Millefeuille

I went to the Prefecture last week, before  my parents arrived, to pick up my visa. I had gone the week before, naively thinking that when they told me at the end of my interview in December that all that was left was to pick it up, meant just that, I was therefore not mentally prepared for the 3 hour wait and did the standard, walk in and walk back out.

I went back today with a book and when I approached information to ask the woman exactly where I needed to go, she told me to read a sign that I could see from where I was standing. I politely said that I came to information to ask her to explain what steps I needed to take. She told me to walk over and read the sign to answer my qestion then to come back tomorrow because the office that I needed was closed, although the hours were posted until 3pm, and it was not yet 1:30. I pointed this out, and she again told me to read the sign. I (furiously) walked over, came back, and told her I still did not unterstand, which was true. I even threw in a, "I work for the state too" card, no dice. She said; if you had read the sign you would have seen their are too many people today, so we aren't accpeting any other applications. WHY could she have not just said this in the first place? WHY?

Walking out (for then a second time), I noticed I've taken to muttering French expletives, not a good sign. Its now no small wonder to me why fonctionnaires are constantly verbally 'agressed' by french citizens, they are miserable humans who dont do their jobs competently. They cannot get fired which is really a shame for everyone involved - not just for me the customer, but really for them too. Someone should put them out of their misery, then maybe they'd be forced to do something really degrading.

Thank god the French have redeeming qualities, like their pastries. I got on my bike and headed to a new bakery I hadn't yet tried.

As always in the name of research for my Dad's visit, I give you the millefeuille:

Follow-up: The Friday before my parents arrived I returned, waited a quick 3 hours, and FINALLY picked up my titre de sejour, which expires in 2 months. The woman who handed it over was by far the nicest one I've encountered there and as she slid it over the counter to me, smiled in an understanding way that seemed to say, 'I know what you had to go though to get this'. Does she really though??

My Dad and I with the fruits of all my hard research

A bientôt.
Linz

Bonjour les parents

Well my parents came and went.

We had a great visit, albeit too short! They had wonderful weather and we packed a lot into just a few days. My Dad was here for only 2 days - Saturday and Sunday - then headed up to London for some business until Saturday. We made sure he got to taste all the pastries, charcuterie and wine in 2 days he would have in 5 before heading to the land of fish and chips. We did a day trip and picnic to Cordes-sur-Ciel, a beautiful little village about an hour and a half from Toulouse built on a hill with Gisèle and had a lovely dinner at home with Gaby, Gisèle and Gilou. After my Dad left my Mom and I spend a great 4 days in Toulouse before she left on Thursday just walking around the center. I had rearranged some classes so that I could spend as much time with her as possible.

Here are some more photos and cliff notes of their stay in Toulouse (if there are more pictures of food than people, don't worry that's normal):

First day in Toulouse grabbing a coffee at la place St Georges

Wine tasting with Gisèle

Day trip to Cordes-sur-Ciel

Stopped in L'isle sur Tarne, a cute village on the way home

Wine and various duck and sausage appetizers by the fire

Rooftop view of Toulouse with Alberto 

Toulousain sausage and wine from Burgundy dinner

Lunch outside with Gaby one beautiful Wednesday

Exploring an abandoned château with Alberto

A bientôt!
Linz

St. Honoré

So my parents are coming to visit next week and I could not be looking more forward to their visit.

Gisèle and I have been discussing all the things we want them to do and taste while they're here. Now that Gisèle has been to visit my parents in CT and has discovered my father's sweet tooth, she has lots of ideas.

We have decided that my father needs to do a sampling of all the traditional French desserts: Millefeuille, Paris-Brest, St. Honoré, etc, hand-selected from the patisseries that do them best. Naturally, this requires testing the aforementioned pastries at local bakeries to see who makes the best version.

Our first taste test was this Friday, I present to you the St. Honoré, apparently named after the patron saint of bakers (only the French). It's a small cluster of cream puffs dipped in caramelized sugar, topped with whipped cream:

A bientôt!

February Funk

So I've been in a bit of a funk lately. I'm not sure if it's the winter blues, all my crazy travel catching up to me, the disatisfactoin with my job, or what.

This week my classes have been so blasé. I know that not every class can be amazing, but I'm feeling like, hey, I'm only here for another few months, what awesome things about America can I bring into these kids lives? Music usually works pretty well, so I devised, in honor of Black History Month, (ok and maybe a little bit  the recent passing of Whitney Houston) a lesson featuring black American musicians that traces some of the different music genres (jazz, Motown, Stax, funk, rap, etc) throughout America's history with Civil Rights and segregation. Sounds good right?

As Gisèle would say, it's kind of like making mayonnaise (you know that can only be a French idiom because who in America makes their own mayonaise??): you can add the eggs, the mustard, and the oil, but sometimes it just doesn't take.

That was kind of how it went. We trudged through Louis Armstrong, Martha and the Vandellas, Otis Redding, thank god they perked up just a teeny bit for James Brown, then back to sleep for Etta James and even Whitney Houston. I was pretty bummed, but hey, at least I got to listen to Otis Redding for an hour of class, right?

So if singing funk wasn't going to get me out of my funk I moved on to the next logical thing:  food. What better pick-me-up than cooking something delicioso?

Now that I have only 2 months left here, I've started a list of things-I-must-do-before-I-leave and, like any self-respecting, die-hard foodie/gourmand a list of things I must learn to cook, I mean really nail down, before I leave. Included are: quiche, crêpes, madeleines, and savory cake.

Hold the phone. Savory cake? I know it sounds strange, but the French have this thing about savory baked goods, and I have to say, I think they're on to something. It's essentially like a loaf-cake that you can add whatever you want to; Olives, sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, gruyere cheese, sausage, lardons, the list is quite extensive.

Yesterday was my roommate from last year, Gaby's, birthday so I decided to try my hand at this Frenchie party dish. I went with black olive, semi-dried tomatoes marinated in olive oil and garlic that I found at the market, and grated emmental cheese. Here is the recipe, it served about 12 slices, I appologise in advance for the metric and less than precise baking instructions (remember I'm working with a gas oven whose regulation consists of a dial numbered 1-10):

Cake Salé:

250g flour (I used ½ whole wheat, ½ white)

5 cl oil (I used olive but you can use vegetable)

20cl milk (again, here you can use juice from the olives, dry white wine or a mixture of both) 

4 eggs

About 100g grated emmental cheese, 100g tomatoes, 100g pitted black olives sliced in two

Zest from about a quarter of a lemon

11g of baking soda

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to about 200°C

2. Sift the flour into a bowl and break the eggs in the middle, incoprotaing the flour little by little 

3. Add the oil and 20cl of milk (or olive juice, or wine) 

4. Mix in your ingredients, add salt and pepper, zest, and finally your baking soda. 

5. Pour into your greased  pan

6. Tip: it looks pretty if you sprinkle some extra cheese and a few olives on top to brown-up in the oven. 

7. Bake for about 40-45 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean

And voilà.