French Cooking Class

November 2, 2010- My first day of French Cooking Class today. I first got interested in French cooking  when my daughter Kelsey introduced me to the book- French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. By the way, she also inspired me to try blogging with her My Big Fat German Adventure blog.  Of course I have her book and cookbook- but haven't cooked a darn thing out of either.  The movie Julie and Julia also piqued my interest in French cooking.

Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

This was a great day to get out of the house and away from TV and radio as it is election day. Politics, politics, ugh!  It is everywhere here ,though intriguing to watch the evening news with the capital building in the background. Things are happening right here, in real time-fascinating.

My class is held at The Plum Center which is an adult/continuing education center administrated by Fairfax county schools.  It is only a 5 to 10 minute drive from my apt- score!!  I only feel comfortable driving the surface streets so far- but am trying to be braver. 

Our class has 12 students nine women and three men. Our instructor is Madame Gaston- a petite authentic French woman- I guess French women  really don't get fat!  I haven't seen so much butter, heavy cream and sugar in a while.  Madame Gaston (whom I guess is an early 30 something) is friendly and approachable, I like the way she talks with her French accent-she calls food processors "robots" which is fun. She wears a stylishly messy ponytail, black pants, a turtle neck sweater and black ballet flats- how French can you get!

Our menu for today is :
Soupe d'automne avec Saint Jacques et huile de truffle   Autumn soup made from fall squash, and scallops seared in truffle oil. 
Croque monsieur &be'chamel  Hot ham and cheese sandwich with white sauce
Petite salad verte Small green salad  with vinaigrette
Cre'me Caramel    French flan

We break into groups of four and watch each course demonstrated by the instructor, everyone gets a good view due to an overhead mirror. We are also issued a binder with the recipes and menus for the day.  We had  good success with our dishes- I started off with a mistake though, using the wooden spoon to make the caramel by melting sugar and water.Now I get why the teacher was swirling the caramel and not using a spoon- it sets up like concrete on utensils.....

We had a good group and everyone pitched in and was gracious about taking turns and cleaning up.  After three hours of cooking and cleaning as you go- we were ready to enjoy our meal. Everything was absolutely delicious- my favorite was the soup with the scallops.  Unfortunately, I had to bolt my food down American style as I had to get the car back for Tom to use.

Lessons learned- tie your hair back, bring an apron and bring a container for leftovers. Looking forward to next week already. This is a big week for me, I am taking the Metro to get my hair done- by myself! I'm also meeting with a volunteer coordinator for United Community Ministries and will begin working each Wednesday at Fort Belvoir during the holiday season for special events.

November 9, 2010- My second cooking class at The Plum Center. My sister Kathleen was visiting  the weekend after my first class and I was inspired to try cooking all of the dishes from last week....talk about getting carried away!  It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I recruited my sister as my sous chef.  In retrospect, it would have been easier to try one thing at a time, another lesson learned.  The dinner turned out to be more expensive than I thought- primarily due to the scallops and truffle oil for the autumn squash soup.  The truffle oil was too much to handle, so we opted to try grape seed oil- but don't tell Madame Gaston. If anyone suggests substituting the ingredients you are met with a look of shock and horror and usually the comment "It's all over!  It's ruined!"   I must say, with the help of my able assistant, the dinner turned out well enough. I have to confess I did forget to put the sugar in the creme' caramel and it was more like egg custard. It made me think of getting some homemade custard on a tray on the sofa when I would have a sick day from school- thanks Mom.   It also made me think of how expensive those Le Creuset ramekins were for my special dessert-grrr.

Anyway, back to the second class- another delicious menu:

Petit Sale Aux Lentilles  pork tenderloin with green lentils
Pots De Creme Au Chocolat  pots of chocolate
Croquants Aux Amandes  Cookies with almonds

This week I remembered to put my hair in a pony and wear an apron- I also brought my own dish towel and a spare paring knife. But, I forgot to bring a container to take leftovers to my test taster at home again.
Delicious food, excellent teamwork and another worthwhile class. I did bring the pots of chocolate to our friends home for dinner dessert- a success and I didn't even put the requisite real whipped cream(made with a wooden spoon mind you) on it.  The chocolate curls seemed sufficient and didn't "guild the Lily" as my mom would say.

