I can't believe I haven't written on this blog for almost a year now! Time really flies. It has been an exciting year though. Who would ever have thought last year that Barack Obama would now be our president-elect?!? I wish I could make a fast trip back to France and tell all those confused French how we really can pull a rabbit out of the hat when we absolutely have to here.
I also wish we could stop with the crisis management style!! Why do we, as a nation, have to hit bottom before we finally come through and do the right thing?
In the past year I have worked as a poll worker here in California in three separate elections. A presidential primary in February, a regular primary in June, and a general election in November. The November election was very moving. The precinct I work in is very diverse. So many voters were downright teary-eyed when casting their votes for Obama. Everyone is very hopeful even though the country couldn't be in a much bigger shambles.
Aside from that, life continues au petit train train. My father-in-law is adapting to life as a widower, although he still misses his Helen (as we all do) terribly. D is enjoying teaching more and more although he's also very excited about his research on that "other" greenhouse gas, methane. My son I is seriously contemplating buying a house in LA (silver lining to the crummy economy). My folks are doing remarkably well, still living well and independently at 84. All of our respective siblings are also doing reasonably well. So no complaints and deo gratias it will continue.
I will be fixing salmon the way M did in Aix this weekend. I will use swiss chard instead of sorrel, and will compensate for the lack of oxalic acid by spritzing generously with lemon. But the rest will remain the same.
Next week I will make my favorite provencal daube. This is a recipe I picked up in Saveur years ago and just the best:
Daube de Boeuf (Saveur’s version of a recipe by Franck Cerutti of Don Camillo in Nice)
(Serves 4, double the recipe to have more leftovers)
Ingredients:
½ oz dried porcini mushrooms
2 lbs beef chuck, cut into 2” pieces
salt
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 large plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped (ok to use canned)
1 stalk celery, diced
1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 1 sprig flat-leaf parsley, and 1 sprig thyme, tied in a bundle with kitchen string)
1 tbsp flour
2 cups dry red wine
freshly ground black pepper
Process:
1. Place mushrooms in a bowl; pour in boiling water to cover, and set aside.
2. Place meat in medium bowl and sprinkle with salt.
3. Heat butter and oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the meat in batches, leaving plenty of space between pieces so they brown evenly. Transfer meat as it browns to a large dish; set aside.
4. Lower heat to medium-low and pour off all but a bit of oil and butter.
5. Add onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, and celery and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping brown bits from the bottom of the pot until vegetables are coated with oil, about 5 minutes.
6. Return meat to pot and add bouquet garni.
7. Mix flour and half the wine with a fork in a small bowl, making sure there are no lumps.
8. Stir into pot with the remaining wine.
9. Cover and simmer over low heat for 2 hours.
10. Drain, rinse, and roughly chop mushrooms, reserving liquid.
11. Strain mushroom liquid through a coffee filter or paper towel; add to pot with the mushrooms.
12. Simmer another hour.
13. Remove bouquet garni.
14. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
I like to serve this daube with polenta, but you can use noodles or potatoes also.
I'll probably pick up a frozen dessert at Trader Joe's as they have started offering some that are very much like the one's at Picard. Now if they could only come up with frozen flaked herbs like Picard! Much too much to hope for frozen sorrel anytime soon though, and my sorrel won't thrive as long as we are experiencing this drought.
So now you have a new recipe, even if it's not Christmas dinner worthy!
Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Christmas in Tennessee
It's so nice to spend Christmas with family. This was the first time in many years that I had been able to spend Christmas with MY family. Our son came out from LA to be with us and it was wonderful all around.
We always go to the Children's mass at the church on campus even though all the children are much too grown up now to play angels, or shepherds, or wise men, or Mary or Joseph. It's still a treat to see the next generation take on the production.
Then we all gather at my parents' house for a reveillon. This is completely traditional and woe to the one who might consider varying the menu (other than to add some foie gras to the mix!). There's always smoked salmon, there's always quiche, and there's always "salade exotique." Salade Exotique is a composed salad of boston lettuce, thinly sliced tomatoes, avocado, hearts of palm, grapefruit, and olives with a classic vinaigrette. And of course, champagne to celebrate the new birth.
Christmas dinner, however, is more open to creative juices, at least in Tennessee. This year we had honey-baked ham and roasted winter vegetables. Pies for dessert. Very tasty.
The day after Christmas my back went out. I mean, I was scraping something off a plate into the trash and then I couldn't get up! I guess three months of sleeping on those beds and then packing and standing in line all caught up with me. Thank heaven Knoxville can claim the world's best chiropractor. If you are in Knoxville and you need your back adjusted, do call on Williem Kelley.
