Why should we have an hazel in our garden ? Or at least in our surroundings... Along a canal for example.... It is nice in September to go and collect the fruits.....

The hazel bushes are very useful ... Yes, yes ... and they have many advantages ... and are used to
- occupy your children during the Sunday rain
- train you to do the diviner
- enjoy the German Christmas shortbread cakes
- be a great teacher and show your children the Nutella is done, (kidding but Nutella buys tons of hazelnuts -13% of the chocolate spread ...)

Early history
The little shrub ... fine and delicate ... becomes a tree with many branches when growing. 8000 years ago, whole forests of hazels were covering Europe ... And then the climate changed and 500 years later, the trees were hunted by the oaks, elms and other limes... Briefly, our prehistoric forest has disappeared ... except in Poland where it remains in the Bialowieza National Park ...

I digress, I digress ...
It is not an endangered species...There are still hazels in our country.

Why plant a hazel tree in the garden?
- To collect hazelnuts
- To have an hedge that protects the crosps against the winds
- To know if you have dowser's gifts! (it works, my man has the "gift", just use a branch of hazel cut like a fork and wait !)
- To avoid the lightning when it is planted near a house (this was said once, but I did not try)
-To play on Sunday with your children

When will it get nuts?
Druids gave me the answer with their alphabet of trees. It's the 9th, 9 as the number of years for a tree, a hazel to bear fruits. Harvest in autumn.

Otherwise the main producers are Turkey, they dominate the market.

How to keep the nuts?
Be careful to keep them because very often someone, when you're not around, will enjoy them for you...
Harvest and dry on a dry place.

Read this article in French : Noisetiers et noisettes : de la haie contre les vents au Nutella

My regular readers may have noticed that my last posts have no picture ...
And yes that's the mystery of the computer system, my PC has some shortcomings, a failure ... A screen full of colored stripes... Horror, all my photos are in, in my computer (and many other things too). How to fix my computer? Calls here and there, tips but no solutions that work for now ... I dare not even imagine if I must take it to repair ....
So, I use my little one.... And I make notes without pictures!

For these two activities watch the weather forecast and be a little prepared in advance, waiting for the winter and rain in Small Britain.
You need some material ... straight branches, rather thick (1.5 cm diameter) and nuts you did harvest in September.

For the rest, wait for a good winter weather forecast and a nice rainy weekend ... Wait for THE sunday until you hear "what we do, it's raining ..." .

So what do we start with : recipe or branches?

Free activity for kids with branches of hazel : dwarfs and other colored snowmen

This DIY needs :
Secateurs
A long branch of hazel
A knife without tooth
Markers
Cotton

Cut your branch into pieces. Cut the heads and hats. Paint and draw faces.
You can also make another craft such as a family, a small dwarf with a beard, a dress ...


Hazel can also be used to make a bow, it is flexible ... but I do not know yet how to make the arrows ...



In Germany for the Christmas period, very different cakes, biscuits and shortbread cookies are made. It is a recipe from my girlfriend living in Freiburg.

This recipe has a nice taste of chocolate and are similar to gingerbread cakes topped with chocolate... The good ones for this Christmas period.



Ingredients
60 grams of dark chocolate
60 g butter
3 eggs
80 g sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
60 g flour
60g hazelnuts coarsely crushed

For the frosting
80 g chocolate
Icing sugar to sprinkle
Baking time : 30 minutes
Preheat oven to 180 ° (6).
Coarsely grind nuts.
Melt butter and chocolate.
Meanwhile, mix sugar and eggs. Add flour, cinnamon and nuts. Then the chocolate-butter mixture. Mix well.
Cover your dish (square or rectangle) of a baking sheet.
Pour your dough and spread on a regular basis (thin layer). Bake for 30 minutes.
Once baked, melt chocolate and pour over the square cake and spread. Sprinkle with icing sugar. Wait to cool and cut into small pieces.
Read this article in French : Activités pour les jours de pluie

Nuts, walnuts... in French, they have the same name… they're good and healthy, full of omega-3 fatty acids… and of Omega 6 fatty acids... These are the good unsaturated fatty acids, good fats for proper functioning of the cardiovascular system... A good natural food supplement ... that must be used without abuse!

For harvesting, you have two solutions : either the tree is yours or not :

- Or you pick them and then read the following passage directly
- Either you have a walnut tree in your garden and there are some rules to follow to respect the next harvest.
It is better to stick nuts rather than waiting to pick them up.
- Why ?
Simply because sticking them, popular French proverbs say that the harvest will be better next year ...

