Decembre 30 2010

Dec 28 2010   

Dec 19th (OK I need a haircut)

Happy New Year

It is almost the end of the month, and end of the year. If I do not get my act together here, it will be 2011 before this is done.

It is the time for reflection of the past year and time for those new resolutions.

We have passed through a good year. I was happy to see some of my family with my trip to the USA.

Before I go on with the month of December, I have to go back to the end of October. I forgot to mention last month that Keith went to Italy for an end of the season “soiree” with his colleagues from the tour company. They went to Acqui Terme, a small village north of Genoa or just south of Asti. One of the guides for the company also has a vineyard and his parents have a Bed and Breakfast. They ate and road bikes and told stories. He had a great time. Keith thought it was a beautiful area and would like to go back (with me of course).

Here is a photo that he took.

Acqui Terme

Now onto December.... First a brief weather report, just to bore you.  We have had snow this month. Two big snow “storms”. It does not snow a lot here, so 2 inches here should be compared to about 6 inches in Minnesota. The first accumulation ended up being about 5 inches. Trains were late, school buses for the Cote D’Or were cancelled, and other regular buses were late or cancelled...the place was in chaos. Keith was going into Dijon. The train was not running so they had a bus instead. It took over an hour instead of the 10 minute trip by train.

You have to add to this equation that Dijon is totally torn up right now; why ?..because they are working to put in a tram system. We just got another little blast of snow just before Christmas. There really was not much snow, but it had rained for 4 days prior, and then the temperature plummeted and Mother Nature added a few inches of snow on top. Roads again were a mess. We have had a cold spell, with the temperature all the way down to about 10 degrees. Brrrr that is cold. We left Minnesota to get away from cold and snow. So that is the weather report, and enough of that.

The week before Christmas on Dec 19^th, I had an invitation for a concert and cocktails from the Mayor’s office. I had worked on the Cluny Expos, and this was a thank you. This was actually through the Photo Club. The club could invite 5 extra people (other than president...). I had taken photos at the chateau and had two photos in the Expo. The History Club had the same, but the president said she could not pick just 5 from the 20 some people that worked really hard. Who to choose and who to leave out!

The concert was by a local group called the Laostics. They sing medieval and baroque music, usually a cappella. For this concert they added some medieval and baroque instruments. The singing was still mostly a cappella, and then there were a few songs just for the instruments. This concert was in the old church St Aignan which is from the 11^th century (they had actually turned on some heat before the concert). It was an excellent 2 hour concert. The singing and the musicians playing the instruments were all absolutely brilliant. I just used my little camera, and inside photos are not the greatest (or nighttime either), but here are two photos 1) of the chorale group and 2) of a couple of the instruments.

Laostics in St Aignan 11th century church

Instruments- I pushed the lighting so you could see the instruments

I have to remark here on a french custom. Maybe I have mentioned it before, maybe not. At all of the concerts; small, large, amateurs, professionals, they introduce each piece with an explanation. Depending on the person, it may be short or can be very long explanation!

The concert was open to anyone, and it was free. As part of the group that was invited, we had reserved seats in the front. Wow, how nice and privileged.

After the concert there was a reception. Hors d’oeuvres were served, along with red wine from Gevrey, white wine from Marsonnay and juice or water. Then cheese was served (there is a fromagerie right here in the neighborhood) and after that, bite size desserts. It was a wonderful evening. I am starting to feel that I belong to this village.

A few days before Christmas, Keith and I took the train to Strasbourg. Strasbourg is located in the Alsace in the north east section of France. It calls itself the Capital of Christmas. Our train was stopped on the way up in the Jura because of rocks on the tracks. Yes rocks had fallen off the cliffs and on to the tracks. We were only delayed 30 minutes, as there were no boulders that damaged the tracks. We were resting on a narrow shelf that is wide enough for two track lines, and below us about 50 feet was the Doub river. Since we have had a lot of snow and or rain, it was a raging river. I tried not to let my imagination get away from me and imaging the worse.

