Tarte Aux Pêches

We had some peaches just reaching the perfect state of ripeness. I used four of them to make this:

The peach tarte cools on the deck.

I started, of course, with my standard crust, the pâte brisée. Then Ken peeled the peaches and I sliced them up. I arranged them in the shell on a thin layer of ground almonds.

A close up. These were white peaches, by the way.

Next, I made a custard with milk, cream, sugar, and an egg. The tart went into the oven and toward the end of baking I glazed it with a red currant glaze (made with red currant jelly). Tastes like summer!

Photo Du Jour : Cunault

Cunault is small town on the Loire River near Saumur. It's quite a drive from where we live, being west of Tours, while we are to the east. But the church there is worth a stop if you're in the area.

I love the candles in the pot on the floor.

This photo was taken in 2006 when we visited the church with our friend CHM. You can see a few more images from that day here.

Hydrangea

Our pink hydrangeas.

Hortensia, in French. This specimen grows on the north side of our house. When we first got here, it was a beautiful blue. Someone, obviously, had been feeding it the proper combination of chemicals.

Looking down from the deck, feet and all.

We don't do anything, other than prune it back every year. Consequently, it's resumed a more pinkish color. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

A closer look. Still from the deck.

Periodic Puppy Pics

When Callie gets a hold of a stick, or other chew thing, she goes into a sort of trance. Her eyes roll back in her head. Her tongue sticks out. It's fun to watch.

I love my stick!

In this photo, I caught her tongue, but her eyes had resumed a normal position. This stick is a piece of grape vine that she brought back from one of our walks.

Surfinia

Surfinia is a common variety of petunia around these parts. It's a fast grower and cascades out of its pot. This is the second year we've planted them in the window box outside the kitchen.

Surfinia.

The first batch were very dark purple, almost midnight blue in color, like the center part of the flower pictured above. This year we put in a mix: bright purple and white.

The kitchen window box.

There's another window box in the attic window just above this one, but it sits empty. Getting up to the attic to tend to a flower box is just not practical, especially since we took the attic ladder down. Weeds do tend to grow out of that box in the spring, but they dry up pretty quickly without water.

Pignons De Pin

What does one do when one has a package of pine nuts that's about to expire? One makes pine nut cookies, bien sûr!

Pignons, ready to eat!

The cookies are traditionally in the shape of little crescents, but I was lazy and just made them round. They still taste the same.

I've made them before, about a year ago (see recipe here). But this time I used a different recipe, and the cookies looked completely different. This batch called for equal parts almond flour and sugar, whereas the other recipe had them at two to one. Also, this recipe only used egg whites, while the other used whole eggs. Finally, this recipe used a cooler oven, which partly explains why my last batch burned slightly.

Live and learn!

Reach For The Sky

The vines continue to grow, but the wine-maker would rather see the plants' energy put into producing good fruit, so every few weeks he comes by and chops these shoots off.

These tall shoots are now history.

Of course, he does it in his tractor which straddles the row of vines and cuts the sides and tops into nice, neat, squared-off shapes as he drives through. Sort of like this. Here are some gratuitous thistles:

Thistles in the vineyard.