KOSHERFACE exhibition

I know that I've already spoken to you about my talented friend Fred. The brilliant yet humble Fred, who is living out his dream of being a photographer. He could have done anything, but he taught himself photography whilst he was studying Japanese at Oxford, and today he is a successful photographer, having taken portraits of varied people - from models for Vogue to politicians like Bill Clinton. Extraordinary. Fred is just one of those people who makes things happen.

I know also that I have spoken to you about Chabad, the orthodox Jewish movement, but permit me to speak about it again. It is a chassidic group that is very outreach oriented. It sends emissaries to open 'Chabad Houses' all over the world - Jewish cultural centres, homes away from home for any Jewish passer by. These emissaries give up life as they knew it in Brooklyn or some other Jewish neighbourhood to take up residence in far flung places like Bangkok, where there is no kosher food, where they have no friends and no Jewish amenities. They build synagogues and mikvaot. They build a community, often from scratch. They open their homes to students and travellers 24/7, giving up on their private lives - they are as selfless as can be. They do all of this with an unwavering joie de vivre, because they have a purpose. I've honestly never seen anything like it.

Fred is not orthodox. But he is open minded enough to have decided to live with wonderful Rabbi Eli in Oxford, his wonderful wife, Freidy and their gorgeous (and expanding, b'h) brood of children. He developed such an appreciation for the orthodox movement despite holding many different personal views that he embarked on a project to capture their energy through photography and gain exposure for them.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the opening night of his exhibition, KOSHERFACE, in London. I loved the life and energy that his photos evoke. His portraiture literally sings - he brings his subject to life so that you almost feel he or she will start talking to you. Most significantly he brought out the immense warmth and openness of the Chabad movement.

So proud of you Fred! xxxx

If you want to check out Fred's website - and you should - it is at www.fredericaranda.com

Me, Musia, Chanale, Freidy, Rabbi Eli, Fred, friend of Fred's



Sheer beauty

Look at the warmth and intelligence, the willingness to challenge his audience and nurture their thought. You look at the picture and you've almost met the man (Rabbi Lau)


Rabbi Eli in front of a photo of himself!

Galette des Rois

So as I mentioned in my last post, Liz and I went to a Galette des Rois party on Saturday night. A few months ago, when I attended the Harvard Business School presentation in Paris, I met a French-American Harvard graduate called Jonathan, and he kindly invited me to the party. It was such fun: everyone was so friendly and interesting and loads of people had brought cake and were actually baking throughout the party so there was a constant supply of freshly baked cookies!

This all made me consider what a house party is like in England (as opposed to a dinner party). No civilised drinks (on Saturday we had wine and dessert wine as well as the usual soft drinks). No high quality food. Just a lot of drunken debauchery and alcohol. And if you like that sort of thing, more power to you. But I don’t, and never have. Jonathan’s party combined everything I like in a party: smart, nice, interesting yet unpretentious people (can’t be doing with discussing serious intellectual subjects all night), good wine, a relaxed and fun atmosphere, a little silliness and fabulous food. Cake, no less!

The evening also improved my culinary education, as I have been seeing these Galettes everywhere for weeks and had no idea of their history, meaning, or, most importantly, their taste!

I had the best introduction imaginable, because every year in France there is a competition between bakeries for the best Galette, and Jonathan bought the winning bakery's Galette. The Galette is a puff pastry cake filled with frangipane, an almond favour filling. I thought it would be very heavy but it was actually really light and the slightly salty pastry constrasts well with the sweet filling. It was unusual and delicious. I love the history behind it (please see below). Next year I think that I will make my own and celebrate in London. We had a great night!

History of the Galette

Le jour des Rois (the day of Kings), is a celebration of the three kings who visited Christ.
La Galette des Rois, literally means the Kings' cake. Throughout history the name of this celebration has differed as a result of the political climate of the time.

Under Louis XIV, the Church considered this festival a pagan celebration and an excuse for indulgence, and it was subsequently banned. This culinary tradition even survived the French Revolution when it became the ‘Gâteau de l’Êgalité (the equality cake), as Kings were not very popular in those years!

The cake contains a lucky charm (une fève) which was originally a bean, a symbol of fertility. Whoever found the charm in their slice of cake became King or Queen and had to buy a round of drinks for all their companions. This sometimes resulted in stingy behaviour and to avoid buying a round of drinks, the potential King or Queen very often swallowed the bean! This is why towards the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, the lucky charm started being made of china. The charm can take any shape or form and can either be very plain or more sophisticated (glazed or handpainted).
Here is our fève! A little hand glazed figurine. I'm not the one holding it, sadly. My slice didn't have the fève in it.

The Galette des Rois is made of puff pastry and can be plain or filled with frangipane, an almond-flavoured paste. It is sold in all French bakeries and eating the Galette at the beginning of January is still a very popular tradition and an opportunity for families and friends to gather around the table. The youngest person in the room (usually a child) hides under the table and shouts out which guest each slice of cake should be given to. The person who finds the fève in their slice of galette becomes the King or Queen and is given a golden paper crown. The King or Queen then has to choose his Queen or her King, by dropping the lucky charm in their glass!

