August 2010

Summer is slipping away. How fast it goes. Everything so green one day, then a tinge of fall starts to appear here and there. It even smells like fall.

To start where I left off last month. Keith had left for his “bike camp” on Saturday (31 (sup)st(/sup) of July).

This year it was in Verdun (almost straight north of Dijon, in the region called the Lorraine). It is his week to do nothing but ride his bike. This year there were 11,000 others at “bike camp”. He rode over 1100 km in just the one week. He loves it !!

VERDUN

Tent Camp

Keith's loaded bike

 

This last spring Keith had signed up for a program called “Warm Showers”. This is a program for people touring on bicycles. They write (via email) and ask if they can spend the night at your house. For the month of August, we had 3 different couples come through our house. On Tuesday, the 3rd of August, I had a family of four. Although Keith was not here, I thought a couple with two children, oh why not. We had turned down one couple the week that Chris was staying us, and another request for a single man (Keith was working that week). So when a family (2 children- 2 years and 4 years old) asked, I told Keith to say Yes.

They said they had a tent, so they did not need a bedroom, just a warm shower.

The first couple arrived on two bikes (one for each the adult) and a trailer behind each with a child. Bikes were loaded with panniers (camping bags). They had brought a bottle of wine.

With all the preparations, showers and two little ones, we did not eat until 8:30pm. We sat at the table on the patio, for it was a warm summer night. I now have a set meal to prepare for the bikers (not obligated to provide dinner, but these are tired hungry people). My standard meal is ham (slices), bread, tomatoes & cukes and lots of pasta with tomato sauce.

The first ones were an interesting couple and the children well behaved. The little ones enjoyed the freedom of the yard. I have to admit though it has been a long time since I had little ones around, and forgot about things like garden tools. Oops, “No Isaac that is not a good toy”. Oh no, the clippers are over there...rush, grab and hide!! Things one does not think about without any children around.

They had asked to stay two nights. On Wednesday they wanted a day off from biking and planned to tour Dijon. On Wed morning, they packed up the backpacks and the baby carrier and took the train into Dijon. They said they would return about 6pm. I volunteered to prepare an easy dinner for Wednesday evening. Since there was rain in the air, we ate inside.

The next couple that came were (are) young. He was from Belgium (Brussels), and she was from Spain (Barcelona). They had gone back and forth living in between the two cities and decided to take time off to tour. They thought that they would probably spend the winter in Barcelona, he was a landscape artist and had a job lined up. They had toured Thailand in June on their bikes and had continued through Europe.

The last couple was on the 20th of August. She is Canadian and he is french, although he has lived in Canada for a long time. They were taking two years off to tour the world. They had been to Iceland for a month touring and then here in Europe, but they had to leave because her 3 month time in Europe (Schengen zone) was almost over. They were going to head to Maroc for a few months, and then maybe back to Europe after the three month wait. They had the world to explore and another 1 ½ years to do it.

Back to the beginning of the month, on August 5th I went up to Messanges. Maire Therese and I went for a walk in the woods and took along a sack for mushrooms. And yes, we found chanterelles (girolfes) . Actually we found a lot of chanterelles. It is so much fun when you actually find some edible mushrooms. There were lots of other mushrooms too, but we stuck to what we knew. Other times it has not been as profitable. Too dry or too cold or ....

 

Beautiful Chanterelle

Pretty- not edible

Tree Mushrooms -not edible

 

 

Some of you may know, some may not, but we thought we would start the process of applying for french citizenship. The USA now allows dual citizenship, so we would have both french and USA citizenship.

I have acquired all the birth certificates and marriage certificates and .... but we are also required to have an FBI report. Looking at the internet, I found the site and the forms. On one form the FBI requires fingerprints. Easy if you still live in the USA. It is possible to have fingerprints taken at the embassy in Paris, but that means a round trip train ticket to Paris for both of us, just for fingerprints. So I suggested we try the gendarmes. We took the forms and went over to the Gendarmerie to ask if they would take our fingerprints. This appears to be a very unusual request. The first person called in the second. “Why do you need this”? (pourquoi)... The second person called in a 3rd because she spoke english. Our answer was the same. To apply for citizenship, the french government requires an FBI background check, and to do a background check our fingerprints are needed. So the third person said she had to call on this. It all worked out, they just needed to be sure all was in order. They even offered to send it in for us, but I said no because we have to pay to have the background check done (we were now talking in french again). They were astonished (they were now 4 gendarmes talking with us) that there was a charge. So our prints were taken (free of charge) and we said good-bye.

