Moving Homes, Walking, Mushrooms, Quebec Cafe and Pavs revisited

Last week was a really big week as I moved to my new abode. Chantal and G-M had generously welcomed me into their home and shared their lives with me for six weeks and it was time to strike out on my own. To be honest, it did feel a bit weird to be leaving but it turned out, I wasn't going far. Chantal had sent out lots of emails to her friends to see if anyone wanted a boarder or  a flatmate. I was keen to stay in the area as I already knew my way around and would be close to Chantal and her family. I had also decided that although I am happy to live alone in NZ, I didn't want to live by myself in Belgium - not great for my French conversation for one thing. (Below is part of my room at Chantal's. Note the World Map with NZ in the corner!)

The solution was Madame L or Granny as she has asked me to call her. She is the mother-in-law of one of Chantal's friends. Granny is about my dad's age and very sprightly and independent. She speaks a little English but mostly we speak French which is good for me, if not a little frustrating for her at times. Granny has four grown up children about my age, all of whom I have met. Her house is only a 15 minute walk from Chantal's and 8 minutes from the bus stop so that's very handy. Unlike Chantal and G-M, Granny watches French news and TV - they watch the local Belgian news. She really admires the French French culture and their accent - especially the news readers. I am here on a month's trial but so far so good. As they say in French: Elle est tres gentille.

Last Sunday Chantal, Chantal's Mum, G-M, Fanny, Julien, Granny and I returned to Cafe Quebec as   a 'merci' for having had me to stay and also for Granny to get to know my host family. It was rather amusing earlier in the morning when Granny and I stepped out of our rooms to find that we were dressed the same - pink tops and jeans - we are obviously very in tune with each other. By the way, she's the more svelte one of the two in pink in the photo. (Unfortunately Julien has been missed out of the photo.)

While we were at the cafe, I recieved texts telling me that the All Blacks had won the rugby. Very exciting!! Considering how close it was, I doubt if I would have had any fingernails left  if I had been watching it. Much nicer to munch pancakes.

In the afternoon, Granny and I went for a walk in a forest about half a hour's drive away. The forest is owned by her son-in-law's father and is complete with miniature lake, miniature stone bridge and log cabin. It is used by hunters in the hunting season. In the winter, apparently they go skiing there! It was really beautiful but unfortunately when G said we were going for a walk in the forest, I didn't think to take my camera.

I have done a lot of walking recently. On Friday at school we had the 'Marche Parrainee' or sponsored walk. The whole school went on a 15km walk to raise money for sport's equipment. It was a lovely day out in the fresh air.

On Saturday, the apple-collecting group of Chantal's friends and I went mushroom picking. I remember doing this in farm paddocks when I was young. We collected huge mushrooms we called horse mushrooms. They had a really strong taste and were quite meaty in texture. On Saturday, we travelled to a part of the forest in The Ardennes. Unfortunately, we didn't gather a lot of mushrooms. Apparently, September is a better month for them, and it has been too dry this autumn. Still, we did manage to find some Chanterelle mushrooms and a bulbous variety known as' Pieds des moutons' - sheep's feet! Despite the lack of mushrooms, it was an enjoyable afternoon and in the evening we had a wonderful feast with the mushrooms used as a starter on toasted baguette. Delicious!

We had been asked to contribute a dessert so I decided to give the pavlova a second try. This time, I forsook Alison Holst and  instead consulted that other  NZ  icon - the Edmonds' cookbook (thanks Kate).  No longer a novice, I knew the French for the ingredients , so that was one less worry. However, I do think Edmonds should do a little proofreading of their book as the recipe said 'cook at 150' but in the notes at the beginning of the book, it suggested a pavlova should be cooked at a temperature between '110 and 140'! Anyway, to cut a long story short, the pav looked great until I turned the oven off and then it collapsed. As I didn't have much choice, I slathered it in cream and decorated it with kiwifruit and off to the gathering we went.

 As it turned out, it tasted better than it looked and the hostess even asked me for the recipe which I tried to  give her in correct French. I think I may have confused the measurements for the water and the cornflour - we had had a wine or two by then. If anyone has a fail-safe recipe for  a pavlova with a solid crust on the outside and good marshmallow on the inside that they are prepared to share, I'd love it!!