Cheddar Cheese

Remember that post that talked about going to the church picnic?  Well, I've spent the better part of my life as an Independent Baptist girl.  I know all about "dinner on the grounds" kind of events.  Our church even tried a pig roast one weekend....unfortunately, digging a pit and putting a foil-covered pig in it to cook overnight wasn't a forte of the men I went to church with..... anyway, back to the picnic and food.  I had never been to a FRENCH "after church picnic", so I had no idea what to expect.  David had been to a couple and indicated that the food didn't compare to what we were accustomed to.  He suggested that I make a chicken divan casserole.  He knew that at least the 4 of us could eat that if we didn't like the looks of the other possibilities.

Off to the grocery.  I shipped Campbell's Cream of Celery and Cream of Chicken soup from home.  The French do have a cream of chicken soup, but I haven't seen a celery version yet.  Now, when I say "off to the grocery", I don't mean jump in the car and drive up the street.  I mean get your little roller cart (yep, just like the little old ladies trail behind them) and head off on foot to the grocery.

I have a small convenient store only 1 block from our apartment....it would be like doing your grocery shopping at a BP station at home....not going to work.  My other two options are MonoPrix and Simply.  MonoPrix is a little closer, but it is on the lower level of a department store and always smells a little "off".  I chose Simply, which meant about a 3/4 mile walk.

Walking to the grocery as you pull your little cart can be interesting.  You have to dodge a lot of walkers, many of whom do not know the meaning of "give way".  I don't know about you, but if there are 3 of us walking down the sidewalk and a single person is headed toward us, the group of 3 will usually try to make room for the 1....not in France.  I have literally rammed shoulders with people because after so many times of "giving way", I have decided that THEY will give way.  This makes David laugh, but it's the principle of the darn thing!!

You also have to be on the look out for bike riders.  The sidewalks are split into "biking lanes" and pedestrian lanes.  The bikers don't always follow the rules.  Don't forget to watch for the trams, cars and motorcycles.  It can be a stressful walk.  Don't even get me started on walking there in the rain....

Anyway, I made it to Simply.  I needed several things, so I need a shopping cart.  OOPS.  Didn't bring any Euro coins and you have to have one to unlock the cart.  Off to the service desk to use my PreK level French to ask for change.  The girl has mercy on me and gives me a "token".  I feel like I'm playing Monopoly and just landed on the "get out of jail free" space.  WOO HOO

The cheese aisle in America is pretty standard.  You have your American, cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, and maybe a few others.  In France the cheese aisle is like a separate STORE!!  I am completely overwhelmed by the enormity of it, so I just look for "yellow shredded cheese".  Voila!!  I found some. I load it into my cart and head for the check out.  The clerk asks me something in French....I have no idea what she is saying....finally decipher she is asking me if I have a "Simply" card....nope, just get me out of here please....I load my items into my little roller bag and head home.

Well, let me just say all yellow shredded cheese is not the same.  I had purchase something named "mimolette".  I just assumed that was "french" for cheddar....wrong!!  When did I find this out?  When I took my chicken divan out of the oven and noticed that the cheese hadn't "melted".  Apparently, mimolette doesn't melt.

Fortunately, no one at the picnic knew the difference.  Mine was the first dish to be cleaned out and I had people ask for the recipe.  By the way, David was right....past a few chips and a little fruit, the Sternasty kids and mom didn't eat much more than the Chicken Divan.  There wasn't the green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, fried chicken and other "church food" that we were used to.  Past a cut up "salami", there wasn't any REAL food at all, just a lot of cookies, chips, pretzels and a few types of cheese and crackers.  No wonder mine went so fast.

Back to the cheddar cheese.  Remember when we had the delicious BBQ and I took "Pug's potatoes"?  Guess what ingredient I need for those?  Yep, cheddar cheese.  I scoured the grocery for "cheddar" but came up empty.  Sarah was a trooper and went on a "cheddar cheese adventure" with me.  We didn't find cheddar, but found a cheese shop called La cloche à fromage.

Fortunately, between my broken french and the clerk's fairly good english we were able to establish that I needed a cheese that would melt when baked.  She didn't have any cheddar, but sold something called "laguoile".  I bought a hunk and went home to grate it.  I am happy to report it worked like a charm.  We even used it on our skyline coneys later that week.  (yep, I shipped skyline chili too)

It's funny the things that you take for granted and don't even consider might be an issue.  I'll have to share my "sour cream, half and half, and heavy cream" adventure with you in another post.

I will confess that while David and I were at Simply last week,  I wandered over into another section of the cheese "megamart" and was looking at all of the different imported cheeses...France makes a LOT of different cheeses and they import more from several other countries as well.  Well, guess what I found?  A small white hunk of cheese that read "CHEDDAR".  I am now officially in heaven.

