Yom Kippur

Ahhh....the day of the fast! This year was the easiest fast I have ever had...and what is so funny, is that I was cooking ALL day! i woke up at 10 and started my adventure. I cooked, I cleaned, I did everything without feeling ONE hunger pain. I admit I got thirsty at times...but never hungry! It was great. Anyway...I made a kugel(which was nowhere near as good as my mom makes it, even though i used her recipe!), blintz souffle (same as last comment), chopped up every veggie imaginable and every fruit imaginable. Cut up the bagels, layed out the lox (salmon), the 4 french cheeses as well as the cream cheese and the 2 different chive cheeses. I had chopped liver and gefilte fish with horseradish. I had nuts, pickles and olives. I had hummus. Oh yah...almost forgot. I also made potato latkes with apple sauce on the side. Which were very yummy when I finally got to eat them. I cut up onion, tomato, cucumber and lettuce for the lox and bagels. I had bagel chips and pita chips (in honor of my mom!) plus some rosemary crackers. Then Dzintra brought pita bread and a spinach dip. Kaili and Dzintra brought wine. Fernando brough Champagne. George brought Orange Juice and Martini (a drink they have in France) along with Pineapple and grapes (which we already had) I had coke, diet coke, coke zero, evian, badouit(sparkling water), and orange juice. Let's just say the spread was HUGE! And there was barely a dent made...BUT i have tons of leftovers. Anyway, the second 8:38 hit (sundown out here) i dashed for the lox and bagels. I had two sandwhiches, plus two of everything else. I didn't realize how hungry i was! It was great! Allen and Dzintra were there along with Kaili, Alex, Fernando, Liz and her frien George. It was a blast! Everyone left by 1:45 and Liz and I did a quick clean to put everything in the fridge. I was in bed by 2:15 and really pleased with my Yom Kippur. I have to say...I think G-d's gonna let me have a great new year :)

September 21, 2007

I didn't think my days could get busier! I woke up at 9 and started my day! First I went to Monoprix (and sadly I had to take the rolly cart). Then I had to come home and unfill that. Then I went to the Grand Epicerie (without the cart!) and found out they don't sell blintzs in Paris...so I have to make my own! I came home and got dressed for my first training session. So i went to the gym early to do a bit of cardio. I see Sebastien...who is manuel's trainer also and who is about to be mine and I tell him I am his appt today. He says there was a mixup so he can't train me but his friend Michel will train me. I was so upset. BUT Michel is the cute guy who always flirts with me...so life isn't that bad. And he speaks better english than Seb, but I thought with Seb I'd be forced to speak french which is a good thing! Anyway, Michel and I trained...and he was flirting...I was flirting...the session ends. He puts his hand on the table and I notice his ring. I asked what it was and he said he was engaged. BUMMER! Oh well...onto the next man :) But it was fun! Atleast I made a friend at the gym...and he said he would help me with my french...but i REFUSE to go there...if you catch my drift! So...i left the gym after making another appt with sebastien this time! I came home and had to go back to the Grand Epicerie for the filling of the Blintzs cause I forgot that. I came home and started baking! I made the blintzs, rugelach, mandel bread, and a honey apple cake. I also boiled my noodles for the next day! I finished around 11 pm. At that point I was fasting so I couldn't taste my food anyway. Bummer! I also got to read a bit which was nice, when my food was in the oven. It was so relaxing. I went to bed around 12.

September 20, 2007

What a busy day! I woke up at 7:30...yes by choice :) I went to the gym first thing. Came home and went to my market. I tried to avoid using liz's rolly cart because to me those things are nerdy! So i had to go to my market twice because I bought so much!!!! I came home and showered and stuff. Then I met kaitlin and we went to Le Marais to get the jewish stuff I needed, mainly bagels...along with some side dishes. Then I came home and went to school. I printed out some recipes and I also got my schedule for Pastry for next term...HORRIBLE SCHEDULE!!!!!! Oh well..that's what I'm here for! School today...well...from 3:30 to 9 pm...no break...we did molecular cooking. Dzintra couldnt come to school today so it was me, Emi (the asian girl) and the boys. Well...the three of them had fun playing...but some how i managed to be Chef's "Bitch" if you will. He kept having me make stuff for HIS dishes. So my dishes weren't so creative or fun looking, while the other's...their dishes were outstanding! SO annoying! But...chef was nice about it. I guess that means he likes me! After we worked a bit on our own dishes, he started showing us some more machines and techniques to use in molecular cooking. It was pretty neat! So my dishes. I made canneloni using chicken stock and this stuff called gellan with some saffran to flavor it. That's it! Then the stacked one was a carrot biscuit with fennel gelee which is a puree of fennel and this stuff called iota. And the other one is a zuchinni biscuit with a mushroom gelee...same thing. Chef liked them. But they sure weren't fancy compared to what the other peeps did! Oh well.




At the end of class we drank champagne :) Then I had to walk home with my uniform, my bag, and my knives cause I had to use them this weekend. I went to bed shortly after...it was a LONG day!!!

