Memories of Autumnal days

Well ... after the initial inspiration for starting this blog, factors such as energy and stimulus have recently appeared to be lacking in the literary direction. In wishing to create an interesting website as well as a positive portrayal of living in France, it is also for my pleasure that I like play with words. It takes time to write.

Seasons disappear. Autumn will become Winter. The nights will draw in, the days will shorten, the temperatures will fall. I predict a cold winter because the berries have been on the bushes since late August. The elder flowers and berries were too early.

Captain Sensible is fighting a valiant battle with the inclement weather that we have recently had. Having worked with old oak and green oak for the first time, he says he feels frustrated because it is slow progress especially with the rains we have recently had. Sweet Pea thinks his work is excellent... but as she cannot even use a hammer correctly she would never have dared to start such a project.

And now ... we are approaching the end of October. The days have clear, blue skies with a crisp, fresh air quality. There have been at least two mornings with below zero temperatures and hence frost.

And now, still with this article not yet published, December arrives!!! It will be published in retrospect!

Let's go back to August...

The first weekend had been the hottest and the most humid weekend of the year! We rocked in the hammocks. Our garden provided us with haricot beurre beans and mirabelle plums.

After mid August Family and Friends arrived. The warm weather enabled us to enjoy an evening barbecue, sitting in front of the fire until just after midnight.

At Angles-sur-Anglin we re-discovered a fabulous street theatre group - artistes in the Soup Kitchen were in action but as it was late afternoon they were making hot chocolate drinks, toast and jam. Musicians, actors and actresses entertained us as we sipped our kir in the centre of the town.

The weather turned colder, the hirondelles collected on the telegraph wires. We thought they had migrated but later in the month they returned to wheel in the blue skies. On the 22nd of the month we celebrated our second anniversary of leaving England and moving to France.

Six Friends in France - August 2007
Captain Sensible and his Sweet Pea entertained two friends and their two friends in our two bedroomed cottage, sleeping ourselves downstairs on the sofas/settees. Given the recent cold winds, rain and early autumnal weather we rejected the idea of sleeping under canvas in the garden preferring the warmth of an indoor lifestyle. It was cosy and comfortable.

Day One
Warm winds and sunshine enabled us to welcome the evening arrival of our guests on the unfinished verandah. It was good to see such friends as if we had seen them only yesterday!

LASAGNE BOLOGNESE for 6 persons.

In a wide based pan sauté 2 medium onions, 4 small shallots and 2 chopped garlic cloves in olive oil until soft. Empty from the pan. Add chopped courgettes and chopped red pepper to your liking and sauté in more olive oil. Empty from the pan once cooked.
Saute 450g quality Steak Haché (minced beef). Use a wooden spatula to break it into smaller pieces as it cooks. Whilst this is cooking, add salt and pepper, fennel or celery seeds, dried or chopped fresh herbs, bay leaves and a good pinch of cinnamon. Once cooked stir in a little flour until absorbed, then add some white or red wine, tomato purée or tomato sauce to make a moist mixture. Add the vegetables and more sauce or wine as necessary. Stir until the mixture is like a thick chunky sauce.
In another pan make a roux of 75g hot butter and 75g flour. Add a little milk and stir continuously to beat the roux. Gradually add more milk and beat until it is a thick creamy sauce. Add some grated hard cheese and seasoning.
In a large oven proof dish (I used a 30cm square brown earthenware dish), put in a layer of
good quality ready to cook lasagne pasta, the mince mixture, a little creamy sauce mixture and repeat until the dish is full, ending with a layer of pasta and then creamy cheese sauce. Scatter with grated hard cheese and maybe grated mozzarella cheese.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes 190°C Gas 5. Remove from the oven if you are not ready to dine. Cook for another 15 minutes approximately when the top should be nicely golden brown.
Cut into portions and serve in the centre of individual plates with a glass of red or white wine or water.

LAVENDER SHORTCAKE WITH REINE-CLAUD PLUMS

Measure 150 g butter, 75 g sugar, and 225 g plain flour into a bowl and with your fingers mix lightly together until it is a crumbly mixture.Add a small pinch of edible lavender flowers. This is optional. Continue using your fingers and press the mixture into a 20cm diameter glass flan dish. Break an egg into a cup and whisk with a fork and pour over the shortcake. Bake in oven 190°C for about 5 minutes. Take out and arrange the pre-stoned mirabelle plums on the top leaving no gaps. Scatter with a very light sprinkling of caster sugar, and for the courageous a small smidgen pinch of dried lavender flowers. Bake in the centre of an oven for about 30 minutes, however, depending on the fruit it may take longer. You can serve it warm or cold as it is, or with a dollop of crème fraîche, yoghurt or cream. As a variation you could use fresh stoned apricot fruits.

