Happy October and Rainy Days

October marks the beginning of a rainy season! It's not just about Autumn and its changing leaves. I have only seen sunlight for a brief moment in the morning a few days ago... then unfortunately I fell back asleep. When I woke up, it was gray and cloudy (as it has been lately). I have also turned on the heat two times so far because my blanket just isn't warm enough. Sooner or later, I am going to have to dish out 250€ to buy another. Can I hold up for one more month until I go back to NY? The cool weather has come too early compared to NY's seasonal transitions.

Anyhow, let's move onto Lesson 09: Pâte Sucrée (Sweet Pastry Dough) and Lesson 10: Petit-Four Secs (Petit-Fours Biscuits) and Petit-Four Moelleux (Meringues Petit-Fours). Photos below!

Creepy but my favorite Chef C is seen here smiling directly at my camera as I was photographing him making the Tarte Meringuée aux Poires Caramelisées (Caramelized Pear and Crisp Almond Crust Tart) filling.

I wish we had made the Barquettes au Miel (Honey Filled Barquettes) during the demonstration instead but I guess that would have been too simple of a task. As shown in the photos are the: Bâtons de Maréchaux (Marshal's Batons), Cigarettes, Macarons (Macaroons), and Palets aux Raisins (Raisin Biscuits). It's weird. I thought "raisins" was French for "grapes" but here it's translated as "raisins". "Raisin sec" should be "raisins". Am I confusing anyone here? haha Anyway, je ne sais pas!

Here's a photo of my finished products. Apparently, my midterm grade was not very satisfactory (at least according to me). I need to try harder! Chefs telling me "Bon travaille!" were just lying to me! Meh. We have this thing called "Meeting the Chef" going on in two weeks from now. I'm assuming it's a one-on-one evaluation on our performance. Double meh!

So the following will just be more photos of what else but food! I mean that's all Paris really is about, right? hah Kidding. That's just what I'm all about.

This is just some more examples of home cooked meals. Primarily Asian food, I know. My mom recently just told me to stop eating so much Asian food and start developing a palette for French cuisine. I can't help it sometimes!

There's quite a few desserts here but not all were mine! Only the bottom left one was. So as I had mentioned before, less Asian food, which means no sashimi for me. Instead, I went for a Salmon Tartare. I have my ways about it!

It appears that I've had salmon quite a few times when I've went out with my classmates. It's pretty common and tasty here at restaurants.

The smoked salmon in this photo belonged to my friend.

We also had a go at KFC. It tasted like any other KFC you would find in New York. Nothing different.

Last but not least, the macarons! I don't know why the right one came out looking brown but it was supposed to be a dark yellow. These were bought from Sadaharu Aoki. The flavor on the left is Hojicha and on the right is Yuzu. I really found the Hojicha aromatic and flavorful just like the soft serve back at Mitsuwa. Oh how I miss thee.

I like Aoki so much that it gets its own photo collage as shown here.

They had so many variations of desserts that I wanted to take a bite out of each item! Its interior is so pristine and simple. The walls are all white, chairs are white, tables are glass, and a black tiled floor. They even have macarons lined up in their glass case display on the wall behind the counter! Whether they're real or not, I'm not sure.

I could sit in there all day tapping on my netbook (if I had one) with a cup of café au lait and a Matcha croissant (I'm making this up because I saw croissants that had some vibrant green coloring in it).

I would definitely go back again to try all those flavors! Visitors, I'll take you there if you want to try as well. It gives me a perfect excuse to experiment their other menu items.

I think this is long enough of a post. Tomorrow night is the Nuit Blanche, also known as Sleepless Night. It'd be interesting to check out but my train is not running during those hours so perhaps not. New York is having it too on the same day. Maybe you guys can check it out since MTA is 24/7!

Well, until next time! I have only one day of classes next week (not including French class of course)!