Thursday, July 12, 2007
Friday 6 July 2007
Last Sunday morning we set out on an abortive outing to two separate destinations; the second in fact was literally a fruitless journey. The only consolation was that the weather had temporarily improved and driving though country lanes, past farms and hamlets in what N called « la France profonde » (deepest France) was very enjoyable indeed. Our first destination was Saint-Antonin-de-Sommaire, a hamlet the other side of Rugles, where we had hoped to find a bric-à-brac fair, but there were only a couple of uninteresting stalls in a school yard. We then went on some way in quite the opposite direction from La Neuve-Lyre to Les Jonquerets de Livet (as always the smallest villages have the longest names!) looking for raspberries on sale as advertised on the leaflet, only to find when we arrived at the little hut that it was closed on Sundays! (very ambiguous leaflet.) Once home again however, we did manage to have lunch in the garden, for the first and last time for some days.
As the raspberry selling outfit (no currants ready yet) was only open on certain days of the week, we went again and bought some on Monday morning, and in the afternoon I made raspberry jam. I was a little disappointed as all the books said it was so easy that having followed the instructions to the letter, the pips rose to the top in several jars and there was a layer of clear jam at the bottom. However, the little amount left over tasted wonderful at breakfast the next day. Once back from buying the raspberries, I went to the local market and boulangerie as usual, and had a good look at the newly opened traiteur/character shop, and bought two small quiches for lunch. I thought the range of produce on offer was not quite as luxurious as before; more plain meat, pâté and salads, but then it occurred to me that this might be what was wanted round here, and that perhaps it was the beautifully decorated avocados with lobster - although we loved them! - which caused the previous business to make a loss. At the boulangerie they were saying that as the new proprietors were an older couple, they should be more experienced!
On Tuesday, still in pursuit of ingredients for preserves, I took the bus to L’Aigle market, the only place we have ever been able to find crystallized ginger. It rained most of the morning - even when the sun was shining - and the weather was the main topic of conversation amongst several little old ladies waiting for the bus; one of them kept declaring it was « pourri » (rotten) with which I agreed. I thought, not for the first time, that talking about the weather is not unique to the English, the inhabitants of La Neuve-Lyre seem to do to all the time.
I managed to get the ginger (the stallholder seem very surprised when I said I was going to use it for marrow jam) and bought olives and dried tomatoes at the same stall, and strawberries and flowers from the regular stalls. I found that my favourite clothes stall where I had bought the cream trouser suit was having a sale - 30% off everything - so bought a very stylish jacket in the same material. It’s no good thinking about real summer clothes at the moment (I haven’t even got any dresses out yet!) so one might as well enjoy wearing jackets. The young men running the stall were as charming and helpful as ever, and once again admired my accent. I also bought a local paper with a supplement listing all the bric-à-brac fairs in three départements from now until the end of the season! (September.)
Apart from the proposed marrow jam - the marrow hasn’t quite reached the correct size yet - I wanted the ginger for making more apple chutney, thereby using up the last of the carefully preserved apples on the top shelf of the first outhouse. On Tuesday afternoon I made half the quantity I did last year, using some frozen apple to make up the amount. This meant that the shelves N had put up in the first outhouse against the boarded-up door were now all full (raspberry jam, apple chutney and last week’s beetroot pickle) and that the top wide shelf on the side wall was empty of apples; so time for a rearrangement. We were due to go to Bernay on Thursday for the car’s appointment at the Renault garage to have a new door strip fitted, and had a list of other things to do while in Bernay, wondering if it would take all day like the week before. Fortunately the strip was done straight away, so we went on to Monsieur Bricolage to look at the plastic shelf units for outhouses and garages that we had seen and considered before. There was one just the right size, so we got that and some plastic baskets to go on it, put them all in the car, and left it all conveniently in the car park while we went on to the museum.
It was in part of a former monastery and mainly full of paintings, sculpture, small pieces of furniture and porcelain. Not very large, so didn’t take long to see, after that we looked at the imposing War Memorial, the municipal library (from the outside, as it was shut) various views of the river, gardens and little houses; certainly a lot more of Bernay than we had seen up to then. We joined the main street again, and called in at the Italian delicatessen to buy gnocchi, a stuffed aubergine, Parma ham and some little pastries. By then it was lunch-time so N took me to the restaurant he had discovered last week; a dark little bistro down an alley leading from the street where most of the antique shops are; decorated characteristically in red and white check with plenty of old kitchen and garden items on display. It reminded me a little of Le Coup Chou in Paris, where we ate on New Year’s Eve - lots of little interconnected rooms, all packed with laid tables. Not nouvelle cuisine, as N said, definitely very hearty ancienne cuisine.
