mousse au chocolat.

another food adventure today: mousse au chocolat! my host mom taught me how to make it and it is super easy and delicious!

ingredients:
1 200g chocolate dessert bar (i prefer dark chocolate)
6 eggs (separate yolk and egg whites)
1 pinch salt

step 1. break up chocolate into small chunks

step 2. melt chocolate

step 3. separate egg yolks and egg whites

step 4. add a pinch of salt to egg whites

step 5. beat egg whites until small cones form

step 6. combine egg yolks and melted chocolate

step 7. fold egg whites into chocolate mixture

step 8. refrigerate for 3 hours

optional add ins

I made three variations: dark chocolate, peanut butter and coconut almond

confiture de cerise.

this summer in france i learned to love many new foods including jam and cherries. each morning for breakfast i would eat these things called biscottes (which are basically little pieces of toast) and an assortment of jams. i would basically pile as much jam as i could onto one piece that's how much my new love for jams had sky rocketed. the second food i came to love were cherries. since i bought my lunch at the local produce market every day, i would to explore my options. at least twice a week i would buy a big bag of cherries to eat during class. today while i was shopping at the HT (Harris Teeter for all of you non-south easterners) i had a great way to fuse my two food loves together: cherry jam! lucky for me cherries were on sale this week. when i got home i googled different recipes and found one that looked easy and had pictures. unfortunately, i didn't have a de-pitter  so i got a little, well more than a little, messy. but after de-pitting all of the cherries, it was smooth sailing from there. i added lemon juice and sugar to the cherries and put them on the stove to simmer. super easy and super tasty! now tomorrow i can eat my cherry jam with some biscottes!

ingredients: cherries, lemon juice and sugar

la confiture de cerise!

the ragusa's

the famous robert

odile, carla et mireille

clara et carla

robert rockin my purse

back too soon.

i feel like i literally was just at the airport saying my goodbyes to my parents. those were some of the fastest 6 weeks of my life, yet so full of good memories. it wouldn't be as memorable without an exciting ending. so i left aix at 5:30 friday night for paris. getting on the TGV always makes me nervous because you have to find an empty spot for your luggage and of course the most convenient spots are always taken. i lug all of my bags on the train to find that the top shelf is the only open spot for my 50lb suitcase. thankfully some scrawny littler french man helps me lift my bag up onto the shelf...im pretty sure i had a good 15lbs on him. the three hour train ride was pretty uneventful but was bound to get better. i dozed off for about half an hour and woke up in a freenzy thinking i had missed my spot. i double check my ticket and the ETA is 9pm. around 9 the train announces the next stop and i wasn't exactly paying attention but i assumed it was the paris airport. so i got try to pull my suitcase off the shelf and of course it is tightly wedged in there. another french man sees me struggling so comes to rescue me. so i get off the train and notice the station is relatively empty. i ask the people taking advantage of the stop to take a smoke break and they inform me that the airport is the next stop. so i lug my stuff back on the train and embarrassingly walk back to my seat with a bright red face. the man who helped me laughed at me and i informed him that i failed to realize this wasn't my stop. so embarrassing. after getting off at the right stop i successfully make it to the hotel just outside the airport. i had an early morning ahead of me so i gave myself plenty of time to find my gate and get checked-in. good thing charles de gualle is one of the most poorly designed airports ever. i took the tram to terminal 2 at one end of the airport only to find out that my gate is at terminal 1....at the opposite end. so i get back on the tram and meet these nice southern men who are on my flight to charlotte. when we make it to the right terminal we follow the signs to hall 2 to check-in. well we get to the second level and see more signs for hall 2 which appear to be pointing back down to the first level. so we all go back down and search for more signs which point us to an elevator. back to the second level. apparently the "down arrow" actually means straight ahead. fail charles de gualle. at least i wasn't the only one who was confused. so we make it to the check-in counter where i find out that my bag is overweight, naturally. thankfully i only had to empty out a few things. after that it was smooth sailing from there. i made it back to the states all in one piece with all of my belongings. i finally got some good spicy mexican food tonight and i am not delaying my unpacking. im starting to hit a wall and its only 9pm...i guess im still on france time, 6 hours ahead. im so glad to be back with the family and they are all already saying that ill be going back next summer, i need a second chance to get my french citizenship.

