eG Foodblog: bleudauvergne

[His Nibs]

My guess? It's a tea ball or herb infuser ball.

Edited March 25, 2005 by His Nibs (log)

[daniellewiley]

Oh it was terrible.  I'm not sure I think they were trying to do a flan or something, it sucked.  Full of watery canned fruit and it was raw in the middle. 

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First Lucy, thank you so much for this blog and for last year's. I was up for two hours in the middle of the night with a terrible cold (and unable to take anything truly helpful as I'm pregnant). Last year's blog helped me through the long dark hours. And, when I checked this year's, I was thrilled to see that you were already up and starting to post. Sometimes a time difference is a wonderful thing in blog land.

I was wondering why you so frequently partake in the cafeteria lunch when you aren't always thrilled with the offerings. In last year's blog, you mentioned that Loic brought dinner leftovers for lunch. Could you not do the same? Or is that not really accepted at your job? Or, is it just a really affordable way to go? Thanks again, and by the way, I haven't told my husband yet, but I'm loving the name Loic. (we haven't selected our baby names yet, so anything goes at this point)

[zeitoun]

The cafeteria has gone horribly down hill in the past 6 months.  They really do serve terrible food these days.  So in the interest of full disclosure, here's lunch in its naked ugliness.

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Who caters for your cafeteria? Is it one of those big catering companies like Sodexho??

[bleudauvergne]

Danielle, that is precisely what I should do. That, and get some proper dishes like Kathleen did. It's a great idea.

I would also like to get a microwave for the office. I once worked in a place where we installed a dishwasher in the coffee room. Now that was good.

One of my barriers I think is that I still cannot get used to the idea that my day job is my vocation. I completely separate it in my mind and in my actions from "my life". I have my work, and my life, which are constantly battling each other. I should do more to make myself at home at the office, but something within me keeps insisting that it's a temporary parking spot. I never really thought about it, but your question has brought this out. Thank you.

[bleudauvergne]

So what is the little round item to the right side of the knife block?

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^^ Looks like a little tea strainer ball to me.

My guess? It's a tea ball or herb infuser ball. biggrin.gif

You got it!

I put things like cloves and spice grains and and herbs in it sometimes when I'm making soup or preparing something that needs an infusion like octopus.

[bleudauvergne]

The cafeteria has gone horribly down hill in the past 6 months.  They really do serve terrible food these days.  So in the interest of full disclosure, here's lunch in its naked ugliness.

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Who caters for your cafeteria? Is it one of those big catering companies like Sodexho??

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One of them. Today's meal just reminded me that I cannot eat there any more.

Tonight is my last night alone. Considering that I'm exhausted from some long hours today battling with an excel spreadsheet from hell, (remember a blog is a real life real time thing!), I am going to try another place in the neighborhood. I've always been drawn to this place called the "Restaurant d'Alice" around the corner. Having memorized every single word to Arlo Guthrie's album as a child, this has me curious. They have a table waiting for me. I am taking my camera but if the lights aren't good or it's an atmoshere where I can't take photos, I'll just have to tell you what happens. I'm taking a notebook just in case.

[Liz Johnson]

"You can get anything you want....."

[Chufi]

This blog is hard to keep up with so I apologize if this topic has already been covered..

Lucy, I was thinking today about language. I may be wrong, but I think your native language is English. Yet you are living in France, shopping at French markets, undoubtedly you have French cookbooks, go to french restaurants, talk with people about food - in French. Yet when you come to EGullet to report on your culinary adventures, you do so in English.

What is, for you, your "food language"? Is it based on the circumstance or do you find yourself thinking in French when posting on EGullet, or thinking in English when talking to your French butcher?

I guess I should add that this interests me because I'm dutch, but for the most part read and write and even think (and dream!) about food in english, which can be very confusing at times.

[johnnyd]

...just about a kilometer from the rail-road track?

sorry...

[Laksa]

There is something about a pool hall that piques my interest.

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It's interesting to note that all the billiard tables in your photos are pocketless.

I find it difficult to walk past a pool hall without turning my head to look inside. When a pool hall is half empty, and the patrons converse in whispers, I get the feeling that something sinister is brewing. Could the players at the corner table with the grim faces be gambling for high stakes? Could the group gathered in a cloud of cigarette smoke be plotting a bank robbery? Or maybe they're just trying to decide where to go for dinner?

[Toliver]

It's interesting to note that all the billiard tables in your photos are pocketless.

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Pocketless? How does one play pocketless billiards?

