Because of the sad demise of Typepad, and the loss of my old blog stream with all the fine advice I put together over the years, this week was going to be all about sweet chestnuts: how to peel them, favourite recipes and useful stuff like that. I went out and collected more than I can strictly use this season (they really don't store awfully well, whatever people say), so that I could do staged photos and videos, once I remembered how to peel them a bit more easily. Here is my stash.
So far we have indulged in two evenings of pure greed, having carved crosses into the tops of about 40 succulent nuts, and roasted them in a hot (Gas mark 7) oven for about 15 minutes, then singed our fingers getting the shells off and dipping them in more salt than we should probably eat. Yummy!
My plan was to do the photos/video yesterday late afternoon, so they were all available today to write the blog. How things change!
Last week I commented on the village Challenge Communale in boule de forte, and that our all girls team for the Comite des Fetes had trounced a boules de forte society to get into round 2. Our opponents in round 2 were another boules de forte society (indeed our "home" society, la Paix), who seriously wanted to win. At one stage it was looking extremely dodgy as to whether they were going to get even one point, but they pulled back, and we won 10 - 3.
That win on Friday night meant that Saturday morning had to be spent playing the semi-final against elected members of the council, rather than my usual Saturday morning ritual of outdoor market, bakery and Aldi for cat food and beer. That was a much closer match for some reason - a different boules de forte society was hosting, we were closer in ability and not taking anything for granted, time of day, lack of alcohol in the blood stream. It took ages - we started at 10am, didn't get to a winner until 1pm and I wasn't sure who had won, until I asked! Anyway, it was really good fun, and of course we had to celebrate the win, so I didn't get home for lunch until 1:45pm.
I had to be back at that boules de forte society for 3pm and the final - it took some effort to get up the hill I can tell you! Our opponents in the final were the council employees (one mayor's secretary, the cook from the school canteen and a dinner lady), and while they do have important day jobs, I have to worry about the amount of time they must spend honing their boules skills. We were destroyed! Well done them! But their win had to be celebrated (liberally), while we waited for the awards ceremony and vin d'honneur.
Every participant in the Challenge Communale received a bottle of red wine, the finalists each received a fine potted flowering plant, and the winners also have to look after the trophy for a year. There were speeches, hand shakes, kisses, photos and more wine before I got to stagger home under the weight of boules de forte, bottle of red wine and potted plant. I spent the next hour on the sofa drinking tea!
We are currently enjoying a period of idyllic calm autumn weather - occasional dawn mists, sunny days, magnificent sunsets and cool, clear evenings. So far we haven't had a frost, so the delicate plants haven't come indoors and we are occasionally tempted to sit out. When I close the chicken run just after sunset, there are still bats dashing about, stocking up on the last tasty bugs and mosquitoes of the season. Apparently we are set fair for another week of this, which is wonderful news, and I might get to do my chestnut photos yet! This time last year was cool and dank and muddy.
I categorically promise not to write about boules de forte next week, and I may not write about chestnuts either - wait and see!
Have a good week!
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