I’ve always been interested in experiencing different cultures through their religions. One of my most fond memories of field trips at my Catholic school was in the 7th grade when my entire class went to different places of worship: a Jewish temple, a Buddhist temple, a Greek Orthodox church, etc. Having been exposed to Catholicism at home and at school, I found the traditions of other religions to be extremely interesting and beautiful.

With classes over and finals about to begin, my friends and I decided to take a study break by going to the Grande Mosquée of Paris. It takes up an entire block: with gardens, a café, and baths, there is so much to see in this intricately designed building in the middle of the classic-looking city.

Before

After

If you have a few days to spare in Paris, I really suggest heading to the 5th arrondissement. Paris is a city to visit classically French things, of course, but more and more it’s becoming the home to many other groups of people. At first glance, it may be surprising that this mosque is in the same city as Notre Dame, but it’s a symbol of how cities around the world can adapt to different people.

It’s so cliché, but time really does go by so quickly. The youngest of four kids, I always heard “You’re growing up so fast!” and “You’re so much taller since the last time I saw you!” to which I politely smiled and nodded. When you’re little, time is just a way to count the days. You go to school at 8AM, come home at 3, have dinner at 6, go to bed at 9. Every September you go back to school, every summer you go to camp. Time just kind of goes by, and it was easier.

As we get a bit older, you realize you don’t always want the time to just go by. Sure, when you’re sitting in class or at your desk, sometimes you can’t help but count down the minutes until you can get up and leave. But even succumbing to this occasional circumstance, I still feel like the time slipped right through my fingers.

As I head back to New York two weeks from today, I’ll be taking every day at a time – exploring New York the way I’ve been exploring Paris; learning and working at my internship; turning 20; cherishing the moments I have with all of my family together in my house of 16 years that we’ll be moving out of.

Through the ups and the downs, I guess the most important thing to do is cherish the time that you have. It always goes by too quickly.

When we’d return to the city on Sunday, my mom would usually resort to breakfast-for-dinner from either a lack of groceries or being tired. Whether it was pancakes or eggs, we almost always had hash browns.

To this day, the smell of these flavors mixing together on the stove brings back the memories of the ever-so-exciting break from well-balanced dinners we used to have. We almost always have potatoes and onions lying around, so they’re easy to whip up without stepping out to the store. The dash of paprika makes them unique, and the mix of butter and olive oil gives them the perfect crispy crust. Trust me, you’ll have a hard time resisting picking these out of the pan.

A room with a view

With my sister’s boyfriend out of town for the weekend, we decided to indulge in meals that aren’t Tom-friendly. The key player: lemon. After a delicious lemon, goat cheese, and asparagus pasta, we had some lemons left over. I decided to take it upon myself to use them up in dessert form (something I can proudly say even the lemon-intolerant Frenchman took a bite of).

These lemon poundcake squares are the perfect buttery-yet-light sweet. They taste a bit like the Starbucks lemon poundcake I often resort to and are a fresh-tasting reminder of all of the summery citrusy flavors that will be coming my way.

Recipe Courtesy of Marzipan via Pinterest

*For the glaze, I only used about 3/4 cup of powdered sugar and about 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice, eyeballing it. I did this in order to conserve powdered sugar, but next time I’ll use more to enhance the sour flavor – I think lemon desserts should be a bit more sour than sweet!

First off, we went to a huge indoor market in Bordeaux where my friends and I needed a little something to hold us over until lunch. Croquettes were our option which the lady in the photo below freshly dished out into a plastic to-go container.

We then wandered through the outdoor part of the market, which we learned is a privilege passed down through generations. World War I left many widows, so the city tried to help them earn money by allowing them to go into the indoor market, then only for distributors, buy some items, and resell them outside. Now, only their relatives have the right to sell on the street, but it is something the city will soon end since the need is low.

In the same indoor market, I found this cheese vendor. Needless to say, I was in heaven.

Our tour-leader bought us mini Cannelés Bordelais. They’re a bit crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle (the texture for which the unique mold was invented), and have a licorice-rum taste. There is a story behind these dense little cakes: winemakers in the region use egg whites to ferment their wine, therefore having an abundance of unused yolks. They gave them to  nuns, who came up with this very temperamental and difficult recipe.

Though we didn’t get to eat there, we went into one of the best restaurants in Bordeaux to watch how they prepare some of their meet delicacies. PS The woman on our left was our adorable tour guide.

After that, we stopped for lunch and to have our first bottle of Bordeaux in the region. There were various foods like a pâté, another meat delicacy with parts of a pig not used for the pâté, and some intestine. Though I forced myself to try some of the dishes, I mostly stuck to the camembert and chèvre.

Wine from lunch

Later that night, we went to a wine bar called Wine More Time. Though white Bordeaux is not my favorite, the atmosphere of this bar was very chill, drinking on top of stools in front of wine barrels.

The next day in St. Emilion, we had a brief tour in the morning followed by time by ourselves for lunch. My friends and I sat outside, at salads, pizzas, and more, and had this delicious bottles of wine, one of our favorites from the trip.

Wine at lunch

St. Emilion is famous for a different style of macaroons. They are made with egg whites, sugar, and almonds, and are fluffy beyond belief. They come in a box on the parchment paper they were baked on because they are too fragile to take off and package. I bought a larger one and split it with my friend. Definitely worth it.

Lastly but certainly not least, we did a wine tasting. We walked through various vineyards and reached Chateaux La Fleur Picon, a vineyard that makes Saint-Emilion Grand Cru.

