Cycling in France - Beyond Bordeaux - Day 2 Graves et Sauternes

DAY 2  St Macaire to Origne 57km
Day 1 Cadillac to St Macaire

Ahh, the romance of the grape.  The end of day one of our cycling trip out of Bordeaux found us in the delightful old village of St Macaire which is steeped in the history of winemaking with cellars and wine stores on every corner. As we were wheeling our bikes up the cobbled street, in search of our hotel, we even encountered a bloke rolling a barrel of wine down the road - a first for me.  

Our stopping place for the night was the charming Hotel Les Feuilles d'Acanthese (Leaves of the Acanthes) a restored 16th century wine cellar with pool and spa in the basement and very good restaurant.  However, being Sunday, there was not much open when we arrived so we had a late lunch in the local Pizzeria that had lots of local dishes on the menu, including one of my favourites Gesier Salad - duck gizzard salad. (The first time I had this I had absolutely no idea what I was eating - I just knew it tasted damn good).  And when I saw the spa, back at the hotel, I knew that things were really looking up and where I was going to spend the rest of the afternoon.

Dinner that night in the hotel restaurant did prove to be a treat and this is what I had; mille feuille de tomatoes - a flaky pastry tart with tomatoes, goats cheese and parmesan, followed by the chap on the left with his local sturgeon, lentils and baby carrots, then a delicious salted caramel tiramisu, all washed down with a crisp bottle of rose - yum. 

Our comfortable room was part of the converted stone wine cellar with walls two feet thick, blocking out all noise.  So, with all that pedalling, soaking, eating and drinking under my belt, I slept like a baby ready for the next day on the bike through the famous Graves and Sauterne vineyards.

The start of Day 2 proved to be a real challenge for we quickly realised that the route was not on the quiet bike tracks we were used to from previous cycling tours ; but instead found ourselves negotiating busy roads and motorways.  We tried to be smart, taking various 'shortcuts' and detours. but ended up in a real pickle on the wrong side of a crash barrier with trucks and cars hurtling by.  A traveller on foot, with an Eastern Rosella on his shoulder, came to our rescue and helped us negotiate the labyrinth of very dangerous roads and then kindly helped us lift our bikes over the barrier to safety.  He was very surprised that I knew what his bird was and, in my halting French, explained that we too came from Australia and flocks of them were regular visitors to our garden.  With a broad smile, exchange of pleasantries and a handshake we parted company.  That's one of the nicest things about these cycle trips - you never know what delightful chance encounters you may have.

The day improved as we travelled into the countryside of Premier Crux Sauterne  with many chateaux dotted on the hillsides, charming villages and old churches, stopping for a while by the ruined castle of Budos (1306) amid the grape vines with the clouds gathering and crows soaring.  Our route had become decidedly more rural and we had a few hours of stress free cycling through verdant vineyards with the late summer harvest ripening on the vine. 

There was not much going on anywhere, but as we rode into the village car-park in Budos we were surprised to see a large group of pensioners, in a picnic shed, having a cook-up and drinking Ricard at ten o'clock in the morning.  They started to wave their arms about and remonstrate with us about something we didn't understand until we realised that we had cycled over their especially prepared gravel boule court - all marked out and ready to go! Quelle horreur.

On we cycled, through the villages of Sauterne, past its chateau and the imposing Chateau Yquem, Chateau Clos Haut Peyraguey, Chateau de Villandraut and Chateau Rayne Vignau - all normally open for wine tasting but closed on a Monday.  

Nothing here would tell you that mind boggling wealth lurks amid the picturesque vine-laden slopes and hollows.  The unprepossessing village of Sauternes has a wine shop where bottles of the celebrated Chateau d'Yquem 1990 gather dust on rickety shelves, next to hand written price tags demanding 500 euros for one bottle.

 




We were now coming out of farmland and into the forests of Landes de Gascogne, heading for our guesthouse in the village of Origne.  This Regional Natural Park stretches from here to the coast and is another good reason for visiting Bordeaux and the Gironde - it's very green and you can get away from it all in acres and acres of forest.

This forest covers over 10,000 square kilometres and is, what is known as Atlantic mixed forest - which is mostly maritime pine with oak, alder, beech and holly.  Until the nineteenth century this was a vast swampy area and when struggling agriculture was abandoned and a massive reforestation programme was undertaken, draining the swamp and planting thousands of trees.

We were going to have a real contrast tonight after St Macaire,  staying in a small guesthouse, La Maison Rose, with our hosts cooking dinner for us - we weren't really sure what to expect but the ominous storm clouds made us hurry on to seek shelter and find out.

