What to do with leftover mashed potatoes.

Ham and cheese fritters -

2 C leftover mashed potatoes
1 C shredded cheese
1 c minced ham
salt and pepper
3 eggs
a little baking powder
4 T flour

mix all together. Fry in an inch of cooking oil until crispy on the outside and hot and fluffy on the inside.

Makes people happy.

Sundays

The Dordogne region of France begs its visitors to slow down and start absorbing as much as possible of the local culture. The old (by which I mean much older then the United States) architecture, the winding Roman-era roads, the grape vines that are bigger around than my waist….

Unfortunately I am living with a large group of Americans, with 4 Aussies, 2 Romanians, a Croat named Killer, a Portuguese geo-specialist, and an Amsterdam native with a vicious addiction to Dutch soccer thrown in for good measure. This means the Dordogne, and it permanent residents, must stare in horror as the gypsy camp in our yard unfolds and explodes into a multinational carnival.

So, it’s now 11 AM on Sunday morning – the medieval church bells ring out, calling the faithful in from the open-air market to worship.


And I? I am drinking coffee, arguing international politics with my boss, and making a vicious version of white peach Sangria.

Viva La France. Whether or not I have noticed.

Evilly Good Perigourdine White Sangria

French white Bordeaux - 5 liters
Cointreau - .5 liter
Orange Juice - .5 liter
White Nectarines, sliced 1 cm thick - 4 ea
Really ripe sweet strawberries, quartered - about 2 dozen
Let this sit in your fridge. The longer it sits, the more important it is that you don't let little kids eat the fruit out of your glass.

So here I am.......

France is another universe. I'm in a land of friendly neighbors, cute puppies, stanky cheese, and - people obsessed with rocks?

Not just any rocks. Broken rocks.

Rocks that are fractured, burned, chipped, etc. seem to be preferred. I know I took some anthro/archeo classes waaaay back when, but I don't remember being this excited about chunks (and very small bits) of mountainside. I guess cooking was the right way to go for me.

Which brings me to the other part of my new universe - my kitchen. Land of the Belching Berthas: my three enormous propane burners that occasionally spit fire at me from every available gap in the gas lines.




I think this trip will be, aah, memorable.


Upside-Down Sticky Apple Cake
Apples, sliced/pared 3
Butter,melted 2 sticks
Cinnamon and sugar mix 4 T
AP Flour 2 C
Sugar 1 ½ C
Baking Powder 2 t
Salt 1 t
Egg 2 ea
Milk ½ C
Honey 1 C
Chopped Walnuts ½ C

Spread apple slices on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with butter and cinnamon-sugar. Mix the other ingredients (not honey and nuts) and spread on top of the apples. Pour the rest of the butter over the cake. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. When cooked, Flip over and pour honey and nuts over the apples. Toast under a broiler a little to caramelize the honey if you want.