Just grabbing a few podcasts for my iPod

I don't know if I mentioned my iPod before. I resisted. I really resisted. As a gift, I got a discman in 2001. I refused to let go of it, despite all the mocking. It wouldn't break and I didn't want to replace something that worked perfectly fine. Until the day someone wanted to give me an iPod for free. Not only is the iPod approximately 1/10th of the size of my discman but it weighs about 1/25th of what the discman weighed. I converted. What can I say? I'm a slave to society.

It's 6:30 am and I'm very pumped for this week. I can't quite remember the last time I woke up on a Monday morning just excited for the week. I've got lots of interesting things going on, beginning of course with Deutsch heute Abend. I even did my homework like a good student.

Yesteday, I cooked a "practice" turkey dinner composed of roasted chicken, garlic mashed spuds, stuffing, veg, cranberries and mustard pickles (Yes, I realise a key element of turkey dinner is missing). I'm cooking "real" (as opposed to practice) turkey dinner for Thanksgiving in two weeks. It was pretty good if I do say so myself, and next week, I'm going to try Maple Roast Turkey for the Canadian touch.

Also this weekend I booked tickets for a trip to......SWEDEN! I'm excited. We're going in Novemeber (nothing like Sweden in the winter, that's what I say). I'm very attracted to everything in the north of Europe. Maybe it's just because a winter without snow isn't a winter to me? I don't know.

Time to head out. Take care.

Le whoops.

I kinda fell off the face of the earth this week. It was a busy week doing busy things...but it's the weekend and it's SUNNY!! (It's rarely sunny in this neck of the woods) so I'm not going to spend any more time writing this because I'm going outside.

Mooooooooooooooontag!

It's Monday! The sun isn't even up yet. jerk. I thought this dark morning buisness didn't start until November. Oh well.

I had a fantastic weekend. It was "European Heritage Days" something I've heard lots about but have never actually been in France for. A bunch of historic and cultural monuments are open to the public for free. Somethings, such as L'Elysée in Paris, are opened especially for these days and some other things have special things happening such as photo exhibitions and what not. I checked out the Fine Arts Museum here in town which I was afraid I just might never ever get around to going to (I had planned to go about 2342 times over the summer and never quite pulled through for the team). The art was great but the building itself was gorgeous! I also admired all the giant paintings (ie. a entire wall) and for the first time ever wondered about the logistics of painting such big paintings. There were even a few Monets hidden in there. :)

Yesterday, I went to the Mosque down the road. It was really nice inside - it used to be a church and then had been renovated but some of the orginal windows were still there. Afterwards, it was time for the Buddist Temple where we met with some Tibetan Buddist monks and had the oppurtunity to take part in a meditation. I wanted to visit the synagogue as well - it wasn't touched during the war so it has all its original furnishings inside - however you needed to have tickets and I didn't realise this until it was too late to get tickets. Another time.

Now it's time to get to work ;)

La foire aux vins 2008!

Back to school in France also means time for the wine fair! Basically, all of the big supermarkets bring in extra and different wines and everything is sold by the case instead of the bottle (well, you can buy it by the bottle if you want to be looked down at). In some places, tents are set up outside (Move over garden centre) in order to display all the winey-goodness. If you have a wine cellar it is the time of year to stock up.

My favourite part of the whole thing is the flyers. They give you very specific suggestions of how to best consume these wines. For example;

This fruity red wine is ready to drink right away but, for those able to wait a few years, it will develop a more complex and elegant taste. In fact, it would be wise to have enough in your wine cellar to take advantage of its present taste as well as slowly follow the evolution of the wine! Serve it with grilled beef or a strawberry soup. Quite specific.

This is a thirst-quenching dry white wine which you can feel free to break open for a before dinner drink. If there is any left, serve it with ravioli or lasagna. This is one of the rare wines able to hold its own against artichokes. Those spiteful artichokes, always trying to boss wine around...

A few non-French wines made the cut believe it or not! Everyone's favourite Yellow Tail is in there too....

Let's make the effort to discover how wine is made elsewhere. This is a Cabernet Sauvignon, the same grape found in the Médoc region but planted on the other side of the world. Only the final taste of orange reveals that it is not a French wine, or from a particularly good year.... Ouch.

However, the author does suggest trying it because "curiosity is not a bad thing". That's a pretty big step. Understandably so, the French are fairly territorial about wine - and with reason - their wine is fantastic. I do wonder however if the author of all the blurbs wrote them after tasting them all.... :)

I heart languages.

