Opera....we are all preoccupied with making this cake. The pastry chefs are over emphasizing its importance, probably because 3 intermmediate students failed to advance to the superior level because of the results of their opera cakes in the final. So, this is my first opera cake. We spend (or are supposed to spend) weekends and evenings practicing wriiting in chocolate. I like this "O" but I think I need to do something bigger and dramatic with the "r" or the "a." It's easy to forget the accent aigu on the "e." This cake is three layers (embibed jaconde) with ganache filling on one and coffee buttercream between the other layers. Of course, we can't use mixers or leavening (other than meringue), so, yes, it is a bit of a challenge. One makes a huge sheet of cake, cuts it into three, make the fillings, imbibe, fill, imbibe, fill, frost, glaze in choco, and then write on the top. Actually, it's fun (if only we had more than 2 hours to do it in).  

cooler weather, hot soccer, and spicy mexican night

The weather has cooled down, but the food is SPICY!! We had Mexican night at Bridget’s last night, actually, last, last night. I have been sleeping most of the day recuperating. I hope I remember to attach a picture below of Sergio and Anna salsa dancing in the living room chez Bridget.

Wow, watching the Portugal Pays-Bas (maybe the Lowlands, Netherlands?), anyway, almost everyone on the Portuguese team has received a yellow card, another Portuguese player has just gotten a red card. That makes, two Portuguese and one Pays-Bas player w/ red cards and ejected from the game. Encroyable! There have been a couple of scuffles, the Portuguese goalie just got injured. Is this game ever gonna end? Who knows how much injury time they’ll add at the end.

So, back to Mexican night. I never imagined I would miss any food here in France, but it is almost impossible to find good Mexican food here. Zero markets with chiles, masa harina, and manteca. I had almost resigned myself to waiting until I got home to have some good carne asada, but since we have another calimexian in our group, Sergio, we decided to take matters in to our own hands and make some ourselves.

Yeah, yeah, and I was made fun of for having a timetable and menu, but someone had to do it! Et voila! It was all worth it. Menu:

Margaritas * Beer
Aguas Frescas (watermelon, cucumber, horchata, limeade)
Guacamole
Carne Asada
Posole
Pico de Gallo
Handmade corn and flour Tortillas

Sergio, Susan and I started out shopping at 10 in the morning, started cooking at 12 and we ate at 7pm. The Posole was cooked perfectly, the meat fell off of the bones. Shopping was fun. We went to an exotic spice store where we bought the hominy. The butcher shop was fun too, the transaction took place mostly by sign language because I forgot all of the words for the different pieces of meat. Speaking of meat, it is quite expensive here. We spent 44 euros on 3 ½ kilos of meat. (Another pays-bas player just received a red card.)

The match just finished, PORTUGAL WON! They’re just running around the field now holding hands and falling on the grass. So funny, like boys are. Italy plays tomorrow night. England won earlier today. Not sure how Mexico did against Argentina yesterday.

So……we cooked all day, took a siesta, and the food was great. We were confronted with adversity in many forms, one of the burners on the stove got stuck in the “on” position, so we had to turn the gas off; as soon as the meat hit the grill, we were informed that bar-b-q’ing was illegal in Paris; one of our troop (he arrived early as he was a designated chopper) was mugged on the way to the party and I spent a good hour walking around with him looking for an open police station (without success (it was gay pride day which meant that Place de la Bastille was mobbed, complete with a 3 storey high temporary stage)).

I hid the guacamole in the produce drawer since it would have disappeared long before mealtime if I left it out unguarded. Shame on you Susan! Susan was on a campaign to liberate the guacamole. I had to be tough. The pico de gallo was presque parfait, almost a gallon of it disappeared. Everyone’s plates were heaped high. There were 15 of us altogether and practically everyone had second servings. Sergio downloaded some Mexican cumbias, meringues and salsa onto my iPod for dancing. We danced! We drank TEQUILA. This one can be recorded as a party success in the party log : )

Sirens now and the noise of honking horns because of the Portugal victory. I can hear singing in the streets from my apartment. It is 23:20. Only one class at 12:30 tomorrow, and it’s a demo! Woo-ee.

That’s what I’ve been up to lately. Last week we had a Sundaes on Sunday partee, not as much of a success, but delicious! We made our caramel sauce and chocolate sauce. Unfortunately, we burnt the cherry sauce we were reducing, probably because we were in the living room talking. My new favorite combination is coconut ice cream with caramel sauce and bananas. YUM. The new motto is, we don’t need to buy that, we’re Cordon Bleu students, we can MAKE it. Yeah, I know, a little dorky (but true).

