PLEASE READ

Well, I was lucky enough to have my Facebook AND my e-mail accounts both hacked, so my new Facebook has the word "new" after my last name, and if it doesn't show that, look at the profile and you will know by the posts. Second, my new e-mail address is tanner.kok@gmail.com. Please contact me ONLY with these, and not the old ones, because I can NOT access them at all. Hope to hear from you all soon!

For the Future

This post is being created to remind myself, someday in the far off future when I look back at this, of the little things I experience here in Paris on a daily basis.

To get a grasp on the current tone and setting, I’m in Mimi’s office working on my laptop, because the Community Theater group is practicing in the living room. The windows might be closed, but I could swear the piano is in the same room, but lucky for me, they aren’t half bad actually. The quirky daily comings and goings of people in “Maison de Mimi” keeps me entertained, and constantly reminds me that there are always going to be people who start talking to me a million miles an hour, and ten minutes later, realize me saying “oui” was me actually trying to comprehend and materialize answers without creating the image that I was as truly dumbfounded as I really was. Regardless, the French is truly becoming much easier to speak, thanks to Chloe and Mimi. It’s interesting how 3 months here, with French classes and slight public interaction with the language taught me how to barely get by, usually, but living in a house with Parisians for 3 weeks boosted my knowledge and understanding to a much more conversational level. Who knows what level I’ll be at by the time I leave. For a firmer grasp on the weather, it’s been somewhat like Tulsa, ironically. I thought I was moving away from unpredictable weather and heat, but in the past 4 weeks, it has been up to 90 degrees and sunny, and gone down to 45 degrees, and raining. Today it is a perfect happy medium at 72 degrees and cloudy, and thank goodness, because it’s nice to be able to go into my bedroom from 9am to 9pm without breaking a sweat. It’s quite amazing how cool the house stays, even when it’s 90 degrees. The windows all being open and the breeze blowing through, with much less humidity by the way, apparently cools it down considerably. Now if only I could somehow coax that air up into my 3^rd level chamber room. With 3 weeks left of school, and the anticipation of Christine coming just days after graduation, I’ve got a lot to look forward to. Not only does the school term end with a nice trip to Pay Basque, but upon coming home I’ll have a best friend soon coming to spend 3 weeks here, and hopefully in other parts of Europe. To make it all even better, the internship at Le Meurice begins the 19^th of July, right after Christine leaves, so fortunately my schedule is finally starting to look a little more filled up. Just to humor myself, I want to have something to look back at and see what my hopes and aspirations were and how they have or have not changed. Currently, I would like to move back to Tulsa around November or December, and I would like to work full time in a bakery or restaurant, and preferably live in an apartment with a friend. For a few years I would like to build up some contacts, funds, and plans. I imagine in that time I would like to take a few courses in small business ownership, café practices, becoming a Barista master, and of course looking into a few categories of the baking and sweets realm that I haven’t covered yet. Following, I would like to either look into opening a café and bake shop, or something similar. The location, of course, is completely unknown and undecided. Of course this vision will change, just like it has changed over the years. Yes, granted I have always loved baking, and going to a Business college for one semester merely clarified my jumbled aspirations for the future, having decided after only one month that I wanted to do something I really loved, baking. What is to come is entirely out of my mental capacity currently, but things will work out the way they are meant to, even if it means doing something as drastic as moving across the ocean or taking the biggest risks of my financial life.

Not so baked

For the sake of remembering my time here in Paris, aside from school and tourism, this blog is dedicated to the "life experiences" I had while here. In the 3 1/2 months I have been here thus far, I have:

-Learned how to open a bank account in French

-Learned how to write a check in the European format

-Learned how to open a cell phone account in French

-Learned how to rent an apartment and put in a notice for relocation

-Been assaulted 5 times

-Been mugged 1 time

-Learned how to talk to doctors in broken French and English

-Learned that one only needs a passport to be admitted to the ER at 4 am

-Realized that the French definition of strong mustard is a big understatement

-Learned how to make chocolate chip cookies in Paris, aka making my own brown sugar and chopping chocolate because of the lack of chips sold in Paris

-Realized that the French actually use a system of price comparison throughout the cities for their baguettes and croissants/pain au chocolate

-How to "convert" everything from temperature, weight, and length, to money and verbs

This all being said, I must say, if all of this had not happened, especially in the course of 3 1/2 months, living alone and separated from all of my family and friends, I know I would not be at the level I am now, and I would not be able to consider myself the person I am today. Without coming to Paris and not only learning more about traditional baking and pastry techniques than I could have ever imagined, and going through this seemingly endless list of experiences that build my character, I would be so much closer to my...slightly naive and inexperienced 19 year old student self. Of course being 20, living in Paris, having the ability to enjoy a nice Cabernet and talk in broken French with friends, and realizing that my last 3 months of existence been a complete roller coaster, I am certainly not an experienced adult. I would never even consider trading my experiences, both good and bad, for anything. I suppose what this has all taught me in a retrospective sort of way, is that I cannot really ever think "it's done" when it comes to challenges and hurdles in my routine, but rather, I can be more prepared, and know how to avoid a whole list of already experienced challenges. Now, time for some milk off the shelf and a plate of Pim's...

