'Mater Matters

It took until the end of August and into September for the tomatoes to really start to ripen well this year. But ripen they finally did, I am here to report.

'maters and the purple beans. Grew these beans from seed my neighbor Ren saved. She didn't get many purple beans, but got the purple speckled "neighbor beans" from seed I saved. So we both had neighbor beans.

I was picking a basket this size about every four days for the three weeks before I left CA.

Real slicin' 'maters - big red "Mortgage Lifters", yellow "Purple Smudge" and little but tasty "Black Brandywine". The salsa was great for breakfast with local eggs, avocado and corn tortillas.

Fabulous just to look at in the afternoon kitchen light.

I ate as many as I could, gave some away (that double-sized "Big Yellow Oxheart" in the top picture went to my son and daughter in law in San Francisco, where the garden tomatoes didn't quite make it this year), and made several batches of baked tomato sauce. Couldn't be easier: olive oil the 9/12 glass dish, cut tomatoes in quarters, put in dish with several un-peeled cloves of garlic, bake at 350 for 1/2 hour and then leave in the warm oven overnight. Presto: tomato sauce to freeze. (I squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into the sauce after it is done and take out some of the tomato skins.)

They were still comin on pretty strong, so I had to pack these up in a big plastic container and bring them with me in my carry on when I flew over to France. I haven't found this variety of heirloom tomatoes in our fabulous Saturday market in Revel, at least thus far. Can't wait to buy eggs from the sweet farm wives, olives out of a big half barrel, walnut bread with levain nature and local goat cheese and yogurt au marché le matin.

More soon from Soreze.
Bises,
N2

Day 31: Bringing Spring Inside (Apportant au coeur de Printemps)

Today was market day in Revel. Part of the pleasure of going to the market, for me, is bringing home fresh flowers. They're so affordable and available, even here in our small market town of Revel.

When I lived in the center of Amsterdam a few years ago, in the Jordaan, I could buy flowers at the Noordermarket, the weekly bio market on Saturday, and, even on Sunday, choose from a wonderful seasonal variety of moderately priced flowers at the Bloemenmarkt.

Today I saw the first bunches of daffodils for sale here, probably come over by truck, train or plane from the Aalsmeer flower auction, near Schipol Airport, also in Holland.

Daffodils are an irresistible harbinger of Spring, for me and most people, I suspect. Just looking at them lifts my spirits. I picked up a bunch each of jonquilles and narcissus for the table.

On the opposite side of the market halle (the covered area of the market), the other big flower vendor had pots of forced Tête à Tête miniature daffodils for only 1.50€. I had to have two of those as well.

Back home, out at the well on the patio, I transferred the bulbs to a pedestal dish I have that fits on the ledge behind the sink.

Tomorrow I will walk the short circuit around the abbey grounds, along le Chemin du Tour du Parc, and pick up some moss to tuck over their roots. I love to watch the tiny daffodil flowers emerge over several weeks, the shape of the Lilliputian shadow they cast on the wall of the stairway that runs behind the ledge.

I got in the habit of bringing in flower bulbs while living in Germany and then Holland, both known for their long, dark winters, where bulbs are plentiful and cheap at this time of year. And, hey! What price sanity, I always say. Here's a good article online about forcing your own bulbs at home. You might be able to find paper whites on sale at this point, and they sprout the fastest.

At the web site I linked on forcing bulbs, they advise replacing some of the water in the bulb's container with whiskey, bourbon, vodka or even tequila! to slow the growth of the plants and keep them from falling over...Now that's kind of counter-intuitive...but they say it works. While you're at it, you could make yourself some "grog", which a local Dutch friend told me is just hot black tea, lemon, honey or sugar and a little whiskey. "Goes straight to your head." A light dose of that might be a good thing when you're havin another cold, gray Saturday.

Bisous,

N2

Day 19: Café Ambiance

Midday in the Cafe′ Au Rosier d'Autan on Saturday quickly got busy. It was windy outside and that brought people inside for an early lunch. Thought you might enjoy hearing the bustle and the mix of languages so I've loaded a little clip below. It's rough, as I don't have any editing facility on my computer. Yet. I'm thinking that might be a "nice to have" addition soon.

Les Hommes Gentil (my name for the gay couple who own this cafe′) were running more quickly than usual for a Saturday morning, taking care of the rush of customers.

But some of us were just content to relax and enjoy the ambiance.

A+

Bisous,

N2