Japonica

This a Japanese Quince tree (Chaenomeles japonica). I recently posted a photo of it as it looked a few days ago.
The photos above are some that I took of the same plant on March 12, 2014. Yes, 2014...

Taking the weekend off, if I can

 I don't think I'll try to post anything for a few days, as I wait for my current allergy attack to end. See my reply to comments on yesterday's post. I can't see well enough, despite my glasses and my cataract surgery a couple of years ago, to read the screen and try to post something besides typos, incomplete sentences, and a kind of alphabet soup. Maybe I'll be able to find a couple of photos to post. I haven't taken any photos recently.

Croisssants aux amandes — almond croissants

I'm thinking of making a batch of croissants aux amandes over the next few days. The weather is forecast to continue to be rainy for a while longer. And since I buy at least seven croissants, one for each day of the week, for my early-morning breakfast with 'Tasha every day, I have plenty. I buy them mostly at Intermarché, one of the three local supermarkets in the Saint-Aignan area, because I like theirs the best. They are made in the store using butter, not margarine, and I think they're pretty good. 'Tasha likes them too. I put them in the freezer when I buy them, and I heat one up in the toaster oven for breakfast every day. I tear a croissant apart and feed half of the little pieces to the dog while I eat the other half myself, with my morning tea. No jam, no jelly, no extra butter.

The pictures in this post are from March 2008, which was, I think, the last time I made croissants aux amandes. I realized about a year ago that I had been living in France for years, but I hardly ever ate a croissant any more. That seemed like a shame, so I decided to do something about it. That "something" won't change my breakfasts with 'Tasha. I'll eat the croissants aux amandes myself, and perhaps with Walt, later in the day, if he wants one.

Almond croissants are usually made using already-cooked, slightly stale croissants. In fact, they are one way French bakers use up rather than waste the day's croissants that have been baked early in the morning and haven't found a buyer. The next morning, while fresh croissants bake in the oven, the baker slices the day-old croissants and stuffs them, like a sandwich, with a filling made with eggs, sugar, and cream. Then said baker dips the filled croissants into a sugar syrup, or paints them with a brush dipped into the sugar syrup, before sprinkling slivered almonds over the top. The almonds stick to the top of the croissants and are cooked in the oven until they are nicely browned. The ones dunked in syrup can go soggy. The "painted" ones stand a better chance of getting crispier as they bake.

Arbustes = shrubs

The forsythia in our back yard is in full bloom right now. Problem is it's raining outside. I wonder if there will still be any blossoms on the bush when the rain ends later today (according to forecasts).

 

This is the plum tree at the northwest corner of our back yard. It was at its peak blossom days a couple of weeks ago. A lot of the blossoms have fallen now. I imagine the current rains and winds will blow the rest of them away.

This is, unless I'm mistaken, a Japanese quince bush. I noticed yesterday afternoon that it was really covered in red blossoms. This morning it has a lot of red blossoms but I couldn't take any photos because it was raining. Yesterday afternoon was the same.