Feeling like Christmas

At last the village Christmas lights are up and lit! We took a walk around town and checked them all out last evening.

Okay, so there's no snow yet, but the temperatures have finally dropped and with the lights on the streets and in the windows of the various shops (particularly great job by Didier and Mireille Antonio, our good friends and local butchers) it really IS beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Today is the annual, national Telethon, which is to fund research for various neuro-muscular diseases. There are events in almost all the villages and our market has a special Telethon table doing a bake sale. Tonight is a dinner at the Municipal Theater and there are song contests, etc. happening throughout the day.

This is a surefire precursor to Christmas, as are all the various "tombolas" and the firemen coming around to get donations in exchange for their annual calendar. It's all great fun and the mood in the village is picking up and getting into that holiday spirit.

On Monday I'm heading into Carcassonne to check out what's happening there, although I should probably leave my wallet at home, just to keep temptation away.

Have a wonderful weekend and get that Christmas cheer on!

Ciao for now.

Randy

Celebrating Life

What with the loss of Pepete this week, and the realization that we're once again entering the holiday season, I came up with a cunning plan.

Why are do we only appreciate our friends when something goes wrong? When we realize they are ill or we get together over a tragedy? There are so many people in our lives whom we like but don't really make time to see, that is a mistake we often live to regret.

I decided, therefore, to introduce a good old-fashioned American custom to our little Possum Kingdom; we're having a holiday pot-luck with the neighbors. At first, I was hesitant, because if you invite this one, do you invite that one? Will the people you don't invite be offended? But, I realized that those thoughts would only lead to total inaction. I felt that if the the "theme" was to get together with the neighbors, then it should only be close neighbors for this particular gathering.

Therefore, others of our friends just have to be left out. We will, I hope, all find another occasion to gather that group together.

I wasn't sure when I started this that it would be an idea that would appeal to people, because except for events like the party we had for the authors in the short story collection, most folks aren't really used to the pot-luck concept. Sure, if you go to someone's house you bring something, but mostly the inviter has a menu all planned out. I like the idea of the pot-luck, because one person isn't left with all the work and expense and can therefore invite more people.

The idea seems to have gone over well with the neighbors, luckily. First, I think that they like the thought of being able to relax and have a longer conversation than what we tend to do in the street. And, with the cold weather setting in, people just don't see each other the way we do in the summer when we're all sitting around outside so much more.

And, we do have a number of widowed men and women on our street who spend a lot of time alone in their homes. I was truly pleased to see that being invited to something like this really seemed to make them happy.

We won't be a huge crowd, but a manageable 20 or so; just enough to mingle nicely and have plenty of good conversation.

I really encourage my readers to see if something like this won't work with your neighbors; maybe we can start a movement.

Ciao for now.

Randy

Goodbye, Pepete

This afternoon, practically the entire village gathered to say goodbye to Pepete, José Montoro. We met at the monument to the dead and stood there, solemnly, waiting for the cortege to bring him on his final journey.

Even the weather was gray and sad, bearing witness to the sense of loss felt by everyone in Chalabre.

For JM and me, this was a new experience. I had only ever been to one funeral before, when my father passed away. JM has never been to one at all. I suppose this is an odd thing, given our ages, and now, all to sadly, I don't believe this will be our final one.

We weren't sure what to expect, and thought the entire thing was done with great dignity. The mourners all filed into the churchyard, following the hearse. Then, we filed past the Pepete to pay our last respects to him and his family

This has been a very difficult year for the Montoros; one of Pepete's sisters passed away only 6 months ago. Now we are all worried about his sister Anna, because her health is not the best to begin with and she is, quite clearly, taking this very hard indeed.

All of us join together to pray for Pepete and the rest of the Montoro family, in this their time of loss.

Randy

Shopping for food

I decided to make an American soup recipe yesterday and I was struck by the ingredients list. Things that were needed to follow the recipe exactly: cheddar cheese soup, half-and-half, cheddar cheese, are either not available in France at all (cheddar cheese soup, half-and-half) or are hard to find (cheddar cheese), at least in our region. It's possible that some things might be available in a big city like Paris.

At any rate, I thought it would be fun to compare ingredients that are exotic in one place and common in another:

Common in the States, virtually impossible or not available in France:

Cheddar cheese
Velveeta
Cheddar Cheese soup
canned pumpkin
sweet potatoes (available but hard to find)
Fresh cranberries (although I've now found frozen and canned)
baking chips other than chocolate
cream of tartar (some pharmacies might be able to order it for you, or else you can buy it from professional baking supply stores in ENORMOUS quantities)
creamed corn
half-and-half
Philadelphia cream cheese (the French ones I've tried aren't the same)
Cottage cheese (a specialty item not available everywhere)
Powdered buttermilk (even "regular" buttermilk, called "lait ribot" here, is not always available)
Corn syrup

Okay, I know there are more things I've probably looked for, but I have Sunday morning brain.

Here's a list of cool French stuff that would be exotic in the U.S.

Gesiers (duck/chicken gizzards-- better than they sound)
Sausage and patés of animals no American would ever eat
Close to 400 cheeses (except cheddar) that go from mild to able to attack you in a dark alley.
Duck and goose fat for cooking
Foie gras (I know, no longer PC in the States)
Cassoulet in cans
Confit de canard in cans
Dozens of varieties of potatoes, each with their own taste and texture
Moroccan foods
I don't know how many varieties of ham
Almost impossible to talk about pastries and desserts. The dairy dessert case in any major supermarket is almost overwhelming in its variety.
Much larger variety of organic products, easily available in regular outlets.
Fritons (regional specialty: fried duck skin that, again, sounds disgusting but is seriously addictive!)

Things that I found odd at first, but got used to:

Most milk in the supermarket is UHT, in my village in particular, I can't always get the regular kind.
Same thing with cream; mostly UHT. Although there are various thicknesses and textures of créme fraiche, which is not as sour as sour cream, but has a definite "cultured" taste.
Eggs are usually not refrigerated.
Generally stores stock less quantity of an item than in the U.S., so sometimes they'll run out of the thing that you absolutely MUST have.

This is getting long and it's time to make lunch. I'll add to it when I think of new stuff.

Ciao for now.

Randy