Economies and People

Need a container? The man at left (whose name I did not catch) has one for everything. The market was packed this weekend, although from what I heard, it was mostly lookers. Not so many buyers at the end of the month! And, I suspect, not so many this year.

I sit in my apartment, tapping at my laptop, clenching my jaw at the bleak outlook of my future. No responses to job applications other than the automatically generated "thanks for applying" responses. The governor slashed the community college budget back home. Physical Education in particular has been dealt a severe blow, so my backup plan may no longer be available to me come August. And though there is demand for the product my company sells, the companies who want them are not willing to extend loans to have them made. For the first time in my life, I am tasting defeat, and I am not so sure how to handle it. I know that things are tough all around, and that work is scarce for everyone, but if you are someone who has always landed on your feet, it is a lot more painful when you finally don't. The golden child has tarnished.

On a brighter note, I had my Quiche Lorraine lesson with Arnaud. The man eyeballs everything! Luckily, he emailed the recipe with approximate amounts:

Ingredients: pâte brisée (shortcrust pastry -- savory, not sweet); 3 eggs; 100g smoked bacon, 50g enmental cheese (optional, and not traditional), 15cl cream (Arnaud used crème fraîche, but I think heavy cream and whipping cream will work, too -- he also added a little milk); salt & pepper.

Lay pastry in a shallow baking dish with straight sides. Cut bacon into small pieces, and place into bottom of pie pan -- it should be evenly distributed, but not not too dense. Beat the eggs until they turn light yellow. Add cream and milk, and continue beating until the mixture becomes frothy. According to Arnaud, the cream/milk proportion controls the pouffiness of the quiche. More cream = more pouff. Pour over bacon. Shred the cheese and distribute evenly across pan. You can also add onion, which makes it a quiche Alsacienne. Put in a 200c / 390f oven until lightly browned and cooked through.

Between the cream and bacon, it is a very rich dish, and is therefore traditionally served with a salad. Arnaud sliced tomatoes and basil for his salad. Alas, I forgot to bring my camera that day! I assure you, everything was delicious.

According to Food Reference, quiche Lorraine "originated in Germany, in the medieval kingdom of Lothringen, under German rule, and which the French later renamed Lorraine," and the word quiche is from the German Kuchen, for cake. Let's just say it's a dish from a region that has experienced several changes in administrative authority, and leave it at that.

A Decision

I taught Physical Education and Fitness at the same college in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 15 years. In the past three years, I began working in finance for a start-up company. Since CFOs have not stayed on with anything resembling regularity, I work directly for the CEO, who splits time in London, Paris and San Francisco/Los Angeles. He is flexible about where I live, allowing me to work from home, wherever that may be. His only requirement is that I am within about an hour from any of his locations. Despite that, I chose to stay home in the Bay Area for two years, mainly to keep my relatively safe teaching job and because I have lived there most of my life.

Last year, I opened an office for the company in the UK, and lived there for two months. When it came time to move back home, I was both happy to be returning to my home, assortment of pets, friends and family, but I was also a bit sad. While in the UK, I found I liked being in unfamiliar surroundings, without my safety net of friends and family to fall back on. I decided to follow my CEO to Europe in the following year.

This year, I am closing the UK office, and I have just moved to Metz, in the Moselle département of the Lorraine region in Northern France. I signed a short-term lease and have not applied for a long-term visa in anticipation of having to possibly move again soon (you never know with this economy).

These entries will be my log of this journey into a country where I barely speak the language, and my two closest friends live an hour away (in opposite directions). It is my way for friends and family to check up on me at their leisure (or not!), so I don't continue to jam their inboxes with email updates. Please, consider this my internet home, a virtual version of my tiny studio in the yellow apartment building show in the photo at top. Along the way, I hope to not just keep your updated, but to also take you on a journey to Lorraine as well. I love you and miss you all, even those I have not seen in years.