21 March 2008

Plum blossoms and frost

The plum trees have started flowering. I hope that promises another great fruit harvest this year. If it was last year's rainy conditions that produced the good crops of plums and cherries we had, then this year should be great. It has rained pretty steadily for the past 18 months.

Plum blossoms
20 March 2008

It was cold and frosty yesterday morning, and it's raining and blustery today (but warmer). Our temperatures are a little like the U.S. stock market right now: it's a roller coaster ride.

Frost-tinged leaves yesterday morning

Looking back, I see we had frost and even light snow last year on the last day of winter and the first day of spring, so this is nothing new. I'm hoping for another warm April, and I'm hoping it will hurry up and get here.

Anniversaries: it was one year ago today that we drove over to Montmarault and picked Callie out of a litter of 10 puppies born on February 22.

Today we're going over to Montrichard to do some shopping in the outdoor market there — weather permitting. Our weekend menu includes a rabbit cooked Thai-style, and we not only need to buy a rabbit but we also want to find some cilantro. That's coriandre fraîche in French, and it is not easy to find out here in the French countryside, especially at this time of year.
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3 comments:

  1. isa21 March, 2008 12:49

    Happy Birthday to Callie! How will she celebrate? ;-)

    While we lived in Paris, we had no problem finding fresh cilantro (my husband makes salsa verde often)at an Arab (Egyptian) grocer in the 15th. Maybe your Parisian friends can mail/ship you a bunch...

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  2. Anonymous22 March, 2008 04:13

    Isabella, do you have the address of that grocer in the 15th arrondissement?

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  3. Ken Broadhurst22 March, 2008 06:49

    Walt went to the SuperU in Montrichard yesterday and "scored" a bunch of fresh cilantro. We had found some in that supermarket a few weeks ago, and they had it again.

    The ideal for us would be to find some frozen cilantro. They sell chopped, frozen herbs in most of the supermarkets, but cilantro is hard to find in that form too.

    Montrichard is 10 or 11 miles from us, but W. wanted to go to the Friday market there to get a rabbit and some vegetables, so going to that particular SuperU was not really going out of the way.

    Lapin à la thaïlandaise for Easter dinner. Miam-miam.

    By the way, we grow cilantro in our herb garden in the summertime. This year we will try to chop and freeze some for the winter and spring.

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