Graduation Goggles

How apt that this week's How I Met Your Mother was about "graduation goggles," describing how we become nostalgic about things when we are about to leave them forever. Now, France has not been a cakewalk for me this year, and I really want to go home, but maybe some of the tough times are already getting blurred by the beginning of final goodbyes... And lately, I have been often surrounded by assistants wanting a few last hurrahs before we all scatter, so the champagne cocktails and snacks and dance music all around us is a nice cushion from the dull realities of these seven months of an assistant's life.

So on Tuesday, Katherine and Caitlin came into Rennes for one last dinner out at Casa Pépé, just the three of us. It was DELICIOUS as usual! We also watched a movie and just chatted, as classic slumber parties require. Then today, Amanda and David came over from Fougères for lunch. Sadly, it was too chilly for picnicking, but we ate yummy burgers at Snack My Dwitch Up and hung out, with a late afternoon stop at Le Haricot Rouge for their spring chocolate flavors menu! Mmm, coconut! Hooray for other humans!

But now, again, my apartment is empty and the sky is grey (as it is 90% of the time here...), and the graduation goggles are thrown aside yet again. *sigh*

Luckily, I have a cocktail party on Saturday and an assistants' dinner next Tuesday. But by next Friday, pretty much everyone will have left. The family then shows up May 4th! Ack!

Business as usual

Quick life update for my faithful followers:

Wednesday was a Vitré outing to hang out with Caitlin--I saw her open her Christmas presents in her newly returned suitcase that AirFrance lost over the holidays! I got to eat chili, rice crispie treats, and chicken nuggets with fries while watching Teen Mom. It was like being a kid in America for an afternoon :)

Two early 8:30 workdays were draining for Thursday and today... One of the teachers has the flu, so I got out two hours early today (good for me, horrible for her!). I did, however, spend another extra hour at school being interviewed by the Graphic Industries class for the school paper! It should be exciting to see what the article ends up being like... They asked questions in English, so hopefully it won't be translated back to French awkwardly. They're even going to take my photo for it next week! I'll be sure to share it all with you when it is printed :)

I've also been talking with Ma about when the family is going to visit. Remember, folks, I'm on vacation here February 26 to March 14 and then April 23 to June 7! (Though, PA and I were just talking about visiting Prague for a few (cold!) days at the end-of-Feb/beginning-of-March part!) Will let you know how things work out, of course. All are welcome!

Tonight, I'm meeting up with a few assistants for dinner and movies. Caitlin is staying over so we can go to the market and/or Irish brunch at Apple Pie. As long as I can sleep a lot this weekend, I'll be happy.

Bisous to you all! :*

Peace

After a glowing end of the week review about being 'magic,' I had an equally magical weekend. Firstly, I received a package of wrapped Christmas gifts from the family on Friday morning. That afternoon, I took the train with PA to Vitre to visit Caitlin, my favorite assistant here! We had fun making lemon bars and going out to eat Indian food with Sara the German assistant (samosas and Matar Paneer); the waiter even chatted with us a bunch and was impressed that Caitlin and I actually ate the spicy sauce that French people never touch! After that was all the fun of a good old-fashioned American slumber party with sugary snacks, tv, joking around, etc. Tons of fun!

Side note: Caitlin taught me that a "French press" is known as an "Italian" coffeemaker here! LOL!

Our baking challenge for this morning: biscuits and Southern style sausage gravy! We googled recipes and made it all from scratch--me the biscuits and Caitlin the gravy. They were soooooo delicious! We had a lazy morning of cooking, eating, and drinking coffee before a grocery store run. She had to get things done for classes since she is day-tripping to Paris tomorrow, so I stopped in to see Pierre-Antoine before catching the 5:30 train back to Rennes. Did some intense grocery shopping for myself here, then I enjoyed the first box of Kraft mac and cheese that Ma sent me from the States! Now I'm having some real Sleepytime tea and clementines :)

Speaking of clementines, PA's niece Clémentine talked about me recently, saying that my country was very far away from hers! So cute!

Here are all the recipes we used!

Biscuits: http://www.joyofbaking.com/Biscuits.html

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar (optional)

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Topping:

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips). Add the milk and slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined. (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)

Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.

Roll out dough to 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thickness. Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured round cookie cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

Makes about 12 3-inch (7.5 cm) biscuits.

Southern Style Sausage Gravy: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,175,135176-243195,00.html
1/2 pkg. mild sausage
2 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. all purpose flour or Wondra
4 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper

Cook sausage until done. Add butter and flour. Simmer for a few minutes on medium heat stirring frequently. Add milk, salt and pepper. Simmer over medium-high heat stirring constantly until desired thickness.

Lemon Bars: http://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonBars.html

Shortbread Crust:

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (25 grams) confectioner's (powdered or icing) sugar

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

Lemon Filling:

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (approximately two large lemons)

1 tablespoons (5 grams) grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons (25 grams) all purpose flour

Garnish:

Confectioner's (powdered or icing) sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pan.

Shortbread Crust: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together. Press onto the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Lemon Filling: In your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer,  beat the sugar and eggs until nice and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Fold in the flour. Pour the filling over the shortbread crust and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the filling has set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 

To serve: Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar. These are best eaten the day they are made but can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for a day or two.

Yield: 16 - 2 inch (5 cm) bars