June 2008

June 26th 2008

Chateau Rochepot

Ah, the month of June. Summer arrives at last in the Cote D’Or.

This month has been busy. My friends from Minnesota arrived the last day of May. That week was not to be one of our finest (weather that is). A cold front came through and it was chilly. And it rained on and off too!!! Not what I had ordered.

They stayed at the Gite that is about 7 km from Gevrey. They had been on a tour of France for 16 days prior to coming to Burgundy, so the 3 bedroom Gite gave them a little space to spread out. I really wanted to show them everything, but that is impossible in a week. And since the weather was not at its best, picnics were right out of the question. We did see some of the highlights of this area and tasted some wine. We had a nice visit at Domaine Breliere in Rully (and tasted wine too). I have included a couple of photos. But I have to say for me, it was also a good week just to catch up with friends I had not seen in a few years. I certainly enjoyed the time with them.

While I visited with my friends, Keith took 3 days in the Vosges (northeast corner of France). Unfortunately it did rained for 2 of his days, but he soldiered on anyway. He had a mountain to climb and he did not let the rain stop him.

After my friends left, summer arrived. It has been quiet hot and humid too. Along with hot humid weather, there have been some violent storms(storm = orage). One friend in Chenove said that they had some hard rain, but the neighbors across the street had a lot of hail (grele) and some damage to the shutters. In front of the door of their tuck-under garage (the neighbor’s tuck-under garage) there was about 2 feet of hail. Lots of homes were flooded in the hard hit areas. Another friend lost everything electrical in his house! We have escaped damage so far, just wind and rain here in Gevrey.

Speaking of weather, I have to add another little note. At the end of May we had a few days of strong winds. After this, everything was covered with a fine dust. I was surprised to learn that this dust was sand from the Saraha dessert. When the strong wind blows north out of the Saraha, it can carry sand across parts of Europe. Learn something new all the time.

On Sunday the 8th of June, the photo club had an outing at the citadel in Besançon (it is about 1 hour north east of Gevrey). The citadel was built by Vauban in 1711( Vauban was the war minister of Louis XIV and famous for fortifications here in France). The citadel is spread out on 11 acres on top of the hill over looking Besançon. It was a hazy day or more fog than haze at times, so it did not turn out to be the best photo day.

Citadel

What else did we do this month. Still working on the bathroom. The wallpaper came while my friends were here, so of course I did not work on it that week. Then there were a few rest days after they left. I did finally start and finish the wallpaper. Now for all of the other things that need to be done. I wanted to paint the little three-drawer chest that I have had in the bathroom. Well the can of paint-1 did not dry, stripped the chest of all the paint. Test paint 2 did not work (but tried only one corner) so did not proceed with that can. Test paint-3, I thought dried, and painted the entire chest. It did not dry. Stripped the chest once again. Went and bought some expensive paint (!!) and it arrived today. Test patched dried and I have painted the entire chest. I am not rushing to do the second coat until tomorrow. But all appears well this time. Guess the expensive paint does work.

This last Saturday night, the 21st of June is the Fete de Musique in France. Many cities and villages put on some music event on the night of June 21st. We went to see the chorale group I had belonged to a few years ago. It was in the old church in Epernay-sous-Gevrey on Saturday evening. It was good to see some of those friends too. The church was cool (that is a relative statement – as compared to the humid hot temperature outside in the sun). They sang a variety of songs and we both enjoyed the small concert. Then as usual, there is a glass of wine at the salle de fete after the concert. One can not refuse, it would not be polite.

The same weekend my genealogie group had an Exposition in Gevrey. One man has done an enormous amount of work researching what is called lieu-dit (place called). These are all in the area of Gevrey Chambertin, many of them are the names attached to vineyards [ex: we live on the street called Craite Paille, because the vineyard in back is Craite Paille] . He has done a write up on over 100 of these lieu-dit. The president of the club(Joelle) chose about 36 to exhibit. I had volunteered to take photos, and Joelle picked about 10 places for photos- I had 17 photos in all. I had helped with the set up on Friday the 20th of June. In our club there is a man who is a descendant of Maurice Grey (the mustard entrepreneur). So there was a small exhibit on the Grey family. Even had cloths from Maurice Grey. Dapper outfit of deep plum velvet. At 6pm on Sunday evening, there was a film that one local man had made about the 16 “sources de Gevrey” [ springs of Gevrey]. 16 different springs in the area, no wonder the vines find water even in dry years.