The Town Hall in the centre of sleepy Origne

I was expecting rustic sleepiness at La Maison Rose, but what we got was a very chic converted old house and our hosts Corinne and Gerard de Rochefort, of similar age to us, having made a tree/sea change from Paris with accompanying chic decor and comfort.  Bonus, the place also has a swimming pool.

Blue hydrangeas were the theme in our room and, initially, I was a little disconcerted by all the guest signs dotted around our very comfortable suite. - an extra 20c for milk in my tea and slices of lemon indeed.  It seemed that our stay was to be governed by a lot of rules and regulations and I was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable - (would I remember to put a coaster under my water glass on the bedside table?).  All this fell away when we appeared for dinner and met our hosts, and told by them that we were to take dinner en famille - with them in their gorgeous dining room, and started to swap mutual grandchildren stories with accompanying photos (what would we do without smart phones?).  Lovely simple, home cooked dinner of jambon with melon and feta, lamb cutlets with rosemary and a platter of cheese with fresh peaches - perfect. 

The dining room  at Maison Rose laid for breakfast.

Early to bed, for tomorrow the adventure continues!

Tamarilloes - how to cook and grow them

ABOUT:  Tamarillo (Solanum betaceum) is a native to southern Brazil in the tomato Solanacea family and easy to grow in tropical and sub-tropical gardens. It is a fruit I was not familiar with until I came to Australia, but love it's fresh clean taste and versatility in cooking.   I have four plants in my suburban garden and they hardly take up any room at all, being an open and shrubby small tree that responds well to pruning after fruiting - so the fruit are easy to pick season to season - they will get to 4m if you let them.

This fruit typifies what sustainable living and cooking with abundance is all  about.  We may have to re-jig our taste buds and learn some new recipes but you surely this is better than buying out of season, tasteless, plastic boxed strawberries from a supermarket that started their journey hundred of miles away? 

I have found that tamarilloes are happy to be ignored (I just feed them a couple of times a year) as long as you don't let them dry out or get completely waterlogged - mulch, mulch and more mulch.  They need sun for at least part of the day, but will take some semi-shade.

Because they are quite shallow rooted they are a fantastic plant to incorporate in a food hedge as they don't over compete with the plants around them for water and nutrients - just remember the mulching.

In late summer they produce a crop of ovoid fruit, either orange, purple or a yellowy colour.  The skin is never eaten as it is very bitter, and flesh scooped out to be eaten fresh or cooked.  Grazing children love to just bite the top off and squeeze the tangy, tart flesh straight into the mouth.  Oh - did I mention their amazing nutritional properties - here goes?:

• TAMARILLO and NUTRITION: The tree tomato is an excellent source of antioxidants because it contains a type of flavonoid known as anthocyanins. Furthermore, and more importantly it contains the carotenoids lycopene and beta carotene (vitamin A).
• Lycopene’s principle health benefit is to neutralize or inhibit oxygen derived free radicals. Free radicals are implicated in causing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.  Lycopene, along with the other carotenoids, beta-corotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, help protect and repair cells against DNA damage, thereby helping to prevent premature aging. However, of the four carotenoids, lycopene has by far the most antioxidant activity.
• The group of flavonoids called anthocyanins are found in red or purple plant color pigments, known as phytochemicals.  These flavonoids are antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and they help neutralize free radicals. They can also provide health benefits against diabetes, nuerological diseases, cancer and aging.
• Tamarillo is also a good source of vitamin C, as well as calcium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium and magnesium.
  

USES IN COOKING:
Poached:  I first had them this way at La Luciola Restaurant in Bali - ahhh!

1. Score the pointy end of the fruit with a cross so that when they are cooked it peels back like a flower.  
2. Simmer a couple of tablespoons of honey in some water and either star anise or a scraped vanilla pod. 
3. Add the washed and scored fruit and poach for about 5 minutes. 
TOP TIP - leave the stalks on.
4. Let them cool and peel the skin back - very pretty! I have served them like this many times since, often with a sweet baked ricotta or vanilla yoghurt.  They are also good stewed with other fruits and berries - just scoop them out of their skin  first.

Jam:  They make a fabulous jam - either by itself or with other fruit - that sets really well because they are so high in pectin.  I made some the other day with mango, guavas and peaches - really yum!

Chutneys:  I have come across various recipes for this.  As soon as all the crop is in (and we stop eating them!) I will try some and post up the recipe.

NOTE:  Click here for the link to a scrum my Tamarillo Yeast Cake recipe - an extremely versatile tea cake that I make all the time.  Somebody liked it!

Octopus Salad

Octopus Salad,

 Mitsos Taverna, Corfu, Greece - cooked by Agatha, caught by Spiros

Octopus, and the rest of the family of squid, calamari and cuttlefish are sea creatures I would never have eaten as a child in London - I had to wait for the delights of savouring these for travels in Europe - Spain, Italy and then Greece.

