YiMT: Sweet Tooth -- All the cookies

I don't know what it is exactly that has driven me to make so many desserts lately, but I've made roughly two per week for the last month. To be fair, one is usually for the card night that my local Boston friends and I have every week, but the other one? Oh, just because I have flour and sugar and -- oh, are those chocolate chips? Definitely time to make something sweet. I've also spent some time perfecting recipes because I really wanted to share them with you all.

We're going to go through two recipes today that are variations on some very classic desserts: chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Let's get started!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was in the seventh grade, I took an elective course at my middle school entitled "Wheel," or something along those lines, in which we had essentially three courses rolled into one. Coursework on technology, computers, and home economics was split into three even sections over the course of one academic year. Within the home economics class, we learned about sewing, interior design, and cooking, to name a few. The cooking bit was the most exciting part for us students, obviously, because what 12-year-old doesn't love food? And, hands down, the best recipe we made was the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I've held onto that recipe ever since the seventh grade. My family loves it, and it is so easy that a seventh grader could do it! But that said, I've always been somewhat apprehensive about using the 1/4 cup of shortening that the recipe calls for. Looking at shortening always makes me feel as though I'm going to develop arteriosclerosis at the age of 35. Eww. Sure, shortening is merely solidified vegetable oil. It could be a lot worse, I suppose. But in the interest of trying to be just a little bit healthier since I'm now living and cooking on my own, I really wanted to try something new.

A brief Google search yielded some interesting results. Fruit purees seemed to pop up on every page I clicked... with the caveat that I might completely change the flavor and texture of whatever I was baking. Because I'm a curious individual, and because I had bananas in my pantry, I decided to see exactly how the flavors and textures of these delectable cookies would change. Here are my results...

Ingredients:
(for approx. 16 cookies)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup (or more!) semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup banana puree OR 2 Tbsp banana puree + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 egg

Rachel's Notes:
I always use a little more than 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. Maybe closer to 1/3 cup. Depends on how I'm feeling. The difference in the amount of banana puree is up to you and your preferred cookie texture. Using banana puree will make your cookies fluffier than most cookies usually are. If you use the one-to-one substitution of puree for shortening (the recipe originally calls for 1/4 cup shortening), your cookies will end up tasting a little more like slices of chocolate chip banana bread. Which is still delicious. However, I prefer my cookies to be a little more dense, so going half-and-half with the puree and the butter works great! The cookie is still a little fluffy, but not in such a way that it no longer feels like you're eating a cookie. And the taste of banana is more subtle. Whole oats or steel cut oats are fine.

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the egg, vanilla, water, and banana puree (or banana and butter) until blended and fluffy.
3. Mix in dry ingredients (flour, oatmeal, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda) and beat until well blended.
4. Stir in chocolate chips with a spoon.
5. Fill one teaspoon with rounded cookie dough and deposit onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
7. Cool for 10 minutes to let cookies set and become firm.

Rachel's Notes:

One thing to be aware of when spooning the cookies onto the baking sheet is that they spread out quite a bit on the sheet, so give them plenty of space to do so! The banana puree is the thing that does it, so you'll get cookies with a larger diameter should you use more banana puree.

Caramel Brownie Pies, or Brownie Cookies
(adapted slightly from here)

Ingredients:
(Brownie cookies, about 16 cookies)
One 12 oz bag of chocolate chips
3 Tbsp butter
2 eggs
2/3 cup pure cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

(Salted caramel filling)
1 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup fleur de sel caramel sauce (easily found at Trader Joe's)

Rachel's Notes:
I'll be completely honest here. I think the caramel filling is totally optional. The cookies really can stand alone. Also, the recipe makes TONS of filling, and it's almost too buttery for my tastes. If you really want to try the caramel filling, try replacing a little of the butter with a little more caramel sauce.

Directions:
(Brownie cookies)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Melt approximately 7 ounces of chocolate and all of the butter in a saucepan over low heat while stirring gently. Set aside once completely melted and smooth.
3. Beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until pale and creamy.
4. Add in flour, baking powder, and melted chocolate and butter. Beat together until well blended. Let stand for 10 minutes.
5. Spoon 1 Tbsp dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until puffed and cracked. Let cool completely.

I actually had some dough left over, so I made a couple extra and baked them separately to get this picture. Those cookies went directly into my tummy once they cooled.

(Salted caramel filling)

1. Beat butter in a bowl until creamy. Add powdered sugar and beat together. Add caramel sauce and mix thoroughly.
2. Spread a spoonful of filling onto one brownie cookie and top with another cookie to make a sandwich.

Caramel Brownie Pies, made by spooning 2 Tbsp dough onto a baking sheet for EXTRA LARGE cookies

Brownie Cookies: Delicious. Almost too delicious to share.

Next "Yummy in My Tummy":

Fruit smoothies and a salade aux fruits rouges: fruity desserts for those of you who maybe aren't such big fans of chocolate. :)

Peace, love, and brownie cookies slices of heaven,

Rachel

YiMT: Nothing about this meal is kosher

This week's recipes feature pork -- two types of pork -- with cheese. In the same dish. On the same plate. Astounding! Outlandish! Not! Kosher! I only mention this because a couple of the girls in the house where I live try to keep their meals kosher, and I've only recently come to realize how entirely non-kosher my diet is. It's pretty surprising.

