I love having friends round for a meal - I love cooking, I love eating and I love seeing other people enjoy things I have made.
Our good friends Maggie and Alan came round on Friday for a joint celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary and their 30th anniversary. They were staying the night as well, which meant that Alan could have a drink and relax.
We had asked them to come at around 5pm so that we could have to start with. I had made some parmesan spiral and we had bought some anchovies in a provencal sauce, some wasabi coated peanuts and some rice crackers.
I made a prawn cocktail to start, which seemed to go down well. For the main course I stuffed chicken breasts with Boursin cheese, coated them in breadcrumbs and baked them in the oven. These were served with loads of roasted vegetables - red and yellow peppers, squash, onions, garlic and courgette, roast potatoes and garlic green beans. Dessert was a strawberry fool, with home made lavender shortbread and a chocolate dipped strawberry. We had bread and cheese later in the evening when we had room in our tummies!!
Mags and I drank champagne and Ian and Alan started with beer then went onto red wine.
As usual we put the world to rights during the evening, and had a brilliant time. It is funny how chance meetings can turn into great friendships. Maggie had phoned a couple of years ago after seeing my hairdressing advert in a magazine. We clicked immediately and kept in touch almost daily by email when they went back to the UK at the end of the summer. Now they live out here permanently and we are still in touch almost every day. We are so lucky to know them.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Separation anxiety
Well, we managed to leave Misty for a few hours yesterday and go to Maggie and Alans for the evening. She had sat on the bed with us all morning and had loads of cuddles and attention. We left the house at 3pm and she was asleep in her house when we left.
We had a brilliant time with our friends and had one of the nicest meals we've had in ages. We sat in their lovely garden putting the world to rights and drinking champagne and and then rose wine (only one glass for me as I was driving), eating toasted pitta bread and delicious dips. We went back into the house for the main meal which was gorgeous. Maggie had slow roasted a leg of lamb with rosemary and even though I do't eat meat, it smelt great. I had a filet of salmon cooked in lime juice, soy sauce and coriander - it was amazing, so simple but so tasty. We also had new potatoes, chard, garden carrots and green beans with lemon butter over them. Everything tasted incredible. It was all cooked to perfection, and even though we were all full, we just had to sit at pick at it all afterwards! Dessert was a cherry clafoutis, where the cherries had been soaked in cognac. Again, just gorgeous. Do you get the picture that the meal was wonderful?! Thank you for a fantastic time Maggie and Alan.
We had gone to some other friends Lyn and Fred earlier in the week for a meal. They have just moved into a house that they had built. After 18months of living in a caravan they are enjoying cooking in a real kitchen. We had the starter which was deep fried camembert, it was lovely and crispy on the outside and soft and molten inside. Lyn went back into the kitchen to do something to the main course, when she announced that the gas bottle had run out and did they have a spare. Living in the countryside there is no mains gas supply. France is a large and very rural country and I guess they don't want the expense of laying lots of pipelines. So for those of us that cook with gas we buy 25kg bottles of gas that are generally stored in the cupboard next to or underneath the oven or hob. We have an electric oven but a gas hob. We find that a bottle of gas lasts us 9 months and costs around 25 euros. Anyway, Lyn and Fred didn't have a spare bottle, so one of the other guests had a spare bottle and went to get it. Brings a new meaning to 'bring a bottle'.
Misty is doing well today. She had a long lie in with me and lots of cuddles. She doesn't seem to be in pain but she is a bit constipated. She was really struggling to 'go' all last night and has had some more laxative this morning. I'll keep you all updated.
We had a brilliant time with our friends and had one of the nicest meals we've had in ages. We sat in their lovely garden putting the world to rights and drinking champagne and and then rose wine (only one glass for me as I was driving), eating toasted pitta bread and delicious dips. We went back into the house for the main meal which was gorgeous. Maggie had slow roasted a leg of lamb with rosemary and even though I do't eat meat, it smelt great. I had a filet of salmon cooked in lime juice, soy sauce and coriander - it was amazing, so simple but so tasty. We also had new potatoes, chard, garden carrots and green beans with lemon butter over them. Everything tasted incredible. It was all cooked to perfection, and even though we were all full, we just had to sit at pick at it all afterwards! Dessert was a cherry clafoutis, where the cherries had been soaked in cognac. Again, just gorgeous. Do you get the picture that the meal was wonderful?! Thank you for a fantastic time Maggie and Alan.
