French Crepes

Hey Guys, here is another recipe, and crepes are VERY good!!!! They are thin, delicate pancakes that you can fill with pretty much anything, chocolate, sugar and butter ( My Favorite! ), fresh fruit, etc. I recommend trying it!!!!


Ingredients

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of white sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

3 eggs

2 cups of milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted



Directions

1. Sift together flour, sugar, and salt, set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs, and milk together with an electric mixer. Beat in flour mixture until smooth, stir in melted butter.

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 2 tablespoons for each crepe. Tip and rotate pan to spread batter as thinly as possible. Brown on both sides and serve hot with your choice of toppings!!!

The Scoop on The French

A lot of you think the French are stuck up, snobby, and mean. That's all a stereotype. All of the French people I have met have been extremely nice. Another thing that is wrong is that people thing many of the French speak English. Most of the French only have very little French, if any! The French ARE very fashionable, with their favorite accessory being the scarf. The kids around my age seem to wear jeans, skirts with tights, and denim jackets. The thing is, they don't seem to care if you wear something different. They will glance at you, but they don't make fun of you or anything. People shouldn't judge the French without actually meeting them first. They are great people too.

5 Places I Have Seen so Far

5 places I have seen so far since I have been in France:

1. Mussidan

2. Bergerac

3. Bordeaux

4. Perigueux

5. Monbazillac            

Here are some facts about each place:

Mussidan is our nearest town and where we go shopping.

Bergerac is a city about a half hour away from us and has the Dordogne River running through it.

Bordeaux is the world's major wine industry capital.

Perigueux has the beautiful St Front Cathedral, which is huge and eye catching, and the first thing you notice when you enter the town.

Monbazillac is famous for its vineyards. 

Gotta See Paris!!!!

I would love to go to Paris while I am here, and see the Eiffel Tower. Paris is about a 6 hour drive from here, and is famous for its fashion. But big cities in Europe have pick pockets, and Paris is bound to have plenty of them, so don't bring your big purse!!!!! Wear a fanny pack around your waist holding only important stuff, money, cellphone, etc. The Parisians motto is "Fluctuat nec mergitur" which means "She is tossed by the waves but never sinks". Paris is known for its romance, and many books and movies are set there. Paris is also the most populated city in France. Paris is headed by an elected mayor. Paris is a beautiful city and I can't wait to visit it.

Lazy Day

Today was a lazy Sunday. Blue and I went down to the tennis courts to play a game of tennis. After we came back, Blue and I took Dylan for a walk down to the playground. Then we lazed around the house, and later we took a walk down to the end of the drive. We stopped by the stables on our way back to see the horses. Tomorrow Blue will be starting school, and I will do some schoolwork at home. Even though we didn't do much, it was still a great day!

Perigueux Market Day

Today we went to Perigueux, a city about half an hour away from our house. It was Market Day, so we decided to drive down and see what it was like. We walked around when we got there, just walking through the streets entertained by accordion players. It was a beautiful town, with lots of old buildings. We went into a tent that had lots of different farm animals. My favorite was the dozens of ducklings. We went into another area of tents we thought might be the market, and it sort of was, it was all food and giving away samples and selling cookbooks. It was the International Cookbook Festival! After that we found the car and went home. It was a fun day and I hope we go to Perigueux soon to explore the town some more.

10 French Words/Phrases

Here are a few French phrases and words you might need if you ever visit France:

Hello - Bonjour ( Bonjoor )
How are you? - Comment allez-vous? ( Kommon tallay voo )
My name is...... - Je m'appelle ( Juh mappell )
Please - S'il vous plait ( Seel voo pleh )
Yes - Oui ( Wee )
No - Non ( Non )
Thank you - Merci ( mairsee )
Bye/Goodbye - Salut/Au Revoir ( Saloo/ Oh-rvwahr )
I'm from.... - Je viens de ( Juh vyan duh )
Do you speak English? - Est-ce que vous parlez anglais? ( Esskuh voo parlay ongleh )

Our First Restaurant

The other day we went to a restaurant in Grignols called Le Relais du Chateau. The food was excellent, I ordered the fish ( cod ) and chips. There seemed to be only one man working there, and he spoke good English. The menu was written in French, with the English description at the bottom. The one man seemed to be doing all the cooking himself, and while our main meal was cooking, he brought us pumpkin soup. When we were done, he offered us dessert. My mom had apple pie with cream and vanilla ice cream, and Blue and I had chocolate icecream. The dessert was delicious as well, especially the apple pie. It was fairly expensive, but worth it. If you are ever in Dordogne, France, I recommend this restaurant. My rating is 4.5 out of 5.

The First of Many Visitors

Today is my big sister Nikki's birthday (Happy Birthday, Nikki!!!). She is turning 25, and tomorrow she and her 16 and a half month old son, Dylan are coming to visit us. It has been 8 months since we have seen her and Dylan. They live on Herm, a small island off the coast of Guernsey, which are part of the Channel Islands.