This meal is actually kind of a funny story (in my head, at least) because it shows just how inept I am at shopping. After receiving my first paycheck from my new job last week (HUZZAH), I spent a fair amount of time organizing my finances because, frankly, they had gotten wonky since my move to Brookline. And they're still a bit wonky, but that's mostly because I was living without any income for two solid months. Anyway. Getting paid also meant that I had money to stock up on food for the next couple weeks, and that's probably my favorite part about getting paid. If you haven't figured it out by now, dear reader, I enjoy food. I enjoy the experience of cooking, experimenting, trying what I've created, and feeling accomplished and full. It's fun. And basically amounts to edible science.

So I went shopping. And I didn't actually buy enough ingredients to constitute any one recipe or meal idea, despite the handful that was floating around my noggin. I only had about 2/3 of any given meal. Go me. And yet, Monday night's dinner was a feast.

First course
Aged cheddar and chipotle pepper hummus on fresh baguette. No recipe required. Delicious. Aged cheddar is one of the greatest cheeses of all time. OF ALL TIME.

Also, chipotle pepper hummus is perfect. Smoky and a little spicy and darned scrumptious. Trader Joe's knows its way to my heart.

Is this love?

Second course
Here come the recipes! I knew I wanted pork chops for dinner and wanted asparagus as a side dish, but I've never actually cooked asparagus on my own before. Back in San Diego, my family has an asparagus steamer, which is awesome. But I'm not about to go out and buy one of those simply because I don't have that particular pot yet. If I practiced that kind of spending, I'd be perennially broke.

That's where my iPod came handy. I went to my handy dandy Whole Foods app and looked up recipes featuring asparagus... and found the perfect one!

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus

Ingredients
(for up to 4 people)
24 stalks of asparagus, trimmed
4 thin slices of prosciutto
Ground black pepper
2 Tbsp grated parmesan
1 lemon, quartered (optional)

Rachel's Notes
To trim asparagus stalks, you simply cut a bit off the ends. How much? Well, the ends of asparagus stalks are usually quite hard and not super edible, so use your best judgement and cut off as much as appears to be too tough to chew. In my experience, it's usually only an inch or two and covers the bottom of the stalk that isn't entirely green. Also, I've never seen anything other than thinly-sliced prosciutto available for sliced prosciutto at a reasonable price at a grocery store. Trader Joe's (I think they've bought my soul at this point) usually has good prices.

Directions

1. Preheat over to 425°F.
2. Place asparagus in a large skillet and barely cover with water. Bring water to a boil and cook just until tender (2-3 minutes).
3. Drain asparagus and transfer to a bowl of ice water to cool down and stop the cooking. Drain well.
4. Create four bundles of asparagus by wrapping one slice of prosciutto around 6 stalks. Place bundles on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and sprinkle with black pepper and parmesan.
5. Roast until cheese is golden brown (4-5 minutes).
6. (Optional) Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Rachel's Notes
The ice water thing is kinda weird. I've never seen it in a recipe before, but it works just fine and makes handling the stalks much easier when they're not piping hot. I didn't serve the bundles with lemon, but think that it would make a fantastic addition -- will be adding it next time!

Fresh out of the oven!

Travers de porc aux oignons
(Adapted from Etudiants aux fourneaux! by Cyril Lignac, p.40)

Ingredients
(For 4 people)
4 pork chops, loins, or ribs
1 medium onion
Ground black pepper, salt
Spices
Soy sauce
Olive oil or sunflower oil

Rachel's Notes
I've tinkered with this recipe a lot. The original asks for 2 bunches of green onions instead, and since I'm not really a fan of those, I simply traded them out with a regular yellow onion. Works like a charm. Also, since I am a bargain shopper, I find that I can often get a better deal on pork chops and pork loins than on ribs. I also prefer cooking without bones. The recipe is great with all three cuts, though, as I've seen over time. Try them all! I normally prefer oregano or herbes de Provence as my "spices." Sunflower oil adds a better flavor, but can be hard to come by for a cheap price.

Directions

1. Peel the onion and chop into bite-size pieces. Set aside.
2. Salt and pepper the pork, then add spices. Cook pork in olive oil or sunflower oil in a pan until 2/3 - 3/4 is no longer pink.
3. Add onions to the pan and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add soy sauce, cover, and let cook an additional 5-10 minutes.

Rachel's Notes
Cooking time varies somewhat significantly based on your stove and cut of pork. This type of meat is far too easily dried out, despite all the liquid it's cooking in, so your best bet in this case is to cook by sight and go until the pork is no longer pink -- and not much longer. I usually follow something close to this time scale for pork chops (the cut I use the most often).

Here's what the second course looked like:

Third course
Dessert! Which I usually like to eat at any and all times of the day and night. Dessert last night was Trader Joe's Coffee Bean Blast ice cream. I think it's probably the best coffee flavored ice cream I've ever had. Certainly better than what the dining halls at Wellesley had...

