"Rentrée" gifts
I’m sitting searching for a new recipe for the chicken we’ll eat tonight when I hear a car draw up.
Life in the country is never predictable–especially when you hope it might be for a few quiet minutes!
The bell outside the courtyard gently rings and footsteps slowly crunch across the gravel.
I put down the cookbook and reluctantly rise to greet the visitor.
There is the lightest knock on the front door.
There stands our neighbour Alice, holding a small rectangular box with 2 kilos of her honey in it.
Honey box
She says it’s only fair she shares some with her “second pair of hands”.
Meredith helped with the recolte [harvest] of her honey on Monday.
“The honey’s runny–better keep it a plat [flat],” she says of the harvest. “there was more last year–but not bad nevertheless….”
A spoonful of the honey with a tablespoon of the organic cider vinegar from Thursday’s market will help shore up our health as the seasons change.
Of more interest to me is the small basket of tomatoes, aubergines and courgettes that Alice holds in her other hand–could make a wonderful ratatouille.
Ratatouille basket
“These are probably the last”, Alice says, “in spite of constant watering things have dried up–so enjoy these while you can”.
Too right, Alice–superb! Merci beaucoup!
(And I did nothing to deserve it!)
Talk of the season change persuades me to try the chicken cooked with dried porcini mushrooms (bought last November in Tuscany) tonight.
Recipe to follow–if we like it!
Robin Ellis 