oh great...

So my wonderful jean day yesterday had a HUGE unterruption. I looked adorable. As you can see in the pictures ;) (with my cool new boots...and i got tons of compliments on them! Guess they were worth the price!)


Anyway...but i had to go to the dr. Well he gave me more amoxicilline and then prednisone. I knew I heard of it before but I didn't remember. So my mom called and i told her what the deal was. She is like "you are gonna HATE taking that" I was like why? She said...i took it in HS when I had hives to reduce inflammation and it's a pill that makes you GAIN WEIGHT! I was like GREAT!!!! after all this achievement. ARGH! in anycase...i'm only taking them for 5 days and it's only a low dose...so i'll just be very careful on what i eat!

After that I came home and Asima and I went out to run an errand and then I went to LCB again for a visiting chef from the 2 star (3 star for 31 or 32-cant remember- years...lost one recently) restaurant called Taillevent.



The pastry was Arnaud Vodounou and then his asst was Andrea. They made two desserts.

Craquant aux feves de tonka (crunchy shortbread with tonka bean cream)

Fantasie de fruits exotiques (tropical fruit fantasie)

Then I came home for about two seconds and I met up with Maria from Portugal (my very good friend from the HEG program!) and we ate a restaurant in paris that specializes in fruit dishes called Paradis de fruit. It was ok. I had a crab salad. Then after that we quickly grabbed some starbucks and then I went out with Fernando and then introduced him to teddy! I KNEW that was a matchmade in heaven!!! I'm so good ;) Then fernando and I went back to his place to chat and before i knew it, it was 3ish so I walked home. I went to bed around 3:45! CRAZY day for me!!! But atleast I wasn't bored out of my mind!

In other news (so i don't have to write a new blog!) I watched the movie Across the Universe (the beatles one) on my computer...but for some reason the last 9 minutes didn't work! ARGH! So whatever...i'll find a way to watch it. But then a few nights ago Asima and I watched Sicko (FINALLY!!) and 1) the SOS medecin that came to my house last friday was IN the movie...hilarious and 2) I'm moving to canada or cuba :) JK! But seriously...i guess i don't realize how bad it really is! CRAZY!!!

Other news...that's it. I need to be working on my thesis...and i'm NOT!!! But i sure am enjoying living the life in Paris...

jeans!

I woke up this morning and I am about to go to the dr because i STILL can't hear...but i decided to try on one of the two pairs of jeans I've been avoiding. I know i've lost some weight...but i'm still avoiding them because i'm in denial. Anyway...i tried on the one pair...and they FIT! So i had to blog because no one is up yet that I can share my joy with! So i'm blogging about it to get it out of my system. Everything slow...but in time. No rush this time...and not doing it to lose weight...but for some health concerns that I'm having...this is just a bonus! And they look ADORABLE with my new boots. I'll try and take a picture. Maybe next week i'll be brave enough to try on the other pair...

Il de la Jatte

Well today I was miss tourist with Manuel. We had a lovely day!! (besides the fact that i still can't hear-but im going to the dr tomorrow!) anyway, my friend Nick is in the musical Sunday in the Park With George, which is based on George Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Well he asked me if I had heard of the island. I said no, but I would look for it. He wanted me to take some pictures so he could show his cast. Now it's called Il de la Jatte and it's on the border of Paris and the suburb Neuilly. It was about 30 min away from my place. But pretty easy to find and just beautiful! Anyway... Manuel and I met halfway there and went together to the actual island. When we got there we went to the Park which is where Mr. Seurat did his painting which is now called Square Alfred Sisley who was also an impressionist. Anyway, I had read that that the area was very commercial now and that this park was now a garden which was open during certain hours. Well we got there and it was CLOSED. Meaning for good. No one could enter because of the high tides! AND THEY WERE HIGH! But no one was around and I just needed a few pictures, so Manuel and I jumped fence (and other people must have too because there was fresh dog poop) and i took a bunch of pictures.

Then Manuel and I walked the island a bit more, which happens to be 3.04 km. And we sat down and ate lunch on a park bench. Ofcouse i came prepared. I made tuna salad along with some fresh lettuce, a piece of bread and an apple. It was delicious and we had GREAT weather! Then we walked back to the metro and went to the bookstore so I could get some magazines. Then we went to Laduree for some coffee and then Manuel went to work at 3 pm. We had a lovely afternoon. These are the days I love Paris and never wanna leave!!!! After that I went grocery shopping and came home to cook dinner. I made some fish I never heard of (but it was a white fish and VERY tasty) with dill, white wine and lime juice and as a side dish I made a puree of carrots with carmelized onions. Both I didn't use recipes for and I came up with it on my own! And they were very tasty! Now I'm about to go read my magazine and relax. Have a nice night and enjoy the pictures!!!

unemployment...

is NOT fun :( However...since i still can't hear...it's prolly a good thing for me that I'm not employed. And yes...I've called the dr. I am waiting for him to call me back. And i've also looked online and it said that for an inner earache, this is normal for my hearing not to be back til atleast a week if not more. And it hasn't been a week! So shush :)

Anyway...I've been doing a lot of napping, and shopping (splurged on a great pair of boots!), and laundry and then I cooked twice. I made my first chili! It was a hit! Who knew?!?! And then because I had so many extra beans I made red bean and jalepeno burgers...they were fantastick! I think coming to france was the best thing I could have done...cause now I can cook and i LOVE IT!

