Per request from a few individuals I have decided to continue my blog, even though my sweetest adventure in Paris has come to an end. In truth, life itself and living it to the fullest is the sweetest adventure one can travel. I miss Paris, there is no doubt about that. The smell of freshly baked bread, the streets at night, the Louvre and yes….even the METRO!!
I feel as if I have left a part of me there and in a sense I did. A piece of me that was unknowing. A piece of me that was afraid. A piece of a dream I once had. God blessed me and I was able to reach for my stars and hold them in my hand. I now have new dreams I am reaching for. With each new dream touched, I dig deeper and come to know myself and the desires of my heart. Someday I will return to Paris and meet myself there once again! A la prochaine!
I’ve learned a lot about myself and about life over the past few years, that I wish I could go back and smack myself upside the head with! I know now that Yes, Mom and Dad “YOU WERE RIGHT.” But some of us have a different path, a path that may not be as direct as others, but gets us to our own end goal. I may have taken the more scenic route, the harder route, but I have experienced some of the most beautiful things this world has to offer. Part of the reason for this is that I am a very stubborn person and believed that if I just worked hard at something that eventually the end result would be what I wanted. Unfortunately, that’s not the way the world works. People make mistakes and things will happen in life that are out of your control.
This brings me to our London trip! I had completely prepared, booked the hotel, check. Booked the flights, check. Packed only what I needed for a few days, which for me was HUGE!!! I used to be horrible at over packing. Who needs 5 pairs of heels to go to Vegas??? I had an itinerary of things to do and an umbrella just in case it rains. Yep, I was ready, a real jet setter! The trip for the most part was a total success. We got around on the metro (which was really clean), saw some really awesome sights, ate some good food and froze are booty’s off! It snowed almost the whole time we were there, but it was beautiful!
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- London Calling
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- Abbey Road
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- Dinner at Ceviche
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- Big Ben
It wasn’t until the end of the trip when everything turned into the worst nightmare EVER! We had enjoyed running around our last day in London and finished up our day with some dim sum and headed for the airport. Everything was moving right along according to plan and then I heard it……a weird beeping as he scanned my boarding pass. The man called me back and scanned it again. The screen lit up bright red informing us that my boarding pass was for the same flight on the next day!! I couldn’t believe it, all that double checking and preparing and I didn’t even notice that the date was wrong. As we scrambled to get on an earlier flight, a train or a bus I started falling apart! How could I have done something so dumb! After several train trips back and forth between the airport and train station and even one to the bus station, we had to find a hotel to stay in that night. By the time we shared our last meal of pasta salad and horrible cider in our hotel room it was midnight and we had to be up in four hours. We woke up early and bundled up for our cold icy walk back to the station to catch the earliest train to the airport. We were able to get my boyfriend on the early flight, so he would make it in to work, but I would have to wait until three o’clock.
I had nothing, but time to think about flying to another country and navigating my rather large backpack on the 45 min train ride home. I was not looking forward to nine hours alone in an airport that had no wi-fi and not much around, since it was a smaller airport. I decided that I would try to curl up in a chair in the Starbucks and try to sleep. It was freezing and so busy, I couldn’t really fall asleep, because I was afraid someone would steal my bag. I didn’t want to leave my spot since it was by an outlet and listening to my music on my phone had begun to drain my battery. I tried plugging it in and it wouldn’t work!! I began a search to find an outlet that worked and seriously contemplated unplugging a condom machine in the women’s bathroom! Thank goodness I had one of those portable battery chargers my boyfriend left me. I had to give up my music, but in doing so I was opened up to the humanness that occurs everyday in an airport. It was amazing to see a cheerful man a little younger than myself smiling as he picked up trash left by the busy people at empty tables. He came around my area a few times, once stopping to chat with me about the nonfunctioning outlets. Every time he was smiling, although people ignored him or dismissed him. The last time I saw him that day, I overheard him praying and thanking God as he cleaned. It was a very humbling experience and I knew that it was God’s way of telling me that it was going to be okay and I would make it home safely. When I finally was allowed to check in three hours before my flight I headed straight for the cafeteria. I grabbed a sandwich some wasabi popcorn and pulled a seat up to the bar. The time flew by as I enjoyed my lunch with, Earnest Hemingway, listening to Peter Gabriel and Johnny Cash. It turned out to be an amazing day and I met some very interesting people along the way and even made a new friend, whom I spent the day with at the Louvre. Life can surprise you, sometimes in a good way and sometimes a not so good way. The point is if you let go and realize you don’t have control, you will be pleasantly surprised, more often than not.
