LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH AUTUMN

When green goes bronze...

I come from a pacific island where we just don't feel the seasons " mark" themselves. We kind of stroll between winter and summer without feeling the full impact of spring and autumn. They exist, but not like here in the northern hemisphere. The result - my love/hate relationship with autumn.

Let's get the hate done first..To be frank the change from green to bronze sets off an anguish screaming time to go back to school, time to go back to work, Christmas count down, nearly next year and therefore another year older, argh!! I watch my beloved garden running out of steam, turning itself off for winter. Roses become less robust, their flowering ceases - as I write this I can see my New Dawn climber holding on to her last flower, a withered half excuse of a rose.

 Autumn also means wearing proper clothes and shoes again. No floating around the house barefoot in long shirts and knickers - out with boots, coats, trousers. I really hate this.

What I love however is the colour, the fresh produce and the air after summer's heaviness. When I cycle through Jardin Public there is a daily colour change in the trees. The markets are full of truly amazing food to buy and cook. The air is cool, softer.

The food is the best part....figs to scream over, lush tomatoes, bouquets of fresh herbs. Chestnuts, hazelnuts and walnuts overflow from baskets. All sorts of devine mushrooms waiting to be thrown around my pan with parsley and garlic. At the butcher's this morning I heard a couple of locals chatting about last night's rain and the cepes they found this morning. They went sotto vocco over the whereabouts of their harvest. No matter how hard I was straining to hear, such things remain precious secrets.
The first of the season's foie gras also appears with its favourite compagnon, the truffle. Don't forget the grapes - they are everywhere, sweet and firm.

Today I have made a walnut tart for my husband and I to share in the peace of our courtyard garden. We'll start with roquefort cheese and fresh walnuts on toast ( smothered in salted butter), served with a mache salad and a glass of golden Sauternes. The walnuts were market fresh as the South West of France owes much of autumnal agricultural life to walnut production. In a few weeks the walnuts will be oil, liqueur, home made " wine, " flour, paste etc.

Something I have noticed here is that every garden seems to have a walnut tree.. maybe I should plant one to ward off the autumn blues. See Walnut Tart recipe...

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