mars 2016

My Easter flowers in a vase
that I made this year -it is raku

MARCH 2016

Happy Belated Easter to all
(such a surpise when I noticed it was the end of March, about 9 days before Easter!)

The month of march is almost over as I sit here this morning to write this blog. The repair man just left and needs to order a new pump for the washing machine, it may take a week.
It broke last Thursday, today is Tuesday. Monday after Easter is a holiday, so this was the earliest he could come! Oh well, guess I will go use the machines that they installed this last year at the grocery store -Super U. The machine are outside, but it is a nice day today.

First of the month, March came in like the LION!! We had winter for the first two weeks. Cold, some snow, hail, rain, wind...mother nature threw it at us.

I should have mowed the lawn in February, but it just was not right to mow in February, I still have Minnesota blood in me. I finally gave up and mowed the lawn in mid-March! And it needs it again. Well at least it is spring now, it males a little more sense.

And it is spring. All the fruit trees have bloomed, our forsythia bush is bright yellow, and the merles are singing ( the primavera and jonquils have been in flower for weeks, so not a great sign of spring this year)..

With the drought last summer, some of grass died. I bought grass seed, but the man helping me at the garden center said to wait for April 1st. So on Friday I will get to work on the dead grass or maybe I will do it on the 31st!!).

I like doing genealogy research, and have found that some of the family ancestors came from around here. There is one couple in particular, Pierre Comeau and his wife Marie Rose Bayols, who are supposedly from here. Marie Rose born in Dijon and Pierre born in Pouilly-en-Auxois. I do not have the birth certificates to prove this, but I have started to dig. It may be hard because he was born about 1604 and she was born about 1630. They immigrated to Canada, and had children to pass on the family name there as well.

The interesting part however is that the Comeau family of Pouilly were a noble family (around 1400-1700). I presume with all the children (7 in all), and Pierre the 4th child, he would not inherit much, so he went off to search other fortunes.

Anyway, mid month Keith and I went over to Pouilly to check out what was there. His brother Antoine, built a Château in Creancey (just a couple km from Pouilly) just after Pierre left for Canada. There are six gravestones from the old family, but we did not find them on our visit. The church of Pouilly in the 17 centruy, Saint Pierre, was on top of the butte and burned down in 1790. The church that is now in Pouilly, Saint Pierre was built about 1850,  The tombstones were not there. Further research on returning home, I found that the stones were moved to the church in Creancey.

I am not really interested in the fact that the family might be noble. Most of my research is to find why these ancestors left their homeland. But in this case, these possible ancestors are from here, where I am now living, and that is exciting. And the tombstones from the 15th century are very exciting.
I have checked the Dijon records, but have not researched them yet. There were many churches in Dijon at that time (and still are), and there is no index, so I will need to go through each church, page by page. But the positive note, there are some records from that time. As for Pouilly, I started, but the hand writing is so bad!!!, patience is needed.

More research needed and another trip over to Creancey (it is about 30 minutes from here). Of course I need to find that definitive connection too. Like the story, but want the proof.

The large dove-cove on the grounds

My family home  ;-)   [it is a private owner now]

Comeau coat of arms above the door of the petite chateau

While we were driving through the countryside, on our way home from Pouilly( we took the scenic route), we saw a wild cat. He was far away, but the photo is not too bad...thanks to my telephoto lens. They are large, even though there is nothing here to show the size,

Le chat sauvage

Of course as spring arrived, I was out on walks. I spent one afternoon around the vignes west of Gevrey . The place is called the Boussiere, and then the Combe de Chadron leads up to the plateau.

Did not find flowers that day, but enjoyed the walk as always.

Actually this was early march up on the plateau. I was looking for
 Anemone Pulsatilla (pasqueflower)

Flowers on a bush- cornouiller mâle (Cornelian cherry)

photo of the Bossiere that I changed to Black and White

Combe Lavaux from the vines

the vineyard Varoilles

Boussiere or Combe de Chadron

Dry stone walls are all around here. I think they are elegant
Still make them too, such a art

Went on a walk with MT in the woods near Chambolle. There were flowers everywhere. It was a fun walk through the woods on a beautiful spring day.