November 16, 2010 . My third class and this time I have leftover containers!  Today's menu:

Escaloppe de volaille aux champignons et a la creme  Chicken cutlets in cream sauce with mushrooms.
Petits legumes d'automne au romarin   Autumn vegetables-roasted.
Les profiterroles et les choux a la creme  Cream puffs with chocolate sauce  : )

The autumn squash and chicken and mushrooms were exquisite-so good and so pretty. We were instructed to place the chicken in the front of the plate and the squash behind it- or was it vice versa.......
The cream puffs were too labor intensive for me- I would cheat and buy them instead I think. Not only did the teacher make real whipped cream by hand- she also made homemade ice cream. Madame Gaston stated she made cream puffs everyday when she has house guests, oh brother.  Hasn't she heard of  a delicious slab of cake from the Costco bakery?!

One problem with this class, is that the recipes are a kind of hybrid mix of French with some English sprinkled in.  I always think I will remember all the insider tips given to us in class ( and not printed on the recipe page) but invariably I forget a detail. I made the mushroom cream sauce with Dijon mustard and used steak instead of chicken. The dish in class was so good, it could bring tears of joy to your eyes and I couldn't wait to try it at home. I had to substitute vegetarian bouillon paste instead of beef stock-(don't tell Ms. Fanny!) and on top of this strategic error, I added extra salt.  When we started eating the steak, I couldn't believe how salty it was-then I remembered the verbal instruction to not salt the sauce......dang it!  Oh well, it was good in spite of the heavy handed salt and we both drank tons of water that night.

Tom was delighted to have the squash and cream puffs brought home for him. Let me just say, from one lactose intolerant to another- eating a rich cream puff might not be so nice a gift after all. Well, I won't have to worry about Tom requesting that I make these fancy cream puffs  on a regular basis.

I didn't make it to the fourth and last class as I had a house guest. I will be taking more of Madame Gaston's cooking classes in the spring quarter.

December 10th  This was the day of my Italian cooking class at the Plum Center- Italian Traditional Holiday brunch - Bueno festo!

As structured as the French classes were, the Italian class was just as casually put together  and we were allowed to make a mess instead of cleaning as you go.  The teacher and her assistant were very friendly and authentic Italians. Two of my friends from french cooking class, Tracy and Maryl were there and we teamed up once again.

The menu was as follows: Finto Pesce- Fake Fish antipasto
                                           Tortellini in brodo-Tortellini in broth
                                           Polenta pasticciata-Baked pasta with a savory sauce, cheese and cream
                                           Salsa verde con bollito-Boiled green sauce (similar to pesto)
                                           Alberelli di pandoro con crema pasticcera e ribes-Very loosely translated  as Sweet bread pastry with vanilla custard and red currants.

The recipes were all in Italian and I took notes as able during the frantic race to get all the dishes cooked, eaten/enjoyed and cleaned-up in the three hour time allotted.  The teacher was cooking at a rapid pace and we had simultaneous dishes cooking at the same time.  She had left her fish mold in Rome and couldn't find a reasonable substitute, so we free-handed the construction of the Finto {esce.  Believe it or not, there is a Facebook page dedicated to this one dish. It shows the many clever variations of the more artistic types. here is how ours turned out:

It looks more like a chicken than a fish to me!  Chicken of the Sea?

The teacher was enthusiastic and commented several times "it's weird!" re ingredients, utensils, etc.  She was much more laid back than Madame Gaston re substitute ingredients and was even amenable to using some pre-made short cuts such as diced, packaged vegetables-shocking!  One substitute was not allowed however and that was the use of extra virgin olive oil- no other oil would do ,"No soy oil, no!".

The dishes when finished were delicious and I look forward to trying the Finto Pesco , maybe for New Year's celebration.  In Italy, the polenta and sauce are spread on a special board and placed in the middle of the table.




Polenta and meat sauce- more delicious than it looks!


For dessert, we had  the Sweet Cake with custard filling, topped with berries and powdered sugar.  I tried duplicating this at home, but the cake was pretty dry and so decided to cube it up and make a yummy bread pudding instead. I'll try again next year and get a more authentic cake. The one I got was from Canada-no offense intended,

I really liked the laid back attitude and the frantic pace of the class. We ran over time by an hour and a half, but no one seemed to care.

