Tomorrow I'm going on an excursion with an American friend who lives just a few miles down the road from us and her sister, who is visiting from California. If we can squeeze everthing into the day trip we've planned, we'll be going to a an excursion to Brinay, Mehun-sur-Yèvre, Noirlac, and Meillant. This will be the first such excursion I've on since June 2001. I've been to two of these places before — the old abbey complex at Noirlac and the château at Meillant — but I've never been to the porcelain factory and outlet store at Mehun or the village of Brinay and its church. Maybe I'll come back with some new photos to post. Stay turned. Meanwhile, here are some more April photos (one from 2010 and four from 2015).
It's only slightly unusual to see red cowslip flowers around the vineyard. I saw some yesterday in the neighbors' yard. Cowslips, among other wildflowers, are called coucous in French. The flowers are usually yellow. I just read on Wikipédia that the cowslip flowers and leaves are edible, either raw in salads or cooked.
It's more widely known that dandelion leaves are edible, either raw or cooked, and that wine can be made with dandelion flowers. On this French web site I just read that young dandelion leaves can be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach and are delicious. The flowers can be made into wine, and the roots can be dried and ground to make a coffee substitute.
Plum, cherry, peach trees grow all arouund the Renaudière vineyard where we live.
This is the seed head of the European wild carrot plant (carotte sauvage or Daucus carrot, called Queen Anne's lace in North America. It grows abundantly in and around the vineyard. The whole plant is edible, at least in its first season — Wikipedia calls it "a somewhat variable biennial" — but the root quickly becomes woody.
I believe these are plum blossoms. I grew and planted a plum tree in our yard a decade or more ago. It hasn't produced any plums in about three years, but one year I got a good crop and made plum jelly with them. It was delicious. I'm hoping for plums this year.
"and the roots can be dried and ground to make a coffee substitute."
ReplyDeleteDuring the war, my mother used to have to drink "ersatz" coffee from oven-baked dandelion roots and chicory roots [optional] made by my gran.... according to mum, the worst coffee in the world would taste like the champagne of coffees against it!! And the ones with optional chicory root are more palatable than just plain dandelions apparently!
My gran was full of that sort of recipe.... milk that went over was poured into muslin in a seive, then tied up and hung over the sink until the next day and mixed with chives or finely chopped pineapple.
And she always did marrow rum every year... and her own recipe ginger beer that I still use... allowed to brew out and it is 6.5%ABV.... no need for gripe water when that stuff is around!!
I remember drinking coffee "fortified" with chicory back in the 1970s in Rouen and Paris.
DeleteYour excursion sounds like some fun! I remember how good your plum jam was.
ReplyDeleteThe weather is supposed to be beautiful today.
DeleteI hope you get some plums too! Loving their white blossoms in your photo.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the positive thoughts.
DeleteLe coucou est une primevère à qui on a monté le ou!
ReplyDelete