Whatever the method, remember that the husks (the green envelope around the nut) blackened fingers. It must be removed.

Preservation and storage
Once harvested, the nuts have to be dried: ventilate them regularly, stir them so they do not rot. Store in a cool place.

Just peel the amount of walnuts you need because once shelled, they go rancid very quickly. Keep in the fridge and eat them in a few days.
The recipe? A German recipe !!! Easy and tasty !

It is a recipe from my German friend Karine. But all the ingredients are so common that it could be a Breton dish. The only concern is to peel them… It’s a bit long… it depends ... if you've already tried the hips or the chestnuts ... Wallnuts are just to easy, it’s a breeze ...



Ingredients

500g potatoes good to mash
150 grams of nuts (peeled) 30 to 40 whole nuts
150 grams grated cheese (Emmentaler or comté depending on your tastes)
3 eggs (you must beat the egg whites)
Pepper and Salt

It is good plain like that. If you want a more tasty flavor, add a few leaves of basil or sage, finely chopped (the dried herbs powder is less good but it works well).

Cut the potatoes in pieces and cook them. Peel and mash to a puree.
Reduce about two-thirds of the nuts into small pieces (the robot to do anything does it very well) and keep the rest for decoration.
Pour and mix nuts, cheese, egg yolks, salt and pepper, basil or sage.
Whisk the egg whites and add them.
Butter a dish and pour the batter. Bake at 6 (180 °) for a half hour to 40 minutes when the pie is brownish.
Serve with a winter salad .

Here is a recipe for a cookie that crumbles... at least it did for my first try...

Germans do all sorts of small cakes and biscuits for Christmas. The second recipe, Linzer torte, can be kept longer, at least 8 days before being eaten. But it is hard to keep it that long. At your calendars to be ready for Xmas !

Here are two recipes for sweets, recipes brought from my last stay with my German friend. real ones from natives, easy to do. Exclusive! And still without pictures ... My computer is still out of order with pictures.

Ingredients
50 grams of dark chocolate
50 grams of walnuts
60 grams flour
30 grams sugar
60 grams butter
1 teaspoon of spices (clove and pepper)
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Finely chop the chocolate and nuts into pieces. Put in a bowl. Flour, sugar, butter cut into small pieces and spices are to be added to the nuts and chocolate mixture.
Put your hands and mix until a smooth dough, which held together.
Roll the dough into rolls 2, 3 cm.
Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
After the break, preheat oven to 200 (6 / 7)
Cut into pieces and cook 15 minutes.
Leave it to cool down and dry before serving.

(which is originally an Austrian recipe!)

Ingredients
170 g butter at room temperature
170 grams sugar
1 egg (white and yolk separated)
100 g crushed hazelnuts
200g flour
1 packet yeast
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 to 2 tablespoons brandy
120 grams of rosehip jam (but I have made it with raspberry jam)
1 tablespoon milk
Icing sugar
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Melt butter. Mix sugar, flour, egg white, yeast, chocolate and spices. Add butter. Then the alcohol. If the dough sticks, add a little flour.
Cover and let stand one hour in the fridge. Not too much because after it was very hard to spread.
Preheat oven to 200 (6 / 7).
Take half or a little more dough and roll to put it in the pie dish. Spread generously with jam. Leave the edges without jam and cover with dough.

With the remaining dough make strips and lie them on the jam.
Brush with milk mixed with egg yolk.
Bake 30 minutes. I burned my first torte, be careful it cooks fast.
Sprinkle with icing sugar out of the oven, wrap and try to keep fresh for several days. To be able to enjoy it during the Christmas week ...

Read this article in French : Recette de Noel : sablés chocolatés aux noix et Linzertorte

You want to try recipes with walnuts, well learn too about the tree that produce them. It is a nice one…



The walnut tree comes from Asia and is known in France for several centuries already (800). Charlemagne wanted it throughout his empire and thanks to him it was spread out in Europe ...

The walnut is native to warmer lands (Asia), he does not like the cold weather. When it blooms in April or May, the flowers do not like frost ... Otherwise the precious harvest of nuts may be compromised ...

Nut is very nutritious: 60% fat for 20% protein. They were advised for women seeking fertility ...

