Happy Saint Andrews day!

When I googled St Andrew this is what I found:  http://schenectadystandrews.org/      
It's interesting to know what's happening around the world on this day. I was pleased to see that the Google page (UK version) has marked the occasion with tartan and the saltire. 
For anyone who doesn't know, Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland (and also of Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Sicily and the Italian town of Amalfi.) 
In 2009 Ian and I held a a party on  29th November for St Andrews day, and showed friends here some Scottish country dances. They also enjoyed a wee taste of Haggis, neeps and tatties, oatcakes and Scottish Cheddar cheese, followed by a selection of mainly French cakes and desserts! Our piper didn't turn up, though his pipes did. No one else knew how to play them! 

No party planned for this year, but we'll maybe do a Burns day one again in January. I hope I'll be able to bring haggis back with me from my visit to Scotland earlier that month; otherwise I'll order it by internet. Thanks to Lesley in Edinburgh I've got oatcakes already! And Cheddar cheese is available at the local supermarket, E. Leclerc. 

Have a good St Andrews Day evening and to those of you in Scotland, I hope the snow stops soon!
J :)

Snow in Montauban, Xmas preparations and Diggie Bics!

Hello and welcome everyone, including some new followers (are they really called that in English?! I feel as if I've set up a religion!! )
I got Ian to take some photos of the snow in our back garden......that was a surprise this morning, not sure why as it's been getting very cold! I see on Facebook posts it's hit Edinburgh and Livingston by today too.
The picture above is of the "baby" olive tree and the one below is the big tree. So far we're not producung olive oil but it's early days yet. The trees are at most 5 years  old.
The snow seems appropriate as I've calculated it must be the first Sunday of Advent tomorrow. Oh goodie! Time to get out the candles and advent wreath. I have started making cards and gifttags and have picked up a few small gifts. It's a choice between finding light, non-fragile presents to send by post or shopping online in the UK for delivery to the recipient. The latter seems less personal but I'll wait a little bit to see who requests a book from Lovereading!
http://www.lovereading.co.uk/genre/xms/Christmas-Gift-Books.html
So far I've only browsed and downloaded extracts from this site; for a bookworm that's a great plus. It's ALMOST as good as being teleported to a Waterstones store in the UK!
Food or wine gifts would be easier online too. By the way I have only praise for good old M & S, both for sending clothes over to me here in record time and delivering flowers, wine (French, of course!) or other gifts direct to my friends and family in Scotland. By the way, this blog is not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned, but I only tell about the ones I like. 
Well a cup of tea beckons.....I can even have a genuine digestive biscuit with it, thanks to my friend Lesley, (she of the best B & B in Morningside) whose "not-the Christmas-box" arrived the other day complete with paperbacks, Lady Grey teabags, oatcakes, etc, etc and the much-missed crumbly biscuits.
Please let me and the others on the blog know what you're doing to get ready for a stress-free festive season. 


Have a good day, Friends and keep warm!  Bisous, Janet

French Food and Recipes

Bonjour!  If you like cooking, France and food(!) here's a link for you:

http://www.easy-french-food.com/cevenol-recipes.html

It's easy to sign up for  free to this newsletter LA MARMITE (the casserole, roughly translated). It's sent out by an American foodlover living in France. The articles and recipes are interesting and this month are linked to a novel by an English writer who lives in the Cévennes region of France. Next time it will be about Christmas food. You can also choose to read back issues. For example, I've just found out from the April issue that Chicken Colombo, which I've seen on menus here, comes from French Guiana (Guyane), an overseas department of France located on the north coast of South America. ( Facing the Atlantic Ocean, and tucked between Suriname and Brazil, the population of Guyane is an unusually diverse mix of people from all over the world - Amerindians, Creoles, West Indians, Brazilians, Indians, Chinese, Hmongs, Europeans, and more. Each of these populations, along with the tropical climate, has influenced the cuisine of Guyane. ) The recipes on the GUYANE menu look great!
Next I'll be writing about my 1st experience as a leader with the Louveteaux ( Scout Cubs ) and Louvettes (Brownie Guides) pack here in Montauban. It was great!! 
Plus my mincemeat recipe: a vegetarian version, because I wouldn't know where to begin trying to source beef suet here, even if I wanted to!!


Enjoy! Bon appétit and happy reading! 
Janet
PS Please do comment so I'll know if anyone is out there!!