Wine of the meal
Ravenswood 2010 Vintners Blend Old Vine Zinfandel

I've been stocking up on wine for an evening of cards and frivolity with friends, but Ravenswood is not something I normally share. The Vintners Blend is the cheaper line of wines from Ravenswood, and the winery is one that I've known about since before I was in high school. My parents enjoyed a bottle of zinfandel now and then, and my dad was (still is) a particular fan, as I recall, of Ravenswood zinfandel. I consider this wine to be the poor daughter's version of pretending to be like her parents. As such, I tend to drink this wine only with family or very, very close friends or by myself.

Here's what the winery's fact sheet has to say about this wine:
"Not a poser Zin, but a real one. Big, bold, unapologetic. This 2010 rendition leads the charge with tantalizing aromas of black cherry, raspberries, and blueberries along with hints of oak. It then gets really serious with a cascade of fruit flavors, oh-so-flexible tannins, and a long, fruit-forward finish you’re not going to forget very easily."

I won't forget this wine based on my own personal history with the winery and my desire to be more like my dad. It's fairly robust and pairs well with pork dishes. In fact, barbecue pork ribs are a suggested pairing. The black cherry, raspberries, and blueberries are present in the flavors and aromas, sure enough, although the blueberries aren't as strong for me. In fact, I'm much more inclined to agree with the back of the label, which denotes flavors of raspberries, cherries, and boysenberries.

This is a wine for people who like wine, I feel. And by that, I mean people who drink red wine on a regular enough basis that the its drier, bolder tendencies don't scare them off. It's a good wine to go with a flavorful meal, and I think it's nice to have a glass of it nearby while one is preparing said flavorful meal. If, dear reader, you ever end up in my home for dinner one evening, and I break out a bottle of this stuff (or, hopefully one day when $20 per bottle doesn't seem extravagant, the County Series Zinfandel, which is what I remember my parents drinking), then you'll know you've made it into my inner circle.

Peace, love, and nostalgic wines,

Rachel

Yummy in My Tummy: Summer Salad Spectacular!

Hi ho there! Greetings from the sweltering heat of this humid Boston summer! Now, granted, I spend most of my days indoors at work or in my air conditioned bedroom (yes, I know, I live a dangerous life -- do not try it at home!), but it is actually impossible to escape the heat. It always catches up to me somehow. Walking home, exploring the city, sitting on the porch, cooking in the non-air-conditioned kitchen, etc. And when it reaches at least 80°F every day, no one really wants to cook in a non-air-conditioned kitchen. I mean, I love cooking, and even I dread the prospect of turning on my gas stove and boiling water for even a minute. Salads, therefore, are basically the lazy, temperature-sensitive chef's best friends in the summer.

As anyone who lives with me knows, I'm a fan of grabbing whatever is in my fridge and/or pantry and making something new and different out of it. In the case of this salad, I did just that. Here's the recipe:

Almond and Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients:
Baby spinach
Arugula ("rocket" for all you Anglophiles in the audience)
Grape tomatoes
Black beans
Pomegranate seeds
Sliced almonds
Salad dressing
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Wash all vegetables and drain. Remove stems from spinach if desirable. Toss greens together in a large salad bowl.
2. Add tomatoes, beans, pomegranate seeds, and almonds. Mix well.
3. Drizzle salad dressing over salad. Sprinkle with parmesan, if desirable.
4. Om nom nom.

Rachel's notes:

There are no specified amounts in this recipe. I measured nothing out when I threw this together after drinking a bottle and a half of white wine with my roommate and her friends. Everyone likes their salad proportions to be a little different, so play around with the amounts and see what works for you. Personally, I love heavier proportions of tomatoes, almonds, and pomegranate seeds because I think the flavors are so interesting and mesh together so well. One of my closest friends would probably choose to use mixed greens over arugula because she can't stand the taste of it. My roommate in France would have refused to eat the tomatoes. Salad is very much what you make of it, but I felt that this had to be one of the best salads I had ever tasted. And I'm not saying that because I was a little tipsy at the time. I replicated this recipe the very next night when I was 150% sober and still thought it was the best thing since cream cheese. This was a very last minute decision for a meal and it turned out marvelously.

Special note on salad dressing:

I don't usually make my own salad dressing. In this case, at any rate, I didn't. I used the Tuscan Italian Dressing with Balsamic Vinegar from Trader Joe's, and it worked great! I have a default salad dressing that I go to, however, when I run out and am too lazy to run to the store to buy more. I haven't tried it on this particular salad, but based on my past experience with this dressing, it would be a great match! I thoroughly encourage you, dear reader, to try it out and tell me what you think!

Walnut Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp vinegar (red wine or balsamic)

4 Tbsp walnut oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt, pepper

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients, stirring aggressively as dressing is apt to separate.

This should easily make enough for 2 people to have salad dressing.

Wine of the Meal

Green Fin 2010 White Table Wine 

This is one of the really cheap wines that you can buy at Trader Joe's for about $4 (maybe even less back home in CA, since two-buck Chuck is three-buck Chuck in MA) and is surprisingly good. Normally, I steer clear of table wines because, as experience with French table wines taught me, they normally taste like someone poured some ethanol into some grape juice. However, my current roommates insisted that it was worth a try one night when they were cooking and, boy, was I surprised!

