16 October 2013

Balayage

Une nouvelle zone de pluie va balayer la France d'ouest en est... Those are words I hate to hear right now. Another rain front is moving off the Atlantic and sweeping across France today. Oh well, better get used to it. It's only October.

I did enjoy my trip to the "sunnier climes" of Montrichard yesterday morning. LOL. It rained the whole time I was out. I had to go to the bank, and I had to stand in line for 10 minutes or so. I enjoyed observing the people I saw and listening to the conversations around me. It was mostly an older crowd, and I fit right in.

Seen in Paris in sunny July

I went to shop in two different supermarkets, a Netto store (Intermarché's discount outlet) and the SuperU in the Montrichard "suburb" of Chissay-en-Touraine. There weren't many people in the Netto store, but the SuperU was a beehive of activity. People were shopping but also socializing, blocking the aisles with their carts.

I overheard two old men telling each other how old they were (86 both of them). I noticed a younger woman helping her elderly mother (probably) get items down off high shelves. They were accompanied by a man who must have been the husband of the older lady and both of them had to be well into their 80s too.

Spaghetti squash au gratin for lunch

At the checkout line, the man ahead of me was also in his 80s, I'm sure. He and the cashier, a woman my age I'd guess, had a long conversation and I just listened in. Apparently they had a heavy downpour of rain over in Montrichard and Chissay day before yesterday. "It was incredible how hard the rain came down," the cashier said at one point. The showers were localized, and we didn't get that kind of rain in Saint-Aignan at all on Monday.

Back at home, I put together a gratin de courge spaghetti for lunch, along with a salad of mâche with diced beets. Here's a recipe for the simple gratin. I noticed that little spaghetti squashes were selling for 3.89 euros apiece at SuperU. To me, that's expensive, so I appreciate even more the ten that we harvested over the weekend.

Gratin de courge spaghetti

2 to 3 cups of cooked squash pulp
1 egg (or 2)
½ cup or more of crème fraîche
nutmeg, black pepper, and salt
1 cup grated cheese (swiss or cheddar)
butter or olive oil
paprika
Mix together squash, egg, cream, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Pour the mixture into a baking dish and top with the grated cheese. Sprinkle on some paprika. Dot with butter, or drizzle with olive oil. Bake in a 190ºC / 375ºF oven for 30 minutes or until the cheese melts and turns golden brown.

6 comments:

  1. Ne donnez pas trop d'importance au temps qu'il fait, vous risqueriez de pleurer comme lui.

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  2. I like your first photo even though the Paris' motto is missing: "Fluctuat nec mergitur", It floats but doesn't sink.

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  3. I love when you eavesdrop and repeat it here. My hearing is so bad now, I can't eavesdrop much and I miss that.

    Is sour cream a sub for creme fraiche? Hmmm, maybe our Publix carries the real thing, I will have a look. It's senior day today.

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  4. E., I think either sour cream or heavy cream would work fine in this recipe.

    Jean, je ne pleure pas (encore) mais le temps laisse beaucoup à désirer.

    CHM, pas de devise cette fois-ci.

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  5. $5.30 for one squash is way too much!

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  6. Yesterday, I made a variation of your "Gratin de courge spaghetti".
    Be assured the recipe works well with chunks of acorn squash. Fresh squash, cheese and creme fraiche do work well together.

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