End of March

March 28, 2008

It was a dark and stormy night in Gevrey Chambertin. Actually, more like a dark and stormy month. This month we have had violent winds (two street lamps came down one night in our little neighborhood), lots of rainy days and then, to top it off, over Easter weekend, SNOW. All right, I will admit that it did not stay on the ground past 11:00 am, but it was snow nonetheless. The cherry and apples trees are in bloom, and it snows. It does not appear that the snow did a lot of damage, so maybe there still will be black cherries in June (one can hope).

Spring arrives earlier here than it ever did in Minnesota, and I do like that. But once spring arrives, I also would like it to stay. These somewhat freezing temperatures are for the birds. And then speaking of birds….

We have birdseed in the feeder out back, and the birds arrived in droves. The feeders were empty in a few hours. I had to keep filling them, and on Monday, still a holiday here, I had to find a store that was open to buy more seed. Most stores are closed on Sundays and holidays. Easter Monday is a holiday. What birds do we have you ask: European gold finches, mesanges (chickadees), pinson de arbre and pinson de nord (chaffinch and brambling), merles[1] (thrush) which are the European blackbird, European Serin, rouge gorge (british robin), green finches, and other assorted brown birds.

Enough of the weather.

Other activities of the month? At the start of the month my Photo Club had its annual photo exhibit on Saturday and Sunday. I worked on setting-up the exhibit, and this was on Friday afternoon. I packed my bag with what I thought may be necessary for the afternoon and went up to the Espace Chambertin. Our exhibit was down in the grand cave. As each problem with set up arrived, I reached into my bag and brought out pliers, tape, scissors, measuring tape, calculator…and thus was dubbed Madame McGyver for the afternoon.

We had to unpack all the photos, label them all, and attach chain and hang (and even make some hooks). To spruce up the exhibit there were to be flowers, however the flowers had been forgotten. So Saturday morning I bought some pansies at the local store and went back to the exhibit before it was to open. Eight little pots of colored pansies for only 4.50 euros, good deal (and now I have to plant them in the yard). Put some colored paper around each pot, and VIOLA. Someone else provided some primroses. So all was ready when the mayor arrived for a glass of wine and to open the show.

On Saturday night, those from the club that wanted, gathered in the cave for a pizza party. It was a nice evening, spouses and significant others invited.

The exhibit went well. Over the weekend over 300 people passed through to see it. You can see some of the photos and the 2 winning photos here at my club website : Reflets et Echos http://reflets.echos.free.fr/blog/?p=253

The weekend before Easter, Marie Therese received a nice order for a wedding (remember she sells wine). The wedding however was Easter weekend. In addition to the wine, they asked if she could get 6 bottles of good champagne. We (Keith and I) offered to drive up to Buxeuil for the Champagne. This is a small village about 2 hours north of us, just within the boundaries of Champagne. We like to go to Champagne Moutard. We even get a discount for being good customers. Our friend Chris had wanted some champagne back, Wendy and Robert needed some champagne and had asked when and if we were going to Buxeuil, we wanted some too, and now Marie Therese needed some champagne. Sounds like a road trip to me. The day was misty and not a day to be out riding a bike or taking a hike anyway. We drove up, through the small villages and enjoyed the scenery, of course had a small taste of champagne while there (I more than Keith since he was driving). Then we loaded the car down with everyones Champagne and returned by a different route. I had stopped raining and was a pretty route back. A bottle of good champagne costs about 17.00 euros, and I will not tell you what we pay with the discount!