Scille

Cornelian Cherry again with blue sky

Fragon faux houx - very small flower on the backside of the
leaves

Scille

La Combe d'Orveau near Chambolle -big drop!!!
careful Flipperv( I get nervous seeing this dog so close to the edge)

Anemone Sylvie (wood anemone, windflower, thimbleweed)

White violet

Corydalis Solida

For Easter we went out to eat at a little restaurant in Curtil.  We met MT, her father and sister at the restaurant (her husband was ill -but better now). We finished our lunch around 4 in the afternoon. A nice lunch and relaxing day. Did not hunt for eggs, although chocolate rabbits are big here. A bell (cloche) is also very symbolic of Easter.

Been very busy, so many things to do. I have ideas a plenty for pottery right now, working at finishing the book on Gevrey, and of course where would spring be without spring cleaning and yard work!
I have started having fun with graphics in pottery. I am easily amused!

shallow bowl

trivet

trivet

plate

This coming Sunday I have arranged for the Nature group a walk up the Bossière to the top of the plateau and then back down. Hope to find some spring flowers, but that would be photos for the April blog.

I always have a million things to write about, but forget by the time I sit down to write. Why is it always like that?

That is all from Gevrey for this month ( it is Wednesday now, so I am finishing this blog up).

Recipe of the Month 
Eggplant Italian style ( or Eggplant lasagna)

 A little bit of Itlay this month. I made this up the other day after I remembered a dish we had in Italy that was similar. Takes a little while, but really an easy dish


INGREDIENTS

• one small eggplant
• carton of Ricotta cheese
• Parmesan cheese grated
• herbs
• tomato sauce ( I used Brarilla provencal sauce)
• oil
• salt, pepper

( notice how precise this recipe is)!

PREPARATION
1. Wash egglant ( or peel if you prefer)
2. slice eggplant into round circles about 3/8 inch thick ( I had about 12 slices)
3. brush with olive oil and broil until soft (15 minutes...depends on your broiler)
4. While in the broiler, it is time to flavor to the ricotta cheese. I used "herbs de Provence" and some garlic, salt and pepper- taste it and add to you have a pleasant flavor.
5. Put a little sauce in the bottom of the pan (my pan is about 10 by 10 inches)
6. then a layer of eggplant slices
7 1/2 of the ricotta mixture
8. Sprinkle of parmesan cheese
9. Not more than 1/3 of sauce
10 repeat layers
11 pour the rest of tomato sauce all over the top, sprinkle again with parmesan
12 bake at about 300 for 20 minutes...just want to heat and melde tha flavors

Fevrier 2016

FEBRUARY 2016

Mont Blanc photo taken from the vineyards of Chaux, Cote D'Or, Bourgogne, France

This month, as others, has gone pass too fast.

I had the photo of Mont Blanc on Facebook, so some people have seen it already. It is a phenomenon of nature that does not occur frequently,  Mont Blanc is over 300 km away, with the valley of the river Saone between here and there. With conditions just right, Mont Blanc is magnified and we can see it from here. This last Sunday, Feb 21, it was a beautiful clear day and the view was extraordinary! It was large and very clear. So of course I took some photos. Regard the details and remember it is over 300km away!!!  MT and I stood there looking at this beautiful miracle for a long time. It was hard to walk away.

I have talked about some changes in the kitchen . With the current stove top slowly giving up, Keith and I went out one day and bought a new stove-top (plaque). Most of the choices were induction tops and with just a few electric . Reading the information, induction is more economical etc, I chose the induction. We brought it home, Keith installed and VOILA, as I looked at the instruction book, I found a note that one needs special magnetic pans  to cook with induction. Hmm, what is this all about? I went out to the kitchen and tested one of my pans, absolutly nothing!  So I concluded (correctly) that my pans would not work on the new stove top (sauf the cast iron pan, it is iron and therefore magnetic).
Luckily, dinner for the evening was to be cooked in the over, whew.

 Next day off to the store again, to find induction pans. Happily, the sales of February were still on, so we found good pans at a good price ( stores have sales in Feb and June, although this has been modified a little in the last few years).

Now I had to learn how to cook on induction!! Only burned two things, rice and soup (now you tell me how one can burn soup :-/ ).
This last week I have not burned anything!, I am getting better.  It had been years since I had burned anything. But cooking on induction is different and I am starting to get the hang of it.  I am so proud, I can turn it on and off now too....no knobs on this stove-top.