I am so pleased to find people to have food themed parties with. Sometimes I can’t get over the fact that I’m actually here, and that I’m here with some really super people who are as weirdo as I am about having food parties and speaking French. I suppose since none of us has to go to work or take care of kids we have plenty of time to focus on parties. Our next project isn’t food themed though. We are considering doing a calendar. Some of us want to do an R rated calendar with certain Cordon Bleu articles and meringue artfully and discreetly positioned to cover body parts and others of us are for the G rated calendar. Although almost anything we in the states would consider an R rating is only worthy of a G rating in France.

There are boobies exposed everywhere you turn, on TV at the newsstands, on statues, in paintings, at the pharmacie, you name it. An ad for the yellow pages has a map of Paris projected onto a woman’s midriff with her bellybutton somewhere near the Place de la Bastille. It actually is preferable to seeing ads for real estate offices and attorneys on the cover of the yellow pages. France takes using the feminine form to an extreme in comparison to American standards.

This is getting long, so I’ll close now. It is nice to write my entries in my apt. More than likely the reason for the length of this entry. I finally figured out that I can cut and paste to my blog….duh…quite a revelation for a ZRC techno girl.

Until we meet again, yours in food,
Dominique

Shopping with Sergio and Susan (see left shoulder on the right). By the way, this is also a picture of my nifty new little old lady shopping cart. Look at how stuffed it is. we still need to go to the butcher's and monoprix at this point. I wish I would have taken a picture at the butcher's but I was too preoccupied in buying the right amount and cuts of meat. 

Sergio and Anna dancing salsa chez Bridget on Mexican Night 6.24.06 : ) 

hmmm...is it in here? 

summer pj's

well, it is here, warm weather has finally arrived in Paris. It has been in the high 80's, flirting w/ some 90's, here for the last week...I'm embarrassed to admit that I am wilting. My anti-heat tactics from Arizona don't work as well here. It does not cool down in the evening and my little jail cell apartment has been btwn 85 and 93 degrees for three straight days. So yeah, it was fun finally bringing out my summer pajamas, but it even feels too warm to wear them. At least I have a shower in my room, which I use frequently.
Our schedule is pretty light this term...we have an average of 2 classes a day...refreshing after basic when we had an average of 3 classes, and many times 4 classes a day. we have more saturdays at school, but saturday is pretty mellow. it will be interesting working in chocolate in the chaleur (heat), a new vocab word : ) air conditioning can only do so much when you have 10 ovens on in a small practical room. I'm used to sweating though, so that part doesn't bug me. I would love to have a veranda, maybe a breeze or two, then I'd stop complaining : )
Will be watching Italy v. USA on Saturday. Saw Brasil win last night and Italy the other night. It's pretty fun out here. All of the cafes have TVs set up to watch the world cup (and tennis) and there is a big screen in the Place de Hotel de Ville (around the corner from me). I thought there was a manifestation going on, but I realized it was the England soccer game.
A bit of gore history....there were people executed in the pretty Place de Hotel de Ville (formerly the Place de Greve)...weirdo. I went to the conciergerie..have I already written about this? anywhoo, saw marie antoinette's cell, the women's courtyard, the place where robspierre spent his finaly hours and all dat.
Off to class, only one demo today, yay!

aha! I know I must have the perfect thing in here, follow me around the corner my pretty.....this is the inside of E. Dehillerin...you can find almost any type of cooking utensil in this store. I felt like harry potter when he went to get his wand in daigon alley. never mind that school feels like hogwarts sometimes-- using blowtorches, boiling things, stuff exploding into flames, smoke billowing out of the windows (not mine of course : ) chopping the heads off of fish, rabbits, birds of all sorts. it's pretty fun. I'm amazed they let us use the blow torches on such a regular basis. the experiments with sugar are scarey enough. we start with chocolate this term, yikes.  

these are decorative elements...the put them in terrines and who knows what else. i wish I would have zoomed in more, but I wanted to show the large selection of useless and beautiful piques. in the foreground is a large selection of pastry tips and the good old, etceterae : )  

and downstairs we have.....huge copper pots, and a large selection of le creuset cookware. 

mysterious nook...I wonder what they have in there. 

isn't this cool.....I love this store! 

I think I'd have trouble getting this spatule on the plane! 

Tarte au frambroises et passion fruit...not sure of the spelling, but this one was DELICIOUS. nice change from puff pastry : ) this poor tart rode the metro w/ me for 1/2 hour, as all of my stuff does. I could have done better on the crust, but I was stressed out, the kitchen was hot and the chef was pretty annoying (we got a yeller). 

this fountain represents the four main rivers in France. it is quite pretty in a nice and peaceful square. the pigeons are all doing the forbidden dance this time of year : ) twitterpated. 

this is willi's wine bar. I found it, but haven't gone there yet! at least I know where it is eh? this is a nice section of town. 

dominique at the Palais Royal gardens. sun came out! 

this is a view of the pont neuf with the eiffel tower in the background, kind of overcast 

pentacost in paris

Well, a cold Sunday in Paris. I went to go to church this morning. Haven't been since the Easter gala and it's nice to sit in church when it's quiet and cloudy outside. I always think of grandma being there with me. Dragged myself out of bed at 8:15, made it to church by 8:55, but alas, the mass started at 8:30. So, here I am. I took a program and I see that there is a service at 18.30 with the children's choir. think I'll go to that one, since that is part of going to church at Notre Dame, the acoustics.

