We needed to get some kitchen necessities, and ingredients for my no-bake cookie recipe. This, we knew, would be interesting. Surprisingly, we found everything we needed!
The butter was easy to find...not so easy to decipher which kind we needed. Sugar was a piece of cake (pun intended ;D ). Then we found the cocoa, which we couldn't find at first, but found by the hot chocolates. Oats were pretty easy to find. What wasn't so easy to find, was the peanut butter. For those who don't know, the french don't really eat peanut butter...like...ever.
First we looked by the nuts, no luck. My mom said, while we were standing looking over the bags of nuts, "We might have to buy some peanuts and smash them up." My reply being, to look for peanut butter even harder. Next we went to the Nutella, and voila! Peanut butter! There was one brand, one size. Ethiquable is the brand, and the peanut butter is from Nicaragua! It's some good stuff!!Once home, my mom attempted to start working on a spreadsheet that she needs to set up as a sort of cheat sheet for helping to pay her bills. This
Then we had a chance to skype with Lindsey, Carter and Kenadee. Which didn't go too smoothly. We had a bad connection between the computers, but we were still able to talk for a bit. It was really nice to see them again! Carter kept saying "guess what!" and then telling us a story, sometimes he didn't have a story to tell though.
After talking with them, I ended up taking a little cat nap. When I woke up and went downstairs, my mom was skyping with Logan and Whitney (she still hadn't gotten any work done). After talking with them, it was time to get ready to go to Justine's house for dinner. My dad got home and we all left.
We had no troubles getting to their small city, just outside Strasbourg, called Illkirch. But once we got to the street, I had a hard time remembering which building it was.
They live in an apartment building that is surrounded by lots of other apartment buildings. So we ended up driving all around and I kept looking at all building going "Oh! It might be that one!! ... Oh wait...no, it isn't that color" or "Oh...no, it's not the same patios..." etc.
But after driving in a loop, I was looking at a building that I had earlier thought was maybe it, and I just knew it was the one. So I told my dad to stop a second and hopped out of the car. I ran over to the door that I thought was the door to their entrance where you take an elevator up to their floor. It was it! I remembered!
So we parked and rang the doorbell. Justine was waiting for us when we stepped out of the elevator and let us in to their apartment. Her parents and her brother (plus his pitbull, which is actually a really friendly sweet girl) greeted us with french kisses. French greeting kisses...not the kind of french kiss your thinking of!!! Just a simple air kiss to each cheek. The men shook hands.
Dinner was delicious! We sat and talked for a bit and had appetizers. Then we all gathered around the table and had a wonderful meal.
Justine's parents had prepared lamb, a potato dish, frites (french fries), and salad. It was all pretty good, except the lamb which I didn't eat. After the dinner we had cheese and bread.
They had a selection of cheeses. One of them was an Alsatian cheese, that is quite potent and stinky, but very good. I really like it, and had tasted it when I was here, living with them. My dad tried it and said he liked it. Mom wasn't feeling adventurous enough to try. They also had Babybel, because they knew that I ate it at home.
After, we had a homemade tarte fromage (cheesecake). But their cheesecake is very different from that at home. It's much fluffier, and much more airy, but has a richer taste. And it's made with cheese! WOAH! Crazy! It was delicious.
Justine's mother had also bought another cake for us to have if we chose. It had layers, and was topped with all sorts of fruits. I didn't try it, but it did look pretty good. And of course, my no-bake cookies.
The conversation was very good. They told us about all sorts of places in Europe. And also about some places we should stay away from around the Strasbourg area. They also told us about an interesting meat fact.
**Lesson of the day!**
If on a package or menu it says "rossbif", then it's not beouf (beef) it's actually...horse : ( But if it says roti boeuf then it's beef.I was very glad they told us this. I would hate for my parents to be eating it and then find that out later...after it is too late.
Back home, and off to bed for my parents. But then Brandon messaged me on skype, so my parents came back down and talked for a bit with them.
All in all, a pretty good day! Especially for the rainy weather and bus strike!
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p.s. did I mention the key to our gate is a skeleton key?! hyper cool!!
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