Milk is a 'Sometimes' solid

One of the strangest things for me to adjust to in France was that Milk (and eggs, actually) are purchased from the grocery aisle. Not the refrigerated dairy section. 95% of the milk sold in France has gone through a process called UHT, or Ultra High Temperature processing, which basically kills anything inside, but leaves the nutrients behind. This stuff can sit on a store shelf for about 6-9 months and really doesn't taste much different. It is weird though, and it does have a slightly strange smell.

The alternative to the shelf stuff is to buy Fresh Milk from the dairy aisle. Fresh milk is a little different than back home. For one, I don't think it's homogenized. This leads to some weird lumpy bits in my coffee. It's always fine for the first week or so, but then I start to see some build up around the top and bottom of the container. It passes the sniff test ('Hey Sarah, does this smell funny to you?') every time, and doesn't taste funny, it just looks lumpy.

My theory here is that it's just milk fat build up. My grandma used to tell me that the milk she used to buy would have solid milk fat floating at the top, and that people would choose their milk based on the amount of fat they could see. In the winter, this became ice cream and people would wake up early to fight over who would get the fat lump. Keep in mind, this was back when milk came from cows, not Safeway. I've never actually seen milk that didn't come in a carton or can, so I couldn't honestly say if the lumpiness is a normal thing or not, and Sarah and I certainly aren't fighting over the lumpy bits. There's a Haagen-Daaz store around the corner.

Ratatouille

[Posting the recipe for K.]

Truly, this is the only civilized way to eat eggplant.

Ingredients

• Equal parts zucchini and eggplant. I usually use two small zucchinis and one moderate sized European eggplant. (Asian eggplants -- the long skinny ones -- are nice if you want to do the movie recipe, but I personally feel they have a bitter taste that detracts from the soup)
• One red bell pepper. (I started with green, but red is a nicer colour)
  
• A lot of garlic. I usually use between 1/2 head and a whole head depending upon the strength of the garlic.
• About 5-6 average sized tomatoes. There's usually just slightly more tomato than eggplant.
• (Optional) One medium yellow onion.
• Some fresh herbs. Personally, I prefer some thyme and a sprinkle of basil.
• Generous salt.
• Some liquid, more about that later.

Crockpot:

1. Cut everything to about the same size and stir so that it's well mixed.
2. Add a little bit of liquid. Crockpots need some liquid to start, but only a tiny bit. I usually use a splash of red wine. Sometimes I use faux-chicken stock. By splash, I mean about a quarter cup.
3. My crockpot had four settings, short, short and hot, long, long and hot.
   I had the best results with long, next best with short and hot.

Stock pot:

1. Chop the onion first, and let it caramelize on a low heat while you cut the zucchini and eggplant.
2. Turn up the heat to medium, and fry the eggplant/zucchini combo for as long as it takes to cut the tomatoes.
3. Make a 'hole' in the middle of the mix, crank the heat, and toss in the tomatoes. Stir this for about 3 minutes. I don't know why exactly, but I've always found that my sauces and soups are a little better if you fast fry the tomatoes. I think maybe it lets out the liquid.
4. Add some liquid to the pot. A regular pot needs a bit more liquid, I used about a half cup give or take depending on how liquidy the tomatoes are.
5. Add everything else and stir.
6. Turn down to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes.

Tips:
I read a recipe recently that suggests adding a bit of cayenne. This is totally awesome, and therefore is strongly recommended.

A french friend of mine, living in Vancouver, serves this dish over rice. I like this as well, but I think that my current coworkers would scoff. If you serve over rice, cut the veggies a little smaller.

Commuting Wookies

There was a Wookie on the metro this morning.
Why, oh why, do I not have a camera on me at all times?

Checking the Security of the Electric

A french man just came into my office carrying a large, pointy stick that seemed to be plugged into something in the hallway. He said something in French, and then stuck his stick into each computer in the office. This was very curious, and after he left I asked the other people in my office what that was about. Apparently he was checking for the 'security of the electric.' When I asked what that meant, everyone shrugged and just said that he comes every month to do that.

This can be a very strange place at times.