The beginnings of a garden...

shout out

I'm listening to episode 432 of the Katia & Kyliemac podcast in which they talk about what "adventurousness" is. I had done their survey and filled in my adventure stories in the comments box. The girls mentioned what I have eaten... but I guess you'll have to listen to find out what that was :)

spring veggies

A couple of weeks ago I heard about a group nearby that organizes the sale of organic fruits/veggies/dairy/meat products. It's actually not a co-op, no fee to join and no minimum to buy per week/month. Before the end of the day on Sunday each week you need to go online (via google docs - love it!) and indicated what you want. Then on Friday evening between 6-7pm you go to a little organic dairy farm and pick up your goodies.

The last 2 weeks I've only bought the veggie basket. It is 10 euros for the small basket - that's a picture of week 1's basket which included: leeks, parsley, spinach, part of a celery root, carrots, new potatoes & bigger potatoes, cauliflower and a head of lettuce! You got to start getting creative cooking all that! The only downside for me with the system is that the pick up time is Friday night and I hate going shopping on Saturday. That means that I need to try to anticipate what might be in there and what things I might be able to cook without having to run to the store.

This Friday there was a HUGE bag of spinach, radishes, lettuce, potatoes, carrots and leeks. Saturday I was near a grocery store and wanted to try a new recipe so I did stop in (ugg... shopping on the Saturday of Easter weekend? Yuck.) Yesterday I made a spinach and feta quiche - YUM!!!!!!!!! It was soooo tasty!!! I'll be making that one again!

Just need to figure out what to do with the rest.... humm.

april trip

We spent an amazing week in Lyon/Annecy! The weather was stunning, beautiful and sunny the whole time which was great since we just walked around, did some window shopping and enjoying the pedestrian-friendly center of Lyon. While in Lyon we stayed with my brother-in-law, who unfortunately was uber busy between work and doing his MBA on the weekends but we did manage to sneak in some time with him on Sunday with our traditional breakfast at Wallace and then a stroll around Lyon. He was kind enough to loan us his car (since we took the train down there) on Monday and it was off to Annecy! I had reserved a room at this fantastic chambre d'hotes, which even included 1 hour in the sauna/spa room! It warmed up while we were in Annecy and it was so nice to just drive to look out points, walk around the old town, get some ice cream (blueberry! my favorite!) and we even took a Pédalo out on the water... On the way back to Lyon we stopped by the gorges du fier which was spectacular!

All in all it was a great trip, I'm really glad we took the train. Normally we don't plan far enough in advance to get good prices so we end up driving. Let me tell you, 6 hours on a train (even with our delay on the way home) sure beats 9 hours in the car! Plus the TGV always feels like a special treat for me seeing as how we don't have one (yet) out this way!

I think Lyon is for sure my favorite city in France, it knocks the socks off of Paris that's for sure!

Annecy

An overnight escape to Annecy - beautiful weather and fantastic vacation spot! Pedalo, fondue, the old town and a walk through the gorge to top it off! More details to come...

Ceci n'est pas un marteau

This is not a hammer.

Lyon day 1

American gum

Setting: on the train to Lyon.

Me: I would offer you some (trident cinnamon gum) but i know you won't like it.

MG: no, I'll try some.

Unwraps & chews while making a face.

Me: told you you wouldn't like it.

MG: tastes like I'm eating a candle.

Me: haha! Can I quote you on that??

Sent from my iPhone

summer? already?

The weather this April has been amazing... beautiful warm weather, not much cooler than we would expect for summer weather up here in Normandy. It is currently 22C in the shade and a lot warmer in the sun at 3:40 in the afternoon!

I hope I don't jinx the summer by hoping that it continues for the next few months!!

Now excuse me while I make myself an iced coffee and go back to my book in my newly bought chaise longue :)

timewarp

Did I just time travel??? I was inside this afternoon cleaning the windows (how 1950's of me... ) when I heard a car pull halfway up our driveway. I assumed it was someone turning around since we live at the end of a dead-end road.

Then there was a knock at the door.