These days I know that my holiday has started when we arrive in Athens, settle into our favourite hotel, and then wander up the street to Strofi - a restaurant with a rooftop garden where you can sit, sipping a glass of wine, and watch the sun going down behind the Acropolis.  The first thing we order is their octopus salad - a revelation of tender, meaty, lobstery tasting delight - perfection.  The shoulders relax, travel fatigue drops away and I begin to enjoy my holiday knowing that there's plenty more of this where that came from.

It's a shame that most people I know would never dream of attempting a dish like this because they think that the cleaning is going to be complicated and messy, and the cooking difficult - all not true.  Apart from being good for you, as well as delicious to eat - it is cheap.  When you look at most seafood around the $25-$35 mark and compare it to squid and octopus at $5-$12 - there's nothing not to love.

IS OCTOPUS SUSTAINABLE?  This question is of increasing concern to most of us as fishing stocks are depleted by unsustainable fishing practices.  My advice - buy local.  I get mine from a large seafood shop in Ballina that sells everything that is caught when the trawlers go out but is not valued as much by the fishermen - by-catch.  This is generally the seafood I favour; squid, sardines, octopus and red mullet and other small fish.  If it turns out to be not that good for eating I make stock out of it.

WHY OCTOPUS IS GOOD FOR YOU:  

These days we are repeatedly being told that seafood is good for you and we should be eating it at least three times a week and avoiding meat.  Apart from being low in calories and saturated fats and high in protein, seafood is increasingly being shown to be helpful is fighting autoimmune diseases - like multiple sclerosis.  So what are the nutritional facts about octopus - bearing in mind that I actually eat it because it tastes damn good!

1.  Octopus, like nearly all seafood is lean and low in calories and saturated fats.  It is however quite high in cholesterol but, like all things, eaten in moderation it won't do you any harm.  It's a staple food for coastal Greek people who have the famous benefits from eating the so called 'Mediterranean Diet' that includes all kinds of seafood, including octopus - with lower rates of stroke and heart disease.

2.  Iron.  One serve has all the daily requirements for men and half for women - add a handful of parsley girls and your done for the day!

3.  B12.  Octopus exceeds your daily requirements of this important vitamin that is essential in the production of new red blood cells and supporting everyday brain function.

4. Selenium. One serve of octopus provides more than you daily requirements.  An important trace mineral that plays a role in protein metabolism during digestion.

A NOTE ABOUT ROCK BASHING!  You may have seen or heard stories about octopus fishermen bashing their catch on rocks to tenderise it,with tentacles and froth flying.  This is certainly true if the octopus is going to be flash fried or barbecued - otherwise it is like chewing rubber.  However, there is absolutely no need to do this for a dish like this where it is simmered first in water - it honestly renders it delectably tender.

Now, don't be scared - trust me!

What to Buy

For this dish you need the octopus to be large with thick tentacles - the opposite for when you are buying them for chargrilling on the barbecue - then you need small ones.

Fresh octopus should smell sweet with no trace of ammonia.  Use it as soon as possible after purchase, certainly within 36 hours, and do not store with the guts intact - the same goes for squid, calamari and cuttlefish.  

How to Clean

Simply cut the head off whole - this way you will not disturb the ink sac, and discard it.  Cut the octopus in half and pop out the black 'beak' from the middle and discard.  Cut the tips off the tentacles and discard.  That's it!

Cleaned octopus ready for cooking 

How to Cook

1. Place the cleaned octopus in a saucepan and cover with cold water. 

2. Add to this one dessertspoon vinegar, a bay leaf and one clove of garlic sliced.

3. Bring to boil and simmer for 20-40 minutes.

4. Us a small sharp knife to check when it is cooked - it should have lost its rubberyness but be firm and tender.

5. Don't over cook or it will turn to mush.

6. Drain straight away

7. As soon as the octopus cools a little rub off the dark skin - the is best done wearing disposable gloves.  This is a very simple and quick task.  There is no need to remove the suckers.

Cooked octopus - just need to get the rest of the skin off

Preparing the salad

1. Slice the cooled octopus into bite size pieces and place in a serving dish.

2. Cover with olive oil, sliced fresh garlic and sprinkle with dried oregano and thyme.  It may need a little salt at this stage.

3. Serve with wedges of lemon, fresh black pepper, sprinkle of parsley and crusty bread.

4. If the octopus is fully submerged in the oil it will keep for a week or so in the fridge.

Just before the outbreak of the Second World War the author Henry Miller went, for the first time, to Greece to visit his friend Lawrence Durrell and stayed for nine months traveling from Athens, around the Peloponnese, Corfu and to Crete.  His experiences are recorded in one of the best travel books you will ever read, The Colossus of Maroussi.  

