Firstly, I’m sorry Mary, but I had to use the title! A chilly morning saw me filling the log basket from the stock that I keep in the dépendance that is close to our back door which I need not have mentioned as, having such a small garden, there is no part of it is that is not close to the back door. Facing the stack of dry logs is a small wine fridge where white and rosé wines are kept au frais. 
I have very few chores of a morning, but one of these is bringing in wood and chilled wine which makes the title aposite, so I stole it in the same way I’m prone to do with chutney and chilli jam. Sorry Mary and Mick, but I’m flawed. The wood and the wine set the mood for the day which would be filled with cooking, a family lunch and a few good things to drink which is no bad way to spend a Sunday, or a Monday for that matter. The wood burner was alight, the oven was filled with a chicken and leek pie, roasting potatoes and a cauliflower cheese whilst on the window ledge the creme caramel was cooling, so it seemed a very good time to have a Bloody Mary. This was the “sweet spot” of a cooking morning where everything is going well and you’re the master of the tiny universe which is as big as the kitchen in which you are and no bigger. 
Celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, dry sherry and tabasco are essential additions for a good Bloody Mary and in the right proportions they are very bloody good. One Bloody Mary later and the puff pastry appeared to have collapsed into the chicken pie but I now thought that was a good idea, as with the cauliflower cheese that I had imagined to be browning in the oven but had somehow climbed out and was now sitting coldly staring at me ( I’d made it last night) on the counter behind me. Our daughter then arrived with our grand daughters and their dogs and a very clever son in law clutching the remains of what was to be the best bottle of Chablis that I can remember tasting. He had done the hard yards of going and tasting many bottles of fine wines at a wine fair in Paris the day before. When all these ingredients are combined in the right proportion and nobody cries, gets sick, gets drunk, or gets argumentative the perfect Sunday is created. It doesn’t happen always and because of that it needs to be relished and probably done much more often to get into the habit of getting it right, like the creme caramel.
Roger Stowell Photography
-
-
Advertisements
You sly fox, Roger! You lull us with your words of chilled wine and firewood, of bloody Marys and chicken pot pies. And then, out of nowhere, you hit us with the creme caramel! Just mentioning it would have sufficed but, no! You just had to include that photo. Now I need something. I don’t know what that might be or involve. I only know that I need it bad.
You are so clever to keep the wine fridge by the wood, because as you say they do go together. Although, you said it much more eloquently. I had a bloody Mary today too! Sadly, I don’t have that dessert!
Hi there Thanks for the good stuff that you said. Didn’t you find any creme caramel in the Big Easy? Speak soon Roger
That Photograph is beautiful.
And I thought i wasn’t hungry after the late lunch I just ate! What a compelling ‘food’ post. The creme caramel looks decadent. Such a great photo.
Hi there Many thanks for the comment Marina. It really was one of those Sundays that need to be noted when they happen. Let’s hope it’s a happy Monday Roger
My first visit to your exquisitely beautiful blog. And a reawakened memory of a semester abroad in Ireland where my Cordon Bleu trained hostess served a delightful creme caramel. Sounds like a wonderful day.
Love the angle of your wine and logs!
Hi there The angle of the bottles when they’re pouring into a glass is even better Roger
Perfect post, from the bloody marys to that beautifully photographed creme caramel. I miss that Rose 🙂
Hi thereThanks for that. We’re keeping the rose cool for you. Roger
what a perfect Sunday indeed 🙂
Kudos to your son-in-law for braving that wine show…we went last year, and I was haunted by the ghosts of retail conventions past for a week…We managed to politely dodge a dozen invites for this year.
The wine-and-firewood photo is really great…
Hi there Thanks for that. It was one of those pictures that just happened. I was doing the chores and there was the shot – all I had to do was get the camera and shoot the picture. I wish it was always that easy. All the best Roger
It sounds like the perfect Sunday and that creme caramel looks wonderful.
Thanks for that – I was as surprised as anyone else at how well the caramel worked. I’m in control of the photography,but caramel is a law unto itself. Roger
Do you know, you actually make me long for colder weather! (OK, *almost*…) Lovely!
Hi there I’m with you on the longing for cold weather – almost is enough. When it arrives I’ve had enough of it very quickly. All the best Roger
Ok I literally gasped when i saw that ruby hit the green, that shot vibrates! But I need to investigate more the keeping of a fridge outside to cool wine?, is it plugged in or do you use it as a cold cupboard, i think i like this idea.. I have a very very very very old green fridge in the old barn at the big farm (you know the ones, with the round thing on the top and legs on the bottom, .. right on the edge of becoming animated) and I want it to be useful again, maybe it could live on my verandah with wine in it!.. hmm.. c
Hi there I often think that it’s crazy having a fridge in an outbuilding (with no door) plugged into the mains when the weather is very cold. However, Jenny likes her rose chilled, and I mean chilled. Last year we had a very cold November and December and I think that I unplugged it then. However, it’s great to have a separate fridge for chilled wines – I love the idea of the green fridge. He/she should be full of chilled good things. all the best Roger
It sounds like a perfect day with family…especially with good food and wine. Nothing going wrong other than a cold cauliflower waiting patiently made it all the better.
you do paint a lovely picture of your life. The photo of the creme caramel is stunning, what a beautiful green backdrop.
Hi there Alex Thanks for that. It was one of those days when the light was perfect, as was the caramel. These events rarely coincide! Roger