Assiette de Beurre

This week, a friend of ours is hosting a high-school-aged family-friend from the US. This has given Sarah the opportunity to play part-time tour guide for Aric (that’s the friend-of-friend) during the week, while his host family has been working.

Their time thus far has been split between Versailles, and a shopping/cafe/chocolate tour through the downtown core. Sarah has some experience with the latter, and I think she’s getting pretty good at finding some of the finer choices around town.

I met up with them last night towards the end of their day, just in time to catch a quick dinner before Aric had to run off to Zorro: The Musical. They’d both already had the standard quick bites that the city has to offer (sandwich, Panini, kebab, etc) so we opted for Brasserie fare instead. We managed to find a reasonably priced menu that included dinner and dessert and would give our guest some choice in what he’d like to try.

Between us, we ordered one of each of the dishes offered that day...

• A Duo of Fish, in a butter and chive sauce, served over ratatouille.
• Tortellini Primavera.
• Chicken Fricassee (basically roast chicken and boiled potatoes, swimming in buttery chicken broth).

...with Apricot Pie, Apple Tart and a cheese plate for dessert. The cheese plate was a little unusual compared to what we usually find in France. Typically, you’ll get either an assortment of three cheeses, or a single type cut very large. Aric’s plate came with two slices – one blue and another cream coloured.

I’m sure if you understand the title, above, you know where this is headed at this point. Unfortunately, poor naive Aric, and his not-so-bright hosts, did not.

Aric dared the blue first, but I don’t think he’d really developed a taste for it just yet, so it didn’t sit well. At this point in the evening we were running behind so we counted out our change for the waiter, and rushed to pull our bags and coats together before running out the door. “Eat the white one then…” we encouraged, “I don’t know what it is, but just cut a big piece and let’s get out of here.”

OK, so that was a bit of a fib. I was actually pretty sure it was comte, a harder cheese that’s a little like a mild cheddar. Or possibly a gouda of some kind. In any case, it had to be tasty, there are very few cheeses that are not worth eating in this country.

“Well, what do you think?” I asked.

“I think…” he quietly started, interrupting himself to take a bite of bread and a large gulp of water “…that it was butter.”

Fail Whale

I’ve finally caved and decided to sign up for a twitter account. For a long time, I’d passed on the basis that the platform was unstable and unreliable; then I avoided it on the basis that my preferred user name was taken by someone that doesn’t even use it. Both pretty lame reasons, actually.

Now that I have a shiny new iPhone, I feel the need to be in constant connection with the rest of the world, and so a twittering I go.

The very first thing I saw after account creation made me feel very welcome. I think this is part of the authentic Twitter experience.

Steven Harper can play the piano

I was browsing the 'Top News Stories of 2009' on the CBC, and found a picture of Harper in front of a Piano. How did I miss this news story?

OK, so it's definitely a publicity stunt ("Look, I can play piano! How can I hate the arts if I can play piano?"), but it's a good one. I hate to admit it but I like the guy a little more after watching this.

(There's a worse version sans advertising over here.)

Pandanggo Sa Ilaw and Filipino Christmas Dinner

Sarah and I were lucky enough to be invited to a Filipino Christmas party this past weekend, and oh my goodness the mountains of food were absolutely incredible. While I know very little about the Philippines in general, I'm certain that this is a place that never let's you leave the table hungry.

Aside from the food, we got two glimpses into some more cultural events through traditional dances and games that went on throughout the afternoon. The most impressive dance by far was the Pandanggo Sa Ilaw -- in which each dancer balances a candle in each hand and on top of their head. I'd heard about this dance from a co-worker (she does this in her spare time), but had never actually seen it done before.

After the dinner was done, the adults had set up a pinata-like game for the kids. Someone had created a kind of chandelier out of bamboo, and tied pieces of candy to it using small pieces of string. The chandelier was connected to a rope, which in turn was connected to a Filipino woman standing on a chair on the other side of the room.

The way the game ran, the lady would slowly let the chandelier drop from the ceiling and then pull it back to just above the reach of the pirana-children below.

When the chandelier first dropped, it was like the raptor feeding scene in Jurassic park. The kids went wild, and all grabbed candy with both hands at once. The lady in the corner struggled to regain control of the chandelier as it shook violently from side to side, but eventually it rose above the masses, and the lady let the kids have a quick break to unwrap their goodies before starting a second time. She also used this time to get a much firmer grip on the rope.

The second time, she was a little more cautious, but her opponents were a little wiser in their approach.  Instead of grabbing for the candy, they all jumped up and grabbed the chandelier itself. The combined weight of the kids managed to send the chandelier crashing to the ground - and the Filipino woman soaring through the air.