That was Monday. On Tuesday I agreed to go with Marie Therese to Volnay, Buxy and St Aubin to pick up some of the rest of the wine needed (we had just done this same trip the week before). Tuesday was a gorgeous day. Off we went and stopped at Buxy (the most southern place from here) and she bought some wine there. Then we stopped at St. Aubin for a few boxes there. They usually leave the wine in the garage/warehouse, but Marie Therese said the door was locked. We waited 30 minutes to see if Vincent would arrive. He did not. This is a small village, with tight winding streets. We did finally find a telephone booth to our surprise, but Marie Therese ‘s telephone card was expired (there are no coin operated booths, you need to have a card that allows you to talk so many minutes). So now we had the booth, but no card (if you haven’t guessed yet, neither of us has a cell phone). Ah we found a tabac (a tabac sells tobacco and also phone cards). The tabac was out of phone cards. And by the way, this tabac was located in the Poste or post office, small village as I stated earlier, but strange even for a small village I should think. No wine, no cell phone, no phone cards....zut!!!

With no other alternatives, we headed north to Volnay without the wine from St Aubin. We arrived at Volnay and the wine was ready. Marie Therese mentioned that she did not get her order from St Aubin and the proprietress told her to use their phone. Vincent did indeed answer the phone, but he was in the south of France in Toulouse! He gave his brothers number and Marie Therese contacted him. He would meet us there, back in St. Aubin. Maire Therese loaded the trunk with wine from Volnay and demi-tour (U-turn) back south to St. Aubin. When we arrived, the young man was waiting for us and told Marie Therese that the door was never locked, just stuck. Sometimes you have to pull extra hard he said (this door is about 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide and made of wood, heavy in the best of circumstances). But as the old bard said, all is well that ends well. We now put this wine in the trunk too (which was getting full of wine boxes by this time) and headed north once again, towards home. Sure do hope the wedding was grand.

Chris (our friend from London) arrived on Thursday. This is when the weather started to change. Friday it was pouring rain and I needed to run into the market in Dijon. We were going to be tasting white wine on Friday night and I wanted (needed) some things from the market to make sumptuous hors-d’oeuvres. Chris and I went into Dijon for the market. Inside the market it was cold, not much difference from the outside! We found everything we needed and left there as soon as possible. Still had to make a few more stops on the way home and it was noon when we arrived, wet and cold. I had bought a nice pate en croute at the market and made some potato soup. Warm house, warm food, a little wine and good conversation made up for the trip to Dijon. It actually cleared up towards the end of the afternoon. It was still chilly though.

That evening we tasted 5 different bottles of white wine (7 people). All the wine was from Burgundy and all was Chardonnay, but the difference in taste was really extreme. Two were exceptional: a Rully (from Domaine Breliere and the St Aubin from Domaine H. Prudhon). We spent the whole evening talking and eating with friends and tasting wine. What started as a wine tasting with apertifs, ended up to be a full evening with our friends. Chris speaks some french so the conversation ebbed and flowed between french and english. It was all so pleasant.

On Saturday, Keith always prefers to go to Bligny and work on the trains. Around 10am, off he went with the car. Gevrey now has better train service (started in December) and I suggested we go down to Beaune by train, have lunch, shop and taste wine (Chris likes to buy wine here because it is about ½ the price of what she pays for the same wine in England, so when she comes over we do taste a lot of wine).

The train is not too far from the house, but the day was cold. There were still flakes in the air, although it was not snowing hard. The train only takes about 15 minutes to get to Beaune, that part is easy, but after that we had to walk about 6 blocks into the wind and the snow was coming down once again. Heads down we trudged forward. We found a nice restaurant and had lunch (salad and omelets for me, Croque Monsieur for Chris). The weather kept changing from rain, snow , sleet to clear. We just kept ducking in and out during the bad parts. We shopped for a while and then found the wine place I had wanted to try. You pay for the privilege of tasting, but then there is no obligation to buy wine. There were 15 wines to taste, 3 whites and 12 reds. And I was not driving for once, so I tasted all 15 of the wines. There were signs all over that you could fill your tasting cup (tastevins) only once, in 3 languages. The last wine was Corton Grand Cru. It was sublime. But at 39 euros a bottle, I passed on it. Chris found a wedding present (cork screw) for her friends and bought some wine too. We thought that we had finished a cold ugly day on a nice note, so off to the train and back to Gevrey for the evening. Also I found a good place for wine tasting.