Maybe it just has a real resonance for me because I too went to Greece and fell in love - with the varied landscapes, the romance of being on the edge of Europe and the beginning of the East, the history, the marvelous island journeys, the best swimming in the world, THE FOOD and, most of all the Greeks.  I agree with Miller when he says in the book "I like a good Greek meal better than a good French meal, even though it be heresy to admit it"

Cycling in France - Bordeaux and beyond Day 1

in 2015 we did a cycling trip from Innsbruck to Verona and it was so wonderful that we wanted to do the same kind of thing again, only somewhere different. We love the south-west of France and had glimpses of Bordeaux on a previous trip, vowing to return - the city and whole region is just so lovely.  This was where our trip in August 2016 started.

How bad could cycling through the premier wine growing of France be with its chateaux, historic villages, the forests of Aquitaine to the seafood heavens of Arachon and Cap Ferret on the Atlantic coast - staying in comfort and eating and drinking some of the best food and wine you are going to get anywhere in the world?

First let me point out that we own no lycra, but after last years' experience we did get some cycle touring shorts that have a kind of padded nappy insert - as me mate lovingly said "all ready for the nursing home Nanma"?

• The companies that we organise these tours through take all of the stress out of the trip - you just have to turn up, get on  the bike and pedal! 
• They organise: the bike - touring upright kind with panniers and basket, 
• Repair kit for the bike, 
• Helmet, 
• Book hotels in advance with choice of standard (we go 3-4 star - come on, I've been on a bloody bike all day),
• Take your bags from hotel to hotel.  
• Provide you with comprehensive and detailed daily route maps that include places of interest, historical background and recommended restaurants and lunch stops.

Place de Bourse, Bordeaux where our trip began

DAY 1  Cadillac to St Macaire 50km  28th August 2016

Our trip started in Bordeaux after a short flight from the UK.  We opted to spend a couple of days here and, let me tell you, Bordeaux is wonderful.  See my previous post for a rundown on what to do if you have a couple of days here.

The leaning clock tower of Cadillac

We were then taken by taxi on the 30 minute journey to Cadillac where we spent the night at the lovely Chateau de la Tour Hotel which had the added bonus of an outdoor swimming pool and three acres of  leafy  grounds.  Things got even better when we realised that the restaurant in the hotel had a pretty good reputation so we booked for dinner that night on the terrace - we were not disappointed.  Unexpected delights like this, we have discovered, are one of the features of these cycling tours - you go to lots of places you have never been to before and probably never go to again - a real adventure, with fabulous food thrown in savouring the novelty of it all.

Medallion of pork with truffle oil potatoes & roast capsicum sauce

Cadillac has a lot to offer for a stopover - no pink American cars but an historic 15th century chateaux,  12th century church and cobbled market square.  My luck was in because it was market day and a short stroll into the town from our hotel turned into a two hour culinary adventure.

Ah, the joys of a traditional French produce market - which I ate my way around and bought some pate de campagne from the butcher for our picnic the next day (he had four different homemade kinds).  With that and some REAL bread and tomatoes we were all set.

Next day we set off bright and early on our bikes, which had been waiting for us in the grounds of the hotel, looking forward to our ride through the premier Bordeaux wine country.  The weather forecast was promising a scorching hot day of over 36oC - which I was not looking forward to - my thermostat does not work too well these days, so we wanted to get the bulk of the ride out of the way before late morning.

The start of our adventure - outside the Cadillac Chateaux

We started out on a bike path along the lovely Garonne River and then headed into rolling vineyard country and past many small chateaux with wine tasting - just a tad bit early for us though - 8am on a Sunday morning.

Could see from the outset that this was going to be more of a walking/cycling trip - with my bung knee paining me and the heat I just couldn't get up the hills and ended up walking a fair bit!  What an absolute joy it was to be out here though - a great sense of freedom.  

Arrived in the lovely village of VERDELAIS, cycling through the beautifully proportioned town square lined with plane trees still dressed in their summer emerald green foliage. and stopped at the only place open for a coffee watching the locals turn up for Sunday morning mass in the 16th century basilica.  I was drawn in when the choir began to sing with the congregation joining in - a moment of peace, joy and cool!

The bell tower is topped by a magnificent gilded copper statue of the Virgin Mary, after whom the basilica is named - Notre Dame.  I wondered, at the time, if this town was particularly devout as the church service was packed - not the half dozen elderly ladies you get in St Michael's in Mullumbimby on a Sunday.  I subsequently discovered that the church houses a famous shrine - a 14th century wooden statue of Our Lady of Verdelais, that is said to perform miracles and is on the pilgrim route through France. I also read of a 'Black Virgin' cult centred around this statue and the church - intriguing non?