Documents

 

 

I went to Paris mid-month to meet a friend. Actually Diane and I went to high school together. A little scary how long ago that was ! Yikes ! Unfortunately it was not the best weather. They (Diane, her husband Jim and daughter Allison) had gone to Armenia for their son’s wedding. So Paris was the stop-over. I arrived Sunday in the pouring rain.After meeting them at the hotel and having lunch, we were off to the Orangerie (museum on the southwest corner of the Jardin des Tuileries). Monet’s water lilies are in a special section of this museum. Then a late dinner in the pouring rain... it was really coming down hard!!

Allison left early the next morning. Unfortunatly for her, it was raining again. We took off for the Louvre and toured all morning. A late lunch at the museum, then they headed back to the hotel. The rain had stopped; to I walked around Paris for the next 1 ½ hours. I love the city. That night we found a nice little restaurant not far from the hotel and had a wonderful dinner (not really too difficult in Paris).

Ah Tuesday, it was not raining. A pleasant surprise... we headed over to the Ile de la Cite and went first to see Ste. Chapelle. It is one of my favorite sites in Paris, and although I have seen it a few times, I still am amazed by it. Unfortunately, although it was not raining, there was no sun either. It is absolutely stunning when the sun shines through the stained glass windows.

From St Chapelle it is a short walk to Notre Dame and the gardens behind Notre Dame. After that a cross over a small bridge to the Ile de St. Louis and a slow stroll through the small streets. We found a nice little Bistro for lunch. I took off for another walk after lunch. I wanted some photos of the Musee de Cluny...forgetting it was Tuesday and most museums are closed on Tuesday. Oh well, took a few photos of the outside.

Diane and Jim left on Wednesday, and I returned home to Gevrey by train, it is just about 1 hour 30 minutes. Ah Paris. Some photos, mostly black and white...just a sample of all that I took. I will try to put more out on Picasa for next month (should you be interested). I am a little behind on photos right now...and need to catch up.

In the Rain

Pyramid at the Louvre

St Chapelle

Notre Dame 1

Notre Dame 2

Ah color- Notre Dame garden

Notre Dame FINAL

Paris "what else"

 

 

The weekend of the 21-22 of August, the baseball team of Fenay holds a baseball tournament. There are teams from Italy, Holland, Ireland, and of course France. It is called American Days. There are horses for the children to ride, line dancing, old American cars....and beer. Here are some of the photos I took at the baseball tournament.

Baseball at Fenay

The pitch

Red Mustang

 

 

This last weekend of August is the opening of our Expo, “ Sur les Traces de Cluny”. The chateau is also have a two day festival, and I happen to have a free ticket. Oh it is not a free lunch. The tickets (7 in all) were given to the photo club, with the expectation that we will take photos. Oh dear another workday! I plan to go up to the chateau on Saturday after the opening of our Expo at the Caveau de Chambertin (only a couple blcoks apart.) I will write more about the end of August in the September journal, so stay tuned. Good weather is forecasted for the weekend, I sure hope they are correct.

As for the grape harvest this year, “Qui sait” [who knows], it has not been the best of seasons. But it could still be good if we get some prolonged sunshine. The grapes really need sun to sweeten up. What an unusual year. Our temperatures keep jumpimg from 90’s to 60’s. Only a few days here and there that one might call normal. And we have had plenty of rain, but regions to the east have had major flooding and then Russia in the midst of a major drought!

My garden, oh those beautiful tomatoes are now ripe. I pick a few each day. How delicious to eat a few for dinner. So much more flavor than store tomatoes. Eating tons of them...umm. Of course the ever dependable zucchini are there too, as always. Do you have a favorite zucchini recipe (I have zucchini cake recipe...)?

 

 

Recipe of the month

Shrimp and Calamari  Pasta.

I found this is an easy and good recipe. Goes together in  no  time  at all/

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tomatoes chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup red wine
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 9 oz shrimp (cleaned shrimp...does not have to be exactly 9 oz.)
• 12 oz. Calamari (cleaned rings, again it does not have to be exact)
• 2 tsp sunflower oil
• 1/3 cup parsley chopped
• 8 oz. Pasta ( I used fusilli)
• Salt and Pepper

PREPARATION

1. Heat oil in a pan

2. On medium heat, add the chopped onions and simmer slowly (onions develop a richer taste when slowly sautéed).

3. When onions are translucent, add the garlic. Simmer for another 5 minutes, low to medium heat.

4. Add tomatoes, and sauce and wine.

5. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.

