Learning by eating

My 6th graders are learning vocabulary for food and drink.  This is their first round of basic ways to answer "Tu as faim?"  and "Tu as soif?"  We end up finishing class hungry every morning, of course...  I dream of café au lait and croissants in a little Parisian café and I am brainwashing them to dream of the same.  Well, maybe chocolat chaud for them.

We made crêpes last week using Chef Érick's recipe.

Flour

Eggs

Milk

Crêpes
makes about 15 medium-sized crêpes


Beat 3 large eggs in a medium-sized bowl with a fork.  Add about 1 c. of milk and beat.  Gradually add enough flour to make a really thick pancake batter.  As you mix it, it should pull away from the sides of the bowl.  Next, gradually add enough milk to make a thin batter.  Do not add too much milk.  If you try to rethicken it with flour, you will have lumps that are impossible to remove.  The batter is thin enough if it is easy to coat the bottom of the pan with it as you pour it into the pan.
Heat a well-seasoned non-stick pan.  The pan must be hot.  Melt butter and quickly pour in enough batter to coat the bottom.  The crêpe is ready when the edges brown and start to pull away from the sides.  You can try flipping it into the air to turn it over or you can just flip it with your fingers or a spatula.


They could smear them with jam or with Nutella.

It was certainly a lot of fun.  I gave them my camera and let them record the event for me.  I showed them the photos today.

6th graders they definitely are!

Today, one of the girlies brought in a treat that she made at home.  Éclairs.  Little delicious pastries filled with cream and covered in chocolate.

Merci, mademoiselle!!

Chocolate Éclairs
from www.tasteofhome.com

9 servings

chou pastry:
1 c. water
1/2 c. butter, cubed
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. all-purpose flour
4 eggs

filling:
2-1/2 c. cold milk
1 package (5.1 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

frosting:
2 oz. semisweet chocolate
2 Tbsp. butter
1-1/4 c. confectioners' sugar
2-3 Tbsp. hot water

Preheat oven to 400˚F.  In a large saucepan, bring water, butter and salt to a boil.  Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms.  Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny.
Using a tablespoon or a pastry tube with a #10 or large tip, form dough into 4 x 1-1/2-in. strips on a greased baking sheet.  Bake 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden.  Remove to a wire rack. Immediately split éclairs open; remove tops and set aside.  Discard soft dough from inside.  Cool éclairs.
In a large bowl, beat milk and pudding mix according to package directions.  In another bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form.  Beat in sugar and vanilla; fold into pudding.  Fill éclairs.  (Chill any remaining filling for another use or enjoy it for dessert!)
For frosting, in a microwave, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth.  Stir in sugar and enough hot water to achieve a smooth consistency.  Cool slightly.  Frost éclairs.  Store in refrigerator.

Bon appétit to all young chefs and eaters!

Joe Moylan, A Good Man

This week, the world lost a genuinely good man.  This man had a huge impact on the world around me. We go way back, to my first years teaching at DA, when his children were students at Durham Academy.  Most recently, he and I spent many sunny afternoons watching high school baseball, cheering for the team, my son, and his grandson.  He lived close to our upper school and he and his wife, Ann Carole, were often in the stands, cheering on our teams even when kids and grandkids weren't out there.  And, fittingly it seems, that's where he spent his final afternoon.  He had a "heart episode" while watching our lacrosse team play in the state play-offs.  The Ex-Ex helped his wife get him in the golf cart and up to the training room so that a parent who happens to be a cardiologist could take a look at him until the ambulance arrived to take him to Duke Hospital.  Everyone seemed to think that he would be fine and be able to attend many more games.  However, it seems that God needed him more than we do.  And that is hard to believe.
Dr. Moylan and his wife raised six children.  He was a Duke professor of surgery, chief of trauma services, and instrumental in the development of Duke's Life Flight program.  He and his wife left Durham for three years, but returned and had an even greater impact on our community.  He founded the Durham Nativity School, a tuition-free middle school for 33 inner city boys, grades 6-8.  As a matter of fact, according to the Durham Herald-Sun newspaper, Dr. Moylan visited "his boys" on the day he died.  Several of them were in attendance at our middle school end-of-the-year dance last night.  We always invite them and they show up dressed to impress.  These young men must wear a shirt, tie, and khakis every day.
I have volunteered at the Nativity School a couple of times in the past.  One time, the BFF and I went there to cook with the boys.  We made crêpes and tarte tatin.   At the last minute, I decided to bring along some whipping cream.  At their age, I didn't know about anything except Cool Whip.  I had no idea you could take liquid and make yummy fluffy stuff out of it.  I thought they would get a kick of that.  And they did, much to my delight.

According to one of his sons, Dr. Moylan carried a handwritten note in his wallet.  The note is a quote from Edmund Beck, a 20th century German Roman Catholic theologian.

5 Theological Truths

• Life is hard.
• You will die.
• In the big picture, you are not important.
• You are not in control.
• Life is not about you, it's about everyone else. 

That's today's recipe, friends.   The world would be a better place if we all carried these wise words around in our wallets and read them everyday, attempting to live our lives and help others the way Dr. Moylan did, without any fanfare and because we genuinely care about everyone else. 