She is quite close to France, since the Channel Islands are between England and France. On clear days, Nikki can actually see France! When I say she lives on a small island, I mean she lives on a SMALL island. It is only a mile wide by a mile and a quarter long!!! It is a tourist island, and there are only about 60 year round residents! Even though Herm is close to France, Nikki and Dylan are getting a boat to Guernsey, then going to Guernsey airport, flying to London, then they are getting a connecting flight to Bordeaux, where we are going to pick them up. Bordeaux is about a hour and a quarter away from our villa. Dylan is a blondie, with curly hair. He LOVES Peppa Pig, and he is starting to talk. He also just learned to walk, and he is very independent. When Nikki gets here, I want to show her the stables, where I spend most of my time. I also want to show her the tennis courts. There are many drives and fields where we can take walks. We have a courtyard that Dylan can play in, and we also have a small area next to the pool that is fenced in. It is grassy and has 2 swings and a rope ladder that Dylan can also play in. I love kids, especially babies, and the last time we saw Dylan, I was the chief babysitter, and I would be fine with doing that again, even though it is going to be harder to keep track of him since he can walk and run around. I can't wait to see both of them, and help them pick out some tres chic outfits to wear to the town!

10 Things I want to do while I'm in France

1.   Learn to speak fluent French
2.   Eat 5 French foods
3.   Know my way around the town
4.   See at least 10 chateaus
5.   Make a friend that doesn't speak English
6.   Read a book that is in French
7.   Watch a movie in French
8.   Join some kind of after school club
9.   Cook some French dishes
10. You Decide!


*If you have an idea of what I should do while I'm in France, then comment below and I might do what you commented and do a blog post about it!

View of France

Here is a slideshow I made of some of my favorites pictures taken in France so far:

http://movie-web.nagisa-inc.jp/21241

My Awesome Friends

I'm kind of surprised I forgot to mention this, but I think I am the luckiest person in the world because I have such amazing friends. If you don't believe me, let me tell you what they did for me on Friday, November 7, my last day at my middle school in Maryland. They broke into my locker and filled it with balloons, candy, and a huge card they all made themselves and signed with some really nice messages saying how much they would miss me.

Other friends gave me donuts and also made me cards and got everyone to sign them. At the end of the day, I had to clean out my locker, and all of them got permission to come help me. We all took pictures together and when the bell rang to go to the buses, I got LOTS of hugs, and one my best friends that has been my friend since kindergarden, Reilly, offered to take my extra heavy book bag to the bus for me. I miss all of them, including my bus driver Mr. Greg, who is the BEST bus driver ever!  I gave out my email to all of my friends, so we still keep in touch, and I also Skype and FaceTime them when I can. There is a 6 hour time difference, I'm 6 hours ahead, so we have to work out times to talk when it's not too early or late. To all my amazing friends (you know who you are!!!!!!!!!), miss you loads, keep in touch! You guys are awesome!!!!!!!

1

Maddy, my best friend for many years, and my sister Blue!

Out and About

Today was market day in the town of Mussidan, so we drove down to see what the market was like. On our way to the market, we passed by a sign pointing out the direction of Chateau Neuvic, so we followed the sign down a long driveway with beautiful trees, and there straight in front of us was a magnificent castle! We walked around the grounds of the castle, and noticed a river running along the back of the castle. I walked up some steps along the outside of the castle, and when I got to the top, there was an amazing view!!! The chateau had intricate detail with lots of turrets, which is one of my main requirements for it to rank high on my list of favorites! As we walked back to the car, we all agreed we needed to adjust our footwear for these expeditions (our dressy black boots were a bit muddy!).

We drove farther into Mussidan, parked the car and walked through the streets looking for the market. We stopped a woman walking past us and my mom asked her (in French of course) if she knew where the market was. After some difficulty trying to figure out what the woman was saying in rapid French, we figured out the market had finished at noon. The helpful woman led us to a shop that sold fresh produce where we bought some fruit and vegetables.

We walked across the street and noticed a patisserie (bakery) and then went in to buy some eclairs au chocolat (chocolate eclairs) and a chocolate muffin for Blue.  We headed home, stopping at the store on the way to pick up a few groceries.  After we got home, we had some fresh croissants with butter and cheese and then headed outside for a walk around the estate.

Some Animals of the Dordogne.....

Roelf,the owner of the estate we are renting a villa on, told us about different animals that live in the area. First, one of the animals that be found on the the property are European Badgers. Badgers usually are nocturnal and are generally peaceful and sometimes even share their den with other animals, such as foxes and rabbits but they have been known to attack humans before and they can be vicious if provoked.They are very neat animals and they often change the bedding of their dens, pushing out soiled bedding and dragging in fresh bedding. There are numerous badger holes that I have seen on my walks here.  Roelf said that badgers are protected and therefore are safe from French hunters who take hunting extremely seriously.  He said to be careful:  "don't insult the French hunters because they are very proud......and they have guns!!!!"

