Moss, mincemeat and mistletoe

Bonjour from the Tarn

I hope you have all had a lovely week and your Christmas plans are taking shape? Is time going extra fast at the moment? The weeks seem to whizz by. We’ve had some beautiful sunrises and sunsets here this week – quite stunning and really makes me appreciate the beauty of nature, but also very inspiring.

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We have finally bought the Christmas tree and started putting up decorations and lights. Lots more for the kittens to play with, all very exciting for them. Every now and again they get tired and if I sit down with them, suddenly all 4 are on my lap purring away and trying to find a space. It is so sweet and very therapeutic. Looks like they are all here to stay. I even had help with the blog post this week.

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Max cleaned off the covered terrace roof last weekend and kindly dislodged a lot of lovely moss – perfect for the front door wreath. The door however is not yet repaired or painted, but is on the job list for the New Year. I have collected holly, ivy and mistletoe from the garden to decorate the house – we may even be organised by Christmas!

Today was vet appointment day. The kittens do not like the pet carriers AT ALL. Nina tried to break out and Raoul literally tried to climb the walls to avoid going in. He is quite a parkour expert! They were, of course, absolute model kittens at the vets, vaccinations done, they are all healthy and weigh between 2kg (Anya – still the baby) and 2.75kg (Raoul – the biggest but most timid of the 4). All safely home again.

This week we have continued to work in the garden as the rain stopped and it was slightly less cold. I have finished planting my bulbs – and finally planted our wedding hydrangea. I have also managed to dig over the potager ready for 2021’s crops. I may try to put some sweet pea and broad bean seeds in before Christmas for an earlier crop next year. As I mentioned, Max has been up on the covered terrace roof, cleaning off the leaves and moss, and repairing some damaged tiles. When it is very cold, the moss can freeze and damage the tiles which we want to avoid – a tip from our builders. We also took delivery of our winter logs, so spent an afternoon moving them and stacking them ready for use. Great exercise. The log man kindly took his chainsaw to a tree that had fallen across our driveway, more wood for the fire, but we kept a couple of chunks to use in the garden as they are so beautiful. A future project – maybe as legs of a bench.

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I had a bit of a disaster this week and managed to bash the car. I was crossing a very narrow bridge and half way across was confronted by a van whose driver didn’t want to reverse so hassled me to do so. No problem – I have done it many times. However this time as the driver seemed in such a rush I went a little fast, misjudged the bit that widens out and hit the wall. Oops. So annoying. The guy in the van thought it was very funny and drove off. I hope he got wherever he needed to get to in such a rush so it was worth it. It is the first time I have ever had an accident. I am quite cross with myself. Now we need to get the car fixed – another thing to add to the list.

Back to Christmas

Christmas baking is underway – all rather late this year but never mind. The Christmas cake is not vegan, I have to confess, but I am about to make a small vegan version to try it out. We love mince pies so these are next. Vegan versions are very easy, especially if you cheat a bit and buy ready-made pastry with no dairy ingredients to make a quick batch. Mincemeat is hard to find here so I have gone back to making my own. I have found the most delicious and easy vegan mincemeat recipe that I have adapted a little. It tastes great immediately but obviously better if made a little in advance. We are trying small batches with a different liqueur in each – so far Grand Marnier, the neighbours’ eau de vie Mirabelle and for a real experiment a batch with a coffee liqueur. When we got married in September we made a café gourmand for pudding (usually a selection of miniature puds plus an espresso) but for a twist served it with espresso martinis. We had huge difficulty finding coffee liqueur but eventually found a tequila based coffee liqueur, Patron XO Café. Oh my goodness, if you have never tried this you must! It is absolutely delicious. As for coffee flavoured mincemeat – we will see. Tasting results next week.

My son asked if we would consider a vegan Christmas so Max and I have agreed to do a vegan Christmas Day. I have to confess that we are still having capon, but going very French and having it on Christmas Eve instead. The capon comes from a local farm so it ticks my box for knowing where it comes from and how it was raised.

The tradition here in France is to celebrate on Christmas Eve. Food is very important and the meal on Christmas Eve or Le Reveillon is a huge feast. Whilst many families celebrate on Christmas Day now, traditionally Christmas Eve was the main event. The meal for that evening normally consists of foie gras, oysters, or escargots to start, followed by a bird–often a capon, cheese of course and the grand finale a bûche de Noël (Yule log). There are also often lots of other treats like chocolates, dried or glace fruits and nougat, and of course fabulous wines to help each course.

I am not sure we will be eating quite so much on Christmas Eve, but we will be celebrating – it’s our 2^nd Christmas here.

The official end of the Christmas season in France is the Fête des Rois, or the Three Kings’ Day (Epiphany). This is celebrated with a special cake called the galette des rois. This is made with flaky pastry and filled with frangipane. Traditionally there is a fève (a tiny figurine or bean) hidden inside and whoever gets the slice with the fève is crowned king or queen for the day. Nowadays the cake is usually sold with a paper crown for just that purpose.

I have produced vegan Christmas meals for a couple of years now, alongside the more traditional dishes so I have a few ideas. It will be so much simpler just cooking one meal rather than two. Last year Alex made a pastry wreath stuffed with mushrooms and rice which we really enjoyed but Max loves nut roast, so we will probably make that. I have also seen a different recipe for a butternut squash stuffed wreath. Choices, choices. Chestnuts are hugely popular here, and with us, so they are a must. All this Christmas food talk is making me hungry. Time for coffee and chocolatines.

In spite of missing family this year, I am looking forward to a few days relaxing and hopefully spending a bit more time with the kittens, and my son and Max of course!

Enjoy your preparations. Stay safe and see you next week – on Thursday instead of Friday.

A bientôt

Ali xx