Have I been time-traveling?
Transported back to the 18th century?
I have chilblains….
You know, the ailment that the heroine, whilst posing as a dairy maid, gets in all those cheap romance novels.
Can you imagine?
Does that justify all my bitching and complaining about the lack of heat at Vlad’s house?
I’ll go to just about any lengths to prove myself right…. But this may be too far, even for me.
And it’s my ‘mouse’ hand….
Hmmmm…….
I’m absolutely positive that no actions on my part have contributed to this painful situation…
But, I should tell you…
First, French houses tend to have very, hot tap water.
In my house in the US, I had to heat water to get it to 110F to ‘proof’ yeast.
In the Vendée, I had to add cold water to the tap water, which was 140F, but I could rinse dishes under it.
At Vlad’s house I can’t put my hands under the running hot water.
Well, at least I can’t normally.
I can when my hands are very cold, say, from working on the computer, losing track of the world and letting the fire go out.
Which happened the other night.
I just thought a quick run under the hot water would speed the warming process up a bit. I actually stopped when my hand started getting red… It wasn’t warm yet, but it was looking, well, peculiar.
I’m sure that had no bearing, whatsoever, on the current, painful situation.
But, in case I’m wrong, which has happened, (I think the last time was August of 1999), I would suggest warming your hands more slowly, or, here’s a thought, not letting them get so blasted cold in the first place.
Of course, that would involve not spending the winter in Vlad’s house, which I also, thoroughly recommend (not doing)!
I told mon mari he had to cook dinner tonight as my hand is too swollen to hold a knife.
He added ‘Gin, tonic, lime’ to the grocery list.
I’m not sure if that’s meant to help me or him….
We tried something new last weekend.
Endive is a big vegetable here in France. There are big displays of it at the markets this time of year, and one can even buy it canned. I had always thought of it as a bitter green that one ate as a part of a salad or crudité plate.
Well, that makes two things I learned this week!
This is a simple first course for late winter or spring, before the lettuce is in season, but when we are looking for something a little lighter – a warm winter salad. The creamy avocado offsets the natural bitterness of the endive.
The recipe, Sautéed Endive with Avocado, has been updated and re-posted here: Sautéed Endive with Avocado.
Now I’m going to go find some mittens…. Do you think I can right-click with mittens on?
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Poor you! Endives look lovely though and … I think the mouse would work with mittens, but what about the actual typing part?
?Funny life stories . . . ?
Hope that hand feels better.
I’ve seen lots of cooked endive but this is the most appealing dish with it I’ve seen. Sounds really excellent.
autch! that can be very painfull!
Please don’t defrost your hands again with almost boiling water… just not a good idea, believe me!
The trails you have to go through to get a decent house to live in are endless… wish you a warm spring soon.
Wow, I’ve never had cooked endive before – I’ll have to try this! The avo sounds like the perfect foil, too. Great idea – thanks!
I hope the painful situation gets resolved soon.
Good heavens! Hope your mouse hand heals soon.
I do remember the hot tap water now… and the realization that “c” didn’t stand for cold…
I haven’t tried cooking endive, this looks like a nice way to try it – love avacado and balsamic!
You cannot right-click with mittens, trust me on this. But! You can still be funny! 🙂 I’ve just been deleting the last two months’ feed reader accumulation which I couldn’t possibly read, but I kept having to pause and read your posts based on your funny titles.
So just hang onto your funny, clever brain, and the whole hand/mitten thing will take care of itself. Probably.
Ruth, yeah, that does make it a bit more challenging… I’ll have to suffer until we move and I can be warm.
Tanna, I’ve never run across cooked endive… always raw. Maybe I’m just not paying attention.
Lien, and I know better. Sometimes I think my mind is on holiday! Spring… I see crocus peaking through.
Zoomie, I never had either. I will again!
Simona, I think it lasts a weeks or so… Lucky me
Lulu, trust you on this…. Hmmmm, I sense a story there
Natashya, I remember when I discovered the ‘c’ thing….
Katie,
Two things: I hope your hand heals soon! My father-in-law got chilblains during a year he spent in a cold house in Ireland and it took a long time to heal. Second – that is one seriously delicious-looking endive recipe!! One that I will definitely make. I’m enjoying every day of your continuing adventures.