Today Marks My Official Residency

Today was my appointment at l'OFII to get my medical examination and resident permit approved. Paid my 55€ in taxes first. Afterwards, I hopped from room to room to get eyesight (near and far) checked, weight and height checked, lungs x-rayed (first experience ever and I even get to keep the copy), and finally a face to face discussion about my health in general. Overall, I passed! They stamped and signed my medical certificate and stuck the resident permit into my passport. "C'est fini!" is what they said to me after all that was done and over with. Finally! All legal documentation done.

With that completed, I took my stroll through Paris once again but this time from the 11ème to 4ème to 1er. I just basically went from East to West but this time on Rue de Rivoli. Here are some pictures!

There's: Hôtel de Ville on top left (going clockwise), a neighborhood filled with streets like these near Forum des Halles (a mall), Tour Saint-Jacques (Saint-Jacques Tower), L’église Saint-Eustache (a church in Les Halles), and Colonne de Juillet (July Column) with L'Opéra Bastille in Bastille. This is not the order of where I walked. It's just for the sake of fitting the photos in proportionately. Lots of cultural buildings and monuments that I passed by. So breathtaking!

Since I was in the area, I decided to check out Bubble-T. As seen in the photo, the letter "T" seems to be missing. hah.

I ordered a Green Bubble Chai. It was okay... I should've went for Matcha au Lait or something. Yes, it came with the tapioca that I never really liked. BUT the nifty thing worth mentioning was that the lid had my astrological sign!

On a side note, I really liked the portraits hung on the wall. Very artistic. It seems like with my logo there, it's as though I'm claiming credit for those pieces of art. I'm just claiming credit for photographing them!

So here are also some nummies I have came across today shown below. Times like these, I really do wish I had the polarizer lens filter. Horrible window reflections of light and sometimes of me holding the camera...

Well, actually, the bottom left photo is savory. There's cheese and meat in them. Anyhow... since we're on the topic of food, here's a recap of Lesson 05 at le Cordon Bleu: Feuilletage (Puff Pastry)

During demonstration, we learned how to make Chaussons aux Pommes (Apple Turnovers), Palmiers (Palms), and Pailles aux Framboises (Raspberry Strawmats). Layers and layers of butter. Yum. In demonstration, we only made the Chaussons and the Palmiers. See below!

I'll need practice with this puff pastry. My layers weren't exactly puff enough. Boo. Oh and we ended up having Chef C as our practical chef. I was happy. Anyway, that's all for tonight. Tomorrow will be back to pâte à choux with both demonstration and practical in one day. Oh and it will be the start of my French language classes! Huzzah.

Apple Picking in the Kitchen

Here we are again with Chef JFD on tarts! So begins Lesson 02: Classic French Apple Tart, Tart Tatin, and Normandy Tart; all of which uses the basic sweet short pastry... and apples.

Not much to really say about this lesson except that we had a taste test of all three tarts at the end. I originally had myself confused with the Classic French Apple Tart and the Tart Tatin.

During the practical, I knew we were to make the Classic French Apple Tart (by appearance) but I had the recipe/name incorrect in my mind so I had almost made the wrong item! Luckily my classmates corrected me.

Oh yes, and for the first time, I raised my hand in class to ask a question. Wow, Anna who never talks in class unless she's been called on by the professor.

Anyways, onto the more enjoyable part of the blog: the photos.

Here are the finished pieces by the Chef. The left two (top and bottom) are the Normandy Tarts, which have an egg custard in between the gaps of the apple slices. The top is glazed with an apricot glaze to create a luscious shine.

The two next to them are the Classic French Apple Tarts. These were not glazed with apricot but they have been brushed with butter and sugar. Not as shiny. There's an apple filling with cinnamon underneath all those thin slices of apples.

Lastly, we have the Tart Tatin. No matter how I angled my camera, I couldn't get a picture that made it look appealing enough. It sort of looks like a mess so I'm not exactly sure if it's supposed to look like that...

Well, one thing that I'm sure of is that it's better than what I would be able to do!

All of them tasted pretty good! Apples were a little tart but it's fine. I wouldn't want a mouthful of sugary sweetness anyway.

And so we move onto our practical led by Chef JJT: a display of some students' masterpieces! They all looked very creative. There was even one with a little heart! I don't know which student that one belonged to. My guess is a girl. hah. I wanted to do a heart shape too but in the end, I just opted for half a heart and lined them up. They were so thin so they got burnt anyway. Boo. Anyhow, pictures below.

Looks good, doesn't it? Well, anyway, here's a not so good looking photo that my mom kept urging me to post: me in my outfit/uniform.

This was from yesterday's practical with the sablés. I look like a dork, yes I am very well aware of that. Maybe if I had shown my apron and whatnot, it would look more professional?

Yeah, maybe not with that hairnet and smile. haha.

So I don't know what to do with these finished baked goods. My landlord is actually paying me a visit tomorrow. For what? I don't really know exactly but I am making him take some of it. It's such a waste if I were to throw it out. If only you guys were here to lend a stomach like you always do!

Here are my creations: the Diamonds (from yesterday's practical) and the Classic French Apple Tart (from today's practical).

I ate both tonight as dessert after dinner. Again, the apples were quite tart... My apple tart was tart! har har har.... okay, maybe not.

See the burnt slices? Yeah, not that pretty. Better luck next time on the decorating skills! I have none.

Hope you enjoyed my horrendously long blog tonight. It took me forever to write and upload the photos. Sorry if I had bored you.

I know, the layout is bad too. haha.

Anyway, a free weekend!! You guys back in the States have Labor Day off. Lucky you. I have class on Monday. At least it's not the 8:30AM one yet. That's on Thursday. Sigh. You guys can give me a wake up call. It's 12am on your side during the time I need to wake up. :P Yeah? Yeah? Volunteers?

Okay, good night. :)