Easter Sunday I had made reservations at a restaurant for noon. It is in the country and there was still snow on the ground when we arrived at the restaurant. It is up in the hills (Haute Cote). We had a nice lunch, but not anything to write home about, so I won’t.

Marie Therese had invited us over for dessert, so off we went to Messagnes. She and Christian and her father and Andrea were just having dessert. For dessert we had cherry tart (tarte de cerise) or compote de peche ou pomme (peach sauce or apple sauce), or a bit of all three. Also wine and Cremant was served (Cremant is sparkling wine). After talking and eating our dessert, she thought Chris should meet Ohtar[2] (the horse) and see the new barns (see Decembers journal on the American Barn). After looking at the barn and petting Ohtar, we went into what is now called the “club house”…a basement room with a wood burning stove. The room is walk in level with the house above. Christophe has set up his office area on the right, a table in the center and a couch over on the left wall. Marie Therese had brought some Cremant and Christophe had some gateau (cake). As we sat talking, others arrived and soon the room was full. Along with everyone, more Cremant arrived too. So we spent a couple hours talking, inside away from the cold snowy outside. This time the conversation was only in french.

Have to mention here that Angelique, a young woman boards her horse there too. She had come in from riding her horse, which is an Icelandic horse. She said Icelandic horses are the 4x4 of the horse world, although they are small. I will try to post a photo in the future, they are really mignon (cute).

Chris stayed until Wed morning, the 6:30 train to Lille. Monday and Tuesday were rather uneventful. Monday Chris and I walked into Gevrey and around the vineyards in cold blowing snow. We did need to get out and get some exercise, so although the day was not ideal, off we went. We had a good 2 hour hike, and once we were not walking into the wind, it was much nicer. My hardy Minnesotan upbringing does come in handy now and then, I was not as cold as Chris.

Tuesday night Chris took us out to dinner. We went to a place (Clos de Napoleon) we have always like, simple Burgundian food, but good food. They hired a new chef last September and said it was under new ownership (we think it is the son of the former owner). We sat next to the fire and the food was very good, and the servings more elegant. We had a very enjoyable evening.

The weather is starting to return to normal.

The trees in Gevrey on the Place de Marronier were pruned this last week. When they prune here, they really do a complete job! Had to take a photo to show you.

That is all for now, until April. I have written enough to probably bore you all.

RECIPE for March

Easy Bruschetta

Ingredients

• Good bread (Italian bread or French) sliced (10 slices)
• Mozzarella Bufalo (sliced in ¼ inch slices) 2 balls
• Grilled red pepper (cut in thin strips) 1 pepper
• Basil
• Lettuce (small mixed leaves preferred) large hand full
• Vinaigrette
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Dijon mustard

Preparation

Slice bread and toast top side and then rub with a garlic clove cut in half.

Pick basil leaves and mix with equal amount of small salad leaves. Add Vinaigrette (see below).

Toss salad lightly.

Place a small amount of tossed salad on each toast.

Place one or two (depends on size of toast) slices of Mozzerella on top of the salad.

Lay some of the strips of grilled pepper on top.

Dribble some olive oil over the top.

Vinaigrette

3 TBS Olive oil.

1 tsp Dijon mustard.

1 TBS vinegar.

Beat with a fork until it is all incorporated into a smooth vinaigrette. Add salt and pepper.

It is that easy.

Bon appetite

[1] Merles have a wonderful song and now I understand “4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie, when the pie was opened the birds began to sing” [2] By the way Ohtar went through his first proves at an event – 2 separate jumping sessions without faults.

March

March 1, 2008

I am woefully behind. Never did write anything during Feb of this year.

I left off at the end of January. Not a month with a great ending. We both got bad colds which included ear infections and bronchitis . Went to the doctor (22 euros a visit- total bill. The copay is 1 euro) and came away with the traditional french shopping sack of drugs. So Keith and I just sat around; I watched some movies, he played on the computer. It is nice not to have to work when you do not fell up to it!

