It’s 5.45!

It was a beautiful end to a delightful afternoon spent with Dominique from ‘Ferme des bles d’or’.

I had made contact with her following our trip to the farm the other Sunday for ‘Dimanche à campagne’ and she had invited me over for some tea and biscuits. When I arrived she was finishing preparing a large order of oils for a local shop, I was soon helping and sticking on labels. She had already prepared the biscuit mixture but not added the flavourings. She chose her favourite ones of pecan, cranberries and crystallised orange peel. She simply chopped them up and needed them into a quarter of the biscuit dough. We chatted fondly whilst she cut them out, and baked them in the oven. Whilst they were baking she used some more of the biscuit dough to make a base for a rhubarb tart. I imagine that would be delicious with home grown rhubarb.

Soon we were sitting outside, under her pergola, which was covered in ivy for shade. It gave a subtle dappled light across the table. Dominique had also made a fresh lemon and mint drink, which was a refreshing alternative to my hot black tea. I will definitely make this at home, as we have lots of fresh mint in the garden and always have lemons.

Whilst we sat drinking, and nibbling on the now warm biscuits, Dominique showed me the bread dough she was also preparing for her picnic the following day. She makes all their bread, so kept some of the ‘starter’ back for the next batch. This is refreshed with additional flour and water to kick start the fermentation all over again. But for now she showed me how she brought the bread dough together to get a beautiful rise, and excellent crust, just as we had tried at the open day the previous week.

The time flew by, and we were both surprised when we looked at our clocks. “Gosh, it’s 5.45, I better go and let you do your shopping” I exclaimed. It was such a wonderful relaxed afternoon, spending time chatting, sharing secrets and cooking tips and getting to know each other.