We love Cheese

I know that I have told you before that we love cheese! We love warm goat cheese on a bed of butter lettuce lightly dressed with tangy vinaigrette, yummy macaroni and cheese, raclette cheese with warm boiled potatoes, and fondue made with a blend of Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois.

We also love to finish meals with cheese especially when the cheese selections include Saint-Félicien, Cantal, Roquefort or Gruyère. Our favorite cheese from Provence is Banon, a tasty disk of goat cheese wrapped in grape leaves made in the region around the town of Banon.

One of the first things we do upon arriving in Sablet is to head to Vaison-la-Romaine to pick up an assortment of cheese from Josiane Deal at Lou Canesteou, the wonderful cheese shop located on Rue Raspail off Place Montfort, the town's main square.

As you can see on the front of the store, Josiane Deal has been named a Meilleur Ouvrier de France - literally translated as best worker of France, for her cheese knowledge and skill in aging cheese. In addition to her many cheese choices, the store also has a good selection of gourmet products such as wines, locally produced saffron, honey, risotto, pasta, dried mushrooms, locally produced jams and olive oil.

Step through the beaded curtain into Lou Canesteou and you will immediately smell a wonderful aroma from the ripe cheese displayed in the refrigerated cases and on shelves along the back wall. By now, Madame Deal recognizes us and we get a very warm 'bonjour". I always ask her to recommend a variety of cheeses and without fail, she makes selections that we love.

It is not unusual to see on the menus of area restaurants that "fromage sélectionner" - cheese chosen by Josiane Deal. The association with Josiane Deal is obviously an indication of high quality. I once mentioned to her that we had a cheese plate the night before at a local restaurant where this was written on the menu and she told me she didn't think she supplied any cheese to that restaurant. So be aware.

We also love quiches with cheese and tarte au fromage - cheese pie. I must admit that I am intimidated at the thought of making my own pastry dough, especially rolling it out. So although I do most of the cooking when I am around, wife Shirley is a pro with pastry dough and always makes our pies and tartes.

In addition to the fondue and raclette we made while we were in Sablet a few weeks ago, we also enjoyed a tasty cheese pie that Shirley made for us. Here is the recipe, just a few ingredients and easy to make (except for me since I don't do crusts).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients

8 ounces grated Gruyère cheese
2 tablespoons flour
1 3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
2-3 cloves minced garlic depending upon size and taste
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Make your favorite savory pastry dough or buy a good quality store bought crust.
2. Place your crust in a glass pie pan or in a tart pan with a removable bottom. Crimp the dough around the edge of the pie dish or tart pan so that the crust stays at the top of the dish.
3. Take a fork and pierce the dough on the bottom of the unbaked pie evenly over the bottom of the dish.
4. Prebake the crust in the middle of the oven until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
6. Dredge the flour with the grated cheese and spread evenly in the pie dish or tart pan.
7. Whisk the milk, eggs, minced garlic and salt together.
8. Pour your milk and egg mixture over the cheese, making sure it is evenly spread out and cheese is covered.
9. Bake the cheese pie for 40 minutes. The pie should be golden brown on top and should be pretty set when lightly shaken.
10. Upon removable from the oven, let the baked cheese pie sit for 10 minutes before you slice and serve.

Bon appétit et à bientôt mes amis.

Rasteau and Domaine la Soumade

As you know, our house is in Sablet, a pretty village built on top of a mound at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail. Surrounded by vineyards, we are a short distance from well known wine producing villages such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Tavel and Beaumes de Venise.

One of the villages we see across the vineyards to the northwest is Rasteau, a small village of wine-makers built on a hill 200 meters high or about 650 feet. Houses and wineries spread out across the flank of the hill at the foot of the 12th century Romanesque church of St Didier. There are about 750 people who reside in Rasteau; people who live in Rasteau are called Rastellains.

Here are a few pictures from Rasteau. This memorial to the children of Rasteau who died in wars for France is located in the center of the colorful Place de l'Apparent, the main square in Rasteau around which life in the village revolves.

The pretty l'Apparent Fountain in the same square, one of four fountains in the village.

The clock tower topped by the campanile.

The 12th century Romanesque church of St Didier.

A statue near the church.