Yesterday I went walking around. It was a fine day with the sun peeking out of the clouds long enough to make it a little warm. It rained a little, but the trees have leaves on them now and they make good places to hide from the rain. I went along the Quai de la Magisserie (sp?) and saw all of the gardening shops, boquinistes and a view of the effiel tower. (I went this way to avoid the crowds on rue de rivoli. Masses of people, which we all know by now, is not my favorite thing.) Earlier in the day I thought I had had my pocket picked on boulevard de sebastopol in les halles..I can't stand it out there. like a kaleidescope of criminals...anyway...

Walked through the Louvre, a lot of people since it was Saturday, met Sergio there and we walked through the Palais Royale and those gardens. Found a fountain depicting the four major rivers in France; Saone, Loire, Seine, and the Gironde(?). It was a pretty fountain with a place around it, pretty flowers and old chestnut trees. I found it between the louvre and the bourse.

We happened upon St. Eustache looking for a cooking supply store. The store was closing when we found it, but it is well worth a return trip. It was just like when Harry Potter went in to buy his wand: there were shelves up to the high ceilings, dust, weird implements, poor lighting, a basement and a salesman with a big French nose, kind of stooped posture even. Many dark corners that need to be explored. It loks like the store has been there forever, or at least 200 or so years.

I became cranky because my feet hurt and I wanted some lemon ice cream. Alhors, we settled for magnum ice cream bars from Franprix and we sat in the park at Les Halles. By then, the sun had vanished. Watched a few games of boules, then I hobbled home on my tired feeties.

I think my favorite part of Paris, so far, is the area across the river from Ile St. Louis. My favorite mexican restaurant is there and there is a nice little park. It's nice and quiet. I think this is so because there aren't as many "points of interest" there. I'm getting excited for my visitors who will start to arrive soon. Looking in guide books and getting ready to make dinner reservations.

I'm going to do a spell check now. I keep finding embarrassing spelling errors after I read my posts : ( well, I don't have that option. I'll try proof reading before posting. Send sunshiny thoughts my way.

XOXOX, Dominique

brasil 66

in starbuck's happily listening to brasil 66...two thirds of the people here are French...I like being able to be american while I'm here. At least I know what I'm talking about here, they like it when you speak american, voila! so, yes, it's starbuck's, but I come here for the wifi, the couches, the music and because it's cool to be an american here : ) I end up buying one cup of coffee and sit around for 2 hours on the computer. Still don't know how to say computer in French, it's a weird word.

Enough of that Starbuck's guilt, on to more fun topics. Ummm, hmmm... ... ... ... ha ha...

So, I'm noticing how cute all of the different uniforms are here in France. If you're a garbage man, you wear green and florescent green, if you're a street construction guy, you wear blue. You can pretty much tell what people do by their uniforms. Students are grungy, models are tall, gay guys are beautiful, etc. Although being gay isn't a profession, it is a definite category here. (I am sitting next to two girls, one of which who is very cute has the most annoying laugh, ugh, gratingly annoying, but I was here first dammit.)

another thing that I've noticed about people here is that very few men have long hair. I can count on one hand the number of men with long hair that I've seen since I've been here in March. I'd have to count the male students with dreds on another hand.

Looks like there'll be some sun today. It has been cold and overcast with little peeks of sun since I've been back from the coast. My tan is fading quickly, and it looked so good too. I'm afraid I may resort to a tanning salon if things don't change around here. I thought it got hot and muggy in Paris in the summer. Maybe we're still in spring, I guess technically we are, but oowee, it's June 1 and it's only expected to get in to the low 60s today.

School starts on Tuesday. I want to get a metric tape measurer before then and perhaps a new case for my knives. I can't stand the one I have, I've gotten cut by accident a few times because of the way it opens. (oh my god, that laugh is going to kill me, she must think it's cute or something) So...I've washed and sharpened my beautiful knives and they're ready to go- in to a new case- then to school. Wow, watching a guy get a parking ticket. He just parked there 5 mins ago. Much discussion apparently on where it is legal to park as the police officer is pointing around. that's one thing, uh oh, he's escorting the driver somewhere...

Well, this is a pretty dull entry. No topless French babes that Rick has asked for. Actually, Rick, if you strain your eyes, you may be able to see a few on the beach. hee haw. more later, keep writing. I love getting your e-mails.

p.s. I got my marks for the first level... 2.5 pts above the class average in cuisine and .47 points below the class average for pastry...not very exciting. In fact many of us have eaten more than one macaroon to console ourselves. I think we're used to getting high marks, but it doesn't work that way here.