Claudine, Oui c'est Francais

Cake class final for course one

Ta-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Course 1 is now complete... Tonight was the final class, and I finally mastered the roses and the leaves are super fun to make. I can't wait for the fondant and the Course 2 where I get to make a bunch of different flowers.

In other news I am going through the "After Tour de France" withdrawls. I am not sure what to do with myself every morning at 5am when I am normally watching the tour.... must finish reading Harry then

Cake class and the headless clowns

Here is the result of last nights cake decorating class. The Headless Clowns. I didn't purchase the scary plastic heads so they are the headless ruffle clowns.... they still taste the same and less scary in my opinion and they are in one of my now favorite colors Tiffany/Robin's egg blue....

I already told Andrea that I will make Alex's cake for his birthday, I think he will like the headless clowns

Bastille Day

A few days late in posting since last Saturday the 14th was Bastille Day and of course I needed to celebrate it. On Sunday I had a Bastille Day luncheon complete with some French food, drinks and friends

here is the lovely story in pictures of the day:

pate and tiny toasts....

It's not French without some super great cheese and Champagne grapes

Pink Champagne reminds me of one of my favorite movies "An Affair to Remember" and I finally used some of my great great Aunts crystal. Love these glasses

French Flag tart with Raspberries, Blueberries and wonderful homemade Creme Fraiche filling and of course Yellow roses for the Tour de France

I have a thing for Eiffel Towers

Salad Nicoise pretty much my very favorite thing

 

Escargot of course, really easy and so good when they are soaking in all that garlic and butter

And how can I not add Mon petit chat

It was a lovely day with lovely food and friends.......

Merci!

12 of 12 July

Chad Darnell is the mastermind behind the 12 of 12, you can see all the rules and fun stuff at his blog. It's lots of fun and I think this is the 7th month I have done it. Hopefully at the end of the year I can make a mini-scrapbook of my life for a whole year one month at a time. Although I may look back and think it is pretty boring.....

6:00am It's July and we know what that means....Tour de France baby! Thankfully we have the DVR so I don't need to wake up at 4:30 and 5:30 am to see it live everyday, but I get pretty close. First thing I do is turn the tv on and start the days stage....Lance is no longer there and most Americans aren't too into it, but I love it. It's very exciting and the scenery is pretty beautiful, and it's a good excuse to have champagne and croissants at 5am on a Sunday morning...

10:30am, done with the Tour stage and off to the store for some Starbucks and some other exciting supplies like milk and catfood

10:45am On the way back home and almost done with the iced coffee, I drink those too fast but it is way to hot right now for a hot drink. And listening to the Martha channel on my satellite radio.

 

11:15 a little find at the old neighborhood Albertson's. Tiny Pineapples and they are real, they are the cutest thing ever.....

11:30am more flowers but these are in honor of the Tour de France of course...

 

12:30pm Here is my newest addition to the CCC (claudine's craft corner) Mom got it for me at work in the display sale for get this...$25.... it's glass and sparkly and my friend Michelle is going to really want it for her bathroom...I love it!!! thanks mom...

1:30pm....you guessed it ....watching the tour again. When it only comes once a year you have to make it last

2:00pm Ok now I look totally obsessive compulsive, but really I could not be boring you with the same thing I seem to do every month, mailbox, cat, watching Martha.... Updating my iPOD with the tour podcasts and my French language podcasts....

2:45pm looks who's waiting for me...this may be her before picture, she gets a hair cut tomorrow so she doesn't get any bad hair mats. She will come home looking like a little lion and it is the cutest thing ever!!

2:45pm a late lunch.... right now I love the Ahi tuna salad on toasted garlic sourdough bread...mmmm

4:30pm making creme fraiche for my French flag berry tart for Bastille Day.... Joyeux quatorze juillet ! You have to plan ahead because it takes 2 days to make it but homemade creme fraiche is soooooo good!

7:00pm Guess what...more tour... If you have never watched it and have the Versus channel, just give it a shot. Just listening to Paul Shermin and Phil Liggett makes it great all on it's own...

