Birdsitting

If you're the bird,
Whenever we pretend it's summer,
Then I'm the worm,
I know the part, it's such a bummer,
But fair is fair,
If my segments get separated,
I'll scream
& you'll be there...

We were meant to be.

I love the randomness of Owl City. Listening to this song made me want to post about birdsitting two parakeets. I've made friends with a cute little old lady here in Perigueux and she asked me to watch her birds while she's off vacationing in Turkey. "Beh, bien sur!"  (well, of course!) I said to Claire when I was at her house a month ago. Then I realized of all the pets (fish, frogs, turtles) I had as a child none of them survived. Pets and me just aren't meant to be...Well the turtle actually got lost outside in October and we found him in March in our shed having survived winter (in Utah I might add). He was pretty sick so we gave him away to someone who could help him get better. Poor Speedy.  Please bless that these birds make it till Friday.

Just laying around...

Dang frenchies got me sick. I came down with a sore throat two days ago and now I feel like I've been hit by a train. Just laying around for the last couple of days is killing me! So to pass my time lying on our couch (well actually it's an extra dorm bed) I started watching French cartoons. Did you know they have Garfield here? Plus Pink Panther, Ninja Turtles, Tom and Jerry (this one doesn't have words so I can understand everything!) and Dora the Explorer bless her heart. She's teaching me English. I love it! I think my favorite part about this cartoon channel though is the commercials. Here are some examples:

Pour bien grandir, manger au moins cinq fruits et légumes par jour. (To grow well, eat at least five fruits and vegetables a day)

Pour bien grandir, évite de grignoter la journée. (To grow well, avoid snacking during the day)

Pour être en forme, ne mange pas trop de sucré, de gras ou de salé. (To be in good shape, don't eat too many sugary, fatty or salty foods)

High five to the government for these little gems (although I don't think the kids watching these sort of shows really care...). What's even more awesome is when they advertise for a cereal that is 99% sugar they write out a warning at the bottom of the tv in small text "eat at least five fruits and vegetables a day". It took me completely by surprise and I kept reading thinking they were going to warn about possible side effects too, you know like those commercials for a new drug on the market. While we're on the topic of warnings, all of the cigarette boxes here have huge warnings like "smoking kills"or "smoking can seriously harm your health and those around you", ect. It's the law here where companies have to place the warning on half the box in a big font. Interesting how 95% of high school (and junior high I might add) students smoke despite the bluntness.

Here is the window I've been looking out all day long. It's 35 degrees outside. I'm ready for spring.

Galette des Rois

Some friends invited us over for dinner this evening. We had such a lovely time! They are English assistants at a different high school in Perigueux, so for me it was nice because I could understand the whole conversation. It's nice to hear the English language every once in awhile...

The food was delicious but I wanted to post particularly about the dessert we had. It's called une galette des rois (king's cake). First of all this special dessert is made only in January and it's a pretty big tradition in France. It seems like everywhere I go- the grocery store, boulangerie, patisserie--you can buy these cakes that come with a cardboard crown (kind of like the one you get at burger king on your birthday). In every cake there is a little toy baked inside and whoever gets the piece of cake with the toy gets to be king for the day. Kind of exciting, n'est-ce pas (am I right)? Unfortunately, my piece didn't have the toy but the best part was the anticipation. Haha, sometimes I feel like I'm still a little kid.

Bon Anniversaire Kyle!

Yesterday was Kyle's birthday. To start off his special day I made him breakfast in bed. Then we went to the church to play 21 basketball with the missionaries and some of the youth. Kyle dominated. In the afternoon I made his favorite chocolate cookies while he studied for the LSAT. For le dîner (dinner) I made him special French cuisine:

ça c'est le steak au poivre avec une sauce crème (This is steak with a peppered cream sauce). I also made a garlic potatoes and then green beans wrapped in lard (what the French use for bacon). 

We used up the extra bottle of "Champomy Pomme"--the equivalent of sparkling cider--which is also what we brought to drink at a friend's for New Years.  

After a delicious meal, we headed out the door to meet some ward members for bowling (one of Kyle's favorite activities). We do alot with the youth in this ward. Kyle teaches them in Sunday school and they asked us to go to Institute each week so we are all pretty close. Whenever it's someone's birthday, we get together.

The best part was jammin' out to U2 playing on the big screen while bowling!  

Next up billiards 

Bon Anniversaire a l'amour de ma vie! (Happy Birthday to the love of my life!)

Le Kebab

Before coming to France, Kyle raved about the "french fry sandwich with white sauce" (le kebab). He ate this sandwich all the time on his mission because they are fairly inexpensive (at least compared to the rest of the French cuisine here). Arabs are the ones usually to run the kebab shop and the shops are everywhere. The restaurant we ate at today was called Carthage which we thought was pretty funny. Unfortunately Perigueux doesn't have as good of kebab sandwich as other cities in France--or that's what I hear from Kyle...

It is made with lamb meat, lettuce, tomato, cheese, white sauce (I really don't know what it is) and fries stuffed in a type of panini bread. There is a leg of lamb roasting at the front of the shop (I am so sad I didn't get a picture) and they just shave the meat off the leg in front of you for your sandwich. Pretty cool and pretty delicious.

What's for dinner?

Mmmm, mushroom chicken soup. My mom sent me this recipe and I thought I would share because it's one of our favorites now. I added rice to the recipe tonight. That's what I love about cooking; you can add or subtract anything you want.

 Mushroom Chicken Soup

1/2 cup chopped onion (I used red for color)

1 large carrot sliced 

1 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp pepper

6 cups water with 2 chicken buillion cubes dissolved 

1 ½ cups diced cooked chicken

1 can mushroom stems and pieces, drained or

5 large fresh mushrooms (which is what I used)

3/4 cup rice

1 can evaporated milk or 1 cup half and half ( I used some sort of cream for soup I found here in France)

In a large pan sauce pan, sauté onion and carrot & (mushrooms if using fresh) in oil until tender. Add the pepper. Gradually add broth.  Bring to a boil over medium heat; add rice if you are using it at this point. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Reduce heat; stir in chicken, mushrooms (if using canned) and milk.  Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is done. 

Yields: 6 servings

Bon Appetit!

Château Beynac and Sarlat

Last week we did some site seeing with some friends of ours, David and Nadya. Since we don't have a car it's pretty difficult to get around without having to spend a lot of money on transportation. We spent Christmas with them and found out they were planning on visiting Sarlat as well and decided it would be more fun to go together. We enjoyed their company very much! Kyle and I couldn't stop taking pictures so that's what you're going to get for this post...

 Féodal Château

De Beynac

(built in the 13th century)

The church at the top of the village is the backside of the castle

 View of another castle from Beynac 

 The view was incredible but we were FREEZING

Medieval safe and toilet...

Kyle trying on a helmet

 Regarde! Une voiture medieval! (Look, a Medieval car!)

Being small back then had its advantages...

Sheer cliff from the outer castle wall

Sarlat

This small village is famous for their food particularly fois gras and patates sarladaise. The architecture here is amazing! 

Wednesday are market days in France 

Le fromage--one of France's staples. Some of these blocks of cheese were three times the size of my head!

 Lunch at La Regence. Almost every meal you order in France is decorated fancy. This is my apetizer--fois gras (duck liver pâté) with toasted bread and salad

Main course of duck in a pepper cream sauce--DIVINE 

Gateau aux noix with creme anglaise (nut cake with english cream)

 This door was huge

Sarlat Cathedral 

Creche inside the cathedral

Outside the Marche de Noel (Christmas market) 

The tiny ice skating rink common in all small cities during the Holidays

Gread food, great friends and great fun!