It's like I'm in France... again!

It's official. I love French cooking. What, that wasn't a new revelation or anything? Alright, I lived abroad, loved reading My Life in France, loved Julie & Julia and received Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking for my birthday back in April. I tried making Coq au Vin and Suprêmes de Volaille à l'Écossaise. But for some strange reason, I haven't cracked open the book since April!! Maybe because it's so rich and decadent and I never have any of the ingredients on hand.

Well that changed last night. We had some left over heavy cream -- nearing its expiration date -- and butter from Thanksgiving. When one has butter and cream on hand, what little choice is there to do with it but make a French meal?! I had a half-opened bottle of wine and some potatoes so I decided to make Poulet au Porto and a spin off Child's Gratin Dauphinois (recipes are linked to both dishes).

I don't know how I have French genes but have a strong aversion to butter. In trying to make the dishes healthier, I not only cut the recipes in half for two people with leftovers, but also cut down the butter requirements to 1/4 of what she called for haha. The woman loved to rub everything in butter: the chicken thighs, the pan, the dishes, she even told me to rub my face with butter. Ok, maybe not. But that's what it felt like. I also cheated with the mushrooms. As in, I can't stand them! You'd think after 25 years they'd grow on me... so instead I opted for carrots, which I had on hand. It was still pretty dang tasty.

So here you have it....

Poulet au Porto (Wine-steeped roasted chicken)

and Gratin Savoyard, also known as a Tartifelette in the Alps region of France and Switzerland (potato gratin with milk, butter, gruyère and bacon). I added the bacon to make it more Swiss:

(P.S. How AWESOME are the iPhone 4 pictures?! They're waaay nicer than my point-and-shoot camera haha. Hope J.D. doesn't mind me stealing his phone every now and then...)

Fun fact, my dad lived in Annecy, in the French Alps, when I was living on the beaches of the Mediterranean. We'd make the 6- to 8-hour train ride back and forth tasting regional specialties. One of my favorites was the Tartifelette and of course, fondues of the Alps. Does anyone want to go back to France with me, RIGHT NOW?!?!?! :)

Well, if I can't, at least Julia Child can take me back there for a night or two.

I shaved my weenie.

I've been running around like crazy over the past day and a half. Oh, and I finally resolved the issue with my sweaty puppy. We shaved our longhaired wiener dog for his desert living.

Post hair cut:

He is much happier now and runs around like a crazy person.

I had my second interview yesterday. I think it went well, but we'll have to see what happens. I should hear if I got the job or not either at the end of this week or the beginning of next. Either way though, I still can't get the idea of grad school out of my head. I really want to get my master's in French comp lit. We'll see. I definitely want to tour Arizona State someday soon and maybe go talk to the departments.

While sitting in traffic for an hour and 10 minutes (is that a bad sign for a future commute?!) I devoured this:

Vanilla roobios iced tea, banana and chocolate Clif Bar. Ugh, I had to wake up around 6ish, took a shower, dried my hair and then grabbed some food and scurried to the car in order to make my interview. By 9 p.m. last night, I was EXHAUSTED. Usually I'll wake up between 7:45 and 8:30 a.m., so that would take a bit of getting used to.

Considering the circumstances, dinner was quick and easy. Chicken marinated in mango habanero sauce, chunky chick peas from Costco that I made into a salad with spinach, tomatoes, carrots and celery, and a cheesy biscuit.

The night ended with an eerie mix of storms: dust, thunder and rain. That brought in some humidity and dropped the temperature into the 90s. The rain and dust, however, ruined our pretty cars, washed the night prior. So my freshly-washed car is now dusty and spotty.

Obviously, that amped up my desire to clear out the garage. My Taurus (ugh, yes, I know I need a new car) now sits in the garage, free from dust storms. I've also done a great deal of research on fitness clubs here. Although I've never been a member of a gym, I think I might do it here! It's cheap, air conditioned and has kickboxing/Zumba/yoga classes. What more could you ask for?!?!

Sleeping through the storms, I arose around my usual time before an eye doctor appointment and new contact lenses. I wanted something quick and easy again, so a repeat of my typical breakfast resurfaced.

Cereal and fruit: never fails.

Let's skip through my lunch and focus on the more interesting meal of the day. I had a craving for margaritas so I started looking up Mexican side dishes to go with the frozen taquitos we already had in stock. Up came two I couldn't resist: pineapple mango salsa and camote, which is sweet potatoes cooked in honey butter.

An unexpected twist... THE SALSA WITH THE SWEET POTATOES! It was really good. I enjoyed each part individually enormously, but together was unreal.

And oh yeah, I never did have that margarita :(

;)

Something to look forward to tomorrow night: FREE CONCERT!! Expect a full recap to come.