Tonight we will enjoy the last of Earl's delicious Boeuf bourguignon - cooked slowly over several hours last night. I'm sure it's going to taste even better than it did last night - if that is possible! This last week has really been mainly about cooking and eating as a family. Each night, the kids have helped us prepare meals with varying degrees of difficulty. The handmade spinach and ricotta ravioli served in a butter and sage sauce (sage fresh from the house's herb garden of course!) that Tori and I made was seriously labour intensive but well worth all the effort - yum!
Waking up to the smell of eggs, crispy pancetta, cheese and cherry tomatoes baked in an earthenware cassoulet dish in the Aga was just one of Earl's breakfast highlights - Les Coombes seems to be bringing out the Julia Childs in all of us!
And lastly, I suppose we should really put in some pics of the surrounding countryside. While for us, the stone house at Les Coombes has been the focus of our brief stay in the Dordogne, the gorgeous countryside really does deserve a mention too. Rolling green hill after rolling green hill, covered in lush grapevines full of purple fruit and Autumn green and gold vine leaves. Centuries old stone farmhouses - ranging from massive chateaux to small practical homes - are everywhere you look. Dark green forests of giant poplars and silver birch trees spring up between farms.
And so, we leave tomorrow. Disneyland is the next major stop and then on to Paris for 4 days before flying to Dublin for the last major leg of our trip. As we say here in Les Coombes in our best Meryl Streep accent - BON APPETITE!
from my iPhone
It sounds like the trip is all you wanted and a whole lot more - which is just so great. GRACE ALERT GRACE ALERT - Grace Cassio has now landed in London (currently asleep) but Paris, Amsterdam and Spain are on her hit-list.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're all having a great time, I'm tipping you will need checked in luggage on the way home :) We added about 15kgs after only two weeks in Asia.
ReplyDeleteWe want more pictures of Earl's food - forget the countryside! Yours and Tor's ravioli looks yum! European travel feast chez Stef's for the NestPR Xmas do this year? We'll take a vote on the idea on Monday and let you know...Ax
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are all having an amazing time. Love the boots. All well at home but freezing cold and hailing! Love Julia
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