Then we found that the oven and microwave had a risky and illegal connection!  A extension cord had been cut open for a stove connection and the micro plugged into the end of the extension cord. Except for the extension cord plug, all the rest hidden behind the cabinets. Luckily,in the 14 years, nothing has happened. But still, what a mess of electric connections.
We received the electricians' bid (devis), will accept it and get a date for him to come and correct the electrical problems. For the time being, the micro has been moved to the table and the oven is safely connected.

Been out taking some photos as usual. I finalized my 3 photos for the May expo, that took a lot of time and energy.
Still working on the book, but have had this month mostly off because Joëlle is writing the captions. Worked with Joëlle on the last two Tuesdays, and had the head of the nature reserve here in Gevrey look at the chapter for the Reserve,(whew no errors), and had a vigneron from the city counsel look at our chapter on the vines, and no problems there either. Onward, I will get the computer and book back in a few days to do some photo and other corrections to the book. Project will be back in my hands. This is a photographic book on the city of Gevrey at the start of the 21st century. It is for the archives and hopefully for future generations.
A couple photos of the vines in winter.

Upper Gevrey near the chateau

Above Gevrey in the vineyards( the ones in the photo above),
 looking back at the village

I like the graphic patterns of the vines, south end of Gevrey

The sign says it all. It is called La Justice, because
in the middle ages, executions for crimes
were done here

And yes the season for burning the sermants
This is behind our house, lucky the wind is blowing away

Also there were other walks with MT. At the beginning of the month, not much to photograph. Hazy days and nothing in bloom. But I took some photos, especially this last Sunday when it was one glorious day.

Marey-les-Fussey is the village in the distance

Dogs enjoying the walk

Tremella mesenterica

With the bizarre weather, spring has started,
although we have finally had a couple nights just below
freezing.

 I had this one on Facebook too.
It is a sparrow hawk in the vineyard behind the
our house

On Saturday the 27th, Keith had gone to Bligny. If you are not aware, he is a volunteer for the narrow gauge tourist train in Bligny. They association has diesel and steam engines. The winter is dedicated to repairing all of the equipment. Anyway, that is not where I was going with my thoughts.

At noon on Saturday, I realized that I had not bought chicken for dinner. Stores are closed on Sunday, and with Keith in Bligny on Saturday, I buy the weekend groceries on Friday. Hmm no chicken in the frigo!
The store is only 2km away and the weather was not bad. But I had the great idea to use my bike.

First I had to dig it out from under everything, that is, Keith's two bikes and the plastic cover Keith had put on top to protect it. Then the tires looked a  little down, so I found the pump.  Keith pumps my tires for me, but he is not here and how hard can it be? I connected the pump to the back tire and suddenly all the air was out of the tire,YIKES. Obviously, I had done something wrong.
I finally got it to work if I put my finger over a hole in the pump connection and pumped. It was an awkward position and difficult once the tire was almost full. So I stopped at 60, and decided not to try the front tire. It was a little low, but not flat and now the back tire had air.
Off I went. The road to the store is a false flat, just a slight uphill. Since I had not ridden in a couple of years, I had a slight incline, and a front tire that was low, it was slow going!! I made it to the store and the legs were a little wobbly. Different muscles from walking!
Bought my provisions and mounted the bike for the ride home.This would be easier with the slight downhill slope. I was sailing along Ave de la Gare, enjoying the ride home, when at an intersection,  with only about 1/3km to go, my pedal flew off.
Yikes, no control at all without pedals. Slowly applied the brakes and jumped off at the corner. Walked the rest of the way home.
Keith looked at the bike and has no idea what happened, he said the crankshaft connection was stripped. How did this happen, who knows? So I will wait for repairs before I can go for another ride.

OK a little politics this month. I have leaned left over the years (all right, I was chair of democratic district in Minneapolis, so Democrat). But I always try to regard all sides and read about the candidates.

But, but... explain, Trump, really!!!  Is he really going to be the candidate of the Republican party?