We both ordered the Menus for the Day: melon followed by three large pieces of duck (one or two would have been plenty) with delicious sauce and potatoes, and then clafoutis; an interesting experience as I had only ever made and eaten my own. This one seemed to have brown sugar and breadcrumbs on top, a definite improvement. And lots of rosé wine. The waiter - also dressed in red - was strangely entertaining and reminded N of M Perrotte. We then collected the car and went on to the Intermarché supermarket; if it is a mistake to go shopping on an empty stomach then surely it is just as foolish to go full of lunch and wine - you can’t believe you will ever need to eat anything ever again.
Saturday 7 July 2007
The next day I swept out the first outhouse and assembled the new shelf unit, with help from N for the top shelf which I couldn’t reach, and for fixing it to the wall, just to the right behind the door. So far it has empty baskets, bought pickle from the UK and spare bird food on it, but there is plenty of space for more homemade preserves when necessary.
This time last year we were harvesting and freezing lots and lots of vegetables; I’m pleased to say this year a greater variety have been planted and amounts staggered, but even though we are not panic freezing there is plenty to eat and cook. There has been a lot of nice spinach and we have eaten spinach quiche (labour-intensive but very good) spinach & bacon salad and Egg Florentine. Other vegetables - courgettes, broad beans, green beans, peas, beetroot, turnips, potatoes - are arriving in easily manageable amounts. There are also more flowers to cut and bring indoors than last year, after a special request to the Head Gardener. The roses are almost all over now, but there are currently several different kinds of nameless yellow flowers, a few Canterbury bells, and the bright pink hydrangeas are beginning to look beautiful against the walls of the outhouses; I have cut some of these and brought indoors too. The new larger flowerbed continues to look wonderful, the balance of colours changing all the while. The weather - although still far from seasonal - has got a little drier and less windy in the last day or so, so N has embarked on much overdue weeding of the vegetable garden and flower beds. He has also done a lot of hedge clipping, which makes the whole place look much tidier.
Another thing achieved this week has been the ordering of more firewood for the winter. We had got almost to the end of the delivery we had when we arrived a year and a half ago, and so I rang M Legrand to order more as instructed (order before you run out, and order during the summer.) He seemed very vague and not to recall anything about it at all, and did not seem like the loud and chatty man I remembered. However, he rang back and arranged a delivery for yesterday morning; once it was all over N came upstairs to report that it was Legrand père I had been speaking to; not Legrand fils with whom I had dealt last year, as the latter was apparently now working as a lorry driver. M Legrand père had made the delivery with what could have been his daughter-in-law, and N was particularly pleased as they had to take their trailer back straight away, and both helped him unload and stack all the wood in the woodshed, instead of us doing it ourselves as before. It was not as damp as last time (it had sat outside in December rain several days) and should be ready to use come the autumn.
Wednesday 11 July 2007
Marrow jam has now been completed, started yesterday afternoon and sat with the sugar on overnight, then finished off this morning. Only five jars, but an excellent taste and set. N says there will be another big marrow later in the season, but not yet. Fortunately I have plenty of crystallized ginger left over, carefully stored in a big jar. I have tried two excellent new recipes using produce arriving from the vegetable garden - some young leeks were used in a leek and macaroni gratin, and yesterday evening we had buttered turnips; diced and blanched then fried in butter and coated with lots of fresh herbs.
Yesterday I went to L’ Aigle market again, wondering if there might be a skirt with 30% off to go with my excellent new jacket. There wasn’t but I had quite an entertaining time looking in several clothes shops and not buying anything. It rained on and off just like last week and I only came back with cherries, strawberries and mushrooms, but enjoyed my morning out.
Over the last few days we have successfully uploaded all the pictures from my digital camera on to my computer, and have made attempts at sending them by e-mail. The camera then announced it needed new batteries, and not just any old batteries it seemed, but I managed to find the correct ones at the Quincaillerie in the village. Finally yesterday afternoon - after having waited what seemed like some time to get both a working camera and a sunny afternoon - I was able to take pictures of the furniture, pictures and china which had come from my mother’s house in their new positions here, in order to send those to the family too. The camera now says it needs new batteries again…..
Meteo France (the weather forecasters) still cannot decide on the weather forecasts; for the past two cold, windy weeks they have announced that things will brighten up and get warmer over the weekend, only to change their minds on Fridays and say perhaps they won’t after all. I said to N perhaps this was to raise the morale of the population; he said he thought it was to encourage the tourist industry. Anyway, they are now predicting sunshine and temperatures of 26 degrees even in the north of France for Saturday and Sunday; important as this is the big holiday weekend of the summer, Saturday is 14 July. We have been thinking of taking a little trip to Brittany this month, but the weather there has been even worse than in Normandy, so it keeps being put off. We are hoping for better things next week, although I find it difficult to believe anything the weather forecasters say!