The walnut tree has a nasty reputation ... We strongly advise against taking a nap under its shadow ... not for fear of receiving nuts during your sweet rest, but rather because under it, vegetation grows with a lot of difficulty. The grass is sparse and the flowers wither. If you want to plant with a walnut tree around, do it but at a certain distance.

The tree can life 70 years to … 300. It produces walnuts with 20-25 years… It is 20 to 25 meters high.

In the Middle Ages, people used the walnut oil for massage to relieve pain of rheumatism or arthritis: 4 to 5 kg of nuts per 1 liter of oil ... Peeling and peeling again and again.

Walnut oil is very good, very tasty ... but it turns rancid very fast.

For longer storage, it must be stored in a cool place, away from light in a dark bottle. It helps by adding a few grains of salt in the bottle.

Use it as seasoning, as salad dressings, it is excellent, it can not stand to be heated.

The walnut wood is highly prized by carpenters. The quality of its wood and itsdark color are valued for furniture, table, desk, library ...

The walnut is a producer of nut husks : the green envelope that protects the fruit. The liquid it emits is used to produce inks for dark stained wood.

Inside the husk, the shell hides the edible part : the kernels.

The nuts have interesting nutritional benefits : they provide good essential fatty acids (the so-called omega 3 and omega 6), vitamins and minerals (especially magnesium).

Want to try my recipe : mashed potatoes and nuts in the oven.

Read it in French : Le noyer un arbre remarquable à planter dans le jardin

Or everything you always wanted to know about the wind turbines .

What is a wind turbine?

It was once the wind god Aeolus, who wanted ... No, stop. Wind turbines are the new generation of the old windmills, used to grind grains or to produce oil. Or to extract water, for irrigation. Our modern mills do something different more virtual, they generate electricity.

Who invented them and why?

It is a Dane (end XIX th) who created the ancestor of the wind turbine.
And it was almost forgotten for about a century. Until, until the energy crises : oil in the 70s and now the desire to diversify energy supplies, the fight against climate change and greenhouse gases…
Nowadays the first countries that are using this energy are Germany (22000 MW), Spain, United States and India (6000 MW).

What about France?

France has a very good potential (the second in Europe), and they plan to install 17000 MW of windpower for 2015. The actual capacity is only 2500MW…
The governement insists on saying that France needs to develop the renewable energy sector to reach 20 % of final energy consumption in 2020.

And in Brittany?

The electric production covers only 5% of its needs. The Rance dam is the main producer thanks to tides. The tidal barrage produces the equivalent of one year's consumption of a city like Rennes (around 300 000 inhabitants).
Brittany could be an ideal place for horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) ... it is quite difficult to find places where you don’t have any house at a sufficient perimeter (300 feet minimum).

Why is it so high a HAWT (horizontal-axis wind turbines)?

Because there is more wind up. The blades can be 15 meters long and the tower up to 100 meters.

Can it be installed anywhere?

There are plenty of conditions necessary to install a wind turbine :
a stable ground, a close electricity network (costs of connection to the main electricity network can be too expensive), a location with frequent and regular winds that blows in the same direction (the material does not like changes, nor winds too strong). In France, it can’t be located on a protected area or if homes are too close.
The site has to be accessible : it is not easy to transport the future wind turbines (which can reach 100 meters) and to install the blades or the tower (up to 100 meters) with no crane. !!!

And power ?

There are 4 types of turbines :
The big ones with a power of 350 KW, the middle one (between 36 to 350 KH).
The other two are for individuals, farms or businesses. the small wind turbine has a power ranging from 1 kW to 36 kW and the very small (1 kW) is used on recreational boats.
An example of consumption: a 100-watt bulb burning for 1 hour a day will consume in a year 36 kWh.

For maintenance ?

In new generations of wind turbines, there are elevators ... but when it does not work, it’s better not to forget the tools down, on the ground !

Against ? Why ?

Plenty of reasons:
The irregularity of the wind energy: it is not very reliable. Wind mills can only be associated with other energy supplies ...

Its storage : what happens when too much energy is produced ... We still don’t know how to store its overproduction.

Waves ... can affect TV reception.

And they are dangerous to bat ...

For it ?

Contrary to popular belief, wind turbines projects pay attention to birds : they avoid migration corridors and even studies from the French League for the Protection of Birds show that it is not worse than the city lights and other nuisances ...

