Rosies Baked Camembert

Buy a Camembert,a proper one from Normandy, remove the cheese and soak the box in water , now you have two choices, there are those that say Camembert doesn't need any herbs, but I like to add Basil, Garlic and Black Pepper, to do this I slice the cheese in half add the herbs and spices, put the cheese back together, put it back in the soaked box and bake for ten minutes at 200c. Gorgeous served with a baguette.

Used without permission but with full credit to its author "GET REAL IN FRANCE" an excellent blog that I'm reading.

Having a baby in France

You think for the first time in your life that it is okay to get fat and you can eat what you want?! Ma chérie, we are en France , the answer is non:

* Replace all sugar with canderel products.
* Honey, nougat, biscuits, bonbons, chocolate bars, ice cream are forbidden
* You can have a dessert on a Sunday but only a "demi-portion" (half a portion)
* Fruit ( with sugar ) is not allowed
* Fruit juices and fizzy drinks are off the menu
* Do not eat for two.
* Do not drink for two , although a few glasses of wine is ok.
* Do not put on more than 10 kilos ( so what happens if you put on more, are you supposed to go on a diet? I asked my doc. The answer ? Oui! )

Never ever wear trousers. You must wear skirts at all times.

Do not change sexual partners during your pregnancy ("Do people have sex when they're pregnant?!" I wondered). This rule applies to the father also!
(A free test is allowed for the father to ensure he does not have any infectious diseases as picked up from other partners!)

Do not wear knickers

If you feel hungry, replace food with sex ( with the father of the child , see above). This will help you not to put on too much weight. Not surprisingly, pregnancy in France is called "La Grossesse" : The Fatness!!!

So , as you can see, my gyno , along with everyone else in France is obsessed with weight and sex!

1966 prediction of the home computer

Rosies Chicken Soup

Roast chicken for Sunday lunch, but what would you do with the bones or any left over vegetables? A lot of people would throw them in the bin, such a waste! My chickens have had a good life at Half Acre Farm, they deserve to be put to good use.
Fry a chopped onion, a carrot and a garlic clove in a saucepan, fry till the onion is soft, add your chicken carcass and water ( I cheat and add a chicken stock cube as well) and a diced potato, add a little dried coriander and bring to the boil and simmer till the potato is cooked, remove the carcass and strip any bits of meat and put the meat into the soup, add any vegetables (if any, but I wouldn't add sprouts!) left over from the roast, blend then adjust the seasoning. Simple warming soup,

Feeding time.

Sunday morning, I had a bit of a lie in, so I'm feeding the animals a little late, its like they were starving.

Time for a change.

A lot of my chicks are getting old, time for some changes, I'm going to start culling my chickens, I've got a pretty mixed bunch here, most were bought as meat chickens, then stayed as layers, but they are getting on a bit, so most of my chickens are going through the mincer, some may go into my slow cooker.

After Christmas I'm buying three Road Island Reds for eggs, and all other chickens will be for meat. I'm also going to get rid of a lot of Bantams only keeping my white ones, they do look so nice.

Fire Salamander

Driving home from dinner with friends in Guer I noticed this crossing the road, it looks like a Fire Salamander, but I thought they lived further south than Brittany.

I told Paul to stop the car

Fire salamanders have a rubbery skin through which they can exclude a toxic alkaloid called Samandarin which in high concentrations can cause high blood pressure and muscle convulsions so it's best to avoid handling them.

Cheese biscuits

Following a recipe I did before I've made these.

The only difference is I put the sesame seeds on top after, rather than mixing them in, makes a better appearance. For the recipe go here

Remembrance Day - The Last Post

For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

The Fallen, Laurence Binyon, 1914

Eyetest