Beef Burgundy

After a blustery night yesterday morning began with thunder, lightning and hail. Then it snowed and snowed and snowed. In fact it’s still coming down. Today I’m grateful for the fact that my son and daughter-in-law arrived safely at Disneyland well before the storm hit. If they hadn’t left when they did, they might not have made it at all. I’m glad that I have a big garage attached to my house with a remote-controlled door so I can open the door, drive right in and close the door behind me without ever having to walk out into the storm. I’m thankful for the fire in my fireplace, for thick warm socks on my feet and for a mug of hot chocolate at my elbow. And yes, I’m even grateful for the snow. It was easy to take such things for granted in England, but when you live in a desert you learn to appreciate any precipitation that falls.

Poulet Roti

Poulet Roti is French for roast chicken. French cuisine is all about doing amazing things with pretty humble ingredients. To make a great roast chicken the way the French do it, wash and dry a very fresh roasting chicken. Rub coarse salt and fresh ground pepper inside and out. Truss the chicken (If you don’t know how, I’m sure there are how-to videos on YouTube) and fill the cavity with half a peeled onion, half a lemon, and a sprig each of fresh rosemary and thyme. Gently lift the skin from the breast and insert about a tablespoon of butter on either side. Put the bird in a roasting pan with about a cup of chicken broth or white wine (non-alcoholic works, too). Roast at 375 F for 30 minutes. Turn up oven to 450 and cook about 25 more minutes. Let chicken rest about 15 minutes before carving.

Baby Bear

I can’t remember when I’ve ever seen a presidential election so close, or so hard fought on either side. Both campaigns have had low points. I heard an ad targeting Hispanic voters saying that if Castro could have voted, he would have chosen the Democratic ticket. I also saw Lena Dunham’s demeaning ad targeting young female voters. The very best thing I could think of to say about all of this is that it’s over. Well, mostly over. The truth is, regardless of which candidate you voted for, things won’t turn out to be as bad as you feared or as good as you hoped. In spite of all that was promised and threatened, even in the best of times a president simply doesn’t have that much power. When we’re this sharply divided over who vetoes bills, appoints Supreme Court justices and offends visiting dignitaries, it’s unlikely we’ll see much change in either direction in the next four years.

Foie Gras

No, we never actually visited Provence. We’ve been to Honfluer in Calvados and Dunkirk in the Nord.  We spent a glorious week in Marne-la-Vallée.  We’ve been through both the Charles de Gaulle airport and Orly. It occurs to me now that we’ve only ever seen the north of France. If we ever had a chance to go back, it might be nice to visit some of the southern provinces. Hey, it could happen. We could always win the lottery; if we ever bothered to buy a ticket. In the meantime, I can always reread Peter Mayle’s books: A Year in Provence, Toujours Provence, and Encore Provence. Or I could re-watch the Arts and Entertainment made-for-television production of A Year in Provence. No, we don’t actually own the video, or the books for that matter. But it’s free to check all of them out at the library. Or it would be if I remembered to return them.

Fromage de Chevre

We’ve been ex-expats for ten months now, but we still run into people who are surprised to see that we’re back in the US. It happened again yesterday. We're frequently asked what we miss most about England. The first thing that comes to mind is the people. We made so many dear friends while we were there. We’re able to keep in touch with some of them via the Internet, but it’s unlikely that we’ll ever be able to visit with them in person. We miss the slower, more relaxed pace of Harrogate. We miss Bonfire Night on the Stray. We miss the amazing hot chocolate at Café Nero, and the mind-blowing pastries at Betty’s.  We miss Orange Wednesdays at the cinema. We really, really miss the cheese. European imports and British artisan cheeses were so plentiful and inexpensive; especially when compared with the cheeses here.