FIG CHUTNEY....YUMMY!!!

Today was supposed to be a nice easy relaxing day....at least that was until we got a call from an aquaintance saying she had far too many figs on her tree and could we use some.......well, is the Pope Catholic? We went straight  over and picked over 10kgs of figs..she even made us coffee and home made biscuits. In exchange I gave her a jar of my beetroot chutney....even if I say it myself the recipe I use for the beetoot chutney is the best ever...but I think I got the better deal!

Result!!!.....10 jars of chutney, 3 jars of figs in syrup and one happy bunny!!!

FIG CHUTNEY RECIPE

2.5lbs figs..chopped
1 onion chopped
2 cups malt vinegar
1/4 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups sugar...I use brown
1 teaspoon each of dried ginger and salt
1/2 teaspoon each of curry, mixed spice and cinnamon

Put onions, figs and half the vinegar in a preserving pan and boil till pulpy
Add sugar spices and rest of vinegar ..simmer until thick
Pot in sterilized, warmed jars.
Makes about 5 jars

Remember that if the jar has a metal lid to protect the inside of it from the vinegar with greasproof paper.


BOOKSWAP DAY

Once a month in the MacDonalds of our local town, Lezignan Corbieres ,..Little Fat Norman...(yes he calls himself that.) runs a bookswap club for ex pats. Its a straight one for one swap of books or dvds. No money changes hands and if you want to take any extra to what you can give then it just requires a contribution to the charity box. As well as providing a great service for us Norman fund raises for The British Leigon and does a brilliant job.
His website is a great for all of us living in Aude and Herault..check it out...
LFN.org.

 ONIONS ARE READY

Here are my onions...just relaxing.... before I string them all up!!!!!!!

Self sufficiency and frugality needs teamwork

My hubby and I make a good team

I say what needs to be done and he does it.

I have to face it he is not as "into" this as I am and doesnt have my enthusiasm but for someone in this position he works very hard at allowing me to follow my passion.

He is the muscle in this operation and much to his chagrin I keep thinking of things to do!!!!!

This morning we went for our usual walk aroung the garrigue and while I collected more brambles and rose hips he was collecting a bag of kindle wood ready for the winter. The last few years of training are paying off!!!!!

In a good team you need the thinker and doer.......and whilst I am not a non doer I am mostly the ideas person.

Like I said.....My hubby and I make a good team xx

FRUGAL: CHOICE OR NECESSITY

Being frugal,self sufficient and all those other ,at the moment , "in things"  ......is it your choice or is it necessity?

There is no doubt that most of our ancestors had little choice but to live that way...times were hard without any support of a social security system so being frugal was just the normal lifestyle.

When do most people think about being more careful with how they spend their money.....usually when there is not much money coming in or when cut backs need to be made to pay for something else. This is not out of choice either.

There have been several books about how to live cheaply..how to live for free...but I found that the majority are written by those who already have a good foundation of wealth....ie journalist from London downsizes to farmhouse with. 5 acres and proceeds to write book about it.
How to live cheaply... but you have several savings accounts to fall back on when things get really tough.
All that is choice.

I would like to think that a lot of us come in somewhere between the two.
We do not have a lot of money but we are not poor. If we chose to live extravagantly our outgoings would most certainly exceed our incomings. If we chose just to spend without looking for good deals and best value for money then there would likely be a shortfall.

We are not poor because we have a roof over our head that we have worked hard to pay for. We can pay our bills because we are careful with the power we use. Some bills are out of your control...c'est la vie....you just have to accept that and factor them in first. We have enough to eat to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Our income is less than the national average but do not feel  poor.

To live frugally and as self sufficiently as possible.....and remember we do not have our own garden  never mind a 5 acre farm.....is OUR CHOICE.
it's a choice of lifestyle that gives us pleasure as well as being productive. We save money on everyday things that with less thought and planning would cost you more.

I think we would all find it hard if living frugally was not a choice but a necessity...you never hear anyone say how happy they are to have no money at all and are living  constantly in debt.

So I am happy to be able to live this way out of choice.

VIDE GRENIERS IN FRANCE..OR CARBOOT SALES TO YOU AND ME

Sunday is big Vide Grenier day herein France. ( translates as empty your loft)

Unlike the UK, you set up a table ...usually in the street or market square.....so you dont really need a car except to transport your stuff. Also instead of having set places which hold them they tend to be in different villages each week.As there are not many charity shops here..in fact I haven't found any yet...they are really popular.