I am looking forward to more international cooking adventures at the Plum Center- Bon Appetit!

Big Apple Adventure



First glimpse of the NYC skyline

 Saturday, December 11th we headed for the Big Apple via a group tour bus from Fort Belvoir.  We departed bright and early at 7:30 am. 

It was  a full bus with a pleasant driver and  trip "hostess" who had to keep a head count of her charges and hope and pray we would be back at the bus at the appointed time that evening.

The cost of the trip included transportation and admission to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show.  We arrived  at 12:45 after making our way into the city. I didn't envy the bus driver having to navigate through tunnels and narrow roadways.  We saw the theatre district coming in and caught a quick glimpse of The Actors Studio http://www.theactorsstudio.org/

The driver asked us to be on time at 6:45 pm that night at the appointed place and said he would receive an expensive parking ticket  if anyone was late. We had no sooner parked in a bus lane and half the bus disembarked, when a lady cop wrote the driver an expensive ticket- he didn't look pleased!  He pulled the bus up a few yards and those in the back of the bus scrambled off.

We decided to get in line, figuring it might take a while. The previous matinee was just letting out and we were hustled in as soon as everyone  was out. The interior was beautiful and it brought to mind a scene from one of my favorite movies Radio Days.

http://www.radiocitychristmas.com/newyork/

We decided against the$ 40.00 Rockettes Ornament and spent our money on candy and cocktails.





We had time to hit the bathrooms before the show. Never in my life had I seen a "director of seating" in a ladies room. The line was long as it always is for us ....However, the director made sure no stalls were lingering empty and the line moved quickly.

  We had great seats and waited in excitement of the long awaited event.  I haven't experienced such child like wonder and anticipation since waiting for the curtains to part at the Cave Junction Oregon Lion's club yearly extravaganza-  Skimming Low.  Only my family will get this reference, but truly it is one of my fondest childhood memories.

The show was the most professional show I have been to and it was well worth the long bus ride and expense to get there. If you ever get the chance to see it, do!   The Rockettes were stupendous and the multiple dancing Santas' were highlights. The finale was a refreshing, no apologies, Nativity production including a live camel and sheep.

After the show, we had about three hours to explore the city. Tom had been to NYC three times previously, but it was my first trip and it was thrilling. The weather was cold enough for hats and gloves and the sidewalks were crowded to put it mildly. There were three occasions when we literally came to a standstill on the sidewalks- GRIDLOCK!   It was disconcerting as you could feel people pushing forward even though there was no place to move. The crowds were mostly well behaved and only a few began to lose it and shout. I heard many more "excuse me's " than I thought I would. 

The Russian Tea Room

The Naked Cowboy caused a pedestrian stampede

Empire State Building

Times Square








 

Tom took this one.

It was starting to get dark and we were hungry, so we started looking for a place to eat before boarding the bus.  We side-tracked into several stores and found a couple of ornaments to commemorate the occasion. The NBC store was great, but we couldn't stand the crowds and quickly left.
Rockefeller Square was awesome and my pictures don't do it justice.

We stopped by several restaurants around 5-5:30 and forget the myth that New Yorkers eat dinner at 9:00.  We couldn't get in anywhere and were about to give up and have a street vendor hot dog.  We were desperate to sit down though and chanced on an empty table in the Capitol Grille Bar. It was something else to receive the 75.00 bill for two drinks and two hamburgers from the bar menu.It was delicious though, especially the truffle oil french fries. It seemed like the true New York experience and we made our way to the bus.

The trip home seemed endless after all the fun and over indulgences. It took well over an hour just to get out of the city and hit the highway. One word of advice when riding in a tour bus- don't sit in the back near the bathroom. No further comment is needed, except to say it was handy that Tom had his scarf to wrap around his face as we struggled to sleep on the bus. I also could have done without the non-stop movies playing at full volume on the bus( not to be a middle-aged grinch or anything).

It was a wonderful trip and we arrived home around 2:00 am Sunday morning.  After picking up Sandy from the Pet Hotel and attending church, we took the rest of the day to rest and recuperate.  We hope to return to NYC again in the spring and get a closer look at this great city. I have to say how great it is to travel with Tom- ever patient and he enjoys these adventures together-lucky me!