Bonus pic: HOT....hot out of the oven homemade Barefoot Contessa pizza

   

Sylvia Weinstock watchout

I took my first cake decorating class last night, we didn't get to do any actual decorating but that is next week. The class is just me and one other lady and she has to miss one of the classes in the next few weeks. It is the beginning class and my sister has been taking them down in Dallas and is now on the 3rd class the Fondant and Gum Paste which is what I can not wait to do!  Of course I have tons of decorating stuff but have never used it, most of it from Martha's old store on her website. So now I will finally put it to work. John is pretty excited that I have to make a cake each week and bring it to the class, and I am sure that my little friend Alex will love to come over for some cake to help John eat it.

I did ask last night a few questions like "do you do a crumb coat" (like Martha always told me to do) The class teacher told me that I don't need to, the "Wilton" way is better....... Normally I would throw the butter cream down in disgust and storm out of there...but I did have to pay for the class and you need to bring the cake in frosted so I can still put on the crumb coat in the privacy of my own home...

But my big question is.....Why do they call it Butter cream Frosting when there is NO butter in it???

Kenny in Seattle

There really aren't any words....the pictures speak for themselves......

Lots of pictures of Kenny, between Andrea and I over 300 I think.... The last few are Andrea and I in the Sand Pit with the big Kenny Curtain behind us after 5 1/2 hours of music and waiting for Kenny. Next is Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn, and yes that really is how close we were to him. He was really great, his buddy Dunn was kinda boring though.... and the last is from the Sand Pit looking into Seahawk Stadium/Qwest Field and just how huge it was. It was a awesome 24 hours and now my feet still hurt as well as my throat from screaming. We are back home now, so feet are up and now I watch the tour to catch up on the days 1st stage...... Thank you Kenny!!!

7/7/07

7/7/07 a very lucky day indeed........

First of all my favorite time of the year begins in the morning, the Tour de France. Although my favorite Lance Armstrong has retired and some of my other favorite riders have seen a quick end to their career with the big drug scandal, I still watch every single day and every morning at the crack of dawn. Cathy Mehl for the Paceline.com which is the official Lance and Discovery team website had a great article that fits me to a T with how excited I get in July:

I’m pretty sure I’m coming down with something. The symptoms have been coming on for a few weeks now and -- sure enough -- day by day, they seem to be building:

• I constantly glance at my huge desk calendar to make sure I haven’t scheduled meetings for….well, actually for three weeks in July.
• I’ve become obsessed with the color yellow and like to dress in yellow and even buy yellow flowers; no other color is acceptable.
• I’ve erected a miniature Eiffel Tower on my front lawn. The neighbors wonder what’s up with that? And I walk around saying Bon jour all day.
• I’m looking into buying a poodle and I don’t even consider that a real dog.

Tour Fever: that’s what ailing me. I’ve got it bad now and I seem to get it every July.  I’m preparing myself for the full break-out, which will hit around July 7th. At that point my entire being will revolve around the Tour de France. I will set my alarm and get up to watch television every morning at the crack of dawn on the west coast of Oregon, usually around 5:30 a.m.

Heck, I’ve gotten up as early as 3:30 to watch a stage and YEAH, I know it’s re-aired time and time again at more reasonable hours throughout the day. But I have TF, and TF sufferers need it live – need to see it while it’s unfolding. There are no TIVOs for true TF sufferers. Sure, those afflicted will go to the DVR to review an entire 5-hour stage later, but I myself see no advantages in risking missing a single live stage. And I don’t want to hear the results or details about it from others. No, thank you.

Tour Fever. It makes me happy to get up early every morning in July. It’s when I get inexplicable urges for fine French food, Cotes du Rhone, croissants and cheese. It turns my life upside down for a full three weeks while I watch the greatest sporting event in the history of mankind. The competition, the human drama, the strategy, the failures: it all plays out on the roads of France for my personal enjoyment.

AND TO MAKE THE DAY EVEN BETTER:

Kenny Chesney here we come!!!!!  Andrea and I head to Seattle tomorrow morning to see my beloved Kenny. I need to thank my lucky stars that I have such a wonderful friend in the local Cruzan rep. For the 3rd year in a row I got the hook up to see Kenny and every year it gets better and better. The first year Andrea and  I went and had tickets to the "Sand Pit" which means in between the stages but so close you can touch him when he walks by..... 2006 I had tickets in the 12th row, which seemed so far away after the previous year, but luckily the 12th row is actually the 2nd row in front of the stage and I got to go back stage to meet him..... 2007, we are back in the Sand Pit, get to go backstage and meet him again and also get to go to the pre-concert party with free drinks and food......  still working on what I will even say to him....maybe I should ask him if he likes to watch the Tour de France????

