The wedding menu needs no further comment. This first photo is just a small part of the wonderful array of food, so eat your hearts out!

Reading the wedding menu left me pale with anticipation and worry that I might not be able to try absolutely everything on it. And sadly I think I may have missed an item or two, though I did try my darndest not to. However, I tried (often) the nibbles which were served with the champagne and they weren’t even on the menu, so that might just make up for it. Sigh, I feel better already. (Complete wedding menu with photos as a separate blog.)

While blog browsing several months ago, I came across a reference to Cauliflower panna cotta, but no recipe. I was amazed that such a thing existed as I know panna cotta only as the Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, then adding just enough gelatin to make it set (not too much mind you). Upon further research I also found a foie gras panna cotta which I have modified and experimented with just for you.

Imagine this, pink roads. I mean it, pink roads. Not your bog standard black tar roads, but nice Barbie pink roads. How can you not love a place that has pink roads AND champagne? If you were just passing through the department of Aube and you saw a blonde woman next to a magnificent chateau photographing not said beauty but the road, well that was me.

I know I’ve told you before, but I shall not tire of reminding you that hubby and I lived on a sailboat for a couple of years and happily sailed from Africa into the Mediterranean. On route, we stopped off at the Cape Verde Islands in the north Atlantic where I went to the market to buy fresh fruit and veg. I asked for bananas (or shall I say, I gesticulated for bananas) and successfully managed to buy some. A whole stalk to be exact. That makes a mere 52kg…

The best place to eat frogs legs in my area of France is our local Chinese restaurant. What? I hear you say disapprovingly. Mais oui, I say right back to you. They may be a French delicacy but those nice Chinese people have it down pat. I must, however, interrupt myself here to say that this is not your standard deep fried never-been-seen-in-China Chinese food. Oh no, this is the real Jackie Chan.

This is generally a recipe that we eat in the winter time, but the weather has been so awful and so unusually cold that we have (thankfully) been forced to enjoy this in the summertime. I am less strict about summer and winter food than my hubby and am quite capable of eating a vindaloo curry at the absolute height of summer (that we would be so lucky). We do try to eat seasonal fruit and veg, but sauerkraut in a tin doesn’t seem to follow any season…

June has been a true baby booming month for us. Our beautiful (if noisy and sometimes irritating) Indian Runner ducks have produced 10 ducklings for us and it is such a pleasure to watch them chase after their Mummy looking for slugs and bugs and puppy dog tails. They are still brown fluff balls and it’s hard to believe that they will change into white females and multi-colored males within a month or two. Rexie the Daddy was bitten by something nasty a month ago and now has scoliosis of the spine – when I recommended physiotherapy and traction, Joerg seemed to think I’d lost control of the last of my senses…

Today's recipe: Homemade caramel

I must admit that one of the main reasons I’m writing about this is that I think my photos are soooo lovely…and it’s my blog so I can do whatever I like, damnit! I will, of course, add a recipe ‘cos that is another reason for this blog. The recipe is for making your own caramel from sweetened condensed milk so read on as it is pleasure not to be missed.

I should rename this blog: I‘m so sorry for neglecting you! What can I say, it’s happened again – life has once again taken control of my good intentions. But I am getting better with each passing day and sooooon I won’t have to apologize at the beginning of each blog piece! My wonderful parents are now with us in France and you will be hearing all about them and life in the not-so-sunny south of France more regularly. Honest. Come on, give me another chance!