Cooking for One- Part 2

One extremely "French" food that I love is boudin blanc. Boudin Blanc is a sausage made of ground pork meat (often including parts of the liver and heart), eggs, and milk. Yes, I know what you're thinking, "Are you crazy!?!" But trust me, c'est tres bien! I haven't had the nerve to try the rouge version b/c it is red for a reason. The red sausages contain blood... um... yeah...I can't handle blood.

I buy boudin blanc often at the market, which makes cooking for myself much easier seeing how I can buy as few or as many as I wish.

My friend Jenna visited for Thanksgiving and I made boudin blanc as her first meal in France (well, for this visit at least). She thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't think I ever told her it contains liver and heart meat... hmm... guess she'll find out soon enough. Hi Jenna.  :)

I haven't taken a picture of boudin blanc, so I had to borrow one from saveurdujour.com. I normally saute mine with mushrooms!

Cooking for One - Part I

One of the downsides of living in a big city, like Paris, is paying more for less when it comes to living accommodations. You pay for the location... "Location, location, location."

My little studio looks like a closet in comparison to ones I've seen in Duluth, MN, Atlanta, GA or Chicago, IL. After visiting several of my friends' apartments here, I now feel as though I live in a mansion... well...you get the idea.

I eat with my host family Monday-Friday for dinner, and MWF for lunch. That leaves me with 13 meals a week to fend for myself. In my little kitchen I have one working stove-eye, a mini-fridge (without a freezer), a microwave, and absolutely zero counter space. Needless to say, cooking can be difficult... not to mention, cooking for one person. If I cook a "normal" meal, I often have a lot of leftover food. I get so sick of eating the same things all the time, or throwing out food. With my au pair salary, I can't afford to waste my money. I have decided to make more of an effort to cook creatively, while staying healthy. The next several posts will be some of the recent dishes I've enjoyed. They won't all be "French," but good nonetheless, and perfect when cooking for one! Don't worry... this is not going to become another food blog...

The first one I've chosen is an endive salad. This dish is not necessarily French, but one I've eaten several times since being here.  Endives are fantastic! Because they last 10-14 days in the fridge (much longer than other types of lettuce) I don't have to worry as much about them going bad before I get around to consuming them! For information and other endive recipes, go to http://www.endive.com/

Endive Salad
2 endives
Salt
Pepper

Go-To Dressing
1 Part Olive Oil
2 Parts Balsamic Vinigarette
Touch of honey or dijon mustard

Trim the stems off the endives. Pull apart the leaves and put them in boiling water until cooked. Drain and mix in Go-To-Dressing. Refrigerate until chilled.

You can also eat this salad with raw endives. Mix your other favorite chopped veggies, and voila!

Do I Know You?

Okay... it's been too long since my last post. I apologize!

One of my favorite things about living in France is how quickly I am learning the language. I am extremely stunned at my progress. Although I am far from being bilingual, I can already hold conversations after 2.5 months. I look forward to my classes each week. I practice and study all the time, in an effort to soak up as much information and new vocabulary as possible.

To be an au pair in France, it is a requirement to learn French. Some au pairs came mainly for the experience of living abroad. I came solely to learn French as quickly as possible and hopefully to make more opera connections along the way. It is very apparent which students wish to learn the language and those who are merely fulfilling the requirement to keep their visa.

My language class is fairly diverse, with people representing Germany, England, Nepal, South Africa, Poland, and of course America. Last week, we discussed the differences between French manners and those of our respective countries. It was really neat to hear the differences between them.

Some interesting French customs:
- The well-known double air kiss: upon greeting someone or saying good-bye, you kiss each of their cheeks. I have grown accustomed to this tradition... but I must say, at first it seemed a little too personal to kiss someone I was meeting for the first time. Interestingly enough, my professor feels as though hugging is too personal.
-Both hands on the table: While dining in the US, it is polite to put the hand you are not using in your lap. In France, you must keep both hands visible and on the table at all times.
-You put your bread where??? : Bread remains directly on the table near your plate, not on your plate
-Host/Hostess gift- You never bring wine as a host/hostess gift if you are attending a dinner party. If wine is given as a gift, they feel obliged to drink it then... and the problem with that is the hostess has most likely planned which wine you will consume based on what he/she is serving.
-You don't greet someone you don't know: I say "Bonjour" and smile at people all the time, even though it's not a custom here... I can't help my Southern ways. Funny story: When we were discussing the differences in greeting customs, my teacher used me as an example. Especially if I have met someone before, I will ask them "How are you?" when I see them- in French of course. My professor told the class that another teacher asked if she knew me from somewhere because I always greet her in the morning. I thought this was hilarious. Although it's not a custom in France I love talking to random people: the clerk behind the cash register, the vendors at the market, the waiters at restaurants, elderly people walking by... it's amazing the looks I receive. Without a doubt, at first they are taken off guard, and then always seem genuinely grateful that I care. This is one American custom I will shamelessly bring to France