Clos St. Jacques

Costume de M. Grey

Keith was asked about 10 days ago to guide another trip on the canal. He left on Monday morning for Lyon. He will not return home until Friday the 4th of July.

The paper has announced the "SOLDES" (sales) of summer. France has two sale periods a year, one in winter and one in summer. This is the only time stores are able to have sales (not like Daytons, huh). However, stores do have "promotions" now and again.

School will be over this next week on Thursday, so I have my last french class next Tuesday. Genealogie Club is done for the summer, and after tonight, the Photo club will not meet again until September. After next week, everybody will start preparing for vacation (vacance). There are places I simply would not go here in France during the summer. Too many people! The roads will be crowded, and even some traffic jams on the main freeways as throngs of people head for the beaches. So we will stay here and enjoy our Burgundian summer.

On Monday evening the group called Burgundy Friends got together at Nancy's in Dijon. She has a beautiful place with a small garden, and covered terrace. She lives on a street called Petit Potet. If anyone has ever read "The Years In Dijon" (Destinations) by M.F.K. Fisher , she lived on the same street.

A french couple told me they had visited New York. He had bought a pair of good leather shoes. When they returned to France, she took them to the cobbler to add a sole. Here in France, with good leather shoes, they always add a protective sole to the shoe. The cobbler could not do this because the shoes were made in the US and the soles have had an oil added. So, one I did not know that the US added anything to the leather shoe soles, and two, I did not know the French added a protective sole to their shoes. The cobbler did not know why the Americans do not add the extra layer. Just thought I wold toss in this little morsel of information.

The evening was warm, and we were all outside. This time there were more french than english speakers. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Recipe for the month

{Although it is rabbit [lapin], I usually make it with chicken}

RABBIT WITH TOMATO, SHALLOTS, and MUSHROOMS: (5 Servings)

Ingredients:

Rabbit Cut into 5 pieces- or 5 chicken breast filets (no skin)

3 Cloves Garlic, Cut into Thin Slices

1/4 c. Huile Tournesol

2 Tbsp Butter (non salted –or limit salt below)

4 Tbsp Flour

2 c. White Wine (such as an Aligote- dry and light )

1 c. Water

5 Shallots Peeled, Finely Sliced

1 c. Loose Packed Leaves of Flat Leaf Parsley (about 1/2 bunch)

4 Tomatoes Cut into quarters

1 tsp. Salt

1 Tbsp Pepper

Optional: Thyme, Bay leaf , Olive

300 Gr. Mushroom Cleaned, Sliced

1/4 C Butter

2 Tbsp Persillade (garlic & parsley finely chopped together)

Preparation:Cook on Stove Top in Deep Covered Pot

Make 2-3 slices in each piece of rabbit, and insert sliver of garlic in each slice [I skip this with chicken and just add the garlic slices with the parsley]

Heat Oil and Butter over Medium to Medium High Temperature

Add Rabbit, and Cook, Turning, until nicely golden on all sides.

When Rabbit is nicely golden, sprinkle flour

Add shallots, and cook till softened and golden

Towards end of cooking*, finely chop parsley & garlic together, and add to Rabbit

Add Wine. NOTE: Aligote is better than a Sauvignon, as Aligote has less parfum

Add Water. NOTE: If later need more liquid, add water, not wine, as there will not be enough cooking time for alcohol to dissipate

Add Tomatoes, Pulp side down in the liquid

Add salt, pepper. Thyme and Bay leaf (optional)

Cook: Simmer on low for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally

Cook mushrooms in Butter, with salt, pepper and add to Rabbit in last half hour

*Add 2Tbsp Persillade in last 15 minutes

BON APPETIT

My "Late" MAY POST

May 25, 2008

It is almost June. We had a couple of very warm sunny days at the start of May. It was wonderful. Since about the 18th of May, the temperature cooled, and the days have been partly cloudy to cloudy. I really do not mind the cooler weather.

