need some rest!!!! Love to all :)

Azabu

Well...I tried to wake up late...but 10:30 it was. Not too early, not too late. I was going to go to the flea market...but I was with so many people the day before, that all I wanted to do was be by myself. No hangover...just lazy! Anyway...I cleaned my room and talked to Aaron in Korea for a while! SO cool! Then eventually i watched Drop Dead Fred. I know...SOOOO old school, but it brought back many memories! Made me happy. At 4 pm I went to do my laundry at the laundry mat. Can my water just be fixed already?!?!? I got home about 5:45 and washed my hair in the (cold water) sink. Then I got dressed all cute and took Sarah Fritz out for her birthday dinner. We went to this great restuarant called Azabu! They cook on the table...like ron of japan (but not as good!!! hahaha) Anyway...We ate great food! She is a vegetarian but found PLENTY to eat. I ate some meat (amongst other things) and sadly came home and got pretty sick. Oh well. The meal was delicious though...so i guess it was worth it.



If i was feeling better I would have blogged but I went to bed as soon as I got home at 11 pm! GREAT WEEKEND!!!!!!!!

La Marche des Fiertes

Sorry for the delay! It was a LONG weekend to say the least...but an AMAZING one! Ok...a few disclaimers before you read. 1) if you don't like gays...don't read or watch the slide show...u may be grossed out 2) sorry mom and dad for some of the absurdities...i know you won't mind though 3) One of my best days in paris so far...so don't judge! Thanx!

Anyway...I woke up at 8 and went to the gym. Came home and got all rainbowed out. I WAS a walking rainbow...as usual on pride! At 11:30ish I met up with Trephene and we went shoppin for booze and snacks! At 12:30ish we met up with Ming Su and sat down by the river and started eatin and drinkin. Eventually Manuel met up with us, then Oscar and then Rodolfo...he claims he's slow because he is gay and it takes him longer to pamper ;) As we were sitting we met a cute guy from Canada named Jean Philip. We chatted for a while. We were confused because you know in Chicago, NY or elsewhere people would have been camped out for a 1:30 start of the parade. Well at 12:30/1:00 there still were no people! So we went up along the river side at 1:30 and waited and drank and ate and talked and then Jackson met up with us. EVENTAUALLY...maybe 3:30 the parade passed by our way. By this time we were all just crazy! It was a BLAST. I have to say the pictures say it all! At around 6:30ish, Ming Su took off and the rest of us went to dinner for mexican food. We were starving by then! Then after that we walked the Lesbian district and i have to say...paris lesbians are BUTCH! I found nothin that sparked my interest! After that we went to a bar and hung out there forever!!!! I just kept drinking not knowing what time it was. I met so many people and kisses so many gay boys...i couldnt even keep their names straight...but they were so hot! Anyway...eventually we left that bar and went somewhere else. This was now 1 am. Jackson and I were starving, so we got a Pizza. Then we were going to go into the next bar, but not only was there a 10 euro cover charge (fine...no biggy) but they wanted to charge us to check our bag which they told us AFTER we paid our cover. Fine for the charge...but i wanted to keep my purse and they wouldn't let me!!!! SO jackson and i left and went home. I got home at 2 am...and went to bed really shortly after that. Obviously that was the short version...I guess there is more to the story...but who needs all the details. It was AMAZING! I had a blast. However...the parade itself was LAME compared to chicago's!!!!! But Pride will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart. Love to all my gay friends back home :) Enjoy the slide show!