Leftovers again?

Leftovers can be better than the original meal, or at least just as good. This was yesterday's lunch, leftover choucroute garnie. In the mix was smoked palette de porc, saucisses de Strasbourg, a saucisse de Francfort made with chicken, some potatoes, carrots, turnips, and, of course, sauerkraut all served with a hot Dijon mustard. We drank a pinot-gris from Alsace. It was delicious, again!

A home-made grated carrot salad added some freshness to the meal.

Today we're having pizza. I made dough for the crust early this morning and set it aside to rise. We're planning to top the first one with a salami-like sausage made with green peppercorns and the second with sliced cured beef.

Clémentine season

The holiday season is the time of year when clémentines show up in the produce section of our markets. They're small, juicy, tangy and sweet. In a word, delicious! And they're easy to peel. They're grown in southern France, Spain, North Africa, and other places in the Mediterranean basin. I look forward to enjoying them every year.

Our first clémentines of the season!

I think the coldest of our cold spell has passed. there's snow reported in Paris, but where we live we've only had that one snow shower so far. 

Le Beaujolais nouveau et arrivé

I'm back! It's that time of year again. The "new" Beaujolais wine was released on Thursday. Ken brought a few of them home yesterday and I'm looking forward to trying one today. These aren't fancy wines, and they're not meant to be kept. Drink them young!

Two Beaujolais, two Beaujolais-Villages, one Touraine Premier, and a Bordeaux (oops!).

We had a short snow flurry event Friday morning. For about ten minutes it snowed big fat flakes. Some of it stuck to cold surfaces for a few minutes before it all melted into memory. It was pretty. More snow showers are predicted through the weekend.

Plenty o' nuttin'

That's what I got. So I'm taking a Blogger's Break (is that a thing?) today. Enjoy!

The ghost of Thanksgiving past

It's that time of year again. One week from today is Thanksgiving in the USA. We're working on what ours will look like this year. Our tradition is to roast a leg of lamb. This year we might try shoulder. Ken's going to see a local butcher today and, hopefully, place an order for next week.

Last year's roasted gigot d'agneau (leg of lamb).

This photo is from last year's meal, a boneless rolled leg served with Brussels sprouts and flageolet beans. Yum! Just FYI, we really don't need to order a gigot a week in advance. Thanksgiving is not a holiday here and lamb is normally available whenever you want it. A boned and rolled roast could take a day or two, depending on the butcher.

Baby, it's cold outside

We're down to about 3ºC this morning. Forecasts are for 1º and below as we approach the weekend. That means a freeze is possible. But, you know how it goes. The news folks get all excited about possible wintry weather and blow it out of proportion. Then nothing happens. So, we shall see.

Are we tired of leaves, yet? The show's almost over.

I got my hair cut yesterday and now I feel much better. I haven't let my hair go that long in quite a while.

Making our way

Our daily walks with Tasha are much less adventurous than they used to be. The fact is that we're all getting older. Tasha will be nine years old this spring! We rarely venture off the dirt road that runs through the vineyard parcels. When we do, it's on paths that know well and we don't go far.

The dirt road through the vineyards.

I've got an appointment to get my hair cut this morning. Ken's taking the Peugeot in for an oil change and some other little fixes. A busy day!