Day Two

International Chefs presented their cookery school in their own home. We enjoyed good company whilst being shown how to create a most magnificent meal. Our menu was:

Tarte Fine of Aubergine, Tapenade and Mozzarella
***
Chargrilled Snapper with A Mango, Prawn and Chilli Salsa
***
St Maure's Cheese Soufflé
***
Tiramisu Boat with Three Sauces

It is an understatement to say how delicious this was. This unique experience of first class world cuisine was sheer delight.

In Angles-sur-Anglin we explored the Low Town insearch of the Stone Loges. These are ancient, small, dry walled, stone constructions where workers in the vineyards, fields and woodlands would once have sheltered from the rain, wind and sun.

Day Three

It was our second visit to Les Flaveurs de la Terre, un Caviste-conseil at Loches. Jean-Christophe LAPLANCHE was a fantastic host. Our picnic menu was:

Anchovy and Vegetable Tart,

Cheeses with Batavia lettuce,

Fresh strawberries with Lemon Cheescake.

There is a deep science to wine tasting AND there is a deep science to the matching of food and wine. Somehow, we have not yet got this right!!! I think our caviste was unimpressed with the challenge of choosing wines to serve with the combination of different tastes, smells and flavours of the ingredients in our menu! Woops.
However, he was absolutely charming, explaining his reasons for choosing certain wines for us to taste, and explaining his philosophy of food and wine. It was a unique experience.
Montresor- un Plus beaux Village de France. Whilst it is quite pretty it does not have the magic and ambience of Angles-sur-Anglin.

Day Four
A rest, computer maintenance, wine shopping and a walk along La Balade des Plaisirs preceded
delicious cuisine from Le Petite Auberge, a restaurant which we highly recommend marred only by losing the car key which several days later was retrieved from the most property section at the Mairie. Marvellous!
Day Five
On the last day of August our guests travelled to a gite in Brittany. We proceeded with nettoyage and a rest from our holiday with friends! My Mother asks if we "potter about". Is THAT what we do? We had an extraordinarily brilliant time, exceeding all our expectations.

No crying over fermented milk

We have again accidentally purchased fermented milk thinking it was fresh milk!

However, with the assistance of the glorious web, fount of all knowledge, we have finally learned more about this particular dairy product.

Lait Ribot is a Traditional Armorique fermented milk which has been made in Brittany for thousands of years since possibly before the Gauls lived there. The brand name is Bridel. Ribotte is an old word for "churn", and in Breton language it is called "laez ribod".

Evidently, the white liquid that remains after the milk has been churned into butter, is fermented. In England we would call it buttermilk. In France it is called babeurre.

We are impressed at how inexpensive it is and obviously it is very nutritious. This evening, we added vanilla sirop and realised the glorious potential of this drink.

We will use it to make galettes and crêpes as it has been traditional to use this instead of fresh milk. It is cheaper than yoghurt and we have already thought of adding fresh crushed fruit and juices to it as a breakfast drink ... AND ... I am going to make sour milk scones and sour milk dough for bread. Just another obsession to keep me occupied and to satisfy our pleasure for food.

The following paragraph was discovered on a Tourist Site for Bretagne, France.
"This pale white liquid, which is also called buttermilk, was kept in the coolest part of the house and drunk to quench thirst. It was delicious in summer with fresh fruit and gave that extra touch to fish cooked in a court-bouillon. In times gone by, it was also used to make a kind of soup. People would mash potatoes in a bowl, spreading them around the edges and then pour lait ribot on top. It was often combined with chestnuts and potatoes at meal times. People would also cut buckwheat pancakes into pieces and dunk them in a bowl of lait ribot. And then of course people got used to drinking it during a meal of galettes and crêpes. Not everyone likes lait ribot but its fans will drink nothing else, except perhaps cider!"

Well ... I'm not that keen on cider but I am very happy to drink this as it will be cheaper than buying Yakult or any other acidophulus drinks for the digestive system.

YUMMY YUMMY , IT'S GOOD FOR MY TUMMY.

Pyrotechnic Panorama

ANGLES-sur-ANGLIN
Pyromelodique feu d'artifice.

