Clean Desk

Ah, had to show you this picture of my desk at work - probably the last time that you will find it so clean. When you're planning on staying away for six weeks - you actually don't leave anything on it. Huh.

Getting Ready to Go

OK, almost all the shopping is done. The house is clean. Found someone to bring in my mail and water the plants. I even have the refrigerator shelves in the dishwasher cleaning as I write this.

Only thing left to do is pack, finish two days of work, and get to the airport.

Dogsitting with Fry

Jim actually took a day off from work (two in fact) to visit friends in the South of France - details on Monday when he gets back I'm sure. Needless to say that even though France is most enlightened about dogs and having them in public places - taking a Bichon Frise in a car ride for that amount of time would not have been good.

So, we actually got to dog sit for a couple of days - Fry was very good (no accidents in the house - at least none that we've found). no taking him for a daily walk was a bit of a challenge since the close square yard of grass was about half a kilometer away - but we figured it all out.

Dinner with Laurence and Richard

Had a nice dinner with Laurence and Richard at 'Le Fossil' - besides some steak that had the words 'cook' whispered over it instead of applying actually fire to it, the restuarant is also famous for having the largest Armagnac collection in the World. This is where you can order an Armagnac from the year that you were born - and it goes all the way back to 1881.

Kinsale Crystal

Yeah !!! One of the benefits of Patrick going away to Ireland is that he brings back Kinsale Crystal. Quite frankly, Waterford is a bunch of hacks - nothing compares to the stuff you can get in this small little shop in this small little town.

In addition to a nice little coaster dish, he also brought back four rolypolies.

Nespresso

Related to the cheese story - the french are also concerned that there is not a proper cup of coffee available in the States. Since it was risking them not coming over, I went ahead and bought a US version of the Nespresso machine that I got from Santa. I also had to go get the capsules of course, but that was easier since the store is next door.

Calculating out the number of french, the amount of coffee they drink, and the amount of stress caused by testing - I suspect this current supply of 150 capsules to last less than a couple of days. Yipes. At least we can order with an express shipment.

Scooter

Apparently Scooter (my brother Tim's family's dog) was jealous that Winston and Bowdoin got face time on the blog, and he didn't - so here's a picture of him. Not sure if he's more calm than Bowdoin (the photo is not blurry from movement), and we're not sure if he's more hyper than Winston (he's at least making eye contact).

Vaccuum-Packed Cheese

Ah, a typical french story.

As some of you already know, we'll be going back to the US for a bit, in order to complete system testing with the project I'm on. Needless to say, there is some preparatin and shopping that needs to occur, not the least of which is getting a supply of cheese that can 1. Feed us for at least a month and 2. Get us through customs without the sniffing beagles causing a commotion.

So we went to one of our favorite cheese places and told the guy that I had to go back to the States for a LONG time. After him expressing his sincere regrets, since he knows as well as I that we don't really have cheese over there - he basically set us up. Not only did he give us some really amazing cheeses to take home - but he also VACCUUM PACKED them (sorry Mom, if I'm spelling that wrong). Hopefully they will help us get through customs - cross your fingers.

Dinner at LiAnn's

Too bad I forgot my camera, and I didn't get any pictures.

When Patrick was in England for a couple of days, LiAnn (neighbor across the street) invited me over for dinner a couple of times. The first time we had Mont D'Or (which is a seasonal cheese in Alsace - think fondue without the fondue pot) and Jura wine, which is a 'yellow' wine - very interesting.

Second dinner we had was the next evening with her various friends that she's known throughout the years - ver interesting people that I'll have to mention in another post.

Patrick Running around the World

I should have an entry on the Flat Stanley blog for all the places that Patrick has been in the past 14 days. Between the Olympics in Italy, driving back through Switzerland, meetings in Germany, England, and Ireland - he's been pretty busy - and not here in France too much. Oh yeah, he also made it to Amsterdam and the Anne Frank house, since he had such a long layover.

The Wine Exposition

The only bad part about going to the Olympics was that we had to miss the Annual Strasbourg Wine Expedition. I had heard about it a month after I arrived in France, and I had been looking forward to it for months.