April

Well, I know I have been negligent with my posts, but I have been busy with school, so I suppose I have an excuse, right? This past week was all about ice creams and sorbets. We learned everything from composition of ice creams to using a refractometer for sorbet. What I did not expect was to learn how to make all sorts of traditional ice cream desserts I had never even heard of. We made ice cream cakes, but these were much different, in that they used items such as meringue shells, layers of different flavor combinations, and more. We made some fun things also, like lady bugs that were almond cake bottoms, with a dome of pistachio ice cream covered with a layer of fresh raspberry sorbet, then decorations. They were so awesome!

Back to the beginning of the month, we have also been doing more technical work with things like doing Croissants, Pain au Chocolate, and more practice on the French Baguette. Aside from class, we took a trip to a flour mill outside of Paris, in the countryside. It was pretty interesting, but the best part was definitely when we went to a second flour mill, that was much older, and was situated in a small village, right on a brook with green fields and old cottages. The owners served us an amazing lunch on the patio by the grass which included fresh baguette made with their own fresh, ground flour, served with brie, quiche, and a whole assortment of traditional French food.

Since the field trip, I was supposed to travel to Milan and Rome last week with a friend from class, but the morning of our trip, it was canceled due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland. We were pretty bummed out, considering we had a 9 day vacation and no place to go. So, being in Paris, I made the best of it and became a tourist. My friend Amy from Jenks, studying in Madrid at the time, came and visited for a couple of days, and we had a great time just being tourists in Europe as opposed to students. We went to everything from the Louvre, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame and Tour Eiffel, to the Pantheon and shops along the Seine river. On Saturday her flight was in the evening, and I was lucky enough to have even more fun to come, in that I was asked to come stay a night in Versailles with my friends, Karen Bentley and her family. They were traveling back to their home in Vienna from the states, after visiting their previous home in Tulsa. We had a wonderful time, and I highly recommend going to Versailles. It was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places I have been in Europe. The gardens in the Chateau of Versailles were unbelievable, and the fountains just made it even more amazing. We didn't tour the inside of the Chateau, but that is, for me, good, because I know more people will be coming to visit, and I only live 30 minutes from Versailles, so it's a great afternoon destination.

The remainder of school is less than half, and I am really trying to learn as much as possible. It is so incredible being here in Paris for school, and I can't imagine having a better program for learning SO much in such a condensed amount of time for this vast subject. The internship is drawing nearer, and I am quite curious as to see where I will be in 3 months.

This week, our teacher decided to have us cover a larger spectrum of baked goods as a class, and individually. Thus, he had us cover an entire section of our book this week, which included:

16 Types of Macarons

25 Types of Petit-fours (demi-sec; aka cookies, etc...)

15 Types of Voyage Cakes (trip cakes: pound cakes, fruit cakes, etc...)

We were able to make so many because each person was assigned two or three desserts each class, and the class as a whole covered all of them, and we would then compare all of them at the end of the class, set up as a display for everyone, and talk about what each person did. In this, we were able to cover a lot, and I was able to talk to each person and ask them what they had difficulty with, what they would change, etc... It was great, because I now have a recipe book not only filled with one of a kind recipes written by my teacher, but all with star ratings and changes to them, made by me. As most Americans don't like fruit cake, I simply don't fit the category, and we began making that Wednesday, and it will be done on Tuesday. That is something that everyone had to make, and I'm very glad, because it is SO good! Lemon Pound cake was incredible, as well as the "Weekend" cake, which, in reality was just a delicious pound cake with a thin layer of liquid fondant icing and apricot glaze. Talk about having a stash of goods to provide me for coffee and tea in the evening. The crazy part is the shelf life...a lot of them, un-cut, and un covered, had a 2-3 month shelf life. It's all the sugar, sadly, but I like to think it's because they all had some special characteristic which prevented time from destroying them. haha. Anyway, the Macarons were...incredible to say in the least. I had been waiting all semester to make them, and they were so fun! I was assigned Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Macarons. The first batch of biscuit cookies for the shell didn't turn out, and the teacher said it must have been the caramel, so we re-wrote it and they were awesome. Our class made:

Pistachio

Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate

Coffee

Olive Oil

Amber Citrus

Raspberry

Passionfruit

Raspberry and Rose

Matcha (green tea)

Strawberry Vinaigrette

Chocolate

Chocolate Cherry

Lemon

Coffee Caramel

Mint

I feel like I'm forgetting some, but I think that is everything our class made. The other group made some of these, and a few others, including Cassis, Coconut, and Lavender. If I could have brought boxes and boxes home for the rest of the year, I would have, because they are about 1.50 a piece in Paris, and they are about an inch in diameter...I brought 25 home, and could have brought more, but the darn freezer is SO tiny! Haha. Ah well, I guess...better for me in the long run. Anyway, I will be loading pictures to Facebook on Tuesday or Wednesday. I edited them already, but forgot my recipe book at school...and although I TRY to remember everything, I simply cannot remember ALL of the names of the desserts from this week.