It's somewhat citrus-y, but mostly sweet and fruity (yeah, yeah, citrus usually equals fruit, but I mean something more like mango here). People who know more about these things would likely say that there are oak overtones or something like that. Maybe. Personally, I think it's the perfect wine to share after a long day at the lab as you sit out on your front porch, waiting for the temperature to go down, trading stories with your friends. It pairs pretty nicely with this salad and is a surprisingly good companion for ice cream, as I discovered this evening.

Frankly, it's a cheap wine that doesn't offend my inner scientist (why would I pay to drink ethanol and grape juice when I could make it for free at work?), helps cool one down on a hot day, and doesn't do a number on my wallet. That's a solid wine in my book.

That's it for this week! It's shorter than the last Yummy in My Tummy, and future entries will probably be somewhere between this one and the first one in terms of length and depth. To make up for the simplicity of this week's recipe, I leave you all with a question: What is your favorite summer salad? Leave recipe suggestions in the comments!

Peace, love, and pomegranates,
Rachel

Yummy in My Tummy: Olive Oil, Tomatoes, and Cheese

Undoubtedly, one of the best things about living on my own is that I am able to cook for myself. There are few things in life that give me as much joy as cooking. Some people say that cooking is an art form that requires years of hard work and practice to become any good. Others say that it's merely science, and, like with most scientific experiments, if you follow the protocol, nothing will go wrong. I'm a strong believer in both. If you follow the directions of a recipe, the meal will come out just fine; that's the chemistry of cooking. However, to take a recipe and make it better, to take a recipe and make it your own -- that's the art of cooking. And that's the part that takes time and practice. At least, that's my philosophy.

With that in mind, "Yummy in My Tummy," as I have aptly named this series of posts, will focus on my culinary adventures in the kitchen. I'll be posting recipes (and translations of recipes, since many are originally French) as well as my commentary on the recipe. I'll talk about where I deviated from the recipe, what I liked, what I might change next time, what wine I drank with the meal, and what I think overall. Most of the recipes will probably be things that I've never cooked before, but I'll probably be posting some of my favorite, regular meals as well.

I don't pretend to be a great cook. I can follow a recipe and usually get it to come out pretty nicely. I don't know that I'll be able to provide much insight into the world of cooking. I don't think that what I have to say is impressive or on par with Julia Child or even important in the world of cooking at all. I do hope, however, that maybe you'll see a recipe that you want to try out when you read this. And maybe you'll try it. And maybe you'll like it. And maybe you'll let me know what you think and what you did differently. And that's really the whole point.

Ok, enough monologuing. Let's talk about food.

Homemade Pesto Sauce*

Ingredients:

50 g of fresh basil leaves

4 Tbsp of pine nuts

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

salt, pepper

2 Tbsp of grated parmesan

Notes on ingredients: 

I used raw pine nuts for this, but friends who have also made fresh pesto have said that roasted pine nuts work as well. I leave the choice up to you, dear reader. All I can really say is that pine nuts are expensive, roasted OR raw.

Directions:

1. Shred basil leaves into small pieces. Mince clove of garlic.
2. Add basil, pine nuts, garlic, and olive oil to bowl of food processor. Add some salt and pepper and mix until the pesto is smooth.
3. Optional: Once pesto is mixed well in the food processor, stir in the parmesan until well blended.

Notes on directions:

I wonder somewhat if the shredding of the basil leaves in necessary since it's all going into the food processor anyway. Same thing goes for the garlic, but it should be noted that the garlic can be minces, chopped, crushed... whatever you prefer to get the garlic into small pieces. Also, a blender works just as well as a food processor. I should know, since I didn't happen to have a food processor on hand but DID have a blender. The puree setting seemed to work marvelously.

Rachel's thoughts:

This is a very easy recipe. VERY easy. I don't often use food processors or blenders, so I ended up calling my family for advice on the differences between the two and whether a blender would even be able to chop up garlic and basil into small enough pieces. In the end, I just ended up crossing my fingers and pushing buttons on the blender until I figured out which setting would be best. Once I made it over that hump, however, I realized just how simple this recipe is. Preparation is pretty minimal, and a machine does most of the work for you.

One thing that gave me trouble was measuring out the right amount of basil. I had no idea how to measure out 50 g without some sort of metric scale. I translated the metric measurement into American, which was roughly 4 Tablespoons, but I just didn't see how I was supposed accurately fill those spoons. Stuff them with basil? Pack it in tightly? Sounded like too much work. So I just eyeballed it. I went by the packaging, which told me that I had 70 g total. All in all, I probably only used about 40 g of basil, or about two loose handfuls, but I don't think it had any negative effects on the outcome of the recipe. Anyone have a good idea for how to accurately measure these things?