I find the pre-convention this year a little sad.
But change is in the wind here too. People are upset and going for change ... United Kingdom is going to vote in June to stay or exit the European Union. This is a major action. Problems with EU regulations and migration?  So watch for June 23rd.
 Here in France, the party FN headed by LePen would move to exit the EU also and close all borders to migrants. Sadly this extreme right has has gained support this last year.
And the huge problem of migrants from places like Syria is looming over the EU. The numbers landing in Greece and Italy is staggering, and how is the EU to deal with it all. Some countries are trying to limit the number of migrants. Sad problem.

Off the soapbox.

Let us return to our sheep ( a french saying about getting back on subject).

Recipe of the month...I have thought about what to put this month. I made a souffle for Valentines day, but I think I will postpone that until next month.

I had published a recipe for Poulet Basquaise October 2014. I have found a few improvements to the recipe, so I will re-publish with updates. The 2014 was in a slow cooker, this version is done in the oven.

Recipe of the Month 
Basque Chicken  (Poulet Basquaise)
Before I did a slow cooker recipe with chicken legs. Chicken breasts that are skinless and boneless would be very dry. However, I like chicken breast. So here is the revised recipe with chicken breast done in the oven.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts (or 3 breast if small--to me a chicken breast is 1/2 of a total breast)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper 
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2  bell peppers, preferably red sliced
• 3-4 large cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes 
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1tsp espelette piment ( basque spice)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or more if you want it a bit spicy)
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 chicken bouillon cube (or 1 cup of broth)
• water to cover
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch

PREPARATION

1. Toss the onions, garlic, red peppers into the pan with oil and sauté

2. Add wine, diced tomatoes, broth and water 

3  Add salt and pepper

4. Cook for 30 minutes to one hour in the oven at about 275°. The flavors are melding, so long as it has enough liquid, 30 minutes to an hour is OK

5. 1/2 hour before serving add the chicken breast. Push down into the sauce and return to the oven. Up the temperature to 320 °. Cook 30 minutes.

6.  Just before serving- about 10 minutes,  remove as much of the sauce as possible ( I had a lot of sauce, so I used some to cook the rice) into a small pan

7. Reduce by half at least, taste and add salt or pepper to taste. Watch carefully, not to burn.

8 . Add cornstarch to cold water and then slowly add to sauce to thicken

9. Pour thickened sauce over the chicken dish

 Serve with rice

The chicken breast should be moist and not overcooked by placing into the sauce and cooking just the last 30 minutes.

2016 January

Jan 23 2016 !

Janvier  2016

A new year has stated and not a lot has happened. In fact, as far as writing a blog goes, not much material to work with, but I will" blab on" nonetheless.

As for a weather report...we actually have had at least two days of winter. Nights are still in the 30's, but above freezing, and the days warm (high 40's to 50's).

But for most  of January, it has been raining or foggy. Very few sunny days. That is normal.


I am frustrated because the photo expo theme this year is COLD (Froid). How does one take photos of cold when it is 50 degrees!!
I am working on a few ideas, but yikes, what a challenge. Here are a couple of photos...the one day it was cold, I went over to the ponds (étangs) and took a few photos. Final photo for the expo are due in 2 weeks!!

Not really in the running, just a photo of swan on ice.
Not sure if he was stuck, but the day was warming up
fast, soon to be 50°

Lone feather (plume) on the ice.

A puddle with ice, I added a little blue, it was
muddy brown

not in the running either, could not get the clarity
and angle I wanted (in photoshop)
Dawn and moss on the wall with a little frost

Made an ice candle

Frosty morning one day and really frustrated
by the theme This is the car window

Back to Iceland photos- at the glacier

some frost on a couple planks for crossing the ditch
at the étangs (ponds)

Surprisingly I have not taken that many walks, or to be precise, pretty walks with photos. The 3km walk I do from the house is not entirely picturesque, especially now in the winter.

But a jump back to the beginning of January. On the first of January, we had MT and Christian over for lunch and onion soup...mmm mmm. There is nothing open on January 1st, so getting together with friends is a pleasant way to pass the afternoon. Friends, food, and wine; what more is needed?

We also caught up with some friends that we had not seen for a long time. We had them over dinner mi-January. We talked until 1am (yikes), it was a nice evening and I guess we had a lot of catching up to do.

