Wednesday, January 06, 2016

Yellow and red

Naturally occurring color is all around in us in the middle of winter. Even when everything seems brown and dormant, there is still a lot of vibrancy out there. The yellow in this photo comes from the stems of osier (wicker) which grows wild on the edges of the vineyard near where little streams run. The red looks like a wild blackberry plant that's held on to some of its leaves.

Lots of autumn leaves remain on the trees and plants partly because we've had no freeze yet this season.

Today is the epiphany on the Catholic calendar and, in France, the tradition is to eat une galette des rois (cake of the three kings). The cake is made with puff pastry, stuffed with almond frangipane, and a little fève (bean). When the cake is sliced, the person whose slice contains the fève is crowned king for the day. Store-bought cakes come with a golden cardboard crown for the occasion. I made my own puff-pastry and will assemble and bake our cake today.

7 comments:

  1. I don't know if is related to epiphany, but my partner went out for lunch today with friends to a seaside town. Maybe it is called the blessing of the cross, a Greek tradition. They saw a cross is thrown in the water from the town pier and all these Greek lads dive into the water to retrieve the cross, one winning the prize cross. My partner seems hot and bothered this evening. Not sure why.

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  2. Those are definitely striking colors. We celebrated on Sunday with our neighbors. It was fun but I didn't get to be king.

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  3. Hope your galette is yummy :)
    Lovely photo :)

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  4. Love to eat cake of # kings never have eaten it

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  5. I am looking forward to pics of your galette! This photo today is wonderful. I really appreciate what you see.

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  6. Oh, a home-baked version. And I forgot to buy a little one for myself today. The photo is beautiful. And they say winter is gray and ugly.

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  7. andrew, it's a mystery.

    stuart, sometimes it's not good to be the king.

    judy, it was pretty tasty!

    gosia, maybe you can make one?

    christine, thanks. Cake is now posted. :)

    mitch, yes! The good bakery varieties here are way too pricey and the supermarket galettes are often sub-par.

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