April showers bring…busy days at the museum

Okay, so now that my Cordon Bleu classes are done, it’s time to really explore and enjoy Paris. I have a hit list of places that I want to go to while I’m here and the last two days consisted of going to the Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, the flower market on Île de la Cité, Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay.

Of course while at the Louvre, I had to make the obligatory visit to the Mona Lisa. I’ve always heard that the Mona Lisa is tiny so I actually wasn’t that disappointed when I saw her (I was pretty much expecting her to be the size of a postage stamp by this point). To be honest, I’m not much of a museum person but it is the Louvre so I just can’t cannot go. However, I have to say that I liked the Musée D’Orsay even more. The Musée d’Orsay, Impressionist museum turned out to be a wonderful surprise (probably because I’m more familiar with Impressionist paintings). Thanks to the Museum Pass, I got to bypass the line (which was over an hour long and in the pouring rain – sucks to be them). I was in-and-out in less than an hour. Saw some Van Goghs, Reniors, Degas’ and Monets – I’m good!

Is it bad to say that I thought the most interesting part of the museum is that it’s actually a converted train station? How cool is that?! Another thing that I found interesting is that there were signs everywhere saying no photography but people were taking pictures everywhere. The signs also said no eating. I saw people eating! But I really adored the space. The main floor actually felt like a public meeting place with people scattered about sitting among the statues. Or maybe it’s because there were so many tourists loitering. Either way, I thought Musée d’Orsay was great!

Okay, so a couple things I’ve noticed since being on the tourist circuit: All the tours start to come in at around 10:30am and there are ALOT of them. The scene can be totally calm and then within 15 minutes there are HUNDREDS of people rolling in. It pays to be a keener and beat the crowds by arriving early. The other thing I noticed is that it is totally worth it to buy a Museum Pass (if you plan on seeing several sights). This pass gets you into the Priority Line which is practically always empty and it gives you in and out privileges over several days. It’s turning out to be an extremely helpful tip that the tour guide told me about when I did the walking tour the other day. (although talking to other tourists while waiting in line ups can sometimes be fun. I got a recommendation the other day to visit Madrid, Toledo and Seville if I ever decide to go to Spain. They said Barcelona doesn’t count. Haha!)

The butter in Paris

I finally had a moment to purchase a baguette to go with the fancy handmade butter (made with raw milk and flecks of sea salt) that I had bought at the Fromagerie during the Market Tour Class that I took at Cordon Bleu. The butter did not disappoint. It had such a great creaminess to it and carried a lot of flavour! So it really is true what they say – the butter does taste better in France.

Why is this? I later found out that it’s because European butter has a higher fat content than North American butter (82% vs. 80%).

I used to think that butter was used mostly for texture and a carrier of flavours since the butter I’m used to has a very subtle taste. But the butter that I bought in Paris really tastes like butter – you can taste the buttery flavour. Mind you, the butter I bought at the market happened to be a handmade butter which isn’t typical of the regular butter that you would find at most grocery stores. But having said that, when it comes to spreading bread on a baguette, handmade butter is the way to go! It’s creamy and the flavour is smooth and pronounced (helped out even more by the sea salt). I figure that this specialty butter would be the equivalent of the various types of sea salts and olive oils that people are seeing on the market now. Not to be used in cooking, these ingredients are just meant to be used for a ‘finishing touch’. Otherwise, it really is a waste of money.

Butter aisle in Paris

But the fact that you can get all these different kinds of butters (half salted, soft, cultured, raw milk, with ‘crunchy’ sea salt, etc) in Paris had me floored. Is there such as thing as artisanal butter? I even tried a more standard butter called Echiré to try to make a more fair comparison to the butter I’m used to in Canada. Echiré tastes similar to the butter back in Canada but is a little smoother and the flavour is a little more obvious. Again probably due to the higher fat content (amazing what a difference an extra 2% can make). However, all the varieties with the butters probably also have to do with what the cows eat. Perhaps there’s something in the grass or maybe it’s the salt since France is close to the ocean. I can see why the French aren’t huge fans of margarine. Eating margarine in France must be such a huge insult to butter.

