Friday, July 29, 2011

jinx

I swear to god, I completely jinxed us all to hell last week. Last Friday I posted that recipe (which was so good Stéphane made me make it again this week), and that evening the three of us were hanging out on the couch and I had this moment of complete happiness.

So of course the very next day we had DRAMA.

Saturday I was getting ready to leave for work and our upstairs neighbor knocked on the door (which is pretty unusual for just before 9am). He and his girlfriend are retired and were the very first people we talked to when we moved into our apartment and they are super nice. Anyway, he very gently asked if we knew that our car had been broken into. My immediate response was, "But I have to go to work!"

Stéphane ran downstairs with our neighbor and discovered that they'd broken into the car by breaking the small front window on the passenger side, pulled out an electrical box on the passenger side and then something from under the hood as well. Without these parts, no electricity runs in the car, meaning it's not going anywhere and we can't even lock it.

The craziest thing is that they didn't even steal anything - the radio, our CDs, the car seat, the umbrellas, everything was right where we'd left it. They simply got the parts they needed and left.

I remember for a long time I just stood there and shook while Stéphane ran around gathering paperwork and looking through the car. Even though they didn't steal anything, just the thought of somebody going through our things - and especially my baby's things, made me completely nauseous. I was completely stressed about it all over Saturday and didn't totally relax again until I was home again Sunday evening.

So. I managed to get a ride to Troyes (and was only half an hour late thankyouverymuch) and Stéphane immediately started calling the police, the insurance, all that fun stuff. The worst is that in France absolutely nothing happens for the whole weekend after noon on Saturday, and of course the police didn't show up until late in the afternoon, so I ended up spending the night with my MIL in Troyes since I had to work on Sunday as well. The tow truck came and got the car Saturday evening and since the garage was already closed in Tiny Town, they towed it all the way to Troyes and brought it back Monday morning. Of course I'm relieved that all those miles are covered by insurance but at least the car didn't sit there unlocked all weekend!

Monday we were able to get a loaner from the garage (a cute little C1 that was super fun to drive actually!) so I could get to work and back for the rest of the week. The insurance "expert" wasn't able to come see the car until Wednesday and the garage isn't allowed to do anything until the expert does his thing, but they did plan ahead and order all the parts they needed in advance. Everything went super quick and Stéphane picked up the car this morning.

So there you have our latest adventure. And I still haven't told you about the other stuff that's happened in the last few weeks! Baring any new emergencies I'll tell you about that very soon...

Friday, July 22, 2011

Blog CPR

I know. I know. It's been a really long time. Too long. And loads of stuff has happened. We went on vacation, Steph went to the ER in an ambulance (he's totally ok!), all kinds of crazy stuff. However, today I made a dish so delicious that I had to share it here. The best part is that I totally made it up. OK, not totally, I flipped through a few recipes for ideas but in the end I just followed my instincts and it came out really well!

Unfortunately, we don't have a garden, as you know, but we do have an aunt and uncle with a garden who like to share. Fry hung out with Mémère yesterday and when I picked him up, she handed me a sack of fresh veggies from the garden. Woohoo, free food! Suddenly I had a wicked craving for a good old veggie gratin. Except for the onions, all the veggies in this recipe came from the garden, but you can use veggies that you like or what you have on hand. I didn't measure anything, so these measurements are approximative. Please let me know if you try it and bon appétit !

Fresh from the Garden Gratin

7_22

2 medium to large zucchinis, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 small eggplant, chopped
Olive oil
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup of milk
1 egg yolk
1Tbsp parmesan
2 balls of light mozzerella, sliced (or 2 handfuls of shredded mozzerella)
Salt, garlic powder, Italian herbs or herbes de province, to taste

Heat a little oil in a deep pan and cook the zucchini, green pepper and onion until it softens. Take off heat, stir in the eggplant and set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat a tablespoon of oil, then stir in the flour. Slowly whisk in the milk. Take off heat and whisk in the yolk and parmesan.

*Here is the one thing I will do different the next time I make this: the end product had a really liquidy sauce (but still super tasty!), so if you want to avoid that, drain the cooked veggies here before you continue.

Stir the tomatoes and spices into the cooked veggies, followed by the parmesan sauce. Transfer to a baking dish, top with mozzerella slices and bake at 200°C (400°F) for about half an hour or until the mozzerela is all melty and golden and delicious. Let cool and devour.