I decided not to include any parmesan in this batch, since I was not even sure if it would turn out in the first place. Upon tasting the pesto fresh out of the blender, I felt that it didn't really need it. It was light and fresh and totally safe for anyone who might have issues with lactose. Next time, I think I might add in the cheese, just to see how it changes things. However, I usually have some cheese elsewhere in my meal, whether it be parmesan topping the pasta or fresh mozzarella slices on bread. Therefore, parmesan IN pesto really can be optional.

This pesto works wonderfully as a dipping sauce for fresh bread or as pasta sauce for all sorts of dishes.

Let's take a look and see just how that pesto can be put to use.

Pesto Farfalle with Sauteed Tomatoes

Ingredients:
Pesto
Farfalle noodles
Grape or cherry tomatoes
Garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper
Parmesan

Notes on ingredients:
I'm not including amounts in this recipe. The pesto that you make in the above recipe  is for at least four people, depending upon how much pesto they like to eat. That said,  adjust the amount of these ingredients as necessary to accommodate the number of people in your party.

Directions:

1. Boil water for pasta.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, finely chop garlic. Put some olive oil in the bottom of a pan and heat. Add tomatoes. Lightly salt and pepper the tomatoes and stir occasionally.
3. Once the skin on the tomatoes begins to wrinkle, add garlic to the pan and continue cooking until garlic is golden brown. If pasta is not yet ready, turn heat down on tomatoes to low heat.
4. When water is boiling, add farfalle and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Drain pasta. Add sauteed tomatoes and garlic. Add 2-4 spoonfuls of pesto. Sprinkle parmesan on top.

Rachel's thoughts:
Another simple, quick, and easy dish. I've done this a couple nights in a row now because I've been trying to finish off these ingredients, and I love that it only takes me about 15 minutes to prepare and cook everything. Of course, it helps that I've already got the pesto prepared.

This is a very basic dish. Feel free to add things to it. I'm thinking some sauteed onions might be nice, and I know for a fact that some grilled chicken will never go wrong with this. It's something that you can really build up from, and I'm currently wondering whether I might try to add some chicken and asparagus tonight or whenever I next make this meal.

One thing that might be fun to mess with would be the spices. You could very easily add a little rosemary or thyme or oregano to the tomatoes. I would even venture to say that some crushed red pepper might be fun for a little extra kick. Have fun with flavors!

Wine of the meal
Cupcake Vineyards Angel Food white blend

This is a wine I'd been wanting to try for a while, I must admit. I have been a fan of Cupcake Vineyards for about a year now, ever since I tried their Red Velvet red blend, which is without a doubt my favorite wine. I could drink that stuff by the bottle. Literally. Therefore, I was pretty excited to try Angel Food. To me, if these guys can be so good at a red blend, why wouldn't they be equally good at a white blend?

Here's what Cupcake has to say about this wine: "Made with premium chardonnay grapes as a base, this proprietary white blend is luscious, aromatic and delightfully reminiscent of an Angel food cupcake. Flavors of bakes Granny Smith apple and hints of toasty vanilla combine for a creamy mouthfeel that has become a signature of Cupcake Vineyards.... Our proprietary Angel Food wine is a delicate blend of white grapes where each variety shows structure, aroma and depth of flavor with a long creamy finish. The grapes are harvested from vineyards in some of California's finest viticultural areas, each picked for their ability to engender these grapes with distinct characteristics. Each varietal is ferments separately, blended and then put through a unique oak regime that imparts a certain creaminess."

Angel Food really took me by surprise. I never really know what to expect when I try a new wine for the first time, but I can honestly say that this was not what I had in mind when I set out to try this wine. I knew that this would likely be a sweeter white, judging by the name alone. Even with the chardonnay base, it is nowhere near as dry as most of the chardonnays I've tried. The most overwhelming taste is that of vanilla. I can taste hints of apple there, if I pay close attention to my taste buds, but the vanilla taste is there every time. It isn't the perfect pairing for this meal, but it went well enough with dinner and the chocolaty dessert I had later. It's obviously not a dessert wine, but it was a happy medium for a pasta main course and a rich chocolate dessert.

Overall, not my favorite wine, but not bad. I'd likely buy it again and try it out with some other types of dessert, or maybe try it with some pancetta. It's worth the purchase just for that surprising vanilla taste, which makes the wine among the more unique and interesting ones I've tried.

*adapted from 5 fruits & légumes par jour by Louise Pickford, p. 86

Less Talking, More Pictures

So I briefly considered writing another monster post about the towns and impressive sights that I have seen, but I realized early on that I didn't have an much to say about these places as I would have liked, and I was getting very tired of having to reference Wikipedia for information. Thus, I decided to do this next entry based on the pictures I took. Each region will be labeled and each picture will be captioned with a little explanation or story. This way, I can share these places before getting back into the monster posts about my holidays in Paris and Italy! Let's dive right in with a trip from last semester.

The Luberon
Deep in the heart of Provence lie three mountain ranges known as the Little, Big, and Oriental Luberon... collectively, they are known much more simply as the Luberon (or Leberon in Provençal, I recently learned). Now, while this sounds like the set-up for a rather lame, and slightly racist, joke or television episode, the truth of the matter is that the Little, Big, and Oriental Luberon mountains are gorgeous. The towns and villages are nothing if not picturesque, sitting high atop the hillsides or laying down low in the Luberon valley. This place is a popular tourist destination for other French citizens as well as British and American tourists who flock to Provence and Côte d'Azur in the summer months. I only had the fortune of visiting this charming location for one day, but my visit was pretty unforgettable.