Does all this good food have to do with the fact the French culture resolves so much around food that would encourage the use of different types of butter and different types of salt based on what it’s being used for? Or does it have to do with the way that the produce their milk in Normandy? Or is it a cultural thing? Or the fact that so much of France’s food supply is tightly regulated (something that I really appreciate). Or perhaps butter is to France as olive oil is to Italy and soy sauce is to China. Is it really fair to compare it to what we have in Canada?

Update…

Okay, so I’m not crazy. David Lebovitz has a post on French butter! Sadly, I didn’t have a chance to try the one he recommended – le Beurre Bordier.

I’ll have to add this on my list of things to try the next time I’m in Paris.

****

Being back in Canada for three weeks now I can attest to the fact the butter here does not taste the same. It tastes bland (some people even say plasticky) and it doesn’t taste as creamy.

However, I did manage to find “European style” butter at St Lawrence Market the other day that has a whopping 84% fat (similar to the butter in France). Woo hoo! I can’t wait to try it.

Easter chocolate sculptures

It’s Easter weekend in Paris which means that many chocolate shops have wonderful displays of chocolate sculptures in their store windows. Some are truly amazing and make me wonder if they taste as good as they look. Of course I decided that I would try one. The nicest ones that I’d seen were from a shop called Maison Georges Larnicol. There are a variety of sculptures to choose from and they range in price from 10 to 45 euro depending on size.

Le Maison du Chocolat also makes chocolate sculptures but I personally don’t find them to look as interesting as the ones by Maison Georges Larnicol. When I saw the chocolate sculptures at Maison Georges Larnicol on Thursday, I vowed to myself that I would take full advantage of the timing of it being Easter in Paris and buy my first ever chocolate sculpture from France. However, by the time I got to Maison Georges Larnicol after my Cordon Bleu classes, everything in the store was GONE!!! The store shelves were completely cleared out! It literally looked like someone had come in the middle of the night and taken everything. The store had been completely packed full of them just two days ago!

But as luck would have it, the bakery around the corner from my apartment happened to carry a few of his items and I managed to get my hands on a small Easter sculpture that consisted of a small flower pot with three eggs in it (every single part is made out of chocolate). Chocolate sculptures aren’t cheap though. My little flower pot costed 13 euro. Larger ones go for 25-35 euro and the ones at Le Maison du Chocolate start at 55 euro and go up to 590 euro. But you know what? It tastes even better than it looks!

My mini flower pot chocolate sculpture. (I just ate the pink spotted egg and it was filled with caramel!)

The chocolate in Paris

One of the first things I was exposed to when I arrived in Paris was the amazing chocolate shops. It was Easter weekend and many of them had their Easter chocolate sculptures on display. I had never seen such amazing looking chocolate sculptures in all my life! They were all different shades of colors as if they had each been hand painted (perhaps that is the case, who knows)! I decided that I could not leave Paris without taking advantage of the timing and buy my own chocolate sculpture and was trying to decide which shop to buy one from. La Maison du Chocolate was a chocolate store that came highly recommended from my “Edible Adventures in Paris” guidebook along with my newly acquired “Le Cordon Bleu – Welcome to Paris!” booklet. That afternoon, I set out to find La Maison du Chocolat. One of their main stores was located in the high-end shopping district, just a stones throw away from the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe. I figured I would make a trip out of it.

Wow, the Champs-Élysées is what I call BIG Paris! Kinda like Fifth Avenue in New York City where there are huge avenues, lots of traffic, huge sidewalks full of people and high-end designer flagship stores with the Louis Vuitton flagship store taking up a very prominent corner.

I arrived at le Maison du Chocolate and was actually intimidated to go in at first! It felt like I was walking into a high-end jewellery store with gorgeous sales associates behind the counters handling chocolates with special metal clamps so as not to melt them and placing them in distinguished gift boxes tied with ribbon. There were signs in french next to each of the chocolates but I was missing certain words in translation and when it comes to fancy chocolate, I don’t like to take chances. I asked the sales associate “Est-ce que vous parlez anglais?”, His reply – “Oui”. Yay! What a relief! I said that I would like to get some chocolate but I wasn’t sure what all the different types were. The sales associate patiently walked me through each chocolate and explained what was in each one (there were at least 15 different kinds). I must say, the service that I have experienced in Paris so far has just been fabulous!

