un bon jour

It for some reason just dawned on me today that "bonjour" literally means good day. Five years of French and I'm just now figuring that out. Fail. Anyway, this dawned on me because today was a good day. Nothing exceptional happened, but compared with the last few days I've had, the simple fact that nothing bad happened was enough to make it a good day.

I spent yesterday cleaning up crap, quite literally. Someone was kind enough to drop off a rotting carcass of some large animal in the empty lot by our house, which of course, Duke found.. as if it wasn't bad enough cleaning him off and giving tomato juice baths, it gave him diarrhea. All over the house. Always on the carpet, of course. He actually went out of his way upstairs just to go on the carpet rather than tile. Lovely. Yesterday was the only day that the thought has ever gone through my mind to give Duke away. In my defense, I was upset about several things at the time, and the Duke incident was just icing on the cake. Fortunately, I've come to my senses and realize that Duke is one of the best things to ever happen to me.

In other news, let's talk about the lamb. It was delicious. As in, one of the best things I've ever cooked. The lamb chops were crusted with rosemary, bread crumbs, and mustard, and then roasted. It was super simple. I was very worried about overcooking the lamb, as it's supposed to be eaten medium-rare. However, medium-rare freaks me out a bit, so I went for medium. And they were perfect. With them I made Julia Child's version of potatoes au gratin. This consisted of scalloped potatoes, butter, swiss cheese, salt, and pepper layered in a casserole dish and then covered with beef broth (which she recommended instead of milk if serving with lamb). They ended up very liquidy, which I don't think was the intended result, but they were very good, nonetheless. Not so great leftover, however. I even went for presentation with this meal, which I'm not usually very good at. I felt kind of lame about it since I was just cooking for myself, but honestly, I can't afford to feed lamb to people. I would love to, but come on. I'm a poor college kid. And it does kind of suck cooking by myself, as I guess I'd gotten used to having someone equally passionate to cook with. But it seems that what's meant to be, will be, and right now, what's meant to be is for me to cook alone.

So tomorrow is kind of a big day for me. I'm going to talk to the guy who is in charge of the student exchange program that I want to do. Basically, if the credits all transfer and I will graduate on time, I'm going for it. I feel like things are really starting to fall into place for me to go. It's something that I've always wanted to do, but I've had my doubts. One of the main ones was JP, not that I wouldn't have gone because of him, but for some reason, I didn't want it as badly then. Also, finance was a major concern. But I found out that my scholarship will cover the program fees, and then my father informed me today that I have a couple thousand dollars in a fund that my grandparents set up years ago that has to be used while I'm in college. Why he waited until now to tell me this, I don't know. Anyway, it's looking quite probable right now. Which I'm super stoked about. It's nice to finally have something fall into place. (hopefully!)

But, it is getting late, and I have five (FIVE) classes tomorrow, so peace out!

priorities, priorities

For some reason, I was thinking earlier today about the personal finance class I took my freshman year of high school. I didn't really get a whole lot out of the class, as the teacher wasn't very good, but I do remember making budgets for when we lived on our own. I don't really remember how much money we supposedly had, but I do remember thinking that it would be fine with me to eat peanut butter every day if that meant that I got to spend my money on important things, like clothes and shoes. My, how times have changed...

Not that I don't still spend money on clothes, but I definitely don't eat peanut butter every day. Or ever, for that matter. And when I think about spending the spring in France, one of the things I'm most excited about is the awesome food I'm going to eat. Which is why I'm trying to save up like crazy now. I might be broke by the time I get back, but at least I'll have some great memories.

So, just in case you're wondering, I'm already starting to eat my words since my last post. I do like that there's some structure in my life now, but I'm pretty dang busy. They've been scheduling me four days a week at work, which doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm also taking six classes... so yeah, not much time for fun. Well, there won't be once I really start getting into my classes. And obviously it's football season, so I'm sure that'll really make me feel better about missing fun. Ugh. I keep telling myself it's for my future...

Anyway, I haven't really made anything crazy cooking-wise lately.. BUT, tonight I'm making lamb. Mustard and Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb as a matter of fact. With Julia Child's Gratin Dauphinois, which are basically potatoes au gratin. And let me tell you, it's not so easy to find lamb here in Auburn. Kroger only had stew meat, and at Sam's I would've had to practically buy the whole lamb. But Publix came through for me once again. I honestly don't know why I even bother going anywhere else. So I'm pretty excited about dinner, and I will for sure write about it asap!!

back in action

Summer's almost over!! I never thought I would be excited to say that.. but I can't wait for things to get busy and normal again. I'm going to come back and read this in a few months and laugh at my stupidity, but whatever. This summer has been full of crap on top of crap, so I'm not sorry to see it go. Not that there haven't been good times, but it seems like there have been an abundance of bad ones. But, at least I'm starting this school year with a good attitude.

For you people bored with my philosophical ramblings, there's light at the end of the tunnel! I have food to write about today! First of all, I have officially made preserves. Which also means that I'm officially an old woman, but that's not so bad, I guess. It was a recipe in my Food Network magazine (which I would highly recommend subscribing to). It's called Plum-Vanilla Preserves, but good luck finding the vanilla beans required for the vanilla part. I ended up just using vanilla extract, because where in Auburn do you even buy vanilla beans?

Now, let me just say that I have no experience or know-how about preserving anything, so bear that in mind. It's mostly just heating things up and stirring, but you have to get the right temperature and consistency.. which I seemed to have. It all seemed to be great, with a good gel consistency, until the last step where I was to add plucots. Then it somehow seemed to go all thin. They were supposed to be sealed in the jar for 24 hours, so I thought that might help. Not really. They still taste good, but more syrupy than jelly-ish. Oh well, here's to trying new things.

Also from my latest Food Network magazine was a recipe for pepper jack stuffed chicken. It was actually the cover recipe, so of course I had to try it.. and it was delicious! And super easy too! All you have to do is mix shredded pepper jack cheese with baby spinach and stuff that into a slit in the chicken breast. Cover the chicken breast with Cajun seasoning and olive oil, and either grill or bake until done. And voila! It was wonderful!

Other than that, I haven't experimented much lately.. I've really been wanting to make a pie, but my roomies aren't here, and I'd feel like a fatty having a pie all to myself. So get ready Meghan and Heather, because it's coming soon! Although that won't go well with my swimsuit diet, I suppose. Not that I'm actually dieting, don't worry people. However, I am single again, so I have to look good, right?

That being said, I have more old lady things to do like laundry and such, so that's it for now!