I cleaned five and a half bedrooms and four bathrooms today. I wrestled with eight duvet covers and vacuumed/mopped the entire village of Le Luot. When I finally sat down, helpless Roger looked at me all puppy dog eyed, begging for food. All he got was a piece of grilled chicken that he could have done himself. I don't mind doing it, that's easy...even after all the work I did today. The problem is that he thinks he can't do anything. He thinks he is incapable of scrubbing a toilet, pulling weeds, and grilling chicken. It bothers me. He takes me cool places and lets me stay for free and lets me eat his food though so I really shouldn't complain. I just don't like how he makes himself so useless. Maybe it's all an act so he doesn't have to help with anything. Haha I don't know.
We went to Villidieu today because Tuesday is their local market day!! There were fruits and vegetables galore as well as meat, fish, clothes, jewelry, flowers, crafts, etc. The whole town of Le Luot goes to the market to buy or exchange goods. The worst part was seeing the crates stuffed full of chickens, waiting to be sold and then slaughtered. Just so y'all know, I wouldn't have that kind of farm. I would have chicken for their eggs and cows for their milk. I can't bear to think about killing my own cow or even selling it to be killed. They would be my pets, and they would be happy, healthy farm animals. I almost decided to be a vegetarian right there at the market. The chickens were being treated so cruely (in my opinion, no one else seemed to be bothered by it). There are definitely much worse conditions out there, but still!! I just kept thinking about the chickens at home and how lucky/happy they are!
We stopped in a cafe for some coffee and jus d'orange. We explored some more and then stopped at a little barbecue place for lunch. They had sausages or pork chops, and they cut them in half, lined up the halves inside a baguette like a hot dog only four times the size, put ketchup, mustard, and French fries on it, bagged it, and gave it to you to eat. All that. Do you know how long a baguette is? Now imagine it with a pork chop and French fries inside. And the Americans are the obese ones? My gosh! I ate 1/4 of my sausage whatchamacallit and was full for the rest of the day! Bleh. The sausage was good but I must say that I really was not a fan of the whole idea.
After that was when I did most of the cleaning and bed making that I complained about above. While I was mopping I thought about how much I used to love it when I was little and also about how I'll always remember working at a B&B in France. What a cool experience! It's easier to clean someone else's house than it is to clean your own so it's not so bad. I'm excited for some guests to come this weekend. I think we have around six to eight people coming to stay. I'll get to see the B&B in action!
We watched some cooking show tonight and the guy made the most delicious looking food that would have cost seven billion dollars per plate. Roger turned to me after it was over and asked me to make it tomorrow. Pretty sure he was only half joking. This guy is real serious about food. I have to spend an hour each might digging up recipes that might be okay for him. He's cheap but fancy...a tough combination. I'm cheap and healthy, and most foods I prefer/ know how to make are easy wraps, crock pot, or mexican. He likes meat. I don't have much experience cooking meat besides chicken, his least favorite It's stressful and like I said yesterday, so intimidating. Mom, it's only been like three days and I'm understanding just how annoying cooking every day can be, even if I like to cook! I will say that you at least have it easier with such an easy to please family...your options are much less limited. I miss your food!!!
Tomorrow I get to go see Mont St Michel. Don't worry dad, we can go again when you come. Roger wants to get some leaflets with information for his guests, and he also wants to eat lunch at a restaurant there. I had probably lost a few pounds up to this point, but as of three days ago I'm pretty sure I've gained it all back. So much food! Make it stop!
Finally! Someone who gets my frustration with cooking!!! It's not that I don't like it, it's just really hard to come up with something that everyone likes (I don't think I'd get along with Roger very much) that's a good varity, and stay within a budget doing it as well as the TIME it takes to make things...especially fancy things...especially when cooking isn't the only thing on your to-do list. Sometimes it really seems like you finish one meal/snack just in time to start the next one! Sometimes you just have to walk in someone's shoes for awhile to understand certain things. Hard for people to not jump to criticism until they've been there awhile.
ReplyDeleteYou should talk to grandpa about chickens. When he was young they had about 40 chickens at any one time and his mom would tell him to go out and get Sunday dinner. That meant going out and cutting the head off one of the chickens, skinning it and gutting it and bringing it in to your great grandma to cook up. When I speak fondly of our chickens around my dad, he doesn't say much, but I can tell by his half crooked smile that he thinks my "love" for them is pretty funny in a ridiculous sort of way. I guess it's all in how you are raised.
If you need any help making a meat I could give you a few limited tips on cooking ribs, kabobs, chicken and steaks and roasts. I have no idea about veal, lamb or any fancy meats.
ReplyDeleteI don't think my simple instructions would meet Roger's standards, but if you're desperate, just let me know and I'll see what I can do to help.