TANTE MARIE - WEEK 7

Week 7

This week was budget exam week and theory exam week ..
Do not like exams ...that's what I know ...
Just do not ..
Been there done that and very very well ..
For a long time of my life used to top class ( and yes I'm showing off) well why not ha ha ha
But I owe all those "1st " to my mum who saw to it that I was better than the best ..
Left on my own , I lack ambition or that little stamp that can prove that I'm the best ..
Well I like to do well but ...
God I don't like exams..

Remember when I was doing my graduation in Economics, the whole country side and their pets had finished their exams, but me , mine went on for a month and a half...
And I was learning about per capita and demand and supply and Market trends ..and why did I choose Economics ...
" because it's tough and so I wanted to " I wanted to kick myself, well I love taking the path that is seldom travelled...that's me...
The only thing that I have taken for life , from all the big fat books I studied for my exams, is the Keynesian theory that states, " in the future we are all dead" ...
So live in the moment , I'm not saying , spend foolishly or live your life hanging by a thread, but make the most of it, because who has really seen the future, and by the time we reach our future, it becomes our present , hope you guys understand my rambling by now...

So got back from gorgeous Ballyfin ..
(Thank God I went , it was Gob-Smacking Awesome raised to the power of at least 1000000 ...)
Straight into the open arms of my Tante Marie kitchen ...
I love it there , every moment of it ..
Last week I was incharge of cleaning the floors , this week to carry crockery and cutlery for lunch and to carry the soiled ones back ..
When we cooking on the ground floor it's great but when we at Alsace which is on the 2nd floor, seriously it's a great work out ...
Have washed so many dishes that it's not even funny ..
My hands are not the prettiest hands, but they are hands that can make wonderful food and I'm happy with that..
Now God made petite and sweet , so I should be thankful ..because all the best things in life come in small pretty packages, and I'm sticking to this theory ...
Can't get everything in life ...

So ya had practicals on Wednesday, I was ready and prepared to cook, but the moment our time started, I really got nervous...
I cooked , but my heart was beating like thunder during a storm....
It got over, after two and a half hours...whew...finally thank God ...
In the middle,I forgot how to switch the warmer on, dropped hot baking beads, cried cutting onions and had fits of giggles...thank God , if nothing better I'm at least entertaining in the kitchen ...

Went and cooked after that , everyone in class looked happier and we were back to our noisy, singing selves...

Did I tell you that this week , my partner was Martin, he has hair like my little Zeke...
Curly , absolutely curly, he is a sweet boy and we worked well together, but most of this week , we did a lot of stuff on our own , so did not really get to know him...
Went back terribly tired..

Tom is Thursday , just one last day left for our "theory exams" ...
This was just looming on my head...
Thursday , we spent the entire day cooking ...was so tired..
I could have cried..
Came home and crashed...
But in my head I was running through quantities of flour, sugar , butter, teaspoons , tablespoons, cuts of meat, how to buy fish, culinary terms, French words, how many gm of vegetable per person, how much of soup per person, culinary terms, recipes....my mind was a restless whirlpool...so just got up and hit my books...
..crashed by 10.30pm....
But was up 4.30, and frankly was not able to sleep , so poured through it again and at about 6 am , I put my alarm off and decided , I'm not attending class, I'm gonna sleep and go straight for my exams at 2...
I was up at 9... Was leisurely eating breakfast...
Called school to tell Debbie the secretary that I'm not coming...Because was tired, sleepy, my head was aching and I was so stressed that thought I would not be able to cook...
But Mrs.A , picked up the phone, and I was stuttering and trying to tell her why I'm not coming to class ....
And she said to me, " Young Lady, I should not be telling you what to do , but I do believe you should come to class and cook "
Well I stuttered some more and was trying to come up with some plausible excuse, but she is a wise lady ...
And so in spite of telling her that I need to sleep.
After 10 minutes, I was running in my uggs, with all my might to class....
And Thank God I went, because as soon as I took my knife set out, I was at peace, I was calm and relaxed , and all of us were, revising stuff together as we cooked...
So two and a half hours later, "coq au vin"in place and profiteroles au chocolat ...looking shiny and tasty...
We all sat and ate together...
I stuffed my self...
Ok let it be known, I have put on 3 kgs , so ya start running from Monday...
The next one hour, we were scattered all around the school doing our last revision...
Tim took our exams ...
He said that Martin, Maja and Maria get half an hour extra , because English is not their first language...
Well I actually thank God, they did not think so ...ha ha ha ..
If only they knew , it's the only language I actually speak...my Hindi I'm still learning and Spanish , well will study it again ....
We all finished our paper in about one and a half hour...
And then you could hear , the clicking of pens, scribbling sounds, coughing ...and finally giggling ...
Think our class is really low on good behaviour, but I really have a lot of fun, because , they are all mad in their own way and really nice and frankly pretty good at their cooking ...
But who am I to judge because I'm learning myself ...
We all got out of class with smiles from ear to ear, so we all really done fantastically or then , we have no clue that we are clueless ...ha ha ha

Got back in full jubilation mode...
I think good happy moments need to be celebrated , so went with my lovely land-lady Eve to Morrisons, and did my weekly fruit and vegetable shopping , then got myself a bubbly bitter chocolate , crackers and chips...and had a party , me and all the 7 voices in my head ..ha ha ha
And also packed , all the stuff I don't need...
1 bag packed, now 2more to go ...
How's that for multi-tasking ...

I love Saturdays, went to London...
Bought the dress, that had my name on it ...ha ha ha ...
And spent the day with Rachna, roaming, eating and shopping...
And then found my Kitchen-aid and my Ice-cream making machine...
So felt really happy..
Then it was decided that I should spend Saturday-Sunday in London with Sanjay and Rachna..
So yes did just that...
Talked..shopped some more..
Went and spent time with Rachna, getting glitter red toe nails , to go with the Christmas Spirit...
Now I need to find a mistletoe toe ha ha ha
And ya bought two more Sweaters...somebody please STOP me ...
Sanjay then took us to his favourite haunt for dinner...
"Burger-King".... Ha ha ha I love junk food too, but have never seen anyone devour junk food like Sanjay ,and still be fit...
Well think he either has great metabolism or then "worms" ha ha ha...
He is gonna kill me...
Slept and woke up at 4 , talked to my favourite girls in Mumbai...
And spent the day with Rachna,who is such a wonderful soul, she has so much peace in her heart ..and enjoys , the little moments in her life..
She is full of spark and positivity and is very secure and humble ...
We went to Rose bakery ...
Well not seen another person who loves "scones as much as she does" ...
She is so proper on one hand and adventurous on the other ...
And carries her elegance very casually...
Well these two days with Sanjay and Rachna have been crazy food wise...
You know how , scientists have White rats in their laboratory..
Well felt like the rabbit, because have tried so much of food, chocolate, fudge, burgers, pasta, salmon,gelato, pizza, dough balls etc ...
And discussed what was nice, what tasted great, ha ha ha ...actually since I love food..it was fun...but came back feeling like a turkey stuffed with goodies for Christmas...
Sanjay and Rachna, just want you both to know,it's always too much fun hanging with you...
And just to let you know..
I'm going running tomorrow morning..
Feels good , finish this piece that I'm sharing with all of you, I sit snug in my new fleece jammies, that say " let it snow" ..
Listening to Paris cafe jazz and drinking green tea...
Could not have asked for a better week and on this note ...
Good-night ..
And to a wonderful new week ,filled with food, fun and lots of laughter...