Unfortunately the Olympics conflicted (although I did find out later that I could have gone on Monday). Nevertheless, I was lucky to have Jill and Chris pick up some champagne and jura, while Nicholas from work was able to pick up some Corton-Charlemagne (very nice stuff).

The Olympics

Yep, it's true, we went to the Winter Olympics in Torino. They were a lot of fun, but at the risk of repeating myself, you can go to Spencer's blog for Flat Stanley in order to read all about it.

You can also go to all our photos from the Olympics, by clicking here.

Team Night Out

Shortly after Tarte Flambee night, the team that I'm on (production planning and manufacturing operations) decided to all go out for dinner. It was a nice little place out by Entzheim, where the airport is (I'm sure I'm spelling that wrong, but I'm too tired to look it up).

I'm telling you, these dinners that run late into the evening (11:00) are starting to catch up with me. I think I'm looking forward to just getting dinner at 6PM, so I can actually get to bed at a decent hour.

What Cheeses to Bring Home

Working on my shopping list in preparation for the trip back to the US. Here's a pic of the local cheese market. Not sure how much cheese I'll be able to bring into the States - maybe none, if the beagles in Chicago sniff my bag.

Great Olives

Just trying to help us appreciate the markets in the winter months before Spring comes. One of the staples of the Marne market these past few months has been an olive booth at the end of the market. (I also thought it was a pretty cool picture, too)

LiAnn Acito-Kahn

Enter our dear friend LiAnn Acito-Kahn. She's an American who's being living in Strasbourg since she graduated from college - and basically lives across the street from us. She's actually an english teacher at one of the local universities.

I met her the first day I moved into our current apartment, and ironically enough, she is also the landlord of Gaby's apartment down the street. While Patrick was in Germany and the UK (post to follow), we were able to have a lovely dinner together - most recently last Thursday. More to follow with LiAnn.

Catherine's Family Farm

One of my co-workers, Catherine Hiss, has a family farm close to Fegersheim. So one Friday night, Laurence, Patrick, and I went out to pick up a chicken for Sunday dinner. You know that whole thing about the french law to allow every household to have a chicken in every pot.

Anyway, the farm originally raised cows for cow's milk, and today they raise chicken and rabbits. We ended up having Joe cook dinner Sunday (green beans, potatoes, chicaken, etc.)

Patrick has left for Ireland

Patrick left early this morning for Kinsale, Ireland. He needs to do some demos of the system he's working on for some people up there, and he won't be back until Wednesday :( He actually has been there before, when I was there for business; but this is the first time that he's actually been to the plant.

He is also spending almost an entire day in Amsterdam, because he scheduled an early flight out of Ireland and a late flight to Strasbourg. So that also means that Flat Stanley will get to add two more countries to his map.

Hiking in the Vosges - Part III

Even though there may be no snow in Strasbourg, there was plenty 30 minutes away in the Vosges. Two Sundays ago, Joe, Patrick, and I drove up to the Vosges and did some more hiking. Unfortunately, we didn't have our snow boots (raclettes), so we couldn't go too far off the trails - but it was cool to see all the cross country skiers run by.

Burgundy

Patrick and I took a day trip to Burgundy a couple of weekends ago. It was about a 3 hour drive.

Considering it was freezing cold, we had a really nice time. Had an amazing lunch, bought some great cheese, and of course, found some great wines.

I did a really long post on the Flat Stanley blog that we're doing for my nephew Spencer, so you can click here to see it.

European Privacy

This one was a little weird.

In our last trip to Burgundy, we stopped in Nuits St. George and the local tourist office. I had to go to the bathroom, and this is what I found. This is a picture of me standing OUTSIDE, and looking in. Hmmm.

Lucia Nogueda

OK, I admit, not the most flattering picture of Lucia, but I had to put something up.

Lucia arrived about a month ago in Fegersheim in order to be the Design Lead for our Paris affiliate. She's originally from Mexico, but she's spent the last couple of years in the US, Germany, and most recently Italy.

Can you pick out the 'challenged' dog?

