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About 'My' France

Welcome to French Food Focus. The name describes the intent of this blog. I'll focus on food and because I live in rural France the stress will be upon French food. Not that I will limit myself to food only. There are numerous posts concerning life in France, comments on life in general and, certainly, opinions about anything that strikes my fancy.
I welcome your comments and promise to publish all of them good & bad so long as they're not offensive, pornographic or rude.   If you have some good recipes you'd like to share or if you want to rave about any great French restaurants this  is the place to do it. I hope you enjoy my ramblings about rural France! 
 

Comments to: yankinparisot@gmail.com
 

 July 2010

Done & Dusted - then Missed it!

Well, the house sale is all done. It only took about an hour & a half  to read all of the French legalese. All went well although because our Notaire was going on vacation we won't actually get out money until a week from now. A little lost interest, but 'c'est la vie' as they say. In any case we shook hands and everyone is happy.
We immediately met with our friends whose house we are buying. Same Notaire, same office which was convenient. It took less time this time as we know one another. Only about 45 minutes. We managed to get the completion date moved up a week so we can move in on September 25th. All being well we repaired to the local cafe with our friends, the sellers, and had a celebratory glass of beer as it was a hot day.
It was a relief to have everything done and dusted. We now have a nice period where we are essentially on holiday. Whoopee!! We have our friend Joyce coming for a week in early September which will be fun. After her visit we may go off to England for a week or so; we haven't fully decided as of yet. We're just not used to having this leisure with nothing to

The day after the closing we went to down to our old house to show the new owners how things worked. They offered us a lovely glass of champagne & some nibbles. Rupert played with his new toy that their sons had bought for him. He & the boys were in heaven playing. After a while we went up to the swimming pool where I was going to show how to change filter bags and vacuum the pool. No sooner had we started than the heavens opened up. It was a real downpour. We had to abandon pool maintenance lessons. I'm going down as soon as I finish this to resume the instructions.

Ah! The missed it part. We went to a lunch restaurant in Cassaude in Monday which is market day there. The 13€ menu included a selection for casoulette! We were dying to try it, but we were too late they'd sold the last portions. We saw some being served & they looked very good indeed. Who ever heard of casoulette for 13€ including a starter (Linda has a salad & I had home made duck terrine), 1/4 liter of wine each, cheese & dessert. Anyway Linda had a very nice pork chop & I had andoulette sausage.  Both were very good. We had a nice fresh peach salad for dessert and Linda had coffee. A very pleasant lunch indeed, but we'll go back for the casoulette for sure.

Anyway, our big project for the next few days is car hunting. We need a new one, but are having a hard time agreeing upon which car to have.

Found it!

Yep, we've found a house to buy. Took a lot of looking, but we're happy now.

The new house is completely different. Its modern and in great condition. Three bedrooms, 21/2 baths, heating/ air conditioning, a modern kitchen and a separate double garage. Linda's delighted because we have a swimming pool; I'm not so happy as I get to maintain the thing; The garden is good size (over 1/2 acre I'd estimate) and we have nice country views to the hills across the valley.

We paid a bit more than we'd planned on, but our friends who sold us the house had brought the price down because they didn't have to pay Real Estate agents' fees then we were able to meet half way. We're both happy. A good deal all-round.

We'll close on the purchase about the end of September. As you know from previous posts it takes time to buy a house in France plus in this case the August vacation period gets in our way. We complete on our house this coming Saturday and sign the 'comprimise' later that afternoon.

Being homeless to 6 weeks we'll be imposing upon friends. One set are giving us the use of their newly renovated studio; then another set of friends the use of their summer house here in Parisot. PLus, we may just take a vacation to England to visit friends & family.

So, we're happy campers. Its nice to have everything settled and to know where we're going. The whole thing has worked out very well for us.

A note: There may be some mix-up on recent posts. I did a couple on my new computer using a new software package, but now I'm back to Linda's laptop with the older software. I'll get everything sorted out eventually.

