A very Merry Christmas & a Happy 2012 to everyone!!

One thing we’ve noticed about Christmas in France, especially out here in “La France profonde” is the understated way in which it’s celebrated. Here, it’s all about family, good food and very modest gifts.

(They do tend to have a fondness for decorations though which seem to include an inflated Santa attached to a rope ladder hanging from every 2nd chimney in the area!)

Inflated Santas seem to climb up every other house!

Now, whereas I find the escape from over-commercialised panic buying a great relief- no hours of waiting in supermarket queues amidst seas of overflowing trolleys- the lack of pre-Christmas buzz does tend to leave me with the feeling that it’s not really happening.

So, feeling a bit flat, I was really pleased to be invited by Madame Faure from Jayac (Mamie to Emma & Alistair!) to help her make her Christmas gift to her family – a selection of home made duck confit and patés de foie gras.

The process started with a visit to the local farm to collect the duck. This was then jointed and all the fat trimmed off and cut up to cook the confit in later.The duck pieces were salted then left overnight.

The next day we collected cans from the local mayor who has a goose farm.We packed these with sausage meat and a generous portion of duck foie gras in the middle. Another trip back to the mayor to have the cans sealed and then these were simmered for two hours on an open fire in the stone barn.

2 hrs of cooking on an open fire

Meanwhile the duck, cooked in its own fat, was packed into glass jars to be cooked again on the open fire after the paté.

As the duck simmered, we had tea with home made cake and Mamie Faure related tales of Christmasses gone-by at Les Crouquets, where she was born!

I came home feeling very festive indeed with the true meaning of Christmas still ringing in my ears!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and all the very best for 2012!