6. While waiting for the sauce, start cooking the pasta according to package directions, drain when done.

7. Check taste  of sauce and add salt and pepper. If  tart or astringent, add a teaspoon of sugar, or a tablespoon of milk (note :  also some finely chopped carrots help to take the edge off a tomato sauce...if the tomatoes are ripe and sweet, the additions are  probably not needed).

8. Let simmer another 5 minutes if you have added sugar or milk.

9. Add the shrimp and let simmer about 3 minutes. Then add the calamari and simmer another 4 minutes (time of cooking the shrimp will depend on the size. If large shrimp are used, cook a little longer...look for the pink color). Cooking shrimp or calamari  too long  will result in a rubbery texture. Note also, that they will continue to cook a little in the hot sauce after the heat is off.

10. Mix the pasta into the tomato sauce/shrimp/calamari. Mix in the parsley and serve immediately.

July 2010

Walk with Marie Therese and dogs

July 2010

I sit here in front of a blank screen (“paper”). What to say this month, not that it has not been busy, it has been packed. I guess it is more of where to start.

At the beginning of the month, I went back to the Musee de Noisot in Fixin (May Blog) to take some photos. Madame C. wanted a photo of the old sketch of her house that was behind glass in the Museum. She had made arrangements for us to get in before opening hours so the sketch book could be removed and we would take some photos. I took a photo of the hat of Napolean also, although it was still in the glass case.

Sketch of the House

Napolean’s hat

On July 4^th, I again entered into the Rallye du Charme (it is once a year on the first Sunday of July). This is a game done by the Office de Tourisme here in Gevrey. You have to have local knowledge and lots of it: some history, knowledge of landmarks, general lay of the land...and much more. It is done in the canton region of Gevrey. The villages where you might find an answer are marked in Yellow on a little map (about 7 villages are marked). So you drive around trying to solve the enigmas given on a sheet, so you can gain points with the right answers. Also there are four “Maitre de Jeux “(Masters of Play). In these four villages, you have to figure out the main game and answer a question. One village had wine tasting (put the 4 yrs of Gevrey-Chambertin in correct order- 2004,2005,2006 and 2007), or another village had us put the correct name of the bottles lined up [see below] would you know these? (We only had to identify the four they had on the table, a fillete, Jeroboam, Rehoboam and Balthasar...) or 3rd village- identify the names of the wine glasses (of course Tulip was easy ) but the others, not so easy...but we did it.

The grand enigma was the identification of Monsiuer X with the clues we had gained for the correct answers at the Maitre de Jeux. He was Claude Jobert de Chambertin (hey I got that one). This year I “played” with Joelle and Herve (they live here in Gevrey ). We started at 9am and went all day and turned in our answers at the deadline of 5pm. We did not win this year, but had a fun day.

Which ones do you know? Some dinner party with a Melchizédech

Nom	Volume	Équivalence
Magnum	1,5 l	2 bouteilles
Jéroboam	3 l	4 bouteilles
Réhoboam	4,5 l	6 bouteilles
Mathusalem	6 l	8 bouteilles
Salmanazar	9 l	12 bouteilles
Balthazar	12 l	16 bouteilles
Nabuchodonosor	15 l	20 bouteilles
Salomon	18 l	24 bouteilles
Souverain	26,25 l	35 bouteilles
Primat	27 l	36 bouteilles
Melchizédech	30 l	40 bouteilles

　

We had to find this archritectual feature called a “ECHAUGUETTE “ and identify what was on it ( a cavalier)- found in Gilly (I have no idea what is called in English-anyone?). We also had to find a “HEAUME” on a Balzon (or coat of arms)...since some Domaines (winemakers) use coat of arms also, not necessarily an easy task (tâche). But we found it in Chambolle-Musigny...yeah.

ECHAUGUETTE

HEAUME -Helmet

Blason taken through car window

　

Oh by the way, to my shame, the wine tasting (blind) was left up to me and I did not get them all correct. Oh the shame!! :-( The 2005 was very very tannic and the 2007 was light in color and not much in tannins....hmmm. mixed them up!!)