La Maison du Chocolat

I chose 5 chocolates to take home (mint, passionfruit, caramel mousse in dark and milk chocolate and a salty praline). He wrapped them up and then asked me “Would you like to try one?” (this seemed to be standard practice – people often get a sample of chocolate whenever they buy something). How nice! He recommended I try Dentelle – a milk chocolate praline which had slivers of crispy biscuit/waffle inside. He said it was a new flavour and that lots of people had liked it. I bit into it…..oh my goodness, it was amazing! It had the texture similar to a KitKat bar but the crispy texture was a lot more fine and delicate and the chocolate was AMAZING! I will definitely get that next time!

The chocolates were surprisingly affordable! When they rang up my order, the bill only came out to 5,50 euro for 5 chocolates (or around $1.50 Cdn each). They sell the chocolate by grams. However, when you purchase them in a box, the price goes up quite a bit (they smallest size box will fit around 21 euros worth of chocolate). But if you just want to try a couple at a time (like me), you can buy 4 or 5 pieces and they put them in a small bag and the price is very reasonable.

After the Paris walking tour

The Paris walking tour was fun but I think the highlight of my day was on my way home when I passed by Pozzetto (the gelato place that I bought ground espresso beans from on my first day here). It’s still unusually cold in Paris so I decided to pass on the gelato and just try their coffee instead (or I should I say ‘an espresso based drink’ since they don’t serve drip coffee – only Americanos. Here is where it gets fun/interesting. The menu was in french and although I could decipher about half of it, I really wanted to understand the type of coffee drinks that they offered. After asking the barista to explain the coffee menu to me, between my broken french and his half english I eventually decided on a caffe con panna (an espresso with whipped cream). The barista also explained that the two prices listed on the menu were for sitting at a table or sitting at the bar (emporter). I rarely drink espresso shots (I usually drink lattés) but I wanted to try it for the experience (besides, I’m sure I’ll be back for their gelato and will try another drink then). Boy, they really do know how to pull a good espresso. No wonder the place is so popular.

From the time that I stepped into the store, interacted with the barista and placed my order the place went from 3 people inside to over fifteen (standing room or to go only). I’m so glad I got the last spot at the bar before the mad rush. The Marais is quite multicultural in terms of the ethnic foods that’s available. I have seen Japanese places, Jewish delis, falafel stands and today I stumbled upon a Portuguese bakery! It is a tiny place but it caught my eye because as I looked in I saw a women bring out a basket of Portuguese egg tarts that had just come out of the oven! I ordered une pièce (1 piece which costed 2 euro) and the shopkeeper asked ‘naturale or cannelle’. Interesting…cinnamon on an egg tart? Why not? I automatically said ‘cinnamon’ (a reactionary English response when I really should be answering en français). The shopkeeper then replied in perfect english “Careful, the centre still might be soft”. Mmm…well that’s just music to my ears! There is nothing like a Portuguese egg tart that’s come right out of the oven. The pastry is delicate, light and flaky and the custard is soft and still warm. That was a magic food moment!

Pastéis de nata

For me, it’s still hit and miss when I ask shopkeepers in the Marais if they speak English. Some speak very well and others say they only know a little bit. It’s definitely not the case in the more touristy areas like the area just north of the Louvre where I was today where everyone knows English (I find that I don’t even have to try when I’m in that area). However, Paris is different from Montreal (where practically everyone is bilingual) in that instead of people automatically switching to English when they hear my french, both parties make an equal effort (me with my broken French and them with their basic/intermediate English) to understand each other. J’aime ça !

Paris walking tour

I’m pretty sure that I still have jet lag because I woke up this morning at 5am Paris time and was wide awake. I was thinking that in Paris I might experience a nice change of waking up to birds chirping. I occasionally hear birds but today I also heard the bells from a cathedral sound at 8am. How lovely!

Notre Dame Cathedral

So today, I headed out for my first walking tour of Paris (one of many which will soon follow). My brother was in Paris last year and told me about a free 3-4 hour walking tour that takes you around all the main sites and you just tip at the end. Sounds like a good deal to me and what a better day to do it than Easter Sunday when practically everything is closed. I think alot of other people thought the same thing because when I got to the meeting place for the free tour, there were over a hundred people gathering. They split the crowd into groups of 15 and I had an energetic and friendly guide by the name of Filipa.