We did have to get ready for the trip though. We both spent minimal time packing, but we had more than enough cloths. Did forget the tour guide book though!

We also just happened to squeeze in a wine tasting with Marie Therese. She has a new blog site too at: http://www.vinsbourgone.blogspot.com where she mentions our wine tasting visit. It is in French however. We have another wine tasting with her this coming week.

I did want to mention that Keith did finish a glass lampshade (Tiffany style). It is wonderful.

Desk Lamp by Keith [better photo next time]

Then my photo club has an exhibit this next weekend. I have a couple of photos in the exhibit, of course.

Black and White

Grand Canyon

If interested, here is another link; Sue's 2008 photo calendar

View Photo CALENDAR

Then there is an actual calendar. I am experimenting with the use of this calendar. Not sure how well it works and if I will keep it up, but for now here is the address. Sue's Actual Calendar

Now on to the vacation.

SYRACUSE (or Siracusa )

(photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/sue.klein/Syracuse)

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. We were still very tired from our colds, and Keith brought along a gastro virus. Kind as he is, he shared it with me. It was not that bad, but we stayed and explored the island of Ortygia, rather than some long voyages by bus into the mountains. It was a little cold too. Wore a coat the whole time. In spite of minor problems, we had a wonderful time.

It is hard to recount this trip without tossing in some facts of history. I hope it is not too boring!

To start our voyage, we took a train from Gevrey to Lyon on Friday and spent the afternoon touring Lyon. That night we stayed at a hotel near the airport.

On Saturday we flew from Lyon to Milan, then Milan to Catania, Sicily (about 65km north of Syracuse). We arrived at the apartment at about 6pm and the proprietor (Massimo) was there to greet us, explain everything and hand us the keys.

We stayed in a part of Syracuse known as Ortygia. We had rented a small apartment for our two week stay. Ortygia is an island and is part of the city of Syracuse. [Ancient Syracuse, includes the nucleus of the city’s foundation as Ortygia by Greeks from Corinth in the 8th century B.C. The site of the city, which Cicero described as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of all”]

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Our apartment was small, an open room that was living room, dining room and kitchen. The bed was above, loft style. It was unusually cold when we arrived, and the place was heated by a plug in radiator. I am sure it had been turned on just before our arrival!

After Massimo left, we had to go out and find someplace to buy some food, Massimo had stated that stores would be closed on Sunday. There are several small grocers on Ortygia. The stores are probably about 30 feet by 40 feet and packed with an amazing amount of essentials. So we quickly bought supplies, deposited them back to the apartment and went in search of a restaurant for dinner.

We found a pizza place not far from the Piazza Archimede It was like our experience in Naples. All the workers shouting back and forth to each other, the place seems to be in chaos, but everything arrives at the table hot and delicious. A young American couple were at the table next to us and were in cultural shock. She asked if we spoke English and then asked about the “chaos”. The place was turning away people about ½ hour after we arrived.

There is a different rhythm to life in the south. We found out early Monday morning that work starts at 7am! The road outside of the apartment was under construction. A jack hammer outside the window has a tendency to wake one up. The street workers worked straight through to 2pm and then were gone for the day. An attached apartment in back of us was also under construction, so we had noise from both sides. So much for sleeping in.

Stores close during the afternoon (often from 1pm to 5pm) and reopen in the late afternoon and stay open until 8pm.

Massimo had told us that there was an outdoor market daily on the island, and we went almost every day. The vegetables were fresh and wonderful, even the tomatoes (tomatoes and mozzarella buffalo). It is also orange season, and there were oranges everywhere for sale. Prices were low too, oranges were 0.50 euros a kilo, and all the vegetables were cheap too. We could not believe how low our daily costs were. Going to the market in the morning after breakfast became part of our routine. We bought some of the local goodies (marinated onions, marinated peppers, olives, mozzarella, other cheeses, sausage…. ) from Mario. He would give us a tasted of something, and of course we would buy it.