He works on the UT football team. He's that good. He's open at 6 AM and will take walk-ins. We were long-time buddies from when I lived in Knoxville so he didn't need to do a lot of diagnostic stuff on me. He knew exactly what to do. I walked in there bent in two and left standing upright. I went back the next day for one final adjustment before we left for California. I knew I had to be a beast of burden one more time, this time with the dog in tow, so I couldn't risk my back blowing out again. It worked.
We left on the 29th to return to Oakland. We drove the "Katrina" car back to Atlanta. We determined that this was a "Katrina" car because a) it squeaked in ways we had never heard a car squeak before, b) the speedometer was all fogged up behind the plastic shield, c) it was registered in Louisiana, and (last but not least), d) it belonged to FEMA!!! We figure it spent some time under water.
This last leg of the trip was blessedly uneventful. The dog got to Oakland in one piece and our friend D met us at the airport. We were so happy to see her. We got home about 11 PM and crashed. The house looked great and it was good to sleep in our own bed again. We were finally all the way home.
We always go to the Children's mass at the church on campus even though all the children are much too grown up now to play angels, or shepherds, or wise men, or Mary or Joseph. It's still a treat to see the next generation take on the production.
Then we all gather at my parents' house for a reveillon. This is completely traditional and woe to the one who might consider varying the menu (other than to add some foie gras to the mix!). There's always smoked salmon, there's always quiche, and there's always "salade exotique." Salade Exotique is a composed salad of boston lettuce, thinly sliced tomatoes, avocado, hearts of palm, grapefruit, and olives with a classic vinaigrette. And of course, champagne to celebrate the new birth.
Christmas dinner, however, is more open to creative juices, at least in Tennessee. This year we had honey-baked ham and roasted winter vegetables. Pies for dessert. Very tasty.
The day after Christmas my back went out. I mean, I was scraping something off a plate into the trash and then I couldn't get up! I guess three months of sleeping on those beds and then packing and standing in line all caught up with me. Thank heaven Knoxville can claim the world's best chiropractor. If you are in Knoxville and you need your back adjusted, do call on Williem Kelley.
He works on the UT football team. He's that good. He's open at 6 AM and will take walk-ins. We were long-time buddies from when I lived in Knoxville so he didn't need to do a lot of diagnostic stuff on me. He knew exactly what to do. I walked in there bent in two and left standing upright. I went back the next day for one final adjustment before we left for California. I knew I had to be a beast of burden one more time, this time with the dog in tow, so I couldn't risk my back blowing out again. It worked.
We left on the 29th to return to Oakland. We drove the "Katrina" car back to Atlanta. We determined that this was a "Katrina" car because a) it squeaked in ways we had never heard a car squeak before, b) the speedometer was all fogged up behind the plastic shield, c) it was registered in Louisiana, and (last but not least), d) it belonged to FEMA!!! We figure it spent some time under water.
This last leg of the trip was blessedly uneventful. The dog got to Oakland in one piece and our friend D met us at the airport. We were so happy to see her. We got home about 11 PM and crashed. The house looked great and it was good to sleep in our own bed again. We were finally all the way home.
Coming Home
Wow, it's been a while since I had time to write. The last time I wrote here was just before we left France. It took me two days to balance all the suitcases to make sure that none were over 23 kg. That's the limit airlines give you for overseas travel. It's less if you're traveling in Europe! The only way to accomplish this was to pack a bunch of stuff in our backpacks and computer cases. (And at this, my friend J kindly brought back a suitcase full of clothes when she went to visit her daughter, my other good friend, in California.)
So we left Montpellier on December 21. Europcar actually had someone meet us at the airport at 5:30 AM so we could drop the car off. I cannot recommend them enough. If you are going to be in France for more than 17 days, then get hold of Kemwell and lease a car! You get a brand new car, cheaper rates, and great service!
Now, Friday, December 21 is the weekend before Christmas, right? The plane was booked solid, and one would expect that Air France would have staffed their desk accordingly, right? Wrong! There was a skeleton crew on staff. After all, people are entitled to their Christmas vacations right? The result was that the plane got off the ground an hour and a half late. We had expected to have a 3-hour layover at Charles de Gaulle, but now we were limited to an hour and a half. This turned out to be just barely enough to catch our transatlantic flight!!!
For some reason the concept of streaming has not yet caught on at CDG. You have a planeful of people who have to get on the plane. There is no jetway (something about a roof collapse) so all these people need to be ferried to the plane by bus. Obviously, more than one bus. Ok. So everyone is jammed onto about 5-6 busses. These busses do not have any seats, everyone stands. Does the first bus leave to get to the plane to empty its load? No. They wait until all the busses are full then they leave, convoy style, to get to the plane. (No, we did not cross any runways on the way to the plane.) Once there they let people off the busses in parties of 5-6 at a time to load them on the plane!!! All this makes for a lot of standing in packed lines where you absolutely cannot put anything down and we were loaded down like pack mules. It also makes for short tempers after a while.