As I stated in my April notes, Keith had his first trip as a guide May 5th to May 17th. He really did enjoy the trip. The weather was perfect and all went well. He said the guests seemed to really enjoy the trip. At this point he is not scheduled for another trip. I guess it is wait and see when he gets called up for another trip. He really does not want to do more than 2 a year. He came home very tired.

While he was gone, the tourist train in Bligny (the narrow train where Keith volunteers his time) had their 30th anniversary. Unfortunately Keith had to miss the big celebration. This last winter they had extended the track about 1km, to reach Pont d’Ouche. The opening of this line was part of the grand inauguration day. Keith had built the shelter at Pont d’Ouche. I ( as a very dutiful wife) went over and took some photos of the celebration.

Then also on the same day, a friend had a grand opening of his horse stables. Of course I know him through Marie Therese. The new stable is in a small village called Clemancey. The village sits in the valley of several hills. I have a few photos from there too.

On the 14th of May the work on the bathroom started. All the old tile was taken off (it was pink and white), the bathtub was removed (it was pink) as was the sink (yep it was pink) and the sink cabinet and bidet. Then the tile man came and put in the new tile (floor and walls-same tile), and the plumbers came back and installed the new shower and connected everything else. We have ordered wallpaper, and Keith has skimmed the walls (where tile was removed and we did not put in new tile) so it is ready to finish. Keith also went out and ordered a mirror that would just fit between the tile behind the sink and light fixture. They cut it 2 cm too large, so it has to be re cut.

We will really get down to work next week.

This week however is play time. I have friends here and we are touring. There are four friends and they are staying at the Gite (it is about 5 miles away and the owners speak English). A gite is basically an apartment or house that is rented. Keith decided to take some time on his bike, and packed up his tenting equipment loaded the bike and headed for the Vosges mountains.

This month’s recipe. Better make it an easy one.

Asparagus

INGREDIENTS

Bundle of asparagus ( I usually think about 5 stalks per person if this is a started or a side dish for a large meal…or increase to about 8 stalks per person). Wash, break off woody bottom and cut into 3 inch pieces (or leave whole if you wish).

Mild onion chopped

Grilled red pepper cut in strips

1 cup fresh peas (or if necessary use frozen)

1 cup (loose) of basil

1 tbsp of butter

2 tsbp parmesan cheese grated (optional)

Salt and pepper

PREPARATION

Heat large skillet pan that has a good cover

Add butter and sauté the onion until soft

with heat on low medium add peas and asparagus

Cover and cook about 10 minutes. Watch carefully, or rather listen. If possible to not remove the lid. Let it cook. Shake pan to move around.

In the meantime, tear or cut the basil leaves

When the asparagus is finished, add the basil and red pepper, season with salt and fresh ground pepper, and toss.

Sprinkle a little parmesan over the top .

Serve

Bon Appetit

April 30, 2008

If I want to put out my Blog for the month of April, I had better get on it!

Another day another month. I can not say that April was the best of spring months. We were not able to do much outside.

I have started on my garden. I have been turning over the soil and getting it ready for planting. I put the green bean seeds in, and the squash seeds were planted about 10 days ago. I do have a wait a little before I plant tomatoes.

I had to spray the roses already. I do not know what the name is in English, but it is a fungus called “tache noir” in French (translates as black spot). The leaves get black spots and eventually turn yellow and then die. It is very common here, and the only solution is spraying for it. As for flowers,no real flower buds yet, but the leaves have been sprouting over the last few weeks.

The tulips are just fabulous this year. The colors are so intense, and they just shout Spring. I have red, yellow, purple, deep red, orange and then some mixed ones. Also on the flower front, the lilacs should open today. I took a quick sniff yesterday and there was just a hint of that wonderful smell. My little bush is loaded this year.

