Special Issue Party Post (with lots of pics)

Friday was Simon's fiftieth birthday, so we had a party in the orchard with about 25 people attending.

The menu was:

Chilli Prawns

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Curry Goat with Rice'n'Peas
Australian Truckstop Style Hamburgers
Herb Sausages
A selection of salads - carottes rapées, salade piemontaise, pickled beetroot, potato salad, lettuce, cucumber

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Cheeses - Coulommiers, Cheddar

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Build Your Own Pavlova

To our surprise, everyone had helpings of Chilli Prawns and Curry Goat, and most people had a hamburger with sliced pickled beetroot, fried onion, lettuce and cucumber in a bun. The sausages, which I had bought in case we had French guests who didn't like strong food, were hardly touched. The build your own pavlova, with meringues from one of Preuilly's boulangeries / pâtisseries was a great hit too, as was the cheddar. I think the novelty of the very un-French food appealed to everyone.

Much of the conversation during the evening revolved around food, and so we learned that:

• crême crue is different to crême fraîche not just because it is not pasturised, but because it has a higher fat content.
• goat is not widely eaten in France, but is popular in some places at Easter time, when mild flavoured kid meat is prepared with sorrel (oseille) and wild garlic (ail vert).
• Duck à l'Orange is considered by French people to be an Italian dish, made with sweet oranges. The traditional French accompaniment for duck is bigarades, bitter oranges.*

Laurent, beetroot wrangling. Behind him, from front to back, left to right, Nicole C, Anne, Marie-Dominique, John, Jill, Nicole G.

Alex, with Anneloes and Amélie attached like limpets.

Jean-Pierre adding the final touches to his masterpiece. In the background (left to right), Sylvie, Pierre-Yves, Valérie and Stéphane.
Jean-Pierre gives a botany and entomology lesson to Isabella (out of picture to left), explaining how some insects bite into the 'throat' of a honeysuckle flower to get at the nectar, thus bypassing the pollen on the anthers at the 'mouth' so that the flower does not get pollinated and so does not set seed. In the background (left to right), Simon, Sylvie, Pierre-Yves.

Left to right, Geoff, Jill, Simon.

Pat.

Left to right, Simon, Sylvie, Pierre-Yves.

Left to right, Isabella, Amélie, Anneloes, Sylvie.

Left to right, Isabella, Anneloes.

Left to right, Valérie, Stéphane, Simon, Laurent, Nicole G, Marie-Dominique, Anne.

Left to right, Marie-Dominique, John, Anne, Nicole G, Martine, Jill, Jean-Michel, Simon.

The best thing was that Simon really enjoyed himself and relaxed and had fun with some wonderful friends. We are very lucky.

Susan

Thanks are due to Pat, who did all the washing up and tidying away as well as manning the barbie; Geoff, who helped set up and take down; Alex & Nicole, who lent us the barbecue; Tim and Pauline, who lent us a coolbox; Huub and Ingrid, who lent us some chairs; John, who came down the next morning to jump start our car because the battery went flat after being used to power the sound system for 6 hours.

Also everyone who gave Simon wine, cheese, saucisson, beer, books and gift vouchers and their excellent company at the party.

*see Ken's comment below