I forgot...

the best thing that happened to me yesterday (besides FINALLY meeting up with carrie, of course...)!!

I was on the RER to the city when an older french gentlemen starts asking me questions in French about the train route. The deer caught in headlights look worked well enough for him to move on to my seatmate, a young, cute james dean type of french guy.

Well, it turns out that the train i was on ended at Gare Nord (which is about 10 stops away from my desired destination). I felt better because we were all shocked by it [locals included!] because we thought it went on [i understood enough french to know that everyone's direction to the old french guy was that the train would continue on after Gare Nord].

I pulled off to the side to start unravelling my rail maps to figure out what trains I should jump on when the cute french james dean guy came up to me and asked me if I needed any help. I'm no dummy...i had a map and could figure it out on my own but hell, a CUTE FRENCH GUY WAS ASKING ME IF I NEEDED HELP. How often does that happen?? Ok, for me...NEVER. I almost snapped a photo of the guy just so that I could post it up here and prove that he was real.

So I stuffed my map back into the bag and said in my best helpless voice, "Yes...I'm lost...can you help me??" ok, so i didn't really say that but the intent was the same. Anyhow, being the social retard that I am, I thanked him after he walked me to a map and showed me which line to catch, and walked on realizing after he had left that I had no idea where the heck i was supposed to buy tickets from. Well, the best news is that the bull about the french being rude is completely untrue!! LOVE IT HERE!!!

finally here!

I missed my 3 hour connection in Cleveland. Carrie had to come out to France on her own. First time out of the country. My parents were wondering if she'd be ok. If it was anyone else, I'd be worried but carrie had smooth sailing in

Me...not so much. After being delayed in LA, we (the gate agents and I) were trying to figure out if it would be best for me to go straight to newark then to paris or if i should stay on and cross my fingers. Clearly, I lost.

the good news is that the flight attendants felt so sorry for me that she refilled my rum and coke (at 10:00am) twice. I was so miserable...by the time I got to the hotel, I was tired, hadn't bathed in over 24 hours, and sweaty from having to change trains mid-ride over.

On the flip side, we've already had the best cheese EVER, went on a backstage tour of the eiffel tower, and already had a great meal!! We walked from the eiffel tower to this restaurant...ok, it was more of a run but we made it in about 40 minutes. If i keep this up, I'm hoping to lose some weight.

Be sure to make your reservations early enough as this place gets very crowded during the 2nd seating (2 seatings per night). It's a set meal, seated and served family style, perfect for people like Carrie & myself who tend to be a bit...well, anti-social. It really forces us to at least try to speak to those around us.

One other tip is to buy a bottle of wine and share it with your table mates. This ensures that even if you don't speak French, everyone will speak the language of a toast...

La Cave De L'os a Moelle
181 Rue de Lourmel
75015 Paris
01.45.57.28.28
Metro: Lourmel

cooking class

I had the opportunity to take another one of Jaden Hair's (steamykitchen.com) cooking class last Thursday. Assisting her was Jeni (oishiieats.blogspot.com)! I had a fabulous time - i can't figure out if I liked making the summer rolls more or the lettuce cups! Both foods are light and healthy! I think I need to put them on my diets. Jeni - the cashew butter dipping sauce was FANTASTIC!!

Weekend wrap up

This cooking class was AMAZING!! Her cooking and recipes were beyond wonderful!! Now, why can't I cook like that at home by myself??? at one point i transposed the measurements for the ingredients and thought, "Crap!! i'm going to have throw it out and start over..." then i remembered that I wasn't baking. Phew...precision is not a priority when cooking.

Scallion pancakes...

i know i'm supposed to take photos of the stuff we make but it was SO good, i couldn't be bothered with that nonsense. Instead, please visit steamykitchen.com for her recipes. She just got a cookbook deal so we should see something in a couple of years. In the meantime, she's holding a recipe for this homemade hotsauce of hers for hostage. I promised her that i'd but the book if she'd spill the recipe. Instead, she just gave me the remaining jar. Oh well...better than nuthing.

thai curry with coconut milk. Anyone have curry leaves or kaffir limes in their backyards???