We covered a lot of sights on our tour and learned about the history of Paris with the monarchy and the revolutions. I read up a lot on Paris before my trip so I was asking Filipa specific questions about various museums and which ones were worth going to. There is nothing like having a local liason who knows the ins and outs of the city to answer all your questions. Ultimately, you can save a lot of time. For instance, she told me about a Museum Pass that I can buy that will allow me to go to over 60 museums in Paris (with in and out privileges over multiple days) and will let me bypass the line to purchase admission tickets each time.

Here is the list of things we saw/learned the history about: Latin Quarter, Notre Dame Cathedral, Point Neuf, the Seine, love padlocks, the Louvre, the Palais Royale, le Jardin Tuileries, the Grande Palais, the Petite Palais, Place de la Concorde, l’Hotel des Invalides and Napoleon’s tomb. We also caught views of the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.

Love padlocks on Pont de l’Archevêché

Although I am not a big fan of tours in general (I find it hard to manoeuver and it’s impossible to just blend in and be inconspicuous) I understand the necessity and I did a learn a lot. At the end of the tour, there was the option to have dinner at a nearby brasserie which gives a discounted rate to the group. It seemed like a pretty good deal – 13 euro for an entrée (duck, ravioli, steak or chicken) with fries, salad and a drink (wine, beer, pop) plus water. And the fact that the majority of restaurants are closed today because of Easter Sunday, it made it a very appealing deal. However, because there were so many people who had taken the tour today, the restaurant was at capacity by the time our group finished the tour. At first I thought it might be a good idea as I could continue to ask my guide specific questions about Paris. But after waiting about 10 minutes (but it was really when I saw the food start to come out) doubt started to settled in. I thought to myself – I still have that sea bream that I cooked at Cordon Bleu yesterday and it looks w-a-y better than the stuff that is coming out of this kitchen. (The food looked one step up from cafeteria food and two steps down from casual bistro food). Initially I had thought that steak frites with wine at 13 euro would be tough to beat but I didn’t want to chance it. I do not want to have a disappointing food experience in Paris. I decided to go home and have the fish that I fillet and spent 2 hours cooking! So I headed back to my apartment and had my sea bream with sautéed spinach and zucchini with saffron potatoes. Ah, bliss!

The instructor made this one. Mine looked slightly different.

Day two at Cordon Bleu – how to fillet a fish

Today started again with an early start of getting out of the apartment at 7am to get to class. Today’s class at Cordon Bleu consisted of a 1 day course called “Cooking for Friends”. It consisted of a 3 hour demonstration of three different recipes (an appetizer, main and dessert) followed by the practical component where you would learn how to cook the main course that was demonstrated in the morning in the Cordon Bleu kitchens.

The morning demonstration was interesting and entertaining led by a dashing chef by the name of Chef Patrick Caals whose theatrical flair and dry sense of humour was quite an interesting way to bring in the day. His interpreter, however, looked like she had experienced quite a late evening the night before and at one point even left the classroom momentarily at which point, the chef started speaking in English since he was ‘sans translator’.

So today in the practical part of the “Cooking for Friends” course we got to actually cook in the kitchens at Cordon Bleu! The building and classrooms/kitchens are surprisingly small for such a famous institution. There were 10 of us in the cooking lab, all sharing a common work bench that ran along the length of the room with burners and ovens along the walls. My first observation: They use electric burners and not gas (ironic for Cordon Bleu, isn’t it?). Apparently the building is either too old or can’t be set up for gas.

My second observation: This really is a ‘fun class’ because there are two chef’s assistants who are handing us equipment as we need it, cleaning up after us and making sure our sauteed vegetables and potatoes don’t burn while we’re intently trying to gut and fillet a fish. That’s right – I learned how to take a whole fish today and fillet it! It’s actually something that I have never done nor have ever had any inclination to do. I think the chef translator noticed my face (as well as the other students around me) because she said “You signed up for this class!” One of the chef’s assistants was kind enough to offer to take pictures of me during the class. Thank goodness, because the last thing I want are fish guts on my camera.

After class I talked with one of the full-time students and learned that the program (for either culinary or pastry) consists of 3 semesters which are 3 months each. Which means, students graduate from Cordon Bleu in 9 months. Wow – that seems fast considering that tuition for Cordon Bleu is around 24,000 or 18,000 euro (for either the culinary or pastry diploma respectively) or 40,600 euro for the grand diploma (both culinary and pastry). From being in the school for the past two days I notice that the students are from all around the world (I’ve seen Spanish, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, French, British, Australian, American) and they can all speak French for the most part (or French and English). It is truly amazing.

