Gourmandise des Rois

Epiphany cakes for kings and frangipane lovers

We invited H to share with us this best of gateaux called La Galette Hollandaise.    A galette is a pancake but in this case it is pastry, often flaky pastry, stuffed with almond paste.   This year we have given our Gold Award for 'galette des rois' to the Angles sur L'Anglin  boulangerie.   I don't think this one has flaky pastry. The pastry is crisp and crumbly. The almond paste has not been stinted on and fills the pastry shell... no gaps here! ... and seems to have a slight taste of rum. The icing sugar on top is dry  like crisp and even snow. 
At 10 euros for the cake which serves 8 not greedy people, I reckon it is good value with our cup of Blue Lady Grey tea which I mixed with a little Green tea (unspecified) and some dried Rosehip berries from Spain.
So we chatted. I explained my amusement of making her laugh by adding decorations (feves,that is beans or figurines from previous affairs with foody delicacies!) .......a plastic fir tree from 2010 Buche du Noel, an unexpected guest or lonely shepherd,  the angel keeping guard over the baby for now the Kings had departed to wish us all a Bonne Année.   What a pleasure that she should receive the feve... a little frog.. Perhaps her Prince will come!

We shared gifts. I think I prefer this day to Noel and its Eve and New Year's Day and its Eve. For me it has more meaning with the coming, and going of the  wise men, Balthazar, Caspar and Melchior. I feel a new tradition occurring and pourquoi pas? We are in France-home of the Good Food Appreciation Society.

And today what joy .. my daughter's Christmas Gift arrived. It was posted on 8th December and we feared it had been lost but here it is with so many little things in it that I shall open them little by little.   She's always so very very good at choosing exactly the right gift!

Never have we seen a vertical rainbow

Is it an omen?   As a rainbow it must be good.   On the way home from work we were astounded to see near the setting sun a vertical rainbow.  The sky was blue with large long clouds reaching out like fingers beckoning to us and skudding across the sky as if to make an escape.  As they reached their end they would wisp upwards like meringue being whisked into peaks.  We've witnessed a great many aeroplane trails in the sky, both this morning and this evening.  The sunrise was so beautiful as it lifted itself over the mist laden paysage.

My internet research has led me to facts that I never knew before! This article is about photography.

Sunset Rainbows  are special for three reasons.
(1) The sun's rays are nearly horizontal, so the top of the rainbow will be high in the sky.   A sunset rainbow is the widest arc you'll ever see from the ground. Almost half of the full-circle rainbow can become visible....  This means the ends of the arc are nearly vertical as they intersect the horizon. Sometimes only the end segment of the rainbow appears, and if you see a photo of a vertical rainbow at the horizon, you'll know it was made at sunset (or sunrise). With a little geometry work and a sun angle chart, you can tell time using a rainbow at the horizon.

Ireland Sunset Rainbow near The Cliffs of Moher (photo by Shannon Field)

(2) At sunset, the sunlight contains more red hues and less blue (because of atmospheric scattering). This will affect the appearance of the rainbow by emphasizing the red bands and muting the blue bands. The same red tint will apply to anything on the ground illuminated by the sunset. The effect can be quite dramatic.
(3) If you're lucky, you can get a rainbow against sunset clouds. This phenomenon is gorgeous to behold, but photos seem to be few. Be sure to turn around next time you're photographing a sunset, and see if the sky behind holds anything interesting.

With grateful thanks to Photocentric

Noises in the Night from not the Stone Martian but the Stone Marten

Awoken again, but this time as the alarm went off, with a screeching noise coming from the attic above the stairwell.  I went to the landing where Big Feet was looking with interest at the ceiling.  Captain Sensible got the fly whisk and banged about on all the upper floor ceilings. The noise had ceased by then.

I have suspected for over a year we have a stone marten in the roof.  At first I was quite spooked and used to lose sleep but I have now got used to it!   It crawls in at night knocking the roof-tiles about!
Evidently we need mothballs to dissuade it of co-habitating in the space that we can't access.  They don't like noise, though they van make a lot themselves... so leaving a radio on at night is supposed to deter them!  Little critter... but don't they look cute? 

Chris of Planet Passion 

has a very good description of both  

the Stone Marten and the Pine Marten.  

 I have often seen the latter in wooded areas.  I hope he does not mind me promoting his website here.