Sadly, i was on my way into church this morning and had a serious injury to my person. I was walking near the sanctuary up the left hand side. There's this crack in the sidewalk that I *ALWAYS* have problems with. I don't know why, but I think i'm the only one. I always tend to jump over it because i've lost my balance there before. Well...i finally ate it. And there was no one to call out to for help. I look up at first hoping that no one saw...then i realized that i couldn't breathe....or move. i thought to myself...breathe deeply, shake it off...just walk it off. no such luck. I sat on the ground for a few minutes before I had to courage to attempt to stand up. bad idea. major pain shooting through my ankle. Sat back down...i was exactly 1/2 way between my car and the door to the church service. if I went into the church service, I'd be walking in weeping with pain. i somehow hobbled back to the car, called erin, then fuyu...then just text messaged them both. Luckily, erin just happened to be walking by her cellphone when my text went through and she came to my rescue with a bandage and ice....and drove my fat @$$ back home with the help of Matt, one of my former junior high school kids...i'm so much trouble.

anyhow, i've been huddled up on my couch ever since praying the throbbing would stop. this sucks...i had so much to do and now I'm laid out. sucks. well, miles wanted a picture. just a little swollen - no bruising like Miles' monster. eew. i don't think he heard of ice. good thing I shaved my legs this morning or this photo wouldn't exist.

Steamy Kitchen...

so my first cooking class was great!!! i had a lot of fun....that's jaden hair from Steamy Kitchen!! Bee from Rasa Malaysia is in the back, right corner

learn something new...

I went to the Farmers Market on Sunday after church. I like going to my small neighborhood farmers market because of one vendor in particular who sells a lot of asian vegetables. There's always something interesting or new that I find there. This week was no different.

At the market, I was introduced to the peculiar fruit pictured above. It's called the Jujube. It has the consistency and taste of an apple. The browner it is the better the fruit tastes. Some medicinal purposes include alleviating stress and relieving sore throats. Very interesting item.

The other thing I tried for the first time was fresh dates (drupe). It was SO yummy. Tons of sugar in it, I'm sure!! It has the taste of a dried date but with a fresher, almost apricot-like consistency! Some medicinal uses for this fruit include having cleansing power for intestinal troubles, sore throat, fever reliever, and may even counteract alcohol intoxication (i'll let you know...).

Last new thing I tried was Casa Sanchez on Centinela Avenue near Mar Vista/Marina del Rey. It got 11 thumbs down (my whole family went to this place). The food was horrible. My chicken was dry, the spanish rice tasted like it was cooked in chicken broth only, the flavor had no punch or distinguishing aspect to it. The entrees were priced between $18 - $25. Way too high for what it was worth. Added to the was the Mariachi Band (which plays from Thursday - Sunday nights). They were great and talented but TOO loud for such a small space. Unnecessary speakers put up everywhere made conversation a joke. Most people had their hands over their ears to block some noise (didn't help much). I say, go, if you dare but it's not worth it.

Back at the old desk...

View from the Castle near Langhirano

*SIGH* I'm sitting at my desk looking at my cubicle walls and thinking, "What is this travesty?? where's my views of rolling tuscan hillsides??"

Here's a wrap up of our trip to Italy...

Rows of Parmiggiano Reggiano

Master Cheesemaker in the center cutting the cheese. Yellow liquid is the remaining whey.

After our first night in Parma we took off the next morning to learn about Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese production at C.P.L. cheese factory. Apparently the master cheese maker works 7 days a week and never takes vacation. His presence is critical to the production of the cheese. He's well paid and the job is prestigious but that just gives new meaning to being married to the job!

After the tour we had a bit of the tasting and decided to wait to buy our cheese until just before we left. We had a few hours before our Balsamic Vinegar tour so we decided to hit up the MaxMara Outlet, Diffusione Tessile. Let me tell you...see below for the photo of the outlet itself. It was massive and had TONS of great deals. Erin & I would gladly return to go shopping here.