Also, I promise to get back to food once we're settled in. The new house has an induction hob. Learning to cook on the should be fun even though I think I'll have to give up my 20 year old copper clad pots & pans. .

Now Looking

Well, the dreaded contract is finally signed. All 19 pages of it in dense French. Thank goodness for Google Translate, it really helped a lot. Its not perfect, but is far better than any other translation program I've ever used. We're out of here on August 14th at 3:00PM. Final deeds signed & money handed over!

Thus the search is really on now. We're burning up the Internet and driving the Agents nuts. So far we've physically looked at about ten houses. Only two are even close to what we want. Our current favorite is pretty nice, a large, nice garden, stone walled vegetable patch, huge underground water cistern. The house has 3 really large bedrooms including one with a gallery, a huge living/ding room, a smallish kitchen, two bathrooms and a nice 2 car garage & workshop. We wouldn't have to do too much to it to make it the way we'd like. Our second favorite has bags of space and a great garden, but its a bit awkwardly arranged.

On Monday we're off to a different area (South from where we are) High hopes. I'm particularly interested in a place that is partially renovated. Think they ran out of money. The price is low & we could finish it off the way we'd like. We'll just have to see.

Luckily  we have good friends who are giving us a place to rent while while we look.

Should be a real adventure.

By the way this is my first post using Lind's new lap top. Don't like it much, but it'll do until I get my new preoper machine.

 Walnut wine from an old Friend                                                                                                                                                                                             Here is a recipe from a friend who is a formidable lover of France & things French. This 'Vin de Noix' is very popular in our part of France where many many walnuts are grown. Deborah has been kind enough to share her recipe. Try it!                                                                                                                                                                                                Hi David,

I have just made this years supply of this and thought you might like to post the recipe on your web site. It makes a lovely after dinner drink, served over crushed ice.

GREEN WALNUT LIQUEUR

Makes about 1.5 litres

fresh undamaged green walnuts to half fill a 2-litre jar

about 1.5 litres alcohol for bottling fruits, or vodka

about 1 kg sugar

You will need a wide-necked 2-litre jar, which will get stained by the walnut juice


Wash and pick over the walnuts, which should be green but firm. Bash each one once with a hammer so it releases its juices and put in the jar ( this makes a lot of mess and the juice staina terribly, I put them in a plastic bag before bashing them, so I don't get the mess). Half fill the jar with walnuts, then fill the jar to the top with the alcohol. Shake well and leave for three months.

Strain the green-brown liquid into a bowl or jug and discard the walnuts. Filter again through wet muslin (or a fresh j cloth). Stir in 6oogm sugar per litre of liquid, dissolve. bottle and label. Store in a cool dark place for at least six months, but it continues to improve indefinitely.

The French tradition is to pick the walnuts on the feast of St Jean, which we have missed. You can get raw alcohol in French supermarkets and wine shops, we can't get it here so I use Vodka.
I have made 3 liters as it makes a lovely gift for friends. I always give some to the farmer next door as the walnut trees are on his land.


Take care,

Deborah Laing    

  Progress?  

 Well sort of. We've certainly looked at a lot of houses over the last few days. Its a slow process in France.

There's no such thing as a multiple listing service as there is in the states so you have to go agent by agent. Then once you've decided which properties you would like to look at the agent has to accompany you, no such thing as a drive by, All this takes time & effort, but that's the way they do thing here for better or worse.

So far, limiting ourselves to within 30 minutes or less from where we live now we have short list of two that we kind of agree on. There's another that Lind like & I don't that doesn't quite make the list. It has gorgeous views & a swimming pool, but I think it a mess inside. It does have a separate 'gite' right next door, but that's exactly what we're trying to get rid of. Anyway, it didn't make the cut.

One of the two on the short list is small, but in absolutely tip top condition, large lot, nice views, good sized rooms, just not quite enough of them. We'd have to add on but could afford to as the price is good. The other problem is that its up high so the drive down to Villefranche is short, but twisty & its probably just over 30 minutes from our friends in Parisot. We need to take a second look.