Listen here to the sound I heard this morning. 

For those who have not yet twigged... if you hover the mouse over the highlighted areas that are then underlined and click you can go to the next site.  Make sure you return here!

Best Wishes for the New Year

This is a scene that is no more.

The first photo is on Christmas Day 2009 and is where we had our last picnic. 

The second photo is of the same place by the River Anglin where now poplar trees have been razed.  

I am sure regeneration will occur but to see devastation was yet another sad blow to the year 2010.

 

OUT OF CHAOS WILL COME ORDER

SO THAT BEAUTY WILL EMERGE

FOR WHEREVER THERE IS HOPE THERE IS ALWAYS NEW LIFE

MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO IN THE MAGDALENIAN AGE 

DIFFERENT TREES  PROVIDED  SHELTER 

IN JUST A FEW YEARS TIME NEW PEOPLE 

WILL EXPERIENCE THE SHADE OF YOUNG TREES.

THAT'S LIFE 

WHOEVER YOU ARE AND WHEREVER YOU MAY BE 

WE WISH YOU WELL FOR TODAY 

AND  FOR ALL THE DAYS AND MORROWS OF 2011

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF

with all best wishes for a

H A PP Y   N E W   Y E A R 

much love from SweetpeainFrance 

and Captain Sensible

at VillagedeVaux

Bon Fin d'Année 2010

Best Wishes to everyone;  friends, family and all those who I do not know and may never meet, who read my postings, for the end of the year..... and for the next year I wish you all the best of opportunity.

I was reprimanded today for saying Bonne Année because one can't say that until after midnight!  How very logically French and quite exact! 

Until then one has to say "Bon Fin d'Année" and why not celebrate the going out as well as the coming in?  We don't have any black coal though!

Happy New Year to you all. 

In the Bleak Midwinter

I've been singing this carol and only this carol this year whilst I clean, hoover, walk, be ...
and it just keeps singing in my head all the time.
I love it. It is sad. It makes me cry.  It fills me with the beauty of the world.
It is a solitary carol....... so I have been thinking of people I know in England and people in other parts of the world.  And it makes me see the glass half empty and the glass half full.
I like people very much and it always pains me enormously if I feel I have inadvertently hurt anyone.
I want to give, yet sometimes it is impossible to be able to give, even my heart.
The Youtube video I have chosen is quite poignant. 

If you wish you can watch the choir and listen to this moving song of praise.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,


Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;


Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,


In the bleak midwinter, long ago.



Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; 


Heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign. 


In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed 


The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

 Angels and archangels may have gathered there, 


Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; 


But his mother only, in her maiden bliss, 


Worshiped the beloved with a kiss. 
 

What can I give him, poor as I am? 


If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; 


if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; 


Yet what I can I give him:  give my heart.

With grateful thanks to Christina Rossetti

On Christmas Day, On Christmas Day, No Picnic was had on Christmas Day

On account of the below freezing weather conditions which we have tolerated before on our legendary Christmas Day picnics, and on account of our fatigue in many areas it was just as well that we did not have such a feast mid-day. So TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT and TO DO SOMETHING SENSIBLE we took a 3 hour walk across fields and woodlands, through ancient rural villages, uphill, downvale,  along river banks showing evidence of medieval strip farming,  across fords,  to afford ourselves a place in the winter sunshine at a special lake where we had previously had our Christmas Day picnics and so... we SIMPLY ATE  our smoked salmon sandwich rolls with a clementine for dessert followed by coffee laced with Whiskey Mac.

In the evening once our hunger was restored we ate a first course of Salmon Provençale pre-prepared... with a green salad followed by the main course of Shoulder of Lamb from the field next door  served with roasted potatoes, pumpkin, onions, garlic and steamed broccoli and carrots. Then one of LIDLs finest cheeses,  a Bleu Bresse, accompanied with mâche (lamb's lettuce). This latter leaf is very popular with the French. It belongs to the Valerian family so is therefore probably very good for relaxation and healthy sleeping habits.
When I bought wholemeal bread at Leclerc I just could not RESIST the desserts and after umming and aahing over whether I should choose buche de noël or  ???? I chose these two on account of the little lutin and his spade for Captain Sensible and Sweetpea coloured raspberries!

And then they and the day were gone!