It was our second year and woops, again the camera batteries ran out of energy. However, we captured an opening cinematographic scene of the castle in all it's pyro-melodique glory! It was exceptional, wondrous and spellbinding.
We found our place three hours before the skies were set aflame with fireworks. Others had already claimed their spot from early morning. On both sides of the river, on the narrow island, on the rues and chemins and on the bridge people brought their foldy-up chairs, picnic rugs and blankets to secure ground space. All was civilised and tranquil. One newspaper reported that there were 10,000 people in attendance. It was fascinating and we were entranced.
For thirty minutes we were to be enthralled. The entertainment was announced by a superb sound system which welcomed us to a cinema. The sound track had included movie themes from Charlie Chaplin , American Westerns, West Side Story, Star Wars and Edith Piaf "The Mome", to name just a few.

At 22h30 the bridge was plunged into momentary darkness where the absence of light and sound hushed those who had waited patiently. The curtain opened for the panoramic screen. The chateau was set ablaze in a fierce, red, fiery furnace. Skies were rent with explosions. Raptures of applause followed shrieks and cheers, all drowned by the warfare of modern explosives. The theatrical scene was set.
All ears focused on the tempered spoken voice of the narrator. We listened whilst the melodies of the music matched the rhythm of the rockets, against the backdrop of a clear summer night sky, above the outline of the historic chateau.
All eyes absorbed the moving image which alternated between light and dark filling retinas with a palette of pastels and a video of vibrancy, as the kaleidoscope of colour erupted and expired. At one time, high in the sky, Catherine wheels free-wheeled, crackled, corkscrewed and cascaded downwards to the castle walls and river. It was as if champagne fizzled and sparkled for the celebration.
We smelled the sulphur from the drifting, smoking cloud of cordite which had played it's part. It had added to the atmospheric ambiance of the drama.

Earlier we had been part of a different international stage. By the side of the river we sat down on a tartan rug with a bottle of Bordeaux rouge, an anchovy tart,a green salad and a Reine-Claude Plum Shortcake. At one point, "un homme" gaped towards our evening meal and expressed homage to our gateau! After all, he only had an almost bare baguette of a sandwich. We proudly explained the ingredients in our home made products. We may be English but we enjoy excellent French cuisine, made by ourselves.

The Woolly Jumper

THE WOOLLY JUMPER - a story from April

The sheep ear-marked number 5041 is continuing to escape from the flock of eight sheep and two lambs. It is either very clever or very stupid. It has "une habitude", that is, a habit! It has become an expert hurdler and learned to jump a fence into our meadow. The shepherds have now decided to prevent the flock entering our field through the open gateway because they say they do not know how it escapes into and out of our field. Once in our meadow, the woolly jumper saunters nonchalantly over to the growing mount of rocks and soil on which we have put our grass mowings. We hope this will become a rockery once the sheep do not graze near it. From this small colline the sheep leaps into mid-air with front legs forwards and back legs backwards as in the drawings of "counting sheep in dreams", into the next field where the flock once used to graze. It straightway crops the grass, for it's only intent as an eating machine is to eat! When it realises it is alone, he/she munches in the direction of the gate and with another leap across another barbed wire fence it is cheerful to be on the chemin/lane. Pleased with itself and tail wagging, number 5041 proceeds along the lane to the entrance of the field from whence he came. Friends and family regard it with great interest, bleating all the while but the silly singular sheep cannot fathom out how to rejoin the sheep plural. The rising slope at the gateway makes the fence appear higher than it's high-jump skills permit! We have rescued it more than five times. Ar first it was amusing BUT our sense of humour and shepherding days are numbered. We have tired of this game. Therefore, the lonely mouton awaits the real shepherds who are befuddled when they see him freed from the flock, yet again! This in itself is amusing to us because the French shepherds think it escaped under the gate. Now they have padlocked the gate, added more barbed wire and weighted it with rocks! We have tried to explain, within our language limitations, how the sheep achieves this feat of houdini, but we are still unsure if the two brotherly shepherds comprehend our franco-anglo language. Obviously it is not normal for a sheep to leap! A ewe should chew!

The real shepherds have certainly not understood or accepted our explanation as several days later they are installing electric fencing and repairing our fencing. Number 5041 has continued on a daily basis to ram the fence to greener pastures and every single morning appears outside our gate because it wants to enter the next field to be with it's chums!