We do manage to get off on time. Thankfully the flight was uneventful, but hardly restful. We arrived in Atlanta at about 3:30 PM. Now here's a good one. In Atlanta, if you are arriving from a foreign flight and it's your final destination, YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH SECURITY AGAIN!!!! Never mind that every person getting off the plane went through security already to get on the plane in the first place! It took us over two hours to get out of the airport!
I had anticipated that we would be too dog tired to drive 4 hours north to Knoxville, TN. I made reservations for us at the Holiday Inn in Cartersville, GA. We were so glad to get there! We had a nice light dinner at the restaurant on the premises and then hit the sack. I had forgotten what a comfortable bed felt like! Our beds at the apartment in Montpellier were basically upholstered bags of cotton batting. No springs, no foam, nothing. I think this is supposed to build character, somewhat like the Brits sleeping with the windows open in the dead of winter. Anyhow, this bed was GREAT! We had thought of getting up at 5 AM and heading on up to Knoxville, but we slept in to 7 AM! Woke up refreshed and clear headed. Breakfast, included in the price of the room, was actually a real buffet at the restaurant with eggs, and sausage, and grits and everything. Just wonderful.
By 8 AM we were on the road, anticipating seeing my parents, my sister and her family, and our pooch who had been left in the care of my wonderful sister. We drove up to my parents' house as my Mom was walking the dog. We stopped the car and D rolled the window down and called to the dog. He almost jumped out of his skin! And then he saw me. It is so gratifying to feel loved that much by an innocent animal! We were home, or almost...
So we left Montpellier on December 21. Europcar actually had someone meet us at the airport at 5:30 AM so we could drop the car off. I cannot recommend them enough. If you are going to be in France for more than 17 days, then get hold of Kemwell and lease a car! You get a brand new car, cheaper rates, and great service!
Now, Friday, December 21 is the weekend before Christmas, right? The plane was booked solid, and one would expect that Air France would have staffed their desk accordingly, right? Wrong! There was a skeleton crew on staff. After all, people are entitled to their Christmas vacations right? The result was that the plane got off the ground an hour and a half late. We had expected to have a 3-hour layover at Charles de Gaulle, but now we were limited to an hour and a half. This turned out to be just barely enough to catch our transatlantic flight!!!
For some reason the concept of streaming has not yet caught on at CDG. You have a planeful of people who have to get on the plane. There is no jetway (something about a roof collapse) so all these people need to be ferried to the plane by bus. Obviously, more than one bus. Ok. So everyone is jammed onto about 5-6 busses. These busses do not have any seats, everyone stands. Does the first bus leave to get to the plane to empty its load? No. They wait until all the busses are full then they leave, convoy style, to get to the plane. (No, we did not cross any runways on the way to the plane.) Once there they let people off the busses in parties of 5-6 at a time to load them on the plane!!! All this makes for a lot of standing in packed lines where you absolutely cannot put anything down and we were loaded down like pack mules. It also makes for short tempers after a while.
We do manage to get off on time. Thankfully the flight was uneventful, but hardly restful. We arrived in Atlanta at about 3:30 PM. Now here's a good one. In Atlanta, if you are arriving from a foreign flight and it's your final destination, YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH SECURITY AGAIN!!!! Never mind that every person getting off the plane went through security already to get on the plane in the first place! It took us over two hours to get out of the airport!
I had anticipated that we would be too dog tired to drive 4 hours north to Knoxville, TN. I made reservations for us at the Holiday Inn in Cartersville, GA. We were so glad to get there! We had a nice light dinner at the restaurant on the premises and then hit the sack. I had forgotten what a comfortable bed felt like! Our beds at the apartment in Montpellier were basically upholstered bags of cotton batting. No springs, no foam, nothing. I think this is supposed to build character, somewhat like the Brits sleeping with the windows open in the dead of winter. Anyhow, this bed was GREAT! We had thought of getting up at 5 AM and heading on up to Knoxville, but we slept in to 7 AM! Woke up refreshed and clear headed. Breakfast, included in the price of the room, was actually a real buffet at the restaurant with eggs, and sausage, and grits and everything. Just wonderful.
By 8 AM we were on the road, anticipating seeing my parents, my sister and her family, and our pooch who had been left in the care of my wonderful sister. We drove up to my parents' house as my Mom was walking the dog. We stopped the car and D rolled the window down and called to the dog. He almost jumped out of his skin! And then he saw me. It is so gratifying to feel loved that much by an innocent animal! We were home, or almost...
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