However, after today’s cooking classes, I realize that the new George Brown culinary campus in Toronto really has state of the art facilities including gas and induction burners (except George Brown doesn’t have designated dishwashers – too bad).

I also made another Cordon Bleu friend today. Sitting in the stands next to me this morning was an American woman from Houston, Texas who came to Paris for a month for the sole purpose of attending workshops at Cordon Bleu (similar to me, attending Cordon Bleu was on her bucket list). It turns out that she also did the market tour and demonstration class with me yesterday (but was in a different group) and was taking an afternoon workshop on “The Secrets of Macarons“. We agreed to meet up after our respective classes and trade each other’s items so we would both have an entrée (sea bream) and dessert (macarons) for dinner tonight. It pays to make friends at Cordon Bleu. She was also telling me how her chef mentioned that she could get a list of stores that carry specific ingredients (ie. gold shimmer powder) that they used in their macaron class. Turns out this ‘list’ is actually a printed booklet that Cordon Bleu gives to all its students and lists kitchen equipment and supply stores, restaurants, chocolateries, bakeries and markets around the city (so their students know where to find specific ingredients or food items). We both requested copies from the front desk as we left. Sweet!

My first dinner out in Paris

I must say, I was very full after the demonstration at Cordon Bleu and wasn’t planning on eating anymore that day. But a friend of mine happens to be in Paris this weekend so we met up for dinner. I consulted my “Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris” guidebook and found a place nearby called – Le Trumilou. It boasted traditional french cuisine at very reasonable prices and a casual atmosphere. It did not disappoint and at 16,50 euro for a 2 course dinner (red rocket salad with smoked salmon and guinnea fowl as a main) that is a steal!

Very nice, unpretentious and friendly atmosphere. In fact, the fellow I sat next to made small talk when I had to squeeze into the seat next to him – table was family style. All it took was a “Bonjour” (him) and a “Hello. Bonjour.” (me) from which he said “Ah, you speak English” (in a UK accent). Turns out him and his two buddies were from the UK, all own apartments in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd arrondissements and come by for a visit every 6 weeks or so. How lovely! Not sure if the Brits get more vacation or if they just happened to be retired (although I doubt it) but they can speak french really well. I guess that’s what frequent visits to Paris will do if you make a little bit of effort.

Okay, off to sleep so I can be alert for day 2 of Cordon Bleu where I will actually be cooking in the Cordon Bleu kitchen!

Cordon Bleu – Day 1

Today was the day of my first workshop at Cordon Bleu – The Market Tour and Demonstration. Students gathered at 8:30am at the Cordon Bleu building and then went to the nearby St. Charles market to pick up local ingredients to try during lunch after the tour. The people taking the tour were mostly Americans visiting Paris or passing through Paris on their way to the south of France. However, I did manage to find a fellow Canadian in the group (and from Toronto no less). Having just arrived in Paris, he hasn’t been impressed with the food at all compared to what he’s had in Montreal.

I pointed him in the direction of two very well known food blogs that I’ve been using as my main food resources/virtual tour guides (David Lebovits and Chocolate and Zucchini) and told him if he followed them, he would not experience another disappointing meal à Paris. There was a group of 25 of us that went to the market and saw all the different items for sale. Fresh produce, eggs, meat (including horse, pig’s feet (trotters), all sorts of organ meats, rabbit, seafood, fish, goat cheese and a fromagerie (cheese shop) where we bought several types of cheeses to try (brie, fresh, mild and aged goat cheese, blue and compté – a hard cheese that tastes very much like Emmental).

Our tour guide – Kay – was excellent. She is a trained chef and used the visit the market to buy her ingredients for the week when she was working as a chef. I saw one of the butchers de-bone a leg of lamb for a customer and fish mongers clean and fillet fish for customers. Talk about full service! Kay was extremely knowledgeable about food and answered my questions about the different types of baguettes – traditional (regular), Parisienne (fatter) and bio (organic), demi-baguette (half a baguette) and how you could even specify how well cooked you would like it (for softer baguettes ask for one that is “pas trop cuit” (not too baked)). She was also kind enough to act as a translator for me while I was trying to decide between what kind of butter to buy for my baguettes in the morning. I finally settled on a small bar of fresh butter, made with raw milk with sea salt crystals in it so it would offer a nice bit of crunch to my morning baguette. If only I could have a translator whenever I went to the market in Paris! How great would that be?!

