Have You Ever Seen Flamingos Fly?

I heard them first, only I thought the honking sound was geese.  But there they were, right next to the hotel I was staying at.  Very cool. I expected to see them of course. The Camargue is a huge nesting area for flamingos but it still seems weird to see them so close.  I look up a lot during the sun set.  The setting sun provides a neon pink glow to these flying works of art.

The Gardians

 Established in 1512, the Brotherhood of the Gardians are a sight to behold.  On their white Camargue horses, with the beautiful Arlesienne women, they participate in several festivals throughout the year.  Its a wonderful contrast to see this pagentry against the backdrop of the colorful and whitewashed buildings of Provence.

On Jan.2 of this year, a plaque was unveiled on the very spot of the old chapel where Saint George signed the act, creating what was to become the oldest organization of this type still in operation in France.    The Gardian Counfrarie di Sant Jorgi

We Want Snow!

Although I have loved the sunny days this winter, I think the time has come for some real winter weather. One of the things I love about Oregon is the four seasons. OK sometimes there is just three but never the less, I love the seasons! The horses are enjoying the warm sunny days, especially the old guys. After breakfast, they graze in the field for awhile then lazily sprawl out on the ground for a midday snooze. Of course Nick, my Haflinger, will have none of that. He doesn't want to miss a second of a possible mouthful of even the dead winter short grass.

The weather in the Camargue is about the same as here. The highes have been 54 with the lows in the 30's. They do get the Mistral winds in the winter and that can be bitter cold. The horses seem to deal with it just fine. They bundle into groups with their backs to the wind and their heads down. They grow thick coats and forage in the marsh with supplements of hay and grain. There are wilnter festivals as well. The markets keep going although on a smaller scale. Everyone has their hats on and their scarves wrapped tight.

The Best Cheese Cake Ever!

I'm so proud of myself with this recipe. I love cheese cake but seldom make it.
This time of year, however, I always yearn for some. It was going to be a pumpkin one but buckets of pears were staring at me as if daring me to come up with something. I've already made pear pie, pear chutney, dried pears....pear cheese cake? Why not!

Ingredients:
1cup Grahams
1/2c ginger snaps
Butter
3 pears
2 8oz cream cheese
2 eggs
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teas. Almond extract
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teas vanilla

Pear Cheese Cake

*Get yourself an 8" spring form pan
*Spray it or butter the bottom and sides
*Grind or pound out 1cup of Grahams and 1/2cup of ginger snaps
*Melt 5 tbls of butter and mix with the graham mixture

*Press down into the pan and up the sides a bit
*Bake at 350* for about 8-10 min.

The filling:
*Peel and cook down 3 firm pears with a teas. of butter.
Drain and cool
*in your food processor, add 2 8oz blocks of cream cheese
*add the pears
*add 2 eggs
*2/3 cup of light brown sugar
*1teas of almond extract

Set your pan on a baking sheet to make handling easier

Pour the filling into the springform pan
Set a bowl of water in the oven on the bottom rack. This keeps the air moist.

Bake at 350 for 30 min.
Reduce to 325 for 15-20min.
You want the sides to be a bit puffed but the center jiggley.

After you pull it out of the oven, make the topping with 1 cup of sour cream
1/4cup of sugar and a 1/2 teas of vanilla.
Spread on top and bake for another 10 min.

You should cool it in the fridge for about 6 hours.
To take it out of the pan, set it on a plate and run a knife around it so it's not sticking. You can then release the spring and it will come out looking wonderful!
After it's cool, you can melt some caramels and drizzle on top.

I love this recipe and I know it seems like a lot of steps but it's not hard to make and I think you could sub most any fruit. It's also not a real sweet desert but it's really, really good!

Pumpkin Soup

Well it is definitely fall. The nights are colder, the leaves are turning, we have wild turkeys in our yard and when I stepped outside this morning there was the biggest pile of bear poop ever!
So now it begins. Drunk bears on fermented pears. Great.
In the upcoming weeks you will see some pear recipes but for this week we have PUMPKINS!

Pumpkin Soup

2 or 3 sugar pumpkins
Peel and chop in big pieces

Mix the pieces with olive oil, salt, pepper and about a 1/4 cup of dark cane syrup.

Spread out on a lined baking sheet and bake at 350• for about 30min. You want them soft.

While that's baking, sauté an onion and a couple cloves of garlic.
Add the pumpkin
Add a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon
Add a cup of chicken stock
Simmer for about 30min

After it cools, purée

Return to the stove and add some cream or milk or more stock until to get the consistency you want.
Add 1/4 cup of peanut butter ( trust me)
Adjust the seasonings.
Now there are lots of options with this recipe. You can use canned pumpkin. You can add coconut milk and curry. Have fun and experiment. Just keep tasting till you get what you want.

I like to serve it topped with sour cream. Spoon some into a baggy, squeeze it down to the tip and cut the tip off. Now you can pretend you are an expert decorator.
In my mind it always looks better!

We're serving it with a scary blood red wine, in front of our favorite Halloween movie, Young Frankenstein and then we are going to DarkWing Manor to get even more scared. And no, I draw the line at dressing up. I leave that to the experts.
Happy Halloween!