Monday 28 December 2009

Last days of the year

The weather has become much milder than it was a couple of weeks ago and the days are getting longer. This evening it was just about light until about 5.30 p.m. There’s a chance that the plants in the garden, which have been in a kind of suspended animation for the past few weeks, will begin to grow again. We still have work to do – clearing the last remaining pepper plants and getting the ground ready for the goat manure we hope to collect during January.

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Even in the very cold weather we’ve been picking leeks and salad leaves, and this cauliflower.




The sea

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On Saturday at Le Grau d’Agde the sea was grey and cold. The statue of a woman represents the women who wait and watch for the fishermen to come back to port. She had no need to worry this time because all the boats were in the harbour. Going through Roujan we were amused to see this large olive tree on the back of a lorry ahead of us. A nice late Christmas present for someone?

Sunday sunset

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From near Roujan we could see as far as the Pyrenees and Mont Canigou (above), which is 2,784 metres high, and the sunlit trees looked golden against the dark sky.






And our Christmas day lunch …

We’ve had to postpone our family mid-winter festivities because of travel problems last week, but even though we were on our own on the 25th, Lo Jardinièr and I had a good lunch!

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Apéritifs in the garden, with some of the olives from our own tree.

DSC00746 DSC00745 Lo Jardinièr opening oysters (left) and beating the chocolate fondant mix (above)

DSC00750 Foie gras with salt, red and black peppercorns and a glass of Cartagène. DSC00752 Oysters gratinées
DSC00755 Leg of lamb slow roasted in wine with garlic and rosemary, with leeks from the garden. DSC00754
Potatoes dauphinoises
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Chocolate fondant.
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And, finally, cherries in Armagnac with our coffee.

We didn’t eat anything else until the next day!

10 comments:

Unknown said...

All that food looks incredible! Lovely post.

sleepyduck said...

I'm hungry!

Michelle said...

That looked like a lovely sunset. And what a magnificent meal! It all looks so delicious. What a shame your family wasn't there to share it with you.

Stefaneener said...

Looks lovely! The potatoes especially. Perfect for wintry days.

Jan said...

Your lunch looks delicious, although I confess that I've never tried oysters!

Heiko said...

Why didn't you say you were looking for company over Christmas? With that menu we would've been around like a shot... on our bikes if necessary!

MulchMaid said...

What a delicious lunch you had! The potatoes look perfect: I always have trouble getting the slices right so they cook evenly. I love seeing the wine in the classic little glasses.

Like you, our visitors were delayed, so we had a small group Christmas day. This weekend we'll make up for it!

Yvonne said...

Congratulations on your cauliflower! It is such a complex-looking plant that there is a real sense of achievemnt in growing them. No veg for me this winter but I am aiming to get some raised beds built inthe spring. Happy New Veg. Y

HappyMouffetard said...

Mmmmm - delicious looking lunch. A belated merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2010 to you and yours.

impoftheyard said...

All of this looks sooooo tasty! Much nicer than the traditional turkey dinner.