French Immersion in Southern California

It can be done.  If you lock yourself in your house and chain yourself to Rosetta Stone.  This quarter is seriously going to kill me.  2 lower-level French classes a day.  I didn't make it to the one last week (my dentist appointment went way long), but the one I did attend will be completely in French.  The TA seems to know what she's doing, and she has pink hair.  I like her already.

Between these 2 classes, an hour or two of Rosetta Stone, the homework from said French classes, and my own translation reading, I'm literally doing 5-6 hours of French every single day of the week.  That's how you learn a language, right?  I even got a desk so I'm not sitting in front of the TV at home to work.  Like, damn.

French cooking is also progressing.  Last week I did two meals.  One was a roasted lamb shoulder, stuffed with herb and garlic stuffing and topped with garlic sauce.  I paired it with sauteed eggplant and stuffed tomatoes.  It was pretty good, but I have to say, the stuffing was not my favorite.  With a beautiful cut of meat like that, I think less is more.

The second meal was one I've done before, chicken breasts rolled in bread crumbs and cheese, with baked tomatoes and stuffed mushrooms.  I also did a crostini with goat cheese, balsamic vinegar and figs.  It's one of my new favorite things, a combination I picked up at my friends' wedding a week ago.  I did a brown butter sauce with the chicken, but I didn't use clarified butter.  Haven't quite gotten around to mastering that one yet.

But it's pretty, right?

This week I'm planning to do lamb chops with stuffed Greek portobellos (I picked up the recipe at Gelson's last time I was there getting ground veal or something else weird that Ralph's didn't have), and probably a very weird burger with cauliflower baked with tomatoes and cheese.  Also going to do pork loin chops, casserole-sauteed, with some lovely ratatouille.  And ricotta pound cake.  Damn, this is starting to sound like a fun week!

It's felt like fall a lot lately (though not yesterday......yesterday was literally the only day that's felt like summer since I got home from Africa), and I'm thinking of doing some lovely soups soon.  I have recipes for creamy tomato basil, butternut squash, and a roasted red pepper with feta.  I'm also going to attempt some bread and rolls outside the bread machine (well, I'm making the dough in the bread machine, but then baking them in the oven).  We'll see how that goes.

Also gearing up to possibly attempt a duck en croute for Thanksgiving.  Anyone know where to get a duck in Santa Barbara?  Does Gelson's get them for the holidays?