Nectarine jam

I haven’t made nectarine jam before, but last year a friend gave me a pot that she had made with some nectarines I had given her, and it was so delicious, I decided to make some this year.

It is such an easy recipe: 1 kg of nectarines, chopped into 1” chunks, 750g of sugar, and the juice of one lemon. I also added a vanilla pod, which I had opened up, to add a softness to the taste.

I let it cook a little longer than normal, as I wanted a thicker set to it. The deep orangey, red colour looks so delicious, I can’t wait to try some on a piece of fresh baguette.

2kg of nectarines made me about 8 jars of jam.

Black is black

We’ve recently given our seating area on the top floor a makeover. a few years ago Brian’s mum gave us her old Ikea chair and footstool. Our cat, Boo, loved sleeping on it, so it was now looking a little bit tired, and in need of a makeover.

Recently, his mum also gave us a black leather chair with footstool, so we thought ‘what a great time to update the Ikea chair with a new black cushion’.

We were enjoying the new look, which was quite different to the rest of the house, and gave us another really comfortable place to relax.

Then, for Brian’s birthday recently, he was gifted a gorgeous round table in the shape of a muselet. It also has a cork top to it, which we were keen to protect, so we ordered a piece of round glass on Amazon, which fits perfectly on the top.

We are loving the whole look.

Coffee time

Remember back to our trip to Paris, and our visit to the Bacha coffee house, well this morning we decided it’s time to enjoy a cup of the delicious coffee we had bought from there.

I’d bought some pastel de nata, custard tarts, which I thought would go down very well with the smoothness of the coffee we had chosen.

It was everything we had remembered of it, and made for a rather special and delicious coffee break.

Été Gourmande

We then headed to the summer gourmet festival in the centre of Les Riceys.

It was coming up to lunchtime so the rather pleasant seating area that had been set up under the shade of the trees was starting to fill up.

We had not planned to stay for lunch although the moules et frites was very tempting and smelt delicious. We resisted though and headed to look around the many food stalls that were displaying their wares from all over France.

The rose garlic looked especially good. It was firm to the touch and extremely tasty. The very friendly lady behind the stall offered me some hot garlic soup, so that I could taste the garlic, and which was rather delicious. I bought the larger of the garlic plaits, €20 for 10 bulbs. I was told to keep them in the fridge and they would last up to 6 months, I don’t think mine will last that long!

We then found the stall selling mainly smoked pork products, but also smoked duck. We managed to taste our way through all of their produce, which had been reared and smoked by the father.

We bought some of the filet mignon and saucisse, both will keep for a month in the fridge.

Make an offer

Le place de Mairie in Les Riceys is an excellent spot for a vide grenier. It’s a rather stately looking building, that stands over one of the pretty little tributaries of the river Laignes, that runs right through Les Riceys.

The vide grenier was at the back of the building, in the park. Nicely situated within the shade of the trees, perfect for our morning bargain hunt

We had a very good time, routing through the various stalls, chatting to the stall owners about the prices of different items, and, when we were interested, making them an offer.

We came away with some interesting little finds.

The basket I will just place in the garden somewhere—I know it will decay over time, but it will look nice whilst it does. The piece of leather is a project we now have to reupholster a small stool Mum and Dad once bought us. The flower painting I just liked, Brian will need to do some work on it, as the paint is a little cracked at the bottom, and we don’t want it to flake off. The little bust of Charles de Gaulle we thought was fun, and will be a point of interest on a shelf somewhere, just like the little perfume bottle, which will join the ones in the bathroom.

All in all, a fun little morning.

White out!

Due to the canicule (heatwave), which we are currently experiencing, we have noticed that some of our smaller roads have been coated with a white paint.

We first saw this on our trip to southern France, where we discovered the reason was to prevent the tarmac from melting, and we wondered how long it would be before our, more northern, district joined in. it took just two years.

Such a simple idea, but one that truly works.

Rising levels

We’d been anticipating rain all day. The clouds had been building, and were moving slowly across the sky.

We could hear the thunder, and see the lightning in the distance, hoping it would come and rain on us. The garden so needed the water.

Finally, the heavens opened, and the rain came. Steadily at first, but then heavy with importance, like it knew it had a job to do.

Brian went to check on the river. It was running fast, and although the level had risen, it was flowing easily, washing away weeks of dried debris.

It must have rained on and off for about an hour. Once the rain stopped, the river started to lower again, and the blue sky started to appear, giving the air a more tropical, humid feeling.

It became a beautiful evening, and as we made our way up to bed, opening some windows as we went to let the cooler night time air in, we admired the gorgeous colours of the setting sun, and evening sky.

The garden was looking just a little refreshed.

Lazy lunch

There’s nothing better than enjoying a lazy lunch with friends—tasty food and delicious wines.

I’d made a chilled courgette and mint soup, which was very refreshing. I served it simply, in some metal enamel cups with a fresh baguette.

I followed this with a simple summer salad of gem lettuce, Auvergne ham, burrata cheese, fresh sweet nectarines, and a make-it-yourself dressing of raspberry or balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and seasoning.

We’re in France, so we had to have cheese. I’d selected a Brie de Meaux and a Dolcelatte, something a little different for us.

For dessert, Brian served some affogato’s, vanilla icecream with hot coffee poured over.

A really pleasant afternoon.

Scorched earth

The heatwave in France has been hard for the green areas. While the vineyards are hanging in there, waiting for the respite, and necessity, of a mid-summer rainfall, our gardens are suffering from the drought. Today, though, the clouds have gathered, and are looking threatening.

We can only hope!