We arrived in Strasbourg in the rain. We did spend 3 nights there and toured the city and the Christmas markets and ate Alsacian food (see this month’s recipe). It rained on and off, but it did not pour, so we made our way around the city. It is a pretty place, but I think if we go back it will be in the warm weather.

Strasbourg- Petite France

Strasbourg

Strasbourg Christmas Market

Strasbourg-     COOKIES

Tree

Street in Strasbourg -name look familiar?

Christmas was wonderful, as always. We had noon diner with Marie Therese, Christian, her father and sister. The trip over was a little dicey because of the ice and snow, but we made it without a porblem. We shared a excellent meal with some great wine. We finally left (because of the weather) at 5:30. I hope you had a nice Christmas too.

My History Club has been busy putting out the 3^rd edition of its Gazette and a small book from our exposition. The book is limited, because we had permission only to use some of the documents in our Expo, not for reprint.

We have also been working on how to archive all of the information that we have accumulated. Joelle’s house is not the long term solution.

Photo Club will have an Expo in May, theme is trees. I hope to find a good tree photo.

We finally bought a new computer. We held our breath every time we started the old one. And turning it on or off took anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. This one will be faster; however there are a few bugs. The new one has only a USB connection for the keyboard. So without an option, we plugged in the french keyboard. The a and the q are swapped, as one example. You know how often you use the a?  Lot of little differences, but slowly I will get there. Also having some problems with my PhotoShop. Hope that works out soon. My genealogy program set up without a hitch…YEAH.

Good news, it did load in English, however it converts some things to french, and we have not figured that out yet.

Keith is fine too. He is trying to get his last 120km in on his bike to reach his annual goal of 10,000. With the wretched weather, he has not been able to ride much the last two months. So he has only today the 30^th and tomorrow the 31^st left. Bon chance mon amour.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Alsacian Baeckhoeffe

This may look difficult, but it is not. It is just a stew. You marinade the meat, and then the next day put it all in the pot. I have eaten a few variations. One that I had was like a stew with lots of juices or sauce; the other had all the liquid cooked out, so there are just the potatoes layered with the meat. I preferred this method, as it is a little different. I will try to achieve this on Saturday January 1^st. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL…
NOTE JAN 2, 2011 : I made this recipe for the 1st of Jan. It lacked a little something. I have looked at a few more recipes, and it appears that two things should be changed.
1. Use meat with some fat. I used lean meat.
2. Many recipes add a pigs foot... could help. Common here, maybe a little harder to find in the USA
3. Maybe a little beef broth
Sue

INGREDIENTS

 For Marinade:             

• 2 onions, sliced   
• 2 carrots, sliced            
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped          
• 2 bay leaves         
• 1 sprig thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme   
• 3 cups dry white wine (preferably Alsacian Riesling)

Marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

INGREDIENTS  More:         

• 1 pound beef chuck roast, choice grade, cut into 3-inch cubes         
• 1 pound boneless pork butt, trimmed and cut into 3-inch cubes       
• 1 pound boneless lamb shoulder, choice grade, trimmed and cut into 3-inch cubes     
• 3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (or other waxy potatoes), peeled and cut into 1/8-inch slices         
• 3 leeks sliced in small circles
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste             

For Pastry Seal (optional : This is the traditional method. If you have a tight cover, first put aluminum foil over casserole. Then put on the lid. Press the foil tightly to the sides of the casserole dish to make a extra tight seal).              

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour         
• 5 tablespoons water     
• 1 tablespoon olive oil   

DIRECTIONS

 TO PREPARE MEAT AND MARINADE: Combine the marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add all the meats and toss gently. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.   

TO PREPARE VEGETABLES: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper, and lightly oil a large ovenproof casserole) with olive oil. Cover the bottom of the casserole with half of the potato slices. Remove the meats and vegetables for the marinade and reserve the marinade. Arrange the mixed meat over the potatoes, and then place the vegetables in a layer over the meat. Cover with a layer of the remaining potato slices and pour the marinade over them. Add enough additional white wine or water to just cover the top of the potatoes. Place the lid on the casserole.           

