So it's been a while...

Anyone stumbling across this blog will notice that we haven’t posted for a long, long time. We apologise for this but ultimately have decided that we needed to pursue other projects. That’s not to say that we’ll never post again but at the moment we just don’t have the time for it. It’s a shame because we have had lots of many happy memories in writing it. We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading it too.

My personal project and current blogging outlet is at The Cheese and I. This is where I have been documenting my journey through the cheese industry in France. We invite you to have a look and hope to maybe see you here again one day.

Chocolate Lime Pie

Once again, it has been far too long. I could apologise for ages and explain that Matt has started working in the caves where cheese is matured and has really started living his dream, and that I've been working hard to make this new city feel like home. I could ramble on about the fact that there are new friends here now, there has been lots of French spoken; a festival of lights; a lot of good wine; a lot of good cheese, and a surprising amount of tasty offal. 

Or, I could just say 'hey, I missed you guys, so I baked you a pie.'

Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel

We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas, with food, family, friends and cheese!

We've been a bit busy these last couple of months and have let the blog slip - Sorry about that!
We're hoping to get back on top of it with all of our news and adventures in the new year.

Matt's been working in a cheese shop in the run-up to Christmas and has been given a HUGE box of cheese as a present...

Chilli Jam

St Antonin is a smallish and rather picturesque town in the region. We dropped into the weekly market to see what the local producers had to offer. Amongst the large amount of excellent looking veg, cheese and charcuterie we spotted a stand of punnets of multicoloured chillis (picture below).

Without question, they demanded to be purchased and turned into some kind of rainbow chilli death jam.

The results were pleasing, although the end colour was a little more uniformly red than I had hoped for - guess we can't really call it rainbow death jam.

Matt and Jen are 3

Today we have been together for three years. What better way to celebrate than eggs royale on the balcony, overlooking the river in the gloriously warm French sun.

Best wishes all!

Amelie's Foie Gras

On Thursday we went to visit another local producer - Les Delices D'Amelie. This young couple have been making foie gras and other duck produce for 10 years.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when we pulled up outside Jean Luc and Amelie's little farm. Foie gras is one of those delicacies that insights a bit of an ethical furore. To be frank, I'm not certain what I think of it. From a purely gastronomic point of view, I find it very interesting (and delicious), but I am aware that the process by which it is made is not exactly pleasant for the birds. 

I don't want to put forward an argument for or against foie gras here, but I would like to share what we learned from our visit to the farm, as it helped us to make a more informed decision about what it was we were buying and eating. 

Too many apples...

This is the first of what we hope will be a number of posts detailing interesting local producers that we have visited and meals that we've arrived at subsequently.

Bacon Ice Cream

What with all the comings and goings over the last month (see the last post), I completely failed to complete this post. Now things are a little calmer and we're settling down nicely in Gaillac, I thought that I would finish and publish the details perhaps one of my proudest culinary achievements to date...

Yes, this is bacon icecream, and yes, it honestly is nice!

Gaillac

All my introductions recently seem to have started with an apology, and this one will be no different: I am sorry we have been silent (again) for such an age.

However, now we can share our reasons for it ...

WE MOVED TO FRANCE!!!!

Writing that as a fait accompli has just made me go all shivery. It's only just starting to sink in that we've left London behind us, and that we've got a whole new big, beautiful, bonkers country to make our home.

Summer Lovin'

In lieu of a recipe, here are just a few of my favourite things, this changeable July:

• Bright, ruby red nail varnish.

• Indoor summer picnics when the weather fails us. Sitting on a slightly bobbly rug with friends scooping baked camembert out of its own creamy skin with hunks of warm baguette.

• Dancing round the kitchen listening to my ipod. Tunes on repeat currently are: Lissie with Cuckoo, Eric Hutchinson with Rock and Roll, Regina Spektor with The Calculation and my old favourite-for-all-seasons, the very wonderful Delays with Hooray and The Lost Estate. These in particular are sunshine in a jar. Put them on loud and blow raspberries at the summer rain. Not to lower the tone or take away from their stunning music, but those Delays boys are pretty easy on the eye too *just saying*.

• The fact that British-grown tomatoes are now easily get-at-able. Proper tomatoey tomatoes that smell like vines and greenhouses and the promise of a great gazpacho.

• Seeing pictures of various friends and acquaintances pop up on Facebook looking beautiful as wedding season begins, and the pretty invitations that have started to come through my letterbox. Bring on the Indian summer weekends and weddings. Can't wait!

• Finally discovering the perfect ratio of sugar to fruit to liquid to make a lovely, sweet, thick crust for my fruit drizzle cakes. Plums done. Nectarines next. Recipe to come before the summer's out. Shout at me if I forget.

Tell me your favourite summer things, foodie or not. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens permissible, but discouraged!

Jen x