We’re jamming

I just love it when the fresh apricots arrive. My friend Dominique organises a van to bring boxes of freshly picked fruit up from the south of France, and they are always so fresh and juicy.

First we cut them in half, and made up a few bags to freeze, so that I have some to use in tarts and crumbles throughout the winter.

But I also like to make some apricot jam.

I prefer to keep the apricots in halves. I know many recipes will have you blitz them, but I like to see the fruit in the finished jam.

I didn’t cook the jam for as long this time, so it will be a bit softer on the set. Can’t wait to try it on some gorgeous French baguette and cold salty butter. Delicious.

Flea market

We headed to Semur-en-auxois this week, for their annual quatorze juillet marché des puces. It’s set under the shade of some beautiful old lime trees, which was really welcome in the 38° c heat.

We just love wandering from stall to stall, discovering new little treasures.

If you love giving old objects a new life, or searching for your own treasure, this is a fantastic flea market to visit.

Paella or poulet?

On Monday evening the village came together for a very convivial celebration of quatorze Juillet. This year though, due to the canicule, our Maire had decided not to light the fireworks, it was just too dangerous. And with reports of the forest in Fontainebleau on fire, with over 1000 hectares of woodland burning, it was most definitely the right decision.

For the village, it was more about how to stay cool in the heat. The team that had organised the event had set up a novel solution, with water sprays hanging from the trees.

The meal was a choice between roast chicken, mushroom sauce and potatoes, or paella. We’d chosen the chicken, which was very tasty. Cheese and dessert followed.

As a little bit of fun, during the proceedings, we were asked to guess the length of a piece of string wrapped around a bottle of Bordeaux. We didn’t stay for the unreeling, so not sure who won the bottle, but it was a great idea, and a superb evening.

Quatorze juillet

It’s the 14th of July, and here in France it’s an important celebration, marking the storming of the Bastille in 1789, and also the unity of the French people at the ‘Fête de la fédération’ on the same day in 1790. It’s most commonly known as Bastille day outside of France, but that name means nothing to the French, who call it simply ‘Quatorze Juillet’.

As it’s a big public holiday, for us, it’s a chance to relax and do nothing, except perhaps brush up on our history.

Welcome home

It was a warm drive home, although quite nice to be in the cool of the aircon in the car.

We pulled off the motorway, and drove the last 15 minutes of our journey across the recently harvested wheat fields, that were now looking very dry—spent of their crop. I smiled, ‘Oh look, the sunflowers are out.’

The fields of bright sunflowers were welcoming us home.

They always bring me joy, I will never tire of seeing them. I can’t help but have a huge smile on my face.

Pub lunch

What better way to spend a Sunday lunch than to visit a local pub? We went to the Dun Cow in Salthouse, in north Norfolk, and enjoyed freshly caught cod, fried in batter, with mushy peas, chunky twice cooked fries, and tartare sauce. Delicious.

The afternoon was spent strolling across the marshes spotting many different birds, I found five new ones for my Merlin life list. Sitting, chatting on the beach, watching the waves, it was so relaxing. I do so love spending time by the sea.

After a couple of nights with Jon & Caroline, and thir family, we headed back south to stay with friends, and meet up with Brian’s family.

We enjoyed some quiet time strolling around east London, going to some old haunts of their’s. We visited the Grapes Inn, one of the oldest pubs in London, Greenwich park, with its maritime museum, and just shared time together.

Meet Gordon

We recently made a short trip to the UK to see family and friends. Whilst staying with my brother, Jon, and Caroline, we were lucky enough to meet Gordon.

Gordon is named after a popular tipple of the family, and one that saved his little life. When Gordon was born, he was struggling to breath. They’d tried everything to keep him alive, but were struggling with what else they could do. Bee, my nephew’s fiancée, suggested they try giving him a little gin, to help him get started. She’d heard an ‘old wives tale’ to that effect. They were running out of time, so were keen to try anything. A little miracle happened, and Gordon started breathing properly. He was named after his saviour.

My brother asked if I wanted to feed Gordon, ‘Of course’ I replied, ‘how will I know which one he is?’ ‘Don’t worry he’ll find you’.

As I walked across to the paddock, where he was grazing with his mum, he saw me with the bottle, and came racing towards me, with mum Sarah chasing behind.

What a delightful little lamb. He’s actually getting a bit big for his bottle, but I was so glad I got to feed him.

Very special little character.

After he’d had his dinner, they all settled down for the evening.

Drip, drip, drip

With all this scorching hot weather, Brian suggested he set up a drip watering system for the garden.

I was rather impressed, as we only needed to buy two sets of pipe, which had all the drip holes ready positioned, and an adapter for the tap.

Between us, we laid the pipe out between the plants, ensuring the smaller delicate plants would all receive a watering.

We then decided to purchase a timer, so that it would automatically switch on at given times of the day.

Perfect addition to our garden.

Just plum roasted!

We’ve had a pretty severe canicule (heatwave) in the last two weeks, and it’s taken its toll on our impending plum harvest.

It had looked to be a good crop this year, but the lack of rain and the intense heat has dried most of them out…

…and many have already dropped.

We’ll have to see how the year ends.

Bees and butterflies

Our lavender is now in bloom, and looking stunning again against the white stone of the house. Despite the rather hot weather, we’re also seeing many other flowering plants come into bloom. That means there are plenty more bees and butterflies around the garden, in all shapes, forms, and colours.

I counted four different types of bees on one plant! Now that’s a good sign and simply gorgeous to see.

Chicks

Great excitement this morning, as we discovered the little black redstarts have come back to their nest from last year, and have four newly hatched chicks.

They are in our barn, near where we park the car, so we have to be very careful not to disturb them too much. Simply beautiful.