Château de Lourmarin: The first castle in Provence to be built during the Renaissance. We didn't get to look inside - merely a quick drive by to take pictures.

The Luberon valley, with all its gorgeous greenery.

The rooftops of Bonnieux, a hillside village where, reportedly, John Malkovich owns a home. With a view like that, who wouldn't want to live there? I especially love all the old roof shingles that appear to change color with age.

The Château de Lacoste, one of three homes to the infamous Marquis de Sade in Vaucluse: a medieval castle that his family acquired in the 1600s. Sade renovated the castle in the late 1700s, but it was then looted during the Revolution (that would be the French one). Today, it hosts a grand arts and music festival each year within its ruins and is the second home of Pierre Cardin, a French fashion designer.

Vineyards! There are many, many vineyards in this region, and we passed by field after field of grapevines en route from one destination to the next. The Luberon is quite a good spot to have a small vineyard in the back of your estate if you are like Peter Mayle and decide to leave the boring world of England behind for the culturally intense world of Provence. I highly suggest you read his novel A Year in Provence. I loved it. And for anyone who has ever lived in Provence, you will find yourself frequently chuckling at his spot-on descriptions of the people and the land.

This was my first glimpse of the rocks and cliffs surrounding Roussillon. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. I was so accustomed to the bland, pale color of the mountains that I had seen elsewhere that I was shocked and awed by the brilliant colors of the natural rock formations. Let's look at some more examples, shall we?

This is one of my favorites. I just love the contrast of the green plants with the cliff... and how well the little yellow leaves match their surroundings.

This looks like someone took an abnormally large paintbrush and a had fun.

The day was still young and the sky, though not particularly menacing, still  seemed to threaten more rain to accompany the dew that had yet to evaporate from these fresh, green leaves. The tiny thread of a spider's web was a nice touch to the photo, I felt, even though spiders usually make me run screaming across the room/street/country in terror.

There was no explanation for this door - no sign, no signature that I noted, no notice of any kind to explain this magnificent artwork. But then again, does art need to be explained and titled and categorized? Sometimes it's pieces like this, that you find on garage doors or on metal doors over shops closed for the night, that are some of the most fascinating pieces you will ever see.

The Hôtel de Ville, or so we think. The town was mostly empty on this particular Saturday morning, so it  was difficult to tell. However, when a building it decorated with that many flags, one can usually be certain of its identity as that of the Hôtel de Ville. Possibly the most charming building I have ever seen for such an official place. Also, take note of the color of the building, for the vast majority of buildings in Roussillon are this color as they dug up the stone from nearby quarries.

Portion of a vine hanging over another building not too far from the cliffs that you saw a few pictures ago. I can't be certain (because I can't honestly remember), but this might be part of the 154 year old vine that covered one façade. Even the stems of the vines are in harmony with the mountains.

We stopped for lunch at a five-star restaurant in Gordes, the city that you see here, which was also featured in the movie A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe - worth watching if you are ever in the mood for some southern French scenery and a little Marion Cotillard. Gordes is also mentioned frequently in the works a Peter Mayle, a British author who moved to Vaucluse in the late 1980s and has since written several novels and memoirs set in Provence.

Our entrée, or appetizer as we Americans like to think of it, was a delicious dish made from local mushrooms. I never figured myself to be one for mushrooms. On pizza? Sure. In a pasta sauce? Can't be too bad. On their own? Highly debatable. However, this mushroom in a parsley mousse garnished fresh leaves and a... whatever that was (I have no memory of its name) was mouthwatering to the extreme. Heaven in a mushroom. Oh. My. Goodness.

The "plat," or entrée in the United States (seriously, U.S., WHY U NO CALL COURSES BY RIGHT NAME?), or main course to the rest of the English-speaking world, was delicious, but actually couldn't match the wonderfulness of the mushroom. Guinea hen over risotto with a green onion garnish - a delightful sampling of a poultry I'd never had the opportunity to munch on before.

Dessert: a traditional crème brulée with fruits rouges (that would be the strawberries, raspberries and red currants that you see there) that we actually got to crack with our spoon, just like everyone always dreams of doing. Delicioso. This entire meal, including the champagne apératif and the red and white wines that we tasted, was courtesy of our program director, who special ordered the entire three-course delight. She repeated the story proudly to me several times: how she had called to book the restaurant, how she had not been satisfied with the menu, how she personally got in touch with the chef and asked that THIS is what we be served or she would take our patronage elsewhere, how in the end she got her way as she almost always does. Fantastic.

This is the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque in the valley below Gordes. It was our last stop for the day and included a guided visit of the abbey by a wonderfully lovely man whose name I am not certain I ever learned unfortunately, but I can tell you that he was one of the most eloquent and kindest of tour guides I have yet had the pleasure of listening to in France. But I digress. This abbey is a Cistercian monastery and its celebrity comes from its lavender fields, of which you can see a small part in the foreground of the photo.