Our short coffee stop got even more interesting.  The small hole-in-the wall cafe, opposite the church, I am sure was just open on a Sunday to take advantage of the post service need for refreshments by the huge congregation for the rest of the place was as quiet as the grave. In fact, the cafe overlooked the village graveyard which snaked up the hillside and, mooching about, I was astonished to read,  on a faded sign by the gate, that Toulouse Lautrec was buried there - the renowned Impressionist painter of can-can girls, famous singers, prostitutes and the cafes around Montmarte, Paris at the turn of the last century.  As a teenager I loved his poster art and had a copy of the famous 'Jane Avril' on my bedroom wall - all that talent, dazzling paintings, debauchery and absinthe drinking - what was not to love for a nice girl from Brockley.

Lautrec was born in Verdelais and was living here in the family villa when he died of a stroke, aged 36, in 1901, after suffering years of alcoholism and venereal disease  Its hard to believe that a recent painting of his sold for US22 million for his grave is unlovingly neglected and looks hardly visited.  

Magnificent bell tower of the Basilica of Notre Dame in Verdelais topped with her gilded copper statue.

So after cycling through verdant vineyards, with this year's vintage ripening on the vine, and after 50km or so, we finally cycled into the charming and historic village of St. Macaire to find our hotel, where we were met with our sight for the day - a man rolling a barrel of wine down the street!  To be continued........

Trombone Squash - Summer Survivor

Surviving Summer

A favourite summer vegetable - trombone squash

We have recently had some early summer scorchers, with very little rain, that has just decimated the garden - the heat and humidity have been intense, so this thought is not far from everyone's mind.  WHAT FOOD CROPS WILL SURVIVE THROUGH THE SUMMER?

Delicious finger eggplants - great for the barbecue

This was the question that my neighbour asked me the other day and my answer was almost spontaneous; okra, snake beans, amaranth bi-colour, eggplant and the trombone squash - all subtropical plants to survive our weather conditions.  I leave the corn and sweet potato for those with more land than me.

I still have some tomato, kale and cucumber plants struggling on from winter and spring but, in this heat, you can forget lettuce, Asian greens and other green beans.

Amaranth bi-colour - the spinach alternative.  Very nutritious and easy to grow - you just have to get the right variety - this one!

Snake beans - they just keep on coming

Trombone Squash
Cucurbita moschata
Zucchini tromboncino (listed by this name in the seed catalogues)

WHY is this one of the most rewarding summer vegetable crops?

52cm in one week!

1.  It is very easy to grow, surviving the summer heat and humidity - it just needs a frame to grow over - like a trellis or an arbour. Plant the seeds, that you have saved from the year before or bought from a reputable company like Diggers Seeds of Green Harvest (I got mine from my mate Dave) in the springtime.

2.  This zucchini/courgette/squash is a fast mover -  you can virtually watch it growing in front of your eyes.  This one reached 52cm in one week - I just love it. There aren't many plants that having me dashing out with the ruler, first thing in the morning, and gaping in awe at just how fantastic nature can be.

3.  It is very prolific - one plant will give you heaps of fruit.  You just may have to intervene and help it along by hand pollinate if it raining and there are no pollinators around.  This is easy.  The male and female flowers are borne on the same plant - the female giving you the fruit and male the pollen for fertilising - and their structure easily tell you which one is which. So you just pick the male flower with the pollen on his pokey-out-bit and stick it in the female - bingo - who said gardening was boring?

4.  This is a nutritious and versatile food that I turn into lots of delicious dishes; corn and zucchini bake, bubble and squeak and the really yummy haloumi and zucchini fritters.  I also like to serve it as a side vegetable - simply sliced and tossed in some hot olive oil with garlic and black pepper, then finished with a squeeze of lemon juice. You don't have to peel it!

Zucchini Bake

5.  You only use the long stem part which is seedless, less watery than ordinary zucchini and has a firm nutty flavour.  The round bit at the end contains the seeds - which you can discard.

6.  I always let one hang on the vine until it is dried and hard - the seeds will begin to shake around in the rounded base.  Store these in a cool dry place for next year.

Carrot and Sultana Cake with Banana Icing

One of the weirdest cake recipes I have ever seen was in a collection called 100 Years of Australian Country Cooking (1988) that I picked up in a garage sale with the kind of recipes that raise your eyebrows but, nevertheless, I find fascinating for their novelty value. Tempting dishes like Surprise Parsnip Pie and Mock Wild Duck Casserole (that contains beef and lambs kidney, but no duck) One particular recipe that caught my eye was for a beetroot cake with peanut butter icing - this was before the days of beetroot being trendy in everything, and I thought it very odd indeed.

