This was yesterday's sunrise from out by the lone walnut tree among the grape vines. It was brief; soon after I snapped this shot the sun rose up behind the clouds and the color faded.
I've just realized how close Christmas is. On Saturday I'll go to the market in town and order our holiday bird. We're planning on a chapon de pintade this year, a male Guinea fowl, as the main course.
This is one of the few photos that I took of the Sées cathedral's exterior. It seems this cathedral has burned, partially collapsed, and been rebuilt numerous times over the centuries.
The weather forecast is now revised. It seems that it might not get as cold as originally predicted this week. We'll still see single digits, but won't get very close to freezing.
Still in the cathedral at Sées. The paint job certainly livens things up. I don't know if this is a reproduction of what it originally looked like or something new. It sure makes a big difference from those old cathedrals and churches whose walls are darkened by centuries of smoke (from candles, etc.) and other air pollution.
Today's our last "warm" day before a cold spell sets in. We may get down to or below freezing by the end of the week. It's Decemburrr.
This is another view inside the cathedral at Sées.Not much to "say" about it. Sées rhymes with the English word "say."
No leftovers photo today. We took a break from lamb on Saturday and had an Asian-style chicken stir-fry. We'll get back to the lamb today.
Let the leftovers begin! On Friday we ate leftover lamb roast, sliced and served cold (well, room temperature) with Ken's home-made mayonnaise, one of the classic French sauces. Along with that, we had some little boiled potatoes, also allowed to cool for serving, and the left-over Brussels sprouts served the same way. We drank Corbières, a red wine from the south, made mostly with carignan grapes.
We have at least one meal of lamb to go. Maybe a shepherd's pie. Who can say? By the way, Friday was a sunny day! It was nice to have a bright day for a change.
I managed to remember to take one photo of our dinner. It's not staged at all, just the regular jumble that our dining table always is. Still, it records the food for posterity. I didn't take a photo of the appetizer, escargots (snails) in garlic/parsley butter. It was good, especially for those who like garlic.
The rest of the meal followed and that's what's in the photo. There's the rolled leg of lamb, perfectly cooked to just the right amount of rareness. Ken roasted it in the air fryer, a first for us. Then there are Brussels sprouts, a holiday favorite, steamed until mostly done, then sliced and sautéed in butter and olive oil. The beans, French flageolets, were served hot and simply seasoned. I drank a local dry white sparkling wine and Ken drank a Mediterranean rosé with the snails. The main course was served with a local Touraine Mesland red. Tasty! Finally, dessert was the pumpkin pie that I made on Wednesday.
Happy Thanksgiving to the American crowd! I made our holiday pumpkin pie on Wednesday, the day before the holiday. The idea is that it would be done and out of the way when the rest of the meal is prepared this morning. Ken's going out early to retrieve the leg of lamb that he ordered on Tuesday.
We'll also be having some Brussels sprouts and flageolets (small green beans traditionally served with lamb in France) along side. The starter will be snails in a garlic, butter, and parsley sauce. I'll try to get some photos along the way.
