Come to Camogli

After many long but wonderful months in France, it was time to head over to the Italian Riviera, say hello, and indulge in the wonders of Italian cuisine-- a.k.a. gnocchi con pesto(a Genovese specialty) every single day please.

The sun was shining, the air was warm and all the flowers were beginning to bloom.
We parked the car in Camogli- a small, colorful city right on the coast near Genoa. Rising up on either side of the city are vertical rock faces adorned with more small towns scattered about.

The little town waaayyyyy up there is called San Rocco, where we finally made it after scrambling up the mountainside from Camogli- out of breath, sweaty but happy. Time for an aperitif.

Along the way we found numerous treasures- clothes on the line, always, cats in the
walkway and flower pots teeming with beautiful displays.

And while some of the buildings were more run down than others,
they still retained a certain quality and charm.

Every mountain face was covered with terraces from top to bottom, full of olive trees and gardens. Talk about learning to maximize land use- they have the process down here and not only does it work well, but it creates a beautiful landscape.

Whether you are in France or Italy, there is a never-ending supply of vibrantly colorful houses lining the Mediterranean. The yellow building houses a restaurant at the top with a prime view.
Guests can see the Camogli port down to the right and open water all around.

This house is in the midst of renovation using the painting technique "trompe d'oeil"
or trick of the eye, which is very popular in this region. It makes use of shadows and highlights,
creating a 3D effect on the exterior walls.

Some very lucky person has a very nice summer home.

Finally, we made it all the way up to San Rocco and back down to the sea.
A lovely view for a picnic, with the sun's rays and sea's breeze.

Along the sea, fishing is obviously a huge industry. Fishermen's nets lined the walkway on the last part of our hike, ready for use when the catchin' is good.

From here we took a boat along the coast back to Camogli...enough hiking for the day, eh?

Approaching the port, the layered look of this coastal mountain city was striking.
Camogli, meaning houses of wives, is a contraction between the Italian words for house, "casa", and wife, "mogli". When the town was full of fishermen, the wives were always left
behind at home while their husbands were out at sea.

The life.

Good weather draws people out of their houses like nothing else.
No more work!!--Local Camoglians crowded the main drag along
the seaside in the afternoon light.

A finished example of trompe d'oeil fashioned in the lively colors of Camogli.
Note that the pink building on the right even went so far
as to paint on fake windows and shutters.

Any excuse to get outside that day, even just to send a text, was crucial for catching some rays.
The cafes could finally start putting chairs outside, the gelato places were packed
with screaming children, strollers and smiling faces.

Ciao waters of Camogli, and thank you for a glorious day in the sun.

A Lesson on Lambs

There is a new addition to the Camont family.....LAMBS. Two very precious, very new lambs.
Kate knows a couple who owns sheep, so we drove north toward their farm into the Lot region of France, where the soil and landscape is quite different from the heavy clay around Kate's place.

On the way, we ran across two ancient Shepherd's huts built on the edges of a field.

This one in the distance is the bigger of the two, and was probably used for a
little refuge from the sun for a shepherd as he babysat his fluffy white flock.

The second hut was smaller and had a few inches of water still left in the bottom-
most likely once a spring.

The stonework is incredible, so precise and STILL STANDING in pristine condition. Does anyone know the artist Andy Goldsworthy? He creates structures like this one, and others with sticks, ice, stones, raindrops etc. They are temporary in that he builds them in places where they will be destroyed by natural means like melting from the sun or being carried away in the tide.

The old farmhouse is built right on a river and at one time was a working mill. The white
building to the right is the old mill house, but is now just another barn. Walnut, chestnut
and pine trees cover the property and create a wonderful, homey nest in the valley.

Happy sheep in their large, shady pasture.

First task? Getting the sheep in one place to snatch up a young one.
Sounds easy right? Just put food out and they all come running.

Craig, the owner, caught the first lamb. It is a beautiful little girl and a
local Gascon breed with black circles around its eyes.
Maybe this is mommy? Perhaps she's just a little angry?

No one knows who will be next, and they're all on guard, watching, waiting.

One little lamb, all alone and no one to play with.

