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Abra

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Everything posted by Abra

  1. I can tell that Beaune is lacking in tourisitification by the dearth of furnished rental houses advertised right in town. We have to be where we can walk to the boulangerie, that's pretty non-negotiable. And the bar-tabac and boucherie should be really close too. So we're not actually looking in the countryside per se, although we will have a car.
  2. Abra

    Star fruit

    No specific recipes, but I think star fruit has an affinity for caramel sauce, just to give you some ideas. As in vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, star fruit, and some toasted nuts. Or along the pie theme, maybe the filling for pecan pie would work with star fruit.
  3. Thanks, I will check out Autun. So far I've been focused on Auxerre, Dijon (I love mustard!), and Beaune. Morvan has been sounding remote, but I haven't specifically looked into Autun.
  4. Yes, we've been doing a lot of planning and it looks like it's really going to happen! The big hangup has been that my husband takes an experimental cancer drug being trialed by Amgen, and we had to get them to say they'd let him switch to a French Amgen study. But on Friday they said they will, and so off we go. The thing is, he'll have to go to Paris (Villejuif to be precise) once a month. That's kind of changed our thinking about places in the South, although not for certain. There is TGV, but it's still a longish trip from a place like Uzes, and expensive for two people to TGV once a month. So right now I'm mounting a huge campaign to find a house in Burgundy - near to Paris, untouristy, and full of great food and wine, not to mention old medieval beauty. But because it's not so inhabited by ex-pats, furnished rental homes are harder to come by. I'll find one, though, maybe tomorrow. And then we'll head on over, after we find someone to live in our house for a year and do a ton of organizing foo. We're starting to think that October is more realistic than September, but that's the timeframe. I am so excited!
  5. Not to mention that President feta is one of the best value fetas you can get here, especially at Costco where it's stupendously cheap. I can't wait until I'm living in France so I can really participate in this forum!
  6. Horseshit. We're all guilty as hell, all over the country, and we all know it. Almost by definition, being here means we're among the skewered snob set. And you know what? If food snobbery is my worst sin, then I think I'm in with the angels.
  7. I've used 00 for pizza dough and the dough was very tender and elastic for shaping, then grilled up beautifully.
  8. I love lemon thyme! It's awesome with salmon on the grill.
  9. Abra

    Pithiviers

    John, that's too gorgeous! Did you do that scoring with a kinfe? A wheel of some sort?
  10. Abra

    Pithiviers

    I've never heard Pithiviers said, but to me it reads as pee-teev-yay. Pronouncing French can be surprising sometimes, but that would be a normal pronunciation of that constellation of letters.
  11. It's not exactly France, but when I worked at the UN in Geneva, people would say "bon app" if they even walked past your desk while you were typing and eating a sandwich.
  12. Currently I'm in love with that Roaring 40s Blue from Australia. My favorites used to be bleu de Causses and Valdeon, but this stuff just blows me away. If you can find some, you've got to try it. I get it from igourmet.
  13. Abra

