Here's the finished linguini with white clam sauce that we devoured enjoyed on Sunday\. I was just getting ready to take it to the table when I remembered to take a photo, so it's not staged, it's not perfect. Just a quick snapshot.
I woke up to rain this morning. It's only 6.5ºC (about 44ºF) outside, so there's no threat of snow. Still, it's going to be a quick, cold, and wet walk with Tasha when the sun comes up in about an hour.
This is the receipt for the clams I got on Saturday. SARL stands for Société à responsabilité limité (Limited Liability Company). Gump is the name of the company (probably the owners' last name. They're located in a town called La Jarne, a coastal town just south of La Rochelle in the Charentes Maratime. Sales person ID (V6). Ticket number. Date and time of sale. Scale number. I'm not sure what the "PLU" means. Units used. Item (in this case, cockles disgorged, without sand, although there was some residual sand that came out when Ken fed the clams some cornmeal). The details (weight, price per kilo, cost in euros). Number of items. Total cost. Cash, 21.92 (although that's wrong because I used a debit card). Tax information. Thank you, and see you soon!
...to pick up the clams. I'm headed into town this morning to pick up the coques that I ordered last week. While I'm gone, Ken will make some sea water substitute so we can let the little clams cleanse their digestive tracts. He adds cornmeal to the mix to give them something to eat and some flavor.
We'll let the clams hang out in their "sea water" over night out on the deck. It's cold out there and they'll enjoy it. I hope. We'll cook them tomorrow. They probably won't enjoy that.
I woke up this morning to the roof creaking in the wind. It's going to be blustery all day today, with intermittent rain showers. Better than that monster storm they're talking about in the eastern US this weekend. Although a small part of me is kind of jealous. But a big storm like that would cripple most of France. They're just not able to handle snow and ice on that level. Be thankful for what you have. Or don't, in this case.
We're still planning on getting clams on Saturday. Maybe a photo op?
In a way, it's a good thing. "Nothing much happening" applies to the bad as well as the good. Still, the weather is boring. Not freezing, not warm, very wet and somewhat windy. Walks with Tasha are shorter on the coldest, darkest, and wettest days. The holidays are done -- except for la Chandeleur (Candlemas) in February, an excuse for a whole country to eat crêpes. We're both dealing with health issues that are not very serious, but are annoying nonetheless. Not much can be done about outdoor work right now. We're waiting for the landscape guy and his crew to trim the hedges and do the other pruning and trimming we asked for. The television news is bizarre or boring and, more often than not, both. Wet January is not a wonderful time for local sight seeing.and travel farther afield is just not in the cards right now.
So, with not much going on, there's not much to blog about. I am enjoying watching the Australian Open on tv (tennis season is back!). The days are getting longer, our clocks will "spring ahead" in two months time.