As yet we haven't bought much at them..that's because most of the stuff really is rubbish.
An example of today's offers....a rusty saw for 5 euros, a ladies dress decorated with brown sweaty armpits for 4 euros and several pairs of shoes with holes in.at 2 euros each. We are continually shocked by the prices they dare to ask for this stuff...and shocked that they think someone would be interested in buying it.

Of course if you can find ex pats who are selling then you are on to a winner....you see it's usually them who throw out good stuff...the french rarely do.

The french make do with what they have and rarely replace something just because they don't like it.

The one thing in common with the UK is......tacky ornaments....I wonder how anyone bought some of these in the first place...mmmm presents perhaps....they seem to do the rounds of car boot sales internationally!

As I say we rarely buy anything as I tend to buy something only if I need it and its useful.

Still...they are always interesting free entertainment as well as a chance to wander round villages that you may not have visited before.....well worth going to!

Our Potager before and after

We began our potager (allotment/vegetable garden) last year from an old vineyard. We were lucky that it had a well on the land and that we were able to rent it from a local vigneron.

There was a lot of digging to be done..the ground had lain fallow for several years.

As is often the case...especially in small villages..."its not what you know but who you know"
One of the local farmers came round and cleared the whole lot with his tractor in a few hours.
This is what I love about life in a small french village...everyone rallies round to help out whenever they can. People do favours not expecting anything in return apart from the pleasure of helping.
Its a great attitude and one which we follow wholeheartedly.

The whole area was fenced off...not so much to keep rabbits out but to prevent the wild boar rampaging all over the potager.

Yet another local man came down with a digger so that we could put in pipes from the well to a large water storage tank. We then needed to purchase a pump in order to get the water out as we could not find any of the old mechanism for the water wheel.
This well is the only water source in the village that so far in history has never dried up!!!!!

We planned what we could plant in the 9m by 25m space we had...it was a lot more than I had been used to. As well as the usual potatoes,carrots etc I wanted to try aubergines, melons and kiwi.

As the potager is some distance from the house we are unable to have any livestock which is the only thing I have been sad about as we would have loved to have some chickens and a pig.

This was the allotment in the first year of planting

We made several mistakes in the first year ....we should have listened more to the locals instead of doing what you did in the UK.

At the end of a working day here there is nothing nicer than taking in the view.......

NOT BAD EH?

The view of our village..Montbrun des Corbieres ...from the potager.......and yes...its uphill walk all the way back!!!!!

MELON SORBET

Our first melon was ready at the beginning if the week and now they are coming thick and fast so. It's time to make Sorbet.

MELON SORBET RECIPE

1 melon
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
3 tbsps lemon juice
2 tbsps honey or syrup

Boil the water and sugar till syrupy
Leave to cool
Liquidize the melon, syrup and lemon juiceand then add to cooled sugar mix

If you wish at this point...and just for my daughter Alison who thinks I add alcohol to everything....
You can add some Cointreau or other fruity liqueur!

I prefer it without.....shock horror! The syrup gives it a nice caramely flavour.

Put mixture in plastic box and freeze.
When serving just take out a couple of minutes before to soften a little

Enjoy x

FORAGING IN FRANCE IN AUGUST

Down here in the South August is a time when most people are tending to their veggie plots.
In terms of foraging its Blackberry time...this year the fruits are particularly big and juicy.

WHAT I DO WITH BLACKBERRIES

Firstly, I open freeze them and pack them into plastic boxes. I do as many as I can according to freezer space. These are then ready to make all kinds of fruit puddings in the winter or just to add to yogurt and make a fruit smoothie for breakfast.

Blackberry cordial. Drink diluted...add to vodka and ice cubes for a kind of cocktail...make ice lollies...

Blackberry liqueur

Blackberry Jam. Although we don't eat a lot of jam it's good to have some jars for when we have visitors and for exchanges.

There are numerous recipes for the above and it's best to google to find the one that suits you best.
I find Micheal White..Foraging Expert and Jonathan Wallace ..self sufficient in Suburbia really good for this.

LAVENDER is abundant both in the gardens and the wild version in the garrigue.

WILD THYME AND FENNELl are easy to find.

The ALMONDS  are just starting to pop out. There are many wild trees in the vineyards. It is wise to taste one from a tree to find out the quality. Some tend to be a bit rancid if it is not a good quality tree.