We learned a bit about how the wine was made, all by the same man whose family has been making the wine for 9 generations. They make one vintage a year, and we tasted both 2009 and 2010. The newer of the two was a bit more acidic but tasted just like the kind of wine my mom would love. The 2009 was smoother. Confession: I bought 3 bottles.

All in all, it was a beautiful 2-day break in the wine countryside, and made me realize how much I want to move to Northern California some day and run a vineyard with horses à la Dennis Quaid in The Parent Trap. A girl can dream, and until then, I got a small dose during my trip to Bordeaux and St. Emilion!

Since I apparently decided to be a paparazzi, I’ve split the posts into two: one for sights and one for tastes. Enjoy the photos and definitely plan a trip to French wine country if you ever get the chance. It’s one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever visit!

A future home option

Ruins in Bordeaux

St. Emilion wall

St. Emilion “place”

Vineyard with tower

Winemaker at Chateaux La Fleur Picon

Baby grapes

]]> http://netflixandnutella.com/2013/04/29/bordeaux-and-st-emilion-sights/feed/ 2 netflixandnutella Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux neo-classical structure Boredaux Camo tree St. Emilion St. Emilion St. Emilion Vineyard in St. Emilion St. Emilion St. Emilion Our wine tourguide Baby grapes http://netflixandnutella.com/2013/04/26/pizza-crust-healthified/ http://netflixandnutella.com/2013/04/26/pizza-crust-healthified/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:30:01 +0000 netflixandnutella http://netflixandnutella.com/?p=1446 Continue reading →]]> After a winter of hibernating with boeuf bourguignon and toasty baguette with goat cheese, there comes a time where you have to detox.

My sister and I (much to the dismay of her beef-loving boyfriend) have been on a serious veggie binge. Even though the vegetables are not even at their peak yet, after a winter of nothing, they taste like candy to our deprived taste buds.

Veggie-pizza was one of the items on our menu for the week. In lieu of a wheat-heavy pizza crust, I suggested that we stray from the norm and try something I found on Pinterest: “doughless” cauliflower pizza crust.

The recipe came from Lauren Conrad’s website and worked really well, though the crust never got too crispy, to my dismay. Next time, I think I’ll used  processed mozzarella in a bag instead of the kind that comes in a ball- I think the liquid from the cheese might have been a factor in the mushy crust. All in all, though this pizza is nothing like a triangular slice you can grab on a New York street, the cauliflower-based crust was the perfect base for pesto and roasted veggies.

*Don’t forget to spray your pan, even if you use aluminum foil like I did. Also, grab a fork and knife, because this crust will not hold up to gravity like a wheat one will!

Recipe via Pinterest courtesy of Lauren Conrad

The weather has taken a beautiful turn, and I find myself making excuses to the long way home just so I can walk though the endless number of parks and gardens in Paris.

This past weekend, my sister and I were swamped with work and to-do lists, but made some time to go to the Jardin Des Plantes in the 5th. The weather was perfect. I leave a month from yesterday (GULP!), so taking advantage of these beautiful days will be a feat  I will gladly take on.

Courtesy of Pixar Times

Sitting in the chair, I was transported back like Anton Ego is to a fun, carefree time of being a kid. The movie was the perfect mix of fun for kids and worthwhile plot line for adults. Even though I would have hated to admit it at the time, it quickly became one of my favorite comfort movies. It has remained that way in my family; my mom now makes her ratatouille in the same fanned-out shape as in the movie.

Yesterday was another night dedicated to fending for myself after my sister didn’t have time to show me the ropes. But again, I managed to pull through and made a chausson (turnover) à la ratatouille with mozzarella. I’m finally starting to feel like a grown-up with a life I’ve made for myself here in Paris, and all I can think about is wishing I could go back to the days where my mom paid for my movie ticket to Ratatouille and I knew what the next 5 years of my life had in store for me.

Luckily I had some ratatouille, an instant comfort food, to ease my woes. I followed my sister’s recipe here, but made some changes to make it a bit less of a liquid (you don’t want it seeping through that beautiful pastry crust!).

Chausson à la Ratatouille
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil, separated
salt, to taste
1 eggplant, diced
2 zucchini, diced
400g canned whole peeled tomatoes (break them up with your wooden spoon)
1 tbsp. herbes de Provence
1/2 pre-made puff pastry
4 oz. mozzarella, grated or chopped up
1 egg yolk + some water for egg wash

Ratatouille is basically a matter of chopping of the vegetables, adding the tomatoes, and letting them stew for a while. Then adding some herbs.

I used 1/2 of the puff pastry which was enough for 2-3 people to have some chausson. Pile in some of the ratatouille mix, sprinkle on some mozzarella, and close all of the sides by either pinching them, rolling them, making indents with your fork, whatever you fancy.

Add the egg wash and bake at 350°F or 180°C for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. I did this in our toaster oven, a larger over might vary in time. Transport yourself back to being a kid, and enjoy!

Before

After

Jim Morrison…

Edith Piaf…

and Chopin (excuse the video clip, but I had to).

It never ceases to amaze me how many  elements fit into the puzzle of Paris’s history. Taking a walk through the Pere Lachaise cemetery was a surreal yet very cool way to experience Paris.

Walking by all of the tombs you’re greeted with many questions. What did this person do with his or her life? Did they make any discoveries? Did they love?

Eternal love with a kiss on the cheek

It’s easy to create a story based on certain graves, like this one of a man who died before he turned 25.

It was strange to take such pleasure in the graves, seeing them as pieces of art when you know that they represent something much more. They represent someone’s entire life, and this is how they chose to be remembered.

Pere Lachaise is a surreal experience, definitely. But a beautiful one nonetheless.