Slowly but surely the Christmas decorations are coming down. Angus will prevaricate and leave the tree until last. Taking down and repacking the baubles is a particularly irksome task. Sophie has got used to trotting upstairs for dinner by candlelight in the dining room. After tonight it will be back to eating downstairs in the kitchen or the library.
Any time Angus goes to the local pharmacy he can be sure to find a group of locals discussing their most intimate symptoms with the pharmacist and the people around them in the queue. This willingness to share is a surprise to Anglo Saxons. You'd think ,based on this enthusiasm for all things medical, that the French would be racing ahead with their vaccine roll out. Not a bit of it. By late last week , while the UK has done more than a million jabs, France had managed a grand total of exactly 100. 'The Font' phones the local health centre to find out when the vaccines will make it to our little corner of paradise. ' I've no idea. You're the first to ask ' comes the less than reassuring response from the weekend receptionist.
Sophie spent much of yesterday afternoon in the kitchen watching and waiting while a Galette des Rois makes it's way into and then out of the oven. There is pastry as a treat. Sophie is currently exuding extreme contentment . What's not to like about a dancer with a baby elephant? Having said that the man and the giraffes at the 1.20 mark will be difficult to beat in the 2021 smile championships. Angus has discovered that the song he heard for the first time yesterday is actually a big cultural thing :https://youtu.be/-VDZ8yxxssY?t=19
This version with the Nairobi Governor may also be a candidate in the 2021 smile championship :https://youtu.be/n-c48rzOWwc?t=207
9 comments:
We always used to dine by candlelight in winter. I don't know why we stopped.
The galette du roi looks professional. Is there anything the Font can't do? (Of course, not--silly question!)
I went to Zimbabwe a few years after its independence. Rode an overnight train in 4th class--eye-opening in more ways than one. It was a beautiful country. But my heart is in Kenya. I looked up the Nairobi governor and he seems to be emulating a mix of Trump and rappers. He has his own branded fleet of firetrucks and ambulances. (We used to debate about where to sit in the minivans and covered pickups known as matatus--in the back would be safer in a head-on collision, but you might die slowly, waiting for rescue, whereas getting a front seat is likelier to result in instant death.) Not good for governance--in fact he was impeached.
Wgat better way to fight impeachment than appear in a music video. Man of the people stuff . An idea for DC spin doctors to file away until it's needed.
Inca is so jealous that Sophie is getting some pastry flakes, and is wondering why her human is not clever enough to make such a beautiful Galette des Rois. She has no chance of any traditional Christmas cake either - all that fruit is not dog friendly - even to a Labrador with a cast-iron stomach.
Your dining room look so romantic. We only tend to use candles when there is a power cut!
Nothing like a table of lit candles for warming up a room on a dark, cold, windy night.
For years, I have wanted to make a Galette des Rois, but been daunted by the three pages of instructions. When I looked up a translation to English for "Jerusalem," I found several versions of the song, but not the quasi-political one you noted! The US vaccine rollout, is of course, muddled....Nevertheless, the sky is a clear blue and the sun is out, and our 15 year old pooch is still with us. Not a bad start for a Sunday, in a pandemic, with a mad man at the helm (for a short while yet).
Hari OM
One of the reasons I now minimise decorating is the undecorating that has to be faced later. Mind you, this year, it will take precisely five mintues. The cards to the recycling, the tree beneath the spare bed. Bish bash bosh. YAM xx
I turned up the volume and danced...my foot is still tapping.
My Galettes never look like that. Is it possible that you might share the recipe? Happy New Year.
Without you, I never would have heard of Jerusalema, which has apparently become a new world phenomenon! Thanks for the enlightenment!
Oh, one of these days I will try to make such a beautiful Galette. I'm afraid the Font has many, many years of experience that I could only hope to achieve.
Happy New Year to all of you. Just spotted the recipe for Galette des Rois as I flicked through the January pages of my 2021 Almanac, yours looks delicious so must give that a try.
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