[RICKY RICARDO] Lucy...you have some 'splainin' to do! [/RICKY RICARDO]

[Laksa]

Pocketless?   How does one play pocketless billiards?

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With three balls

[bleudauvergne]

This blog is hard to keep up with so I apologize if this topic has already been covered..

Lucy, I was thinking today about language. I may be wrong, but I think your native language is English. Yet you are living in France, shopping at French markets, undoubtedly you have French cookbooks, go to french restaurants, talk with people about food - in French. Yet when you come to EGullet to report on your culinary adventures, you do so in English.

What is, for you, your "food language"? Is it based on the circumstance or do you find yourself thinking in French when posting on EGullet, or thinking in English when talking to your French butcher?

I guess I should add that this interests me because I'm dutch, but for the most part read and write and even think (and dream!) about food in english, which can be very confusing at times.

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Chufi, that is an excellent question. I must think on this and respond fully.

[bleudauvergne]

There is something about a pool hall that piques my interest.

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It's interesting to note that all the billiard tables in your photos are pocketless.

I find it difficult to walk past a pool hall without turning my head to look inside. When a pool hall is half empty, and the patrons converse in whispers, I get the feeling that something sinister is brewing. Could the players at the corner table with the grim faces be gambling for high stakes? Could the group gathered in a cloud of cigarette smoke be plotting a bank robbery? Or maybe they're just trying to decide where to go for dinner?

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It's interesting to note that all the billiard tables in your photos are pocketless.

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Pocketless? How does one play pocketless billiards?

[RICKY RICARDO] Lucy...you have some 'splainin' to do! [/RICKY RICARDO]

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Pocketless?   How does one play pocketless billiards?

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With three balls

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Oh thank you Laksa! I was beginning to think I was in the twighlight zone!

[bleudauvergne]

...just about a kilometer from the rail-road track? 

sorry...

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virgule huit clicks from the railroad track - yea

This probably does not make any sense to the english speakers, 'virgule huit' translates to ".8" and that's how many kilometers is a half-mile. Got it?

[bleudauvergne]

I did not take any photos, as it was a neighborhood place and I didn't want to come across as a freak. However I did draw a few pictures. Forgive me I'm not in practice.

The person on the left was a very beautiful and woman and her companion was in a stance of proud protection of her the whole evening.

A lemon wedge leftover from that excellent 'salad ocean'

I promise tomorrow I will cook and cook. Lolo is coming home and will be here by lunchtime. We then have the long weekend... It's going to be nice.

[jhlurie]

I have a simple question I've been dying to ask for days, Lucy.

The white border you are using to frame your pictures... what are you doing to achieve that result?

While it perhaps cuts into your picture size a bit (the pictures are all scaled to a certain maximum size no matter what), I think the effect it gives your pics is great.

P.S. - love the scribblings

[emmapeel]

I am speechless. Really. I have so much to say that I've said nothing so far. This is truly an amazing blog. The food, the photos, but today's art was the pinnacle of surprises. Thanks so much Lucy. You are terrific. I love the early morning photos in front of the window, showing all the light, the wrought iron, the bowl of coffee, and (today) the fog. If I had the courage I'd sell everything I own and leave for Lyon immediately.

Edited March 26, 2005 by emmapeel (log)

[chefzadi]

The bowl of vegetables in their sauce and the meat plus the couscous is what you get when you order a simple lamb couscous. Tunisian style has potatoes. I guess it was alright.

The potatoes get on my nerves a bit. It makes the sauce/broth mealy. It's like starch with starch, you know what I mean? There's enough starch with the semolina couscous. Why add more with potatoes into the tajine?

I'll stop now.

[chefzadi]

Is that tagine (tajine?) to the left of the couscous? What kind was it? Lamb? Was it spicy? Was it served with harissa?

This photo definitely reminds me when chefzadi gave me some lamb tagine & couscous a while back (with some spicy harissa)

NON! Not the same at all! Please, don't say that!

[jgarner53]

Merci beaucoup, Lucy! Votre blog est vraiment magnifique.

Your first blog came on the scene about the time I first discovered eG last year, at a dreary, lonely, "just sit in this chair and occupy it until the regular person comes back" sort of way, and it was just breathtaking. This one also makes me ache to visit France again. It's been 17 years, and I can't believe it's been that long.

[Pan]

This blog is hard to keep up with so I apologize if this topic has already been covered..

