FANTASTIC FORAGE AND FREEBY DAY IN MONTBRUN DES CORBIERES

It was a busy day in the Hay household yesterday.Lots of cooking, preparing, and foraging.

The day started with our first melon being ready...whoo hoo...

 

 

we are having much more success than last year. Last year our  first plants were not growing so well and I caused much hilarity at the"jardiniere" by saying I was having a problem with my melons. Seems we were watering them too much. We then discovered that we should not have planted them in the plot next to the butternut squash...something to do with the same insects that fertilize....as a result they all tasted a little unusual. However it made fantastic melon sorbet....a unique flavour!!!!

 

We picked also several kilos of tomatoes which I have made tomato and basil sauce to freeze..using our own garlic and basil....great for pastas and lasagnesWhilst these were cooking I prepared a three course lunch for our Dutch neighbours who are in the village on holiday. We look after their garden when they are not here in the winter.They also let us have their crop of olives and apples as they are never here when they are ready...so its nice to return a favour.

 



 

 

We decided to walk off our long lunch with a trek through the vineyards......it was lucky I  always take a plastic bag on these outings(you never know what you might find)) as there were lots of blackberries ready...

 

So.....we made some blackberry cordial.

 

RECIPE FOR BLACKBERRY CORDIAL

 

Put blackberries in a pan and just cover with water.

Cook till soft....about 20- 30 mins.

Strain the juice into a bowl and add 400g of sugar per litre of liquid.

Stir well to dissolve and then when cool decant into a bottle.

SIMPLE

 

Don't forget to keep the blackberries from this.... I added some apple and made a crumble for the freezer.

 

My french neighbour was off on her jollies to Spain and was happy to take some of our cherry tomatoes for their aperos...in return she gave me a cutting of a Laurier Rose. I do love this system of exchange of goods!!

 

 

IT'S LAVENDER TIME IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE

 

 

As we do not have a garden to grow these fantastic plants we rely on doing exchanges with our English neighbours Delia and Andy. We supply tomatoes,courgettes and peppers from our garden and in return we have large bunches of lavender. (As well as dozens of jam jars and several other favours!!!!)

 

I love cleaning the house with lavender water, use lavender oil in the bath and make lavender bags to hanging around the house.

 

Last year I made over 40 of these bags (by hand) as gifts for the ladies at my step-daughters wedding.

 

 

This year I want to try making my own oil. I  found a good recipe for lavender biscuits which I think would be really nice with our home grown rasps and strawbs.

some of the lavender hearts from last year...the one of the right was made by my friends daughter Becky. She was inspired when she came to visit  and decided to have a go herself. I have to say she did a lot more sewing on herws that I did on mine. Well done Becky x

So the end of a busy day........I am headed for a long bath...followed by watching 2 episodes of Game of Thones which had been waiting patiently for me!!!!


 

 

 



 



Beetroot Wine Recipe

We have been harvesting our beetroot for the last 3 months and have tried various recipes as well as making copious amounts of beeetroot chutney.
We lifted the last of the beetroot this week and decided to try making some beeetroot wine....at which the french were horrified. "What....you are making wine with vegetables" followed by a puzzled "Why"....and mutterings of strange English ways!!!

The result is quite interesting..a very luminous pink colour which I believes develops darker the longer you leave it....it is more of an aperitif/dessert wine than a quoffing wine but really nice for a change and another good way to use the beeetroot. I think it would make very good Christmas and birthday gifts.

BEETROOT WINE RECIPE

You will need  a container that is sterilized that the wine can ferment in. A bucket with a lid or a demijohn. As long as it is not full it can ferment quite happily.

1kg beetroot
1kg sugar
1tsp dried yeast
2 small lemon or limes

Method

Wash, peel and grate the beetroot.
Cook beetroot and when cool strain into your container
Dissolve yeast in half a cup of warm water wisth half a teaspoon of sugar.
Add the yeast mixture to the cooled beetroot juice along with the juice of the lemons/limes
Store in a cool dark place for 5 days....open and stir well.
Leave for another 5 days then you can strain and bottle it.

Enjoy xxx

Frugal France v Frugal England...an ongoing blog

Is it easier to be frugal in France than in England? Now that's an interesting question that's going to take some thinking about. Watch this space.