We have had an awful heat wave the first couple weeks of July. Temperatures were in the high 90’s, and lots of humidity. I know some of you have had hot weather also in the US, but let me remind you that there is very little air conditioning here in France. Our house is certainly not air conditioned.. poor garden suffered too. I am sure you did not open this to have me whine... so I will stop

But with the heat wave I noticed something here. It was over 90 degrees, so I had on shorts..more walking shorts...not short-shorts. When I went to the grocer (epicerie –Super U), I was the only woman in shorts. Teenagers and men wear shorts, but none of the women. They wear capris (or pedal pushers) skirts or semi-long pants. One day there was a woman with shorts on, and I said something to Keith, his reply, “must have been a tourist”. Probably was. But in 90 degrees, I will continue with my shorts.

Our friend from London area came for a visit. She arrived by car this year so she could take back wine. She came on the same Sunday that our history group had a tour of the old church here in Gevrey. Patrick had a demonstration outside with different stone cutting tools and the patterns each made on the stones. Then a tour outside to look at the stonework, and inside for the historical background.

A little info on St. Aignan

It was built late twelfth early thirteenth century. Foundations are from the 9th century. The walls, the octagonal pillars of the nave, the two pillars of the entrance to the choir, the western portal are Romanesque. The vaulted ceiling inside the church date from the fourteenth century. The windows of the nave are original. These arms of transept and choir are of the fifteenth century. The square tower with its cornice crests is the same time as the nave.

As you can tell from this description, the church was built and rebuilt. You can see in some of the walls the original stonework and where the new stonework starts.

History of Gevrey-Chambertin - if interested – this is an expert from a book

http://books.google.fr/books?id=5wQ6CP3sG8UC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=histoire+de+st+aignan+gevrey+chambertin&source=bl&ots=QOI7kqrRlO&sig=wsEwCmBV-nEd327iAICAfgaBT8A&hl=fr&ei=UTtQTPjmFceG4QbRk_zaBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBQQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q&f=false >

Photos of St. Aignan...it was a beautiful day and I took a few different photos

St. Aignan

Another View

Last View

Stone Cutting

Now back to the visit with our friend. It was a week of wine tasting / drinking. We went to see Jean-Claude and Anna Brelière in Rully (Domaine Brelière). There is always a warm welcome and the wine is sooo good.We tasted some wine and talked a little and then 15 tourists from Thailand came in...time for us to move on and let Jean-Claude work.

On Tuesday Chris and I took off for the Alsace. She loves the wine from there (it goes especially well with “hot” food--i.e. Thai or other spicy Asian). We were going to Eguisheim to taste wine at Domaine Joseph Gruss. Keith and I have been going there for years now. Some wonderful white wines, and if you like hot food, try it with a Gewurztraminer. We arrived in time for lunch, so found a place to rest in the shade and to eat a good lunch (still on the no fat diet, how sad in the Alsace with all that wonderful [full of fat and cheese] food). The salad was good.

After lunch we decided to go over to another village, Riquewihr. It is one of the very pretty villages in the Alsace wine region. Full of tourists, for my taste, way too many tourist!! Streets were packed and it was difficult to proceed in a car! But it is a very pretty village.Almost too pretty, hard to believe that these are everyday villages and not movie sets from Hollywood.

Equisheim is equally beautiful...enjoy a couple of photos.

Half-Timbered

Small Street Eguisheim

Eguisheim fountain, statue and pink church

Riquewihr Clock Tower

Riquewihr - note the hill of vines over the roof

After our tour, we finally stopped at Domaine Gruss’s for a tasting. There were about 12 white wines...!!! We took it slow, they were busy. It took us about 2 ½ hours to taste all the different white wines. Even though it was very hot day, a little walk was necessary after sitting in a small room with 15 other people in 90 degrees, tasting wine. We did not cool off though! We walked out of town to see the cigogne..storks. We had dinner that evening at 8pm at the hotel restaurant.

Back here to Gevrey on Wed, a slow drive through the Vosges, and Jura mountains (with air conditioning in Chris’s car).

On Thursday, two tastings; one in the morning and one late afternoon. We enjoy the wines from Maison Ambroise, some extraordinary wine. We only take people there who are going to seriously buy some wine.

Then late in the afternoon we went to Domaine Parigot. At this Domaine Greg makes Cremant. His Cremant can match most Champagnes and the price is half of what you would pay for Champagne. They also make a sparkling Burgundy. We went down to the nice cool cave for our tasting. Nice ending to the day.

