Friday was Valentine’s Day, but like I mentioned before, Valentine’s day is not celebrated as much as it is in the US. I wanted to do a little something special with my roomies nonetheless :). I proposed that we go to this patisserie and get some tea and dessert. I am glad the girls agreed, because it was so nice to try a new french pastry.
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| Our choices: I went with the St. Honoré, Kim went with a macaroon variety, and Kate went with a chocolate-vanilla creme giant macaroon |
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| Here I am with my St. Honoré |
After our little outing, I hurried back because I was going over to my host family’s house for dinner. I met up my host mom at the school where she works and we did a little grocery shopping on the way home. We went to this french store that had a “Fresh Market” and “Whole Foods” type feel. The products all looked really fresh and they had a candy, nut, and dried fruit bar. After getting some groceries, we picked the kids up from school.
When we got home, we started cooking quenelles. Quenelles are typical of the lyon region, and I am surprised that I hadn’t already tried them. They were pretty easy to cook, because all we had to do was make a sauce, and rice to go with them. So first, we placed the quenelles in a baking pan. To make the sauce, first, you have to melt about 1/3 of a stick of butter in a pot. Then, turn the heat really low, and add about 1-2 tablespoons of flour and whisk until it is thick and doughy. Then, add milk, little by little, until the sauce becomes thin. Next, add some tomato concentrate (seemed to be about 2-3 tablespoons), and whisk until the mixture changes color to a light pink. Then you are supposed to add some Muscade (nutmeg), but we forgot haha. We were talking about adding it and we picked it up, but them we ended up putting it away, instead of adding it in…whoops! So once the sauce is complete, pour it over the quenelles, and sprinkle shredded cheese (we used emmental) all over the top. Then, it goes in the oven at 180-200 C for about 30-35 minutes. The quenelles were quite tasty! For dessert, we had yogurt and dried dates.
After dinner, the kids went to bed, and we, the adults, watched some French music awards show. We saw Stromae win a few awards and we saw him perform as well. Stromae is pretty popular here in France, I wonder if he is known in the US??
On Saturday, Luke, Kate’s friend, and Stefan, Kim’s friend came to visit! It was nice to see the two of them again. We all went out together in the evening, and we had a great time dancing the night away :). One place even gave out roses to all of the girls, probably because the day before was Valentine’s day. Anyways, it was so nice to get a flower :).
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| Me with my rose :) |
On Sunday, I went ice skating for the first time in my life! It was so much fun! I only fell twice, which I thought wasn’t too bad. I skated for about an hour. I had fun with my host family, and I am so happy that they took me ice skating. I skated around the rink and I even pushed the kids around in these little sleigh things.
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| The rink is separated for little kids and older people |
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| First time ice skating! |
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| Ice Age painting in the room where you put on your skates |
After skating, I came home and had some pizza for lunch with the roomies and guests. After lunch, I went and saw my first Rugby game ever! Our neighbors have been asking us to come watch them play for a while, so we finally had time today. The Roanne team beat the Paris team! It was cool to be there for a win, but throughout the game I got kind of lost. I am not really familiar with the rules, but it was still interesting to watch. There were quite a few fights on the field and some players just got hurt during the game. One boy broke his wrist, and another seemed to have dislocated his shoulder or something. Rugby can get pretty dangerous for the players.
After the game, we got home, and I planned a few lessons before dinner. Tomorrow I have yet another day off, and I am happy I can sleep in after this long, busy weekend.
Love having Mondays off,
Magdalena
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