Savoury cake for my forgetful guest!

Wow it has been an age since I have had the time and energy to sit down and type a few words...life at the house has been its usual summer madness and as we see our guests in and out we have also been trying to fit in alongside our own busy families comings and goings...Oscar's graduation from University [a momentous day celebrated with champagne of course!] and the search for a final resting place for Amelia's last 2 years in education...to be in the U.K. for a welcome change from the rigid French system...she is over the moon! We have also been completing some of the house projects started in the spring so only now we can concentrate solely on the dailies....

As anyone knows it is easy to leave an item or two tucked in the bottom of a bed, plugged in the wall or nestled in the shower when you stay on holiday...well those of us who discover these items after the departure of the rightful owners are sailing swiftly down the motorway homeward or destination bound are left with a bit of a dilema...basically keep it or toss it!

Now there are no brainers like well loved soft toys that are definately in the keep it catergory and I have been known to call grateful parents who do a swift 'yewwy' and are soon back at the gate with an appreciative child in tow....then there was the expensive leather jacket that I spent 50 odd euros sending all the way back to Australia upon the request of the owner only for it to be lost in transit along with the money I shelled out in postage...toiletries are also complex now a days as some are worth more than a bottle of Champagne so I have also been known to send those home...kids clothes, hairbrushes, phone chargers, even an arm brace...we have done it all! We tend to bin immediately the forgotten single socks and undies...no further explanation necessary!

I do have a dedicated bag of such items in case guests return and I happen to make the connection... which miraculously I did recently when a returning family sparked a memory and I produced a pair of sunglasses out of my 'left in room box' to the delight and surprise of Cecilia, the rightful owner!

These same lovely Scottish guests have returned for a number of visits and have spread the word far and wide resulting in us hosting all manner of their family and friends...On more than one occasion I have served this Savoury Cake to them as part of the aperitifs and when asked for the recipe I wrongly made the assumption that the recipe would be on the blog already BUT NO...so time for a new post and a new recipe...AND  a new addition to my 'left in room' box as Cecilia sailed of down the road leaving her purple cardigan slung over the back of her breakfast chair! Next year!

This style of recipe made in a loaf tin is used a lot in France and the French call it 'cake'. It can be a single fruit or vegetable or a mix as I have done here...a staple of any local school function...served, of course, with a glass of Champagne...
 

FRENCH STYLE SAVOURY CAKE

1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

2. Grease a loaf tin generously with butter and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if you have them... 

3.Put 150 gm flour into a bowl with a tablespoon of baking powder...mix slightly with a whisk and make a well in the centre. Drop 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 150 gms of basic/greek yoghurt, 3 eggs, 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper and then whisk together to blend...do not overdo it but mix till just combined and smooth...

 4. Add what ever you have to hand with a mix of chopped fresh herbs, chopped peppers, halved cherry tomatoes, various cheeses...some hard, blue and goats or whatever is to hand [cut into small peices]...a small handful of stoned olives, chopped fried lardons,....and whatever else you fancy keeping in mind the final result when cut through...mix to blend just very gently...

5. Put into the loaf tin and sprinkle the top generously with slivered almonds...

6. Bake in the oven for around 30 mins..[check that is well risen and firm or put it back in for 5 more minutes]

7. Let cool on a rack till still just warm then remove from the tin carefully with a fish slice or equivalent so that the poppy seeds are still attached to the sides...

 8. Leave to cool and serve on a wooden board sliced with a bread knife...

Great to feed a crowd, part of a picnic or sliced for an aperitif...

All these special people...

So many evenings we sit late into the night in the menage after dinner chatting with our guests...exchanging views, stories and ideas and generally embracing the chance to open the window into anothers world that can often be so different to one's own. I like to think that it is of interest to others to share our experiences as we have shifted our lives from country to country gathering knowledge and wisdom as we go about what each one considers their 'normal' BUT selfishly my curiosity for hearing the tales from others and gathering their gleams of wisdom, humour and knowledge is what makes this whole experience worthwhile.

Mike and I are so often inspired by the tales shared with us by our guests as they unwind after a journey or a busy day in Champagne over a glass of wine, often basking in the glow of the BBQ embers....we are humbled, amused and enchanted by peoples life journeys and adventures that they bring to the table.

This morning I awoke early to a still house with the first rays of sun and reflected, as I often do, on the conversations of the previous evening. A quiet couple with a gentle manner and considered gestures told the story of a son, now a doctor, who went at 18 to work in an orphanage in rural Romania where children were so severely underfed and under loved that they were weighing in at 17 pounds aged five years old....it is hard to imagine this level of on going mental and physical damage to such small children on such a scale...

My lovely caring guests during one of many visits to their son at the orphanage decided to adopt one of these little boys and took him home to the UK to live as their own son. He was 4 years and 8 months old and was 'the same size as the Christmas turkey'...as the same needle was used for all of the children as they came into the orphanage Sammy had contracted polio so was unable to walk and as a result of the psychological damage done by being force fed he is still unable to swallow solid food and lives on protein drinks and small amounts of pureed food, his speech and vocabulary is limited but still increasing...