Last Sunday morning we set out on an abortive outing to two separate destinations; the second in fact was literally a fruitless journey. The only consolation was that the weather had temporarily improved and driving though country lanes, past farms and hamlets in what N called « la France profonde » (deepest France) was very enjoyable indeed. Our first destination was Saint-Antonin-de-Sommaire, a hamlet the other side of Rugles, where we had hoped to find a bric-à-brac fair, but there were only a couple of uninteresting stalls in a school yard. We then went on some way in quite the opposite direction from La Neuve-Lyre to Les Jonquerets de Livet (as always the smallest villages have the longest names!) looking for raspberries on sale as advertised on the leaflet, only to find when we arrived at the little hut that it was closed on Sundays! (very ambiguous leaflet.) Once home again however, we did manage to have lunch in the garden, for the first and last time for some days.
As the raspberry selling outfit (no currants ready yet) was only open on certain days of the week, we went again and bought some on Monday morning, and in the afternoon I made raspberry jam. I was a little disappointed as all the books said it was so easy that having followed the instructions to the letter, the pips rose to the top in several jars and there was a layer of clear jam at the bottom. However, the little amount left over tasted wonderful at breakfast the next day. Once back from buying the raspberries, I went to the local market and boulangerie as usual, and had a good look at the newly opened traiteur/character shop, and bought two small quiches for lunch. I thought the range of produce on offer was not quite as luxurious as before; more plain meat, pâté and salads, but then it occurred to me that this might be what was wanted round here, and that perhaps it was the beautifully decorated avocados with lobster - although we loved them! - which caused the previous business to make a loss. At the boulangerie they were saying that as the new proprietors were an older couple, they should be more experienced!
On Tuesday, still in pursuit of ingredients for preserves, I took the bus to L’Aigle market, the only place we have ever been able to find crystallized ginger. It rained most of the morning - even when the sun was shining - and the weather was the main topic of conversation amongst several little old ladies waiting for the bus; one of them kept declaring it was « pourri » (rotten) with which I agreed. I thought, not for the first time, that talking about the weather is not unique to the English, the inhabitants of La Neuve-Lyre seem to do to all the time.
I managed to get the ginger (the stallholder seem very surprised when I said I was going to use it for marrow jam) and bought olives and dried tomatoes at the same stall, and strawberries and flowers from the regular stalls. I found that my favourite clothes stall where I had bought the cream trouser suit was having a sale - 30% off everything - so bought a very stylish jacket in the same material. It’s no good thinking about real summer clothes at the moment (I haven’t even got any dresses out yet!) so one might as well enjoy wearing jackets. The young men running the stall were as charming and helpful as ever, and once again admired my accent. I also bought a local paper with a supplement listing all the bric-à-brac fairs in three départements from now until the end of the season! (September.)
Apart from the proposed marrow jam - the marrow hasn’t quite reached the correct size yet - I wanted the ginger for making more apple chutney, thereby using up the last of the carefully preserved apples on the top shelf of the first outhouse. On Tuesday afternoon I made half the quantity I did last year, using some frozen apple to make up the amount. This meant that the shelves N had put up in the first outhouse against the boarded-up door were now all full (raspberry jam, apple chutney and last week’s beetroot pickle) and that the top wide shelf on the side wall was empty of apples; so time for a rearrangement. We were due to go to Bernay on Thursday for the car’s appointment at the Renault garage to have a new door strip fitted, and had a list of other things to do while in Bernay, wondering if it would take all day like the week before. Fortunately the strip was done straight away, so we went on to Monsieur Bricolage to look at the plastic shelf units for outhouses and garages that we had seen and considered before. There was one just the right size, so we got that and some plastic baskets to go on it, put them all in the car, and left it all conveniently in the car park while we went on to the museum.
It was in part of a former monastery and mainly full of paintings, sculpture, small pieces of furniture and porcelain. Not very large, so didn’t take long to see, after that we looked at the imposing War Memorial, the municipal library (from the outside, as it was shut) various views of the river, gardens and little houses; certainly a lot more of Bernay than we had seen up to then. We joined the main street again, and called in at the Italian delicatessen to buy gnocchi, a stuffed aubergine, Parma ham and some little pastries. By then it was lunch-time so N took me to the restaurant he had discovered last week; a dark little bistro down an alley leading from the street where most of the antique shops are; decorated characteristically in red and white check with plenty of old kitchen and garden items on display. It reminded me a little of Le Coup Chou in Paris, where we ate on New Year’s Eve - lots of little interconnected rooms, all packed with laid tables. Not nouvelle cuisine, as N said, definitely very hearty ancienne cuisine.
