settling in

Hello all,

I am finally getting more settled into my cute little apartment. I received my final suitcase that had been stored just last week and have finally unpacked it. All of my belongings fit in 2 checked bags, 2 carry on sized bags and 1 duffel. And to the "now" me, that sounds like a lot. The apartment is finally feeling more like me although if it were up to me I'd completely redo the place, but I am not complaining.

When I was growing up in Texas I used to pray that for seasons. It was one of those simple, partially stupid prayer that you don't realize you are praying until of course your prayer is answered and you realize maybe the grass is just greener on the other side? Winters here are lovely and I love being able to bundle up and wear clothes that I could never wear before and own a proper coat. But now we are in April and its STILL cold. And rainy. The old saying rings true to this day, "April showers brings May flowers". I am counting down the days until May and really hoping that this weather here decides to shape up. Never in my life have I ever had to wear a winter coat in April. Never. And that teaser that Paris sent us back in March leading us to believe that it was picnic weather was just plain mean! The weather here has been worse than Seattle weather according to a new friend of mine who is from Seattle. Its been pouring rain on a regular basis and its been rather cold and I am ready for Mr. Sun to come out and play. It's spring.

On a different note, I have become the baking queen. Thats actually getting ahead of myself as I don't have an oven and can count on one hand how many times I've actually baked but I feel that way. In Texas, particularly when I was in college and was responsible for my own meals, I am pretty sure I never used my oven. And that was when my kitchen was probably the size of my last apartment... big! I used to eat frozen meals, pasta, easy to put together meals and I just ate out a lot out of laziness. Now, because I am older and wiser and cooler (and mainly because the easy to use products don't exist here and eating out is a luxury that is rarely afforded to me) I have learned how to bake from scratch. It's super fun. Why did I not learn this art earlier? So for Caroline's birthday I asked her what type of cake she would like to have and she told me a Carrot Cake. I thought that would be simple enough and would be fun. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. Carrot cakes are probably not difficult at all, but considering I was using an American recipe where in America you can go to the store and buy everything precut and pre measured and pre done for you, it proved to be a bit more difficult, but fun nonetheless. Also, baking can become a bit difficult when you don't have a pie pan much less 2 of the same size and shape (and I was making a double layered cake) and you're using a little itty bitty oven that plugs into the wall. But i conquered the cake and it turned out wonderful. Even made homemade cheesecake icing. Who knew icing was just as easy to make as it to buy already made? And i definitely feel more accomplished and cool knowing that I made it and didn't buy it.

And then breakfast the morning after. I woke up and made pancakes and scrambled eggs. And with homemade syrup. Who knew you could make homemade syrup? Well, now you do! It's so simple and quick and I will never again waste my money on syrup here in France.

PS. to go with my cooking fetish I have these days, I recently found a new tv show that I am streaming and am obsessed with. It's called The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo. Look it up if you like cooking shows or british accents or lovely views of Paris or all three. It's a show where this british girl who lives in Paris and attended Le Cordon Bleu teaches you how to cook French cuisine but the catch is that it is do-able for everyone. Why? Because she cooks in a kitchen that is so small she can stand in the middle and reach out her arms and touch the walls and has only 2 stove tops that she plugs in a little oven and a mini fridge and yet concocts all these super fancy recipes. And did I mention the views of Paris? The show is worth watching just for that alone.

Well, I'm off to dream away the night. Bon appetite!