Desperate Anglo Housewives : Bordeaux > she's back and dating in her 50s

Why we love them... What is it about a royal wedding which interests even the most cynical of us? Kiwi, republican by nature ( not in the US political sense!), hugely cynical, feminist...I can hardly wait to see Kate's dress today and William in his millitary reds.  Instead of going into work I am one of many expats gathering with their friends and "fairy cakes" to watch the big event. William and Kate's story is a break away from tradition, the smashing of the mould -  it's the union of a royal to a commoner. It would appear that the royals have finally understood that love today cannot be tailor-made. Today, for the royal family to maintain its credibility, or that which remains, it has adapted its cocooned infrastructure to the real world. Whereas Charles and Diana were a fairytale, untouchable, William and Kate are a real couple.  It saddened me to hear a french psycologist "analysing" the danger of this union. She spoke about "prin...

Paradoxes unite!! This morning my husband did some housework. This is something which happens once or twice a year when he thinks that I am about to leave on a 5 star spa mini-break with his credit card because I simply cannot take anymore of doing everything...yes,EVERYTHING! He cleaned his bathroom and vacuumed the stairs... and he did this naked. Getting my husband to do housework has become somewhat of an ordeal. A case of - he doesn't like doing it, he doesn't feel like it, therefore, he won't do any.  The nude carry-on this morning came as a surprise. I wondered whether it was provocation - reverse psychology designed to make me remark ( in my insidious female way!!) and for him to turn around, throw in the sponge etc etc.  But after all these years I have learnt something... don't say anything. I just let him get along with his pantomime....and meantime I had cleaned all the loos, the other bathroom,bedrooms, kitchen, living rooms, office, iron...

...relationships and "self." Spring is in the air. So is love. Even at the supermarket one is surrounded by hormone-charged love nymphs. After 17 years in France one would think/hope that my anglosaxon self would have become accustomed to the French openess of ardent PDA, public displays of "affection,"...well, I haven't.   Picture this... Last week, arms loaded with groceries, at the queue in my local minimart...a beautiful Spring afternoon.  Whilst I am thinking "mm salad" the young anglo couple behind me were thinking " mm sex!!"  One can only imagine they were under the belief that not a soul in France speaks/understands english. Their conversation, at highly audible volumes, was "rated!" To boot, their dialogue was punctuated with the most FRENCH of PDAs. My local minimart cleverly merchandises all the Lindt chocolate beside the checkout. As any self-respecting women will admit, there is nothing quite as inte...

Going back to Amsterdam as my adult self.... A week in Amsterdam is a week imbibed with culture, a true sense of everything " European" and... cake.  Yes, cake! After nearly 20 years of prissy french patisserie it was a gastro pleasure to stop every 100 m to simply gaze through the café windows at mountains of fruit-full, nutty, chocoholic, wondrous cakes. Even better was to step inside and relish them. And that, we did. Deep dish apple tarts made with finely chopped crisp aromatic apple, tossed in cinnamon, in linen-thin sweet short crust pastry served with ladles of whipped cream . Small lux tarts, sweet pastry filled with feather light almond cream, apple, glazed with the most apricot of jams and roasted almond slithers.   Cranberry and roasted grain and nut tarts ...nut topping included pumpkin seed, cashew, sunflower, almonds and all tossed in caramel.   Mini roasted cashew tarts on a bed of gooey caramel.   Sacher Torte ( ok so it's Austrian but the Du...

Grappling for the silver lining... It's the time of year when my teaching hours slow down from frenzied 12 hour a day stints to almost nothing.  This is often a time a major stress for english teachers in the private sector who are paid on contract rather than salary.  No teaching  = no pay. It basically means no, or little, income. Most school teachers in France have a state contract - at college or high school level they have a maximum face to face teaching time of 18 hours per week. For those of you who aren't "in the know," teaching hours are basically multiplied  by two for " real time hours"...this is to add preparation, correction time into the formula. Their salaries are not the top of the pile but they do have 2 months summer holiday, 2 weeks at  Christmas, Winter, Spring and Autumn....all at full salary. Do the maths!  Once in the public teaching sector you are set for life....unless of course you lose your temper and lash ...

Cynacism strikes... Yesterday I asked my husband if he would like me to take him out for "valentines" supper... My offer was, methought, modern yet romantic..girl takes boy. My dear french ( ie pendantic) husband answered, well why would we do that? We are already married! He then launched into a tirade about the commercial dishonesty surrounding Valentines...I batted for romance using Easter and Christmas as examples, then continued with the importance for both retail and service industries of such events especially in the context of an economic crisis. He looked at me and said, If it's that important to you I will take you out to supper, but on the 15th when the prices aren't double! ...That's amore!! I heard a very funny story which I will share with you rather than a recipe. It reminded me of my husband. After she woke up, a woman told her husband, "I just dreamed that you gave me a pearl necklace for Valentine's day. What do you think ...

 Bringing back root vegetables... The parsnip disappeared from my life when I came to France.  I can still hear my family's oohs and ahhs over crisp roast parsnip. Well, parsnip is back. My surprise is that this, the most British of veg, is getting royal treatment in France. Great, I'm loving it! A perfect vegetable soup or roast it is all the more more glorious when served "warm" in salad form. Get out the food processor or your slicing mandolin and try out this recipe - a great "bed" to compliment to a rare baked maigret/duck's breast. Warm Parsnip Salad The desperateanglohousewife's parsnip fantasy? Olive oil 2 c Julienne-cut parsnip 3/4 c Julienne-cut celery 3/4 c Julienne-cut capsicum/red  pepper 1/3 c finely sliced   onions ( I use the fresh "white onions" ) 1/4 c good quality white wine vinegar* 1 teaspoon  dijon mustard 1 teaspoon Malden Salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 lg Garlic clove, minced 1 ...