The other short list is closer, about 12-15 minutes from Parisot & is in a small 'hanau'. Its really out in the country. Rooms are pretty good as is the garden, its heavily treed. Needs quite a bit of updating, but no new rooms. I'm not so sure, but Linda loves it.

We'll go back to both with our builder friend Jacques & see.

No decisions as of yet.

It was nice to be home & have a simple dinner tonight. Salmon on the BBQ, baby potatoes with butter & chives, Corn on the cob & broccoli.   Nice & simple. Last night we had a really nice oriental type meal in St Antonin. Spring rolls & spare ribs to start. Then fried squid in garlic & ginger for me & a chicken curry for Linda. Very nicely done & very enjoyable. We'll go back there.

Great Lunch !!!

Yesterday some friends & I made our annual Tour De France pilgrimage. We try to do this every year. Since the route the TDF takes changes every year we never quite know from year to year where it will be closest to where we live. This is nice because most years we get to spend some time in a place we don't know very well.

Our goal each year is to accomplish three things; see the start of a stage of The Tour de France, Buy a TDF base ball cap (the design changes every year) and to have a good lunch. A sort of informal goal is to explore the town we're in.

Past years have taken us to Albi, Cahors, Cap Decouvert, Figeac, Lisle sur Tarn and other places. Always interesting, always large crowds (did you know that more people watch the Tour De France live than any other sporting event?). Parking is always a challenge, but we usually luck out, get close & don't get towed. The organization that goes into staging the tour is awesome! Who ever said the French aren't organized?

This year our closest place was in Rodez which is about an hour away from Parisot. Its a classic hilltop town dating way way back. The outskirts are pretty ugly, lots of modern shopping places, but the center of town , especially the medieval part is very beautiful. As always the Tour organizers find a large area for staging,, in this case a large park. All around that there are sponsors stands. This is where I buy my hat each year, I make sure its an 'official. hat. This year's is a nice dark blue with Tour De France in white embroidery and a smll French flag. I'm pleased with it.

Well before the race itself the 'caravan' drives along the route dispensing goodies, mainly product samples from the sponsors; lots of pretty girls on the floats of course. Its great fun with lots of noise, the children go ape. After this we pick a good vantage point and wait for the start. It is always spot on time. Before & after the riders you get all the support teams with roof racks full of expensive bikes, Lots of motorcycle riders with cameramen riding pillion. Finally, you get the actual contestants, about 160 of them. This part around the town isn't really a race, its more ceremonial, they actually start racing as they leave the town. We like watching this way because you get all the buzz, ceremony, excitement AND lunch!

Its my job each year to choose the restaurant. This year I found a place caller "Gout et Couleurs".  It got good write ups, modern French cuisine. Like so many good French restaurants it was tucked away on a back street near the center of town. Not much to look at or see from the outside, my friends were somewhat skeptical, but we went in & made a lunch reservation anyway. Once inside the decor was very nice, well spaced and set up tables plus there was a very nice patio in the back. So, once the race had started we made our way back to the restaurant.

The main menu was 35€ for four courses. We started with a little soup 'amuse' which was a cold vegetable soup with a tomato jus topping. Delicious & refreshing. For my starter I had a smoked mackerel dish. The mackerel had a light foam over it and a Courgette 'jelly' under. There was also an inverted 'ice cream cone' filled with a delicate horseradish sauce. Yummy. The other starter on offer was a fois gras dish which looked great and according to my two friends who had it tasted great.
The main course which we all had was pork done three ways. There were little medallions, very tender & nice, a pork 'rillette' and a pork couene (pork skin) all this with a great sauce, grilled baby carrots with cinnamon. There was great chocolate dessert, 4 ways with different sauces. I had a strawberry 'soup' with ginger ice cream; fantastic!! They served a little cup of chocolate mousse with the coffee. All in all a great meal.
We had a petit Chablis for our white wine and a very nice Madiran  for our red. Neither was expensive, but both were good. The wine list was very extensive and fairly priced.

A nice day out, we'll try to keep up the tradition next year.