Asparagus and bacon

I made another asparagus tart, but this time with American-style bacon. It was good, but I think I like it with ham better. For one thing, we only had four strips of bacon left, so there was less meat in the tart than usual.

Each bundle is made by wrapping four cooked asparagus spears with a strip of blanched bacon.

I blanched the bacon strips in water to pre-cook them before wrapping the spears. Then the exposed bits of the bacon got nice and brown and crispy in the oven. The original recipe for the tart called for parma ham or prosciutto to wrap the bundles of asparagus. That was good, but we like the plain ham version that we do now better.

Threatening skies

This sky might look threatening, but it's completely benign. It was Thursday morning's view as I walked Callie through the vineyard. But the news from the US is troubling, with all the storms they've been having in the South. Scary stuff, indeed.

What our sky looked like around eight in the morning on Thursday.

I know that weather is not climate, but you have to think that the warming and general climate change we're experiencing is having an effect on the weather. Sometimes it's heat waves, sometimes it's snowstorms, sometimes it's hurricanes, and sometimes it's tornadoes. And sometimes it's even just normal weather.

I also know that there are more people living in more places where not many people used to live. Couple that with instant media, twenty-four hour news cycles, and the fact that everyone has a camera. The result is that anything and everything is recorded and on television and the internet almost instantly.

So there you go. I know that the few people I know in the areas hit by the recent tornadoes are ok. That's good. It's still scary, though.

Out with the old...

...and in with the new. Roses that is. There are several rose bushes around the house that I dutifully prune each winter. This isn't one of them. I let this one go all winter without pruning it and now it's full of buds and roses. Last year's hips are still visible here and there.

A pink rose is ready to open up next to last year's remains.

I suppose I will trim it back again next winter because it's getting too tall and leggy. But I kind of like the wild look it has right now.

Now that the painting is mostly done, there are plenty of other chores that need tending to. The grass needs cutting. There's a pile of dirt at our neighbors' house that they said we could use to finish filling in our ditch, so we have to go and move it. There are vegetable seedlings that need tending. Then there are the garage and utility room which need their spring cleaning.

And there's lunch to make.

A good time was had by all

Yesterday we had English friends Jean and Nick over for lunch. The weather cooperated beautifully and we were able to spend the whole afternoon out on the deck. We were so busy preparing and serving and eating and drinking that I didn't take any pictures until the cheese course came out.

Clockwise from left: heart-shaped Neufchâtel, St.-Nectaire, tomme blanche, and Valençay.

The meal was darned good, if I do say so myself. We started with Ken's home-made duck breast prosciutto and some saucisson sec. The first course was zucchini balls (grated zucchini, onion, ginger, hot chilis, and kafir lime leaves with chickpea flour formed into balls and deep-fried) served with a spicy curry-style sauce.

The main course was a rabbit and prune stew that Ken made accompanied by my home-made rice-a-roni. After that we had the cheese. Dessert was rhubarb crumble in a tart shell with rhubarb from our garden.

All was happily washed down with a selection of local wines. Great company, great food, great fun!

La pivoine

The peonies in the back yard are starting to bloom now. Each year, when they begin to poke up through the rubble of winter, I know it's time to clean up the flower beds. The plants grow up for a few weeks before producing these large flower buds.

One of the peony buds just about to open.

Then, almost suddenly, the deep red flowers appear. They're of such a dark red color that it's hard to photograph them and capture it well. We have two clumps of pivoine, one of which we moved to a new location in the first years we were here. Now I'm thinking it's time to divide the other larger clump, so I might do that this fall after they die back.

Our neighbor the French guy

The first people we met in our neighborhood eight years ago are an older couple who own the house across the road from us. It's their summer house. Their main house is in Blois, about a forty-five minute drive from us. Bernard and Maryvonne spend July and August here, but also many weekends during the spring and fall. They've been here all week this past week getting the house ready for a big family Easter gathering today.

Bernard doesn't know I took this photo of him working in his yard. I love the straw hat!

Over the winter they had the main room of their house completely redone. New walls, stripped and refinished beams and floor tiles, and new electrics. The guy who did the work actually stayed at the house during the week for the past few months. Now the work is done and they're putting the room back together. It serves as both the living room and dining room.

They both spend a lot of time in their large yard and garden. Bernard sits on his tractor mowing for several hours each week. Maryvonne waters the flowers and herbs and picks raspberries, plums, and red currants through the season. They're both very nice people and have been very welcoming and friendly with us through the years.

Bernard is eighty-one years old this month. Maryvonne is a few years younger. I hope I'm able to get around and do the kinds of things they can do if I'm lucky enough to make it into my eighties!

It's that time of year again

Asparagus season. April and May are when our local asparagus is in its full glory. The local stuff is white, which means that the shoots are covered with dirt and not allowed to see the sun. They don't develop chlorophyll, and that keeps them from turning green.

The first, and hopefully not the last, asparagus tart of the season.

One of our favorite dishes to make this time of year is the asparagus tart. It's cooked spears of asparagus wrapped in slices of ham and baked in a cheesy egg custard inside a pie shell. Pure heaven!

I got some asparagus from the market last week at five euros a kilo. Then I found some at the supermarket for three-fifty a kilo. And those were just as local, from Châtillon-sur-Cher, not far down the road from us. A much better, and more normal, price in my opinion.

The painting is going well. On Friday I began the top-coat painting by doing all the corners and edges around the doors and moldings. Today I will be rolling the walls proper. I'm hopeful that the first coat will be the last, given how much priming we did. Wish me luck!