I've decided to take a language class this year as a "fun activity". I mean, I already have my 4 daily sudokus from the free newspapers (ie. metro, etc) but I'd like to get out there and meet some new people and whanot. I'm kind of sad that there aren't as many available "Rec Centre" activities because everything I've found is pretty pricy. The rec centre in my neighbourhood does offer a few classes but they are mainly aimed towards people who don't work in the afternoon.

So anyways, for me to pick a language to study is like asking a French person to pick their favourite type of cheese. Chinese? Polish? Spanish? Continue with Russian? Dutch? (Belgium is not far!) German? Panic sets in.

German kind of stuck out for me. I've studied German in the past so it would be the least frustrating (probably). I also have some German friends I would like to visit in Germany. For the German class you had to take an evaluation test to see which level class you should take. So my ability to take the class sort of depended on my ability in German because certain days work better for me. I showed up and asked about the evaluation. The lady sat me down with a bunch of other people doing a test (it was written, I had assumed it would be a spoked test...oops) and hands me one. I look down....it was in English. As much as my ego would have liked to have rocked that test, I asked her for the German one. When I went to get my results she asked me how I found the Spanish test. Part of my desire to take the class is to meet people. Am I the only person in this city who wants to speak German?!

Sure, following my visit to the Hofbraühaus in Munich (Where beer is exclusively sold by the litre) I was convinced I spoke fluent German (liquid dictionary), however it turns out I remember a lot more German than I thought! I'm so psyched, but I have to work pretty hard because I'm going into a level slightly higher than I am, but I'm sure it will come back.

At least I get to ease myself into this working lifestyle...

I have today off :) Yesterday was more about photocopying papers, signing papers and generally proving my existence; less about working. You don't hear me complaining.

I bought an agenda to help organize my time off...err..my life. One thing I found interesting was the section to write addresses/phone numbers. A different importance is attributed to letters than I would have given them. For example, in Halifax, you need to have a big "M" section for all the various "Mac"s and "Mc"s. In another area of Canada I've lived in, you need a giant "V" section for all the "Van"s. In my agenda "MN" has a dismal little page as does "UV" however "L" has all the place in the world. Too bad I only know ONE person with an L last name (who happens to be French...)

Alright, it's a beautiful sunny day out there. Time to wrap myself up in a winter coat, scarf, hat and mitts (Yes, I've seen hat and mits!!) to be sufficently prepared for this chilly 18 degree weather.

Wearing white after labour day and other such follies

I'm trying to do a good solid cleaning of the appartment. Not that I live in squalor, or anything but you know, those boxes of things that I haven't looked at since I moved but yet managed to take up clutter place in my brain. It is September after all, prime time for resolutions, especially since I'm beginning a new job on Monday. Not only am I going to have a spic and span place, but I'm also going to eat nothing but fresh fruit and vegetables, live at the gym, and generally be a superhuman.

Or not :)

Today, I went for coffee. I went to the place across from the "usual" spot. You know, for a change. It was so strange...EVERYONE was speaking English. A boisterous group of native English speaking exchange students, an English girl with a Dutch guy. The only people not speaking English were speaking German. Where am I again?

I felt much less special :)

Grocery shopping

This time difference stuff is making no sense to me. I was wide awake at 7 am this morning...which is 2 am at home which in theory means I should have been really really tired, no? Especially since I went to bed around 3 am. Or was it 4 ?

Anyhow, this morning, I decided to head over to my grocery store to do my week's shopping. I did my best to fit right in with my attire (I was wearing jogging pants. In France. Sometimes I foget about these things) and my Compliments reusable shopping bag. There was something wrong in the grocery store. There were all these extra people. 4 foot 7 and under. Hummm...then I remembered! Beginning this year, the wee ones no longer go to school on Saturday mornings (which always seemed like cruel and unusual punishment to me). There were all thess distressed parents with kids running rampant. It was quite the sight.

I love the autumn...

..when it begins. Which this year is, according to a random internet site is September 22nd. France apparently didn't get the memo.

Let me set the scene...

Having just returned to France and feeling pretty out of sorts, on the advice of a good friend, I get my act together to go for a walk. It was pouring rain this morning, but this afternoon Mr. Sun came out. I checked Yahoo Météo! and the weather informed me that it was 18 degrees so I dressed accordingly...............if I were in Halifax. I forgot that summer is cancelled the minute school goes back. So me, wandering around with my brightly coloured summer clothes was in vast contrast to the shades of grey, coats and SCARVES that everyone else was wearing.

This is what happens when you are from a place that milks summer for all it is worth.

