Four days without any commitments – it was a little luxurious!
The last five months has been hectic, chaotic, and more. Race in the door from one thing and begin working on the next, with barely anytime to stop and take stock! I had classes to run in different towns throughout the region, events to attend as a guest, study to try and keep up with, assignments to write, meetings to attend, precious family events to join in, planning to do, produce to be preserved, and a book to begin working on!
When you go away, the weather is beautiful, and the veg patch greets you with a surprise on your return!
I grow climbing beans every year, they generally produce abundantly right through autumn, they are perfect for braising in tomato sauce, but they are also fabulous pickled too.
My sisters visited recently. We had the best few day, we always get to do so much when we’re together, cramming as much as we can into the days, the hours, the minutes. Traveling from different parts of the state, they arrived on Sunday with greetings from one of the locals!
Our mornings were slow and relaxed – lots of chatting, sharing of stories, reminiscing, flicking through magazines and recipe books, and enjoying more than one cuppa together! Our afternoons and evenings were busy! Continue reading
After a fabulous day with family, and night visiting with my sister, followed by the car throwing a hissy fit, we headed out to do a little shopping before returning home.
We almost always go to Sonnie’s greengrocer when we are visiting with her – the produce isn’t always picture perfect, or as big as that in the supermarket, but it’s always packed full of flavour. Piled up on their outside display were rockmelons, and as soon as you raised one to your nose, you immediately new that the flavour was going to be amazing! I was immediately transported back to 2010, when I visted Cahors in France, where, on Saturday mornings, in Place de la cathédrale the Cahors market has taken place at the foot of the magnificent Cathedral of Saint-Etienne (a UNESCO World heritage site) for over 700 years! I have been privilieged to stroll through this market on more than one occasion, but back in 2010, I purchased a few simple items to enjoy during my stay – delicious, locally made chèvre – goat’s cheese, the freshest of strawberries, some flowers from my room, some local wine, and, of course a rockmelon – not huge like we generally find here, but small, aromatic and full of flavour – so delicious!
The month of Christmas began with appropriately themed cooking classes run throughout our district, and finished with fabulous family gatherings…
Cooking classes for kids were all about Christmas treats,
and for the adults there was a meal that was budget friendly, various Christmas dishes from around the world and, of course, the Christmas hamper.