Lucy, I was thinking today about language. I may be wrong, but I think your native language is English. Yet you are living in France, shopping at French markets, undoubtedly you have French cookbooks, go to french restaurants, talk with people about food - in French. Yet when you come to EGullet to report on your culinary adventures, you do so in English.[...]

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It may be more complicated than that. Lucy, don't you speak fluent Mandarin as well?

Really cute drawings!

[bleudauvergne]

Yes Pan, Chinese was my first serious 'other' language. It was also in China that I first became fascinated with food. I took a year long intensive language course and then went there to work for three years. French and Chinese cooking are similar in that they are both codified to a certain degree, there are well established signposts in both of these cuisines that you can use as markers, which makes the discovery process quite satisfying... Picking up where you left off and deepening your knowledge is as easy as finding your bookmark and going back to a chapter you want to read again.

Thanks for the notes and PMs guys!

Today's breakfast cheeses were Tomme de Savoie, Salers, and the last of the Rocamadour. That Rocamadour is a wonderful little chevre. It's a bit like a picodon, in that it's small and packs a powerful chevre flavor, but at the same time it's a totally different cheese. It ripens more evenly all the way through and the rind develops along with it in a marvelous tasting way. I love it when it gets to where it spreads like soft butter, and you can sprinkle a little pepper on it. It's one of those small chevres that the fromagerie Marechal does well.

Reminder pic from earlier in the week: The Rocamadour is the one in the middle.

The crackers in the picture are Montignac brand crackers that I picked up last week at a bio shop. I like the home made ones better (and the home made ones are infinitely cheaper) but these are alright with cheese. I am not dieting but for awhile there I was always searching for 'legal' things to eat and when I saw that box of crackers I instinctively grabbed it!

Today I want to make an apple pie, and I want to get a chicken, and I want to go to the market, and put my clothes away, and iron the napkins and make sure I look good because Loic is coming home and will be here at Lunchtime! He's had a long week in Torino with the physicists and called every night to tell me about what went on there. He likes the cafes because in Torino they give you snacks for free. RING! He just called to let me know he's on the train! YAY!

[bleudauvergne]

I have a simple question I've been dying to ask for days, Lucy.

The white border you are using to frame your pictures... what are you doing to achieve that result?

While it perhaps cuts into your picture size a bit (the pictures are all scaled to a certain maximum size no matter what), I think the effect it gives your pics is great.

P.S. - love the scribblings

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It's quite a simple process, Jon.

I know this might sound insane but I recently took stock of and made backup CDs of the photos I've taken here in Lyon. It all started as a way of recording the things I'm cooking and what I see at the markets here. I come to realize that I have taken more than 51,000 photos, yes, that's right, 51K, in the last three years, most of them food photos. Taking into account the various friends' weddings, where I can take a few thousand over the course of a couple of days, I calculate that his averages to about 300 photos a week. Now that's not too wierd is it? Up to a few weeks ago I never even considered photography even a hobby, it was just something I do, and well, now, I see that I can call it a hobby. You read about how they find people in houses full of thousands of cats. Well, I'm that lady who takes thousands of food photos.

Since Loic got me a 1.5 gigabyte card for the camera, I take print quality photos in general, and then go through the photos I have every day, and for each one that I like, I put a border on it. I change the number of pixels per inch to make them easier to share on the net, and I resize them. I then save them in special folders for uploading. I back them up once a week.

We can't afford any special software. So I use Microsoft Photo editor which came with our software package on the computer. There is a feature on that software where you can add the borders, which do not cut into the image, they are added on the outside. I have tried and tried to add black borders, Like Paula did on her clafouti photo. But I can't figure out a way to do it. I loved that clafouti photo.

My software is in French. But I think the feature is called 'crop'. It doesn't really crop though, because it adds the border to the oustide if you don't choose an area to crop. be careful to tab down and set the 'corner' setting to '0' because it makes stupid looking corners if you don't.

[bleudauvergne]

Is that tagine (tajine?) to the left of the couscous? What kind was it? Lamb? Was it spicy? Was it served with harissa?

This photo definitely reminds me when chefzadi gave me some lamb tagine & couscous a while back (with some spicy harissa)

NON! Not the same at all! Please, don't say that!

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Calm yourself dear. I too could not see the value of potatoes in the broth. There must be some history or tradition involved which is why they keep doing it. And I long for the day when I can taste the famous couscous in the French Algerian Cordon Bleu style of Chefzadi with a Korean touch to the harissa. We don't get to LA often at all. (we did spend one year there before coming to France, though) But one day, one day...