HAPPY NEW YEAR

A little late in the day, or should that be year, we wish you all a Happy & Healthy New Year.

We have now returned from our visit to the UK. We spent three weeks visiting family and friends, spending Christmas in the Northeast with both our mothers and our daughter. In geekmans terms, we spent 50 hours (i.e. more than 1 out of every 7 waking hours) at the wheel of the car, driving 3800 km (2375 m) at an average speed of 76 kph (47.5 mph) and achieving 5.5 ltrs/100 km (51.7 mpg). We just knew you would you would be thrilled to learn that. (We spared you a list of the roads we drove on and of the French departements and the English counties we passed through!)

Wonderful though it was to see everyone, it’s not difficult to understand that by the time we got home, we were both very tired and glad to be back. Life is now gradually returning to ‘normal’. Mrs A is back into the swing of work and Mr A is staring gloomily at the long list of things that need to be done.

Before leaving for England, we took the precaution of ordering for our return a ‘Galette des Rois’ (Cake of the Kings) from our favourite patisserie. One of the many fine traditions we enjoy in France is the ‘a cake for every occasion’. While not the world’s most enthusiastic eaters of sweet things, we do enjoy looking at the wonderful confections which appear at certain times of the year. The ‘Galette des Rois’, however, is our major exception. This cake, to celebrate the Christian festival of the Epiphany, is in fact a flattish puff pastry ‘pie’ with a frangipane filling (there are other fillings but there is only the one we’d ever go for) and for us it’s irresistible. However, it does come with two minor problems.

First, the galette traditionally has a ‘fève’ hidden inside it. Those of you who have some French might express a little surprise that a cake’s filling might incorporate a broad bean but, mercifully, ‘une fève’ also means ‘a charm’. The person who finds this charm inside his/her slice receives a cardboard crown to wear for the rest of the day. This, presumably, is to take the mind off the broken tooth!

The second is the size. ‘Galettes des Rois’ come in a number of sizes, the smallest being for two people. Well, we can only say that half the two-person galette sinks us without trace for the remainder of Sunday. This is a food for those who are serious ‘gourmands’. ('Gourmand' is an adjective which means both ‘sweet-toothed’ and ‘greedy’. Both meanings apply to the preceding sentence.) Thank goodness Epiphany only lasts, as far as patissiers and gourmands are concerned, until the end of January.

OK, it’s time to do a thousand sit-ups so I’ll close now. However, before I do, I'll make a plea for your help. It has come to our notice recently that our feeble efforts are being closely monitored by the Poole branch of the spelling police. If you happen to spot any errors, please feel free to tell us so we can correct them before they get picked up by ‘Big Brother/Sister-in-law/Nephew!!