Even though Winston (pictured here sporting a black fur) probably does not remember who I am (the traitor), he's our dog back in Indianapolis. The other bleach blonde is Bowdoin, and he's Mom and Dad's dog. Not only does he need to be medicated - he also gets people food.

The Family

Ah the family - or at least part of it.

When Patrick was home in the US he had dinner at Mom and Dad's. I think this is the first family (or partial family) picture for some time. In the front row, starting from the left: Lauren (my brother Tim's daughter), Spencer (Tim's son), Kelly (my sister Julie's daughter), David (Julie's son), Julie, and Mom. In the back row, starting on the left: Tim, Cheryl (Tim's wife), and Dad. Not pictured are Julie's husband, Steve, and son, Andy. We were also missing the families of two of my brothers.

Schlumpf National Car Museum

Can anyone guess what this car is? It is a Bugati Royale Limosine, and it is the most expensive car in the World.

Yep, I went to a car museum - thanks to the advice of Jeanine Schmitt (Lilly HR) and the Hagans.

The short story is that a major french industrialist (wool) collected a whole bunch of cars, and it was one big secret how many he had until he tried to close the local wool plant. In true french fashion, the workers stormed the plant and took it over - only to find (literally) hundreds of automobiles. And these were not you Ford Escorts . . .

It's hard to imagine, but we're talking fleets of Rolls Royce limosines from before WWII. He had a particular weakness for Italian Bugatti's. I decided to just take pictures of the Mercedes Benz's, and my previously full charged camera battery crapped out at the very end.

Because I took so many pictures, I decided to try Yahoo! Photo, so you can click here to see all the photos I took of the museum. It wasn't until I got to my sixth or seventh car, when I got smart and took a picture of the actual car description. So if you flip through in order, you should be able to see what each car was. But I warn you, this is an afternoon activity.

GPS Mapping Software Rocks

Well, I got a GPS toy for Xmas, but I had to wait a couple weeks until the Europe mapping software came in - it was worth the wait. Basically every single podunk street in Europe is on this software, which means I can basically never get lost. I just need to tell it where I want to go, and then it gives me directions based on where it knows I'm at already.

There is a slight problem though that we discovered on the way to someone's place for dinner . . . the GPS doesn't work if you run out of batteries. But other than that, it's pretty freakin' cool.

We used it on our last weekend trip, and we were able to go directly to the most obscure addresses without any wrong turns.

Bandages come off

Yeah !!! The bandages for my bad shoulder have finally come off - now I can go to Baden-Baden again! My shoulder is about 95% OK, the rest is just probably from weakness on the ligament - but I should be fine.

Dinner with Laurence and Richard Ciravegna

A couple of weeks ago (yes, I'm behind in my posting), Patrick and I invited Laurence (see Making Foie Gras) and her husband Richard to dinner at our apartment. Sorry, the days of throwing dinner parties for 8-50 of our closest friends are simply no longer an option.

So for all my friends who wonder if I'm still cooking, here's the dinner we had (note: I did cheat on the dessert).

Dinner with the Ciravegna's: The Drinks

Can't have a proper dinner without knowing what you're going to drink first.

We started out with a nice bottle of Champagne, followed by some Pinot Gris and a Riesling. Followed then by a decent (but not great) Pinot Noir. We finally made it to the home stretch with a Vendages Tardive and Scotch.

I decided that I really need to work on my long term wine storage situation.

Dinner with the Ciravegna's: Escargot

Started off with some little bread/roll things with a little bit a sugar that I picked up from the bread store down the street.

And then we had some obligatory escargot. They sound really foof, but they're not when you can buy them from the market already stuffed with butter and garlic - and the frozen ones you get in the store ain't too bad either. Alas, they were slightly overcooked, but with that much butter, you still have some leeway.

Dinner with the Ciravegna's: Duck

I did make a little chicken noodle soup from scratch (including the chicken stock). Turns out Cook's Illustrated has a nice little recipe that uses a whole chicken to make the stock and the soup (I'll have to find the recipe).

After the soup (which needed a little better presentation), I did the duck thing. Pretty easy when you throw it in the oven - sauce was OK, but the duck was almost perfect (I'm getting pretty good at that).

