3° I should take off all the wild herbs along the road but I can't, I can't...always find them too nice, too cute...so in front of the house I have a tiny garden, a bit wild...some of my flowers are having problems with snails this year...
The pink one was along the edge, and it got a bit crushed by a car, so I rescued it and planted it nearer the house, but now it was eaten by a snail...
But I do love snails as well, they're so funny ...

The raspberry hegde...

4° I have raspberries but I don't grow them...how is that ?

But before I tell you

have the last fruit...the birds eat them...we had plenty this year...they actually belong to the landlady, but we both pick them, we each have our side of the hedge...

so I share the hedge with a nice woman...

I love serving them with whipped cream and a few mint leaves...

Herbs and herbal teas

5° I grow herbs in the small yard...I haven't much left now...the weather has been so

bad...on another side of the house I also have red fennel, very tasty with fish...

no more coriander...that's the one I prefer...

with rice and all Asian recipes it's great...

I also make herbal teas with mint or thyme and lemon...

that's the medicine I prefer...

after I had put them on the scan to make the above picture

the fragrances were so strong ...

delicious...

a strange apricot...

6°Surprise, when I opened this apricot, the stone was broken...

Never seen that before, and the fruit was quite allright from the outside,

and quite tasty inside...

a magic chair...

7°And now, to finish the story of my garden let me show you my magic chair...

quite allright when I open the shutters in the morning...just a bit old and rusty ...like my knees and shoulders...(except the left one partly made of plastic now...)

I just had my shower and came down to have breakfast with Hubby... surprise...

My landlady is the nicest woman I've ever met...

She knows we love vegetables...

Now, Gentle Ladies and Gentlemen don't you think my garden is a beautiful and magic place???

~~*~~*~~*~~

And if you have been brave enough to read this long post I have another story to tell you

see the labels on the left side-bar, click on hedgehog...

the week-end jam

I bought a new basin to make jam, isn't it nice...that's not the photo, my camera isn't working, but quite similar...

so here's the recipe:

1 kg apricots
500g oranges
1kg white sugar, 500gr brown sugar
spices: 2 tea-spoons of cinnamon, 1 of ginger, 1 clove, 5 cm of liquorice stick...
you add the powdered spices at the end the liquorice and the clove at the beginning (put the clove in a small orange)

cut the apricots in halves, slice the oranges very thinly and take off the seeds.
put the sugar in the basin and add a large glass of strong chinese tea...
let it start boiling
put the fruits, let boil gently for about an hour, put in jars
you can add a few raisins...

Cooking wild herbs...

I've got two sorts of oxalis in my yard, green one with pink flowers and the small brownish one with tiny yellow flowers...It's also called wood sorrel. It tastes nice, very fresh, not as sharp as sorrel. you may use it in salads, with fresh cream and fish or cook it...try the following recipe, it's easy and quite nice...

Oeufs à la coque (soft boiled eggs)

with oxalis

from Marc Veyrat (French chef)

~~*~~*~~
(serve four )
4 eggs
100 g oxalis leaves
10 cl vegetable stock
5 cl milk
2 slices of bread
salt and pepper
sea-salt (fleur de sel)
vinegar
Heat the stock in a small pan. Add 50gr of oxalis leaves and let reduce for 3 minutes.
Add salt, pepper and the milk. Allow to reduce until you get about 4 tea-spoon of puree.
Strain it carefully and put apart,
Cook the eggs in gently boiling-water (add two drops of vinegar and don't use cold eggs, that way they won't crack). Boil for 3 minutes. The white will be firm and the yolk runny.
Place egg in a cup, small end down and slice off the large end with a knife. Take off a little of the white, add a tea-spoon of oxalis puree and four grains of sea-salt.
Toast the bread and cut it in fingers. Decorate the plates with the remaining leaves. Dip the bread fingers in the egg and enjoy...

Mint from my yard...

I have much mint in my small yard...Peppermint one and orange one...this last one is a tiny plant now but smells so nice...

I picked up big bunches and let them dry in the kitchen, the bathroom, the toilets...natural perfume...I use leaves when I prepare fruit salad, especially strawberries and raspberries, or herbal tea...but yesterday Itried syrup...It tastes quite nicely and so refreshing with water and ice-cubes...

MINT SYRUP
Ingredients needed:
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 cup packed fresh mint leaves Place the sugar and the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally to help dissolve the sugar. While the syrup heats, rinse the mint leaves to eliminate any dirt. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the syrup from the heat, and dump the mint leaves into the saucepan. Allow the syrup to cool for at least 1 hour before straining out the mint. Store the syrup in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator until ready to use. Syrup will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.Yield: about 2 cups

Here she is, looking a bit shy, isn't she?

She's so beautiful...what can I say?

Hello, Good morning, Nice to meet you...

Help...Docabeille, Cortobeille...