Still, I’ve managed to fit in a couple of things other than just sitting in my room and watching 21 Jump Street, the late-80s police drama with Johnny Depp, which has been the latest gem from the library. In the series and a half I’ve so far watched, we’ve had covered AIDS, racism, maltreatment in psyc wards, drug dealing (very instructively, they showed you how to snort cocaine), drink-driving, gay-bashing, Johnny dealing with his mother moving in with someone that she wasn’t married to… it’s a mix between watching for the kick of seeing 80s styles and attitudes, and actually watching it on its own merits, but it’s very good in any case!

But back to the subject in hand… in the IRL journal I skipped a couple of pages I’d written in French because I’m pretentious like that*, not much happened in them but I did note the wonderful British care pack sent by Gillian. Percy Pigs and a French book about Robbie Burns came just at the right time as I was really starting to feel a bit lonely and cut off from the Scottish world!

*well kinda. But my brain is a confused place to be just now with the language mix… “chais pas” (= je ne sais pas = dunno) is just easier to say!

Makes lots (30-40) (but they go fast, hence the lack of cookies in the photo…)

2 cups / 260g plain flour

2.5 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

3/4 cup crystallised ginger

1 cup / 100g brown sugar (preferably dark, but demerara will do)

170g butter

1 large egg

4 tbsp black treacle

1. Beat sugar and butter until fluffy.
2. Add the egg and treacle and beat until blended.
3. Stir in a mix of all the remaining (dry) ingredients until just blended.
4. Cover and refrigerate for between 1 hour and 1 day.
5. Form into balls, roll in sugar, lightly squish onto greased baking sheets.
6. Bake until cracked but soft to touch for 12 minutes at 175oC. Cool on sheets for 1 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

• e fonder des syndicats ainsi que le droit de mener des négociations collectives.

The below 3 recipes are just some ideas I was throwing around, which you  can use as set out or adapt to suite whatever you’ve got around: Tomato Sauce, Mushroom Stroganoff, and Lentil and Apple Stew.

French Tomato Pasta Sauce [Veggie]

It might seem like somewhat of a contradiction in terms to name a vegetarian sauce French, particularly after having been informed of French nutritional guidelines: according to them, you should have at least 3-4 portions of calcium a day; not more than 1 egg a week; at least 500g of carbohydrates per day; and your diet must include something from the category “meat and fish” – different from the likes of lentils, which here are classed as just another carb rather than the protein they actually are. But anyway, this sauce is thusly named because of the wine involved. So there you have it.

Add in whatever veg you want; I went for some fresh tomatoes, carrots, and a red pepper. You could also add some meat if you must… or some beans.

(serves 4-5)

800g / 2 tins of chopped or plum tomatoes

4 tbsp tomatoe purée

1 tsp dried parsley, or 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp dried garlic, or 1 minced clove fresh garlic

1 tsp salt

Pinch pepper

6 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

Vegetables

1/2 cup white wine

1. You have the option either of using one pot or two: if two, then blend the first 6 ingredients together with a stick mixer, and separately fry the onions lightly in the oil for 2 minutes before stirring the sauce in along with the wine and vegetables. If one, then fry the onions, add the other ingredients apart from the vegetables, and blend together, before adding in the vegetables.
2. Simmer for at least 30 minutes.
3. Serve with pasta and some yummy French bread.  You can finish up the wine while you’re at it… though not if it was 1€, I’d really not recommend that for actual drinking!

Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff -y Thing [Veggie]

For those times when you just crave mushrooms even though you’ve hated them all your life…

(serves 2)

2 medium onions

250g basic white mushrooms

1 heaped tsp pepper

1 minced clove garlic / 1 scant tsp dried garlic

1 scant tsp herbes de provence

150ml double cream (maybe using single would be less calorfic… meh)

50ml milk

75ml rosé wine (white would also work)

Rice or tagliatelle or crusty bread to accompany

1. Chop the onions and soften them in a little oil and salt in a large frying pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes
2. Add the garlic, herbs and pepper and fry for a further 3-5 minutes
3. Meanwhile, you should have been chopping the mushrooms. Put them into the pan and stir them around for a few minutes so they’re evenly heated.
4. Add in the liquids and stir.
5. Leave for 5-10 minutes so it reduces a bit, then serve.