Recette: Dinde au Wok, potimarron, lait de coco, curry

Recette
Dinde au Wok, potimarron, lait de coco, curry



Ce samedi en faisant votre marché, vous penserez à vous procurer :

320 g de blanc de dinde (coupés en dés),

1 potimarron de taille moyenne (coupé en dés),

1 cuillère à soupe d'huile d'olive,

1 cuillère à soupe de curry,

1 boite (400 ml) de lait de coco.



Cuire à la vapeur le potimarron, environ 15 mn, vérifier qu'il soit tendre avant de le sortir. Saisir rapidement au wok dans l'huile d'olive chaude les morceaux de dinde (remuer souvent).

Ajouter le lait de coco, laisser cuire 2 mn, ajouter le potimarron et le curry.

Servir aussitôt avec du riz agrémentés de graines de sésame, noix de cajou, amandes...

The recipe above is from my friend Ben on her Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Espace-Benessere/116489745056628

Have a look!

Bon profit!

Wholemeal Scone Round

I made this today and it was well-received by the children and Mamans after my English lesson at Sandra's house in Lacourt Saint Pierre. We ate it just as it was, freshly made, with no butter or jam....miam! miam!

Ingredients:

50 g plain flour

pinch of salt

15ml ( 1 level tablespoon) baking powder

175 g wholemeal flour

50 g caster sugar

50 g butter or margarine

about 150 ml milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 220°C Mark 7 and pre-heat a baking sheet.
Sift together the plain flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Add the wholemeal flour and sugar. Lightly rub in the fat and mix to a soft but manageable dough with most of the milk. Add more milk if needed or a little more flour if it gets too sticky. Shape into a flat 15-cm round. Mark into 8  triangles with the back of a floured knife. Place on a pre-heated ungreased baking sheet (sprinkled with a little flour) and bake at once, towards the top of the oven for about 15 minutes. "Serve warm, split and buttered" says my Good Housekeeping Cookery Book from 1978!

If you don't eat all of this on the day you bake it, freeze the triangles. If not, it's better warmed up or toasted and served with butter, jam ,etc.

If you have a foolproof recipe for scones or other easy homebakes please join in with your recipes. 

And if you try the wholemeal scone round, I hope you enjoy it! 

I almost forgot, Jasmine, Sandra's cat also licked up all the crumbs from the floor and seemed to enjoy them!

Cahors

 

We visited Cahors on a lovely Autumn day. While walking on the hill opposite the city I took this photo of St Etienne Cathedral and the rooftops of the old part of the town. After a bit of tweaking with Paintshop Pro is doesn't look too bad!

It's Blogging, Jim, but not as we know it!

I copied a recipe from Ben's Facebook page (without her permission: thank you Ben!) but to see it you need to click on "commentaire" or "commentaries" below the first message (11 novembre).

Sunday Lunch

I am still getting the hang of blogging, but here goes for message #2!

One of my youngest pupils came with her parents today to get her photo taken in Ian's "studio". He only asks for a nice bottle of red wine as payment (preferably a Côtes du Rhône), as taking family pictures is his hobby, not a job. But they brought homemade pâté and homemade honey too, as well as 5 gorgeous- looking portions of dessert for the lunch we had after the photos had been taken. It was  "Key Lemon Pie" from Ô Thé divin, a lovely salon de thé in Place Nationale in Montauban. http://www.tripadvisor.fr/ShowUserReviews-g187172-d1130494-r19747579-O_The_Divin-Montauban_Midi_Pyrenees.html

I notice the person reviewing the O Thé Divin mentions this pie- their signature dessert! I haven't tried the "scones écossais" yet!
We had an avocado starter (chopped avocado with lots of lemon juice, chopped fresh tomato, and olive oil), lamb and egg casserole from The Yoghurt Book by Arto der Haroutunian, cheese and salad and then the lemon meringue pie. 4 hours later I still feel I may never eat again! My pupil and her Mum and Dad were very good company and we all enjoyed their lunch with us.

Janet launches her blog! Janet lance son blog!

This blog is a space to share ideas about: good food, books, languages, places to visit in France, Scotland, Spain and elsewhere,films and lots more. 

I hope my friends, colleagues and students will read and contribute to the blog. The main language will be English but you can write in French or Spanish too.


See you soon on Janetmontauban!  !Hasta luega!  A bientôt!   :-)