Early spring bloomers

Here's another tree that blooms in early spring. It's out in our back yard. It was here when we arrived more than
20 years ago. It's a cherry tree, I believe, but it doesn't produce any fruit. It's just decorative.

I took these photos yesterday morning at sunrise when I was out walking around with Tasha.

Wandering around the hamlet with my camera

I'm having a lot of trouble with my eyes these days. I think it might be pollen allergies.'Tis the season. I'm also having a lot of trouble with Blogger this morning. Maybe the two are related. It's hard to read tiny print (Blogger uses plenty of that) when your vision is blurred.

Risotto

For yesterday's noontime meal, Walt and I made an Italian rice dish called risotto.The rice for it is not boiled but sort of steamed and sautéed at the same time. The first step is is to start cooking the rice grains by filming the botton of a non-stick pan with a little bit of olive (or other) oil and tossing them in it over medium-high heat until the grains start to become translucent. Then you start adding hot meat broth (beef, veal, chicken, turkey...) to the pan over high heat and letting the rice absorb the liquid. Keep stirring the rice and scraping the bottom of the pan to keep it from sticking. You repeat that step as many times as necessary for the rice grains get tender — no longer crunchy — and for all the liquid to be absorbed or evaporated. It takes 15 or 20 minutes.

We bought the type of rice you need to make risotto at one of our local supermarkets. It's called Arborio rice. I had plenty of home-made turkey broth in the freezer. Walt went to the outdoor market in Saint-Aignan and bought some green asparagus spears. We poached the asparagus spears in the turkey broth until they were tender. The asparagus gave added flavor to the broth. After they had cooked we cut the spears into half-inch pieces and added them to the rice. As the rice and asparagus finished cooking, we stirred it all together with some grated parmesan cheese. It was really delicious.Don't forget the salt and pepper. This would also be good with green beans or mushrooms instead of asparagus.

One day I want to go over to the Saint-Aignan train station, just three or four miles from our house, and take to train to Bourges, a small city with a long history. The ride takes an hour. I've been there before, but I've never spent enough time wandering around in the town's historic district, where there's a fantastic cathedral.

If you take the same train in the opposite direction from Saint-Aignan, you end up in the bigger city of Tours, and that ride also takes an hour. Above is a photo of the train that links us to Bourges and Tours, both of which are worth a visit. The train is a TER, un Train Express Régional.