je ne veux pas partir!

i just ate my last dinner with my host family, sad day. their son, daughter-in-law and grand-daughter joined us tonight. we had a traditional moroccan meal which consisted of couscous, chick-peas, veggies, chicken and raisins in some sort of really amazing sauce. for the first time here we had wine with dinner! it was a lovely meal. they mentioned something about curry, but considering french people do not like spicy food at all, i believe our definition of curry is slightly different. as wonderful as the meal was, it wasn't very spicy, but as usual i ate everything on my plate....and more. after dinner my roomie and i started getting ready for my last night out on the town (which i am currently waiting for her to get off of skype) and carla (the grand-daughter) came in and did my make-up for me. she is 6 which explains a lot. i had blush all over my face - including my forehead - and my eyes were quite scary looking. i discretely rubbed off all of the excess make-up without her knowing. i no longer look like a scary hooker clown now. while im writing this i am staring at my packed luggage next to my bed. i can't believe my 6 weeks here are up already (minus the whole finals thing tomorrow...psh). as much as i love and miss my family (that is a very sincere comment), i feel like this has become a new home for me. i am already checking deadlines for TAPIF (Teaching Assistant Program in France) for after i graduate in may. i might have also posted an application on "au pair world.com" to further prolong my denial of leaving here tomorrow. oh how i am going to miss this place - coming home in the evening to my host dad in his boxers, the crazy dog who barks not only when i come home but when i leave (?), and the amazing dinners that i am force fed. je reviendrai à aix.

rain, rain go away...

it looks like i brought the weather from ireland to aix. it literally has been in the 80s and sunny every single day since i have been here, except for today. there is a fresh produce market everyday but the big market with all the different vendors is only on tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays. i still have a few items on my gift list to buy so i decided to wake up early this morning to go to the market. fail. it was raining when i got up so i checked the internet and it said it should stop by noon. i  kept my fingers crosses as i got ready hoping that it would stop and the market would be open. i get ready (thankfully i didn't straighten my hair) and set out into the pouring rain. naturally i didn't bring an umbrella or a rain jacket with me to france. fail again. i walked the mile to the market with my jacket over my head. of course when i reach la palais de justice i discover that the smart vendors didn't set up their tables due to the pouring rain. being the stubborn person i am i continue to walk around hoping to find anyone selling anything. after an unproductive search i buy my lunch (fresh produce as always...today cherries which are now out of season and crazy expensive). i finally make it to school with soaking wet berks, jeans thats are weighed down by the wet ends and a semi-see through white tee due to the rain - at least my hair was protected by the jacket. at this point all i wanted to do was curl up on a couch, watch a good chick-flick and have a huge cup of coffee. i settled for a baby sized cafè macchiato at the school which was only .50euro and i am asking myself why i haven't utilized this coffee machine before the last week of classes. today wasn't a total fail. after classes my host mom taught me how to make mousse au chocolat which was super easy and i will definitely be making it back in the states!

the luck of the irish.