No, you Can't! Thanksgiving week with Number 4

I have been feeling punk the last few days and thought it was the after effects of Thanksgiving week. I  have felt similar to this after a few December Reno trips with our friends Jan and Dave. Too much fun, too many cocktails and too much food. As it turned out, I was getting a horrendous head cold and have been slow to get to my blog. Thanksgiving week was a delight! So many fun adventures and the company of my sweet and spunky Kelsey, #4.

I thought the motto in DC Metro and everywhere else in the USA was "yes, we can!"  It seems that it is more like, no you can't-it's against the rules!  Maybe because I was born and raised in the West that I want to rebel against all the rules and regulations that are everywhere here. Question authority? Well, at times I will, but my daughter Kelsey likes to say- "I'll do what I want!"  When push comes to shove, we are both law abiding citizens who adhere to the rules, but do there have to be so many!?

"Yes, We Can"!

I was delighted that my youngest daughter  would be spending Thanksgiving week with me. Tom was out of town for work and I wasn't ready to make the trip to Phoenix quite yet.  I am saving that up for a time when I get cabin fever and must escape the city-scape.  Kelsey took a midnight flight on the 24th and arrived at Reagan National  Airport at 9:30 Thanksgiving morning.

I had ordered a delicious Turkey take-out dinner from Chicken Out and purchased a Tofurky and vegetarian giblet gravy for Kelsey.  Check out this you-tube clip from the Conan Show.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oFbjKsVHZ4
 We had a nice meal and then Kelsy napped on and off all day as I perused the Black Friday ads and dinked around on the computer- a nice quiet day.






Our delicious Hot Chocolate drink

After a good night's sleep on Thursday night ,we prepared for our first day of fun.  We started the day at The Shear Shack  and got our eyebrows threaded. Next on the day's agenda was a performance of the Joffrey Ballet's The Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center.  Before the performance we stopped for a refreshment. We had arrived early and I was quite pleased with my Metro skills in taking the correct train and arriving just in time to catch the shuttle bus to the center-everything was moving like clockwork! 

We decided to get a hot chocolate spiked with Bailey's Irish Creme to share.  Where else but DC can you pay 9.00 for a paper cup  of cocoa that you have to assemble yourself!  The bartender poured a generous amount of  liqueur in the cup and handed us the cup and a packet of Swiss Miss and directed us to a nearby hot pot. We also had jumbo cookies-let the overindulgence begin!  I must say, the cocoa was delicious and they weren't stingy with the Bailey's as we found out. We both nearly fell asleep during the first act.......
The ballet was awesome. so beautiful and fun to watch. Our tickets were very close to the orchestra and I now realize that we would probably had a better view further back. Isn't that just like life?  If you are a little too close to a situation you might not have a clear perspective.  At any rate, it was very enjoyable and the Kennedy Center is beautiful to behold.



The Kennedy Center in all it's splendor.


The ballet was wonderful and we enjoyed continuing the Thanksgiving weekend tradition started many years ago at the Chandler performing Arts Center with Ballet Etudes. 

On Saturday, we set off for Mount Vernon- home of George and Martha.  It was the opening weekend of the Christmas celebration and one of the most crowded of the year, I found out later.  Kelsey promised to drive after my plan to take a tour bus from Arlington Cemetery was foiled. We got out the GPS and took a ridiculous roundabout way to get there. That darn contraption is a menace and even Kelsey agreed with me-score one for Mom!  We circled the parking (lots) several times like vultures waiting for their prey and we finally found a spot.  It was really cold and windy and we were glad to be dressed in layers.  We arrived too late to eat in the dining room, so instead opted for a George Washington Happy Meal in the food court. 

I bought a season pass for only ten dollars more than regular admission which bumped us up closer to the line for the Mt. Vernon mansion tour.  The third floor is only opened to the public a few times a year. The deathbed of President Washington is on the third floor as well as his pint-sized wife's bedroom. It is accessible by a narrow steep stairway and is a tight fit to be sure.  No pictures allowed in the estate home, but it was incredible inside and out.