Friday night we had dinner at a nice restaurant not far from here, Petite Auberge Rouge. Good food and very nice staff. Two thumbs up for this restaurant.

And Saturday we had dinner with Marie Therese and Christian. We watched the end of the Time trial for the Tour de France ( I requested this, although Christian was already in front of the TV, then we (Marie Therese, Chris and myself) went for a little walk. Keith had gone down to Orange to get the van and bikes for this week, so he was going to meet us there. The weather had cooled suddenly, and we had to eat inside. It was a great end to the week, sitting with friends and enjoying a good meal and of course, great wine. Ahhh....

Keith started his tour on Sunday, so he left about 8:30 in the morning. We packed Chris’s car and she was off at about 10:30am.

My club, Genealogie/Histoire/Patrimoine was having a day out. We were to clean the source (spring) La Mansouze. This is just south of Gevrey. Everyone had packed tools and a picnic lunch. I arrived about 1 hour late and the work was well under way. Herve had set up tables for lunch under the nearby trees. The waterbed had to be cleaned of vegetation and of garbage and the large rocks that had fallen into the water. Then clearing the weeds that were growing near the stream, and taking down a small bush that was starting to encroach on the wall of the stream. Lots of hard work.

Then in typical french style, out came the food for the picnic. Everyone brings enough for an army, so there are dishes of salads and desserts and cheeses and fruits making the round of the tables. A few bottles of water and wine and Cremant appeared out of no where too. It is a slow lunch with time to talk, rest and enjoy the experience. After about 1 ½ hour, back to work. We stayed until about 5:30pm. I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and was satisfyingly tired when I returned home.

La Source Mansouze

Cleaned [Nettoyage]

What has Keith been up too. Working, and working some more. However this next week he is going north to the Lorraine region to ride his bike. It is the week of the “Semaine Federal”. Last year he did over 1,000km during the week. He leaves on Saturday.

Garden notes: my garden is doing fine. Suffered a little due to the heat, but the tomatoes are now turning red. Oh the taste of a fresh tomato from the garden. Have had a few meals with fresh beans, and as always, zucchini. Tried a zucchini-mint cold soup, very nice.

Speaking of food, we have what are called "flat peaches" - pêches plat. They are wonderful. If you find some try them. You should eat over the sink, they are so juicy. We love them.... remember, all is better tasting when in season.

I will end here.

Recipe of the Month

For this months recipe, I am presenting a recipe I found on the web. I really enjoyed it, so I will leave it was on the web. However.. I had to not add the nuts... It is tangy and wonderful mixture of flavors. Hey, try this with the Gewurztraminer.

Thai Shrimp Salad... By Darlene Schmidt, About.com Guide – Thai Recipes

　

This easy noodle salad recipe is super-delicious and virtually fat free! Asian-style egg or wheat noodles (or fettuccini pasta noodles) are tossed in an array of fresh vegetables, shrimp, and herbs for the best pasta salad you'll have all summer. The oil-free dressing is extremely tasty, bursting with the quintessential tastes of Thai cooking. Make the full recipe and keep in the refrigerator to enjoy anytime, whether for a quick and easy lunch, or for a refreshing summer dinner.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Total Time: 23 minutes

SERVES 2-4 for dinner

INGREDIENTS

• 10 - 14 oz. (400-450 g) fresh Asian-style egg or wheat noodles (look in the deli section of your local supermarket), OR fettucini-style noodles
• 1 cup small cooked shrimp, thawed and drained if frozen
• 1 zucchini, grated, OR peeled into strips with a vegetable peeler
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 red or green chili, de-seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 can baby corn, cut into 1-2 inch lengths
• 1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and cut into strips
• 3 spring (green) onions, sliced
• 1 cup fresh coriander/cilantro, lightly chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, lightly chopped
• 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts or cashews, unsalted, and left whole or lightly chopped

SALAD DRESSING:

• 1/3 cup lime juice (about 2 limes, juiced)
• 4 Tbsp. fish sauce (available at Asian/Chinese stores)
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2-3 tsp. sugar (adjust to taste)
• 1-3 tsp. chili sauce OR 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper OR crushed chili (adjust to taste)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

PREPARATION:

1. Prepare noodles according to the directions on the package. For fresh noodles, be sure to boil only briefly - 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes, or until 'al dente'.