Well, when I recently saw this carrot cake recipe I was immediately reminded me of the beetroot/peanut butter thingummy - must be the carrot with peanut butter in the cake and spicy banana icing on top. But, do you know what - it works!

This is a very versatile recipe, that I have tweaked to my taste, that can either be made into an iced afternoon teacake or into a slice that is great for children's lunch boxes.  It's a real hit with our growing brood of grandchildren - 7 and counting! (Leila, 10, said the icing tasted like banana milkshake!)

I'll give you the two versions and see what you think?

Carrot and Sultana Cake with Spiced Banana Icing

150 g crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup of sunflower or other vegetable oil
250 g dark brown sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
350 g freshly grated carrot
275 g sultanas
150 g glace ginger (optional)
100 g plain wholemeal flour (you can substitute this with almond meal)
150 g wholemeal self-raising flour
(for gluten free you can substitute with a third each of buckwheat/brown rice flour and fine polenta)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Preheat oven to 180oC.  Line a 23cm round cake tin or loaf tin with non-stick paper.

2. Grate the carrots (I do this with the grater blade of the food processor - because I can!) then put them to one side.

3. In the good old food processor - that you don't need to wash after grating the carrots, beat the peanut butter, oil, sugar, ground ginger and milk until smooth then beat in the eggs.

4. Stir in the grated carrots, glace ginger, flour and bicarb until mixed.

5. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer poked in the middle comes out cleanly.  Leave to cool before icing.

Spiced Banana Icing

100 g butter

1 large ripe banana

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp hulled tahini

75 g cream cheese

125 g icing sugar

1.  In the trusty food processor beat together the butter, spices, banana, cream cheese and tahini until smooth and creamy.  Add the icing sugar and mix until smooth.

2.  Spread over the cooled cake and chill before serving.

Carrot and Sultana Slice

(as in the photo at the top of the page)

1. Make the same recipe for the cake just omitting the ginger - usually not the favourite of children, and adding 1/2 cup of pecans instead, and have another half a cup for decorating the top.

2. You can ice this too - you just have to omit the pecans on top.

2. Bake for 30 minutes on 180oC or until skewer comes out clean.

Getting America Back Online

I am not often flabbergasted, but I was this week when I discovered that more than 60 million Americans are forbidden, by locals laws, from having a washing line! Yes, that's right, they are not allowed to hang out the washing in their own backyard.

This piece of information came my way via an American friend of mine, who has lived in Australia for a long time, but has had to return to the States after the recent devastating floods in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that left her elderly mother homeless.

When she went to sign the lease on a new place it was written into the contract that she was not allowed to have washing hanging in the front or back yards, or on the verandah for that matter, but that is was perfectly OK to have a tumble dryer out there in full view of the neighbourhood. She questioned the logic of this, especially in light of the fact that post flood there was a dire shortage of washing machines and dryers, only to hit a brick wall.  The landlord finally agreed to let her hang washing as long as it was out of sight.

Why, I asked myself?  How had this crazy piece of widespread legislation come into being in the first place when the iconic Hill's Hoist, with washing gaily flapping on the line, is a common and everyday sight in Australia.  Trying to legislate against it would be seen as laughable.  And, we are not talking about folk in apartments, we are talking about people with a yard who could have a clothes line.

Apparently hanging out the washing was the norm in pre-war America, but then the advent of the suburban ideal was born in the 1950's. This was partly driven by a push to get women back in the workforce after World War II; the need to sell electricity and the appliances being invented to use it (surprise,surprise), and partly by an idealised notion of progress - clotheslines became a symbol of the life people wanted to leave behind.

Upon the humble clothes line, a battle line has been drawn that embodies a uniquely American clash of ideas about class, liberty and the environment and they have swallowed this hook, line and sinker - well not line.

It may be hard to believe, but clothes lines in America are a symbol of poverty and vulgarity - they believe that having a clothes line not only lowers the tone of a neighbourhood but also the house prices.  These notions are fueled by the self-interest of property developers and steeped in an historical Puritanical prudery.  You can go out into your backyard in bikini but, for heavens sake, don't hang your undies out.

Arguing over the right to hang laundry on clothes lines which is, in most countries a taken-for-granted way of life, seems almost ridiculous even before the environmental merits are taken into consideration.  Official figures say that in the USA tumble dryers guzzle 15% of household electricity.  The same research shows that if one in three Americans started line drying for five months of the year, 2.2m tonnes of CO2 would have been prevented from entering the atmosphere by 2020.  It's free solar and wind power, for heaven's sake.