Rasteau is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for wine in the southern Rhône wine region. The AOC designation applies to both the sweet fortified wines (Vin Doux Naturel) which can be red, rosé or white and since 2010, effective with the 2009 vintage, the unfortified red wines produced in Rasteau.

The Rasteau AOC covers mostly the commune of Rasteau but also includes some vineyards within the communes of Cairanne and Sablet. The primary grapes in the Rasteau AOC are Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre.

We didn't know anything about Rasteau wines until this past summer when we kept seeing 2007 Domaine la Soumade Rasteau on wine lists in the area. We ordered bottles of this wine several times and really liked it so we decided to go visit the Domaine and déguster - taste their wines.

Domaine la Soumade is owned by André Roméro and has been owned by the Roméro family for more than 200 years. Son Frédéric Roméro is learning and will take over from his father when he retires.

Domaine la Soumade owns 28 hectares or about 69 acres of vineyards. A new wine making facility and tasting room were built a few years ago just off the D-975 on the road from Cairanne to Rasteau.

Part of the tasting room with a display of empty bottles of wine from different parts of the world.

The Domaine la Soumade wine making facility.

Wife Shirley at the entrance to the Domaine la Soumade facility.

The view from the terrace at Domaine la Soumade across the wide expanse of vineyards towards Sablet.

Rasteau is now part of an elite group of Southern Rhône AOC's. So if you are like me and don't know anything about this new AOC, I recommend you go try the wines. At the present time, Domaine la Soumade is among the best and well worth a visit. If you see the wine on a wine list, don't hesitate to choose this wine.

Bonne journée mes amis et à très bientôt.

Back to Sablet

I am so excited because we are headed to Provence and to our village in the Vaucluse in a few days. I can't wait to be back in our house in the center of Sablet within earshot of the Church of St Nazaire bells and a few steps from the fountain at Place Yvan Audouard.

As you know, we usually have family members or friends visit and this time is no exception; we are meeting up with dear friends from Michigan who are making their first trip to Provence. We are looking forward to showing off our favorite villages, going to the markets, tasting wine and of course we plan to eats lots of good food.

My favorite thing about our Sablet House is the large Provencal yellow kitchen with all the counter space for prepping food and cabinets for storage with the adjoining terrace where we eat on nice days. As you can imagine, my being a foodie and all, and loving to cook and entertain, the kitchen is fully equipped with everything I need for cooking and baking.

At one end of the kitchen, there is a cozy seating area in front of a fireplace where we have aperitifs, read, do puzzles, nap, watch videos, and play on our computers. Although we have a large living room or parlor (depending upon where you come from) with a large fireplace and TV, we spend more time in the kitchen than anywhere else.

In addition to the kitchen, I really like our cozy bedroom with the walk-in closet that looks like it might originally have been designed to be a bathroom. For those of you who have been to our house, you will notice we have added a few things to the bedroom.

I love the light and airy feeling of the bedroom, especially in the morning when we fling open the doors and shutters and the morning sun and fresh air stream in. With 9 hours time difference between Sablet and Northern California, early morning in Sablet is late evening in California, so we lay in bed and talk to our kids and catch up on the grand kids latest accomplishments and mischief.

Shirley works hard to keep the backyard beautiful at home in Northern California. Its nice to look out the bedroom window and see the hot tub and flowers throughout the year and carefully cultivated raised garden beds. I should mention that she has harvested a bumper crop of tomatoes, beets, salad greens, squash and soon pumpkins and broccoli from her garden; but I digress.

No matter how much work she does, the view from our bedroom window in Northern California over the backyard and back of our neighbor's house can't compare to the beautiful scenery from our bedroom terrace in Sablet towards the Dentelles de Montmirail.

We love our house and the village of Sablet and feel so blessed to be able to come several times a year. We feel good knowing that the guests who go there fall in love with the house, beautiful village and Sabletains (residents of Sablet are called Sabletains).

If you are interested in finding out how to make our house your home for a short or long séjour (stay) in Provence, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Bonne journée mes amis et à très bientôt.

She's Just Too Cute!

I love being a grandfather or "papa" as I am known to our four adorable mischievous grandchildren. However, I was sure I would not like being a grandfather nor did I think I was ready or nearly old enough to become a grandfather when my daughter Tricia and son-in-law Alvin announced that was exactly what was going to happen one night at a family dinner about 6 years ago.

