01 January 2017

Meilleurs vœux pour 2017...

...and Happy New Year. It's another frosty morning here. Yesterday the temperature might have hit freezing, but I think it stayed slightly below. The landscape got whiter and whiter.


I was going to post some more photos of the frost, but I left the SD card the photos are on upstairs, plugged into the TV. Rather than stumble around in the dark and make noise to wake Callie and Walt up, I just went in the kitchen and snapped these photos of our New Year's Day good-luck meal.


It's black-eyed peas cooked with carrots, a leek, an onion, some chicken broth, and a big spoonful of duck fat. Where I come from (North Carolina in the U.S.), eating black-eyed peas on January 1 is considered to be a smart thing to do. As with most superstitions, there probably isn't much to it, but it can't hurt to eat black-eyes anyway — especially if you like them. And I do. They cooked overnight in the slow-cooker, and I think they look beautiful.


But to add a French touch to the feast, I'll be opening a can of confit de canard — duck legs slow-cooked in duck fat — to eat with the beans. Duck and beans are a classic, and what I'm making is a sort of Franco-American cassoulet. I hope you eat your black-eyed peas today, or whatever food you enjoy and believe will bring you good fortune. I wish you peace and prosperity, health and happiness in 2017, wherever you are, and I thank you for participating in my blog for another year (number 12).

49 comments:

  1. Good luck having been assured once you and Walt have your black-eyed peas, I wish you both a new year of happy surprises and joyful contentment. Many thanks to you both for posting every day, and being so attentive to the beauty in all things.

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    1. All the best for 2017, Kiwi. Thanks for your good comments.

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  2. Meilleurs vœux pour 2017,Ken...
    Happy New "Black-eye Beans" Year...
    Wishing you good health....
    whatever you believe to be wealth....
    and oooooodles of happiness....
    and good fortune for you, Walt, Callie and Bertie!!

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    1. All the best to you and P. for the new year. And all yours. Thanks for your comments...

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  3. Happy New Year Ken, Walt, Callie and Bertie. May 2017 bring you happiness and good health!

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    1. Happy New Year to you, Kim. Happiness and health in 2017.

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  4. Happy New year Ken! I am going to take your advice and have some black eyed peas on new years day. We could use some good luck on this side of the pond. Well, actually we could use good luck everywhere....

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    1. Happy New Year to you and A. I know what you mean about good luck -- we haven't had much recently in our two countries. Health and happiness.

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  5. Happy New Year to you Both (and to Callie) and thanks for all the enjoyment and culinary help you give us. Wishing you another happy year in your lovely part of France. X Sue on the Isle of Wight.

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    1. Happy New Year, Suecee. All the best to you over there on your island.

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  6. Happy New Year to you both. I haven't been able to get black-eyed peas for a while now -- Auchan seems to have stopped stocking them, in Chatellerault at least. It's a shame. We are having coq au vin, made with half a hefty young cockerel. So far as I know there are no Australian food traditions for New Year.

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    1. I haven't seen any at the supermarket recently, either. The ones I'm cooking have been in their sealed bag in the cellar for a while. I always look in the Portuguese section at the supermarket. You can also find black-eyed peas at Paris Store in Tours most of the time, or at Asia Store in Blois. Maybe you should also try Grand Frais — I see they have opened a store in Tours now, and then there's the one outside Blois in Vineuil.

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  7. Black eyed peas, also a Texas tradition. With jalapenos....

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    1. We have our black-eyes with a hot pepper sauce called Texas Pete, which is a North Carolina product.

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  8. Replies
    1. Bonne année 2017 à toi, Martine. Bonne santé surtout.

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  9. Love black eyed peas . Summer dish here for some reason. All other beans are winter dishes.

    Thanks for making my mornings interesting for the last few months. Wish I'd found you before !

    Happy new year. Good health and happiness to you both

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  10. Je suis vos blogs à Walt et à vous depuis quelques mois mais je suis restée "petite souris" ! Vous lire est un petit moment de bonheur de la journée. Je vous souhaite plein de bonnes choses et le plaisir de vous retrouver ici tous les jours. Bien amicalement.

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    1. Bonne année à vous, Christiane D, et merci pour votre gentil commentaire.

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  11. mine are red beans (cause I'm no fan of black eyed peas) Thank you for sharing your life with us! Happy 2017

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  12. Wishing you and Walt health and happiness in 2017. I also share this wish to all of your blog's repliers who make coming here a daily ritual and pleasure.
    Here's a poem from our friend, Laurie
    Laurie Ryan
    2 hrs ·
    January by John Updike
    The days are short,
    The sun a spark,
    Hung thin between
    The dark and dark.
    Fat snowy footsteps
    Track the floor.
    Milk bottles burst
    Outside the door.
    The river is
    A frozen place
    Held still beneath
    The trees of lace.
    The sky is low.
    The wind is gray.
    The radiator
    Purrs all day.

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    1. Thank you Evelyn. Same to you both.

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    2. Thanks Evelyn. Happy New Year to you and Lewis and Cathy and all...

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  13. Can I come for dinner. I forgot to soak my beans so i have to eat late but yours look good.

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  14. Happy New Year, Ken and Walt.
    I enjoy your blog and appreciate the time it takes to make daily updates, so long may it continue.

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    1. Thanks, Gaynor. The blogging is just part of the daily routine at this point. Happy New Year to you and Tim.

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  15. Happy happy happy 2017! I hope to see you in June!!

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  16. Happy New Year, Ken and Walt!

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    1. Happy New Year to you, Chris and Tony too. All the best for 2017.

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  17. A very Happy and Healthy New Year to you both, to Callie, and all the readers of this blog. We'll be in France beginning Jan 2 for a few days and then on to Spain on holiday. Keeping an eye on the weather reports......All the best,

    DR

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    1. Hope you have a good trip, DR. It might be snowing in Paris this morning.

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  18. Happy New Year to you and Walt

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  19. Happy New Year to all the household. Thank you for so many beautiful photographs and informative postings -- my day generally isn't complete until I check in to see what's happening in Saint-Aignan.

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  20. Hi Ken

    Which supermarket or store stocks the Jean Larnaudie canard?

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    1. I got them at our local Intermarché, but I see that SuperU has the same thing (Delpeyrat brand) on sale this week for the same price. You should be able to find confit there in the Southwest almost anywhere.

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  21. Happy New Year, Ken and Walt. Norma and I are looking forward to your always enjoyable posts.

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    1. Happy 2017 to you and Norma, Bob — and the whole family. Peacefulness and good health...

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  22. Happy New Year, Ken and Walt, Callie and Bertie! xo

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    1. Happy New Year to you, Mitch, Molly, and Gabe.

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  23. Bonne et heureuse année, les Garçons ����⭐⛄�� Bises

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