Happy August, my friends! I'm feeling distinct twinges of summer winding down, though here in California, it's not so much that the harvest is ending, or that the temperatures are lowering; no, we're still near triple-digit heat and the garden has come into its own, pumping out fruit and veg like I planned for it to, way back in January. It's just that end-of-summer feeling with school starting again in a couple of weeks, and all that goes with that: Figuring out where the backpacks are, trying to finish that summer assignment, and finalizing calendar dates.

However, summer ain't over yet, and I've got lots to share with you. During my self-imposed computer break, we also traveled: Last Christmas our gift from my folks was a family trip to Europe, and we spent a scant week in England and another in France, all of us together with Tim and Lois (my parents), and Stewart and Niki (my brother and his partner). Mom and Dad lived in London for a few years in the late 90's, and they wanted to show that neighborhood to Adam and Kate (our kids). So we spent time in London visiting their flat and some of their favorite haunts, exploring some tourist attractions, seeing Kinky Boots, walking a lot, eating scones, and doing some serious drinking in pubs (research for Tom's brewing projects, natch). We also took a couple of day trips to the East and South of London, visiting Chartwell (Churchill's home), Hever Castle (Anne Boleyn's childhood home), Oxford (particularly Christ Church College), and Blenheim Palace. We had a hilarious couple of hours in a local coin-op laundry and a middle-of-the-night hotel fire alarm, all of which added to the great stories of this interesting week in England. Despite some of the dire clouds you see in the photos here, we had zero rain while in Europe. Both England and France were in the middle of heat wave (near 90 in England the whole week, mid-90's in Paris, near 100 in the Loire Valley) and hadn't seen rain for months. England looked a bit like California, which was particularly sad for us.

Kate striking up an artist's relationship with a local wanderer

Feeling a bit like Harry Potter at the Great Hall at Christ Church (the inspiration for the Great Hall at Hogwarts)

After five terrific days in England, we hopped on the Eurostar and had a wonderful train ride through the Chunnel to Paris. Tom couldn't help comparing that experience to his daily commute, and I'm afraid BART (our metro) came up woefully short. (Though we did appreciate the air conditioning on BART after riding the Tube in a heat wave.) We had a very short two days in Paris, but we got the best overviews we possibly could; by walking, by yacht on the Seine, and in antique Citroen cars driven by four irascible Frenchmen whom we adored. Everyone but me got to tour Musee du Louvre with a Frenchwoman who had studied art history; I was sick for that afternoon and got to know my hotel bathroom quite well. That same art historian took us on a culinary tour of Paris and those that could eat enjoyed local cheese, wine, and charcuterie. We fell in love with the long summer days of France (sun rising before 5, and setting well after 10), and got to see the lights twinkling on Tour d'Eiffel while we were eating the cheese and dessert course on our yacht on the Seine. Parfait!

Our drivers: Flo, Sebastien, Jean-Marc, and Yves

Driving down Champs-Elysees, towards L'Arc de Triomphe

Eggs in France are not refrigerated and are much fresher than in the US. On a side note, we were so pleased to see so many things bottled in glass instead of plastic: Yogurt, sodas, fizzy waters.

Dad, Tom and Adam dans la Fromagerie — Dad, Tom and Adam *dans la Fromagerie*

Adam in his happy place - with charcuterie

Dad, Niki, Adam, Tom, just a little hint of our blonde guide Anne-Marie, and Mom: street picnic!

We were then picked up by our guide, Marina, who lives in Tours. She drove us south of Paris down through Chartres and into the Loire region, which is famous for its farms. We spent several days at an renovated hunting lodge in the tiny town of Onzain, and used that as our home base for traveling around the countryside. The valley is gorgeous; the farms/acreage are much smaller than most of the states, and just as in England, bordered by forests and hedgerows to keep ecosystems intact. Many of the farms advertised that they were biologique, or organic, and were very proud of that. The Loire grows most of the country's cereal grains, so we saw fields of wheat, barley, rye, corn, sorghum, sunflowers, and alfalfa. We toured a mushroom cave which was carved deep into the limestone of the region; visited a local organic winemaker specializing in the wine of the region, Sauvignon Blanc; and tasted fresh chevre at a local goat farm, where the farmer and I discovered we were kindred spirits despite our language differences. Our guide took us to an outdoor market near her apartment and we met a local chef there who purchased items that we then took back to her restaurant and prepared for lunch. We played croquet late at night on the vast green lawns of the hunting lodge and took sunset walks in their kitchen garden. We ate bread, cheese, and ham with every meal and drank wine nearly as often. By the end of our week in France, I was understanding conversations pretty well, but was only starting to gain the courage to use my high school French to join in. Both Tom and I felt that if we'd had another week there, we would have been chattering away (haltingly).

stone carving on the columns inside the church

Entering Les Caves de Roche, the mushroom cave. No sign, no gate, no safety equipment required. We were told to keep up so we didn't get lost and duck under low ceilings.

our mushroom guide talking about growing oyster mushrooms

in the cave, the temp is 12 C with 93% humidity. No wonder my CA mushrooms aren't growing.

At Domaine de Clos Rousilly, some of the grape vines are in a field above the limestone cellar where the wine is processed

our 'picnic' lunch at the winery - a delicious salad of mache and frisee, cornichon, fresh bread, local chevre, and several kinds of pork and duck rillette. Plus lots and lots of wine.