I think first point goes to France in that you can buy a property with substantial land for half the price to something similar on the UK. For example recently sold in Normandy was an immaculate 3 bed barn conversion , with a one bed gite and five acres of land for 240,000 euros. If you are selling up in the UK for more it gives you a good bank of savings to call on in a rainy day.
I quote Normandy as the weather is very similar to the UK. Other areas...Pays de la Loire, Charente and the Limousin are only slightly more expensive but if you only want a small property with land you are looking in the region of 130,000 euros. The most expensive areas are when you hit the Med ....that's because tourists are attracted to the weather so there are a lot more holiday properties. It's difficult to find a village propery with substantial land...usually to get one at the right price you are looking at major renovations...which whatever figure you think you will do it at needs to be tripled!


Second point has to go ..in terms of  the weather...well I am not sure. Here in the South you have hot dry summers....great if you are on holiday but when you have land to look after and general work to do it makes life very tiring. It means early morning starts or late evenings to be able to work comfortably.
In the summer in France you will pay extra in electricity if you have air conditioning ( a must if you want to sleep) also ..unless you have a well on your land...you use a lot more water for the garden.
Winters whilst not freezing are still cold enough to need heating. We spent our first winter with only wood burning stoves.....not advisable in a big old house. With a smaller property that lets in a lot of light you can take advantage of the lovely winter sun. I think the biggest difference when living in the south of France is that it is mostly dry and bright instead of damp, foggy, dull and wet days.
So I think it still works out more economial to live in the S of France...all our utility bills work out less than what we paid in the UK

Third point......council taxes. As with the Uk ..if you live in sought after places then you will find that the taxes (here they are the Fonciere tax..which the owner of the propeerty pays and the Habitue tax which the person living in the property pays) As an owner living in a propery you pay both taxws however if youa re renting you will pay only one. Both of our taxes together amount to half what we paid in the UK and this amount also includes the tv licence, which is automatically put on your taxes. Despite being in a small village we have our rubbish bins collected 3 times a week, We have 2 reycling points. We have a dechetterie...a tip...wheere all other rubbish can be taken. We can leave this outside our door on a Friday morning and they will take it away for you..same with garden rubbish. Bin bags are given out by the Mairie twice a year....5 rolls per household.....so no bin bags floating around in the streets. If you run out then it is your responsibilty to buy more!!

to be continued......

How have you saved money today?

I was brought up with the saying.."pennies make pounds" .......so I still try to save those pennies.
Today I wanted to buy a slimline notebook the same size as my diary. They cost 1 euro each.
An exercise book of the same paper was 35 cents. So......I bought the exercise book cut it in half lengthways. One book has a back the other I have stapled at the top to make a second book.2 books..2 euros minus the 35 c layout means today I have saved 1 euro 65........that's my coffee with the gang paid for at Kingston's in Lezignan  next week.

Preserving with salycilic acid?

As its that time of year when we are trying to preserve all our produce from the garden..the question always arises as to the best methods.
We have no problem with freezer space but when it comes to preserving tomato sauces for pasta and soups I would much prefer to have them in bottles ready to use.
Our 84 yr old french neighbour swears by using 1 g of salicylic acid in powder form to 1 litre of liquid. I am a bit unsure ..reports seem to suggest it can be dubious...however our neighbour has used this method all her life as did her mother...she is very fit and healthy.....so I am going to give it a try.
Using jars with the sealable lids,  I will work on the principle that if they have popped there will be a problem and if not.......well it should be ok. What do you think?

Update....I bottled several jars of leek and potato soup. We have now had the first one

1  It tasted good

2 It looked good

3 As yet we have had no after effects.

However..as I am not keen on the use of any products like this I am still going to save for a pressure canner. In the long run it will be a good investment and I will feel safer and happier

Bon Appetite!!!

Just a general update as to what we are managing to grow this year.Not having a garden of our own we rent  an old vineyard with two other couples...one French, one German It's now known as the international garden.

 We acquired this last year, fenced it in to protect against the wild boar and bought a pump to bring water up from the well. So began the first experience in growing in the sandy soil with the hot windy weather. Not quite what we were used to after rainy North of England.Last year we discovered the moles who dislodged all the plants, the voles who ate all the bottoms of the carrots and the ants carried off all the slug pellets. The crops were just ok but this year we were better prepared.

Had a great crop of rasps, strawbs, rhubarb, potatoes, red and yellow toms...big and small ones, peppers, kohl rabi,lettuce and celery.
The cucumbers and gherkins were a disaster.
Awaiting the sweet potatoes,carrots and melons

The continued heat is taking its toll on the produce in the garden. We have lifted all the potatoes as they are starting to sprout. Spent the afternoon sorting the good ones and putting them into cold storage and tomorrow will involve cooking the rest to freeze.
Thanks to Dee and Andy for the loan of an extra freezer  or we would have been eating a lot of potatoes.