ireland - check. another super long and tiring weekend. the adventure began when i flew out to london thursday night and arrived around midnight only to wait in line for about 90 minutes to get through passport security. naturally all of the non-european union countries have to go to separate line - so basically all americans. of course, it is the longest and slowest line to get through. when all of the europeans were done and security decided to come attend to the "others", everyone burst out into cheers. finally around 1:30 i was welcomed into london. too bad my flight left for ireland 5 hours later. after a lovely night sleeping on the airport floor (don't worry i had 2 friends with me and i promise there were like 100 other people doing the same thing), paige arrived and we left bright and early for ireland! we didn't really have much of a plan - just a bunch of "we could do this or maybe this" ideas. the only thing that was on my "must do" list was to eat at an irsh pub and listen to live irish music (while maybe drinking an irish coffee or baileys - the virgin kind obvi). first things first - an irish breakfast. now in france eggs are NEVER eaten for breakfast - only dinner. it's funny how different the culture is just across the pond. my first irish meal consisted of eggs, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns, toast, and a giant cup of coffee (much bigger than france but much much weaker). at breakfast we mapped out our POA. it's a shame that the streets change names every few blocks because we got lost a lot. but getting lost is all a part of the adventure. we finally decided to take a tour of the dublin castle. we learned a  lot of fun facts about ireland's history. 1) irish (or gaelic) is ireland's national language and 2) the queen of england made her first visit to ireland in 2011 - it had been 100 years since a royal figure had sat in the royal chair of the castle. next on our list was the guiness factory. however, we both made an executive decision that one tour was enough for us and neither of us cared to drink the free pint at the end of the tour. we ended up walking around and exploring all of the souvenir shops (which are full of sheep beer and more sheep). finally it was time for lunch (i literally think that all we did was eat all weekend) and fish and chips were in order. we found a cute irish resturant and got our fill of another traditional meal. after lunch we did more exploring and getting lost. being ireland, it was bound to rain sometime during the day. we it finally started to pour we found ourselves in the famous irish pub, fitzgeralds bar. it was the perfect break to rest, grab a coffee and re-energize for the rest of the day. we keep with the same routine and walked around and shopped some more and then finally settled on an italian resturant for dinner. good thing we were both exhausted and tired of eating because it was time to take the train from dublin to delgany to stay with our new irish friends, the evans. the evans are the most precious couple i have ever met. paige's piano teacher at wheaton stayed with them on her last trip to ireland with the college church singing group. they live in the countryside in a beautiful house with an amazing view of the hillside. they were so welcoming and we were both so grateful to have a warm and cozy home to stay in. we passed out in our king size bed and slept for a solid 12 hours. when we finally got up the next morning/afternoon we ate another traditional irish meal - yogurt with fresh fruit and musili (which is my new favorite thing). we chatted with the couple for a long time before we finally settled on a plan for the day. they took us to powerscourt castle which was so beautiful. after the short tour we sat in the gardens for tea, coffee, scones and cookies. next they decided they wanted to take us to the waterfall. on our way their we saw signs for a raspberry farm and mrs. evans decided she had to stop. this so-called farm turned out to be someones house filled with boxes of freshly picked raspberries. while we were talking to the old lady and her grandson, the grandson looked at me and paige and said "well ya can't just stand there. here eat some raspberries!" (all in an irish accent) he gave us a free punnet of raspberries and welcomed us to ireland. i guess chivalry isn't dead there! after that we went to the powerscourt waterfall which was surrounded by ireland's 40 shades of green. next, the evan's dropped us off at johnnie fox's pub which is claimed to be ireland's highest club. we shared a bowl of seafood soup which was accompanied by their brown bread. i went with another irish traditional dish - lamb, potatoes and veggies. i ate every bite. for dessert we shared apple pie a la mode. after dinner we went to the bar area and got coffee and finally listened to a live irish band! after they played my favorite son (whiskey in the jar) my visit to ireland was complete. even though it wasn't "ps i love you 2" and i didn't get lost in sheep country and resuced by an irish man with a heart-breaking accent, it was an amazing trip and a beautiful country!