Erin in back of our royal blue ride getting ready for our shopping experience.

Now, see below for the photo across the street from this outlet...

The field

Needless to say, finding this outlet called for extraordinary measures. Our directions were only so-so and we didn't have a GPS (if you're traveling to europe and planning on driving, get a GPS system). Erin did a great job navigating our way through the country roads. I ended up with a jacket, sweater & scarf. Erin got a sweater & scarf.

Next challenge was finding the balsamic vinegar place. talk about over the river and through the woods. We were 1 1/2 hours late by the time we found the place (after erin spotted a AAA for Italy, we ran in and asked for directions...they found it online and printed out better directions for us and explained the way to help us out!). He only had a few minutes to show us around, but he gladly gave us the tour and tasting! It was fantastic. He told us he, his girlfriend, and one other would be harvesting the grapes this week for the Balsamic Production.

Owner of Villa San Donnino, Balsamic Vinegar producer

Balsamic Vinegars aging anywhere from 3 to 50 years...

The following day brought us to the Parma Ham Festival. We were initially told by the guy at the front desk that we couldn't go on a production tour (which was true on a normal basis) so Erin asked about the Parma Festival and he said, "no, it's not open to the public." Saddened with defeat, we went into downtown Parma to check out the city. First place we visited was the Information Office who told us that it was, in fact, open to the public. So after our quick tour and lunch in Parma we took off 30 minutes away down to the town of Langhirano for the festival. 

Once we finally got parking (illegal parking, of course - the workers promised us we'd be ok...and we were.) we found a tourist booth that gave us the idea to go down to the production facility tour. Naturally, it was all conducted in Italian by this guy to the far right. After the tour was over, he shyly came up to us and started talking to us in Italian wondering how much of it we understood. I said, "Nunca...nada...no parla Italiano..." He was pretty dumbfounded and asked, "at all?" He ran and got his girlfriend (pictured with Erin and our tour guide below) so that she could translate the process. 

It was fun after we got a play by play explanation and I was really glad that we went, although I felt VERY uncomfortable at first. I just knew I didn't belong and they said that they didn't know we didn't understand because it appeared that we were just absorbing everything in. And we answered some questions that were asked of us. (Erin & I learned to guess very, very well)

Very cute couple - we found out that they met at a club, that they had been dating for a year, and they had their first kiss at the Castle.

Erin & I sadly left Parma - this part of the trip went so fast!! and everyone was very helpful in the countryside.

We arrived into Milan by around 3:30pm. We were staying in the 'hood. I've never seen so much graffiti before in my life. Erin walked faster than I've ever seen her walk. We were that scared. We walked around before and after our tour of the Last Supper (i saw people from the US begging for any opening that comes up for the Last Supper...they thought they reserved it but never got charged...hello...clue number one that your reservation didn't go through - I had the same problem but kept plugging on until I finally got a booking confirmation number which took me weeks to accomplish.) I felt bad for them but I was really relieved that we were ok. 

We walked around the Duomo (below) at just after sunset. It was an impressive sight at night. We walked up to the top of the Duomo the following day, which could be a bad thing considering how deathly afraid of heights I am!! It was an amazing view and a beautiful Church...

After traveling for more than 16 hours we finally made it home to Los Angeles. It was a fantastic trip...a lot of fun but I'm definitely glad to be back home! Thanks, erin, for a great time in Italy (despite my hermit like, people hating nature).

Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium 

they can book tours to Parmigiano plants in the area.  You will need to book ahead if you need the tours in English.

Villa San Donnino s.n.c.
Strada Medicina 25
41010 San Donnino (MO) Italy
Telephone: +39 059469325
Mobile: +39 340 2579734
Fax: + 39 059 469325
info@villasandonnino.it

To book tours of the Balsamic Vinegar production.

Prosciutto di Parma Festival 

This festival is usually the end of August or beginning of September.