Thank goodness, that's all over for another year. The dreaded day has passed well, all things considered!

It was Christmas Eve 2010.........

How very French...

I took a small inexpensive gift to my French friends wishing them festive greetings and we were  unexpectedly invited to an evening meal.

By the time I did what I had to do, there was no time to change into evening wear and anyway I knew that where I was going they had not much more heat than I have at Angles so it would be careless to discard the layers of clothing.  I exchanged the trousers for a skirt and the upper garment for another, wrapped a cream scarf around my neck to brighten up the shades of black and burgundy, changed my shoes, splashed some perfume  on the wrists (better than slashing them) grabbed the flowers and the wine and set off, arriving later than requested.  Parking presented a problem trying not to park in front of garages.

Applause

When I arrived the 7 persons seated applauded and called out my name as if I were a football team which made me quite embarrassed!  Cries of "Je suis desolée" were drowned as I removed my hat, coat, gloves, gave my gifts and was seated at the head of the table! A table of 8. More embarrassment as I realised that it was a shared meal… people had contributed!  I did not foresee how much there would be to eat nor when I would get home! The next time we are invited by French people to a meal I MUST establish what I am expected to do: what should I bring?  What are the expectations for the guests?  I have made so many cultural faux pas that I don't want to make any more.

Let the Feast begin
I had missed the aperitif toasts (unlike an English toast) and the guests were eating escargots but I was presented with foie gras on toast (which they also had)  and a cockle shell containing 4 Coquille St Jacques in Beurre Nantaise. These days I eat the foie gras as I do not have the energy or language to remonstrate. "Hypocrite" I say to myself but it’s often such a nice creamy taste and THAT IS MY DILEMMA after 23 years of having been a vegetarian!
Then the 3rd course of  home-smoked salmon was heavenly.  A friend of G. obtains the salmon atlantique from his friend a poissonière, smokes it and slices it very finely.  It was oh so sweet and melted in the mouth. I had to have a second helping when it was offered to me.
Following that were the oysters. I don’t like imbibing salt water! I tried one… and remarkably, unlike previous experiences, there was no salty ocean, just a wonderful, slippery, weird experience which suggested I should have another, but I refused, as one was plenty!

The main course was a very large of Poitevin gigot of lamb with white creamy beans, (perhaps mogettes) with green haricots verts.  The lamb was deliciously sweet and melted in the mouth. The plate was full then empty!

Aumoniere de fromage du chevre avec miel et pignons was interesting but E. was disappointed because the cheese hadn’t melted and the pastry was like burnt paper. She is not yet used to the woodburner oven which was instlalled for their emergency moving in just a few weeks ago. I thought  the pastry needed to be more soaked with butter.

The mixed lettuces that the French call 'salade' was passed around the table.

Course 8 was dessert. A very fat slice of pear and chocolate roulade in bicoloured, marbled sponge was set before me!  OH MY… would I make it home and WHEN would I lose the weight I was adding to my figure!

 Course 9 consisted of Les Mendiants. Fortunately we could choose to have anything in between 0 and 13 of these ingredients from the platter of fruit and nuts. I chose prunes.

Coffee and chocolates came then tilleul (lime flower) tisane, then more coffee or more tea as stories and jokes abounded. I had intended not to be late home BUT I couldn't just get up and leave!  At midnight the Baby Jesus was put in his creche and Pere Noel had been hinted at with stories of childhood memories!

At 13h30 it was Christmas gift time.  More embarrassment but I noticed that not all guests exchanged gifts so I relaxed only to discover that I was receiving a wonderful, beautiful gift from a family whom I have only met once before! He is a medieval metalsmith and stone carver and I don't know what else. Except he's very funny!

Melusine et Chevan also received one of his wonderful sculptures.

At 14h30 everyone was still nattering and enjoying the morning. However, after 6 and half hours I had to get up from my seat for reasons of health and safety so decided I must reluctantly take my leave. Then more surprise as I was invited to eat again that day, Christmas Day, at another house but I felt quite rude when I declined giving the excuse that I would eat very little the next day, I mean Christmas Day. 

I am lucky to have such wonderful French friends who look after me.  I try to look after them and have supported them with their business events. At the moment their Ouessant mouton is mowing my lawn.

Wishing you all a seasonal feast full of warmth and kindness

With best wishes from SweetpeainFrance