Hodge Podge Casserole

By definition a casserole is a compilation of ingredients cooked slowly to develop the flavours fully. Then there's the other type of casserole known as leftovers plus everything including the kitchensink. We're very conscious of not wasting food and will generally eat leftovers the next day. By the third day however the dogs get lucky. We often make a big batch of Bolognese sauce and freeze portions which can then be transformed into cottage pie, lasagna etc. Last night we used the remains of the day before's cottage pie to make another concoction of sorts with the addition of parsnips, chick peas (of all things) and even leeks. Served the lot with a creamy spinach side dish. Not exactly haute cuisine but we're still alive! Waste not, want not.

Photo copyright SvD.

The Golden Goose

Today at the local village market, I ordered my Christmas goose. What a delight to choose between a white fat bird, another variety which is more elongated like a duck or the smaller Guinea variety which is dark feathered and comes in at around 3.5 kilos. I asked about the fat content as goose fat is positively the best for chips and was assured that the fat will be plentiful. So delivery on 23 December just after dawn in the village square. Only in France does one wax lyrical for several minutes about food. And the same supplier sold me a half dozen eggs laid this morning. The chickens didn't lay last week as it has been cold and wet plus they're losing their feathers which means they're generally moody. This week however a few rays of sunshine have worked wonders. Of interest is the fact that with the change of clocks, the birds are losing three minutes every day which is wreaking havoc on their biological clocks. Imagine what is does to us!

I am not a goose. Photo copyright SvD.

One of the strangest things I've seen....

...a 'pigeonnier', or pigeon coop, handcarved out of stone in the attic of a house once belonging to a former President of France. I am told that birds always come home to roost (when I stupidly asked if they did). Humans therefore differ from their feathered friends as many a man and woman don't sleep in the same bed every night...

Photo copyright SvD.

Is there anything more evocative?

Photo copyright SvD.

Preparing for Winter...

...wood is cheap in France due to the plentiful forests. Our trusty wood burner keeps us warm and repels the mice who have all migrated to the neighbour next door (he caught 30 in one week!).

Photo copyright SvD.

La Toussaint

La Toussaint is celebrated on 1st November in France. Across the land, families gather at the graves of their dearly departed and place chrysanthemums, symbol of death. Known as 'flowering of the tombs', generations of families unite in order to remember the dead. France remains a devoutly Catholic country and maintains its traditions which to me, orphan and without siblings, is wonderful to observe. The Catholic faith is also civilising: families abandon their differences for an annual pilgrimage where it is not about them but those who have died.

I went to mass last Sunday and as much as I groaned at the priest's extra long homily, the message of loving one another as Christ loved us was not lost on me.

I don't have family tombs to place flowers upon. Just memories of a far away place, a time so long ago.

Photos copyright SvD.