If this sounds tantalisingly good (and fun) then you can have a try at making a Galette yourselves. I found an online recipe here.

Weekend with Liz and reflections on friendship

This is the second weekend that I have been in Paris since Christmas and on both weekends I have had houseguests!

Last week Sarah and David, my newlywed friends, came to Paris. Marc was also here and it was so wonderful to be able to spend time with them and him. Sarah and David are such a fun couple, so in love, so intelligent, so witty and I enjoyed seeing them together and was so glad that Marc was there with me. We had wonderful walks in the Marais and in St Germain, ate copious amounts of cake in Laduree and went to a mouth watering Parisian market on Sunday. What more could I ask for?

Marc was in charge of photo-taking last weekend, and there are some great ones, but I haven't received them yet. Can't wait to share our adventures soon!

This weekend my close high school friend, Liz, visited me in Paris. I was really pleased to spend this weekend with her and chat intimately and have girl time! In London it has sadly been so difficult to find the time, particularly when I was working crazy hours at the firm. Liz and Miriam and I have been friends since school, yet over the past few years, since we left university, our friendships have changed and this has caused hurt and friction at times. It boils down to how we have developed and changed. We went to different universities and had very different experieces, it has to do with new friends and different lives, with boyfriends we've liked or not liked, with different career aspirations and paths, with the struggle to adjust our expectations of each other and accept a new dynamic as we transform from girls to women. It hasn't always been easy, which is why this weekend was important and good.

I am reminded of a wonderful post by Aletha a while back in which she wrote about the advice her mother gave her on friendship before she married. I can't find the exact post, unfortunately, but Aletha's wise mother reminded her not to neglect her friendships when she got married, not to forget to nurture them. Of course, she said it better than I could. I have been guilty of not making enough effort, and I want to address that. I need to spend less time at home, less time with my parents and with Marc, I need to initiate more. I feel that if we neglect our friendships now they will not be there when we reemerge from our relationships or careers.

But that requires work from all sides and work, as we all know, is not easy. For my schoolfriends and me, it is a time of defining our lives and redefining our friendships. A time to try harder, yet also a time for acceptance. A time for confrontation and a time to listen. Liz and I stayed up so late talking and I think that despite the fact that we have known each other for a long time we managed to learn more about each other this weekend, which is pretty amazing don't you think?

Have any of you had defining moments with old friends? Times of friction, times of trying to figure out how to live a new life? How have you kept old friends even when your lives have changed, mixed old friends with new, did you encounter difficulties or was it natural... I would appreciate and love to hear any of your thoughts, ideas and experiences.

Here are some photos of what we got up to this fab weekend:

Liz and me on the Champs Elysees (doesn't she look glam?)

Audrey came to meet us and here is a photo of us - I love it of Audrey!

On Saturday night Liz and I were invited to a 'Galette Party' and had a blast. I will post about Galettes soon, and here is a picture of the Martha Stewart brownie I brought along. Yum!

Today we went to the Marais and met some friends of mine and had tea in the fabulous Colonial style tea shop, Mariage Freres. Just look at all the tea!

We had a fabulous brunch, with the best marinated raw salmon that I have ever eaten. Divine.

And no girlie weekend could be complete without a trip to the enormous Sephora in the Champs Elysees, where we got eye makeovers....

I am just realising how much I love Paris again! At first it was hard, I was homesick, I felt like I was back in my junior year abroad, as though nothing had changed, but I have refound my love for it and will be so sad to leave. Luckily Marc is coming to bring me home :).

Thanksgiving

We may be Europeans, but we still had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Sarah and David cooked up a storm - it was fantastic. I don't know many corporate lawyers who come home late and cook for their husband and friends, who are as creative and kind and imaginative and giving as Sarah. I love this couple!

They decorated their flat with pumpkins and squash and prepared a feast of roast parnsips, sweet potatoes, roast potatoes, turkey, ham, vegetables, stuffing, sausages, cranberry sauce, white sauce, homemade gravy, 3 cakes... and they aren't even American! I am so grateful to have friends who love America as much as I do!

My contribution was a rather paltry layer cake. I tried my best, honestly, it was just much flatter than I had hoped it would be. It didn't really have the impressive stacked effect that I was going for. But it was pink, and it did have chocolate in it, so there were a few endearing features I suppose.

In the words of fabulous Sarah: 'Tiffany Blue'

Why's the blog gone 'Tiffany blue', in the words of my wonderful friend Sarah? I'm not quite sure why I'm blogging about this as I haven't even sent this blog's link to my friends, so only about 3 people in the world would ever know this blog was anything other than Tiffany blue, but it is that colour in honour of my anniversary gift! More next week!