TO PREPARE PASTRY SEAL: Mix together the flour, water, and olive oil in a mixing bowl, and form into a rope shape long enough to wrap around the rim of the casserole. Press the dough onto the rim of the casserole. Place the lid on top of the dough and press to seal completely (this seal will prevent any of the cooking liquid form evaporating).            

TO COOK: Place the casserole in the oven and cook for about 3-1/2 hours. Remove the casserole and serve.

                         

Happy Holidays A home full of happiness, laughter and memories, friendships rekindled, hearts filled with joy . . . May these be your treasures at Christmastime. Abundant good wishes for  happiness and joy  this holiday season ...more from me the end of December..

November 2010

Last Rose - 1st week of November

Fall has set in and it is a gray November. The weekend of the 13th-14th we had some sun, and it was about 65 degrees. Then late Sunday afternoon, a storm came through. 

The good weather was gone in a flash.

Nov 28th 2010- from bedroom window

Back to the end of October. I had a little surgery, my gall bladder removed (laproscopy). So how is medicine over here? I was treated well and all went smoothly. I had surgery on Oct 26th (Tuesday) and got out of the hospital on Thursday the 27th (normal stay of 48 hours after laproscopy here).

I had a private room with a toilet and shower and windows on the south east side. I would say the building was probably built 50's or 60's, so the room looked like many hospital rooms I have seen in the US.

Can't say the food was great, I was having gall bladder surgery!! I had to go in the night before, on the 25th. That night I had pasta with nothing on it, and some kind of broth and water. Oh um! I have heard from others that the hospital food here in France is good, and even served with wine. But not for me. The two days following, the menu was much the same.

Recovery from this is fast. Just have to add that with the problem before surgery, I have lost lots of weight. It is great...so happy...more energy too.

So that aside, November has not been that exciting. We had another velo tourist stay one night, this was through Warm Showers. Nice young man, he works half a year and tours half a year. Next year he said it was California. He is young, so why not.
In the middle of November, the Hospice de Beaune has their annual wine sale. It is a big event, and there are lots of other events and wine tastings throughout the town. I usually go to this with Marie Therese, and we walk around looking at all the booths, and watch the parades and the musicians...and .... This year it rained. Most of the activity is outside, so we gave it a miss.


My photo club had an expo of Clunisian sites (property owned by Cluny).  The expo had 24 photos, black and white. These were picked from over 1,000 photos. I missed the opening (vernisage), but saw the exposition. I had two photos in the exhibit, one of the building in Paris and one from the church just south of us in Meursault. 

Photo from Paris

PHOTO

Photo of church in Meursault

History club is up and running and an ambitious year is planned. Lots of outings (including one to Lyon in May) and new Expositions planned. We also have some more history research to do. Fun year ahead. Keith has started back with the train in Bligny. In the winter repairs need to be done on everything. Also, one engine needs its' boiler inspected, so they have to take the train apart so the inspectors can get at the boiler. Lots of hard work, and now the group is down in numbers, so only 3 or 4 show up on Saturdays. Still, he really enjoys his Saturdays in Bligny.

Keith has been in the garage this fall repairing and restoring a 1950's Bianchi bike.It is looking really good now. He even replaced all the spokes! 

Thanksgiving was a quiet time this year. I made dinner with a turkey breast filet, and it was just the two of us. And I did not go out and search for cranberries this year.

I missed the couple of sunny days at the end of October, so no beautiful fall photos this year. It was a fleeting few days, then the wind arrived and all the leaves fell. I have taken a couple of photos for the History club Gazette, these are photos of the war monuments (monuments de mort) in Gevrey and Morey St. Denis and Chambolle. We had about 1 hour of sun the other day (November 26th), and I ran out and took the photos. The one photo of Gevrey was taken in the spring. Our history club may do an Expo on the monuments of the Canton de Gevrey.

Gevrey monument -spring 2010

Morey St. Denis-November 2010

Chambolle- November 2010        Top of this monument fell off this last year.

 

We had dinner one night in Messanges. What a great night. My first big outing since the surgery, and with friends, good food and wine, the evening was perfect.

I have a few other photos taken late October or November. Also went this last week and visited Ohtar, Marie Therese's horse. He is stabled near Seurre (valley of the Saone River).