Kathryn has arrived! And 2 days into the Camont experience she gets her first taste
of what it feels like to hold a warm, woolly animal in her arms. When we got the lambs home, I wondered why their knees were dirty and discolored...well, here you have it.
Drink up.

Craig demonstrates how to position the lamb. Sitting on its rear end, the little one is incapacitated and can't move from your grip. This is the position that
is generally used for shearing sheep as well.

And of course, no farm is complete without a dog. This Australian Sheep dog, with its
brown and ginger coat, is not only a rare color but also the best dog I have ever met.

Such a proud new mom with her new baby lamb.
Can you see the resemblance?

Thanks Craig, and good luck to Kate Hill in her new endeavor.

Spring Has Arrived

We have been working hard around Camont getting things ready for the coming of spring.

Enormous groups of cranes, hundreds at a time, flew overhead last week. This signifies the beginning of spring much like our Groundhog Day in the U.S.
We could not have been more happy to see them.

It is time for the ducks and chickens to begin sitting on their eggs, so we have to
secure the coop against ferrets, rats and weasels. This darling little chicken is more persistant than the rest and is always the first to run over and see what we are doing.

And it turns out, Bacon will be hatching the ducklings this year...

Nothing is done around Camont without the "help" of the 10 chickens and Henri.
They are constantly under our feet and hands as we work, waiting for the
second we dig up a plump, pink worm or grub.

The garden is turning around from last year's frozen, dead vines to our
newly constructed raised beds for potatoes. The soil here is full of thick, heavy clay,
so planting on top of the earth in raised beds is much easier.

Hiding down on the Garonne Canal, Kate's boat, the Julia Hoyt, is another one of our projects. Kate has lived on the boat for the past 24 years, giving canal tours in the summer between Bordeaux and Toulouse. But it is now time to sell the boat and move on to the next thing.

The boat flooded a few weeks ago, and finally all the water is pumped out from
under the floorboards, the bedrooms and the tool room.

Julia Hoyt will be beautiful and brand new when she's finished being fixed up.
She is an old WWI boat that Kate bought in Holland. The hull is iron, not steel, thus more rust- resistant and strong. Anyone in the market for a boat? She's an absolute gem!

No matter how hard we work throughout the day, we are always rewarded with
a stunning sunest over the farmland to the southwest of us.

Cheers to la belle vie en France

Larressingle, whaaaat?

I promise that Larressingle is NOT the name of a fancy duck dish. . .

Lucky us, it just so happens that we ran into yet another town on the 20 Prettiest Villages
of France list. The name is a bit funky, so Kate'slittle trick is to remember-
Larry's Single. Oh, he is? I had no idea!

Larressingle is an old bastide, or fortified town, built in the early 13th century. The currently accepted definition of a bastide is a town that was designed and built as a whole by the founder.

This town is circular, with thick, stone walls surrounding and protecting it.

Originally, when life was slightly more dangerous and you never knew who was
going to come and invade you next, there was a drawbridge across the mote.
It was later replaced by this fixed bridge supported by massive pillars.

The sign at the entrance reads:
INTERDIT AUX CHEVAUX(No horses allowed).
Shoot.

A short section of the 4-foot-thick wall is exposed along the back side of the village.
Safety first, children.

In the 13th century, this region was being fought over by both the French and English crowns. Thus came the beginnings of bastide-building.

And talk about a room with a view.

The tiled roofs in this region were especially prominent
and beautiful in this little bastide.

Pigeons roost in the abandoned towers of Larressingle.
The inhabitants are quite lucky because the up-keep of their small village is of utmost importance to France, being one of its 20 pretty villages. The stonework is precise and beautifully restored, the lawn in trimmed, and there are no horse droppings to speak of.

The village is also a stop along the Saint-Jaques-de-Compostelle pilgrimage,
which continues on to the southwest and then straight westward across nothern Spain.

Pâte, Civet, Rillettes, Confit, Foie Gras-- Oh la

Now that we've had a small break from duck,
we are going to go all out with everything duck right now.
(*This post is definitely not for the vegetarians/vegans out there.)

First up is duck pâte- so we needed to bring out the handy meat grinder...

