Of cars and batteries

Last Saturday morning, I went out to start the Citroën and drive over to the pharmacy in Saint-Aignan. The car wouldn't start. The engine wouldn't turn over at all. However, when I turned the key in the ignition all kinds of warning lights started flashing on the dashboard. There was an unfamiliar clicking noise coming from the dashboard. The battery seemed okay because the car's lights, radio, and electric windows opened and closed when I pressed the button on the clicker.

It was Saturday, so the mechanic's shop was closed for the weekend. I had to wait until Monday to go over there. I went  Monday morning and told them about the problem. They said it sounded like the starter motor had died. What should I do? Call your insurance company and have the card towed over here this afternoon or tomorrow. I decided to wait a day, hoping the car would miraculously start if I continued trying. It didn't. I called the insurance company that afternoon.

On Tuesday morning, the guy from the insurance company came over. He tried to start the car. He listened carefully and said: It's the battery. Let me get my battery charger out of the truck. When he did and he tried, the Citroën started immediately. It purred like a kitten. He said the battery was still good but didn't have enough juice to start up the engine. He told me to keep it running, drive it for 15 or 20 minutes, and then turn it off. It would start right back up. He was right.

It was our mechanic who sold us that battery just three years ago. Why it failed was and is a mystery. The "old" battery was okay, the mechanic said. He said we just need to start it up and drive it for 15 or 20 minutes at least once every month or two. I'm afraid we had already been doing that over the past three years. I don't think I've ever had a car battery failure so early in any other car I've owned. Of course, when we lived in California I did a long commute by car several days a week. Wait didn't in his car because it was simpler for him to take public transit most of the time. The battery in his car never failed.

So I went ahead and bought a new battery. The mechanic installed it. Right this minute, I have to go out and try to start the Citroën after it has spent the night outdoors. It's pretty cold this morning, about 5ºC = 40ºF. I'll be right back... It started. I guess the other battery was somehow defective.

 

Banana Pecan Cake

with maple syrup

 

For the topping (optional)

15 or 20 banana chips (dried banana slices)

15 or 20 pecan halves
1 Tbsp. maple syrup

 

Make the topping by putting the listed ingredients in a small bowl and mixing them together. Set them aside. 

For the cake
1 cup (215 g) flour 

2½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. bicarbonate of soda
1 pinch of salt

8 Tbsp. (75 g) butter, softened

½  cup (110 g) sugar "soft brown" or "raw, called cassonade in French

2 eggs, beaten
450 grams (1 lb.) of bananas, weighed in their skins (about four small bananas)
75 g (½ cup) chopped pecans
2 Tbsp. maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF. prepare a 20-cm (8-inch) round cake pan.

 Set them aside. Peel and mash the bananas. Set them aside.

In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar using the whisk attachment. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the flour, pecans, maple syrup, baking soda, and baking powder. Level the top of the batter and spoon or arrange the topping ingredients over it. Drizzle over any residual syrup over all.

Bake the cake for about an hour, covering it loosely with foil after 30 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack before serving.

 

By the time I remembered (two days later) to take a photo of the cake, we had eaten most of it.

C'est quoi comme plante ?

I don't know what plant this is that's growing and flowering in our hedge near the back gate.
If you recognize it, let me know.

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...