Construction of the Eiffel Tower

The construction of the Eiffel Tower amazes my husband. He works in construction and every time we go an visit the eiffel tower he stands in amazement and always asks how they built it.
Especially because at that time, they didn't have the machines that they do today. So be like, Yilmaz and sit azing at your computer screen in amazement. Because it is one of the most interesting architectural strucutres of our time.

Desserts à l'Americaine - American Desserts in France

I'm not sure if the French would admit it or not, but they have a love affair with all things American and English. There is not a day that goes by where I don't see something in Franglais. It seems that companies are using more and more English phrases to sell their products. Like we use Skip Detergent and its Active Clean. or replacing oui with yes

And I can't seem to put my finger on why, English has become so popular. Do they think an English slogan presents a more confident product or service ? Do they like how it sounds ? (They still have French accents and pronounce it à la française). What are your thoughts ? Comment below

Anyway back to the post, the newest obsession seems to be American desserts, like the French need to expand their pastesserie repertoire.
There is le brownie, le muffin, le cake pop, le whoppie, le donut, le cupcake, le cookie, etc. There are even cupcake and coffee shops starting to pop up. So, maybe my dream of eating Panera will come true or maybe I just need to learn how to make bagels! And, thankfully due to the success of our fine desserts, I have started to find cake pans, cookie sheets, muffin tins, etc. Because I love to bake, if you didn't already know that.
I have even seen Nestle cake, brownie and cookie mixes, even though we all know it is better to make things from scratch!! Business idea ??!!!

Back in September, M6 (a French channel) presented a 6 minute segment on donuts, video in French. They said that donuts became popular because of the Simpsons because the one character (I don't watch it, so maybe you can let me know his name) likes to eat donuts.


Here is an Oreo commercial in French, with English Subtitles, so cute!

 

French Vocab Sunday - November 24, 2013

Note : Every Sunday I will post French vocab words that I learned throughout the week. They are mostly random words, ones that I think of at a certain moment and others are actually important ones like parts of the body or words pertaining to paperwork.

rash  - éruption cutanées

hives - urticaire

chicken pox - varicelle

penalty - une pénalité

delay in payment - retards de paiement

routine - tâches quotidiennes / routine

exercise routine - programme d'entrainement

schedule - emploi du temps/planning

ocd  - trouble obsessionnel-compulsif

distilled vinegar - vinaigre ménager

And here is a picture on Why learn French ?
The phrase I like is that French is the only language other than English taught in every single country in the world!! - So see French is better than Spanish (and its more romantic, because you don't have to roll your r's).

 

French Cuisine Friday - Lemon Mustard Chicken

Back in 2008, when I studied abroad in Paris, ISA (the company that I used) took us to a French chef's apartment to get a hands on cooking class. I used to have the printed out recipes and the woman's backgrond but I don't know where the papers are. The only thing I remember that we made was chicken that was marinated in oranges, lemons and dijon mustard. Tonight for dinner we are having that chicken but without the oranges.

This is a rough recipe
Chicken - either breasts, a whole, wings, any part really - I am using wings
Lemon juice - 2- 3 tbs
Lemon slices
Dijon Mustard (that's the spicy one) 1-2 tbs
olive oil
salt and pepper, dried parsley (optional)

Mix the lemon juice and mustard and some olive oil in a cup.

 Salt and pepper, parsley the chicken

and then brush the lemon mustard sauce on the chicken

 Put the lemon slices on the chicken.

Put in the oven at 350°  until the mustard sauce is nice and golden. and then enjoy!

 

Pinterest Obession

A while back I am not sure really when, I decided to find out what Pinterest was.
Before Pinterest, when I was in need of a recipe I would turn to thekithcn.com or a craft I would look at Martha Stewart. 

But now, I no longer really search those sites, because I can find everything on Pinterest! I can just type in a recipe idea like white beans or tahini and find a bunch of different recipes or things to do with. And I have also found lots of different crafts to do when Fatima gets older and organization/cleaning techniques that I have actually used or will use in the future.

The one thing I find great about Pinterest is that I can pin things and then come back to them later. I have to set a Pinning time limit otherwise I could be on there all day and never get anything done.

So follow me on Pinterest!
Let me know of your boards or pins that you find interesting!