    Dinner! 2007

    The jackfruit soup started out as this Breadfruit Vichyssoise. It turns out that you can't actually get breadfruit here, so I used canned green jackfruit, which is supposed to be a substitute. The habanero was too much except for a tiny portion, and the jackfruit itself was basically flavorless. Plus, the soup was a hideous khaki color. Here's the Cream of Ginger with Lemongrass Soup. I strained it and used the remaining lemongrass and ginger solids, ground up with some lime leaves, to make a little marinade for the shrimp, which I added because the soup is rather plain. It was mild and delicate, and could have used a little more lemongrass. The fritters were West African Banana and Chile Fritters. I tweaked these a lot, adding more chile, a LOT more salt, and after frying up a test one, a small heap of baking powder. They need a dipping sauce, and I used a red pepper jam made by a friend.
  14. I wish I'd had more time this week to participate in your blog, but I've really enjoyed it, especially the lovely photos!
  15. I know it's a bit off-topic, but the rules on bringing your pet are here.
  16. You can bring cats to France, and in fact, we are agonizing about doing just that. Seems like a lot of hassle for 6 weeks, though. And there actually is no explanation for why we're planning a year in France other than "because we can." I know, lame excuse! Will whoever has an opinion about Cordes sur Ciel be so kind as to express it here. There's a very interesting opportunity there.
  17. We went last week and thought the bacalao cold tapa was one of the best things ever. That, and the boquerones in vinegar and the rabbit livers in sherry cream really floored us. The octopus was yummy too, as always.
  18. Ile d'Yeu sound like a heavenly vacation spot, but I think we'd want a bit livelier place. So much depends on my being able to locate, from afar, a suitable and available place to live. So far I have possibilities in Cognac, Saignon, Uzes, and Terrasson. If you were coming to dinner at my house (and i hope you will!) in one of those towns, where would we eat best, meaning the best food in the most beautiful surroundings?
  19. I'm really curious about the folks who had success with the Roasted Banana. Yours didn't get rock hard? Maybe I needed to whip it more?
  20. Hmmm, no votes for Cognac, I see. Who can help me understand why? Is it that they have an every day market so it's likely to be not the real thing we all hope to find and love? Unexciting cuisine unless you've been liberally sampling the local spirits?
  21. Not a village, I know, but what would everyone think of living right in the heart of the medieval part of Cognac? Mmmm, cognac.
  22. I can't tell you how much fun I'm having researching all of these suggestions. Each one allows me to envision a whole different life. I have to say, Ptitpois, that I secretely love the sound of a place so addicting that one never wants to leave. Some research and discussion with my husband yesterday revealed that we probably do really want to live right in a village, as opposed to a country house a few kilometres from one. There are tons of country houses to rent, and many fewer village ones, so that makes the search more challenging/thrilling. While chasing down one rental advertisement I did get quite enamored of the look of Laguepie, I have to admit. Can someone tell me how to do accents here? My French is good enough that I cringe to type it unaccented.
  23. The only reason the sea coast isn't high on my list is because we live on an island already, and see the water all the time. If it weren't for that, seafood and rocky coast would be right up top. I've done a lot of cooking from The Cooking of Southwest France and we love that food, so I find myself leaning in that direction. Forcalquier is a nice little town with a very nice market (where I had my first Banon), and I remember the market in Salerne and the one in Aups as being really nice too. In fact we're thinking that a market town is really high priority for us. So I've written down all of your suggestions and now I'm going to Google each and every one of them and see what I can find. You guys are great!
  24. Such a lot of good suggestions! We really only know Paris (can you ever know Paris?) plus we spent a couple of weeks in Cotignac, plus I lived in Megeve for a few months in my misspent youth. We're thinking no cities, no snowy Alps, no too hot unless we have a pool (we both love the cooler climates). So I have been poking around (online, mind you) the Lot, Auvergne, and the whole Southwest in general. I feel drawn to Brittany but have never been there. We love all food, so that's a very hard thing to use as a decision point. I'd live near Aix just to eat callissons every day! Montelimar for nougat. Anywhere with good wine, cheese, honey. The smell of the garrigue entrances me. I'd like to look at vineyards and lavender fields, and some sort of water in my view would make it perfect, but we're in love with the idea of an ancient town all stony and as different from home as it can be.I'm going to research every one of the places you all have suggested! And I've really highjacked this thread - maybe a mod could cut and paste this into a new thread on Moving to France, svp?
  25. My husband shares your obsession with giant equipment, but I've never been able to figure out a use for the stuff. Next giant ladle I see, it's his. I have a deep yearning for the Maritimes, and have never been. I secretly think that if I went I wouldn't be able to leave. This after 5 years spent in Regina listening to Newfie jokes! So I'm really looking forward to your blog, and am drop dead jealous of that butcher block.
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