September 19, 2007

Like I wrote on my away message...same shit...different day! Gym, then came home and got dressed cause I went to school early to help Alex out with some uniform stuff. Then the boring yet interesting part of my day started. From 3:30-6ish we watched Chef do a demo in molecular cooking. It was pretty cool. I learned some stuff about food I have eaten at a few restaurants, including Moto...my favorite meal of all times. It's pretty cool to see how something is made that you've actually eaten! Anyway...the demo was interesting...but the taste...eh...first off, I don't like beets so I didn't eat much of it. Second, texture...WEIRD! Third...overall the concept is just so over the top...unless you put something normal with it, it just doesn't fly. Anyway, I still had fun watching and definately said "ooh" and "aaah" a few times! But then at 6:30 there was a speaker on molecular cooking. Now as interested as I am...he spoke for almost 2 hrs and he was boring as hell. Ok...so blame it partially on me. I'm not fluent in french. I understood about 1/2 of his presentation, but the other half...LOST! and it was chemistry...what do you expect me to do...pay attention? ;) No but seriously...they said they usually have a translator for this section of class...but everyone spoke french this year so they didn't. Um did they forget about me?!?! No...they just have too much faith in me! I guess they should...i CAN comprehend more than I think! Anyway, we were all starving by the end of him showing us how to cook eggs with ethanol and telling is we can't eat it (DUH!) amongst other pretty neat tricks. SO chef took out a bottle of red wine and some bread and cheese. It was nice. But shortly after Dzintra took me home and I gorged on bread and butter...something I was craving for some reason! I went to bed pretty much after that.

September 18, 2007

So i started my day off at the gym. Came home and prepared my weekend dinner party. Well i just got my ingredients together on a card so i know what to buy! Then i got dressed. The weather is starting to change here...so it's been in the 60s. A little cooler than usual. Anyway...I went to school early because I had a mtg to renew my carte de sejour because i am staying so much longer now!!!!! After that we had our second class on vacuum pack cooking. Once again...so interesting! Today we focused on fish, fruit and vegetables. I made, specifically, the apple compote (which was delicious) but I also made the 3 peppercorn sauce and chef commended me again on a great sauce! It was really good. Class is so much fun when we work as a team. We just chat and eat! We didn't take a break and we pretty much started cooking after 30 min of lecture so we got out at 7:15ish. Pretty nice! I came home and it was a GREAT nite. I watched that stupid movie called Knocked Up...not too bad though...horrible ending. But the best part was I got to catch up with some old friends. I love doing that! Made me happy! Overall it was a great day :)

September 17, 2007

Back on track and i feel better than ever! I went to the gym this morning...set up and appt with a trainer and after I bought a few groceries. I actually don't need much because I eat a banana before the gym, then after I eat a sensible lunch, then i may eat a snack before school if Im hungry but usually i just go to school and then dinner is at school with the tasters. So i'm set with groceries...plus whatever we make at school (if we make stuff) i take it home. Anyway, i came home and made myself some eggs and a piece of toast. Yum! I then went to sephora to buy myself a new perfume since last week i broke my newest bottle and this week I ran out of my old stuff! I asked the lady for something that smelled like baby powder and bingo! It was perfect. Made in france...called Stella Cadente. She has a website. Check it out. Smells amazing. Then I went to school and putzed on the computer and talked to Peter my classmate. Eventually I went to class. It was SOOO cool today. We learned Vacuum sealing food and how to cook it. The concept it so brilliant but difficult at the same time! Anyway...For about an hr we were lectured and took notes and then til 9 pm (with one 15 min break) we worked together as a group making 7+ recipes! It was so much fun. We chatted. We cooked. We learned. It was so layed back and enjoyable! and the food...OMG! soooo good! We all kind of took charge of one part of a recipe. I made a jus for one of them...and guess what...i did it correctly :) Chef commended me on it! I don't get why one time i do it right and the next i fail? Oh well...that's life! you move on! Anyway...class was so much fun! We finished early and Dzintra brought me home. I went to bed around 11:30 because I was so wired I couldn't go to bed!!

Le week-end

So as you know...I never have class on friday, so my weekends consist of friday, saturday and sunday! So...unless something spectacular happens during my weekends, I'll prolly just put them together in one blog! Big events of my weekend....mmmm....friday nite I went to dinner with Sarah at some cute little restaurant. Saturday my friend Ping Wen invited me over for home made chinese (not what you think of when you go to a chinese restaurant) food! It was AMAZING and HOTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! he made these stuffed chili peppers that were to die for! i mean just amazing! And everything else was just delicious! It was a very nice group of people as well. And sunday was prolly the best day of the weekend. I went with Dzintra, Alan, Samantha (my french family- who aren't really french) and one of her friend's Gina to see No Reservations and out for pizza and ice cream then back to Dzintra's to chill for a bit. It was a beautiful day outside so I walked there and we walked Gina home. It was just nice to be with a family who really cares about me since I'm so far away from home. I love those guys!!!! Anyway, it was a very relaxing weekend. Looking forward to an awesome weekend of cooking! Sleep tight all :)