I think I will go out and get some paint to write Kenny or Bust on Andrea's car..... I think Tom would love us doing that to his car.

How am I going to sleep tonight with all this excitement tomorrow?

it's a good thing

  Having a pretty productive weekend....

Had on my list to organize my cookbooks for quite a few months and I finally did it. I have a ton of cookbooks and I needed to group them together so I could find what I am looking for. There are 4 book shelves 2 tall and 2 short ones filled with cookbooks and of course some plates. Because everybody needs special plates for all occasions.... So the sorting began with all of the French ones together, that was 2 1/2 shelves, then baking, bbq, drinks & wine, compilation cookbooks, regions and ethnic and then "celebrity" chefs all together. All of the Nigella, Jamie Oliver, Barefoot Contessa, etc together. Where is Martha you ask? Well she has her very own bookshelf for ALL of her cookbooks and magazines. Last night John asked if we have a good BBQ cookbook for the 4th and I said "Of course, it is in the BBQ section"  I know, I am nuts.... here is some pictures from the project

This last week I also got a bee in my bonnet about my closet in my craft room. It is also my clothes closet but it is way to full so I decided to tear it apart and purchase a new shelf until to put in there and go through my clothes. After 3 nights after work, I got rid of 3 large bags of clothes many bags of garbage a new shelf bit it is so much nicer....

Also on Saturday I made some wonderful little snacks. At a "business meeting" with my new BFF Michelle she could not believe that I had never made Gougeres from the Barefoot Contessa. Gougeres are lovely little French Cheese Puffs. The Pastry is the base for many lovely little French delights like Eclairs and Profiteroles.....The Cheese Puffs have Gruyere and Parmesan cheese, and are very rich and delicate. And you can even freeze them so they will be perfect for Bastille day when I am up at 4:30am with Champagne and Brie to watch the Tour de France live....

 

Last night as I was going through my huge stack of food magazines so that we can recycle them I took a break and checked out some blogs. I was reading Poppy & Ivy a great little shop in Portland and she says that she was at Macy's and bought some Martha Stewart stuff. I almost flew out of my chair and grabbed my purse but I decided to wait until the morning. I knew Martha was going to Macy's but I thought it was later in the year. So as soon as John left for golf I ran to Macy's to see for myself. When I opened the door I saw that lovely Martha logo and was giddy with excitement! I picked up a few things. The wire racks that look like her vintage ones she always used on her original tv show, a Martha green collander, which I really didn't need, but he it is Martha green!!! Super cute melamine prep bowls in all of Martha's favorite colors and a wire bread basket. It is a good thing that don't have carts there or I would have been filing that baby up. I also found some great French plates that will be perfect for this month and the best part they were all super cheap since there is a sale. I got everything for $47.... The salesguy was super nice and said that there is a ton more stuff from Martha coming in, looks like I may be stopping there once a week

And the deals contined from there, stopped at Target since the 24 Season Five was on sale. I have the first two seasons and I was watching for the others to go on sale and I was lucky to find all of the seasons on sale. So now I have season 1 - 5 and that can be my summer show to watch

A little stop at Michael's to get some cute Martha (of course) bags for some lovely French cookies I am going to make tomorrow and found some of the Martha stuff marked down a little!!!! Some more glitter and some other cute things like Fiesta flags, a cute travel album and even some more things that weren't on sale of course.

 

and then home to make John his pecan pie that he wanted. But I made a bit of a change of course and it is the Chocolate Pecan pie as featured on, you guessed it, Martha. It is really really good....

and today was also the special Concert for Diana on VH1 all day in honur of what would have been Princess Diana's 46th birthday. She is one of my very very favorites too... at times I was balling like a baby. I did have a bit of a issue that P Diddy compared himself to her by saying that he is "American Royalty" uhhhhh what???? But then he sand Missing You and it was really sad. At the end was Elton John who was one of Diana's friends. He sang Tiny Dancer and Saturday night's alright. If he sang "Candle in the Wind" I would have been a wreck, but he says that he will never sing that song again.

and lastly.... 5 days until Kenny and the start of the Tour de France...