The comments left on my friends' social media page concerning her right to a clothes-line paint a vivid picture, incredulity and disbelief from her Aussie friends ("....my sheets smell like sunshine" and "I had to teach my American sister-in-law how to use a clothes peg"), and bristling defensiveness from many of the Americans (".....he who has the gold makes the rules......the rights of property owners far outweigh environmental goodness or renters rights").  In America, it seems, the big picture is just not in the frame.

Americans also use the vagaries of weather as an excuse.  What do you do when it rains, they ask?  80% of Americans own a tumble dryer while only 4% of Italians do, so let's ask them.  "Well, I hang it outside when it is sunny and inside in the basement where the boiler is when it is raining - simple, ciao."  Which is pretty much what we did in the UK when I was growing up and where sunshine can often be a dream you once had.  Just about every household had a wooden and rope drying rack in the kitchen - the warmest place, which could be lowered and raised. Sitting at the dinner table with my grandma's long john's dangling above my head inspired a certain curiosity, but not embarrassment - we were used to it.

If you have never buried your face in a laundry basket of sheets that have been dried in the sun and wind then you are missing out on one of the simple pleasures in life.  And what about that hit of vitamin D while you're standing at the line, the chat with the neighbours that you wouldn't otherwise have had while smiling at the bird orchestra and clouds scudding by? While I'm hanging my washing out, or rushing to get it back in, I am often reminded of a beautiful line from a James Taylor song - "the threat of heavy weather was what she knew the best".

Hanging out the washing is something unhurried - a peaceful contemplative practice - bend, stretch, peg.....bend, stretch, peg. And, doesn't everybody know that the clothes are cleaner when they are hung out to dry.  Sunlight bleaches the whites whiter and kills bacteria that a cool wash doesn't AND the clothes last longer.  When I came to Australia in 1975 I lived next door to a lovely American family.  We both had a young family, but I noticed that she never hung out washing.  I was curious, got into a conversation with her about it and challenged her to the 'undies' test.  We bought an identical pair of boys red underpants - she washed and dried hers in the dryer and I hung mine on the line.  After six months, hers were red no longer - more a sludge pink, with the elastic gone, while my son's were still red and good for at least another six months.  She bought a Hills Hoist.  We are still friends.

Unbelievably too, clothes line disputes have lead to tragedy.  In 2008, a man was shot dead in Verona, Mississippi after neighbours argued about hanging laundry outside.

I just can't imagine how something so illogical has perpetuated for so long and how the Americans have let the washing be draped over their eyes like this. But hang on, wait a minute, haven't they just endorsed a climate change denier and scientific ignoramus as a presidential candidate?

A bit of Aussie humour from Michael Leunig

Bordeaux - Why You Should Go!

BORDEAUX:  

Last year we did a cycling trip from Innsbruck to Verona and it was so wonderful that we wanted to do the same kind of thing again, only somewhere different. We love the south-west of France and had glimpses of Bordeaux on a previous trip, vowing to return - the city and whole region is just so lovely.  This was where our trip this year started.

How bad could cycling through the premier wine growing of France be with its chateaux, historic villages, through the forests of Aquitaine to the seafood heavens of Arcachon and Cap Ferret on the Atlantic coast - staying in comfort and eating and drinking some of the best you can get along the way?

First let me point out that we own no lycra, but after last years' experience we did get some cycle touring shorts that have a kind of padded nappy insert - as he said "all ready for the nursing home Nanma"?

The companies that we organise these tours through take all of the stress out of the trip - you just have to turn up, get on the bike and pedal!  They organise: the bike - touring upright kind with panniers and basket, repair kit for the bike, helmet, book hotels in advance with choice of standard (we go 3-4 star - come on, I've been on a bloody bike all day), take your bags from hotel to hotel and provide you with comprehensive and detailed daily route maps that include places of interest, historical background and recommended restaurants. 

Bordeaux

If you have never been to Bordeaux - go!  Fortunately we decided to have a two day break in Bordeaux before the cycle trip started - it's wonderful!!  Fifteen years ago was not the thing of wonder it is today.  After an extreme makeover under mayor Alain Juppe (former French Prime Minister), Bordeaux was admitted to UNESCO's World Heritage Register in 2007 and now shines in majestic splendour beside the Garonne River.

Place de Bourse

On that previous trip we had driven past Place de Bourse and thought wow!  I have since read that it judged to be the most magnificent riverside squares anywhere in the world.  My photo doesn't do justice to it's romantic grandeur.  Beautiful pale limestone buildings surround three sides of the square that front the Garonne River - the lifeblood of this historic wine growing region - topped with grey slate moulded roofs. You would not be wrong in thinking that you could be in Paris because, if not designed by Baron Hussmann, then the style was certainly copied when Bordeux got a complete makeover in the 18th century banishing its grot to history.

