Where To Find Us

Sorry for so few postings lately. We have been preparing ourselves, the house and garden, the cats, and Petillant to head south to Spain. Getting things wrapped up to sail off for 2 months takes a bit of coordination. Boat parts, charts, and reading material had to be ordered. The boat needed stocking. Eight days ago we arrived at Port Medoc without the cats intending to clean up the boat in peace and do a shakedown cruise to Ile de Re. Then we would come back to Port Medoc and park the boat for a few days while we went back home to pick up all the stuff we forgot to bring along this trip and get the cats. But we are still at port and nowhere near a shakedown cruise.

RXC found that the shaft seal was leaking and we had to order a new one which means coming out of the water to change it. And then we thought: why not get other work done while we are out? We were hauled today but not all of the work could be finished because more parts are needed. So we have to wait until next Tuesday for the parts to arrive to compete the work before our departure. Now we are considering going back home tomorrow. Then we will pack up again this time with the cats and return to be here and ready to cast off on Tuesday or Wednesday.

So as we will not be land based for awhile we are shifting our postings over to Petillant-at-sea.blogspot.com

Visit us as we begin our European sailing adventures.

Medieval Town - Medieval Feast

Issigeac is a beautiful town that retains much of it's medieval character. Period films are regularly made here and it also has a lively market on Sundays. Now that spring is here the region is particularly active with festivals and community meals. Issigeac hosted a medieval dinner with soup, blood saussage, foie gras, hams, and white beans using some "authentic" cooking techniques.

Mr. Bric Burns Again

Our local hardware superstore burned to the ground recently. Mr. Bricolage which is part of a national chain was the place we ran to for bolts, weathering stripping, batteries, etc. It was a corrogated metal building that housed great quanties of flammables. Whatever it was that set off the blaze, the place was destroyed completely.

Interestingly, this same Mr. Bric burned to the ground in 1999 during the big storms that came through Europe. This time around however, there were no violent storms to cause the fire. Within a week another local Mr. Bric burned down as well. One wonders about the coincidence of it all.

The rubble has sat like this for quite some time now and we await news that Mr. Bric will rise again.......or not. We hope so, it is spring and we need those bits that only Mr. Bric supplied so well.

Poisson D'Avril is Participatory

Yesterday was Poisson d'Avril or the French equilivant to April Fool's Day. Chocolate fish are produced, given, and shared among friends. This year was a real challange for the chocolate makers because this ritual fell smack in the middle of Holy Week. I guess a lot of people give up chocolate for Lent. While the shops were overflowing with chocolate eggs, chicks, baskets, and rabbits to be given on Easter Sunday there were few fish and not nearly as elaborate as last year. We bought a small dark (me) and a milk (rxc) chocolate fish at M. Chevailer and hidden inside were additional treats.

In our household almost all activities are participatory. Calypso loves the crackle of cellophane so she was drawn to the fish still in their lovely packaging. Dante soon decided he wanted the ribbon that tied the fish closed. However, only the humans actually got to eat the fish!

The Last Chausson aux Pommes

Change is good, sometimes. For the 11 years that we have owned our French home, traveled here for vacations and now living here full time, we have treated ourselves to the "apple slippers or turnovers" from the boulangerie next to the cafe. They were not always available as only 3 or 4 were made on any one day. Last Saturday, the Brit who scooted into the bakery just ahead of us took the last 2. Then Thursday we went up to town early so we could get one. But no, none baked that day. It was then we were told that the bakery was changing owners. Monsieur who had been making our favorite breakfast treat for all these years was retiring.

I asked if he would make a last chausson aux pommes for us for Saturday, his last day. Bien sur! So Saturday morning we went to the market on a really foul day of wind and rain knowing we would have one last treat. But among the chaos of the last day, packing, and a mind already brimming with thoughts of retirment, Monsieur forgot to put our apple turnovers in the oven. Totally embarassed, he made us a gift of the prepared pastry and instructions on how to cook them at home.

This morning I took them out of the fridge, brushed the tops with an egg yolk and a bit of water, preheated the oven to 200C and when ready popped them in the toaster oven. After 25 minutes they were perfect. I hope Monsieur enjoys his retirement. I will miss the nice ladies who worked behind the counter who never failed to glance into the display case to see if there was a chausson aux pommes for les Americians when we opened the door to the shop.

5 FATTED DUCKS!

Tis the season to make confit, rillettes, and conserved foie gras. Friday we took possession of 5 VERY large ducks (somewhere in the range of 15 pounds each). Last year we conserved 2 ducks which were relatively small because there had been a terrible tempest in Lalande where the supplier lives which had spooked the ducks. This year with no scary storms to stress them the ducks were huge. We were not prepared for so much bounty.

We took apart each bird setting aside the breasts, necks, and carcasses to freeze. The magrets we will grill. The necks will get cooked at some point, probably for soup. The carcasses we generally use to flavor tomato sauce.

The fat and skin we minced and slowly melted over a low heat. The legs, wings, and gizzards were salted overnight and the next day they were poached for several hours in the rendered fat. When done the confit was drained and cooled and then put into individual containers with some goose fat and banged into the freezer. The rest of the fat was put into jars for future use sauting potatoes. At the bottom of the pot were the rillettes, morsels of meat that were attached to the skin before it was rendered and now with fat clinging ito it. Spread on bread it is very delicious and probably very fattening, but then they are called fatted ducks!

The livers or foie gras (about 2 pounds each) were soaked in cold water overnight and cut up and put into canning jars and processed on Saturday. The foie gras will last several years once conserved in this manner, but we have already eaten one jar. Not wanting to be wasteful, we used very small canning jars for most of the foie. We also put a small piece in the freezer as a test. While opinions varied, several blogs said you could freeze foie successfully for a short time.

The freezer is full, the cupboard is stacked with foie gras, and the kitchen is now clean after the work.

Cats in a Tree

The garden centers are full of attractive pots for plants and trees and we found one that we liked well enough to live in the living room. It has become the base to hold the Cat Tree.

This locust tree was originally growing in our backyard in the townhouse in Washington. Zabelle was known to climb it only to be attacked by a cat bird she offended with her presence. When we put the greenhouse addition on the back of the house, the tree had to be cut down. It was saved and turned into a cat tree to be used by Zabelle's first litter and all cats since. RXC made shelves covered with carpet and screwed them into the trunk.

The tree made the move to West by God and then onward to France. To get it into the container however, we had to remove it from the wood and cement base. Which is why we needed to find a new pot for the base, and why it took so long to get it set up.

Dante and Calypso love having it back. However, they have grown considerably since their days in WV and they are a bit bigger than the shelves now. Still they spend much of their time up there.

Anyone who comes to the house is amazed by the tree (I guess it is unique by French standards). And guests love to see the cats playing in it.