Tricia didn't even get the big announcement out of her mouth when I had a horrible premonition about what she was going to say and shouted "Please God, don't tell me you're pregnant". I didn't think she was old enough to be a mother, although she was thirty years old, and I didn't think that she and Alvin were settled enough either, and I hated the thought of being called "grandpa".

Somehow, magically that all changed when I held first granddaughter Avery in my arms shortly after her birth some five plus years ago. Since Avery's arrival, daughter Stephanie and husband Earl gave us grandson Dylan. That was followed by Tricia's second child, a boy named Caedon and last but not least, baby Madison, joined the family via Stephanie and Earl a little over 10 months ago.

There is nothing better than walking into the house and having someone yell "papa" and come running at break neck speed with arms out stretcched for me to pick up and give a hug. I love the fact that its my job to spoil them. I love it when Dylan whispers conspiratorially into my ear "papa, can I come over and watch something with you and have a cookie (TV and cookies are limited at his house)"? I love it.

Grandma, or "GiGi" as she is known to the grand kids, took the picture below of baby Madison a few days ago. Madison is just so cute; I had to share the picture with all of you who read my blog about Provence. She stands wobbly and has taken a few steps and is fast becoming quite the independent little lady. I think she will give brother Dylan a run for his money.

Now this is generally a blog about our experiences in Provence and I am proud to say that Madison's first airplane trip was to Provence when she was six weeks old. So thank you for indulging grandfatherly bragging about my grandchildren.

People we meet frequently ask us if we are going to ever live full time in Sablet. While we love Sablet, we both agree we will never live there full time away from our children and especially Avery, Dylan, Caedon and Madison.

They are full of energy and keep us running to keep up with their activities. Avery started kindergarten this year, she is going to a Spanish immersion school and is quickly learning some basic Spanish. We wish there was a French immersion school but the closest one is in San Francisco and too far away for daily commuting.

Dylan loves all things sports and outdoors, takes after his father Earl who is a high school physical education teacher. Maybe this is grandfatherly pride, but I am convinced that Dylan is going to be a star athlete some day. He is remarkably gifted for a little boy less than four years of age.

Caedon is just figuring out the world, learning to use the potty, trying to keep up with cousin Dylan. Caedon and Dylan started pre-school this year and I can imagine they are quite the handful for their teachers. We will see how this all turns out.

Don't worry Tricia and Stephanie, I promise I will show off pictures of Avery, Dylan and Caedon whenever GiGi takes some new cute pictures for me to post on this blog. We are headed to Sablet next week and we can't wait. But you can be certain we will miss the daily hugs and good times with Avery, Dylan, Caedon and Madison.

Bonne journée mes amis et à très bientôt.

Les Abeilles Restaurant, Sablet

After a fun day wandering around Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape (more about that in later posts), we returned home to Sablet and sat down on the terrace for aperitifs and to figure out what we were going to do for dinner that night.

I didn't feel like cooking, not an infrequent occurrence with good restaurants close by, so we (wife Shirley and niece Leslie) decided that we would see if we could get reservations for dinner at Les Abeilles restaurant, right there in Sablet.

Successful, we walked the short distance down the hill to the restaurant which is located at the entrance to the village. Note, the picture below is the entrance to the village coming from Gigondas, not the entrance where Les Abeilles is located.

Les Abeilles literally translated the bees restaurant, is owned by Marlies and Johannes Sailer who prior to opening Les Abeilles Restaurant owned L'Oustalet in neighboring Gigondas for quite a few years.

There is a wonderful terrace at Les Abeilles Restaurant that is perfect for dining alfresco on warm sunny days and evenings and a cozy dining room for cooler or inclement weather. Although this was July, it was not that warm so guests were being seated in the dining room.

As soon as we sat down at our table, Madame Sailer brought us menus and a plate of toasts and various flavored bread sticks to dip in a small bowl of pistou which accompanied the toasts. While we nibbled on the Chef's amuse bouche, we studied "la carte" which offered a variety of multi-course menus to fit appetites and diner's wallets.

We chose the 44.50 € 4-course menu consisting of an avant propos (a foreword to a meal like a foreword to a book or story) chosen by the chef, an appetizer, entrée and choice of either dessert or cheese selections from the cheese cart.

After looking over the wine list, we selected a bottle of 2010 Chateau La Couranconne Séguret Rosé, a delicious crisp, chilled blend of cinsault (60%), grenache (25%) and syrah (15%) to accompany our meal.

