last day of school

This happened a while ago (like two months ago) which shows you how far behind I am on blogging. Oh goodness.

Looking back now, I miss our crazy and silly class. We had so much fun and I miss seeing my friends every day. I'm definitely happy in my internship too so I can't really complain. On our last day of class we all got to make whatever we wanted and then we had a little feast together. It was a fun day of us just goofing around, singing, cooking and baking and having a good old time. I made peanut butter cookies because the rest of the world does not eat enough peanut butter and raspberry truffle brownies. My friend Alvin made his famous, delicious and too-spicy-for-me-but-i-eat-it-anyway curry. Its an amazing dish! Patricia made some amazing Polish dumplings and bread. It was all delicious!

I am lucky to have met some pretty great people here in Paris and wish we still got to play around like this every week. Have you had any fun cooking or baking parties with friend lately? What is your latest recipe?

peanut butter cookies
Oven: 350F/177C

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter room temperature

1/2 cup (105 grams) light brown sugar

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup (185 grams) peanut butter(smooth or crunchy, I use smooth)

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat the butter, brown and white sugars until light and airy. About 3-5 minutes. 

While that is beating, combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.

Beat in peanut butter to the butter/sugar mixture.

Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and combine. Add nuts, optional.

Let sit in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll 1'' balls of dough and place on baking sheet.

Using the end of a fork dipped in granulated sugar, press the fork across the ball to flatten and make indented lines in the dough. Repeat at a perpendicular angle to make the criss-cross pattern.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges are browned.

France: Wine Country

After our grand old time in Dublin we headed to Bordeaux, France. France being the number one wine producer in the world, I can say that the vineyards were truly breathtaking. I have had the pleasure of visiting wineries and vineyards in Solvang and Temecula, California which are incredible but the vineyards of Bordeaux stretch as far as your eyes can see. Just imagine looking around and seeing endless lines of vineyards surrounding you. 360 degrees.

The city of Bordeaux is like a tiny, little Paris. Its streets, building, even their Notre Dame cathedral all look just like Paris. It is a small city and my mom and I decided to go sight seeing by running! We needed to get some of the Guinness' out of our system so we put on our running shoes and ran around the entire city. Its a great way to kill two birds, one stone.

The coolest thing in the city was this "mirror" lake thing they have right in the center of the city on the river. It is a little area where they have misters coming out from the ground to spray water for the kids to run through. It collects about 1 inch of water which reflects the sky, clouds, and this beautiful building perfectly. The kids were having the time of their lives in there because it was so hot and at night the sight was so peaceful.

The second day we took the train to a little medieval town called St. Emillion. Now, this is where some of France's BEST wines are made. What a beautiful town. It is unlike anything else I have seen. The city is actually ruins that they continue to live in! I could spend a lot of time just sitting in the sun overlooking the vineyards and ruins with a glass of chilly rosé in my hand. What a life!

Ireland: Wicklow Mountains

Dear Ireland,

I am obsessed with you. I wish I had a cute little Irish accent, could play and sing super fun Irish music, maybe even Irish dance? Ok, maybe I'm pushing it. But really, you are a blessed wonderful land of green happiness and I can't wait to see you again.

Sincerely dreaming of Guinness,

Brittany

Can't I just visit Ireland like every weekend? I am so happy that I picked Ireland as my number one destination for my summer traveling even when people were making me doubt myself. I heard a lot of "you know, most people go where its WARM for summertime". Yeah, yeah..well I would go back in a heartbeat. So there! I win.

One day we took a bus tour into one of the most beautiful pieces of earth I've ever laid my eyes on: the Wicklow Mountains. It looked like it was straight out of a movie...oh, thats because it is! P.S. I love you, Braveheart, Excalibur..any of them sound familiar? We saw ruins of St. Kevin's Monastery, calm and peaceful lakes, rolling green hills, and visited Trim Castle. I was in heaven. If you ever have a chance to go here, take it! It is a dreamy, wonderful place.

I'm going to see what Mike and Taylor think about my secret plan to move us to Ireland. Maybe?

 Can you read this? See the "CAMBELL". This was carved into the inside wall of Trim Castle! Maybe my great, great, great X100 grandfather?!

Ireland: Dublin

I have found a new country to obsess over. Ireland is such an awesome place and I already decided that I will go back one day. I met my mama in Dublin two weeks ago to start our fabulous traveling vacation. Thanks to my most wonderful and ever-giving dad we were living the life of luxury in one of Dublin's best hotels: The Shelbourne. It was such a treat!

I fully indulged in being able to speak English freely. So much so that I think I might have scared my cabie when I said "hello!" with so much enthusiasm.

Irish people are SO nice, friendly and their accents just make everyone smile. I wanted to be everyone's new best friend. The first thing we did (might not come as a surprise..) was tour the Guinness factory. We learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness and enjoyed the view over the city from the 7th floor bar. We spent a lot of time walking around and checking out the city including: Trinity College and the Book of Kels, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Ha'penny bridge, St. Stephan's Green and of course some lovely bars and restaurants. If you are ever in Dublin I recommend both restaurants we had dinner at: The Farm and The Unicorn. Fun names too! :)

Our favorite thing? Drinking Guinness and listening to live Irish Music for hours. So. Much. Fun.

Cheers! Or in Irish...Sláinte!