The lavender blooms in June and July, unfortunately, so I don't have any pictures of the gorgeous lavender plants in bloom, but you can google those for yourself and get photos that are more professional than my shots will ever be. Our visit in the late autumn, however, was still lovely, even if it was dark and raining when we finally left the abbey.

This is the cloister, which is supposed to resemble the garden of Eden, i.e. paradise on Earth. This might be the closest any cloister I have seen has ever come. They say that the cloister is Arles is the prettiest cloister in all of Provence, but I don't think that's true. I feel that this one wins, hands down. Not only is this one better maintained, but it has a more attractive and peaceful quality to it.

Another shot of this cloister, from the opposite end, this time at dusk.

Nîmes et le Pont du Gard


Nîmes is a city about an hour and ten minutes west-northwest of Aix-en-Provence and is a popular tourist destination. Similar to Arles, it has an ancient elliptical Roman amphitheater that was once used for medieval housing: families lived inside the arena, whose walls and towers served as ramparts for the tiny community within. The Maison Carrée is also a popular place to see; it was once a small temple to the Roman gods. However, for many people who come to Nîmes, the first thing that comes to mind is the Pont du Gard, a Roman architectural masterpiece that still functions as a bridge but has long ceased to be used as an aqueduct. We came to these locales as part of an Erasmus student excursion that I have mentioned once before in my first post on tiny Provençal towns. Organized by the office of international relations at Université Aix-Marseille 1 and run by a local tour company, this trip at the beginning of the semester is open to all international students and offers us a way to not only explore the region in which we are living, but to meet the people with whom we are inhabiting it. This was the first excursion of any sort with the new students for the spring semester, and I was excited to get to know them a little bit. Turns out, we were all a little too preoccupied with the sights to do lots of bonding. Not that anyone was particularly worse off because of that...

Le Jardin de la Fontaine. This was our first stop on our brief tour of Nîmes. Like many French gardens, white gravel seems to be of the utmost importance. One cannot properly crunch across the garden in dainty shoes while discussing all the latest gossip of who is to marry whom while carrying lacy white parasols to shade one's porcelain skin from the sun without white gravel! Or something like that.

Interior of what is thought to have once been a temple, possibly to Diana, but could have also been a library for all we really know since it doesn't really have the shape of a typical temple from way back when. Can I just remind you once again of how I simply love ruins?

This was right next to the temple in a little courtyard. I wonder what it might have looked like 1800 years ago? That little nook right in the back there looks to be the perfect spot to curl up with a book. Perhaps this was a library after all...

This is the arena of which I spoke earlier. It reminds me very, very much of the arena in Arles. I like how these amphitheaters all look alike to some degree. I suppose it must have been nice for a Roman to travel from city to city and be able to find his or her way easily enough if the forum, temples, arenas and theaters all used the same sort of architecture from one colony to the next.

This is the current coat of arms of Nîmes: a crocodile chained to a palm tree. Despite the palm trees that I saw there, which were most certainly imported, I saw not a single crocodile chained up anywhere. Disappointing? Yeah, kinda.

And here it is! The magnificent Pont du Gard! And, boy, is it big! I haven't the faintest idea why, but I had never imagined it to be quite so large. It spans an entire valley between two hills after all, so how can it not be of epic proportions? I suppose it is just something that you can't put into perspective until you are actually standing right up alongside it.

Just as breathtaking as the aqueduct was the scenery. The Gard River was a gorgeous blue that day and it was as though we had been transported to a different era. There was hardly a modern building to be seen in any direction (excepting, of course, the one house - guardhouse? - that is likely three hundred years old), and as we walked the not-so-well-worn path up one side of the hill and down the other to get to the other side of the aqueduct, I was once again reminded of my love for the outdoors. Ahhhhhhhh. Oh, yes, and it was sunny.

And here is the other side of the bridge - actually a little more magnificent since the sun was shining on it, but who am I to judge sides of architectural feats of magnificence?

Anyone reminded of The Lord of the Rings with this shot? I know I was. I was so ready for Legolas and Aragorn to come dashing out from the trees, fighting Uruk-hai and being awesome. Didn't happen, obviously, but at least it gave my imagination plenty of fodder for hypothetical story ideas.

Peace, love, pandas, and orc-fighting elves,

Rachel

Ahhh, La France

So I've been in France for a week now. Which means that I have indeed started my study abroad program. Which also means that I am currently in Paris. Which also means that I owe y'all an entry about the city of light and of love.

To be honest, there is way, way too much to share with you.

So let's start with the flight to Paris: not at all as stressful as I was thinking it was going to be. I was mildly terrified by the prospect of flying all the way across the ocean to lands unknown. What if something was wrong with my visa (especially after all the work I went to to get it)? What if they lost my luggage? And what could I expect when I attempted to communicate with the Parisians? Would they instantly recognize my accent as American and insist upon speaking to me in English?

In fact, I did not need to worry about any of that. My visa was fine. My luggage arrived safely. And the Parisians are nothing but helpful and patient when I am speaking to them.