One evening one shepherd is looking quite mad, as whilst he repairs the fencing, the numbered one goes on walkabout, appearing in our garden as I had inadvertently left the gate open!! The farmer looks very frustrated as he comes to help me return the sheep into our meadow and so into his. The sheep gets a quick kick whilst receiving the sign of a slit neck!! Although I quipped that it would be fine as a leg of lamb for Easter Sunday lunch which is at the end of this week, there was a hint of remorse in me. I vow that I will not "tell" on it again and I will continue to secretly encourage it back unto the fold as often as I can because as a former vegetarian for 24 years I do not wish it to come to any harm!! The following morning I am seen to be outside first thing in the morning, coaxing the doomed one to re-enter the back field and encouraging it to leap the fence into our garden and then leap again to it's flock. I continue throughout the day to count the sheep .... 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Ha, they are still all there!!!

A few days later, they are moved from the field adjoining our garden to the barn and field opposite our land. Behold, I see a new born lamb, and on day two, the shepherd proudly shows us the little creature. Woolly jumper has stopped her leaping and has become a contented mother. Would you believe it?

Nanny and company

In June we were extremely disturbed to hear a dreadful crying from an animal in the grange opposite our house. Normally, sheep shelter there and we assumed that a dreadful thing had happened to one of the flock. On trespassing, we discovered that a goat was tied on a short tether and was head-butting the corrugated walls, crying in despair at being a prisoner. This continued for some weeks, even when we expressed our concern to the owner. Evidently, the goat liked to "jump" fences to escape and the previous owner had donated it to our neighbours for "correction". Well, the poor animal was moved to a more distant grange but we could still hear it's mournful cry and wondered about it's welfare and mental well-being. There is no recourse to the RSPCA in rural France! However, with our limited French language skills, we suggested that maybe it could join the flock of sheep in the field alongside our garden, but be on a longer tether so that it could have some freedom. Within the week, there it was in the field with the flock of nine sheep, in complete freedom being no longer tethered, head-butting any sheep that inadvertently got too near!!

We became friends and I would call her to give her extra treats from lawn mowings, weedings or prunings. She loved to eat entire plums, crunching the stones in her teeth! We got a bit mad when we discovered her climbing on our wire fence and ruining it to reach the branches of the plum trees! But then by mid-July the flock changed fields and Nanny and company moved home. In the early morning rays of sunlight Nanny was seen to be practising her mountaineering talents on the dry stone walls.

One morning I took this photo from our bedroom window. It was just after the shepherdess had fed her flock with grain and Nanny had surprised her by jumping over the dry stone wall which separated the larger and the smaller flocks of sheep to eat the grain. The shepherdess was most displeased and shooed her back, where she remained tip-toeing on the rocks! The partridges were also enjoying the morning ambiance.

The Common Lizard

The Latin name is Lacerta Vivipara. It is also called the Viviparous Lizard because it bears young lizards in a membrane rather than lay eggs like most other reptiles. It is beautiful with black and brown spots on green skin with a yellow belly. It feeds on insects, spiders and grasshoppers. Evidently it likes heathlands, woodlands, cliffs, mountainsides, hedgerows and quarries. But it also likes our field! It is the biggest lizard we have espied on our land! Smaller ones have been eaten by our two cats! It is also lucky to be alive because two days ago our neighbour, the sheep owner, arrived to cut the long grass with his hay cutting machine on the back of a large tractor! Maybe the lizard raced to the nearest sanctuary. Today, our lizard was spotted at the bottom of the bonfire pile, basking in the sunshine. When I spread the lawn cuttings on the land it quickly darted to it's shelter. So, when it is time to ignite the bonfire we must check that our lizard and other small animals are not living beneath the waste matter.

In April we saw another on one of our walks. It was basking on the footpath but quickly disappeared into the hedge undergrowth.

In July we saw a black and yellow knobbly Fire Salamander on the footpath in the woods. It was one of the hottest days of the year, but in the damp, mossy woods where we walked to shelter from the heat, the mosquitoes ate us alive. The Salamander was fully grown as it was at least 20cm in length. I have read that they can live for up to 18 years. Unfortunately, it was one of those rare occasions when we did not have the camera with us!!