The island of Ortygia is a warren of small very ancient streets. Many of the streets are very narrow and turn at right angles. Motorcycles can still navigate these streets however, and suddenly there would be one behind us. And as for the streets without right angle turns, small cars came down these (they have no choice) and we had to stand in a doorway to let them pass. We spent lots of time exploring the little streets of Ortygia.

On the island is the Cathedral (Duomo). It was thought that first it was a local worship place, then the Romans built a Temple to Athena over it in the year 480 BC. In the 7th century it was bricked up and converted into a catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. After a major earthquake in 1693, it was redone with the Baroque façade. In 1927, restorations were done to show off the ancient roots (pillars) of this building.

We also visited the archeology museum in the main part of Syracuse. It was about ½ hour walk from the apartment. It is very interesting museum, laid out by the inhabitants chronologically. The time frame of things there is incredible; objects from the 10th century BC.

Also in Syracuse is the Greek theater. “With a diameter of 138m/453ft and 61 rows of seats hewn out of the rock and providing places for some 15,000 spectators, it is one of the largest theaters in the whole of the ancient Greek Empire. 470 BC” It was changed a few times, and the romans did some major alterations. However, to sit there in the theater that is about 2,500 years old and think of the plays that were performed. Greek plays are still performed during the summer months.

Archimedes was a native son of Ortygia. Due to his fame, one finds things all over named after him; even a pizza restaurant. He had been buried in Syracuse, but the grave was robbed centuries ago. “Wikipedia : Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) was a mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor and astromomer. Archimedes is considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time.”

We found the island of Ortygia interesting and enjoyed exploring it. There is renovation everywhere, practically down every street. On the other hand, the actual city of Syracuse is not all that pretty. It is mostly older buildings (not ancient) that look their age. There are lots of concrete apartment buildings. Also some construction going on, a major street was being paved with stones and the park was under complete renovation. Still the city overall has a tossed together feel to it.

We rented a car for two days. Day one we went south, all the way to the most southern tip of Sicily. We had a lunch on the patio overlooking the ocean at Porto Paulo. Heading back north a little we found the Vendicari Nature Reserve (quiet by accident). It is a wonderful stretch of beach with migratory birds. They have a few “duck blinds” where you can watch the birds. We heard lots of noise and wondered what was around the corner. As we turned the corner there was another duck blind. We went inside and low and behold, flamingos; hundreds of flamingos! Unfortunately the blind is not the close and the sun was behind the birds. So my photos are not spectacular. However, I personally was very excited, such a marvelous site. It was a mostly sunny day, and we could also see Etna. Etna is about 70km north of Syracuse. It is rare that one can see the top of Etna.

The second day with the car we went somewhat north to see the ruins of Magara Hyblaea. It was a Greek settlement that was founded around 700BC. Megara Hyblaea is famed as the birthplace of the comic poet Epicharmos (about 550-460 B.C.). This area is full of oil refineries; so in the midst of refineries and oil tankers lies this archaeological ruins of a Greek city. It was not easy to find, but we did find it. The caretaker of this park let us in free, we were the only ones there that day.

After our archaeological tour, Keith headed west. Sue had a slight melt down at one point. We entered the mountainous region. Keith took the road, not a big road that got smaller and smaller and higher and higher. Around it went with sheer drop offs on my side. Finally we reached the village, and I swear that the car was at 70 degree angle! There was no place to park and the road through town was one lane. Keith wondered if we should park and walk around. Park where, on the side of the cliff!! So Keith found the road out of town. The road down actually was wider (two full car widths) and soon met up with a real road, so it was not bad at all. The countryside was indeed beautiful, unfortunately there was not place to stop and both of my hands were grasped tightly on the “oh god” handles!! The hillsides were green and terraced.

We tried another noted village, not quiet as high. However again there was a parking problem. Have to go someday by train or bus.