Oh...but major thing happened. Our drain stopped working. So sunday I went out to lunch while Asima stayed home. And the night before I decided to be "penny the plumber" (which Asima finds very funny) and i unscrewed the drain and tried to clean it. Well that was stupid cause all the water came leaking out...so i rescrewed it together. Anyway, Sunday when I was out Asima ran the dishwasher and I guess something is wrong now and it flooded the ENTIRE kitchen. So i had to rush home. However that was Sunday and we are now waiting for Madame to show up today to call a plumber which prolly won't come til the end of the week or so. BUT the catch is...water isn't even going down the drain! So we don't wash many dishes and we throw them in the dishwasher which we can't even run. So it's kinda annoying!!!

As far as a job...I'm still waiting. However I am hoping I should find out by the end of the week. Supposedly my resume has been passed on the HOT head chef and he is deciding if he wants me to do my internship there or not! CRAZY! But we'll see ;)

Other than that, I've been trying to work on my thesis...but I'm pretty bad at it. SO i give up quickly. But i guess I should go work on that now....mmm?!?

I'm playing tourist tomorrow so i'll prolly put up a blog with pictures...so check back! toodles for now :)

Miserable/Horrible/Worst

I didn't think life could be like this. I think this was the worst day since i've been in Paris...let me rephrase that...worst day of my life! NEVER been in so much pain.

So I know Friday was my big update for you. And only half of the update came. So here goes. I decided to end my current stage early. So Friday, yesterday, was my last day. I was very bittersweet about it all...but I am working it out to come home earlier. I will keep you posted of further plans when i find them out.

Anyway...I woke up on Friday morning and I couldn't hear. Now the past few days my ears were pretty stuffed but Thur my hearing came back and when i woke up I thought it was just because of the bad weather. So i made myself some tea and then i missed my metro which brought me late to work on my last day. Well I got to work around 6:30. I continued to work until the pain in my right ear became so unbearable and I SERIOUSLY could not hear a THING that I couldn't stand or sit or work and I didn't know what to do. So i felt horrible, but around 8:30 I said my goodbyes for my last day of work and i left. It made me feel so bad to leave early...but like i said...I have NEVER felt this amount of pain in my life. I called SOS Medecin, where the dr comes to your house. He came shortly after I called and told me I had an ear infection. I told him 1) the pharmecy wasn't open for me to get the medicine yet and 2) even if I take it right now it's not gonna kick in...so what can you do for my unbearable pain? SO...he shot me up with Morphine?!?! i mean what? that was a first for me i think! Anyway...I was so dizzy and high as a kite that I fell into bed around 9:30ish. The rest of the day went like this. I woke up at 12 to get my medicine. Took it...got back in bed til 2ish. Made lunch. Which took me 2 hrs to eat (which i was nibbling and sleeping on and off) because i was SOOO nauseas but I felt that I was hungry. Anyway...around 4ish I went back to bed for good. And i mean GOOD! My friend tyler came over to make dinner and the thought of food made me ill. I was SO nausiated that I couldn't move. Everytime i moved in my bed i was in pain and felt so sick. So i just slept. Asima checked on me a few times throughout the night but all I wanted to do was sleep. SO i slept until 8:30 am the next morning. So i guess you can say I slept almost 24 hrs straight. Now you may ask am I feeling better? Well I still can't hear :( And it's the WORST feeling ever. I'm taking my meds and I hope to get better...but like i said...i'm umemployed so I have nothing but time to rest for now until I get some news. So...that's what i'm going to do til i get better!!! I don't feel like watching a movie, talking on the phone, listening to music or hell...even eating because it reverberates in my ear TERRIBLY! So...all i can do is lay in bed and sleep :( Leave me a message. And I'll talk to you when I'm better! WHY ME?! argh.

What a mess!

I'm talking about me! Work today was kind of amusing because everything that could have gone wrong did! But i laughed at it. So i will go through the day and tell you. I am just going to list them because I don't necessarily remember them in order...i just remember them all!

1) I forgot to make the baby brioche which I do EVERYDAY!!!

2) I dropped a tray when Chef Mulot was there and I didn't realise it and when I looked up I saw him and I go "ca va" (meaning all is well) and he goes "ca va pas" (meaning no it's not) and then kept on going. So i just apologized. After he left, Birke looked at me and was just as confused as I was as to what the problem was. But we laughed it off.

3) I forgot to make the second round of Kugelhopf which I do everday as well!!!

4) Alex said to me "deux seau blanc" which I heard "deux cent blancs" (which if you say them outloud they sound a LOT alike!!) so I weighed out 200 grams of egg whites and brought them to him and he was so confused. Then he repeated it...and EVERYONE in the room...including me just laughed. It was hilarious!

