More roofs and chimneys

These are on the Château de Chaumont, seen from inside the castle's courtyard. I was pointing the camera nearly into the sun, which is why the light is a little funky.

I think the chimneys are particularly ornate.

Most of the trees on our property have now dropped all their leaves. We've got to get outside and get them up before they begin to rot on the ground. Joy.

Some of you asked for a couple of the recipes from our Thanksgiving meal. I wish I had photos of everything I made to go along with them. Here's the first, for the caramelized onions we served with the duck pâté. It's more a technique than a recipe, so you can mess around with the ingredients to your liking.

Confit d'oignions au miel (onion preserves with honey)

• 300 g white onions (I used standard yellow onions)
• 100 g honey
• 25 cl white wine vinegar or cider vinegar (I used about 2/3 of this amount)
• zest of one lemon
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 cloves (or 1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground cloves or allspice)
• 1 small red chili pepper (or 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Peel and thinly slice the onions. Slice chili pepper.

In a saucepan, bring to a boil the vinegar, honey, cloves, chili pepper, and lemon zest. Add the onions and salt and let them cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and let cook another 30 minutes, or until the most of the liquid is gone. Don't let the onions brown. Let cool completely before serving.