Mom took this picture, but the rest of us are here, as well as our winery guide and our guide in the Loire Valley. Adam and Kate tasted all the wines and got a little tipsy, I think.

the sign greeting us at Ferme de la Cabinette, a goat farm owned by the Ragot family

picnic area in front of the farm with beautiful old apple trees

Frederique, our chef, pulling up on her bike. She goes to market every other day and fills her bike basket with ingredients that she uses in her restaurant.

the market, held three days a week, is half outdoors and half indoors.

cooking our lunch with Frederique. Recipes below.

We walked through a cobbled, narrow, low passageway that Marina said had been used in the 11th century as the path from the jail to the center of town, where folks would be hanged or beheaded. The passageway was known as the 'heart-sick' path. This … — We walked through a cobbled, narrow, low passageway that Marina said had been used in the 11th century as the path from the jail to the center of town, where folks would be hanged or beheaded. The passageway was known as the 'heart-sick' path. This door was on this path, just as we started to see other well-marked apartment doors, and made me giggle. How many drunk teenagers try to open this door in the middle of the night? And can you imagine having this kind of history as your doorstep?

It's always good to come home, especially to find that the person who lived in our house had done a good job taking care of the property and animals. Now time is filled with processing the harvest and trying to duplicate some of the things we ate and drank in Europe, as well as the pre-school busyness of last-minute appointments etc. Our days have found a new rhythm as we adjust back to our time - we go to bed early and wake up before dawn, getting garden chores done before the heat of the day. Pick an apple from the tree, eat it while harvesting green beans, turn the compost, hunt for ripe cucumbers, fill the water fountain for the bees and birds, put cardboard under the ripening pumpkins, start the dehydrator, pick tomatoes, and repeat. Repeat. Repeat. The rhythm of summer.

Here are the recipes from Tours a Table, the class we took with Frederique. You can substitute ingredients, of course, skip others, make it your own. I've written down the recipes exactly as they were given to me, so you might see some grammar differences or measurement differences. All three of these recipes were delicious.

“Tomato Bavarois with goat cheese and basil

1 can of crushed tomatoes (or fresh)
1 chopped shallot
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 stem of thyme
1 flat teaspoon of agar
salt and pepper to taste
20 cl (3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp) of heavy cream
8 cherry tomatoes
200 g (3/4 cup) fresh goat cheese
10 basil leaves
dash olive oil

In a large pot, saute tomatoes, shallot, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Once it begins to boil, add agar and whisk until the mixture begins to thicken. Once thickened, take off the heat. Let cool. Reserve in refrigerator for at least one hour.

In a non-reactive bowl, add cream with salt. Whip until medium peaks. With a spatula, fold in tomato mixture.

In a bowl, add cheese, chopped basil, salt and pepper, and a dash of olive oil. Mix with a fork until smooth.

Using ramekins to dress, place some of the herbed cheese mixture at the bottom. Add some bavarois mixture on top. Place in refrigerator for two hours. Decorate with sliced cherry tomatoes and basil.

serves 4”

“French Fish Stew

12 scallops without the coral and foot removed
6 small filets of salmon, deboned and skin removed
1 small tail of monkfish, deboned and grey skin removed
1 organic lemon
12 medium sized potatoes
6 large carrots
4 stalks of celery, preferably from the heart
half a bunch of Italian parsley
15 cl (3/4 cup) creme fraiche
white pepper and salt
1.5 l (2 3/4 pints) fish fumet or pre-made fish stock

In a large pot add 1.5 l of water and the sachet of fish fumet.

To begin, start with the celery stalks. Using a paring knife cut one end of the celery stalk and peel the strings off. The cut the celery into 1 cm slices. Set aside.

Peel the potatoes, carrots, and cut in medium sized pieces.

Next, cut the lemon in a small dice. (we actually did slices)

place all the cut vegetables into the fish fumet. Let cook for 10-15 mn.

While vegetables are cooking, cut the salmon in large pieces. Cut the monkfish tail in four pieces about 4 cm each.

Once the vegetables are cooked, remove and set aside. Add the monkfish and salmon. Let the meat cook about 10 mn.

Reduce heat to simmer then add cooked vegetables.

Five minutes before serving add the scallops and the creme fraiche. Gently stir in the creme to incorporate into a smooth sauce.

Sprinkle the fresh chopped parsley as a garnish and serve immediately.

serves 6”

“Chocolate Souffle

7 ounces finely copped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus for preparing molds
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup sugar, plus two tablespoons
8 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
confectioners sugar for garnish

Brush 6 ramekins with soft butter, then coat with sugar. Put them in the freezer.

Set an oven rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F

Put the chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl. Put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and let the chocolate and butter melt while stirring occasionally.

Combine the egg yolks and warm water in a bowl and beat until frothy. Gradually add two tablespoons of sugar and continue to beat until ribbons form, about 5 minutes. Very lightly fold the yolks into the chocolate mixture.

Remove prepared ramekins from freezer.

Put egg whites in a bowl and add lemon juice. Beat until frothy, then gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until the whites hold a still but not dry peak.

Working quickly, fold about a third of the egg whites into the chocolate to lighten (our chef called this a ‘sacrifice’), then fold in remaining whites until blended. Gently ladle or spoon the souffle mixture into the ramekins, and place on baking sheet.

Immediately bake until the souffle rises about 1 1/2 inches from the tops of ramekins, and are touched with brown, about 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven, dust with confectioners sugar, and serve immediately.”