So I have to admit I have been neglecting my blog just a little! There’s been so many things I have been up to and now I have to catch all of you up! So this will be the first article in a series in which I will attempt to make it up to all of you! Buckle your seat belts and return your seats and trays to the upright and locked position! We are going for a ride!
Let’s begin with the best meal, breakfast, shall we…….in these first pics I attempted to make my mother’s “famous” (well at least in my family) biscuits and gravy. This is something I will always make when I want someone to know I care about them or when I am in need of a warm hug from my mom. Here in France biscuits, at least the ones we know in America, aren’t something I’ve seen yet. A biscuit usually refers to a cookie that you might have with café or thé. Some people might enjoy a cookie smothered in sausage gravy, but I am not one of them! That being said I was on my own to make my fluffy buttermilk pals, no Pillsbury here! As some of you know from previous articles, my monoprix carries certain things as they get them. Unfortunately I could not find baking powder, so my biscuits were going to have to be made with baking soda and a squeeze of lime to make up for the acidity in the baking powder (a pinch of cream of tartar would work too). It seemed to work alright, but I should have added more baking soda.
Breakfast is my favorite, I could eat it anytime of day. I don’t really think I’ve ever come in contact with someone who didn’t agree. Maybe it’s because if it weren’t for the burnt eggs and over cooked bacon, that my grandad ate in encouragement of my learning to cook, I may not have pursued my culinary career! I actually have many a family member to thank for that! Maybe it was the time my dad poured orange juice in one long stream into a cup far below or how he could crack an egg with one hand. His tip of cooking my French toast with a little oil instead of just butter changed my pain perdue forever! This next addition pays homage to my lovely boyfriend! Hopefully making up for the first pancakes I made him, which were incredibly dense because of the eggs I forgot to add to the batter!! I even made a homemade strawberry jam for good measure!
When we went to London I was told I absolutely had to have an English breakfast from my boyfriend’s grandma Deb, who is from England. Most people don’t eat this heavy on a regular bases, but it is a tradition that is still very much a part of the English culture. We were in luck and our hotel served a “Full English” as it’s called. It was probably a great start to a chilly day out and about in London. It stuck to our ribs and kept me fueled and going for most of the day! There are many different variations of the breakfast, but ours consisted of
1. Scrambled eggs ( you can order your eggs how you like)
2. 2pcs of chewy bacon ( Ben wasn’t a fan, but I loved it! Salty!)
3. Baked beans (it was different, but not unlinked)
4. Pork sausage (this was probably my favorite thing on the plate, the casing just snapped and the inside was soft)
5. Black pudding ( I liked it, but was unsure of what it was, really)
6. Mushrooms ( I love mushrooms, but wasn’t a fan)
7. Grilled tomato (yumm)
8. Fried potato cakes ( you can’t go wrong)
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- Pain au chocolate and apricot danish
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- Full English
It’s amazing how hungry you can get after a night out walking the streets of Paris and dancing the night away at a club that was slightly reminiscent of the vampire club in the movie Blade. I kept waiting for the scene to play out where the blood shoots from the sprinklers and vampires swoop in devouring the unsuspecting crowd of clubbers in the disco tech! Thank goodness the only devouring that occurred that night was when I sunk my teeth into the awesomeness that was my street vendor chicken sandwich. A simple chicken sandwich that I couldn’t stop eating. Tomato, grilled onion, chicken and mayo. I was unaffected by cold or my heels on our walk home that night, all that was on my mind was that I just ate that entire sandwich and I want more!