After arriving in the UK he blossomed doubling his weight in 6 months and after treatment was fitted with callipers and to his great joy finally stood upright and learnt to walk. Sammy is now 21 and loves films, music and his very special parents. This amazing couples extraordinary gesture has, undoubtably, saved Sammy from an otherwise shortened life and has given him a future.

In 2005 Mike worked on a film that was based in Bucarest in Romania and he lived there for 3 months working alongside the local crew. I went out to visit him for a short stay with baby Liliana in tow and  remember the whole experience very vividly. I found the contrast from being head down in London with a small baby such a shock. The endlessly interesting contrasting architecture...the faded beauty and glory of days gone by and the stark structures erected alongside. Funky restaurants and cafes that had a slick modern edge alongside serious poverty and visible depravation. In rural areas we saw horse and cart loaded with cabbages, potholed roads, very few cars and many wild dogs. The bright educated hard working members of Mike's art department who lived such simple lives devoid of any privilege or extravagance...the general disregard for human safety by those in charge of the local crew and the passive acceptance that this was OK...normal....a sad damaged country that intrigues me still...

After breakfast this morning as my guests headed for the south of France for a couple of weeks rest and relaxation in the sun...they left with our gracious farewells having brought to the fore memories of a place that was to one and all more than a one night stopover en route...

Summery picnics outdoors and out with the doors!

 We have residing in our house this evening a couple of wine specialists from Portland, Oregon and two lovely older British clients.....a superb summer evening where we all lingered in the garden and enjoyed the warm balmy evening... dining on picnic foods of salmon quiche, cold meats and salad followed by French cheeses and Eau de Vie drenched slow poached peaches....sipping chilled Chablis as the sun slipped behind the stone buildings....a delight...

Meanwhile Liliana has spent the long weekend practicing riding her bike on the stones...

The 2CV has been dragged out of the garage for a clean up and made its way, with the top flipped, to it's first summer brocante...

A great day out at Marcilly Sur Seine...where I picked up the most ginormous bunch of rhubarb to substitute my poor plants that are doing their best supply to demand! Try it cooked with a bit of sugar and stirring in sliced strawberries at the last minute...warm with Greek yoghurt it takes breakfast to another level...

And the building project gets ever closer to completion...down and out with the old glass doors!

A few snaps of our garden as it starts to blossom...

The clematis in full glory

Pansies and petals...

Nou Nou enjoying the early spring sun

The first roses emerge

The Garden Room framed with clematis

The wisteria makes a showing...

Herbs a plenty...chives..

Peonies bud up...a personal fav...

and look at Geoffs beautiful iris'....happy in France

The raspberries are multiplying like mad....

and the ever faithful strawberries...

Fire! Fire!

This is an unusual post but I just wanted to share a gem of advice that I was given last night!

Over a glass of wine after dinner with my lovely British guests I discovered that they both worked for the fire service...one fighting fires and one answering those dreaded 111 emergency calls from panicked callers!

An intriguing occupation that must require great patience and calm clear responses in order to get the right services to the right place as soon as physically possible while trying to gleam as much information about the situation from someone in the hot spot!  So being my usual inquisitive self I was very keen to know if there was any pattern to the main causes [and therefore preventions] of most of the calls that they went out to....and here is what you may not know but you must know!

Any electrical appliance [typically dishwashers, dryers or washing machines] that you put on just before going to bed [and who doesn't!] remains on 'standby' throughout the night after the load has finished causing it to be a sitting duck for causing a house fire...all it takes is a small internal fault and the electricity surging through the machine gets hot and bursts into flames! Smoke fills the house and unless you have working [!] smoke alarms installed you could find yourself in serious danger! NOW this may sound really dramatic but according to these seasoned experts this is, alongside arson, one of the main causes of house fires...

SO in order to prevent this from happening you should install a timer to cut the power to the said machines as soon as the cycle has finished....just like a Chrismas tree timer...simple cheap and it could save your life!

Cooking and cleaning...

Pavlova time on the eve of the arrival of a group of 8 from Sweden....a long weekend in Europe and holiday smiles everywhere...lunch and dinner tomorrow and then off to the brocante Thurs in Villevenard! Close enough to walk...ride...or cycle and the home of the fabulous Champagne Nomine-Renard it should be a fun day out...will keep you posted...

Alberto back today after going AWOL on Monday...made up for lost time by bringing his son along and now the scaffolding is all down and out and we are finally back in our room after sleeping rough in the lounge...marae style for over three weeks!! Now that is what I call progress....

Just the clean up to deal with..this is our bedroom floor!! And now onto downstairs...

Some before photos...hope to have it all finished by the end of the week...off to the Brocante!!