We had gone to some other friends Lyn and Fred earlier in the week for a meal. They have just moved into a house that they had built. After 18months of living in a caravan they are enjoying cooking in a real kitchen. We had the starter which was deep fried camembert, it was lovely and crispy on the outside and soft and molten inside. Lyn went back into the kitchen to do something to the main course, when she announced that the gas bottle had run out and did they have a spare. Living in the countryside there is no mains gas supply. France is a large and very rural country and I guess they don't want the expense of laying lots of pipelines. So for those of us that cook with gas we buy 25kg bottles of gas that are generally stored in the cupboard next to or underneath the oven or hob. We have an electric oven but a gas hob. We find that a bottle of gas lasts us 9 months and costs around 25 euros. Anyway, Lyn and Fred didn't have a spare bottle, so one of the other guests had a spare bottle and went to get it. Brings a new meaning to 'bring a bottle'.
Misty is doing well today. She had a long lie in with me and lots of cuddles. She doesn't seem to be in pain but she is a bit constipated. She was really struggling to 'go' all last night and has had some more laxative this morning. I'll keep you all updated.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
More food!
Our Sunday lunch with friends last week was divine. They did a starter where you unwrap a Camembert cheese and put it in an ovenproof dish, crush a clove of garlic and rub it over the cheese, then pour honey over the cheese and put it in a pre-heated oven for 15 mins. OMG! It is delicious. You scoop it up with a spoon and smear it on lovelt fresh bread. They said that they often serve it as a combined cheese and dessert course, it would be great with some fresh fruit with it as well. Try it! Main course was a lovely Thai curry and rice and dessert was a chocolate fondant. We had a great afternoon putting the world to rights.
This week has been a bit 'off' due to me picking up a tummy bug from somewhere, we call it a 'gastro' in France. It couldn't have been the food at the weekend (other than it all being very rich) as nobody else has been ill. I spent all day Monday in bed, apart from the times I was rushing to the loo. Misty slept with me all day, which as you can imagine I loved! At least I have stopped being sick now, and just feel very tired. Mind you, it has made a good start to my new year diet, and I don't feel able to eat all those things I love - cheese, cheese and cheese!
Thank you all for your lovely birthday wishes, OH made sure I had a super time.
This week has been a bit 'off' due to me picking up a tummy bug from somewhere, we call it a 'gastro' in France. It couldn't have been the food at the weekend (other than it all being very rich) as nobody else has been ill. I spent all day Monday in bed, apart from the times I was rushing to the loo. Misty slept with me all day, which as you can imagine I loved! At least I have stopped being sick now, and just feel very tired. Mind you, it has made a good start to my new year diet, and I don't feel able to eat all those things I love - cheese, cheese and cheese!
Thank you all for your lovely birthday wishes, OH made sure I had a super time.
Sunday, 18 January 2009
End of the birthday week
This is the lovely hot water bottle that Ian gave me for my birthday. I have used it every evening and one afternoon when I was a bit chilly. Hot water bottle are not just for bedtime you know! I have had a lovely birthday week, my diet has gone completely out of the window, but it has been great.
We went for a lovely meal in our favourite restaurant last night. It is the L'Oie et le Grill in Rancon. We had wonderful food and a good laugh with the owners Veronique and Frances. I wish I could tell you what we had to eat but it is quite hard to describe it. Ok, let's give it a go; My starter was pain perdu with a seafood salad on it, there were cubes of a delicious cheese around the edge of the plate and a really tasty dressing. Ian's starter was a chickpea soup with crispy lardons and croutons. My starter was a crab canelloni with a balsamic sauce, Ians was duck with chestnut and potato mash and a very rich gravy. Desserts were a shortcakey biscuit with peaches and caramel sauce and a chestnut clafoutis with the same caramel sauce. It was all fantastic, but are only criticism of this restaurant is that the portions could be a little bit smaller. Franck, the chef has a wonderful imagination to create all this dishes using seasonal products time after time. We are so lucky that we have a restaurant like this 20 mins away.
We are going out to lunch today at a friends house, they are doing Thai red curry - I can't wait.