the evan's

irish breakfast

fish and chips

sugar loaf mountain

the powerscourt castle

johnnie fox's pub

our free punnet of raspberries

Wine in Provence

Last night I went to a wine and cheese tasting...so french I know! I feel so cultured now. We drank five different wines: two rosés, two whites and one red. I took extensive notes and ranked each one. Being that I prefer red wine the Joseph Drouhin La Foret from Bourgogne was my favorite. Coming in a close second was the dessert white wine Domaine de l'Alliance from Sauternes. Surprisingly, I enjoyed one of the rosés which is what Provence is known for. We learned all about the wine making process and the different rules for making wine. For example, in France you will never find Cabernet Savignon or Merlot on a menu, rather, you would find the region that it is made in (Merlot grapes are produced in several regions including Bordeaux. So if you wanted this kind of wine you would look for a Bordeaux on the menu.) We were given a handy-dandy map that shows which regions all of the wines are made. American wines ain't going nothin on French wines. Along with each wine was paired the most perfect cheese to compliment the taste. Naturally I liked all of them because I am now a huge cheese lover. I enjoyed the two different types of goat cheese which is perfect for my dream of owning goats one day. I especially loved the Epoisse cheese which is a oozy cheese very similar to Brie (my all-time favorite). Going in to the wine tasting I was told that a lot of times you don't swallow the wine but you spit it out so you do not ruin your pallet. False. The last of the 5 S's is "Savor" and I definitely savored all 5+ glasses of the wine. But don't be too quick to judge (MOTHER TERESA) because the pastor's wife of the church that I have been attending here was the host (see normal Christians do drink)! "Wine in Provence" is her company that she started several years ago. When I first met her I thought she looked oddly familiar and when I get to her house there were pictures of her and her husband everywhere. I told her that I have been going to her husband's church and she was so happy to finally meet me (even if it is almost the end of my stay). I love how things like that just fall in your lap!

LES SOLDES!

since there are only sales in france two times a year, they are kinda a big deal when they finally come. the big sales started this past wednesday in aix and i think literally every person decided to go shopping at the same times i did. after two days of wandering in the out of stores and trying on countless tops, dresses, and shorts, i came up empty handed. today i decided to go shopping for magnolia and my future niece and nephew (!), but i failed there too. however, today wasn't a total fail. i happened to wander into this great book store and found shelves upon shelves of cooking books. i was in heaven. i think i literally spent 30 minutes trying to decide which one looked the best and what kind of cook book i wanted. after looking through several i decided that Larousse was the brand that i wanted so i somewhat narrowed my choices down. the hardest part was choosing between a full-meal cook book or a dessert book, which most of you know i am a sucker for. i decided that it is time to expand my horizons and i do intend on making french meals one day. after much debate i bought Petit plats pour etudiants which seemed like a good place to start considering i am a student (etudiant = student for all of you non-frenchies). it has great looking pictures (which is a non-committal on my list of must have's for cook books), great looking recipes, and desserts too! i am officially on my way to becoming the next julia child. this is definitely a good place to start in order to open my own french bakery one day!

48hours in Barcelona.

I spent less than 48 hours in Barcelona and probably accomplished more than you would in a week. So our bus left at 10pm friday night and we arrived into Barcelona at 5:15pm, when people were still out partying from the night before. when we got to our hostel we weren't able to check in until 10 so I decided to take a power nap in the stock room. I found a nice couch covered with towels and passed out. After we were able to check-in, we set out to explore. Since night-life doesn't end until the wee hours of the morning, the streets were empty when we were ready to seize the day. at first, i was a little concerned with this city because it was lifeless. around lunchtime all of the cafes and shops started opening and people began emerging from their houses. we went to the port and did some shopping at a mall and the local market. then we had lunch at the cafe along la rambla, the main street in the city. thankfully i was famished so i was able to finish my entire plate of paella which was amazing. after lunch we set out to do the typical tourist things. first, we went to sagrada familia which is the most beautiful cathedral i've seen thus far. we decided to pay the 13euro to go inside and tour the top...it was definitely worth it! next we trekked over to see the 1992 olympic site. there is a huge fountain near the site that has an awesome light show after sunset so naturally we had to stay. around 10pm we decided to head back to the hostel to get changed and go out for dinner. yes, in america this is extremely late. keep in mind europe does not have 5pm dinner for the blue-hairs! i have learned to enjoy the late dinners over here. after dinner we walked down la rambla where you get asked to come to a different club every 15 feet. we ended up going to razzmatazz and listening to this really great indie rock band. obviously we had to adapt to the spanish style of night life and we finally went to bed around 6am (i am still recovering). so the next day we went to the beach and laid around for a few hours. afterwards we went to the picasso museum and got to see most of his paintings from his life. dinner the second night was not as glorious as the first. we were all really hungry and settles for a mid-grade cafe that turned out to be the cafe of the neighboring hostel...fail. we made it back to the bus station for our midnight bus back to aix which turned out to be about an hour late. but we made it safely back to aix at 8am this morning!