In and out of class

Within the walls of my "classroom" and hardly the city limits of Paris, the exposure to the fundamentals of pastry and boulangerie have been coming in all forms. In class we have continued to build our skills of basic pastry knowledge and execution with puff pastry, pate a choux, and pastry cream, in multiple forms, such as: Religeous, Paris Brest, Eclairs, and more. Interestingly, in the United States, Paris Brest was one of my least favorite pastries, but it has been by far one of my favorites here. The taste of the praline pastry cream and powdered sugar covered pate a choux is just so...simply delicious.

On another note, I have had a recommendation to also write about my out of class experiences, and what better than last weekend at Europain. Europain is something I had never heard of before, but my classmates informed me that we were all welcome to go, for 20 Euros of course, but OH such a small price to pay for the incredible experience. It is, in my opinion, the BEST way to single handedly form opinions of multiple companies within a single space and time frame. I now KNOW a few chocolate companies that I prefer for only dark chocolate, or only milk chocolate, and why. Samples, explanations, packets, and did I mention samples? Bleh, I felt so sick at the end of the day I had to go home and workout just to even begin thinking I wasn't going to lapse into a sugar coma.

Other small expeditions have included my friends Stephanie and Patrizia going to the Champs Elysees for coffee and browsing. Buying? Haha funny. China town is very fun, and I highly recommend it for Sunday. Everything in Paris is closed on Sunday except the movie theater and China town shops. I had the best, and probably the only real Thai food today with my friend Nam. I thought I was confused going to Brasseries here? Man oh man. In China town you must either speak French or Chinese/Thai/etc...So, the menu is translated from Thai to French. Wonderful. Haha. This is why we make friends.

Who knew it would be so easy to buy things like aged Camembert cheese in my local market, but toilet paper is NOT to be had in Paris. I guess they just don't believe in it here? The strangest thing...I had to go to 8 different stores before I finally found some, and of course it was colored and scented. I kinda liked that...haha. Along the lines of strange grocery shopping, milk: 89 cents for a Liter, not so bad, Bread: practically free; seriously...50 cents for a 30 inch loaf? And ah yes, a cucumber: 6 dollars....wow. I was...confused? I mean, almost 5 Euros for a mid-sized cucumber, seriously? What is going ON? I simply cut particular vegetables out of the diet I guess.

If you ever move to Paris, you MUST learn how to push: elbow, shove, and...hm, spacially abuse one another? Haha. For anyone who knows me, space is a bit of an issue, and going to school in a metro car containing 50+ people in a 25 person space is...interesting. Who knew the elderly could throw such blows with no remorse? The key: .....J'ne sais pas... :/ Haha.

On a last note, I would have to say I love the French and almost everything about them. There has never been a time in my life where I thought everyone around me was dressing to impress someone, looking focused, and yes, enjoying things in life that I aspire to create, aka delicious foods and pastries. Aside from the lack of general organization when it comes to customer service, the actual civilians themselves are more welcoming than I ever could have hoped for.

Au revoir a la prochaine, Tanner

Puff Pastry Week

Keeping up with the notion that the French like vacations, this past week my class, Anglo group A, had the Chef of Anglo group B as a teacher for the week. The differences in teaching styles were fascinating and really helped students in the class to realize that there are many ways to convey information and technical skills. The main focus of the week was learning to make Puff Pastry dough. On Monday and Tuesday we each made 5-7 separate batches of Puff Pastry dough, and used 2 of the styles of folding techniques on various batches. The differences were that we learned how to properly roll out and fold dough with butter inside, and vice versa. It was interesting how after the third time making the dough we all pretty much just started making the dough for memory. I think that is so important to be able to do. Puff pastry has SO many different applications, and this last week we just touched on a few. We made "cakes" which consisted of puff pastry and were filled with Frangipane, an almond filling. They were very good, and after making them realized they are pretty similar to a traditional King Cake of Mardi Gras. The other applications included making Chaussons, meaning slipper, which were individual bun sized puff pastries with various fillings and designs. The last application we made using puff pastry was the Mille Feuille, which I figured out after the description, is what many Americans refer to as a Napoleon. It is layers of puff pastry and pastry cream, with a liquid fondant and dark chocolate topping. It was very delicious, but quite sweet.

On Friday, our class got to set up a large table presentation of all of the various pastries we had all made from the entire week, and the other group, Anglo B, got to come view it, in addition to the colleagues of my teachers. The best part was when the teacher said "everyone, take as much as you want." Haha. I have never seen adults so eager to fill bags with pastries and boxes with tartes, then again, I haven't been in any situation where that was possible, and free.

The other group, Anglo B, took a Cuisine Catering class last week. That is what I will be taking this coming week. The teacher is very well versed in what he does, and it showed in their work. We went to view their setup, as they did ours, and they had made so many traditional French Cuisines I couldn't even imagine the amount of work that went into them. Everyone reading this will get to hear in depth about what the Cuisine entails, because I will be making it starting Monday. I'll update everyone Friday!

P.S. If you can, go to my Facebook page to view my latest photos from class. I just uploaded about 35 from this week.