Having her solve my butter and baguette conundrum practically made the tour for me! I even managed to buy a small container of fresh eggs from the egg guy and after seeing such wonderful products, I have vowed not to make a repeat trip to the supermarché down the street from my apartment (especially for the produce).

After the market tour, the group headed back to le Cordon Bleu for a lunch that the chefs prepared including a sampling of the foods that were picked up at the market (four types of terrines, blood sausage, cheese, grey shrimp, salami, prosciutto, field strawberries and turnips). Lunch was followed by a cooking demonstration by Chef Marc Vaca (who also led the other half of the tour) who prepared a three course meal while we asked questions, learned how to make and tasted mushroom risotto, sea bream with endive and an apple tart with home-made caramel ice cream – yum! Chef spoke in French for the demonstration (even though I spoke with him earlier and knew that he speaks perfect English – I guess they want to keep it authentic) while one of the Cordon Bleu students translated while he cooked – just like what they do with the full-time students!

Speaking of the full-time students, classes were starting at the same time that our market tour was beginning so I managed to catch a glimpse of the students gathering in their uniforms. It’s a very multicultural group (but I did notice lots of Japanese and Chinese and have heard a few British accents).

Cordon Bleu students preparing for a day of classes

Oh yes, on my way home from Cordon Bleu I decided to get off at the Palais Royal – Musée de Louvre metro stop and stumbled upon the Carrousel du Louvre Shopping Center which is connected to the Louvre. Went up a level and saw the Jardine Tuileries (it’s huge), the glass pyramid and the Arc du Triomphe du Carrousel. Ah, this is the Paris that everyone knows! And how nice it was to be in an area where the sales associates openly speak English to you. Haha! I know it’s only my second day but I really could use a break from using my tourist french. But alas, I could not stay long. I had fresh eggs and butter in my possession and had to B-line it to my apartment. But I will go back as that’s the moment that I realized I was in Paris. Everything up until that point felt a bit like Montreal with nicer architecture or a french version of New York City.

Getting oriented in Paris

So today was mostly administrative things. Get some basic groceries so I don’t starve, pick up a pay as you go cell phone so I can make local phone calls and find out where Cordon Bleu is (it’s a good 30 minute subway ride from the apartment). Going to the grocery store was rather interesting in that things aren’t familiar (which is to be expected).

But I actually had a hard time choosing butter. There is soft butter, regular butter, partly salted butter, butter sold in bricks, butter sold in small flat squares, butter sold in tubs…I have no idea what the difference is between them all. I’m sure that any would be just fine for my morning baguette. Oh ya, and there are different types of baguettes too – parisienne, traditional and bio to name a few. A couple other observations – they sell wine (no surprise) and lardons (cube cut strips of bacon) in the grocery stores and finding coffee cream was a bit challenging for me. After much searching I finally had to ask “Avez-vous la crème?” and which point the store clerk pointed out the crème fraiche. Is that what Parisiens use for cream in their coffee?

And then there’s my dilemma of starting my day off with a good cup of coffee each morning (yes, I know I’m a coffee snob). There happens to be two Starbucks located on the street that I’m living on but I refuse to drink Starbucks coffee while I’m in Paris. But finding good coffee in any city can be a little a tricky, especially one that you aren’t familiar with. So after walking around the neighbourhood, I happened to walk into a store in my neighbourhood called Pozzetto (an Italian gelato and coffee shop) thinking it looked pretty authentic. I later came back to the apartment and realized that David Lebovitz (well know Paris food blogger) listed it as one of the best coffee places in Paris! What luck!

And finally, Cordon Blue. When I got there at 9pm the doors were still open. Some pastry students were just wrapping up their class on macarons. They had a gift shop so I quickly perused it but we’ll see if I feel like buying anything after my two cooking workshops. My sister did request a Cordon Bleu apron if it had a nice Frenchie feel to it. Somehow, I think the one they have looks a little too professional.

Adventures of a Dietitian

From food field trips to cooking courses, join me on a personal quest to find out what it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle while eating good food.

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