Last Christmas, my nephew Max drew my name.  I don't remember what I put on my list, but Max had other ideas for me.  He gave me two books.  I hadn't started to read them yet, but they are now a priority.  (Just in case the picture doesn't work, the books are "Cheese Primer" and "The Pocket Idiots Guide to WINE")

I am off to Italy for the next 10 days so probably won't be blogging.  Wishing you a day filled with Blessings.

Apartment hunting

When I came to France for the first time in March it was for the purpose of finding an apartment/house that we would live in for the next 2-4 years.  I say 2-4 because David's "assignment" was to be 3-5 years and he has been living in France since October 1, 2012.  I also say that because it will make my friends, family AND me feel better.

Strasbourg's "centreville" or city center is encircled by a waterway.  It is a flurry of activity during all hours of the day.  David thought it best to find someplace inside the channel so that it would be easy for us to get around and for me to be connected. Enter Laurance, our realtor.  

Unfortunately, for Laurance, I can be picky.  When we moved to Fishers, we looked at 27 properties in a day and a half. (Some of these I nixed without even getting out of the car) My family gave up and stayed by the hotel pool on Saturday and let me narrow down the options.  They joined me when I had found "it" so that they could feel like they had a "say" in the decision too.  Not to say that I am ALWAYS right, but everyone loves our Indiana home with its peaceful backyard.

Back to Laurance.  Because we were focusing in centreville, we were WALKING.  We looked at 10 properties and I didn't just "love" any of them.  There was one that I did like a lot...unfortunately, it had beams running along the ceiling of the second floor.  They added a lot of character to the apartment, but were about 3 inches too low for my 6'2" husband to navigate.  He leaves for work before 6AM everyday and is on autopilot.  There was no way he was going to remember to DUCK every morning.

At 5:00, we didn't yet have a clear "winner", but had 2 or 3 that we could "live with".  Laurance headed home.  David and I discussed our pros and cons for each of the finalists over dinner and each prayed about where God would have us move before we went to bed that night.

God is good.  He put the same apartment on both our hearts.  We had made our choice.  Now to go back and check it out from a "I'm moving in here" eye.  In France, many of the apartments did not come with appliances.  That's ok, it's like that in the US too.  You rarely move into a new house that includes a refrigerator, right?  Well, OUR apartment not only didn't have a fridge, it didn't have anything except a kitchen sink.  Yes, that is right, there were no cabinets on the walls, no stove, no floor cabinets.  There wasn't even a light fixture!!  Just a bare lightbulb and a ugly sink.  It does however, have an AWESOME view of Strasbourg's famous cathedral.

Off to IKEA!! I was on overload after the first 45 minutes.  Laurance and David met with the Ikea people to set up an installer to come out and measure the kitchen.  I went to buy David a soda.  There are a lot of people here that speak English....I don't think any of them work at Ikea.  Thankfully, Laurance was an expert translator.

I worked "on-line" to design the kitchen cabinetry and pick out the appliances.  David was the actual "chooser" for all the final finishes (countertops, cabinet fronts, handles, NEW sink, etc). He did a great job....well, except for the fridge.  I wanted an "American" fridge....instead, I got something that is barely a step-up from the fridge that DJ has in his dorm room.  Let's just say that our ice cube trays and ice container take up half of the freezer area.

The most important appliance in our apartment is our dryer.  Not gonna lie, it's my favorite.  (No, I never thought I would say that in my lifetime!!)  David didn't have one for the first 7 months he lived in France.  We would FaceTime everyday and I would see him with his laundry on the drying rack.  There is nothing more inhumane than using a cardboard like towel to dry yourself off with after a relaxing shower.  He had teased me and said that he had looked and there were not any dryers in France. You better bet that was the first thing I looked for when I arrived.  It's not like a US dryer....it has a removable tank that collects the "water" from the clothes and that has to be emptied about every 5 loads.  The clothes don't come out "hot and dry", they come out "warm and damp", but at least they aren't CRUNCHY.

That's all for today folks.  I'm headed to the grocery.  That experience is one that I'll be sure to share with you on a  later post.....it'll be a page turner for sure.  

May you experience God's abundant life and peace as you go on about your day.  Remember to thank Him for the many blessings He places in your path daily.... because what if you woke up tomorrow and only had the things that you thanked Him for today?  OUCH!  I'm convicted.  Much love!

Beets for dinner

Please don't think that you will have to endure a new post each day.  I have several weeks of "memories" to catch up on, so I promise, they will eventually dwindle.

After two weeks of getting the apartment together and getting blinds installed in all of the important rooms, we were ready for the kids to arrive.  I was a little nervous because neither kid had flown on an international flight without us before.  