Another animal found here, that originated in South America, is the Coypu (or in French, ragondin), also known as a beaver rat and they live near rivers. This is also an animal that lives on our property since we have a river that runs through it. They are very shy and run away from people. It is a semi-aquatic rodent, a herbivore, and resembles a very large rat or a beaver with a small tail. It has a beaver face with the slanted teeth!!!! The teeth are bright orange!!  Kinda creepy!!! They were brought here by fur ranchers and are now an invasive species that can be hunted.

The animal that also lives in France is the wild boar. They can attack people, and can run very fast. They are more likely to try to attack when they have babies and want to protect them. They are very big and have razor-sharp teeth and some have tusks also.  They are omnivorous, meaning they eat pretty much anything, but survive here mostly on fruits, berries, grubs, and nuts.  They ruin fields and crops in the process of finding food and the French government actually pays farmers for some of the damage they do to their land.  Boars are hunted for their meat and 10's of thousands are killed each year in France.  It is hunting season here right now.  

They are mainly nocturnal and Roelf says they can be seen here sometimes at sunrise or twilight. I haven't seen any of these animals yet, but I hope to see them while I'm here, but from a safe distance, of course!!!!!  

Some Stuff I Have Learned So Far....

Many French people have small dogs
Very few French speak English
The stores aren't crowded, and the roads are very quiet, there are not many cars, if any
Most stores close for two hours-for a lunchbreak
Our local post office in Issac is only opened mornings
There is a market day every Saturday in Mussidan
A lot of towns have a closed day during the week

Things my friend Elena has told me about school:
     Her school is from 8am to 5pm
     It is a half day every Wednesday, children get off at 1pm
     She rides the bus to school every day
     They were off school Tuesday because of a national holiday
     Elena gets one hour for lunch in school
     The lunch is a four course meal
     She said that kids our age wear jeans and denim or leather jackets
     She also told me that *popular* girls at her school wear big hoop earrings with feathers                         covering their entire cheek!

Our Day On The Town

Today we drove to one of the four cities in the Dordogne area called Bergerac. It was a beautiful place, and we parked right next to the huge Dordogne River. After walking around the city, we drove to one of the many chateaus (castles) in the Dordogne area. It was beautiful and was famous for its vineyards. Then we came back to our villa and walked down to the stables where the horse trainer Lindsey and her daughter were. They moved from England and have been living here for two years.  We walked to some walnut trees down the driveway and then went to see the horses. Later in the evening we went to the nearest town, Mussidan, to get some shopping. While we were shopping, I saw a tres chic beret, and I decided to buy it. We are now home for a relaxed evening. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s adventure.

A Recipe For a French Dessert

Dark Chocolate Mousse 

Ingredients

3 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons water

1/8 teaspoon ground dried chipotle pepper

tiny pinch salt

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled

1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream, chilled

Directions

1.     Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer over low heat. Place chocolate, butter, 2 tablespoons water, ground chipotle pepper, and salt in a heatproof bowl; set bowl over the simmering water. When the butter melts, whisk the chocolate mixture gently until smooth and shiny. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

2.     Whisk egg yolks, 2 tablespoons water, and sugar in another heatproof bowl over the same pan of simmering water until egg yolk mixture is foamy and hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Pour hot egg mixture into warm chocolate mixture, whisk until smooth, and set over a bowl of ice to chill. Whisk constantly until mixture has cooled to room temperature or slightly cooler.

3.      Pour 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon cold cream into a chilled metal bowl; whisk until cream holds soft peaks. Place about half the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate mixture; gently fold the cream into the chocolate. Repeat with remaining half of whipped cream, folding gently until nearly all the streaks have disappeared. Divide mousse into 4 6-ounce ramekins.

4.      Cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours (up to overnight) before serving.

Here's France!!!!

Day One

Today was our first day in Domaine De Mazieras. At 9:00am, we went to meet the horses, there are 7 of them, and they are all very tall. We also met the 2 dogs, Riley and Pluto. After we met the horses, we took a walk and saw most of the property. We then went back to our beautiful villa to start unpacking. Then, we were surprised to hear barking at our door. We walked to the door and looked outside, and there were Riley and Pluto!!! My sister Blue and I went outside to play with the dogs. After that we went back to the stables and met the horse trainer, Lindsey. She had brought her 12 year old daughter with her and we played and explored the 250 acres and played on the hay bales. We then took turns riding on a big tobiano Irish sports horse named Darcy. Tomorrow we will go see the horses again at 9. Our French adventure is off to a great start.

Packing for France

Introduction

Hey Guys,

Thanks so much for looking at my blog!  My name is Jessi, I'm 12, and I love animals, especially horses and dogs.  This blog is going to be about me moving to France (next week!) with my mom and sister, and how I adjust to living in France.  I currently have been living in the United States, but I was born in Ireland.

If you like my blog, be sure to check back because I will be posting new stuff regularly.  My posts will include pictures and videos, along with written entries.  They will include what to pack if you are going to France, fashion advice, what the French are like, make-up choices and advice, starting school in France,..... and much more!  I will also post some recipes on French dishes!!!!!

I hope you like my blog and will look for new posts!

Bye!!!