Mardi Munch

Nothing got done on the farm today, as I became a lady who lunched. I use lunch in a very liberal sense as this is France and this lunch lasted from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm.

Mal, who I’ve come to know through Ann, is another lady who picks up stray cats although unlike Ann she doesn’t re-home them. Because of this she now has a collection of 37 cats, yes 37! To raise funds for their upkeep and veterinary costs she hosts a cookery demonstration and lunch once a month. I’ve been told how good it is many times but this was the first time I’ve been able to attend.

To say it was good was an understatement. The demonstration beforehand was wonderfully interactive with two cooks, Mal and Silvia providing a comedy double act where they demonstrated the meal we were going to eat later. The meal its self was superb. Being Shrove Tuesday we had pancakes, not as a sweet but as a savoury starter, filled with Chinese style stir fried vegetables. The main course or should that be courses, was boef bourginone and 2 chicken dishes served with red cabbage cooked with wine and prunes (also demonstrated) 2 other vegetables plus mashed and roasted potatoes. And after all that we somehow managed to fine just enough room for the sweet that had been demonstrated, a wonderful chocolate, orange and brandy mousse. It was absolutely wonderful.

Somehow I found it rather difficult to go back to work after all that food so just sorted out the animals and collected the eggs. I think an early night is called for so I can sleep it all off and be ready to do some serious work tomorrow to work off the excess calories of today.