chicken sandwich
Another night in search of a quick bite, which never happens in France (unless it’s to go or chipotle) we wandered into a brasserie not far from our home. It was beautiful and the staff was dressed very chic. It was definitely not a place that I thought would have a cheeseburger on the menu. Oh but it was, and even though we ordered a delicious Cote du Rhone and buttery escargot, I did it. I ordered the cheeseburger despite the snarky look from the waiter as I giggled like a school girl over a cheeseburger. I had to try it, even if my burger came out like an abused hockey puck after the Stanley Cup! It was worth it. Perfectly cooked and juicy! It was a simple cheeseburger, void of any foo foo ingredients. Just meat and cheese! The juice dripped down my hand from my medium cooked burger onto my crispy fries, and I wasn’t embarrassed at all. I was happy!
Cheeseburger in Paradise!!
My next not so ordinary item would have to be the pizza we had at a little Italian place by Basilique du Sacre-Coeur near Montmarte. Cooked in a wood fired oven, topped with lardons and mushrooms and served to us by a gregarious server who made the experience that much more memorable! Again I lost myself in the melty cheese and another Cote du Rhone. Before I knew it I had almost eaten as much as my boyfriend. We had been laughing and talking so much that I had nearly finished the whole pizza. To avoid looking like a pig, I surrendered the rest to my boyfriend. I had done the right thing, a few more bites and people might have started asking when I was due!
Pizza with lardons and mushrooms
And last but not least there was ice cream. Leave it to the french to make a composed dessert out of ice cream. Located at a brasserie across from the galleries lafayette, was a cold, rich bowl of heaven. It wasn’t just ice cream or even similar to an ice cream sundae. A chocolate sorbet lead the way for a creamy vanilla bean ice cream and a salted caramel ice cream with bits of crunchy caramel throughout. All topped with real fatty whipped cream and almonds. The almond tuile was a little thick, but I set it to the side and broke bits off here and there. It was called the gourmandaise. I can’t wait to go back and try the other options on the menu, all in the name of research! Bien sur!
gourmandaise
I am so glad to be back! I have been sick for the past week or so and I am finally ready to get back to the business of eating, writing and exploring!The entire time I was sick I mostly ate pain au chocolat’s thanks to my wonderful boyfriend and the boulanger next door!! I don’t know why, but chocolate just makes everything better! In keeping with that tradition I decided to try my hand at making chocolate chip cookies again. Unfortunately I had previously attempted to make them and they didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped. First of all let me back up, you would think that upon finding the most amazing chocolate chips, one would be able to run to the monoprix and snatch up everything they needed to make the most awesome chocolate chip cookies EVER!! Nope….not me! I think between the two of us it took about 15 minutes just to find the baking soda. Thank goodness I had done research so when confronted with the many different types of flour I knew exactly what to get. The 55 flour in France is the closest to our all-purpose flour. They also do not carry vanilla extract like I am used to, it is like this sort of vanilla bean sugar??? So when I went about making my cookies there was definitely some confusion. Lucky for me wine is pretty cheap and easy to find, so it was going on this great cookie adventure too!
My first attempt I followed my recipe to the T. I am not sure if it was the flour or the fact that my oven kept shutting off whenever it felt like it, but my first batch came out like lumps of coal. They were like dense cake/ cookie balls. They weren’t inedible and in fact my boyfriend loved them. God bless him! Being a pastry chef this was just not acceptable, I was determined to figure out this vanilla, flour, baking soda nonsense. Not to mention my Sabatour, the oven! With a few adjustments to the amount of flour and a little extra vanilla and baking soda they came out better the second time around.
I guess it all depends on how you like your chocolate chip cookies, but chewy with a slightly crispy edge is exactly how I like them! C’est Parfait!!
