We celebrated my birthday again, Friday of last week. The guests were Françoise and Philippe, plus Manu and Mathilde, who live down the road in La Jaunie. We met them through F & P last year and have socialised with them a few times. This was our first time having them over, thankfully, without their four daughters. Manu was born the day after I was, so we celebrated his birthday too.
We decided to do a Mexican-themed meal, hoping that it would be a novelty for the French. We started with homemade salsa and guacamole, plus pate with sliced bread so that the French didn’t feel too out of their element. We served Margaritas, but kept to the house rule of one round only. For the main, we served burritos and let everyone make their own. The meat was roast pork which I marinated in a spice rub the previous day and roasted in the afternoon. This was my first time doing so, and I was afraid it would come out dry but I needn’t have worried. Along with salsa and guac, creme fraiche and cheese, we made yellow rice and refried beans. I made a strawberry tart for dessert, realising after I made it that this was the second time I’d done so for this crowd. I don’t think anyone was disappointed but I’ll be sure to do something different next time.
The ladies got me a book of recipes from famous French chefs. In addition, they all got me a bottle of Zubrovka, a flavoured vodka that I really enjoy. I feel bad that we didn’t get anything for Manu, besides the fact that we were celebrating his birthday too. Anyway, the ladies left around 1am since they had to work the next day, leaving the menfolk to carry on drinking. We opened the Zubrovka and managed to finish about half of it by the time they left around 3:30. Manu was ready to go much earlier, but Philippe didn’t want the night to end so nursed his vodka for quite a while. It was a fun evening and I hope to see them all again soon.
Will and I did nothing the next day except watch DVDs. We have been downloading a fair number of them lately and got caught up on some new ones as well as old favourites. On Sunday, Will cleaned the house and I mowed the lawn, in preparation for Kevin’s visit. He originally planned to come on Sunday, but changed to Monday so we were grateful for the extra day.
Kevin arrived into Angouleme on Monday morning, and Will went to collect him and stop at the store for groceries. The arrived around midday and we had Port 80 sarnies for lunch. Kevin is a keen gardener, and we put him to work right away. Mostly, we weeded the front garden, including making room for the strawberries we planted when my mom was here in June. We also tidied up around the herbs and roses and once again, it’s looking good out there. We made roasted butternut squash lasagne for dinner that evening, starting with dried meats and pate, and finishing with patisserie from our local bakery. We taught Kevin Anna Perna which he picked up quickly, and we played into the evening.
On Tuesday, I did some work in the morning and we all went for a walk in the afternoon. It turned into a fairly long one, around 1.5 hours. That evening, we were all invited over to Jenny’s for dinner, along with Françoise and Philippe, plus Frank, a friend of hers. She served a lovely meal, typically French, including Margaritas to start. She had them here over the summer and asked us for the recipe and although we offered to pick up some of the ingredients, she wanted to do it herself. Unfortunately, she didn’t find any Triple Sec, so we brought over what we had left and it was enough for a small batch. We had those with salami and a savoury bread that Françoise made.
The stater was Oeufs en Cocotte a la Berger, which is ham and roquefort, topped with an egg and baked. For the main, she made a chicken tagine, with dates and figs, served with rice. Next was cheese and for dessert, a chocolate tart with a ginger nut crust. We were all very full afterwards and didn’t stay around too long. It’s always nice to see Jenny and we were glad she made some time for us.
On Wednesday, we got up and mustered fairly quickly, in time to make it to the market at Piégut, about a 25 min drive. This is one of the bigger markets in the area, and a first for all of us. Kevin bought a few items including some fois gras to take back for a friend. Afterwards, we walked half way around St Estephe and back. This is the lake that Dad and I walked around and normally, it has a boat that you use to pull yourself across. This time, however, the boat was out of service so we were disappointed that Kevin didn’t get to experience it. Next we drove to Nontron in search of pizza but both places were closed, possibly because it’s school holidays. Undeterred by the fact it was 1:15, we headed to St Pardoux in hopes that The Italian, our local was open. Indeed they were, and very busy too, but they still agreed to serve us. We each had a pizza and a drink and left there very full. A storm had been threatening all day and just after we got home, it arrived in force.
After the storm, the skies cleared and it turned back into a nice day. Kevin and I walked down the road until it ends, about 4km and then back again, which took nearly two hours. This helped with our bloated bellies, but we were all still very full when dinner rolled around. We had planned to do confit, with cheesy potatoes but opted for garlic bread instead and despite not eating until 9:30, none of us managed to eat that much. We played some Scrabble then Anna Perna and watched a dvd before going to bed. I took him to Limoges the next day where he was returning to London for the first time in six weeks. Before us, he had been working at a small hotel in southern Spain so he’s had a nice long break.
We’re having a quiet weekend, much needed after the previous two weeks of excess. I made it to the pool yesterday for the first time in nearly two weeks and did the shopping. Today we laid down the loft insulation that we had delivered back in Sept. When we got up to the loft, I realised that there is a wall dividing the section of the hall and bathroom, making it impossible to get any insulation there. So instead we had enough for two layers in the main part of the loft, above the two bedrooms. I’m hoping it will make a noticeable difference this winter.
Lastly, I’m happy to announce that my dad is leaving the hospital today. A few weeks ago, he was admitted with pains in his side which was diagnosed as gallstones. They first removed those, and then the gallbladder itself. Unfortunately, it was so damaged that they had to make an incision and the surgery took nearly five hours. He was discharged a few days later, despite his reservations and went to stay with Marilyn. He was still feeling ill, and had a fall a few days later so went back into hospital. He was placed in an ICU in order to stabilise him and things were looking a bit scary at first. After nearly a week, he is now back in good form, including eating solid foods. He’ll be staying at a nursing home for the next few weeks, receiving physical and occupational therapy during his recovery. It’s a big relief that he’s being released and by all accounts, will be back to normal in no time.