2. Rinse noodles with cold water, drain, and set aside.

3. Prepare salad dressing by mixing all dressing ingredients together in a cup or small bowl until sugar dissolves. Taste-test for sour/sweetness, adding more sugar as desired. Note that the taste of the dressing will be very "zing-y" at this point because of the lime juice - it will taste milder when distributed among the noodles.

4. Prepare the vegetables and shrimp, and place them in a very large salad or mixing bowl.

5. Add the herbs and nuts too.

6. Stir the dressing once more and pour over.

7. Toss the vegetables, shrimp, herbs, and peanuts with the dressing.

8. Now add the noodles and toss again (note: This salad requires a lot of tossing to distribute the dressing, vegetables, herbs, shrimp and peanuts throughout the noodles). Once well-tossed, taste-test the noodles, adding more fish sauce if not salty or tasty enough.

You can serve this salad immediately, or cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to eat

Garnish with a few extra sprigs of the fresh herbs, plus some chopped peanuts. For those who like it extra spicy, Thai chili sauce can be served on the side, either store-bought or my own homemade Nam Prik Pao Chili Sauce Recipe is delicious.[note-this is Darlene Schmidt talking, not me]

June 2010

June 2010

Ah June. The other day, the 22 of June, summer decided to start. I truly believe the ash in the air from the volcano has altered the weather over here somewhat. Temperatures were in the 50’s for many days during this last month. I foresee a cooler than normal summer for Europe. But the Lily finally bloomed, which means the grape harvest should start 90 days -that is the grape will be ready in 90 days. Old tale here in the wine region.

As for my garden, it is a little slow this year, but because of the rain, it is coming along. I found some little tomatoes on the vines, and the zucchini is on its way. Flowers are on the green bean plants, peas, and cucumbers. All in due time, patience, patience. Not one of my better virtues though!

So what have I or we done this month. Keith went camping for a couple of days when the forecast had 2 days of sun. He had put it off a few times because the night temperatures were so low ( his sleeping bag is rated at 10 degrees C, and it was 6-8 degrees C.) Packed up his bike and stuffed the panniers (side bags) with all his cloths and camping equipment and took off. He takes the train part of the way, and then rides in the region he has picked out. This time it was the Champagne region. The southern edge is about 2 hours by car, but he wanted to ride in the northern part. He was part of the way there by train when the train was stopped and announced that a train up the line had derailed and this train could not go north to Reims (pronounced rance –short “a” sound ). So he biked it instead. That first day he went over 200km... the old fool. Oh well, he loves it. He stayed out two nights and then returned home.

The weekend of the 12^th, the Independent Wine Growers of the Cote D’Or had open house for tastings. This was from Marsannay down south to Chassagne. I go to Christine’s for pottery, and her husband is a vigneron (wine grower/maker), so she had a pottery Expo at the same time her husband was having wine tastings(in french -degustation) . This way everybody could look at all of our pottery while they sipped wine. Of course for family and friends there was food too. I took a photo of the dessert, but did not eat any, really. This last year, practically everyone made a gargoyle (I have not made one yet). There are two gargoyles shown below. I tried flower pots in terra cotta (mostly worked in iron stone), they are the square ones in the second photo below.

Christine's {instructor ) Tall Vases

Sue's Flower Pots [square ones]

Babette's Gargoyle1

Babette's Gargoyle2

On Saturday Keith and I went wine tasting with Marie Therse. We went to Chassagne (D. Bachelet) and tasted his wines, and then stopped in Savigny-les-Beaune at D. Girard and tasted a couple more whites, and then at D. Gaumond at Curtil for the final tasting (this is near Messagnes where Marie Therese lives). Keith was driving, so he did not have much.... (you do taste and spit here....really). I even poured out some, one can only drink so much on a Saturday afternoon. We found some wines we liked and passed an enjoyable, rainy and cold afternoon.

My Genealogie/Histoire group had two more outings. We went to Brochon for a tour of the village, and then last weekend to the Château de Brochon. It is not that old, the château was built in 1896 by Stéphen Liégeard. The outside style is néorenaissance ( a little mixed if you ask me...).

Among other things, Stéphen Liégeard is noted for coining the phrase “Cote d’ Azur”, the Mediterranean coast in the south, known for it’s blue (azure in english) color.