My first vacation without my parents, I went to the Bahamas with my girlfriends. instead of living it up on the beach, I found myself sitting at a payphone crying to my mom that I wanted to come home. At the stern advisement of my friends and a couple of very strong rum drinks, I began to enjoy my trip as the Charlie’s Angels(the three of us were called that everywhere). I am about as extroverted as they come, inside my comfort zone, but outside I become a shell of myself. I have traveled to many more places since then and have become more and more adventurous as time has gone by. Now I find myself living in Paris and faced everyday with something that challenges me. That brings us to the metro. If I could name one thing that embodies all of the things that send my stomach tumbling, it would be ….the metro. The smells alone are enough to send my stomach churning, not to mention the giant furry dust bunnies that seem to be gathering to attack! Where do they come from anyway? Maybe from all of the animals that travel with their owners, the people who don’t find it necessary to carry “doggy bags.” Animals are free to do their business wherever it happens. Not getting lost amongst the everyday shuffle, while guarding your personal items on and off of your body, can be very difficult. For someone not used to public transportation, I would have to say that it’s not really all that bad. It is actually pretty convenient. I just make sure I map it out first and find out which stops I need to enter and exit at. Thankfully my first trip alone took me to lunch with Ben. I was there in no time and I made it there and back unscathed and my lunch where it belongs! I still think a couple of rum drinks would make great travel companions! Alcohol kills everything, including germs and furry dust bunnies! Here are a few snapshots of my neighborhood, I took on my way back from the metro!
When I first moved here to Paris, I had imagined all of the wonderful meals I would create for my boyfriend and I in our quaint little apartment. If I can throw a dinner party and decorate cakes in my little studio apartment in Dallas, I could be Julia in Paris! Right? Wrong…..way wrong. The one BIG difference between my apartment here and my apartment in Dallas…… my BIG refrigerator. Now the one in my studio wasn’t anything special, but compared to my little ice box here it was enormous. I keep hoping that every time I open it, it will miraculously be filled with bottles of booze like the mini bar at a hotel. Sadly it is not, I only open it to discover that yet again, I must decide what to make for the next meal. Given my frugal amount of space, I usually have to be creative with the items I buy at the store. I’m not a big fan of eating the same things over and over again (unless it is my mom’s biscuits and gravy). So you probably will notice the same types of things from other posts being used again and again. Nonetheless, each one is special to me, just like my mini bar (even though it didn’t come with booze).
Brioche toast with spinach, swiss, ham and tomatoes and over easy egg.
Chicken stock
Shiitake and button mushrooms
Duck and mushroom risotto
Stuffed scary hairy chicken thigh with ravioli
I mentioned having lunch at a sushi place this weekend called Akita. After walking Ben to his metro stop, I decided to wander around to try and find this Japanese patisserie I had seen the other day. I did find it and in it was the friendliest girl serving beautiful pastries. My French is not at all what I would like it to be and every time I try to say something, my brain overloads and nothing comes out at all! Lucky for me smiling and shaking my head has been met with friendly responses! I walked out of there with a half of a brioche loaf swirled with fresh yuzu(a Japanese citrus fruit , that I could eat on just about anything) and a French periodical to help me with understanding of the French language. And voila breakfast is served…..
Quiche Lorraine
Brioche Suisse/ gourmandise
The Louvre itself was phenomenal. Pictures don’t do it justice. The size is overwhelming. I could not imagine being here for a few days and trying to see all of it. I am wondering if I will even see everything it has to offer. There is so much history held within those walls. Thank goodness they have a few cafe’s where you can sit and grab a snack or even a light lunch. We had a coffee and split Ben’s favorite pastry, a brioche suisse or a gourmandise. It is a flaky pastry filled with vanilla pastry cream and chocolate chips. It is good, but I’m not ready to call it my favorite just yet!
Enjoying the spoils from my visit to the Monoprix!
Cured meat, goat cheese stuffed peppers, duck rillete, egg and brioche toast
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