A Boozy night out

Des has recently joined a local walking group. Most members are 60ish. Every Thursday afternoon, they meet up at 1.30pm then mostly drive to a nearby village to begin their walk of about 12 km. They always end up at someone's house afterwards for a glass or three!They love it if it someone's birthday, an excuse for an even better celebration. Last week Bernard was celebrating his 60th so they all went there after the walk. Non-walking partners were also invited along for the evening. After a lot of aperitifs and nibbles. all 20 of us sat down at a long table in the huge garage. We had a delicious fondue vigneron (you cook your delicious cubes of beef steak in boiling red wine flavoured with vegetables and herbs- definately my favourite fondue!) Much red wine kept flowing. Later the massive cheese board arrived. Finally a huge,delicious, chocolatey birthday cake appeared and of course champagne to drink with it. It was a great evening with much singing, joking and hilarity.
Although I didn't drink too much, I did suffer with a bad headache the next morning but then I always get one if I eat cheese at night or drink sparkling wine like champagne or cremant late, but I had such a good time I am not complaining!

Membrillo or Quince Jelly

I have been really remiss lately, this is the first post for ages. Sorry, will endeavour to be more productive from now on.

I tasted some membrillo recently for the first time and really liked it. As quinces are really plentiful here in France in autumn, in fact loads of people are trying to give them away to all and sundry, I thought I would try and make some.

I searched the internet for a recipe and eventually chose this one as it wasn't as sweet as a lot. Pushing the mixture through the sieve was hard work, so I helped matters a bit by putting the mixture in my mixer to break it down more before sieving it. Also within minutes of starting to cook the puree with the sugar, it had started to catch on the bottom of the pan. Luckily I had a brand new non stick wok so I finished the cooking in that. I was really pleased with result. it is delicious sliced with cheese, game or pate or just eaten on it's own.

MEMBRILLO

1.5kg Quinces

approx. 750g Sugar per litre of puree

Wash all the fur from the quinces then chop up - there is no need to peel or core them. Just cover with water and simmer until flesh is really soft and collapsing - about 1 hour. Break down a bit more in a mixer before pushing through a sieve with the back of a wooden spoon. Measure the puree, there should be about a litre.

Put the puree into the pan with the appropriate quantity of sugar, bring to the boil and cook gently for about 45 - 60 minutes until the mixture is so thick that drawing a wooden spoon through it, the puree parts and leaves a line at the bottom of the pan. You must stir often as the thicker it gets, the more it can stick and burn.

Either pot in clean sterilised pots or put into a lightly oiled roasting tin. When it is cold, it can be cut up into squares then wrapped in clingfilm. It will store in the fridge for 6 months.