Apple Cider and Lentil Stew [Veggie]

This is an adaptation of another recipe, hence the use of relatively dry cider, but it was actually a bit dry for me, so using apple juice instead might well be a nicer and cheaper, if sweeter.

(serves 4-5)

2 onions, chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 tsp herbes de provence

1 tsp paprika

1 cup green lentils

2 cups cider / apple juice

200ml vegetable stock

2 potatoes, peeled and chopped

1. Sauté the onions in a little oil for a few minutes until softened
2. Add the carrots, herbs and spices and fry for a further few minutes
3. Stir in everything else. Bring to a boil then simmer for 40 minutes – 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If the liquid’s disappearing too quickly, then put a lid on the pot.

The quantity’s pretty subjective, with the below being probably enough for a 1-person sandwich topping, or for 2 people having it with some meat. Double or triple if you want and it’ll keep for at least a few days.

1 large onion, finely sliced (but in long strips rather than mincing it)

2 tsp sugar

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Soften the onion in a large frying pan or pot for 5-8 minutes over a medium heat, in 1tbsp of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Stir in the sugar and turn the heat low. Leave 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has caramelised (sweet and sticky).
3. Pour in the balsamic vinegar and turn up the heat. Stir for a few minutes to reduce it to a more syrup-like consistency.
4. Serve warm – if keeping some for later, you can reheat in a microwave.

On Wednesday, my leg became rather sore and swollen, so I went to the campus doctor on Thursday morning, who referred me to her dad, the sports doctor (lucky!). According to him, having been injected with and given to take in pill form anti-inflammatories was the worst thing that could have happened. Thanks French doctor number 1. So he did an ultrasound on my leg and found out that I had a haematoma and needed to have excess blood extracted from my leg.  He also “needed” to show me said blood once it had come out of my leg, not sure why. 3/3 for French doctors and their needles… at least I’m now getting over my injection-phobia. Kinda. Though returning for 4/4 today  so we’ll see how that “getting over” goes in practice!

On Saturday, I had a lovely “aprem créatif” with some girls from church; I explain very badly how they made lovely Fimo beads in the journal entry. Forgot to mention there the delightful aubergine tarte made by our hostess – I must explore the world of tartes when I return to the world of ovens, because they really are delightful thrown together with some pastry, cooked vegetables (onions and aubergine in this case), an egg and some milk or cream. She also added sesame seeds which was an interesting touch.

The sermon referred to in the journal can be found at: http://www.trinitystrasbourg.org/trinity//messages/message-12-01-29.mp3 if you fancy having a listen, ’twas really good. Mind you, when you commence a service with “How Great Thou Art” and also have “Before The Throne of God Above” (I couldn’t find a link not sung sickeningly sweetly) and the “Revelation Song” then I defy the service to go badly!

(as always, clicking the pictures should embiggen / reveal more if half is cut off as in 2nd picture)

(I wasn’t sure about whether or not I wanted to display a picture of my thigh on the internet… but came to the conclusion that I wanted to show people what I’m making all that fuss about! Bearing in mind that this picture was taken 9 days after the fall…)

Anyway, a mixture of that and my kitchen limitations (down to 2 hobs for our 40-person floor  and the portable oven’s disappeared again) has led me to be really bored with food. Anyone got any inspiration for me? That doesn’t require an oven? And isn’t curry, chilli, tomato-based pasta, tangine, omelette, stirfry, salad, or soup (which seem to be my basic staples at the moment)?

It was to this end that I decided to branch out a bit and try beanburgers. First off, let me say: don’t be afraid of rice. It is *ok* to use rice again. You just need to make sure that when you make it you put it covered in the fridge as soon as it’s cold. This rice is used instead of the breadcrumbs found in many bean-burger recipes, as far as I can tell. Use whatever beans you like; France is quite restricted in its bean-offering so I had a mixture of kidney and cannellini beans (I think, “red beans” and “white beans” respectively).