Fixey - October

Beaune -October

Ohtar-November

Have a good month...till the end of December....

I do have to add that Nov 28th was Keith's birthday. I made beef burgundy and we had a 1994 Morey St. Denis 1er Cru, it was sooooo good...WOW (oh by the way, the beef burgundy was good too). Life is good............

Recipe of the Month

CARROT FLAN

This is an easy and great winter recipe. Also really not that hard.

Be a little creative, add a little thyme to the recipe. Or maybe a little fresh

nutmeg. Adding flavors should always compliment the other dishes that

you are serving (i.e. maybe add the thyme if you are doing a pork roast with 

garlic and thyme).

Ingredients

• 1 pound carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 ounce Grana Padano cheese, grated
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup  crème fraiche or heavy cream 
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese finely grated
• Salt and pepper (white pepper preferred)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Butter a 8 ramekins or use a cupcake pan -sprinkle it lightly with Parmesan cheese.
3. Boil the carrots until tender
4. Pass them through a potato ricer while still hot. 
5. Blend the carrots with  cheese, eggs, and crème fraiche
6. Add pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper
7. Spoon the mixture into the buttered ramekins.
8. Prepare a large roasting pan with warm water
9. Place the ramekins  in a roasting pan (water should come about 1/2 way up the sides of the ramekins )
10.  Bake at 350°  about 15-20 minutes (test with a knife or toothpick -should come out clean when put into the middle of a ramekin)
11. Cool  slightly before unmolding and serving.

October 2010

Better get it started on my October journal now, instead of the end of the month panic.

As I always make a note about weather, so far not too bad. Keith had his group of Mexicans here for 8 days (ended Oct 2nd). The last week of September was a cold week, the temperature around 50 degrees, with very chilly mornings (not nice for people from Mexico City). Since then we have warmed up into the 60's to 70's. Foggy in the morning, but it burns off fast. Could not ask for more.

These beautiful fall days are here to stay a few days. "Il fait beau, profiter", which is "it is nice, enjoy" - more or less. But the word "profiter" carries with it so many nuances. We can and should profit from everything around us (and not in the financial sense).

I took a walk through the village of Gevrey the other day. The wine is fermenting and the air is saturated with the scent of wine. I find this pleasing.
Birds were flocking in the vineyards...color was starting to show in the vines. Such a lovely walk.

Birds Flocking in the Vines

Looking down on Gevrey

Cellier des Dimes- Medieval times you paid taxes here.
Church tower behind the Cellier

The harvest finished that last week of Sept,although there was some the 1st week of October. A chilly, rainy time for the harvest this year. And the cold and wet days did not improve things. A friend did the vandanges (harvest ) and said it was indeed hard work, down on your haunches for the day cutting off grape bunches with cold numb hands! Muscles and back was sore at the end of each day, it is really hard to stand straight. But she may do it again next year!!


Keith is finished with tours for the year. His last tour ended on Friday the 8th of October, and paper work finished on Saturday. The end of this month (22nd-24th) he has a meeting (aka - party) in Italy with his company.

Have taken a couple of great walks this month, with the warm weather and all. Now as I finish this at the end of the month, we have had a few gloomy days. Just when the vines are at there golden best, the has been cloudy and dreary. Looks like sun today (the 22nd), but wow it is cold. We had a freeze last night.

Lone Tree

Arcenant from above

Last week was the a national week of tasting, "Semaine de Gout". All around there were festivals to taste artisinal food and wine. Since I am still watching what I eat, I did not go to these. However to give you an idea, the cheese place near us (fromagerie) had free tastings. You get a plate with 6 different cheeses that they make, some bread and of course a glass of red wine. A few years ago my sister and niece were here for this weekend. We tasted cheese in the morning before the huge crowds arrived (OK some wine too, but it was almost 11am by then ), and went to the festival in Nuits St. Georges that featured many booths of food and wine. Keith and my niece shared some oysters (not my taste).

