Saucisse de Morteau - a French smoked saussage

After watching French chef Raymond Blanc on English TV last week, I suddenly fancied one of the dish he cooked. The Saucisse de Morteau... This sausage is made in the region of Franche Comté in North East of France. It is made with pork and is smoked the traditional way.

This sausage can be served cold or hot. I cooked mine with boiled potatoes and choucroute (Sauerkraut). I cooked the sausage in water for 30 minutes, then added the potatoes and cooked it for another 10 minutes.

I bought the Saucisses de Morteau from the Deli at our local supermarket Leclerc in Dinan.

If you are buying one, ensure it has a ‘proper’ tag (médaille) on it. You can find various ‘copies’ of this sausage in supermarkets but it won’t taste as good. It has a string on one side and a bit of wood on the other side used for hanging it whilst being smoked.

This one costs me €5. It was €13/kilo so rather dear but well worth it!

See this link for more information and recipes. I might try the recipe with the Mont D’Or cheese next time. It sounds lovely!

When my English friends tell me English sausages taste better than the French ones, i don't agree!!!

Try it and you will see why!

First loaf with my new breadmaker

After my breadmaker broke down last week, I had to find one urgently as i do use it 2 or 3 times per week. Luckily, Lidl had one on offer the previous week and thankfully there were 4 left at their Dinan branch.

I paid €45 so if it lasts as long as my previous one, I should be making bead for the next 6 or 7 years with it very cheaply.

This bread making machine came with a recipe book and I have noticed I can also make jam with it. Interesting! I do make a lot of jam the ‘normal’ way so I will be curious to see how it works. The first batch of jam I will make will be in April or May with strawberries. I will keep you posted.

I also noticed this bread making machine has a setting for gluten free bread. It will be useful when my parents come to visit us here in Brittany as my Mam has an intolerance to gluten.

The photo shows the first loaf of bread I made yesterday. I need to try a few settings to find the right one.

This one is not bad for the first batch. It tasted nice with home-made jam on this morning!

The gardening season has officially started round our house!

After months of avoiding the garden - the jungle, I have just been round to see what has to be done.

The list is long but here are the first jobs for this week:

Pruning fruit trees. We have 10 pear trees... and 4 apple trees.

Weeding and moving strawberries.

Weeding flower beds.

Today I have started with sewing tomato seeds. I am doing ‘only’ 3 types this year: Moneymaker, Marmande and Pomodoro San Marzano (it sounds like an Italian type to me!).

I got the Moneymaker and Marmande seeds from Lidl in Dinan and the Italian seeds from B&Q garden centre in England.

Let’s see which one will do best.

If you don’t have time to grow tomato plants yourself, you will find plants ready to plant in April/May from garden centres or supermarkets in France.

For the price of 1 plant you get a whole packet of seeds so it is well worth sewing them yourself. It only takes a few minutes. As you can see I use polystyrene boxes that I got for free from the market. They did smell of fish when I took them home but they are now fine!

I will leave them to grow in our gite, near the window. They tend to be happy there.

Let’s hope ‘Moneymaker’ works and I will become rich soon! ;o)

Market report - 23rd Feb 2012

Todays market report....

GBP/EUR fell from €1.1934 to a low of €1.1819 to the pound. This morning the pound's slide has continued and subsequently fallen to a low of €1.1780.

Looking at the charts; GBP/EUR, the heard of bulls exaggerating a QE vote that was frankly unsurprising have been able to push this pair below the two key support levels of 1.1904 and 1.1834 mentioned in previous reports. The pair is showing signs of being oversold, however a test of the next support at 1.1764 seems plausible. On the upside a break of 1.1904 removes downside pressure.

From James Walton
IFX.

The first eco-friendly stamp!

Since 1^st October 2011, La Poste (the French post office) is selling green stamps (timbres verts). Instead of taking 1 day, the letter will take 2 days to reach its destination. It can only be used within France.

This green stamp is more eco-friendly as it will travel by train rather than plane.

It is €0.57 instead of €0.60 (normal post). I have recently started to use the new stamps for sending letters.

I will be saving some money (not a lot!) and the planet at the same time!

Latest improvements at Betineuc lake

A lot of improvements have been done at our local lake of Bétineuc. Fishing platforms, play area for children and this winter, new trees have been planted at the entrance of the lake, in St André des Eaux.

It will look so nice this summer!

Betineuc lake is only 1 mile away from our gite in Brittany. See other posts about Betineuc lake!

New law about radar detectors in France

If you are holidaying in France this summer, you need to be aware if this new rule:

Since January 2012, radar detectors are banned in France. You are supposed to update your GPS or Tom Tom and have the radar detector option removed!

If you are caught by the French police, your GPS / Tom Tom can be confiscated and you could face a fine up to 1,500 euros!

However, the French police is not allowed to look at your GPS or Tom Tom....