Cake of kings

Well, maybe not. But it is a king cake. The word "cake" is not accurate. It's really a pastry called une galette in French. The dictionary describes a galette as a flat, round, flour/starch based cake or crepe. The word comes from galet, meaning a rounded stone polished smooth by waves or running water.

The finished galette. It rose nicely.

I made the puff pastry on Tuesday by wrapping a flattened block of butter inside a simple dough made with flour, water, and salt. The dough block then got folded over itself six or eight times, with half-hour rests in between each fold. The folding creates thin layers of flour and butter that, when baked, rise into a flaky pastry. I rolled the finished dough and cut two disks. I spread an almond frangipane (a mixture of ground almonds, butter, and an egg) in the middle of one disk, topped that with some blueberries, added the little ceramic fève (prize) and covered it all with the second disk, sealing the edges with an egg wash. Finally, I made designs on the top with a knife and brushed on the remaining egg wash before baking it in a hot oven.

We each had a slice yesterday evening, but neither of us found the prize in our piece. Maybe today when we have more. I'll try to take a photo of the sliced cake later so you can see what it looks like inside.

Yellow and red

Naturally occurring color is all around in us in the middle of winter. Even when everything seems brown and dormant, there is still a lot of vibrancy out there. The yellow in this photo comes from the stems of osier (wicker) which grows wild on the edges of the vineyard near where little streams run. The red looks like a wild blackberry plant that's held on to some of its leaves.

Lots of autumn leaves remain on the trees and plants partly because we've had no freeze yet this season.

Today is the epiphany on the Catholic calendar and, in France, the tradition is to eat une galette des rois (cake of the three kings). The cake is made with puff pastry, stuffed with almond frangipane, and a little fève (bean). When the cake is sliced, the person whose slice contains the fève is crowned king for the day. Store-bought cakes come with a golden cardboard crown for the occasion. I made my own puff-pastry and will assemble and bake our cake today.

Cast not your pearls

Water droplets adorn this winter branch like so many pearls. Or maybe like holiday lights on a tree. When I took this photo and saw it on the camera's little screen, I thought, oh well, not very interesting. I felt the same way when I saw it on the larger computer screen. But I messed around with it a little in Lightroom, cropping out the edges to start, then adjusting light and color. I still don't think it's as good a shot as it might be, but I like the effect. Or at least the idea of it.

The only "swine" in these parts is the occasional wild boar.

I think that the high pressure systems that kept us warm and dry through much of the fall have broken down. We're getting waves of unsettled weather (meaning rain squalls) and the temperatures, while still above normal, are less unusual. But we have yet to have a freeze.

Monday macros

Callie and I ended up in the piney woods the other day during our morning walk. As the needles fall from the trees, a lot of them get caught on branches before hitting the ground. They look as if they're sitting there deliberately, straddling the branches, enjoying the view.

Just hanging around, 100mm (macro), f/2.8, 1/200s, ISO 6400.

We watched the finale of "Downton Abbey" last night. I understand that the final season just started in the US, so I won't tell what happened. Except to say this: the end was a bit sappy. It's hard to believe the series started six years ago. In France, it started in December 2011. We were a year behind. But the series became very popular and they got us caught up so that we saw the last couple of seasons pretty much at the same time that they aired in the UK, and before they aired in the US. And now we're done.

By the way, we have the option to watch many foreign programs (especially movies) in their original language, with French subtitles. For us, there's really no point in watching an English-language film or television program dubbed into French. Likewise, we watch French films and television in French. The original language and, by extension, the original actors' voices are always better.

Tut tut

We're expecting rain and wind to move in this morning. It's supposed to be wet most of the day. Saturday was sunny and nice all day, so we can't complain. And, while the temperatures are dropping a little, we're still above normal for this time of year. That means no snow for us.

The smallest, wispiest canes will be removed this winter.

This is one of a few grape vines that have been trained against the wall of the old storage building out in the vineyard. They do produce grapes (I'm not sure what variety), but they're only harvested (as a snack) by people walking past and by the wildlife. Still, the vineyard workers prune it every year along with the other vines.

It's not over 'till it's over

Today I'll put Christmas away. The tree will be undecorated and all the baubles and lights will be packed away for another year. I used to do this on New Year's Day each year because I usually had to go back to work the following day (except in years like this one, where the following day is a weekend day). I've never been one for leaving the tree up into the new year.

A communications tower disappears in the morning fog out beyond the vineyards.

But the holidays are not over. We have the Epiphany coming up next week and I will make puff pastry for the traditional galette des rois (Three Kings cake). Then in February it will be time for crêpes, the traditional food for la chandeleur (Candlemas). By then, spring will be in sight.

Friday fifties

Bonne année 2016 !

The dawn of a new year, 50mm, f/8.0, 1/125, ISO 125.

Live long, and prosper.