France – Page 21 – Myfrenchkitchen

These past 3 weeks were spent entirely on packing up our Loire home. We wrapped and packed, and stored and transported furniture, cartons. We sorted, threw away, gave away and tried to keep only what we really love and need. It felt great to lighten the load, both in terms of material stuff and mind stuff. Never do I want to own so much stuff again. Since living here in the barn at Coin Perdu with the bare necessities, I have come to realize with how little we can actually be comfortable. I think in this modern age we live with far too much unnecessary “stuff”.

When we locked the door behind us of our Loire home to get into the truck with the last few things on its way to coin Perdu, I took a walk through my garden. I absolutely loved my little “jardin de curé”. I worked so hard in that garden, changing it every so often and I loved every minute of it. I am posting a few images…I have so many, not possible to show them all and of course they will have much more meaning for me, but I hope you can see a little of the joy I’ve experienced in my Loire garden.

…a typical “Tourangelle maison” on the banks of the Loire river.”

…for my first birthday in our Loire house 12 years ago, mon chéri gave me a “garguile” from the chateau de Chauvigny, which we converted into a fountain..

..I adored the Loire house’s windows. I couldn’t wait for summers to keep them open morning noon and night..

We only closed the “volets” at night when sleeping..sometimes…

..and flowerpots on the windowsills…what else!..

..the “garguile” peeked through white climbing iceberg roses, close by “un olivier” in a pot..

..on the terrace – urn planted with boxwood..

..the “jardin de curé” was filled with everything I loved..and still love. Originally I tried to stick to white and blue, but as always, what we plan what eventually realizes aren’t the same…most of the time it turns out better..

..corners are a favorite of mine..whether in the gardne, the house, the fields…

..I adored my atelier! I will definitely miss it. It was the old stables of the hopuse which mon chéri turned ito the atelier for me, complete with fireplace, keeeping the old beams and features of the stables intact..To the left of the collage down below, is my galery, which was one of the old caves we turned into my galery.

..during summers, we pragmatically lived outside in the garden..

I hope you enjoyed this trip through the garden during 12 years of living in our Loire home. . I hope you’ll join me in writing our new chapter here at Coin Perdu.

I will soon start posting recipes again, as soon as I can get some order in the chaos here . Bear with me..!

I wish you all a great 2014!

à bientôt

Ronelle

Winter has suddenly hit us with a bang and out came the soups of which onion soup is a favorite. The secret of a good onion soup rests on a good stock (preferably homemade) and of course the slow, deep caramelizing of the onions. If you want a quick soup for dinner, this is not it. But no doubt, for a cold day, an onion soup, topped with a melted cheese crouton, is pure heaven.

Pincée de fleur de sel:

The longer you can caramelize your onions, the more flavorful they will be. It is a myth that onions can be caramelized within 10 minutes.
I cut my onions in quarters and then slice the quarters finely, because I don’t like long strips dripping soup from my spoon.
To serve country style, serve the soup in a tureen with the croutons on top and serve each portion from the tureen.
It can also be served individually by placing a slice of bread on the soup, top with cheese and grill for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
Don’t be skimpy with the thyme as it adds to the flavor.
To really serve a soup and not soaked bread, don’t serve too much bread in the soup, for it soaks up a lot of the liquid and you will be left with only onions and soaked bread.
Serve the soup hot in warmed bowls.

..a variety of onions..