I'm not dead...

I've been sick. I know I must have been vraiment malade when I received an e-card from my sister that said, "you haven't blogged since Tuesday--you really are sick!" Today, however, I am finally feeling a little better. I'm probably at 68%, which isn't half bad.

The last three days have been spent not making the bed, getting dressed by the crack of 3:30, eating citrus fruit (OK, yes, and cookies), drinking juice and tea, and watching the clock for the time when I could again take the horrible tasting medicine prescribed to me on Wednesday by the doctor for the pain. (Side note: French medical people--coatings are good on pills! Please coat!) My throat felt as if I had drunk boiling water, and every time I swallowed it hurt. A lot. Plus, I had a lovely sinus infection. Great. The doctor was a fill-in, as every doc in the office was on vacation, and she was kept very busy. Her phone rang at least 14 times during my examination, and she filled up the schedule all the way through Saturday while I was there. She examined me, told me I had a "gros rhume", and wrote out a prescription for three different medications. That translates as big or fat cold. So, yes, I had a big, fat cold.

It did make me feel good that she complimented me on my french, telling me it was very good for someone who's only been here 5 months, and was much better than her English. If I had any energy I would have done a happy dance, but all I could manage was a smile and a "Merci."

Thanks to Flare, I had Season one of Dark Angel to keep me company. Lucy seems to also be fighting something, as she has been rather docile and non-demanding in the walk department. She also had gooey eyes, so maybe she caught a cold from me. Can dogs do that?

Anyway, I woke up today at noon feeling well enough to shower, grocery shop, and take Lucy around the block. That took from noon until about 7:10, so you can see that I wasn't up to usual form. However, while at the grocery store, I decided to buy some endive, because it seems like there is a lot of it lately, and people are buying it, and I had never had it.

A new adventure! I hurried to check my "La Bible de Cuisine" for a recipe.

The recipe was for 6, and called for 18 endive. 18! I only had 2. Oh well, I figured, I'll just make some green beans too, and it will be fine.

I followed the recipe (well, mostly--I didn't have any parsley) and waited for those 30 minutes of cooking time to be up.

We sat down to dinner. Everything looked wonderful.

La Carte
Turkey cutlets with white wine and chive sauce (from a packet--sshh! don't tell.)
Green Beans
Braised Endive with butter and fresh lemon juice
Baguette Meunière

Salad with Balsamic vinaigrette

Caramel Mousse (with salted butter! I am a rebel!!!)

Decaf Espresso

We dug into the first course. The green beans were, well, green beans. The turkey was delicious! And then, I sliced off a bit of the tip of my endive half.

Bitter. Bitter, with sour (lemon), sweet (sugar), and savory (butter, salt and pepper.)

But mainly, bitter.

I'm not big on endive.

I'm glad I only bought 2.