These went down a treat with some home-made fries, made by cutting potatoes, patting down with kitchen roll to dry them off, tossing in a mix of some oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of lemon juice, and leaving in a 160oC oven for 90 minutes – 2 hours, turning every so often.

(serves 5)

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced / 2 tsp dried garlic
1 cup grated carrots
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 cans beans, the same or different
2 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup / 1 tsbp tomato purée
1½ cups cooked rice

1. With a medium heat, heat oil and soften the onion and garlic for 5-7 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add in the carrots and spices. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let cool.
2. Meanwhile, mash the beans, mustard, soy, and ketchup together in a large bowl. Stir in the vegetable mixture and the cooked rice.
3. Form the mixture into 10 patties. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a frying pan. Cook at medium for 5 minutes on each side until browned and crispy.

20 experiences I had before I turned 20

This post is inspired by a blog-post of a new Edinburger who has just arrived in Strasbourg: On Bucket Lists. I thought it was such a good post that I would pinch the idea. “Bucket Lists” or “Things To Do Before I Die” are very in vogue, but how often do we look back and reflect on things we’ve done already? In the words of Megan:

You should try it! Think of all the things in your life that someone out there is bound to find interesting, and write ‘em down. Be proud of what you’ve done thus far before you start making dreamy lists of all the outlandish things you could do.

Hence this reflection, possibly slightly weighted towards my experiences in Strasbourg in the past few months (or the months before I turned 20 in November anyway, I was strict about my title), but also containing a mix of experiences from the past decade*.

1. Spent 4 days in the wilderness of the Cairngorms with 3 other girls carrying all we needed to survive
2. Was on TV (briefly in the crowd on The Saturday Show)
3. Went to a midnight book release (Harry Potter), and to a  midnight film release (ditto)
4. Bathed and went into the casino at Baden-Baden
5. Was part of a protest march (against the diminishment of the Modern languages and Nursing dept)
6. Became reasonably proficient at Canne de Combat and Ballroom Dancing.
7. Read 43 of the BBC’s 100 books to read before you die, including all the way through the Bible (not why I read it, mind you!)
8. Interned at the European Parliament
9. Roadtripped for a couple of days with a couple of friends… and a couple of crutches (experience in itself!), but the former were more important
10. Pricked a raw paw on a prickly pear
11. Went up a down escalator (Zara in Inverness – this was on my previous bucket list)
12. Learned to juggle, and to knit
13. Snorkelled (at Disney, but it still counts)
14. Lived abroad on my own, speaking French
15. Spent time in 4 countries within 24 hours
16. Built an igloo
17. Made a wearable dress
18. Went to La Boheme at the Opera… in a fur coat
19. Worked at a butcher’s for an entire year (you’ve got to have a low so you can know how good you’ve got it in the future)
20. Went paragliding

It’s fun to see how different my list is from Megan’s, another 20-year-old linguist from the west of Scotland studying now in Strasbourg – and I bet that your list would be wholly different again. I can’t wait to start my list for the next decade…

What about you, dear blog reader? Was mindst du?

*while I acknowledge that should really be “2 decades”, to be honest, my “10 experiences before I turned 10″ would probably include such highlights as learning to walk, talk, read, write, cycle, and brush my teeth. Not exactly things that make me interesting to myself or others!

As apparently my body objects to drogues francais by making me feel nauseous. Not wishing to venture outside, I googled, tried mint tea (no effect), lemon with salt (meant to be a slice, I used a teaspoon of concentrated juice and some salt… then thought afterwards, isn’t this something to do with a tequila shot? Big Bang Theory, I hasten to add, I’m not going to imply pregnancy, drugs, and extreme drinking all in one blog post), and then hit upon ginger. Grating stem (root) ginger in a cup or teapot and adding lemon juice, and honey I’d tried before for a sore throat; by lessening the honey to just a smidge it turns out it’s a good remedy for nausea. If you sip it constantly, which is a bit inconvenient but better than feeling sick all the time. But another option I came across was to crystallise it, which is much cheaper than buying it at a health food store, and not that much work. Plus you end up with tasty ginger syrup that can be used instead of honey in the tea or else added to apple juice to make a nice drink.