Our city, Strasbourg is on an eastern line from Paris and near the German border.  That means, WHEN you come to visit me, you will most likely (for cost purposes) fly into Frankfurt, Germany.  It is about a 2 hour drive to the airport.  David doesn't mind because he gets to drive on the Autobahn.  Yes, my husband likes to drive fast too.

Back to the kids.  They arrived on the Saturday 6:15 AM flight from Indianapolis via Philly.  The company was paying for their flight and because it was an international one, they were able to fly business class.  (On an international flight, that is first class)  DJ's first words to us were "I guess Fergie was right, they do serve champagne in first class".  And so our adventure began.

In Europe, most people drive small cars.  Parking can be difficult and an SUV just doesn't work.  We drive a 4 door sedan...a really nice one.  It's so nice that my farm animal husband tries to keep it clean.  Because it's a sedan, there isn't a lot of room for luggage.  Both kids were toting essential things that I didn't have room for in my luggage two weeks prior.....Lipton Cold Brew Tea, Skyline chili, Cream of Celery soup, Oxy pads, etc., so they had HUGE suitcases and DJ had his golf clubs.

I was kind and let the kid who is nearly 6'4" tall sit in MY seat up front.  Sarah and I were crammed on one half of the back seat because we had to put the other side of the back seat down to fit in the golf clubs.  Let's just say after a two hour ride on one butt cheek, I was ready to get out of the car.  

DJ and Sarah were absolute troopers while they were here.  They got up and went to church with us that first Sunday.  It was a "picnic after service" day, so they even went to that.  If you think being introduced to a whole group of new people that speak English is intimidating, try meeting a church full of French and German people, then throw in a picnic.  Sarah and I were left to socialize with the women and children while David and DJ played "American football" with the men.  Somehow, both of my boys wound up being the QBs for their team...yes, they split the Americans up.

David arrived in Strasbourg in October of 2012.  He was blessed to have met many people who invited the "married bachelor" over for dinner and socializing.  Some, several times.  These kind people wanted to meet the REST of his family, so we attended several dinners while DJ and Sarah were here.

Our first dinner was a BBQ at one of David's co-workers, Manu.  David happens to also play basketball with Manu on Thursday nights with the company team.  Manu, his wife Sophie and their son Mael (8 yrs old) own a house with a garden.  That's what the French call our American "yard".  Manu is an excellent cook.  We had delicious shish kebabs of steak, chicken and duck.  I brought "Pug's Potatoes"....my standard potato dish.  I'll tell you in another post about finding "cheddar cheese" here in France.

The meal and fellowship were awesome.  Both kids enjoyed themselves.  It helped that both Manu and Sophie, along with being excellent hosts, speak very good English.  They actually were on a 6 month work assignment in Indianapolis about the same time that we moved there with Lilly.

Next dinner engagement was with a wonderful couple from our church, Trinity International Church of Strasbourg. (TICOS)  I had eaten at this couple's house when I came to Strasbourg to find our apartment in March and David had been invited over about once a month.  Evodia is a greek woman in her late 60s and her husband Phillipe is French and mid-70's.

Having been to dinner at their house many times, David had talked about what a great cook Evodia was.  DJ and Sarah had met her at church, and they both speak English.  Nothing to worry about, right? WRONG.  

We were 4 of 7 guests that evening.  A charming French couple and a lovely orthopedic surgeon from Greece were also joining us.  After a brief time of introductions and the customary "aperitif", we were seated at the lovely and formally appointed dinner table.

Opening course....you guessed it, BEETS.  Ok, I just need to give you some background here.  I grew up in Dayton, Ky.  My mom grew up in Newport, Ky.  She was a city girl.  I never even SAW broccoli until I was out of my parents house and on my own.  I don't think that I started cooking broccoli until I was 23.  My childhood veggies consisted of corn, potatoes, green beans and peas.  (I HATE peas)  Back to dinner.....

On our plates were beets, 3 shrimp, an hard boiled egg, pinkie sized zucchini, faux crab meat and tzatziki. (Tzatziki is a greek dish that is made with Greek yogurt, cucumber, lemon, garlic and fresh dill)  Let me just give a HUGE shout-out to my sister-in-law Gale for making tzatziki for family gatherings....if not for her, DJ and I would have folded at the sight of this plate. 

DJ was seated to my right and Sarah was to his right and the hostess' left.  I ever so cautiously whispered to DJ to use the tzatziki as a "sauce" to get the beets down and to eat those first.  He was a CHAMP!!  It's hard to make polite conversation when you are eating something that tastes and looks like sliced play doh, but we did it.  After he and I had totally cleaned our plates, I had occasion to look over at Sarah's plate.  Not only did she not "suck-it-up" and clean her plate, she hadn't even taken ONE bite of the beets!  She just moved them around on her plate.  What a weenie!