These are present that I got from my sister-in-law Tania; some crocus bulbs with little bulbs glasses to grow them in and some sugar swizzle sticks, one mocha flavoured the other hazlenut flavoured. She also sent a lovely looking box of chocolates which I have hidden!My friend Maggie was supposed to be moving out here last weekend has unfortunately been delayed. However, her and her husband Al should be out here this coming week. I can't wait, we have got so many things planned. She wants to join the book and the knitting group and get meeting people. They have had a holiday home here for a few years now and have been spending more and more time over here. They have a gorgeous house here and are great fun to be with. Hurry up Mags!!!!!
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Addictions
On Soft in the Head's blog, she wrote about things she was addicted to and said that she would be interested in hearing about what others are addicted to. Well, here goes:
1. Misty. It may seem strange that I am addicted to my kitten, but she is so adorable and having rescued her when she was so ill and so tiny, I absolutely adore her. I love the fact that she sleeps next to me at night and that I can cuddle her like a baby while watching tv in front of a log fire; mind you, it sends us both to sleep. I love the fact that when we have been out all day she runs up to us with her tail arched over her back quivering in excitement at seeing us. I can't imagine being without her.
2. Cheese. Living in France it is very easy to be addicted to cheese. The cheese stalls at the markets and the cheese counters in the supermarkets look so wonderful it is easy to get carried away. I love goats cheese most of all. I don't mind whether it is chalky in texture or creamy, hot or cold, it is divine. Last time my friend Maggie was over here, we went shopping and I bought a goats cheese covered in snipped chives. I had a little taste when I got home, and within five minutes the whole thing had vanished!! The other most favourite of cheeses is good old mature Cheddar. When you want cheese on toast or cheese topping on something else nothing can beat Cheddar.
3. Bread and Potatoes. Is my Irish ancestry showing here? How can people give these up? A hot, floury jacket potato with butter and grated cheese, divine. Crispy roast potatoes or spicy potato wedges both with garlic mayo, help! I am making myself hungry!
4. Making things. I have recently learned to crochet and have also taken up knitting again after many years. I am really enjoying both of them. I now look for wool whenever I go shopping, but before I buy too much, I need to find some patterns. My friend Maggie who is moving to France this coming weekend has got some material for me to make a new dressing gown with. I can't wait to start it. I have got a super sewing machine that OH gave me for christmas a few years ago, and have got my mums super all singing, all dancing machine that I have yet to try out. I keep threatening to crochet him some underpants, but he is not too keen!
5. Eating and cooking. I love food. I love good home cooked food, not out of a tin stuff or ready meals. I love people coming round for a meal. I love to spend time planning it, preparing it and eating it!!! My favourite foods are Mexican and Indian. I love making several different dishes that you can help yourself to. One of my food addictions at the moment is kiwi fruit. Last new year I made a resolution to eat some fruit every day. I chose kiwi fruit as they have more vitamin C than oranges and are easy to eat. I have 2 every day with my breakfast and it has become part of my daily routing. So much so, that if I don't have fruit in the morning I don't feel right.
1. Misty. It may seem strange that I am addicted to my kitten, but she is so adorable and having rescued her when she was so ill and so tiny, I absolutely adore her. I love the fact that she sleeps next to me at night and that I can cuddle her like a baby while watching tv in front of a log fire; mind you, it sends us both to sleep. I love the fact that when we have been out all day she runs up to us with her tail arched over her back quivering in excitement at seeing us. I can't imagine being without her.
2. Cheese. Living in France it is very easy to be addicted to cheese. The cheese stalls at the markets and the cheese counters in the supermarkets look so wonderful it is easy to get carried away. I love goats cheese most of all. I don't mind whether it is chalky in texture or creamy, hot or cold, it is divine. Last time my friend Maggie was over here, we went shopping and I bought a goats cheese covered in snipped chives. I had a little taste when I got home, and within five minutes the whole thing had vanished!! The other most favourite of cheeses is good old mature Cheddar. When you want cheese on toast or cheese topping on something else nothing can beat Cheddar.
3. Bread and Potatoes. Is my Irish ancestry showing here? How can people give these up? A hot, floury jacket potato with butter and grated cheese, divine. Crispy roast potatoes or spicy potato wedges both with garlic mayo, help! I am making myself hungry!
4. Making things. I have recently learned to crochet and have also taken up knitting again after many years. I am really enjoying both of them. I now look for wool whenever I go shopping, but before I buy too much, I need to find some patterns. My friend Maggie who is moving to France this coming weekend has got some material for me to make a new dressing gown with. I can't wait to start it. I have got a super sewing machine that OH gave me for christmas a few years ago, and have got my mums super all singing, all dancing machine that I have yet to try out. I keep threatening to crochet him some underpants, but he is not too keen!
