Tasty day

These are the treats that we bought yesterday at ‘Dimanche à la campagne’, or Sunday in the country. It’s a festival to celebrate all the beautiful local produce in our region.

It was a much bigger event this year, with 50 farms and producers opening their doors to the public. For me, part of the fun is selecting which ones we will get to visit.

Our first visit was in the little village of Fourcheres. There is a small microbrewery there, with an épicerie next to it. They had invited lots of other small local producers to have stalls in one of their barns. It was such a fun atmosphere to get the day started, with local musicians and a balloon magician for the kids.

For lunch we headed to La ferme des blé d’or, which is owned by my friend Dominique and her husband Olivier, who mills his own wheat and presses his own oils.

They were all set up for making lunch of fresh pizzas in a wood fired oven. There was a huge queue, as the food looked wonderful. Mine was vegetarian, with homemade lentil Hummus and roasted vegetables. Brian had crème fraiche, bacon and onions. They were both delicious. Then we had a little tray of desserts.

It had been quite a cold day, but it was wonderful to see a very well attended event all across the region. Everyone is so enthusiastic and proud of their work, the cold weather really did not seem to matter.

It’s a great way for us to discover and sample local produce that we can offer to our guests, and I’ve got lots of ideas for some tasty, new dishes.