等不到她的谁

today i spent the entire day in the kitchen. four french recipes. three from julia child and one from dorie greenspan. that thick volume of paper is my (photo)copy of mastering the art of french cooking.

they are: french onion soup, baked cucumbers, scrambled eggs and alsatian apple tart.



i cheated a little on the onion soup because i couldn't find canned court bouillon; i used chicken broth, but the taste came out ok. i suppose it didn't taste like the real thing, but it was still nice. the addition of white wine to the soup just gave it a very special dimension to the flavour - so french! it was amazing how a whole pan of onions slowly simmered in butter could be cooked down so much, and turn so beautifully caramelised.

in the same way, the strips of cucumbers shrank so much when braised in butter. what looked sufficient for two eventually wilted down to just one serving. but they were tasty - there was a it of sourness from the vinegar bath, but also sweetness from the caramelisation in the oven.

scrambled eggs were not as easy as the recipe described. half the time i was wondering whether the eggs were supposed to be what they were looking like. and 'stirring rapidly' just sloshed part of it onto the stove, which burnt into carbon. but still, i let it stay a little creamy, beat in the final butter and cheese, and it was good.

the alsation apple tart was a good way of using up that block of tart dough that had been sitting in the freezer for almost three months now. (and i still have yet one more to go.) the tart was simple in construction: just a tart shell filled with apple slices and a custard. i'm still not a fan of apples. i think it's the bite; eating an apple is so tiring.

~

and this is how i came to spend my whole day cooking. nigella says that if the point of cooking was the end product, then the meaning must lie in the process. i'm not understanding that very much, but cooking can be such a joyful and tiring thing.

i was listening to 失落沙洲 and i think i was understanding it. i think it means that when you lose someone you love so much, you know he won't come back; you want him back, but you don't necessarily need him; you are just hurt at the fact that he's gone, that he's no longer there to protect you; but above all, you still - and you just - love him. or that's what i gathered from the MV. (did the guy die or something?)