Speaking of food, I have to mention a TV reality show here. It is Master Chef. I have seen the US version where chefs come together to try to win the big prize and title of Master Chef. Here it is a different version. Over 100 people started in this contest, and not one of them was a trained chef. These are all people with other jobs (i.e. teachers, electricians, plumbers, ....etc). It is now down to 10 finalist. Wow, the food and presentation that these people turn out is absolutely amazing. The judge panel is made up of two chefs and one food critic. More than just a few times, they (the judges) have been totally amazed and stated that the plate could be served in a 3 star restaurant ( 3 Michelin stars is the highest here in France). Food and wine is a passion here.

OK to finish this up and post my monthly journal. It is now October 23. France is in a state of turmoil, to say the least. They want to change the retirement age from 60 to 62 for early retirement and from 65 to 67 for full retirement. Some of the problem, as I understand it comes from the fact that the President N Sarkozy was talking with the unions. Supposedly he stopped and just announced his plan. This is a simplification for sure, but the unions are angry. They are also upset with the change, and the University students are protesting too. They feel that if people work longer, then there will be less of job turnover, and no new jobs for them. The result of all of this is a huge disruption of transportation. The trains are very limited if not cancelled all together, the air traffic is slowed way down so all flights (if there are any) are all late, bus service is at a minimum with about 1/2 of the buses cancelled (this is local buses included), the Metro in Paris is at a minimum, and the refineries are blocked so gas is not being delivered to any gas stations. Now 25% of the stations in France are totally out of gas. There are gas lines all over. People are trying to get to work, but it is more and more difficult. So does this effect us. Yes, it does. I just filled the tank hoping that it will last for a while, but we are not just taking off in the car to do things that we would normally do. But we are coping. We do have our bikes, the grocer and baker (but unfortunately not the candlestick maker) are within 2km. And wine and cheese too.

Keith has his work meeting/party this weekend. There was a train at 6:20 this morning (Oct 22nd), so he took it. He is heading to Orange, where others are meeting to drive to the northern corner of Italy (there will be gas in Italy for the return trip- no problems there). He should be home on Sunday.

Hopefully trains may ramp up the next couple of days. Why, good question. It looks like the Senate may pass the bill, and unions said they would continue to strike (greve). However, the next two weeks are "vacances" (school break vacation). There are families all over France with planned vacations, so maybe, just maybe, a few of the strikes will ease off for the next two weeks. We will see (on verra)

Have I told you about Keith's winter hobby? He bought an old Bianche bike and is restoring it. He has been in the garage more than once, just polishing. Some of the components need replacing and he searches the internet to find the original parts. Keeps him busy.  I will post a photo when he has done a little more.

This last week he replaced the sink in the kitchen. I noticed a crack in the floor of the sink (it shouldn't happen, but it did), so he wanted to replace it immediately. A person who does DIY projects is a "bricoleur" and the process of doing the work is bricolage. Since our kitchen in transition (Keith making new cabinets during the winter- now on its 3rd winter), it was not a good time to get a new sink. We want a completely different style in the future. So he went out to find a "cheap" sink that would fit the existing whole. So now we have the black counter tops, and a creamy/white sink. Oh well, it works well .

My Genealogy/History group started up again this month. Making plans for the next exhibit, plans for the next Gazette, and plans for future outings. Sounds like another good year ahead.

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN ...(not a big deal here at all, they tried for a few years, but it is fading away)

Recipe of the month


I am going to stick with something very simple for this month.
It is a  great dessert and is not hard to make. Pears are in  season and delicious.


Please give me feedback if you try any of the recipes. I could have made a typing error...could happen..

PEARS and BLUE CHEESE   for 2 people

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ripe pears
• 2 oz of Roquefort (or other creamy blue cheese)
• 2 Tbls of honey
• 6-8 walnuts crushed

PREPARATION

1. Peel and slice the pears (about 8 slices per pearm or thinner if you want)
2. Lay slices on the plate (maybe fanned in a semi-circle)
3. Drizzle each pear with 1/2 of the honey
4. Crumble each pear with 1/2 of the Blue Cheese
5. Sprinkle each pear with 1/2 of the crushed nuts

Now how simple is that.