The kids, now covered in candy, had no idea that they had just introduced the other woman to the miracle of human flight. The woman, however, was not to be deterred. She dusted herself off, hung another chandelier from the roof, and kicked open a window so that she could dangle outside to give herself extra leverage. That was the last that we saw of that game, but I have no doubt that she gave the kids a good run for their money on the second round. That, or she was launched clear over the building and into the Seine.

The difference a Union makes.

For five years I've worked for one company. Last year, I moved to a new geography, and with that came a lot of changes. One of these was the addition of a Union.

Sometimes, not always, I really appreciate that this group exists in our office. Typically it's the little things that I notice, like the ability to complain that the new cleaner the janitor is using stinks, and actually smell a change later in the month. Earlier in the week, I mentioned to a Union rep over lunch that the lock on my door had been broken for three weeks, and that my complaints to facilities seemed to be falling on deaf ears. A locksmith came by that afternoon to fix the issue.

Today, we got some great news in a global communication from HR (How often does that happen?). The short version is that due to some outside circumstances a few years ago, the bonus payout for that year was lower than it probably should have been. To compensate, they will be augmenting the payout this year.

Even though it probably doesn't amount to a lot (maybe €100-200 in my case), it was awesome to see that the company's good fortune is somehow related to my own.

Having been through very similar circumstances 3 years ago in a non-unionized office, I'm confident that this new addition to my wallet is in a large part due to having adequate union representation within the company.

What a difference.

Holiday Baking 2009 - Rumballs

Each year we try to add a new recipe to our Seasonal repertoire. This year, living without an oven, our choices are a little bit limited. So, we hit the books and found a revised version of a previous favorite. 

Rumballs!!

1. Crush 200g of Chocolate Cookies into a bowl.
2. Add 3 tablespoons of Sweetened Condensed Milk, 1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract, and 1/3 of a cup of Rum. Stir.
3. Pour 112 grams (4 ounces) of melted chocolate into the bowl and stir.
4. Chill for one hour.
5. Roll into walnut sized balls, and roll in sprinkles, cocoa or desiccated coconut. 
6. Ideally, let age one day in a sealed container.

The real secret to Rumballs is in the odour of the presentation, not the actual taste. You get the best reception if you use cheap rum, and keep them in a sealed container.

Rumballs - Smells like a panhandler, tastes like Christmas.

Christmas Tunes

A friend just sent me a great link to an online streaming Christmas music website.

http://www.accuradio.com/holidays/

They have a huge variety of Holiday related music (Christmas and Hanukkah). Some of the specialty stations are great, like the ‘Nothing but Chestnuts roasting on an open fire’ station.

Gold, Frankenstein and Myrrh

Saturday and Sunday were caroling days for Sarah and I. She performed in a Christmas concert on Saturday afternoon and evening, that ended with a bilingual sing-a-long. It definitely took me be surprise when we switched languages, but I think I held my own (lyrically, not tonally) during most of the carols, due to some early childhood pageant experience in French Immersion Kindergarten. It’s amazing how that stuff sticks with you.

The following morning, our regular service at Church was taken over by the children. The older kids read the manger story from Luke, while the younger kids acted out parts of the story. The kids were awesome. Most were dressed in the typical Christmas pageant fare: tin foil halos and dish towel headdresses. One kid, who couldn’t find a proper sized robe, was sporting a bright red Superman cape instead.

My favorite part of the service was definitely the, slightly edited, reading of Matthew 2:12, when the wise men came bearing gifts to the new born baby Jesus.

On coming to the house, [the magi] saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and Frankenstein and myrrh.

Travelling in 2010

Being in Europe is great for travelling. There are so many place so close together that are worth visiting.

One of the strangest things about the travelling, though, is the amount of planning involved. You have the option of either doing everything completely last minute (day of, kind of thing) or 3-6 months in advance. Anything else and you end up paying two or three times the price. Sarah and I are much more accustomed to thinking in terms of weeks, so we’ve been trying to bring a little forethought into our vacation planning. One thing that has been helping is that everyone around us is starting to talk about travel destinations for summer 2010, which is forcing us to think about it as well.

So far, we’ve lined up three trips, and are waiting to confirm on a few more.

• Amsterdam – A friend of ours described this as ‘the best vacation you will never remember’. We are very lucky to have friends that live in the city, and will be doing an apartment swap at the end of January.
• Canada – We are scheduling a trip back for a family related event in the summer. Probably early July. I’m going to try to swing a business trip in there as well, which will hopefully mean a week in Vancouver.
• Hungary – Last year we travelled to Portugal for two weeks to build a house. This year, we will be doing a similar event, but in Hungary (near Budapest). The trip will be either the end of July or the first part of August. If anyone feels like cat sitting during this time, let me know.

It’s also the season for Company vacations. The Comité d'Entreprise (like a Union) plans trips for the employees. Since Tuesday they’ve announced 8 different vacation options. I’ve signed up for a few of them, but won’t receive confirmation until the end of the year. I have my fingers crossed on Venice.