Vineyard in the old quarry of Brochon

Cross of Malte on a House- BROCHON

Éolienne

Éolienne is french for what we call a wind mill. The word is used for a “mill” that does not mill anything, such as this wind driven water pump. Also all windmills that are erected for electricity, are also called Éolienne. Ever feel like you are spinning around?

Chateau de Brochon

Chateau from the garden

Tower or Look out

Staircase

Chateau Gargoyle

View from the Top -towards Gevrey

Continuing to work on the 2 expositions that we have coming up on Cluny (bet you are getting tired of hearing Cluny in each journal – what can I say, imagine 1,100 years of history). Hope to put things together on June 29^th, and take an inventory of what we have, and if there is anything that we need. Today I worked on transposing some information into a horizontal timeline. Do not worry, you will have a full report coming in the future. The Expo for the Genealogie/Histoire Club is August 24th -Sept 12th. The photo club is the end of October, only 24 photos will be selected for this Expo.

Taken a few nice walks this month too. Love going through the woods, except when we take a wrong turn and get caught up the in “ronce”..(ronce is the prickly vine of the blackberry).

A little road-vineyards left

Wild Asparagus

I think I talked about wild asparagus before, maybe even last month. Here is a photo (although not a great one) of wild asparagus. I have a knife and a cucumber next to it so you can see the size. Oh it is so good when in season.

One last note: who would of thought 40 some years ago...these two young people would still be together!! But yes...isn't that sweet...married June 27th 1970 in Minneapolis Minnesota

40th Anniversary June 27th, 2010

Before I get into my recipe of the month, it is black cherry season. Love those cherries. This year the crop was not great due to a late freeze , but still there are cherries. I had a published a recipe in the past for Clafouti (you can find it through the search), it is easy and good french recipe. It takes no time at all (unless you need to pit those cherries, but I now have a cherry pitter...it is great) You can use it with many of the fruits in season, so go for raspberries. Give it a try for a summer dessert. Serve it warm with some ice cream.

Recipe of the Month

Still following the almost no oil or fat rule diet and probably will for a few more months. So still searching for fat free recipes, and making some up.

This month I have a recipe for Pasta Primivera.

It is spring/summer, when all those wonderful vegetables are fresh and full of flavor. Do not be rigid on the ingredients. If you like fresh peas, hey, they are in season during the summer, add peas and lots of them. You could even toss in some arugula, why not. Maybe add shrimp or chicken, or keep it vegetarian. I add some canned tomatoes, diced; only a little, to add some moisture because of the lack of oil. I like the cherry tomato with basil small jar from Barilla. It has a little oil, but not much.

I also try to go for an overwhelming amount of vegetables, that way I am eating lots of veggies and not that much pasta. That also leaves more pasta for Keith, he needs it. Again to avoid oil, I blanche my vegetables, but you could grill the vegetables too. Like I said, be flexible with this recipe and add what you like.

INGREDIENTS

Pasta ( I like to use linguine – whole wheat)

Carrot - cut into sticks or circles

Zucchini - cut into sticks or circles

2 tomatoes - diced

1 red bell pepper cut into sticks

1 small red pepper minced if you like a little spark (a hot pepper)

Other seasonal vegetable ( I was using asparagus)

1 small can of diced tomatoes (if going fat free) about 4 oz

1 clove garlic minced

1 pot of fat free yogurt or 2 TBS of olive oil

1 TBS of lemon juice

1 TBS parmesan cheese grated

PREPARATION

I like to par boil some of the vegetables. I bring salted water to a boil, put each vegetable in a basket (separately) and plunge into the boiling water.

Carrots about 2 minutes (in circles), aparagus 1-2 minutes (again depending on the size, the green were skinny this year- white fatter to longer in the water), red pepper one minute, zucchini (if small sticks) 1 minute.

After each is blanched, I plunge it into cold water to stop cooking. I want the vegetables fresh and crisp, but not hard. This can be done ahead of time.

Cook the pasta as instructed on the package. Drain and add the fat free yogurt immediately. For those that are not cutting out fat, add about 2 TBS of olive oil instead of yogurt. The yogurt should soak into the pasta.

If going fat free also add about 4 ounces of diced tomatoes.

Stir and let cool (15 minutes or so)

Stir in all the vegetables and the rest of the ingredients (except the cheese). Check for needed salt and pepper.

Top with grated parmesan cheese and enjoy.