Woke up this morning to the rarest of sights, the village of Thezan and Valleé d’Orb all white with snow- magic.

Little wet snowflakes falling on the terrace, but, some have the temerity to start sticking ! Do they not realise where they are?

Today is January 6th and we have some French people coming for coffee this morning so I HAD to produce a Galette des Rois. They were sold out in both the baker and the supermarket yesterday by the time I got there so I had to make one myself.
Here is the rough recipe.
You need two circles of Puff Pastry about 12″ in diameter. Bake one blind until dry brown and crisp. Into a magimix throw 200g chunks of butter, 200g Caster Sugar, 3 eggs and 200 g Ground almonds and whizz.Paint the edges of the bottom sheet then spread the almond mix in the centre. Put down the second sheet. Fork all the way around. Score the top and then paint that with egg. Cook at 180 C for about 45 mts.
You should put in one or two beans in the mix if you want to be traditional. Voila!

Read all about the Chronicle of The Abduction of Georges Herrison next door in daughter caitriona.net ‘s blog. (this picture is snitched from that.)

The purpose of this entry is to answer Jill’s query.
I am glad to report that before he left yesterday Phil-the-outlaw went and investigated Monsieurs boudoir.
He came back to us with the glad tidings that Georges is

a) alive
and
b) male

So far so good.

Many thanks to Daughter D for framing and to Jedrzej for the picture.

Just made Dukka for the first time yesterday, found it in HFW’s Three Good Things given me by daughter Eileen.
Wonderful Nutty, crunchy spicy dip thingy. He gives it as a dip for Asparagus (you dip first in Greek Yoghurt then into the Dukka) but it would work well now with broccoli or celery :

100g Blanched Whole Almonds
1 Tablespoon Cumin Seeds
1 Tablespoon Coriander Seeds
3 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds
1 Tablespoon Sunflower Seeds
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic grated
1/2 teaspoon Chilli Flakes
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt Flakes

On a dry pan and on a medium heat cook all the almonds seeds and spices until they go toasty brown (watch like a hawk and keep tossing them) tip these into a mortar.Fry the grated garlic and the chilli together in the oil for a minute and then tip these and the salt into the mortar. Bash with a pestle but keep it chunky. Very good.

I watched this movie again last night and enjoyed it quite as much as I have the last two or three times I have seen it- in fact I think it rather gains in the reviewing.
Lastnight I was particularly struck by the beautiful interiors of the nineteenth century Danish houses against which the scenes were played.
There is not a cloying moment in this movie and even though now it must be close to 20 years old it dates not.
In a strange way it is a very French movie because the French heroine imposes a wonderful French sensibility on the puritan Danish village and changes them all.

Babette, as any french housewife, is shown haggling and being extremely parsimonious with her shopping showing that she was able to save her employers money as she also improved the quality of their table (and that of the unfortunate poor they supported).
But then , for a treat, she was able to manage a superb blow out, spending a lifetimes money on one meal.

On Christmas eve, in our locan Super U I watched otherwise canny French housewives queue to buy Black Truffles which they traditionally insert under the skin of their turkey.They were selling them at €190 for 100g, that is nearly €2000 a kilo.

Okay- we all know the first verse and the chorus but Robbie Burns wrote a full poem in 1788.

(And all dedicated Scrabble players will know of another reason why we should be grateful to Mr. Burns for this poem.)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !
and surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pu’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn,
frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
and gie’s a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And here, peddled off the internet, is a translation:

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS

It started well in Ireland with a wonderful tour through my extended family of brother and sisters , brothers and sisters in law, nephews and nieces both in law and out and meeting an amazing selection of great nieces and nephews all full of talent and confidence.
Then back to France where I knuckled down and finished the first draft of An Irish Chef in Languedoc and then, wonder of all wonders, this was accepted for publication and after much further revision should hit the world in 2014.
In March the rather more serious Crise de Coeur occurred but this was made a pleasure by the wonders of the French Medical system. (And I got to write all about it in the Irish times- I was always a slapper for publicity)
And then Gites de France arrived, and we had our inspection and were awarded our plaque and got a little piece in the Midi-Libre.
The summer passed in a bit of a haze of visitors from all over the world ; old friends, new friends, Irish , French, Germans, English, Dutch, Swedish, American, Australian but probably the most interesting visitor moment was when the Irish TV team from Nationwide arrived out to do a piece on us to be broadcast in March 2013.
We had our own holidays too, a trip to Torremolinos to see Sister D and Milo and old friend Michael in February, another trip, this time to Girona with Paul and Isabel and a week in Bayonne in September with Sile’s sister Una and Martin. And also of course numerous trips back to Ireland to get a go off the family.
Highlight of the year was family again, the three daughters, two grandsons and son-in-law here for Christmas- our very first in France and then we were joined by Ano and Phil, the out-laws, and our family was complete.
My wish for 2013 is that it bring us nothing worse than 2012.

This was my Christmas present this year.
A stunning photograph by my friend Jedrzej Niezgoda, who has a photo blog called Veni Vidi which is linked to my site. He takes the most beautiful photographs and this is the first one I have purchased (so far). While we were working out how he would send the print to me- which arrived in perfect condition by post- his name for the picture; The Seagull, somehow lost its initial S and so, as this became a play on words, we continued to refer to it as such.
Daughter D, an ace framer, is with us at the moment and while she is here I plan to get her to frame it. I have a spot in the living room which will be perfect. Then I plan to photo the picture in situ to show Jedrzej (whom I have never met) that : The Eagull has Landed