In other news, I will return to being a productive memeber of society on Monday. I wonder if I remember how? :) Don't worry, I'll be on vacation soon enough...

The girl is back in towwwwwwwwn...

I made it back last night at about 4 pm, after a mad dash between lightining bolts and crazy rain to my place. My flights were more or less uneventful except landing in Paris when one of the overhead bins flew open and everyone screamed. No one was injured thankfully.

The most difficult of all was getting back to my city. I had to go from the airport into Paris because my keys were in Paris. I rendez-voused with my keys and then hiked back across the city to my train station. Naturally only 1 out of every 5 automatic ticket machines were working and the train ticket prices kept changing. Oh the SNCF...

I couldn't fall asleep last night, so now it's 12, feels like the middle of the night and I have stuff I was supossed to do this morning. Ooops :)

Ok, off to making myself useful.

My bags are packed for real this time.

I'm leaving in a mere four hours. Instead of taking care of those last few things, I'm writing a blog message. This is called procrastination, my friends.

Yesterday, I finally got to see where my father works. They recently built a new building and I'd never been around at the right time to see it. Dad was very pleased to go back to work after hours, I could tell :) It was super impressive though, like any new building is. It's on the other side of the harbour, right near the ferry terminal. The whole thing was designed to be a) environmentally friendly and b) look cool. It's very open and as part of the green aspect of things they attempted to maximize natural light. Granted, I was there at night, so the naturally light was kept to a minimum.... One entire side of the building is windows, facing the city and even at night it is such a gorgeous view! There is a little bit of wind off the water but it is also refreshing..? Perhaps a little less so in the winter.

During my trip to my grandmother's last week, I also came home with roughly 1000 lbs of plums. I made plum jam. You couldn't even tell I had touched them, that's how little the dent in them was. Last night, I made Plum Pie. I've never had a plum pie before....isn't there something about Little Jack Horner, sitting the corner eating his curds and whey...I mean Plum Pie :) or is it Christmas Pie? All I know is there is a pie with plums in that rhyme somewhere! And yet, there still seems to be just as many plums left....

Ok, next stop, France! :)

And then vacation was over....

This morning, my passport returned to me in the mail. Then my plane ticket got itself booked (well, perhaps I was instrumental in that...). I'm leaving on Wednesday, with a small little FIVE HOUR stop over in Montreal. But whatever. I knew my sojourn at my parents house would come to as abrupt a stop as it began and yet it still took me by surprise.

In an attempt to calm my nerves a bit, I got my hair cut. I was in bad need of an update to the 'doo. However, in my weakness I agreed to all sorts of crazy things including bangs. I haven't been a part of the bang scene since I was roughly 7 years old. I like the look however I can already foresee the upkeep all of this will require. Why is there no gain without pain? Why? :)

Alright, off to pack my bags (why does it feel like I just did that about 10 seconds ago?) before everyone's favourite event.....Chocolate Milk Monday! ;)

Still no papers.....but I have a 10lb zucchini!

The biggest zucchini I've ever seen. I took a picture of it on my old school camera but as I don't have a digital camera I can't share it with cyberspace yet. Out at my Grandmother's it was prime produce season, the summer's weather having somehow made everything late. I couldn't get over the size of the zucchini and ended up being sent home with it. I also returned with enough plums to feed a small army. I made my first ever batch of jam today, I'm excited to see how it will turn out! The anticipation is killing me.

Must go watch some chick flick. ;)

Super Trooper beams are going to blind me...

Oh yes I did. I went to Mamma Mia.....sing-a-long edition. In my typical popular culture lacking ways, I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen (although perhaps "happen" is a big word) but it was great! How can Abba make you sad? How can people dressing in Abba-styled clothes make you sad? It can't!!!

Besides that, I made the cake my brother asked me too. However he kept calling it Torte when a more apt description would be CHEESECAKE!! Yummy. I'm pick when it comes to cheesecake (I don't like it too dense, but too gelatinous is no good either)

Here's my version of the recipe.

"Torte"
Heat the oven to 450.
You can use a springform pan if you are fancy, if you are like moi, knock yourself out with a pie plate.

1/2 c. butter
3 times 1/3c. sugar
1 c. flour
250 g Cream cheese
1 egg
vanilla to taste
cinnamon to taste
4-5 sliced apples
sliced almonds

1. Beat butter, 1/3 c. sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour, mix well and spread into the bottom of the pan.