Keith went by train to Ragusa one day (I did not feel real well). He took the train up and the had intended to take the bus back. When we bought bus tickets (city bus tickets) the woman had explained that the train ride although slow, was beautiful. And indeed Keith said it was. He was glad that I had not gone because the train had to stop at Modica due to some track work. There was a bus that continued to Ragusa. In typical Sicily fashion, the bus driver drove while talking to his friends, gesticulating with his hands, only to take the wheel at the last moment to turn the corners. It was some trip up. Happily the track was open for his return trip. As a train buff he was very happy with his train trip into the mountains. He also said that Ragusa is a very pretty city. Have to see it next time.

That about sums up our wonderful trip. We wanted the chance to see what it would be like to live in Italy, and it was a great experience. Our trip to Sicily 7 years ago was a fast tour by car of the island, only six days. By being on the move constantly, one does not get the sense of the country. This time we did and found it enjoyable.

The same sequence, only reverse for our journey home. We flew from Catania to Milan, and then Milan to Lyon. Took the train from Lyon to Gevrey (we have more train stops in Gevrey now). It was 12 hours from door to door.

Ah the recipe of the month. I combined some of the Sicily experience and made this rice dish up this last week.

Lemon Rice

INGREDIENTS

2 ripe lemons -1/4 cup max ;see NOTE BELOW

1 leek

1 cup basmati rice

2 TBS olive oil

Cut the leek in to circles or half circles. Put the oil in the pan and sauté the leek. When transparent,add 1 cup of rice to the pan and lemon as follows.

Add the zest of one lemon(optional). Squeeze the juice of the two lemons into a measuring cup and then fill with water to the 2 cup level(directions on my rice is 1 cup of rice to 2 cups water).

Stir all together and cook the rice per package instructions.

This rice has a nice lemon tang, and should go well with chicken or fish.

NOTE: I made it the first time with 2 lemons. Second time one large, but it was too strong. It may depend on the ripeness of the lemon, but be careful not to put too much.

January 2008

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I probably should take this month in chronological order. Maybe I can remember what we have done since I last wrote my journal.

Starting back with the end of December, we had a nice Christmas day with our friends. Marie Therese had her father and niece to dinner also. It was a noon time meal, and we had wonderful food (boar or in French sanglier), great wine and wonderful friends. It was a special day and we ate and drank and talked the afternoon away. I think Keith and I finally left around 7:30 or 8 pm.

The next morning the world was covered with a sheet of ice, thick ice. No one could move. No cars, no buses, everything was quiet. Keith crashed (but did not burn) going out to get the newspaper (which of course was not there). The sand truck did not come around until about 10:30am and slowly the neighborhood started to come alive as the sand/salt did its job, and the day warmed up a little at the same time. The paper was finally delivered after lunch.

On Thursday (Dec 27th) the day was warmer and the ice had melted, so my northern climate survival skills kicked-in (just in case there was another day or two with ice). I headed out to the grocer and bought food for several days (along with some canned goods just in case) and many bottles of wine (about 10). I ran into a friend in the parking lot, and she looked at my basket (chariot) and all the wine and asked if we were having a party! I had to say, “Well no, it is just in case it is icy again and I can’t get out”!! [we did in fact have another bad day on Jan 3rd and I was prepared].

New Years Day was quiet, as was New Years Eve. Because the weather had been cold (hey it was below freezing), and we had had rain and ice, we just stayed home(much safer that way).

Does anyone remember Epiphany, January 6th ? Here in France, it is the Fete de Roi (festival of the king). It is celebrated with a Galette de Roi. This is a layered puff pastry filled with frangipane. Inside there is a small feve (small figurine in porcelain) hidden in the frangipane and who ever finds the feve, wears the paper crown! I had Galatte with the genealogy club, with the photo club, and we had it at home (we had a guest for dinner). At the clubs it is served with Cremant (sparkling wine), at our house it was our dessert.