Changing the Face of Our Cottage

The Changing Face of Our Cottage

One Spring morning the digger came and ploughed up the lawn, removing the topsoil and stones to the bottom of the garden. We were left to tidy up the carnage by hand. Days later, after a delivery of white gravel to prevent the yellow clay sticking to our shoes, the bobcat dug out the foundation channels and spread the gravel. Friends came to put concrete in the channels and lay the floor scree. After moving many rocks and stones by hand and with the wheelbarrow, Captain Sensible was ready to build his first ever dwarf stone walls using shuttering. Combining ancient and modern techniques, he has replicated the 200 year old walls of the house. The next stage will be another first - to work with old oak to create a modern winter garden room and summer terrace. Isn't he remarkable?

Is it a lucky day?
We have four leaf clover plants at the bottom of the garden and some have five leaves.

A Menu for our French Neighbours

who expressed raptures about each course.
We have much to learn from their instilled wisdom and knowledge of French cuisine and wine.

We served a simple summer evening meal:
Entrée - French beans from our garden - haricots blancs - cooked in a butter and lemon sauce. We made a pile of beans, added a cherry tomato and a scattering of chopped parsley for colour. Vin de Bourgogne Les Jardins de l'Evêchê Chardonnay
Main course - Salmon Tagliatelle presented on an oval Moroccan platter and served with a rosé wine -Château Sissan - 2006 Bordeaux Clairet
Cheese course - Valençay goat cheese and Brie served with a green salad with dressing
Dessert course - Compôte of Mirabelle Plums

Salmon Tagliatelle for 4 persons

800g poached salmon tail
olive oil flavoured with grated lemon zest and juice of one lemon
450g fresh egg tagliatelle
several stalks of fresh basil with the stalks removed
2 small white onions, 2 long shallots, 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

salt and black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons créme fraiche

Prepare the ingredients:
1. Remove the skin from the salmon and cube the flesh. Set to one side.
2. Chop finely the onions, shallots and garlic.
3. Finely shred the basil.
4. Lightly sauté onions, shallots and garlic in olive oil and lemon juice, then add the salmon pieces, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or so on a high gas flame, shaking the pan and tossing the fish to cook all over. Leave in the covered pan until you are ready to re-heat when you cook the tagliatelle.
5. Heat a pan of boiling, salted water and cook the tagliatelle for 3 minutes. Drain the pasta well.
6.Serve the pasta on a large, pre-warmed dish. Make a well for the salmon mixture. By now you have re-heated it for another few minutes, added the créme fraiche to make a creamy sauce and thrown in the shredded basil. Serve immediately onto a large warm dish with more shredded basil scattered over the whole. Remember to warm the individual plates.
7.Provide serving cutlery so that everyone can spoon out their pasta and salmon sauce according to taste.
8.Use a spoon and fork to wind the tagliatelle before eating!

Making the most of Mirabelles

Last year our mirabelle plums were golden yellow but this year they have progressed to ruby red. The beautiful jewelled fruits hung amidst the branches like baubles on Christmas trees. Reflecting the light they shone invitingly. I was sad to have picked them because the leafy branches would only be green and brown until next Summertime.

Stone us and eat us, the plum fruits sighed.

So we did.

Measure 150 g butter, 75 g sugar, and 225 g plain flour into a bowl and with your fingers mix lightly together until it is a crumbly mixture. Continue using your fingers and press the mixture into a 20cm diameter glass flan dish. Break an egg into a cup and whisk with a fork and pour over the shortcake. Bake in oven 190°C for about 5 minutes. Take out and arrange the pre-stoned mirabelle plums on the top leaving no gaps. Scatter with a very light sprinkling of caster sugar, and for the courageous a small smidgeon pinch of dried lavender flowers. Bake in the centre of an oven for about 30 minutes, however, depending on the fruit it may take longer. You can serve it warm or cold as it is, or with a dollop of crème fraîche, yoghurt or cream. As a variation use fresh stoned apricot fruits.


Compôte des Mirabelles

1 kg fruit, 200-225 g sugar, 300 ml red wine,
a sprig of fresh rosemary, one or two cinnamon sticks depending on size

or a teaspoon of ground cinnamon powder

plus 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Wash and stone the fruits. In a saucepan bring all to the boil and then simmer gently until well cooked and reduced. Using a slotted spoon or sieve remove the fruit from the juice and reduce the juice further until it is syrupy. Cool and chill. In a small pretty glass half-fill with fruit, then a layer of crème fraîche, more fruit and a top layer of crème fraîche. Sprinkle with a few edible dried lavender flowers for decoration.

The juice and fruits can be kept in the refrigerator in a clean sealed jar or plastic container for up to two weeks.