Candy and CoCo's Most Wonderful Christmas

     I am trying to soak up all the experiences possible in this my first Christmas in France.  While I did not attend the traditional "Reveillon" - Christmas Eve Mass followed by a huge dinner - I did enjoy eating mussels, salad, cheeses and bread at H and G's, along with a wonderful fruity "Buche de Noel".  That is a log-shaped cake that is always eaten in France at Christmas.  I suppose it is France's culinary version of the yule log burning tradition of old England.  I prefer the French version, merci beaucoup!
     H and G and I enjoyed hot tea after our meal and opened the presents that we had bought for each other.  I gave G a couple of books that I had told him I liked, "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet and one of Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti novels which are all set in Venice.  They have a wonderful library here at the gites so I also bought some books on Eleanor of Aquitaine for their "bibliotheque".  I gave H some  l'Occitane hand cream, a set of cat stationary, note pads, calendar, etc and I made her a lavender sachet from the plants that are outside my patio.
     They gave me a box of yummy praline chocolates and lovely blue (my favorite color!) towels with my name embroidered on them!  As always with time spent with H and G, we had a great visit.
     Yesterday the 3 of us went down the road to Elaine and Tony's house that they are still in the process of modernizing.  We were met by their 2 dogs, Preston the Great Dane, and Tess the Stafford mix.  They were very happy to see us!  The house was decorated so beautifully!

Elaine was so busy trying to get everything ready that we all chipped in to help in whatever way we could.  This was a meal fit for royalty as you will be able to see in the photos!  Absolutely wonderful!  (That may have been why the dogs were so happy to see us.  They knew there was food involved with our visit and they would get leftovers!)  Tony got into the festive spirit by showing up dressed as the butler!  He is quite the character.  G and I called him Giles (and Manuel, for those of you familiar with "Faulty Towers") for most of the meal.

Elaine was busy with preparations.  That's H and G with her in the kitchen.

A large kitchen prep table is a must at Christmas!

"At your service, Madame"

     It was not just the flavors and textures of the dishes, but also the presentation.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

First Course: Amuse Buche appetizers with salmon three ways

Second Course:  a Stilton mouse with watercress and pears poached in red wine

Main Course: Roast turkey, potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots, beets, and 3 stuffings

Fourth Course:  Desserts - a lemon custard, chocolate chestnut cake and vanilla bean ice cream

     There was supposed to be a final cheese selection (the French always have cheese AFTER the main dish) followed by the Buche de Noel.  But we were stuffed!  Elaine and Tony will bring the cheese over to H and G's tonight and we'll have that with toasted bread slices and the Buche de Noel.
     My contribution to the evening was a bottle of Floc which is a local sweet wine and some of my English toffee that I make every Christmas.  We sat around for a few hours after dinner by the fire and visited and laughed and joked and really enjoyed each others' company.  It was a Merry Christmas!  (Although I missed Andy terribly)
     I hope your day was wonderful spent with friends and family and food and lots of love!  I am so thankful to have all of you in my life and for your continued support and encouragement for me and this journey that has led me to this little corner of France.  
     Thank you!  Merci!  May the Spirit of Christmas stay with you all year long.  Until next year . . .