2. Beat cream cheese, 1/3 c. sugar until blended. Add egg and vanilla, mix well. Spread over the bottom layer.

3. Combine 1/3 c. sugar and cinnamon, toss with apples. Place apples on top and sprinkle with sliced almonds.

4. Bake for 10 mins, reduce temperature to 375 and continue baking for about 1/2 hour. Let cool a few hours before serving, store in the refrigerator.


Next time I make this, I'd make double the cream cheese layer, half the bottom layer, add more apples and use brown sugar instead of white on the top layer. But it is good as is. :)

Alright, today I'm off to see my Grandmother out in the country. It's a beautiful day today (which will not last as a Hurricane is most definitely in our future...). Where's my Abba CD...I'll need that for the ride ;)

Team Food Network.

Still in Hali. Still waiting....but I've been having a gourmet experience. :)

I've neglected to put up some recipes here for awhile, so let me share a few.

When my family came over the other night, we had my favourite (and simple...I like simple) Sangria which we served in a lovely punch bowl. It's easy as pie but usually goes over fairly well.

I was in charge of dessert, so I made Clafoutis, a French dessert (I must live vicariously through my food at this point). Usually it is made with fresh cherries, however I subbed in about a cup of blueberries that were laying around and some fresh sweet delicious peaches (I cut up about 5 small peaches).

There are several ways of making this, but again, I went for simple...

Clafoutis (All of this is approximate):

1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/3 cup (or so...to taste really) granulated white sugar
1 1/4 cup milk
some random amount of vanilla extract that looks about right.

Preheat the oven to 375. The fruit goes on the bottom of a pie pan, mix all of the above ingredients and pour it over the fruit. Stick it in the oven and after ten minutes turn it down to 350. Cook until ready (And I just don't understand why people don't like my directions...:) About half an hour more). It should be puffed up souffle style and slightly browned. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes to set. Delish.

There are schools of Clafoutis thought that enjoy layering the fruit and sprinkling some sugar right on the top (and sometimes another layer in the middle), but this is what works for me. I find French desserts in general are a lot less sugar-y than their Canadian counterparts. So it depends what you are in the mood for :)

Last night, I was invited for some pulled-pork quesadillas. I did actually acquire the recipe for the fabulous pulled-pork that starred in our entree however I neglected to get quite so far as to bring it home. Ok, so I secretly want to be invited back for left-overs. I admit it. We also had fantastic Carrot Cake...cream cheese icing...mmmmmm....that was made with Apple Sauce(the cake not the cream cheese icing...I got distracted by the icing....). I've always been hesitant about the low-fat substitution of apple sauce in oil cakes, however, I'm going to look into it a little bit more. We even watched a food-themed show, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. It's this crazy British chef who goes into restaurants, berates the chefs/kitchen staff for their less-than-par effort and then attempts to aid them in transforming their joint. I can see more of this in my future.

In continuing with the foody theme, today I went out for lunch at Jane's on the Common. I've always wanted to go there and I was so happy I painfully got out of bed this morning (I slept in, I NEVER sleep in) to make it there for lunch. Mmmm...

For the record, I followed lunch by the gym ;) I'm trying hard to be virtuous!! :)

Alright, time to go bake a cake. Wait, that's hardly virtuous. My younger brother however greeted me home with a recipe in hand saying "I hear this isn't too hard to make...". I can't let down the team :)

Where in the world is Carmen Sandieago?

And now here I am at my parents' house. I flew in last night (dodging lightning bolts as we landed). My family was actually there to greet me, very uncharacteristic of them however greatly appreciated.

One downside of being home. Whenever we go out, I must make the effort to look good because people I have not seen for 5 years can pop out from behind any door, grocery store aisle, potted plant....

Case in point: Today, Mom and I go down the road to pick up a few odds and ends for our soiree this evening. As we are debating over peaches and plums out of nowhere a little voice "Stephanie?". It was my childhood best friend's mother. I don't think I've seen her for well over 10 years. Well let me tell you, I was happy that I had decided to brush my hair before heading down to the Farmers' Market (Ok...maybe my definition of "making an effort" is slightly different from other people's...*g*)

Today's been a pretty relaxed day what with being a holiday and all. My cousin and her Dutch boyfriend (who we visited in Holland a few months back) are moving to town today so post ditching the U-Haul they are coming over here for a party...in the kitchen...a bit of a Kitchen Party if you will ;) I'm looking forward to seeing them and reminiscing about that time that I had a fixed address....

In other news, my mother just shared a Sangria-induced philosophic outlook with me "Steph....your life will never feel like everything is in place". My mother was never one to sugar coat anything... ;)