Now,back to walks. I went over to the étangs (ponds) twice in recent weeks. Here are a few photos. MT went with me the first time (that day my batterie died and I was not able to take some photos- sniff). That day it was a walk without the dogs. We saw lots of ducks, unfortunately, they swan to the other side of the pond. But swans (cygne) were there and so were the coots(foulque).

coots

swans

There was an egret too, but that is when my battery failed! It is an interesting place to visit during migration (not sure when that season will be this year since
the season is so mixed up), but a lot of different ducks pass through.

mushrooms also popping up

Late afternoon photo et the étangs - was trying to capture the
frost, but it is not evident

And life here in Gevrey? The vinges are always part of life here. It is the season to cut back the vines and burn the branches (sermants).

Barrels are often used for burning. Add a wheel
and it can easily be moved.

One other photo from the bedroom window one evening...sunset was gorgeous.

I want to talk about restaurants a little. First the one around the corner from our house. It has new owners now. It is a true bistro, open for lunches. They will take reservations for special occasions on Friday or Saturday nights.

Many of these small establishments are found around France. Workers here in larger businesses get a lunch allowance. These bistros accept these lunch coupons. So the lunch is a starter, main plate, cheese and dessert. Some places include a glass of wine or coffee, others do not. Lunch runs about 13-14 euros. The new owner is a chef and so far the food has been very good. This is not haute cuisine, but a good lunch.
The other place we just went to, is Asian. Lunch buffet (all you can eat) is 12.80€ ( they do note that if you leave a plate full of food you will be charged an extra 5€). So take small portions and return if you need more! Sometimes the fair is fried, but thi,s place had a section of raw food, you fill the plate and go over to have it cooked for you in a wok. You get a choice of sauces. Not bad for the price. The food here in France does not get very spicy, the french palette is not for chilies (or piquante), so it lacks a little zest. But I have to admit after all the years here, my mouth has gone soft. Habeneros are right out! One changes.

The kitchen glass stove-top is slowly giving up. The unfortunate news is that all the connections are behind the cupboards. So we are thinking about how to attack this problem!!!

I am not working on the photo book. JH is adding the words to all the photo (it is believed that a native speaker should write the captions -I AGREE) .
The association had it annual meeting, I am still treasurer, among other things. Planning for this years outings, always fun to go and explore nature or history.

Pottery continues, of course with some great and beautiful creations !!

And as mentioned above, PhotoClub. Our annual photo is posted here if curious. Some people in costumes, others just being silly, and this is before the glass of Crémant and galette de roi.

(LINK: http://www.refletsechos.fr/2016/01/soiree-du-7-janvier-2016/)

I have written in other years about the Gallete de Roi, the pastry that is for the fete de Epiphany. It usually is in the bakery by the end of December and still being sold mi-January. So a slice of this is served at the both club meetings and any other occasion that lends itself to serving a treat. This is a buttery layer pastry often filled with marzipan.  

So ending on a high note of food, I will segway into the recipe of the month

Recipe of the Month

This recipe is very good. It does require a little vigilance, watching the pot! But it is so good on a winter day, along with some cold cuts (charcuterie) on the side and a green salade. It is not hard, so do not be put off by the length of the recipe, it is just a matter of "watching the pot" long, scrape and stir.

THE BEST FRENCH ONION SOUP    

From: Cook’s Illustrated

Serves 6    [well maybe six, or maybe 4...depends how hungry you are]

Notes:
For the best flavor, make the soup a day or 2 in advance. Alternatively, the onions can be prepared through step 1, cooled in the pot, and refrigerated for up to 3 days before proceeding with the recipe.

Ingredients:

Soup

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces
• 6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices (Make sure you get Yellow)
• Table salt
• 2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (They recommend Swanson Certified Organic Free Range Chicken Broth )
• 2 cups beef broth (They recommend Pacific Beef Broth)
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme , tied with kitchen twine
• 1 bay leaf
• Ground black pepper

Cheese Croutons

• 1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)

Directions:

For the soup:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. 
3. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. 
4. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). 
5. Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. 
6. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.
7. Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. 
8. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. 
9. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.)
10. Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. 
11. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.
12. Stir in the broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.
13. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. 
14. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. 
15. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

For the croutons:

While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

To serve:

Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

SUE NOTE: This is the original recipe method. Here I put the grated cheese in a bowl, the toast bagette slices in a basket and the pot of soup on the table. Each person add the crouton and cheese, and then ladled the HOT soup on top. Works every time.