Then there was a barn “raising” this month. Not in the old fashion American sense, but a barn raising none the less. In a small village not far from Gevrey, Marie Therese has a friend who boards horses. Christophe has decided to expand his business, and was having a company from England, construct a new horse stable for him. It is pre-built, delivered and then built on site. We went over for the afternoon, I took photos of the barn, of Christophe working with the horse of Justine, and then he had a work out with Ohtar (Marie Therese’s horse- Marie Therese moved Ohtar to board at Christophe's last spring). By the time Christophe was jumping with Ohtar, it was almost dark and it had started to rain. I did get a photo of Ohtar and Christophe just before the rain started (having a cigarette break).

BARN

OHTAR

St. Vincent is the patron saint of the vineyards. Each year there is a large celebration that consists first of a parade (defile), mass and blessing, aperitifs and a large dinner. There is also street entertainment and wine tasting at the wine makers establishments. The big celebration will be Jan 26th-27th.

A village is picked to host this big celebration. This year it is in the very small village of St Romain (and where will they park since this small village is nestled in the cliffs). This village is a little south west of Gevrey. There is great wine from St. Romain, both red and white.

The main dinner this year is 130 euros per person!! We are not going.

However we did go to the celebration in the Hautes Cotes. This year St Vincent was celebrated in Arcenant on Jan 19. We had a wonderful dinner starting with the entre, then a fish course, followed by a main course, a trou de Bourgogne (palate cleanser made of sorbet and liqueur-marc de Bourgogne), cheese course and dessert. Before your belt breaks, it starts at about 1pm and dessert was at about 5:30pm and the servings are NOT super sized. Nice wines accompanied each course. There is always a band that plays too, and it was as terrible as it was last year! Imagine a cha-cha-cha on an accordion!! In spite of that, a good time was had by all. We left at about 11:30pm…. yawn, a long day.

Keith

Keith and Wine

I did some yard work today (Jan 22,2008). I found the bulbs in the garden already poking out, one of my roses has leaf buds, the forsythia has buds and lo and behold, a primrose. Have to say that after all those years in Minnesota, I really like the climate here. It is a little early, so I do expect we still have some winter days ahead. But profit from the moment (that is an expression used a lot here in France…” Profiter du soleil ” – translates as “take advantage of the sun”- ).

I made a birdbath with mosaic, and now have to start another.

Keith has been working on the kitchen cupboards, a door here - a door there. They really look so much nicer. After all the doors and drawers are completed, he will think about making the actual cabinets too. I will take a photo after a few more doors are completed so one can get a better impression.

He continues to work on repairing trains at Bligny. They (well they actually had some professionals do this part) added the track all the way to Pont d’Ouche, and the plan is that he will be build a waiting shelter this spring at the Pont d’Ouche site. The track now extends from Bligny to Pont d’Ouche, and is near 8km long.

That is about all of the real excitement here in Gervey (hey it is winter).

For a recipe this month I have turned to the winter vegetable, chicory or as it is called here, endive. This is a wonderful salad with greens that one can enjoy in the winter.

Before I add my recipe here I have to add a comment about Roquefort. When I came to France, I said I did not like blue cheese. Ah, then I tasted Roquefort (in this very salad served at dinner at friends house). It is different than any blue cheese I had tasted in the states. So now I am hooked and eat it willing. Every tried it with pears! um

Endive Salad

2 meduim endives

½ cup or about 2-3 oz. Roquefort Cheese

Vinegarette [see below]

1/4 cupWalnuts broken in pieces

Cut the endives in half and I usually take out the core. Then slice in half circles, about ¼ inch wide.

Prepare a vinegarette

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 small garlic clove minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 Tbs fresh lemon juice (sometimes I use a white wine vinegar)

Blend oil and mustard together. Keep whipping it with a fork until the mustard blends in completely. Add other ingredients and mix well.

Pour the Vinegarette over the sliced endive and mix well. Add the Roquefort and walnuts on top and serve.