The second course contained rice stuffed peppers, tomatoes and eggplant and were quite tasty.  We found out in subsequent conversation that this was a traditional Greek dinner and that our surgeon guest didn't eat meat after 5:00 in the evening.  

David was very worried that I would offend Evodia and Phillipe with this post.  It is not in any way a reflection of her cooking.  As I mentioned, this was a traditional Greek meal.  They are a wonderful couple and I count Evodia as a dear friend. This is simply a reflection of my blogs name.... a Kentucky girl living in France.... who had never put a beet to her lips before. 

That's all for today.  May God's peace rest on you as you venture about your day.  Much love.

Better Late Than Never

Well, it's 3 weeks late, but you know what they say…."better late than never".

I'm going to start blogging about my time here in France.  An American in Alsace…just FYI, there is an organization by that name…I know, because I joined it in an effort to get/stay connected.

I'm not sure where to start and will probably ramble most of the time, but hey, if I don't capture some of the memories as they happen, what will I forget to tell my family when I come home? Yes home, because Strasbourg definitely is NOT home. Don't get me wrong, it's a great city.  If my friends and family could be here too it would be AWESOME!!

My first few weeks here teemed with self pity and loneliness.  David tried, but nothing can replace the liberty of walking out your front door and having a conversation with anyone you bump into….literally, anyone.  Not having to formulate a thought in your brain and then trying to translate the words into another language, just BOOM, speak what pops into your head.  It didn't help that my hubby is extremely dedicated to his job and wants to do things "right".  That meant long hours by myself every day. (This was June and the kids hadn't arrived yet)

Fortunately, I live with a pig.  I love him and he's MY FARM ANIMAL, but he's a pig none the less.  I spent entire days scrubbing the tile grout in my kitchen and in the bathrooms.  Fortunately, those days were rainy and sub 60 degrees, so being inside was ok. Did I mention that this was in SUMMER??  Sub 60?  Are you kidding me? There was also the unpacking of "stuff" that he hadn't gotten to…all with the excuse of "I didn't know where you would want it to go". That turned out ok because it gave me something to do.  Build shelving units, put sheets on the beds, organize the cupboards, you get the idea.

Once the floors were clean and the "stuff" was put in place, then I could start shopping….oh wait, language barrier.  I bet you have never gone over words/phrases in your "French for dummies" book before you went to your local hardware store to buy blinds!  Why were the blinds so important? Well, because there were workers, 5 floors up, refinishing our building (new windows, roof, etc) and when I woke up in my nice comfy bed, often one of them was looking in my window and could see me asleep!  Blinds became a priority!

Fast forward.  David takes me out for dinner, often, because he knows what makes me happy.  Not cooking, just in case you don't know me very well…actually, that's probably not true.  I do like to cook.  I hate the clean up and absolutely DETEST the meal planning.  If he or my children would say, "hey let's have a prime rib roast, asparagus, baked potato and homemade cheesecake for dessert", okay.  However, for me to think about what I will want to prepare for dinner in 6-8 hours SUCKS.  Anyway, back to dinner out.  If you haven't been in a foreign country where English is NOT on the menu, you haven't been stretched yet.  Couple that with being in a region of France that is half German and you have my nightmare.  My mother-in-love and David's sisters can attest to the fact that I HATE sauerkraut (Charcoute, here in France).  Imagine going to my first restaurant and that is the side dish for half of the menu!  I was able to order chicken in a Reisling wine sauce as my meal and it was pretty tasty. 

Oh, did you know that I am a tea drinker?  I only mention this because the next thing you need to worry about when you go out to eat (or maybe the first thing for some) is what you will drink.  I'm picky.  I admit it.  I don't like carbonated drinks, I don't like beer and I don't like wine.  What's left?  Water.  Well, do you like it WITH gas or SANS gas?  How do you feel about paying $6 a bottle?  While my husband is enjoying his $5 beer, I am savoring a $6 water (with no ice).  The next time you are at Applebee's, drink two waters/lemon for me!!

Remember, I'm rambling.  Sorry about that!  I just realized that most of this sounds BAD.  While it may be uncomfortable, I firmly believe that God is using this time in my life to not only "stretch me" but to also draw me closer to Him.  I have been faithful in my devotion time and have definitely spent more time in prayer while I've been here.  That is HUGE.  It's easy to put God on the back burner when you HAVE to run to Macy's to pick up something and then go to grab a bite of lunch with so-and-so.  Then it's time for the kids to get home from school or to get to the next sporting event.  Then it's time for dinner and I can't miss the next episode of Survivor….you get the idea.  It's nice to have real "quiet time".

That's my first entry.  Hope that you won't judge my grammar too harshly.  Tune in next time to hear about our "beets for dinner" episode while DJ and Sarah were here. Love to you all and may you rest in the knowledge of God's love and His rich blessings.