Shortly after we were seated, 4 diners sat down at a nearby table and hearing English being spoken, we asked where they were from. Turns out that Frank and Ellie were from Calistoga which is close to where we live in Northern California.

Shirley being always the good marketer for our Bistro Des Copains, gave them a business card and extended an invitation to come dine at the Bistro which they did a few days ago.

Wife Shirley enjoying herself at Les Abeilles.

That night, Chef Sailer served plates of tuna rillettes for the avant propos to start the meal.

Shirley was in the mood for a simple salad and Chef Sailer prepared her a composed salad of mixed greens and raw vegetables dressed with vinaigrette; she was very happy with her salad.

One of the starters included a simple plate of melon with jambon from Noire de Bigorre pig, the most ancient breed of pig known in France. Similar to the Spanish Iberico, this breed is deep black in color and originated in the foothills of the French Pyrenees.

Our other starter was a beautiful plate of roast lobster over an haricots verts and peach salad.

Main courses included local lamb chops roasted perfectly medium rare as requested,

a pan-roasted fillet of Lieu Jaune, commonly known in English as Pollock,

accompanied by a side dish of seasoned steamed rice and carrots.

I had the roast pigeon, generally called squab in English, from Comtat with lemon confit

with a side dish of roast potatoes, carrots and other summer vegetables.

Shirley and I had the mille-feuillles also known as Napoleon with raspberries and vanilla ice cream.

Leslie chose an assortment of cheese from the cheese board, opting for something more savory than our sweet dessert.

As we finished our meal, Chef Sailer came out of the kitchen to say hello and chat for a few minutes. Another great meal from Chef Sailer at Les Abeilles. If you are in the area, don't hesitate to go to Les Abeilles, you won't regret it. We will be back soon.

Bon appétit mes amis et à bientôt.

A little bragging on our Bistro Des Copains

As those of you who have been reading my ramblings over the past few years know, I am co-owner with my good friend Cluney of a small bistro in Occidental, California called Bistro Des Copains.

We opened the bistro a little more than five years ago. For those of you who own or may have owned restaurants know, it is not easy to make a go of a restaurant especially the last few years with the bad economy. That certainly holds true for us.

However, despite the ups and downs of the economy and associated challenges that brings to the restaurant business, we have always tried to make sure we are serving up great food and good time for our guests who come to the bistro, many so frequently, they are now dear friends.

Every year, in major cities in the United States and some foreign countries, Zagat, who was just bought by Google, publishes an annual dining guide with ratings and lists based upon feedback they get from restaurant diners.

We have a very hard working and loyal staff and we are very proud to say that the just published 2012 dining guide for the San Francisco Bay Area included our little bistro in its list of Top Spots in the San Francisco Bay Area.

We don't do super refined cuisine like the other Top Spots. We just try to deliver fabulous bistro cuisine using the best ingredients we can find with a generous welcoming spirit.

So you can imagine, it is very gratifying to get formal recognition that diners appreciate what we do at Bistro Des Copains. Here's my wish to you that all of your dining experiences are great ones. Bon appétit et à bientôt mes amis.

Fun times at the 98th Tour de France, Stage 16, Saint Paul Trois Châteaux to Gap

We made our decision to be in Sablet during July on the day the route for the 2011 Tour de France was unveiled. Although the exact route wouldn't be announced till much later, we were excited to see that based upon the start town and finish town for Stage 16, the route would have to pass not too far from Sablet.

As readers of Our House in Provence know, we live in Sonoma County, about 60 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge and wife Shirley and me have become fans of pro-cycling as interest in cycling and professional cycling have exploded here in Northern California.

Levi Leipheimer, one of the sport's premier cyclist lives in Sonoma County and in a few days on October 1, 7,500 cyclist will ride in Levi's King Ridge GranFondo, a huge charity event that raises money for local worthy causes.

The 2011 Tour de France was won by Australian Cadel Evans, whose BMC Racing Team is based in Sonoma County and in May 2012, the start for the Tour of California will be hosted by Santa Rosa, which is the largest town in Sonoma County. So as you can see, cycling is huge in Sonoma County.

