Pumpkin Pie

Alright, I know I'm a little behind on my holiday blogging.  BUT, I was so so soooo happy about pumpkin pie this year, that I felt it deserved its own post. :)  Even one holiday over, hehe.

Thanksgiving in Paris is... how shall I say it? non-existent.  And my very favorite part of Thanksgiving is pumpkin pieee!!  So, this year, I was determined to make one by myself.

I have never made any pie by myself in my whole life.

But this was the year!  So I googled two million pumpkin pie recipes and realized first of all that I had one big problem: they don't sell pumpkin puree here!  Which meant I would have to make it from scratch... out of REAL pumpkin!  Oh la la... :)  But luckily I had my brand new hand-held blender and was up to the task.  So I employed Bruno for a night of baking, pureeing, and pumpkin pie making. :)  Here's what it looked like:

Haha, just kidding.  Here's what it looked like after Bruno and the pumpkin worked out their issues:

Now, I should take a brief pause to say that Bruno and the pumpkin really did have issues.  When I first told him that Americans made pies out of pumpkin, he was like, "Whaaatttt?!?!  That's gross!!"  So I had to explain to him that it actually tasted delicious and that he had to try it to really understand how glorious it was.  Still, not so convinced.  But he agreed to make the pie with me just to humor me.  :)

We mixed the pumpkin, then a bunch of other ingredients and spices in!  The batter tasted amaaazing, but I didn't wanna get my hopes up too soon.  Next came the crust.  Luckily, I found a store-bought one all ready to roll out, so I was able to close about 20 google tabs on crust-making. :)

And then... filling time!!!

Drumroll pleaseeeee.....

It was soooooo good!!!!!!!  So good that I made another one that weekend.  So good that after I went to the kitchen to get myself a second slice, I heard a small voice call out: "Can I 'ave anozer piece too?"  Victoryyyyyy!!!!!!!!

And that, my friends, is how we make pumpkin pie. ;)

Aunbon's Back in Town!

My friends.  My very dear friends.  So much has happened since I last blogged!!!!!

But the time has come at last for young grasshopper to pick up her pen again.  Or iPad.  Whatever.

What has happened since my last blog post, oh... a year-and-a-half ago??  Well, for starters, remember that boy with the melons in my last blog post?  Mmhmm.  Mmmmmmhmmmmm.  I fell in love with him.  Like, head-over-heels, WHAT-IS-HAPPENING?!?!!, ahhhhhhhh-isn't-the-world-so-magical, whyyyy-is-there-an-ocean-between-us?? in love with him.  And so, here I am, LIVING in Paris with this amazing wonderful boy. :)  This is pretty much what I feel like every time I look into his eyes:

Now, what else has happened, you might ask?  Well....I released my very first EP in August!!!!!!!  Which also partly explains the lack of blog posts.  Hehe... yesss, let's go with that reason.  In all seriousness, I have never worked so hard or been so proud of any project in my life.  Hours and hours spent holed up in my room working on edits (ok, I actually had a preeetttty comfy set-up for that part in my bed :)), random 3am recording sessions to add new instrument parts, and then notes and notes and more notes.  In the end I was literally pulling my hair out (ok, not literally, but it sounds really dramatic and captures the atmosphere quite well) over minuscule decisions regarding things probably no one cares about.  But the end result?  My very own 6-song mini-album that I am soooo ecstatic to have made.  And getting to share it with the world has been an amazing gift.

You can check it out on iTunes here!

Anyway, this is just a little recap of my life since my last post, and of course, in my blogs to come I will go into more detail about my apartment, various projects, and travel adventures.  But no blogpost is complete without a P.O.T.D. (Pastry of the Day).  So today, I'm going with a classic.  Chocolate eclair, baby!!!

Gros bisous!!
xo aunbon

Frappe la route, Jacques ! (Otherwise Known As: A Weekend in the Country)

This past weekend, I took a roadtrip with some friends to one of their family's homes, in the countryside of central France. The area is known as the Loire Valley, because the Loire river (pictured above!) runs through most of it. Famous for its wine as well as its gigantanornous chateaux, the region is dotted with quant little villages and winding country lanes, gravel paths and gardens....and you can actually breathe there!!!! I love Paris, but the pollution sucks! And this weekend getaway was just the change of pace I needed after the mayhem of the past few, post-fire weeks. So getting in that car on Friday night was like....freedom!!!

Alex's house is in Montlouis, and it has the sort of rustic, antiquey charm you read about in storybooks.

A cupboard masquerading as a window.
When I heard there was a family dog there too, I just about peed in my pants. I've missed my dog soooo much that being around any dog makes me super happy! And Titos seemed like he'd also been craving company, so we were the perfect pair!

And of course, there was a big, beautiful garden! :)

With delicious wild raspberries!

And Titoooos!

Some snapshots I feel captured the weekend quite well:

Bruno in his element.

Certain backseat riders playing tricks on Nathalie.

Trying to drink my beer in between cutting avocados.

Alex asking Titos how he normally gets out of the garden to go on walks.

Me taking way too many pictures of flowers on our walks.

Making delicious salads.

Cheeeeese! (and honey)

Someone looking for an escaped turtle!

Orly ecstatic to be back in adorable Tours.

Some rad shoes worn by townsfolk in medieval garb, milling around the chateau of Amboise on a Sunday.

A pantless bridegroom & his entourage (best not to ask).

And more flowers!

The weekend was really a blast, and we were so sad to leave!!

The three musketeers, mourning our departure as Orly and I are whisked back to Paris on the midnight train.
But to end on a happy note, check out this little guy who was in a bowl at one of the restaurants we ate at:

lots of love,
aunbon

Au Nom de la Rose

Yesterday, I had to move out of my apartment, and after the craziness of the last few weeks, I was more than ready. There was just one thing I had left to do. I went down to a local rose boutique, called "au nom de la rose" ("in the name of the rose"), and bought a mini rose arrangement for my sweet neighbor, without whom I could never have made it through the fire the way I did. She stayed with me through the whole thing, called the firefighters, and even gave me her own bed to sleep in when I couldn't re-enter my own place the first night. If there's one thing I've learned through this whole ordeal, it's that human kindness and compassion are ever present and strong in a world otherwise full of assholes. For all the bitterness and spite that my landlady threw my way, Adeline was as sweet and warm-hearted as possible. Hence the roses I got her!

All of these roses were just part of the "gift wrapping"!

To more roses and rosy days for all of us!

lots of love,
aunbon

Beeeeuhh, Auni.....Tu es héroïne!

After listening wide-eyed to the tale of the fire and how I put it out, my former French professor--a little woman with a penchant for the dramatic--declared :

"Beeeeuhh, Auni.....Tu es héroïne ! Tu portes maintenant un auréole sur la tête !"

Translated: "Beeeeuhh, Auni.....You're now a heroine! You're walking around with a halo around your head!"

Why, thank you, MC (short for Marie-Christine, but we all call her that). I quite agree. And boy, is that a welcome statement after all the shit I've been putting up with from the landlady this past week. I just have to keep reminding myself of the halo.