5. Eating and cooking. I love food. I love good home cooked food, not out of a tin stuff or ready meals. I love people coming round for a meal. I love to spend time planning it, preparing it and eating it!!! My favourite foods are Mexican and Indian. I love making several different dishes that you can help yourself to. One of my food addictions at the moment is kiwi fruit. Last new year I made a resolution to eat some fruit every day. I chose kiwi fruit as they have more vitamin C than oranges and are easy to eat. I have 2 every day with my breakfast and it has become part of my daily routing. So much so, that if I don't have fruit in the morning I don't feel right.
Friday, 21 December 2007
I'm ready for Father Christmas!
Yippee! I finished all my food shopping yesterday, OH's pressies are wrapped and hidden, the house is almost clean, just got the chickens beds to clean, split some more wood and then I'm done.
The food shopping wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I went to Carrefour mid afternoon and it was nearly empty, I couldn't believe it. There is nowhere near as much hype and decadence here as there is in the UK. Carrefour is a big super/hyper market and yes there was a huge amount of chocolate of every conceivable kind for sale, there was only a tiny section for perfumes and make-up gift sets, and a tiny section for party food. As it already stocks DVD's and jewellery, there was very little change to the shop.
Waiting at the till, there was only one person in front of me, and she only had a basket, so I was through in record time. Back in the UK the range of party foods, canapes and gifts sets of all kinds was staggering. I used to to physically drool going round the Waitrose chilled cabinets wishing I was having people round for drinks just so I would have an excuse to buy some delicious looking morsels. Then, waiting at the checkout I would feel dejected and let down, because everyone elses trolley looked a million times more exciting than mine!
Yesterday I felt none of that. It was wonderful. No more feeling unworthy that I couldn't afford delectable delicacies, no more feeling like billy no-mates cos I wasn't having a drinks party. I felt great. Even more so because we were having friends round the following night for drinks and nibbles, and I actually had the time to make loads of delectable delicacies of my very own, that is until ......
OH has got a stinker of a cold. Now, before I hear you cry 'Man Flu', and normally I would be the first to agree with you, this one is the real thing. I have never known him to stay in bed for 2 days before or to lie on the sofa in front of a roaring log fire with a sweatshirt and a blanket. Poor soul he is wiped out. It must be something going round our village as Breezy and TS have got the same thing, and the friends that were coming tonight, their daughter has it as well. So, tonight is cancelled, all my goodies will go in the freezer for a later day, and I will sit in front of the telly with Misty watching rubbish.
The food shopping wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I went to Carrefour mid afternoon and it was nearly empty, I couldn't believe it. There is nowhere near as much hype and decadence here as there is in the UK. Carrefour is a big super/hyper market and yes there was a huge amount of chocolate of every conceivable kind for sale, there was only a tiny section for perfumes and make-up gift sets, and a tiny section for party food. As it already stocks DVD's and jewellery, there was very little change to the shop.
Waiting at the till, there was only one person in front of me, and she only had a basket, so I was through in record time. Back in the UK the range of party foods, canapes and gifts sets of all kinds was staggering. I used to to physically drool going round the Waitrose chilled cabinets wishing I was having people round for drinks just so I would have an excuse to buy some delicious looking morsels. Then, waiting at the checkout I would feel dejected and let down, because everyone elses trolley looked a million times more exciting than mine!
Yesterday I felt none of that. It was wonderful. No more feeling unworthy that I couldn't afford delectable delicacies, no more feeling like billy no-mates cos I wasn't having a drinks party. I felt great. Even more so because we were having friends round the following night for drinks and nibbles, and I actually had the time to make loads of delectable delicacies of my very own, that is until ......
OH has got a stinker of a cold. Now, before I hear you cry 'Man Flu', and normally I would be the first to agree with you, this one is the real thing. I have never known him to stay in bed for 2 days before or to lie on the sofa in front of a roaring log fire with a sweatshirt and a blanket. Poor soul he is wiped out. It must be something going round our village as Breezy and TS have got the same thing, and the friends that were coming tonight, their daughter has it as well. So, tonight is cancelled, all my goodies will go in the freezer for a later day, and I will sit in front of the telly with Misty watching rubbish.
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