We both ordered the Menus for the Day: melon followed by three large pieces of duck (one or two would have been plenty) with delicious sauce and potatoes, and then clafoutis; an interesting experience as I had only ever made and eaten my own. This one seemed to have brown sugar and breadcrumbs on top, a definite improvement. And lots of rosé wine. The waiter - also dressed in red - was strangely entertaining and reminded N of M Perrotte. We then collected the car and went on to the Intermarché supermarket; if it is a mistake to go shopping on an empty stomach then surely it is just as foolish to go full of lunch and wine - you can’t believe you will ever need to eat anything ever again.
Saturday 7 July 2007
The next day I swept out the first outhouse and assembled the new shelf unit, with help from N for the top shelf which I couldn’t reach, and for fixing it to the wall, just to the right behind the door. So far it has empty baskets, bought pickle from the UK and spare bird food on it, but there is plenty of space for more homemade preserves when necessary.
This time last year we were harvesting and freezing lots and lots of vegetables; I’m pleased to say this year a greater variety have been planted and amounts staggered, but even though we are not panic freezing there is plenty to eat and cook. There has been a lot of nice spinach and we have eaten spinach quiche (labour-intensive but very good) spinach & bacon salad and Egg Florentine. Other vegetables - courgettes, broad beans, green beans, peas, beetroot, turnips, potatoes - are arriving in easily manageable amounts. There are also more flowers to cut and bring indoors than last year, after a special request to the Head Gardener. The roses are almost all over now, but there are currently several different kinds of nameless yellow flowers, a few Canterbury bells, and the bright pink hydrangeas are beginning to look beautiful against the walls of the outhouses; I have cut some of these and brought indoors too. The new larger flowerbed continues to look wonderful, the balance of colours changing all the while. The weather - although still far from seasonal - has got a little drier and less windy in the last day or so, so N has embarked on much overdue weeding of the vegetable garden and flower beds. He has also done a lot of hedge clipping, which makes the whole place look much tidier.
Another thing achieved this week has been the ordering of more firewood for the winter. We had got almost to the end of the delivery we had when we arrived a year and a half ago, and so I rang M Legrand to order more as instructed (order before you run out, and order during the summer.) He seemed very vague and not to recall anything about it at all, and did not seem like the loud and chatty man I remembered. However, he rang back and arranged a delivery for yesterday morning; once it was all over N came upstairs to report that it was Legrand père I had been speaking to; not Legrand fils with whom I had dealt last year, as the latter was apparently now working as a lorry driver. M Legrand père had made the delivery with what could have been his daughter-in-law, and N was particularly pleased as they had to take their trailer back straight away, and both helped him unload and stack all the wood in the woodshed, instead of us doing it ourselves as before. It was not as damp as last time (it had sat outside in December rain several days) and should be ready to use come the autumn.
Wednesday 11 July 2007
Marrow jam has now been completed, started yesterday afternoon and sat with the sugar on overnight, then finished off this morning. Only five jars, but an excellent taste and set. N says there will be another big marrow later in the season, but not yet. Fortunately I have plenty of crystallized ginger left over, carefully stored in a big jar. I have tried two excellent new recipes using produce arriving from the vegetable garden - some young leeks were used in a leek and macaroni gratin, and yesterday evening we had buttered turnips; diced and blanched then fried in butter and coated with lots of fresh herbs.
Yesterday I went to L’ Aigle market again, wondering if there might be a skirt with 30% off to go with my excellent new jacket. There wasn’t but I had quite an entertaining time looking in several clothes shops and not buying anything. It rained on and off just like last week and I only came back with cherries, strawberries and mushrooms, but enjoyed my morning out.
Over the last few days we have successfully uploaded all the pictures from my digital camera on to my computer, and have made attempts at sending them by e-mail. The camera then announced it needed new batteries, and not just any old batteries it seemed, but I managed to find the correct ones at the Quincaillerie in the village. Finally yesterday afternoon - after having waited what seemed like some time to get both a working camera and a sunny afternoon - I was able to take pictures of the furniture, pictures and china which had come from my mother’s house in their new positions here, in order to send those to the family too. The camera now says it needs new batteries again…..
Meteo France (the weather forecasters) still cannot decide on the weather forecasts; for the past two cold, windy weeks they have announced that things will brighten up and get warmer over the weekend, only to change their minds on Fridays and say perhaps they won’t after all. I said to N perhaps this was to raise the morale of the population; he said he thought it was to encourage the tourist industry. Anyway, they are now predicting sunshine and temperatures of 26 degrees even in the north of France for Saturday and Sunday; important as this is the big holiday weekend of the summer, Saturday is 14 July. We have been thinking of taking a little trip to Brittany this month, but the weather there has been even worse than in Normandy, so it keeps being put off. We are hoping for better things next week, although I find it difficult to believe anything the weather forecasters say!
# posted by Chez Katherine @ 6:16 AM 