The flight to Paris took about six and a half hours, which is trying on one's nerves when there are small children roaming about the cabin (seriously, parents of the world, it's called a seat belt and a little melatonin), but short enough for a good nap if one had the extraordinary ability to fall asleep on planes. I say "extraordinary" because I cannot fall asleep on planes. So, in general, the flight was about the same amount of time it takes to fly non-stop from Boston to San Diego. The Air France flight attendants were very nice and gave us dinner and breakfast. The dinner menu looked a little something like this:

I enjoyed the "Pâtes orzo au curry et poulet grillé" and the "Pâtes penne à la provençale" along with everything else you see listed there and a little wine to accompany the food. Surprisingly good for airplane food... but perhaps not surprising since it is Air France and France is known for their cuisine. Also, I find it interesting that the word for cheesecake in French is... "cheesecake." Breakfast, on the other hand, was nothing special, so I'm skipping over it.

Our hotel is what is known as an "apart'hotel" because it was designed for people who plan to be vacationing in a certain spot for a lengthy period of time. Named the Citadines Paris Saint-Germain-des-Prés, our particular apart'hotel is right in the heart of Paris, or "le coeur de Paris." One can walk from our residence to la cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris in one direction, or go down to le Musée du Louvre in the other other direction, or simply take a lovely stroll along the Seine. And, in fact, I have done all of these things. Here are some pretty pictures:

The view from my room:

The Venus de Milo, which is, in my opinion, a much better example of feminine beauty than any beanpole of a supermodel walking runway today:

La Victoire de Samothrace (Nike of Samothrace), the most beautiful sculpture ever created in the history of art:

The friggin' ceiling in the Louvre, which, I should remind you, was once a royal residence, so what your seeing here used to be the ceiling for the apartments of French royalty, and these over-the-top ceiling decorations are EVERYWHERE. Honestly, it is worth going to the Louvre just to look at the ceiling:

The interior of Notre Dame, which is really hard to get a good picture of when they don't do a lot to light up the place and the natural light coming in through the stained glass is not super strong:

Detail of the flying buttresses of the cathedral taken from the Square de Jean XXIII:

Oh, yeah, I should definitely mention that all of these photos were taken with my camera by me. It is entirely possible to take epic photos of Paris with a simple digital camera because Paris is that awesome.

Ok, pretty pictures have been shared. So what else have I been up to? Well, let's see... I took a boat ride along the Seine to see some of the best sights in the city from the water, ate dinner on the Eiffel Tower, wandered around le Marais, a neighborhood in Paris which roughly translates to "the Swamp," traversed the Île de la Cité and the Île Saint Louis, where you can find Notre Dame and some of the finest ice cream ("la glace") in Paris, spent an afternoon shopping along Boulevard Saint Germain and Boulevard Saint Michel, explored the Latin Quarter, ate at sidewalk cafés nearly every day, including Les Deux Magots (The Two Figurines... aptly named for the two statues in the restaurant) - an old haunt of Ernest Hemingway and others belonging to the Lost Generation - visited a French bar, got lost in the city with friends while looking for said bar, tried 20 types of cheese and 6 types of wine in the course of four hours or so...

Yeah, I've been exhausted at the end of each day. And there are still two more weeks in Paris! There is still so much to see!

I must be frank with you, though. I did not fall in love with Paris until Friday. It took me nearly a week to fall in love with a city that I have been dying to see since I was quite young.

I think it is because, if I truly want to appreciate a city, I have to explore it on my own. I need to wander the streets and lose myself in a new culture. I need to see the sights and hear the sounds of the city at my own pace. This becomes complicated when so many activities are scheduled and I tour the city in a large tourist group of students. This is a fantastic way to learn about the history of the city, but you essentially only discover the tourist spots, or the places that the tour guide knows and loves. That's all fine and dandy since I've never been to France before, but if I am going to be living in this country for the next nine months, I want to get to know it on my own terms. I want to go to restaurants and shops and be treated like any other resident of France. Now, obviously, that won't always happen because I have an American accent when I speak French, and I am not totally fluent yet, but I want to feel more like a person and less like A Tourist. I mean, it's fine if people can tell right away that I am American, but I am here to absorb a culture and learn a language, and that is harder to do when one is attached to seventeen other Americans who are sightseeing with me.

And I was able to do that on Friday. After my French Civilization crash course, I took off from the Citadines and went exploring. I saw Notre Dame on my own, bought some cookies from a little pâtisserie on the Île Saint Louis, where I conversed with the sales clerk in French. I bought a little ice cream cone from a ice cream stand attached to a Salon de Thé and took my time walking through the streets and taking in the sights of the ancient city around me. No one asked me if I spoke French or English. I was even able to tell a family of tourists how to get to the nearest metro station. I felt totally accomplished as an independent student abroad in a new country.

And so, from that, I slowly began to fall in love with "La Ville de Lumière" and its narrow streets and creamy white stone buildings and tiny balconies adorned with flowers and gold-tipped gates and jazz musicians who set up shop in the middle of a pedestrian bridge:

Oh, and, yes, I have purchased fresh baguettes and a striped shirt in order to better fit in, haha. ^_^

Gros bisous,

Rachel