What has Charlotte been eating? (Part 2)

Now, where was I? Oh yes, telling you about all the food I eat. No, I'm not obsessed with food! Whatever gave you that idea? Anyway, let's start with something sweet.

For my 20th birthday, my hostmom threw a raclette party. Raclette, for anyone who doesn't know, is where you melt cheese under something hot and then drizzle it over meat slices and potatoes. It is delicious. (Sidenote: Raclette can also be when you heat up a large block of cheese and then scrape the melty bits over the food of your choice. This is a genius idea.)

Sadly, I did not have the presence of mind to take pictures of the raclette. However, I did get pictures of the dessert! My hostmom let me invite some friends over and they brought cake!

This is a Charlotte aux Framboises, or Raspberry Charlotte for you non-Francophones. It was clearly meant to be my birthday cake. Underneath those succulent raspberries, there was a layer of creamy custard surrounded by light little cake fingers. Delightful!

This is a tarte tropezienne, which is a typical provencal dessert. It is two light and fluffy pieces of brioche sandwiched around an even lighter and fluffier lemon mousse, topped with powdered sugar and granulated sugar. Exquisite!

This is my meager offering-- my first attempt at tarte tatin. It didn't look quite as enticing as the other desserts, but it tasted rather nice. Satisfactory!

To work off all of my overindulgences, a few days later, I made a sort of noodle stirfry with lots of vegetables.

I also promptly forgot about working off indulgences and sampled a tiny tarte citron, with a marshmallowy meringue topping.

My housemate and I make dinner together once a week. This time, we made stuffed peppers, filled with rice, veggies, a bit of meat and topped with mozzarella. They were really tasty and healthy!

They were accompanied by a yummy salad, with my favorite Brebis.

I had a craving for fries, so I tried to make "Potato Lunch," a recipe of my brother's devising. I'm sure he will maintain that I did it wrong (what else are brothers for?), but I thought it turned out fairly well.

The other night, I made veggie sushi. And by veggie sushi, I mean not-at-all-authentic sushi. Instead of raw fish, these rolls were filled with slices of carrot, pepper and cucumber and some (cooked) tuna with mayo. Topped off with some delicious pickled ginger.

At the Asian grocery store, while shopping for sushi essentials, I spotted a curiosity. This is Cock Brand Peach Flavor Aerated Water, in a plastic can. The base was plastic and the top was metal. I have never seen something like this before in my life. What is this world coming to?

Crepes! This is a chantilly crepe, which is essentially a crepe filled with sugar and whipped cream. That's it. It was excellent when I started, but by the end, I was sticky and slightly nauseous. Ah well.

This is one of my favorite savory crepes: ratatouille. I'm not entirely sure what goes into it, but I do know that it is stuffed with a mixture of cooked tomatoes and onions and zucchini and lots of other veggies and it is really filling.

Speaking of ratatouille, guess what I learned how to make the other night?

I also learned how to make brouillade au chevre, or an eggy concoction with generous amounts of bacon and goats cheese.

The resulting dinner. You wouldn't think so, but it was really yummy! The brouillade was really salty from the bacon and goats cheese and a bit heavy, but it was nicely balanced by the vegetables in the ratatouille.

And for dessert: verrines de fruits. (It was basically a parfait)

The next day, I attempted to make a ratatouille by myself. It turned out fairly well. I also made m own version of a croque monsieur. My lunch was very French.

For another shared meal, my housemate and I made more sushi! This time, we used crab sticks, avacado, cucumber and mayonnaise. They turned out really well!

Also, tiny little fun fact. Do you know what Strawberry Shortcake is called in France? Charlotte aux Fraises!

Hey kids, guess what?

I visited a goat farm the other day! It was fantastic. We saw the mother goats and the kids and we even got to sample some of the cheese.

Although it doesn't look like there are a lot, there are actually about 85 goats in the herd.

We were able to pet the kids! They were so excited to see us.

In fact, one little guy was so excited that he wiggled out of the pen!

Here he is, on the outside!

The kids tried to eat everything. If they got your finger in their mouth, they would start sucking and nibbling. It was so sweet, if a little sticky.

They must have been quite hungry!

A cheese tasting was set up for us. We tasted the same cheese in different stages of aging-- one made 2 days ago, one made a week ago and one made two weeks ago. It was really striking to taste (and see) the difference a few days made. I liked the two week old one the best. (It is the squishiest-looking one) The outside was oozy and delicious.

This is where the milk is processed and the resulting cheese is aged.

The farm also kept some little piggies! Apparently, they are fed almost exclusively on whey and leftover cheese.

It was a bit of a walk back to the bus station, but the countryside was absolutely beautiful.

Spring has arrived and things are starting to bloom!

What has Charlotte been eating?

What a good question! The answer: many delicious things.

A ham and mozzarella sandwich from the local boulangerie.

A lasagna type thing from when I and another girl cooked dinner for the French lady I eat with.

My first Croque Monsieur. It turns out that a ham and melty cheese sandwich is really good. Who knew?

Tuna boats. It's difficult finding Cheddar, so I substituted alternating strips of Gouda and Mimolette. It was pretty good.

A cucumber and apple salad with vinaigrette and Brebis (sheep's cheese). It is fantastic. The apples are sweet and the vinaigrette is tangy and the Brebis is salty and crumbly (a bit like Feta, but milder) and oh so creamy. I think it is my current favorite thing to eat, as it is delicious, but it is a salad, so you feel the delightful smugness from eating healthily.

My attempt at shepherd's pie. I think I overdid it on the vegetables, but that is clearly not a problem.

After I put it in the oven, I realized that I had forgotten the peas! However, everything was fine-- I had them on the side. Crisis averted

The other day, my program organized a cheese tasting at a local fromagerie.

Inside his "cave" where the fromagier ages all the cheese himself.

The difference between an unripe Camembert and a properly aged one. See how the properly aged one is all squishy?

A goat cheese we sampled with fig and lavender jam.

Cutting some Comte with wire.

A piece of Roquefort. I learned that I don't really like cheeses where you can taste the mold.

I know what you're thinking now... "Oh no! Have we reached the end already?" Well, never fear, a second part is on its way!

Lazy Sunday

You will get a post on Paris in time, but for the moment, I wanted to let you know about my last day as a sulky, spotty adolescent. Tomorrow marks my first day as a sulky, spotty adult. Hooray.
I went hiking in Niolon, a tiny coastal village not far from Marseilles. My host mom is part of a group of people who get together and do things and she invited me along. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Warm, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. It boggles my mind that this type of weather is common and unremarkable here. Here are some pictures to illustrate my day.

This atrocious Myspace shot is to show how quickly the cliff dropped away. It was a long way down.

It was really sleep in places and slippery. This was such a popular trail that everyone's feet had worn the rocks down, so they were icy slick.

I saw a train.

And sat in a tree!

Here is a preview for the next post: The Return of What Charlotte Has Been Eating! (This is my attempt to satisfy a craving for proper English fish and chips: fish sticks, oven fries and peas. It wasn't too bad.)