Hotel Bordeaux with its award winning restaurant and the kind of clientele who double park their Ferraris and Lamborghinis right outside. Place de la Comedie. Unfortunately, this was not where we stayed - next time.

What also makes Bordeaux refreshingly lovely is that you can actually enjoy the place on foot for much of it, like Place de Bourse, is pedestrian only.  They also have a fantastic network of cycle paths and terrific light rail - with no overhead wires - that connects all the transport hubs and stopped right outside our hotel in the centre of town at Place de Comedie - making it easy and inexpensive for us to get from the airport and around the rest of the city.

Grand Theatre de Bordeaux from 1780, Place de la Comedie. An astounding building of the Classical style, crowned by nine statues of the muses.  Daily tours of the building only in July and August when there are no nightly performances.  Make sure you do a tour or book yourself a performance ticket - the interior is breathtaking.

What to do with two days in Bordeaux?

1.  First of all, stay in the historic city centre with walking distance to most places of interest.  We stayed at Hotel du Normandie at the junction of Place de la Comedie and Quinconces (tram and bus stop). Housed in one of Bordeaux majestic 18th century buildings - most of the rooms are huge with soaring ceilings and windows - just make sure you ask for one of these on the side away from the tram stop!  Or stay in one of the numerous other hotels in the city centre.  Hotel du Normandie was chosen for us by the bike company, and very happy we were too.

View from my bedroom window, Hotel du Normandie

2. Take the hop-on, hop-off tourist bus.  I'm a big fan of these for 'getting the picture' when you arrive in a city for the first time.  The one in Bordeaux stops right outside the very good Tourist Information Office - handily located opposite our hotel with the audio on the bus giving a good background history. You can spend the whole day on there, if you want to, exploring places of interest on the way.  They are inexpensive, with discounts for seniors and students, and usually last one or two days.

One of the entrances into the city from the riverfront of Quai Louis XVlll

3.  Hire one of the bikes that you can pick-up from one of the many bike stations around the city, and take a trip along the Garonne River on one of the numerous signposted bike tracks that criss-cross the river.  You can also take day cycling trips around some of the most famous chateaux and vineyards of the region.

The bar at the Grand Theatre

4.  Go shopping, get a French haircut and stop for an aperitif on the way home.  Rue St Catherine (pedestrian) has some fabulous shops, including Galleries Lafayette (Paris) where I managed to pick up a good, black, travelling frock (scarce as hens teeth in Mullumbimby) while waiting for a hair appointment - makes a girl happy.  Me mate was equally content exploring the Aquitane Museum - Bordeaux archeological museum - which, he said, was really terrific.  Stop on the way home for an aperitif on the gloriously romantic terrace of the Grand Theatre Bar and Restaurant and, well, just let your mind wander!

5.  Bordeaux has 8,000 plus chateaux scattered among this famous wine growing region so taking one of the many themed tours that visit the premier vineyards is a must.  It's easy to book through the Tourist Office, or online in advance if it is busy time of the year.  We missed out because it was August and we hadn't pre-booked, but we would have gone for the afternoon/evening dinner tour that visited Chateaux Lafitte Rothschild and Margaux having dinner in the Historic village of St Emilion.  We weren't too disappointed though as we were going to be cycling through the Sauterne and Graves vineyards in a couple of days.

Timbale of fresh tomato, whipped light goats cheese and small pot of octopus salad with capers.  My delicious entree at the Brasserie d'Orleans.

6.  Dining out is a real pleasure in Bordeux.  Ask your hotel to recommend somewhere off the tourist track that is authentic.  Brasserie d'Orleans was certainly that on Esplanade Quinconces - one minute walk from our hotel.  I was sold the minute we arrived by smiling, efficient waiters in white shirts, black ties and crisp aprons with a small but traditional menu that did not disappoint. (15-30 euros)

A LITTLE STORY:  Me mate was busy trying to order a bottle of red wine amidst a lot of confusion - not understanding what grape varieties were on offer - with French wine you are expected to know that simply from the vineyard - we are not that smart.  At this point the waiter brought over a bottle of wine from the sauve, silver haired gentleman at the next table, who had been listening to our conversation, with a "Monsieur Claude would like you to try his wine - he thinks you may alike it".  M. Claude was correct - we struck up a conversation and found out that Bordeaux was his home and, when not travelling, ate at Brasserie d'Orleans every night, as we subsequently did and then asking for a bottle of the 'M. Claude' when we ordered and every waiter knowing exactly what we meant.  Got to love that! 

Esplanade de Quinconces

End your evening out with a wander down this vast tree-lined esplanade to the lights twinkling along the Garonne River - the statues and fountains in this huge park are fantastic.