Information about a stress-free relocation and day-to-day life in France.
Out and about in Brittany.
French traditions, testimonials from expats living in France and much more info about France!
For the first time in years I had to buy some Free range eggs at Dinan market this morning. We have been keeping chickens since we moved to Brittany in 2003 but they got old and feeding 5 chickens and having 1 egg a week was not ideal!
We had to get rid of them before Christmas. They were ‘donated’ to our neighbour who offered to neck them, cook them in a big pan on his outdoor gas cooker and feed the chicken to his...... dog.
Nothing gets wasted in the countryside in France!
We will get more chickens in spring, when the weather is better.
In the meantime, I will carry on buying eggs from our local farmers.
La Chêvrerie du Désert – a local goat farm has a few unusual animals: donkeys from Poitou, Ouessant sheep, Jersey cows, and all sorts of chickens, cockerels, and birds. They have of course goats!
Children can approach the animals and draft goats and if you are still there at 5.30pm, you will be able to see how they milk goats.
Cheese and other produces can be bought straight from the farm.
La Chêvrerie du Désert is in Plerguer, on the way to Dol-de-Bretagne, about 25 minutes from our gite in Brittany.
Moving to Brittany made me discover a new culture. Although I am French, Brittany was completely new to me. I had spent several long weekends in Brittany, but I didn’t really know much about it.
During my several stays in Brittany, I always looked for a bakery and ordered some tasty Far Breton. I have now found a great recipe and, even my Breton friends, think it is the best Far they’ve ever had. Well, they might just be polite, but I love it so that is what matters!
If you do a search for a recipe for Far Breton you will probably found several. The one I found is – in my opinion – the best one!
Here is the recipe I follow:
Mix 4 eggs, with 150 g of sugar, 200 g of plain flour, vanilla essence and add 1 liter of fresh milk. I also add a drop of Rhum. Although I don’t drink much, I think alcohol in cooking always brings the ‘je ne sais quoi’ and makes the difference!
Cover a lasagna dish with prunes and pour the mixture. Bake the Far for 45 minutes at 190 degrees.
The Far tastes better the day after.
I have to say using great ingredients is very important.
I am lucky to have free-range eggs from our little chickensand fresh milk from the farm down the road which is very creamy. I have tried to bake the Far with semi-skimmed milk but it is not as nice.
When our chickens lay too many eggs, I make some lovely lemon curd with the excess of eggs.
Here is the recipe I follow:
Whisk 6 eggs, 180g of sugar, 100 g of unsalted butter (beurre doux), and the zest and juice of 2 organic lemons. Cook it in bain marie (bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water). Keep stirring otherwise it may curdle until the mixture becomes thick. It will take about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
It is ready to eat once it has cooled down. You can keep it in the fridge for 3 weeks. I can never keep it for more than one week – it seems to disappear quick!!
You can spread it on toasts, pancakes, waffles, or just eat it with the spoons whilst nobody is watching!!
Once you have moved to France, you may take up new hobbies and have different interests. One being keeping chickens!
Keeping hens can be amusing and will provide you with lovely fresh eggs.
Chickens are fairly easy to look after.
You need to house them to protect them from foxes - especially at night - and from the cold weather and the rain. You should find a shed or a hen house at your local garden center or DIY shop. The shelter needs to have a perch for the chickens to sleep on at night and a nest box for them to lay eggs.
Chickens need fresh clean drinking water and food. We give our chickens wheat (blé) and layer’s pellets (aliment pour pondeuses) as well as kitchen scraps. They have access to the whole garden and vegetable patch where they scratch around and find all sorts of exciting insects and worms.
Keeping chickens is always a great entertainment for children! All the little ones staying in our gite in Brittany love feeding them (they don’t seem to mind sharing their croissants with them!) and going to get the eggs. When they leave our gîte they often ask their parents if they can keep chickens when they get back home!
If you are looking for chickens, visit your local market or ask a local farmer who keeps hens. He will be able to tell you where to get them from. You can buy them ready to lay or as chicks to raise.
And if you get too many eggs, make some lemon curd! See my future post for the recipe!
Pancakeday in France was Tuesday 2nd February this year. You know when it is coming as all the supermarkets in France start selling pancake pans and all the ingredients to make the pancakes (crêpes) about 2 weeks prior to La Chandeleur ! On Pancake Day some shops make “crêpes” for their customers! Even our local DIY shop in Evran! I must say if you don’t eat crêpes in Brittany, where else would you eat some?! Brittany is famous for their “crêpes” and “galettes” (savory pancakes made with buckwheat flour).
I make my pancake mix without measuring using fresh milk (very creamy!) from the farm down the road and the free range eggs from our little chickens. As it is cold at the moment our chickens don’t produce many eggs but luckily my friend Debbie share her surplus of eggs with me! Her chickens are a lot more productive than ours. She hasn’t told me yet her secret for her productivity!
Here is a recipe for the pancake mix:
• 250 g de farine (flour) • 3 oeufs (eggs) • 1/2 paquet de levure (half packet of backing powder) • 1 pincée de sel (pinch of salt) • 1/2 litre de lait (1/2 litre of milk) • 3 cuillères à soupe d'eau (3 spoons of water)
I like pancakes with home-made jam (loganberry jam is my favorite) or chocolate spread (I guess you know which one I mean!). Looking at a British calendar Shrove Tuesday is next week and as my partner Chris is British I will have to make some more next week! Any excuse to eat pancakes….
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