OS DAILY TUESDAY 24th APRIL

mioliere

In an earlier thread I've mentioned that we have a house in France that we're gradually doing up with a view to moving there permanently there at some time in the future, though I don't want to do that just yet - too many reasons to want to stay here but that's another story. We always buy loads of wine as well as beer, brie, strawberry jam, cakes and choccies, olive oil, Savon de Marseille soap which I absolutely love because it's hand made the old-fashioned way and has 72% oil in it and the rest is soap - it's the only soap I've ever found that doesn't dry out my skin. Discovered on the last trip that the supermarkets' own brands are just as good - well worth buying. We bought a raclette on our last trip which is fantastic. Has a stone hot plate and little individual grill pans so you all sit round the table, plonk the raclette in the middle and each person does their own cooking. It's a really sociable way to eat. You can get wonderful raclette meats and cheeses and add sliced up mushrooms, toms etc. Washed down with gallons of french wine - bliss!! Today I bought my first breadmaker (£7.00 unused in a charity shop!) and will definitely bring back some french bread flour. Several people I know won't use anything else. I'm really looking forward to trying it.

Isn't it great going to a winery - they let you taste everything and when you emerge into the brilliant french sunshine you nearly fall over! I love that bit!

Incidentally, our place is in the south-west, five minutes drive from Parthenay and about 30k from Poitiers. I was going to say it's a lovely part of France but then most of France is lovely, isn't it?

Have a wonderful time!

donny-gal

Oh getting wine from France, we always do that, I used to have to go over there for work and always came back with the car loaded:T :T

Red is our favourite, I just had to get some white from Aldi today as we had run out of white. We were told once of a cheap warehouse near the car ferry terminal, DH and I were on a weekend break, so stocking up on the Sunday before we came home, so we tried to find it, some instructions like "go past the car ferry terminal entrance, keep going turn left against some railway lines, and you will see a stack of Blue "Chep" pallets turn in there. Eventually found it and the the small portakabin they said you went in a paid for your goods was closed, and looked like we had missed out, however there was another warehouse at the back, which you drove in, so we went in expecting to have to turn round and come out, but no it was open, found what we wanted, very cheap 9€ per 6 box for Bardolino and others, it was the same make as I had had before so asked if they had Chianti too, yes fine, very pleased, car looking like a motor boat with the nose in the air. A week later sent DH to get a bottle out, and he walked in with a 1.5 litre bottle, no I said, just a normal one, no he said they are all ths size. We thought we had a bargain for 75cl bottles, this was brilliant. Prefer the french Morgan wine, but enjoy the Italian and Spanish Roija for a change.:beer: :beer: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Good news on the health front, seems to think the rest has done the trick, but going to organise a scan to "make sure":j :j Got told I could start walking about again, so went to Aldi, Spend £101!!:eek: :eek: Healthy foods though, no sweet puddings.

Doesn't the "real" french bread have to be baked in a steam oven, I seem to think I read somewhere?

DG