Family day - Sunday

Yes, and I think its official around the world, all families gather together on a Sunday.  Oh yes, the memories of sunday's bring a lump to my throat and fill me with a longing.  In france Sunday is still considered a sacred day, a day for families, not working or shopping.  Everything shuts down on a Sunday and this day, by many, is treasured and so the people of France have not reacted kindly to Sarkosy's plans to relax trading laws and encourage more trading. What do you think, should France relax its trading laws on a Sunday? I think what so may brits didn't realize was the knock-on effect that sunday trading had on society as a whole. It replaced the one day we had for ourselves and family.

Living in France reminds me so much of what it use to be like years ago back home.

Sunday should be family and friend together.

Most ex-pats living in France would go out for Sunday lunch, unless they have family living here or they have friends over.  You would have an Aperitif, first of all.  l'entree (starters) might consist of Pate and cured ham, crevettes, stuffed mushrooms, Escargots, or smoked salmon. Le plat principal (Main meal) would be something like, different kinds of salad,  poisson (fish), fillet steak with chips, confit duck, coq au vin, lamp, and then le fromage  (a selection of cheese) desserts would be something like crepes,  chocolate pot, creme brûlée, or fruit tarte, followed by tea or coffee and a digestive such as cognac or armagnac. There would also be a pichet du vin, which is the house wine, and good enough with a meal and very reasonable.

So Bon appétit

and my thought for today
"The best of times are always found when family and friends gather round"

A day of Nostalgia

One of those days, we all get, of nostalgia.

After taking the dogs for their usual walk, and Bob decided again to go walkabout, we got home just in time for Saturday Kitchen. Love it, and of course when that was over I was inspired, as I usually am to cook. So into the kitchen I went and made my tomato sauce, fresh tomatoes straight from the garden mind you.  While that was on the go I made a batch of oat cookies, which my husband loves. Now the flour here in france is a bit different and takes a while to get use to. First of all the plain flour which is called farine,  is farine de ble, and is used for all general baking. Farine a gateaux is self raising flour and farine a pain is bread flour.  Leveur chimique is baking powder, and I would always at a 1/2 teaspoon into the farine a gateaux as it dosen't rise that well.  Anyway a lot of the time it is trial and error. Now I have to mention the baguette, the french baguette is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust. We always have a baguette on the table with our meal, and it is definitely needed for mopping up all that fresh tomato sauce. My husband can eat a whole baguette in one sitting, he loves it like no other bread.

It is also very necessary with cheese and a glass of wine of course.


Today is cloudy, but very warm, I think the humidity is quite high. So as usual we dined Al Fresco, and had our fresh tomato sauce and ravioli and a nice glass of Pinot noir and not forgetting the baguette.

While I was doing some cleaning today my husband was outside doing a bit of painting in the front porch, just a little touch-up to freshen things. So I decided to put some music on while I was cleaning, as you do. Ok you have probably been wondering where the title fits into all this, well it has all to do with Bob Dylan.
I love Bob Dylan, and when I listen to his music I get very nostalgic. Songs like 'Blowin in the wind', and 'Like a rolling stone', bring back such memories to me, that if I closed my eyes for five minuets I would be transported back to the 60's. So of course one thing laid to another and my mind was travelling back through time. Maybe I should have called the blog 'Bob Dylan'.

I would have be 14 years old

So quite a lovely day, and now for a snooze.

my quote for the day

"To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward"

Souvenirs heureux  (happy memories)