I do not think I have written about Keith’s new job. He applied and was hired as a tour guide for Americans on the Burgundy canal. This is a part time job. He is working for Grand Circle Tours (parent company) and then Overseas Adventure Tours is the name of the company that runs the boats. The tour starts in Lyon for a couple of days (time to get over jet-lag), then a bus ride to Dijon where they board the boat. Seven days on the boat as the go from Dijon-Ouges -St Jean-de-Losne- Chagny- Santenay and to St Leger. Then they are taken to Paris and fly out of Paris on a Friday. There are side trips during the day into various towns, cities and some wine tasting too. He had his training trip at the beginning of April and will have his first trip as a guide May 5-17th. He actually did a lot a guiding on the April trip too and he said it was fun.

This coming month of May is when the bathroom work starts. We are having the bathroom totally re-done. They will take all the current tile on the walls (pink and white) off and put on new tile. The bathtub (pink) comes out and a shower will go in (YEAH). This is when we add in the new cabinet that Keith built and the sink that we made. This all starts the 13th of May (note from above, Keith returns the 17th). It should take two weeks. Let’s hope that they are right! We only have the one bath, so this will be interesting. [note: in france that this room is for baths only. The toilet is in another little room]

Last summer, I think it was the 1st of July, Keith went for a bike ride and Wendy, Robert and I played the “Ralleye de Charmes” in Gevrey. We had to go to various villages and answer questions and identify photos. We won 2nd place. Well, after all these months we cashed in on the prize. It was dinner at Chateau Saulon la Rue for 2 people (I am getting pretty good winning dinners). With 2 diners free and the four of us eating lunch, we had to pay for the additional 2 dinners plus the wine for those two dinners. The prize did include aperitifs, all wines and coffee after. Oh what an enjoyable afternoon. The food was excellent and they matched the wine for us, and it was perfect. Way too much food, so tomato soup for dinner that evening. But we were all impressed by the food and the service. Maybe we can win again this year.

This last week we had dinner at our friends in Perrigny les Dijon. We had rented the Gite from them for a few years, before we moved here. We still keep in touch with them. Since we have lived here almost 7 years now, we must have known them for about 10 years now. It has all passed so fast.

Train news. Keith has been building a new shelter for the Bligny tourist train. They extended the track about 1 km to Pont d’Ouche. This last weekend the frame for the shelter was put in place. Today he is doing some finishing work. The roof needs to be finished, but all will be done by this weekend. They (the train association) are having a 30th anniversary on May 10th (Keith will not be able to be there). It is made with tenons and mortises.

One last note, I went for a walk with MT the other day, in the woods above Chambolle. However before we entered the woods, we looked for mushrooms. This time of year there is a mushroom called Tricholome St Georges ( latin names: calocybe georgii, tricholoma gambosa, tricholoma georgii, lyophyllum georgii). We found lots of mushrooms that afternoon Keith and I ate them in various dishes over the weekend. Very nice (the book gives them 2 out of 3 forks).

I think I will keep this short so I am able to get it on the web before April runs away.

Recipe for the month.

Asparagus Salad

Ingredients:

• 24 small stalks of asparagus
• ¼ cup of pecans chopped lightly
• 12 small cherry tomatoes
• chives cut fine
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• 4 strips of bacon (optional)

Preparation

1.Wash the asparagus and slowly bend to break off the woody ends (it will snap about 1/3 of the way up the stalk).

2. Put in boiling water for about 5 minutes (this depends on the actual width of the stalks)

3. In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp; remove with a slotted spoon to paper towel. Break up the bacon when cool.

4. When asparagus is done, pour into a colander and run cold water over it to stop it cooking, but leave warm Pat dry.

5. Cut the cherry tomatoes in quarters.

6. Mix 3 Tablespoons of olive oil and 1 ½ Tablespoon of vinegar.

7. Put the asparagus, tomatoes, chopped pecans in a bowl and mix with dressing. Salt and pepper to taste

8. Put on 4 plates and sprinkle with crushed bacon.

Bon Appétit

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.