French Vocab Sundays - November 17, 2013

Note : Every Sunday I will post French vocab words that I learned throughout the week. They are mostly random words, ones that I think of at a certain moment and others are actually important ones like parts of the body or words pertaining to paperwork. 

frost - une gelée or un gel

to get frost bite - attraper des engelures

black ice - verglas

anti-freeze - antigel

defrost - dégivrer

defrost the windshield - dégivrer le pare-brise

defrost the freezer - décongeler le congélateur

ice scraper - grattoir à glace

There will be an upcoming post about these words soon

back to normal, better (concerning health) - consolider

ligaments - ligaments

tendons - tendon

I could have sworn I learned these words but I guess I forgot them

fitted sheet - drap housse

flat sheet - drap

pillowcase - taie d'oreiller

To help improve my French vocab, I have been playing the 94 seconds app on my i-phone. You have 94 seconds to guess as many words as possible. For example a verb that doesn't end in er that starts with a v (voir) or a cheese that starts with a b (brebis - baby goat)

 

Repost : Art + Paris

This was originally posted in March 2010, and I am deciding to repost it now to show some of my earlier adventures. I will probably do a repost once a week or once every two weeks, but new posts are coming soon especially ones pertaining to my pregnancy adventure and delivery experience.

Contemporary Art shows or fairs are not only good places to see fine art  but to see what all of Paris is wearing fashion-wise. The Michael Jackson vests are really hot right now, along with those striped sailor shirts, or odd colored stripes, like matching hot pink tights with a dark blue skirt, or green tights with a khaki skirt, make for really good combinations. All of this makes me want to see more of these chic people who follow the world of contemporary art, as I do not fit into this category.

For Art+Paris, this is were people are willing to spend the big bucks, for the upcoming or well-known contemporary artists and willing to spend the $ on the latest fashion.

As for the art, at Art+Paris, none of these paintings resemble those of child's play that one can see at Beauborg or other fairs in Pairs. There are just rows and rows of fine art that just happens to bring people together. Even these eco-friendly fiats, made it to the show.

Even my hatred for contemporary art was put on the back-burner, by the realization that anything goes in the contemporary art world: from nudity to drawings, to photography, etc etc. Just as sex sells, art sells, no matter what is in the picture.
Below are some pictures from Art+Paris

this painting was like 3-d and the angles changed as you moved

To learn more about the show please check out the site: http://artparis.fr/2010/en/

Let's go fly a kite

Homemade Kite from a friend

French Cuisine Friday : Brioche

The first time I ate brioche was in Versailles, it tasted like American sliced white bread with a hint of sugar. Brioche is pronounced like this bree -o-shh.

After a long week, even though I really don't remember what I did, except two moutains of laundry. I decided to make some brioche, actually two loaves in case one didn't turn out right.
I do remember it took an hour to clean the kitchen while the bread was cooking, but that could have been because I was listening to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack and was singing along more than cleaning. But I also have to remember I have a newborn and things take twice or three times longer than before I had the baby.

Anyway back to the brioche, the brioche recipe came from this website.
When I pulled the brioche out of the oven, I was like this doesn't look like what I had in Versailles. But after looking at the picture on the website it looked the same so I decided that I did it right.

The only thing I would do next time would be to add vanilla sugar or may be some dried fruit.

Because one piece isn't enough I had to have three!

Next week, I'm thinking appetizers
 

Arts in Islam at the Louvre

A while back, I had a few hours to kill after the dentist before meeting up with a friend. So, I went to see the exhibition "Arts in Islam" at the Louvre.

It was an interesting visit, firstly because I was the only person there in the exhibition hall with a headscarf, maybe the only Muslim.
Secondly, because of the above facts, a guard decided to have me fill out a questionnaire on the exhibit and a woman near the Mediterrean exhibits asked me if I only came to the Louvre for the Islamic exhibit. She was shocked when I said that I had been to Louvre way too many times and that my favorite painting is the one of Napolean and the crowning.


Below are some different pieces that I saw : 

Perfume bottles from a long time ago

 I love the pretty colors

Doors from a mosque

I love mosaics and their detail. If I had my own house the walls would be covered in mosaics.

A Turkish rug from the 13th century and look how intact it still is

Here you can check out the exhibition from the Louvre website and also you will be able to see the newest edition to the outside of the Louvre (besides the controversial triangle!)