5) Alex also told me to weigh 1 kilo of amande...which I thought since at the current time i was weighing almond powder that's what he meant. So i weighed it and gave it to who i was supposed to give it to. Well he asked me and i said yes. He asked if i put it in the oven and i said no why? Then we laughed again because he meant blanched almonds not almond powder!!! OY!

6) I don't know where to start counting the amount of things I spilled today :) But i DID clean them up like a good worker would.

And today's boring job was...chopping almonds in half. And they had to be precise. WHAT?!?! that's a HORRIBLE job! prolly the worst one yet! But I stayed late to finish it. It's fine.

Anyway...it was an odd day for me. It was like I was wide awake...but I was zoning out and forgetting everything! So strange!! Talk to you tomorrow :)

busy few days!!!

I wanted to say on Monday night I made dinner. The recipe follows below. However instead of using monkfish (which i LOVE- but didn't feel like cleaning it! haha) I used cod and it worked just as well.

Roasted monkfish with curried lentils and browned butter cauliflower

Sauce
4 1/2 cups small cauliflower florets (from about one 22-ounce head)
1 cup whipping cream
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons (or more) water

Lentils and Browned Butter Cauliflower
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped peeled carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup French green lentils (lentilles de Puy)*
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon paprika
2 3/4 cups water, divided

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
4 1/2 cups small cauliflower florets (from about one 22-ounce head)

Gremolata
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

Fish
4 6-ounce monkfish fillets (each about 1 inch thick), skin removed
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation For sauce:
Bring first 4 ingredients to boil in medium saucepan. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until cauliflower is very tender, about 17 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer mixture to blender; add 3 tablespoons water and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Rewarm over medium heat, stirring, and adding more water to thin sauce, if desired.)

For lentils and browned butter cauliflower:
Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery; sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Add lentils, curry, and paprika; stir 1 minute. Add 2 1/2 cups water; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Uncover; stir until liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, about 2 minutes. Add cauliflower; sauté until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water; cover and cook until cauliflower is crisp-tender and water evaporates, about 3 minutes longer. Stir in lentil mixture. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm before serving.)

For gremolata:
Mix parsley and lemon peel in bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

For fish:
Sprinkle monkfish with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish; sauté until just opaque in center, about 6 minutes per side.

Divide sauce among 4 plates. Spoon lentil mixture alongside. Place fish atop lentils; sprinkle with gremolata.

Anyway, the dish was DELICIOUS!!!! It was a last minute decision because i had bought lentils and I didn't know what to do with them...so i found this recipe and it was perfect! Try it ;)

So yesterday was the busiest day I've had in a LONG time! I worked from 6-3:30. It was once again a pretty lame day at work. I got to make some tarts in the morning and then once again lined tarts and made kugelhopf. The big part of the day was when I couldn't eat lunch. It was a stuffed tomato with pork (ham) and 1) i dont like cooked tomatoes and 2) i dont eat pork products. So i was s.o.l. (shit out of luck!) So i ate some almonds and cough drops. After lunch I learned how they make the pizza dough and then made some coulis. Then when they started to clean the fridges (around 3:20) Lisa let me go because I had to be at LCB at 4 pm. So I rushed to get over there. Bruno Lederf (the chef who I went to see win the MOF competition- My blog Nov 5th 2007), was giving a demo at school. So I had to go!!! Anyway...here are the pictures of the stuff he made.

It looked really good. I didn't taste it though. In anycase i saw my friends and it was nice. The demo ran REALLY late. Got out at 6:45. By the time I got home i had to snag some leftovers from the night before and then leave at 7:30 to go to an 8pm mtg. This mtg also ended a little late. We finished around 9:30ish. I got home around 9:50ish and at 10 pm I was so exhausted I fell into bed! I was pooped. Not to mention I hadn't been sleeping because I couldn't breathe!!!

Chef Lederf!

Something he made for the MOF competition

Verrine au chocolat, caramel exotique, et croquant de noisettes du piemont

Bonbons de chocolat: Tendre Passion

Entrement Sauveur Yusu
Anyway, today I had a day off but I had a lot to do. I woke up at 7 am and couldn't sleep anymore. My alarm was supposed to go off at 7:30 so it was fine. I got dressed and then took the train to some place called Sceaux. After getting lost, I finally found the house! I met with my mentor and she said I was on the right track for my thesis! She liked my outline and gave me some sources. She also told me another addition to extend the paper. She told me now I just need to start writing! So i left. However when I left I didn't know how to get out of the front gate so after a few minutes of trying to get out...I finally just hopped the fence! hahaha. Now i have bruises all over my leg! I finally got back to Paris and it was raining. I went to the library and ran some errands. Then finally I had to come back home cause it was just nasty out. I took a short nap and then made some cranberry sauce because I had many cranberries in the house! Now I'm going to do some cleaning and maybe work more on my paper. Check back on friday for a big update!