Dinner with the Ciravegna's: The Salad

Did the non-Alsatian thing and served the salad not with the cheese thing, but before (I still like that better). Again, making a salad in France is pretty easy - just go to the market a day before.

Dinner with the Ciravegna's: Cheese

OK, I'm too far behind in my posting to remember which cheese was which - the blue was a roquefort and always good. The goat cheese in white (which was really looked like it had been in my frig for four months) was amazing. And the orange one is mimolette.

Dinner with the Ciravegna's: Dessert

Cheated a little on this one. Baking in France is still a challenge with different oven temperatures and measurements, plus the pastry place down the street does it better than I could ever do it.

These were little petit fours all about the size of a quarter - they were very nice. After dessert we finished up with coffee and a little digestif. I think we were all finished by 11 or 11:30 - the only problem was that it was a school night.

Poundcake Recipe

Here's Mom's poundcake recipe. It has a bit of a history (usually Mom makes it for family friends who were just had a wedding, a funeral, or a birth), so I'm not sure what she's saying by sending it with Patrick back from the US. The original recipe also came from Jan Foster, my Mom's college roommate - which was a really long time ago.

Sorry it's in US measurements, but you can easily convert them.

POUND CAKE

3 cups flour, measure unsifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups sugar
1/2 pound butter
1/2 cup solid shortening (I use Crisco)

1 cup milk
6 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Sift dry ingredients 3 times
Cream sugar and shortenings
Add alternately eggs, milk, dry ingredients (three times). Beat well.
Add vanilla and beat 3 more minutes.
Pour into a greased, lined angel food cake pan. Long one is best.
Bake at 325 for 1 1/4 hour without opening oven door.
May take up to 15 minutes longer.
Dust with powdered sugar.
Freezes well. Best the second day. Good toasted for breakfast or as base for fruit.

Brownie Recipe

Alas, I was mistaken. The brownies that Patrick brought back from the US were not from my mother, but rather my sister Julie. Thanks Julie ! Oops.

Anyway, several of you have asked for the recipe, so here it is. (Unfortunately it's in US measurements, but they are pretty easy to convert to) Probably the hardest thing would be to find a chocolate with the equivalent fat content or consistency.

Carrie Noonan's Chewy Chocolate Brownies

1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 sticks melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa with 2 tablespoons water OR 4-6 oz melted bittersweet chocolate
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Mix sugar and eggs
Add butter, chocolate mixture, and vanilla
Add dry ingredients
Bake in greased 13x9 (inches) pan at 350 (F) for 18-25 minutes

Batter should be thick and you will need to spread it out in the pan

WARNING: If you're french, you might want to lower the sugar content a little, since it may prove to be too sweet to your palate.

Gaby loses cellphone

On a particularly bad day, Gaby dropped her cellphone down the toilet. Needless to say it no longer was recovered (despite attempts by Joe and Andrea shown here). The good news was that we were able to see the women's restroom at work, which is not nearly as nice as ours - no doubt a major cultural difference between the US and France.

Gaby did end up getting another phone, but she had a bit of a penalty from the phone company.

Skype

New technology. We just signed up for Skype, which allows us to call other Skype users for free via the Internet. There's also a way for us to call non-Skype people to a regular telephone, but that costs a little extra and we're still trying this one out. We're also going to attach our webcam, so hopefully we'll be able to setup video conferencing.

For more information about Skype - go to (yes, it's that obvious) www.skype.com.

Tarte Flambée Night

Had a great evening with the entire local GBIP team last Tuesday. They had a big meeting until 7PM, so as consolation, we all went out to have tarte flambée - think real thin pizza crust - one of the major regional dishes in Alsace. I need to talk to the french though about staying out late on a school night.

I actually had some more pictures too, so you can click here to see all of them.

Dinner at Gaby's

With Lucia now in town from Sesto, we were invited over to Gaby's for dinner. It wasn't a large group - Jim, Theresa, Emmanuelle, Bruno, Lucia, and Gaby.

Unfortunately, Patrick was still in the US, so he couldn't make it - but I know we'll be doing dinner again soon.