So it’s been nearly two weeks since I last posted because a lot’s been going on!
First I’ll tell you about Katie’s visit which was rather successful I think. She arrived on Friday morning (3rd March) bright and early on the plane and I couldn’t resist buying her a mini pain au chocolat from the bakery near the airport to say ‘welcome to France’.
On Friday afternoon, one of the highlights of the visit happened – a cookery class on how to make macaroons! Katie loves baking and she loves macaroons, and had attempted to make some at home but they didn’t go that well as they’re tricky to get right, so I decided to treat her to a lesson from a real French chef as to how to do them. Of course, I would have to accompany her and that would be nice for me too! I did nearly chicken out of booking it, doubting my French capabilities and whether I’d manage to translate what the chef was saying with all that potential specialist kitchen/meringue vocabulary, but then realised it was likely to be my only chance to do this and I should bite the bullet as a lot of it would be demonstrated anyway. There were 6 of us signed up for the lesson and all the ingredients were laid out ready and we had fun mixing, heating, piping, scraping and filling things in order to make some beautiful and tasty macaroon specimens. We made two kinds of macaroon case and four kinds of filling. As it happened the chef did do a lot of talking, but I kept up with him more or less, apart from the occasional moment when my mind drifted while involved in filling the macaroons and Katie wanted to know if he was giving any useful tips to the ladies next to us in response to their questions.
On Saturday morning we went to the marché des Lices (which I have recently learnt is the second largest market in France), to have a good browse, buy Dad some much-anticipated goat’s cheese and munch on a galette saucisse. We proceeded to wander round Rennes and the park ‘le Thabor’ where we saw some small birds trying to jailbreak and the interesting names of many varieties of rose (though of course the roses were not in bloom). Mid-afternoon we settled down to a drink and cake of the highest French standard in a lovely patisserie.
Washing machine
The latest frustration here is a broken washing machine with my clothes locked inside it! Not fun as the repair man isn’t supposed to be coming until 21st March and my clothes have been stuck in there since the 8th. The reason for the repair being that far away is that Michèle arranged it according to her availability and she's away this week. I've got to put on my best telephone French tomorrow to see if they can send someone sooner!
Birthday
This weekend just gone I had the privilege of enjoying a Saturday birthday which is always nice. I had a lie in, ate a pain au chocolat for breakfast with Manqi, opened a few cards and presents (including a card which arrived from England with no postage courtesy of my Uncle!), and phoned home. Then I had fun making spring rolls with Manqi and we went on a short bike ride too. At 5:30pm my friend Halle joined us and we chatted away while finishing preparations for the evening. From 7pm a number of my friends joined us and we ate a meal together followed by a lemon drizzle cake and butterfly buns that I’d made. I was sung to in French and Chinese and found that 24 candles on the cake took quite a bit of puff! It’s the first time in a while I’ve had as many candles as my age. My friends all got me presents which I wasn’t expecting at all and some of the kind words in the cards they’d written were really touching.
Well I’d better leave it there for now, eh?
Until next time with love,
Fiona x
....and my macaroon is where exactly? ;-)
ReplyDeleteSame question Mum and Dad were asking Rikki! Sorry to say they were all scoffed this side of the Channel, but there's talk of attempting to make them at home at some point. :)
ReplyDelete