Sure enough, when the exact route for Stage 16 was revealed, the map showed that the peloton - group of cyclists, would start in Saint Paul Trois Châteaux and ride through Suze-la-Rousse to the D 94 and pedal northeast along the Eygues River to Nyons before finishing Stage 16 in the mountain town of Gap.

We would have to cross the Eygues River to watch the Tour de France and looking at the map we saw our best options were at Buisson about 12 kms from Sablet and Nyons which was about 28 kms from Sablet. After chatting with friend Bruce who lives in Villedieu and knows the area well, we decided to go to Nyons.

The schedule for Stage 16 showed the publicity caravan would arrive in Nyons at 12:20 and the first riders in the peloton would arrive around 14:05. Since Stage 16 was on Tuesday, the day our favorite weekly market takes place in Vaison-la-Romaine, we decided we would go to the market and buy picnic food to eat while we watched the caravan and waited for the riders to arrive.

The clouds were dark gray and rain poured down as we shopped at the market for lunch. We ducked into doorways and paused under vendor's tents hoping the rain would stop. I was not very excited about watching the race in the rain. However, while the clouds were still ominously dark, the rain stopped by the time we park near the bridge over the Eygues River where we were going to watch the peloton race by.

The peloton would ride 162.5 kms or about 101 miles from the start in Saint Paul Trois Châteaux climbing up to 1,268 meters elevation or 4,160 feet at the Col de Manse before dropping down to the mountain town of Gap at 744 meters elevation or 2,441 feet. Stage 16 was classified as a medium mountain stage.

The first vehicle in the publicity caravan arrives at our vantage point on the bridge.

The publicity caravan has been part of the Tour de France since 1930. One of the rolling gift boutiques that stop periodically along the route selling identical bright yellow bags with 10 souvenirs including a hat and t-shirt for 20 Euros.

The publicity caravan is a parade of vehicles which are decorated to advertise their sponsor's "wares" to the race fans who line the route. Some create additional interest and excitement by throwing out little gifts.

According to the Tour de France, the publicity caravan stretched for 20 kms or about 12 1/2 miles in length from start to finish.

There was a continuous stream of decorated vehicles, team cars, medical vehicles, official Tour de France vehicles and police vehicles which passed our vantage point from the time the first vehicle arrived until just before the arrival of the peloton.

The following are pictures of some of the decorated sponsor vehicles which drove past our post on the bridge. There would be a big scramble every time gifts or newspapers were thrown from the vehicle's occupants towards the spectators that lined the bridge.

Wife Shirley and niece Leslie modeling hats they grabbed from one of the sponsor vehicles that passed by our spot on the bridge over the Eygues River.

Spectators on the bridge looking for the first rider to come into view.

The view from our vantage point down the bridge to the north in the direction the peloton would arrive around the corner to the left along the Eygues River.

The view from our vantage point south in the direction the peloton would ride towards a roundabout and then make an immediate sharp turn to the left along the Eygues River.

One of Team RadioShack's cars loaded with extra bikes. As I said before, Levi Leipheimer of Sonoma County rides for Team RadioShack.

A mobile gift shop stops just before the roundabout at the end of the bridge to sell official Tour de France souvenirs.

Another team car loaded with spare bikes.

Police on motorcycles lead the way for the peloton to make sure the road is clear for the riders when they reach the area.

The first rider in a little breakaway reaches our spot on the bridge. We could follow the progress of the peloton as they rode along the Eygues River by watching the helicopters overhead who were filming the peloton for television.

A second small breakaway group from the peloton arrives.

The main peloton approaches.

Thomas Voeckler of France who rides for Team Europcar started Stage 16 in first place and wore the yellow jersey who you can see on the right hand side of the peloton.

The following are pictures of the peloton as they rode past us on the bridge. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them; maybe you will spot one of your favorite riders.

The last riders in the main peloton arrive.

A lone rider brings up the rear.

He was followed by a caravan of team cars loaded with spare bikes.

A team car for BMC Racing Team based in Sonoma County whose Cadel Evans won the Tour de France.

Thor Hushovd of Austria who rides for Team Garmin-Cervelo won Stage 16 that day. We watched the publicity caravan and other team and official vehicles drive past our spot on the bridge for at least 1 1/2 hours but it only took a couple of minutes for the entire peloton to pedal past our vantage point.

Never the less, it was great fun and we will go see the Tour de France every chance we get. Bonne journée mes amis et à très bientôt.