We will all miss you, Joe.  May you rest in peace.

Bon appétit to all.

Feeling connected

I returned from my annual spring break trip to France last night.  Twelve glorious days speaking French, hearing French, eating French and living French.  This year, I took 14 eighth graders, two tenth graders and my co-chaperone along with me.  It was a trip full of adventure and fun.  For me it was a trip full of connections.  Old friends and new friends were waiting for me.

I know Quasimodo from reading Notre Dame de Paris and seeing various film versions of the Victor Hugo novel, but I'd never actually hugged him.  Nevermind that I paid two euros for this hug.  Paris is a very expensive city and I wouldn't want Quasi to go without bread or wine.

Venus de Milo and I go way back.  I visit her each time I go to Paris.  I love her elegance and calm in the midst of standing half-dressed among throngs of people taking her picture.

A visit to the Louvre would not be complete without saying bonjour to my serenely happy friend Mona.  I am not and never have been a woman of mystery so I admire her for keeping her secrets for all these years.  She probably thinks all of the speculation about her is very amusing. 

The girls introduced me to lait chaud.  Somehow I have missed this offering on café menus.  I do not know how because it was on every single menu that I looked at.  It is warm vanilla-y, slightly sweet milk.  And I am quite sure it is not skim or 2% milk, a fact that makes me very happy because if you are going to have warm milk, it should not be low-fat.

I also met more macarons than I ever have before.  After following Paris Breakfasts for several months, I've fallen in love with these delightful, colorful treats.  So, Carol, you would be proud... I sampled quite a few, including Pierre Hermé (found inside Galeries Lafayette) and Ladurée (inside Printemps).  I took photos of the ones at McDonald's on the Champs-Elysées, but I absolutely did not eat one there.  I sampled these at one of the restaurants at the Louvre while you were watching the fashion shows in the very same building.

I am thrilled that we have new friends in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon at the Collège du Mourion, the local middle school.  We've been writing penpal letters to them this year and were able to spend a couple of hours talking to them at their school.  The students have been learning The Pledge of Allegiance so we recited it for them, they recited it for us and then we all said it together.  A moving moment for the French teacher and the English teachers alike.  We now hope to start an exchange program between our schools.

I introduced my students to Chef Érick who helped them make tomato sauce for their individual pizzas. He made dinner for us the day we arrived, we prepared brandade de morue, a Provençale speciality, as well as the pizzas.

He also showed my students how to make crêpe batter and they each took a turn making one.  My little chefs de cuisine were very proud of their crêpes.

They, too, fell in love with Arles... as shown by the love note left in flour on the kitchen work table.

I didn't officially meet this saleslady at the Arles Saturday market, but I just couldn't help listening to her tell about her trucs.  I had no available space in my suitcase (okay, suitcases... I paid 50 euros to bring back a second one stuffed full of treasures) or I would've spent 20 euros for her vegetable choppers.  We had one in the Arles kitchen and it came in very handy to chop up vegetables for our couscous salads.

A highlight of the trip was meeting Olivier, on the left, my new penpal, and his wife, Muriel.  Olivier and I met on the New York in French social networking website a few months ago.  He started a group about Provence and, if you have ever read my blog or know me, you know that I am very much in love with this part of France.  Olivier introduced me to his son's English teacher at the Collège du Mourion, which led to our letters and visit.  Olivier and his wife drove over to Arles to go to the Saturday market.  They took Chappell, my co-chaperone, and me to lunch at La Mule Blanche. 

I had tellines, one of my favorite dishes from my sabbatical days.

I stood in the presence of Jules César himself, too, in the Musée Départementale Arles Antique. For twenty years, divers searched the Rhône River in and around Arles for treasures left during Roman times.  The pièce de résistance is this bust of Jules himself, made in 46 BC, during his lifetime.
During this trip, I came to the conclusion that it is through these connections and friendships, whether they are old, comfortable ones that fit like a favorite pair of jeans or new ones, just beginning with that blissful feeling of falling in love, that I know I belong in France.  It is my second home, my home away from home.

As Thomas Jefferson, ambassador to France from 1785-1789 and president of the U.S. from 1801-1809, said "Every man has two countries, his own and France." Oui.

Crêpes
makes about 15 medium-sized crêpes


Beat 3 large eggs in a medium-sized bowl with a fork.  Add about 1 c. of milk and beat.  Gradually add enough flour to make a really thick pancake batter.  As you mix it, it should pull away from the sides of the bowl.  Next, gradually add enough milk to make a thin batter.  Do not add too much milk.  If you try to rethicken it with flour, you will have lumps that are impossible to remove.  The batter is thin enough if it is easy to coat the bottom of the pan with it as you pour it into the pan.
Heat a well-seasoned non-stick pan.  The pan must be hot.  Melt butter and quickly pour in enough batter to coat the bottom.  The crêpe is ready when the edges brown and start to pull away from the sides.  You can try flipping it into the air to turn it over or you can just flip it with your fingers or a spatula.
Serve with sprinkled sugar, jam or nutella.

Bon appétit à tous mes élèves et à tous mes amis!