Slowly but surely the duck meat was fed through the top of the grinder,
and came out nice and...ground..? onto the dish.

Note the deep yellow color of the farm-fresh egg yolks-- incredible.
The egg gets mixed right in with the meat, and then it's
molded into little bowls and decorated with a bay leaf & a few peppercorns.

Pop it in the oven, spread it on a baguette and voila! Delicieux

Next up is Civet, which is a very, very close cousin to
Boeuf Bourguignon, if not a fraternal twin even.
Don't like duck? You can substitute really any game or red poultry in this dish.

Brown the meat, carrots, leeks, shallots, celery and bacon ends. In a separate pot, boil 2 1/2 bottles of red wine and add the bouquet garni(thyme & parsley). Add everything back into the browning pot, pouring in the wine, some peppercorn and 4 bay leaves.Boil, then let simmer
for 2 hours(it's better/more flavorful the next day, so be patient and reheat it later!)

Civet, served with delicious buttery polenta. Mmmmmmm

Moving on to Rillettes, a true duck phenomenon and relatively simple.
Muscovy is the duck of choice for this dish, as they are extra meaty.

Put the wings, carcass, neck and breast(opt) in a pot with bay leaves, peppercorn, onion, carrots, leeks, celery leaves, and fresh thyme. Add water 1/2 up the pot, boil, simmer for about 2 hours, until meet is very tender. This creates really flavorful juices that will be put back into the recipe.

This is the fun part if you like to get your hands dirty. Take all the meat off the bone, discard the meet and ligament. MASH MASH MASH the meat with your hands until it turns into a nice paste. Add: 1 c broth from pot, 1 c duck fat, 1 tsp pepper, and 1 Tbl large salt crystals.

Now, you can put this in a terrine/wok and eat relatively soon,
or you can sterilize it in jars and keep it for up to 1 year.
We chose to sterilize them, but let me tell you, they will not last for a year in this house.

Almost there! The 4th recipe is none other than Confit de Canard.

Take all the duck parts and rub with salt. Let it stand in the frig for about 24 hours.
To get the duck fat- cut out all the fat you can find and melt it in a skillet. Strain it to make sure there are no chunks. Retrieve the duck parts, wash off the salt with cold water,
pat dry, and let then simmer in the fat for 2 hours.
Fit them into jars and pour the fat over and around the parts to be 'confited', and seal them well.

Now, Confit means to preserve, like confiture(jam). You can confit just about anything that produces fat, like pork. So while we made the Confit de Canard today,
we should really let it sit on the shelf for 2 months or so before eating it.

Most likely, when you order Confit de Canard at a restaurant it is not the true/preserved dish.

Next? Last? Getting tired of duck yet? Terrine de Foie Gras Entier Mi-Cuit
Now, what does all that mean? Terrine is simply the small pot it is cooked in. Entier means 'whole', so the liver is not cut up, not mixed in with other parts of the duck, just the liver.
You can buy cheap fois gras at the store because it not made solely from liver.
And mi-cuit means semi-cooked. It is the best kind and retains a beautiful, pinkish hue.

De-veining the liver is essential, as you do not want them spoiling your creation.
First discovered by Egyptians with migratory birds, fois gras spread from Egypt to the Mediterranean, though it was not recognized as a proper dish until Roman times.

Salt and pepper and Armagnac the liver, leaving it marinade for 3-4 hours in the frig.
Then put it into a small terrine pot.

Press the liver down with weights to make sure there are no air pockets.
Cook at 180 degrees F for 30-35 minutes in a water bath, until it is 135 degrees in the center.
A nice seal of fat will rise to the top. Let cool in the water.
Keep 2 days before eating. You may cry when you taste how wonderful this is.

A Perfect pot of foie gras, waiting to be eaten.

Our very own, homemade foie gras, which we had as
an apéritif along with baguette and fresh, fresh oysters. Oh la!

Do try all of these dishes but don't attempt to make them all in one day...
you will most certainly drive yourself nuts, burn a few pots, put the polenta through
the meat grinder and accidentally pour the Civet wine over the fois gras- GROSS.

Bonne Chance(Good luck)