Only problem now being that I’m slightly addicted to ginger…

Okay, so on with the recipe:

Root ginger, peeled and cubed – however much you want

1 cup sugar (or more/less depending on how much ginger you have) + more for coating

1 cup water (ditto above – just needs to be the same volume as the sugar)

1. Heat the water and sugar in a pot until dissolved.
2. Add the ginger and simmer for 30 minutes until a bit tender.
3. Strain, into a jar so you don’t waste the syrup.
4. Spread out the cubes so that they can dry.
5. Leave overnight (12 hours plus), or heat in a just-warm oven for 30 minutes or so until they are no longer wet but are just slightly sticky – this is important as otherwise the sugar you’re going to coat them with just dissolves in.
6. Shake sugar over the cubes to coat.
7. Enjoy, whether to soothe your stomach or just as a delicious snack.

“Foreshadowing is a dramatic device in which an important plot point is mentioned early in the story to return later in a sinificant way.”

Hermione Granger, A Very Potter Musical

So yeah, remember how last time I told you about my bike accident and then also the fact that I’d been skiing and loved it? Also you might recall several months ago I had to get an injection at a French doctor’s?

Well, if you take these elements together, you get a skiing accident resulting in a trip to the French doctor’s for an injection (and some very expensive drugs, vive la NHS!)

Myself and Georgina who’d tried skiing for the first time last week were a bit apprehensive about tackling the main slope, but the instructors assured us we’d be fine. Unfortunately that was most definitely not the case, with her ending up in hospital for observation after hitting her head and me ending up unable to sit due to a massive lump on my thigh and and an aching lower back after being stopped by a rock. Thankfully she’s now back home and feeling better, and a radio revealed nothing untoward. And after sleeping on it, and an injection from a doctor (no idea what it was, mind you), my back feels quite a bit better… might have to take a pillow to class for the next few weeks though!

And before you ask… no, it wasn’t due to the nocturnal skiing. A man in a car decided it would be a great plan to open his roadside door at the same time as I was passing by his boot. Result: me and my stuff on the road, huge bruise on my arm, bike basket a bit squished, and a car door that wouldn’t properly shut any more. Fortunately I wasn’t injured any more than that and there wasn’t anyone  on the road behind me so all my stuff got safely recovered. As I was enroute to Navs, someone there was lovely enough to offer to come with me the next day to help sort out the French insurance forms the driver needed to fill in. And my bruise is almost gone now.

Other than that excitement (and also the initial excitement upon my arrival in Strasbourg that I had unplugged the fridge before leaving, so everything was mouldy inside… mouldy chorizo, mayonnaise, and compote are not what you want to have to deal with when you arrive at 10pm after a day’s travels), I’ve mostly been studying for and then sitting exams. I know I’ve passed the last one because it was an oral and he told me so (despite the “holes in my knowledge” – well, you try answering a question without having time to think, in a language not your mothertongue*), the other ones are tbc.

Opera was good, and while waiting for my friend to arrive, I finally worked out the reason behind revolving doors (or at least, a reason): so that the heat doesn’t escape and the cold doesn’t come in. It’s not something that’s entirely been bothering me, but it’s certainly something that’s briefly puzzled me from time to time in the past. Because without thinking of that, they really don’t make a lot of sense: they’re awkward, not suitable for disabled people (and people on crutches matter! Wheelchairs too**), and stop being fun after you’re about 7 years old.

*interesting point: mothertongue yet fatherland. Fits with French conception of la langue (ie, feminine) but le pays (masculine). Hmmm.

**reference to my history of being on crutches twice in past 18 months; not intending to offend any wheelchair users, I have nothing but admiration for how you manage in a world of stairs and gaps.