There were a lot of rules at Mt.Vernon- where to stand in line, no chewing gum , no photography of the famous Washington dentures.  I know, there has to be law and order and respect in such places- but so many rules! 

We got to see the Christmas camel which is in commemoration of the camel the president brought to his estate to amuse his yuletide guests.  We were sad to learn that we had mistakenly bypassed the tent with the turkey pardoned by President Obama, just days earlier.






Ye olde Presidential Christmas Camel


Our next stop was the tomb of President and Mrs. Washington and various family members. It was unbelievable to see something so old and historical right before our eyes.

 

Okay, I give up- the picture is sideways and I can't fix it- just go along with me and turn your head to the side....

After braving the cold- we headed into the museum/exhibits and gift shops. There were great historical films and displays to see. More than one visit is needed to fully appreciate it. It was fun to see the Christmas decorations and the gingerbread replica of Mt. Vernon.


 The next two days were designated for The Capitol Mall and I had purchased Tourmobile Groupons for the occasion.  Wouldn't you know it- they were good for only one day, so the second day we had to walk and walk to get around.  Kelsey tried hard to keep up with me! 
We took a tour of the Mall and then decided to see the Smithsonian Museum of American History! 

http://americanhistory.si.edu/

We enjoyed so many of the exhibits and were thrilled to take it all in together.

Julia Child's Kitchen

The Ruby Slippers





The Hope diamond- can you believe it is okay to take a picture of this and not George Washington's false teeth?



Archie and Edith Bunker's chairs



Carol Burnett's Gone with the Wind dress



We really enjoyed the display of the First Ladies Inaugural gowns from glamorous Michelle to Mamie Eisenhower- first lady when I was born.  Times have changed...

Our next stop was the Smithsonian Natural History Museum  http://www.mnh.si.edu/

It was so interesting to see the exhibits and even my strident vegetarian companion was able to tolerate the taxidermy animals.  So much fun!!!









The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.


We were really tired from all the sight-seeing, but mustered up enough strength to get to a movie and dinner- "Due Date" and Thai food , the end to a perfect day with number 4.


The second day downtown started as a real downer since we were told No, we can't look it up to see that in fact you had purchased 4 Groupons for Tourmobile, but had neglected to bring them *%$#@!

However, I was clever enough to remember the Groupons for the Madame Tussuad's wax museum and even ran into a few fans of the blog who asked to have their picture taken with us.

No, you can't be an intern!

To the left, to the left..

This one's for you Tracy!

Networking with General Lee

We sure enjoyed the wax museum-it was great to go on a weekday.  For once, I was not constantly pestered by autograph hounds and we could ham it up with the celebs at our leisure. 

The next stop was the American Art Museum to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit. The exhibit is courtesy of the collection of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. I asked for permission to take a picture of the exhibit signage, but nooooooo, not allowed. I was able to get a picture in the museum foyer. The exhibit was wonderful and well worth the trip.

 We quickly ate our $35.00 sandwich lunches at the museum cafe and made our way to the White House before it got dark since we were on foot. It was quite a trek and we walked up and down trying to find the access to the destination. Many rules and regs for standing walking, gawking...Understandable to have a lot of restrictions, but can be vexing.  We got a nice view and soaked in the sight.

My little Democrat- like mother, like daughter.

We made a train home before the start of rush hour and reminisced about the day we rode home with hordes of Redskins fans post game. After taking Sandy for a quick walk, we went out for a lovely dinner at a French restaurant and managed to get lost again. 

The next day was designated for packing and preparing for the trip back to Phoenix.  We got busted one last time by "the man" for eating apple crisp on the subway platform-outside.  Are you kidding me?!  We had a good laugh over it and recollected all the rules and regulations that permeate the DC metro area.  Kelsey made it home safe and sound after a two hour delay due to tornado warnings in the Atlanta area.

We had a great visit and saw just about everything we planned to see.  Come back again soon #4- love you!

postscript:  After several futile attempts to post this blog on my tiny computer, I was gifted yesterday with a new laptop!  Thank you Sgt. Claus!   Today is my son Taylor's 28th birthday and I see that the Victoria's Secret  fashion show is being televised tonight. Taylor- please stay home and watch instead of getting a new BD tattoo........