Now it really was a blast from the past! A traveling salesman! (Does anyone still do that??) He had a van full of cleaning products and wanted just "2 minutes of my time." After working customer service on the phone for the last 2 years and being rudely hung up on and given the fact that I really had nothing better to do I said ok. His products really were the new innovation, as I listened to his schpeel about how they were environmentally friendly, economic and sensitive to sensitive skin!

Oh là là là là...

I know he works on commission and I feel bad for him, it's hot outside driving around, being shot down by lovely housewives (and/or farmers with shotguns...) so I asked for a brochure to look over and of course "discuss with my husband" to see if I can spend my weekly allowance (haha!) But he was a nice guy, not pushy and gave me some samples to try as well as a brochure.

Who knows, maybe we will buy some but for now it was an exciting moment in my day. Lol!

fingers crossed

I called the Prefecture this morning to find out if there was any news on my naturalization... (I only called because when I was there in January the guy repeated like 50 million times, if you want any updates don't hesitate to call. Ok buddy if you say so!!)

So he said that the Prefet (locally) made his decision February 18th and then it was sent to the Ministiere (nationally) to be validated. He thinks I should be hearing sometime this month or in May. When I asked if it would be possible for him to tell me what decision the Prefet made he of course said no (which I totally understand since he cannot validate his own decision if I were to hear one thing from them and then the Ministiere who said something else...) but he did say that had it not been favorable I would have already heard (and in which case there is no reason to send it along to the Ministiere). He also said that they have not had a dossier favorable returned to them unvalidated.

So basically it looks like things are good to go, it's hard not to get my hopes up but everything is looking good so far!

Fingers crossed I'll find out soon (so I don't have a panic attack when I open up the official looking envelope I received the other day only to find out that my point I lost for speeding last year has been put back - gah I almost hyperventilated!)

sunrises and sunsets

We have had the most amazing sunrises and sunsets recently.

buttermilk

At the beginning of the week I tried out a new muffin recipe that I found which called for buttermilk.

I bought my lait ribot (you can find it next to the fresh milk in your French grocery store). The muffins turned out pretty good but it made 12 with only 1.5 cups of buttermilk. That left me with the better part of a litre left over.

So the last couple days I've been churning (hehe) out buttermilk pancakes since I don't have a waffle iron. It's the first time I've made them adapting my basic pancake recipe to include buttermilk instead of normal milk.

All the hype surrounding buttermilk pancakes as being the best, yup - ALL true! They were SOOOO tasty! The batter was really light and they cooked up nice and thick but not rubbery or dense. Delish! I did eat a couple along the way - quality control is a must around here. The rest I froze! Yup, I read that pancakes freeze really well so once they were cool I stuck them on a baking sheet and froze them. This morning I transfered them to a plastic bag and tested one in the toaster - YUM! Just as good!

This way we can have some buttermilk pancakes whenever the urge hits instead of going out to buy buttermilk... not something I find very often on my shopping list...

Oh and what's up with no comments on my April Fool's???? You guys too embarrassed that you bought it hook, line and sinker??

hehe poisson d'avril!

Gotcha good!!

I even got Ksam - she deleted her first comment but let me reprint it to make sure everyone can see:

"Whoa, that is crazy!! Do you have any kind of idea what list it was?

PS. I totally would've been in pyjamas btw."

But no, no visit from the gendarmes, no deportation for me (yet!) and no news on the status of my dossier.

I do have to say that I credit should go where it is due - it was all Mystery Guest's idea! Well his original list was to have me on a terrorist watch list but I thought that might just be a tad over the top. Bravo MG!

surprise visit

This morning I was doing my normal unemployment routine (eat breakfast with MG, surf, watch podcasts... toodle around... eat second breakfast... think about getting out of my pjs and about going to the gym...) when I heard a car pull up in the driveway.

It was the gendarmes which really surprised me. When I answered the door they asked if I was MilkJam - I said yes. They said that they were sent over by the DST to look further into things.

Things???

Yup things. Apparently while in the final stages of my nationality application some flags were raised in regards to my name being on some list somewhere and they just need to double check things.

WTF??

Dude, thank god they were country cops and more curious about the wooden house out here than the American living in it but still it made me really nervous. I mean it sounds crazy but I've got scenarios of deportation running through my head! eeep!!