All the stuff you never knew you needed to know about life in rural France.....and all the stuff the books and magazines won't tell you.

Friday 24 December 2010

What I'm missing this Christmas


Is what used to be the high spot of the winter fruit bowl....a juicy, perfumed Passe Crassane pear, the tip of the stalk dipped in red wax to avoid evaporation......

And a few bunches of Chasselas grapes cut from the vine when just ripe and left with the stalks in water and the fruit supported on orange boxes until Christmas.
Edith showed me this and it will be the first Christmas for years that I won't be eating fruit from my own vines.

So I'll just have to make do with pineapple and guava....

Merry Christmas!

17 comments:

  1. I hope some kind soul ships some out to you too...! Happy Christmas!

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  2. Steve I don't think anyone has enough moral fibre to resist eating a Passe Crassane rather than sending it on...the pears here are imported from the U.S.A. - hard as rocks...or perhaps they are rocks..

    Happy Christmas!

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  3. Ooh I think pineaple and guava will probably do nicely! There are always things that we miss..I have a whole list of Christmas things I miss from England...all food!

    Merry Christmas xxx

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  4. Ayak, it's amazing how it always seems to be food, isn't it?
    I'm about to make some more of your shortbread as the friend who polished off the last of the last lot is coming round...
    After Christmas I'm promising myself a batch just for me!

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  5. Merry Christmas Fly. Your blog(s) have been a great pleasure this year.I hope Costa Rica works out as you hope for.

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  6. Mark, and a merry Christmas to you and your family.
    I look forward to your posts...always well written, always making me think and hope you have time for plenty more in the New Year.

    As for Costa Rica, no good being starry eyed, it is no paradise, but the warmth always lifts the spirits as does the improvement in Mr. Fly's general health.
    I'm going to enjoy the moment while it's there.

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  7. I will look for those pears Fly and have one in your honor. Hope you and your Mr. have a lovely Costa Rican Christmas!

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  8. amy, they are unbeatable! You may even need to eat two in my honour....

    Thank you, Christmas is great....the disco twenty miles away is pumping out music so we have had Feliz Navidad, Rock Around the clock and Elvis Presley as background music this afternoon...while I can only imagine the state of the nutters inside the building....

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  9. The pears sound lush, none in my Leclerc, I'll have to try the local market on Tuesday.

    I hope your Christmas was peaceful (if Elvis-tinged) and joyful. I am very happy for you that Mr. Fly's health has improved in CR. Because, that's the best present you can get, as far as I'm concerned.

    Happy Boxing Day to you and a wonderful rest of the year.
    Kind and warm regards, Kitty

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  10. Pineapple and guava will do me nicely. I hope that you are able to enjoy the festive season Costa Rican style.

    A belated Happy Christmas to you!

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  11. Kitty, thank you for your kind wishes...you'll enjoy that pear when you find it!
    Funny, when people drone on and on about the wonders of French produce something so really super as this pear never gets a mention. Do they all copy each other's lists?

    cheshire wife, thank you. They're very good...particularly a white fleshed pineapple which I never saw in Europe.

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  12. Well, you do have a talent for making a person crave fruit!

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  13. tattytiara..there's fruit and fruit..whatever it is needs to be top class and unique.
    I've never been an apple fan, but pears are it!

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  14. Pineapple and guava are very nice, especially if you are in a place where pineapple and guava grow. Very happy new year to you.

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  15. mrwriteon, you're right...local fruit is great!

    I hope 2011 is a great year for you.

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  16. I would far rather have the pineapple - not sure if I have ever tried guava though. (I never knew the trick about the wax)

    xx

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  17. French Fancy, pink fleshed guava is the tops!
    Edith told me about the wax...you pick them and then dip the stalk ends in wax to stop them going wrinkly.

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