Bon Appétit

December 2007

December 15, 2007

Happy Holidays Joyeux Noël

Christmas approaches, each day passing faster than the last. It is amazing why this holiday appears to sneak up on us, since the commercial places have been telling us about it since the end of October. Maybe since the decorations and advertisements start so early now (even here in France), we get immune and try to ignore the whole thing.

The American Christmas has slowly come to France. Houses now put up outside lights, even to the extent of some of the American houses (remember Chevy Chase and the Griswolds). Some villages now have house decoration contest. The crèche used to be and still is the preferred decoration in France, usually indoors. However those ambitious outdoor decorators have placed the crèche and Pere Noël together.

Maybe it is the lack of snow too that throws me completely off. From my Minnesota roots, Christmas meant snow on the ground. Up until this week we have had rather warm weather (high 40’s to low 50’s). The grass is still green; a rose bud is still trying to open. The sun is out now, but the temperatures are colder this week. The birdbath had some ice on it this morning. Will Mrs. Merle (european blackbird related to the american robin) try to take her bath today?, probably not.

I am going into Dijon today with Marie Therese. We are going to see the decorations and the Marché de Noël (Christmas Market). Have to see if I find anything.

December 20th

We went into Dijon on Saturday and I have never seen so many people on the streets of Dijon. It was one mass crowd of people. INCREDIBLE. Looking down the long stretch of Rue de Liberty, it was a carpet of moving people. The street was closed to motor traffic, so the sidewalks and street were completely covered with people! At the end of Rue Liberty, on the Place de Liberty, in front of the Ducal Palace, the Marché de Noël has been set up. There were a couple of booths that sold Russian things (amber jewelry, dolls, scarves...), a person who sold hand made knives, candles, food, pillows, silk scarves, Christmas ornaments, perfume, Santons (traditional crèche characters, animals from Province),and the list of things to sell within the booths goes on.

Christmas Stalls

Ducal Palace

At this time of year there are carolers walking around downtown singing. This year they are in red costumes. They do get your attention when walking down the street. Everything is decorated in the holiday spirit in town center: stores have put up decorations, and the city has gone all out too- there are green trees or flocked trees on the sidewalks and hanging lights all around and the atmosphere is truly festive. However, for me the crowds made it a little too much. I went back on a weekday and it was much, much better.

This week has been cold, very cold. Almost Minnesota cold, well not quite. It has been down to 20 degrees. The last two days we have had a very heavy frost, so although we have not had snow, everything is very white.

You look out and see the fog and the wonderful transformation of the vineyards covered with frost. Magical to see. I stand at the window and gaze out. No wind, so it is very quiet. Ah no snow, but alas a White Christmas after all.

Last Friday night we went to a chorale concert. It was the group I used to sing with, when I sang. It was a very good concert, and we enjoyed it completely. Pam had added "Jingle Bells", in english and a very fun arrangement. And of course, lots of old traditional songs, some in french and some in english. We were in the small church of Noiron-sous-Gevrey, it was a little cold, although the church did have heat! Those old stone churches do not heat up easily. We were invited to sing along to White Christmas (Noel Blanche), however it was in french.

We will be going over to our good friends for Christmas dinner, Marie Therese and her family. It will be a nice Christmas afternoon with fine wine, good food and close friends.

I will end here to today, more to write but I will save it for January or I will never get this out on the web.

Recipe this month

Vin Chaud (mulled wine)

INGREDIENTS

1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry red wine (vin rouge sec)

1/2 cup white sugar (or honey)..add to your taste (sucre ou miel)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (cannelle moulin)

1 orange cut into slices (orange coupées en rondelles)

1 lemon cut into slices (citron coupées en rondelles)

6 whole cloves (girofles)

4 cinnamon sticks (batons de cannelle)

DIRECTIONS

In a large saucepan on medium-low heat, combine wine, sugar and cinnamon and fruit. Heat on low heat for about 20 minutes or so until steaming. Careful not to let it boil. Good idea to warm your glasses with warm water before serving.