Noise : the first generation were noisy and today the wind turbines respect strictly very specific standards about the decibels they emit. And it is one of the criterion that determines its location. The noise of a HAWT at 500 meters away from a house will be 35 decibels, which the equivalent of a whispered conversation.

The electricity produced does not degrade the quality of the air (no release of greenhouse gases or air pollution), does not pollute the water or the soil where it has been erected. A wind turbine lasts about 20 years.

France should accelerate the development of wind energy and produce in 2020 10% of its electrical consumption. It corresponds to the production of several nuclear reactors.

As for health is concerned, various studies do not indicate any health impact.
A green energy ...

And economically

The wind industry is work ... It is estimated that for an installed capacity of 10 000 MW in 2010, over 20 000 jobs were created in France.
Nationally, wind energy contributes to diversification and independence of the country.
For those who want to invest in France, you can rent your land to receive a wind turbine. You’ll get a rent for that.

Domestic wind turbines

A little one in your garden?
It provides electricity for the home but with some conditions:
- Its size (12m). In France, it is ok without building permits, but above, it requires one and the permission from neighbors.
- a garden (we do not recommend fixing it against a house because it vibrates a lot) but you do not fix it at more than 15 m from your house to avoid the loss of electricity.
And finally, they are not very efficient ... for now. But are perfect for farms, businesses who want to enhance their image of lovers of a friendly energy environment or for those who want to diversify their supplies of energy.

Read it in French : Eoliennes et développement durable : pour ou contre

Have you heard about the Copenhagen Summit... Of course... States and men have to act together to change the habbits we have for years...

One step can be simple : eat the right vegetable or fruit at the right time...
But as most of us don’t grow anymore vegies, we have forgotten when it is the right season to eat that kind of vegetables or this type of fruits…
And it is not just politically correct, it is also healthy (fresh vitamins) and wise (less expensive if you buy them when they're naturally mature.... cheaper...) to eat well and good (better taste)...
To help you through and to discover some of our regional products, I have done this calendar for the autumn production… October, November and December...

Some veggies can be kept through the year, if well preserved : beets, carrots, celery, potatoes and onions...
We often forget that exotic fruits are also related to the seasons.
Autumn is also the season to collect and enjoy fresh nuts (chestnuts,wallnuts...).

Enjoy the recipes and the local production clicking on links.



Vegetables
Artichokes, Beans, Beets, Horseradish, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflowers, Celery, Chicory, Cucumbers, Fennel, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Radish, Romanesco cauliflower, Roquette Salad, Spinach, , Turnips, Zucchini

Fruits
Apples, Dates, Figs, Grapes, Lemons, Oranges, Pears, Persimmons, Quinces
Almonds, Chestnuts, Hazelnuts, Walnuts
Exotics Pineapples

NOVEMBER

Vegetables
Beets, Broccoli, Carrots, Cabbage, Celery, Chicory, Fennel, Jerusalem artichokes, Leeks, Lentils, Onions, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Salad, Salsify, Spinach, Turnips Fruits
Apples, Grapes, Kiwis, Mandarins, Oranges, Pears
Chestnuts, Dates, Walnuts



Vegetables
Avocados, Beets, Horseradishes, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celeriac, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Salsify, Turnips

Fruits
Apples, Clementines, Mandarins, Oranges, Pears
Almonds, Dates, Hazelnuts, Walnuts
Exotics Bananas, Guavas, Lychees, Mangoes, Pineapples

Read it in French : Calendrier des fruits et légumes à consommer en saison d'automne

Prunus spinosa (also called sloe or Black thorn) is a small tree you can find in lots of Breton hedges. And it has its specific uses here in Brittany…

The tree is quite an old one : during the New Stone Age, stones were found in the houses of our ancestors…
It has other specifities : birds and insects like to rest or even more... in the bushes as it is full of spines.



Its bark was used to dye wool or flax in red. Its flowers are helpful when one suffer from digestive disorders or constipation.



In Brittany, its more common use is to make an alcoholic beverage…with its fruits.

Read it in French : Le prunellier : un arbuste aux qualités multiples

Winter is the season for soups and stews, good simmered dishes and rich meals... Apple pies and roasted chestnuts are also part of the winter menu... and the excess of Christmas time...

It is also the season of cold, where diseases are more predictable ... Therefore vitamins of fresh produces and food are even more recommended ... to fight your bad cough... Fresh fruits or vegetables are the best natural source of vitamins... and the best way to loose weight after the plenty of New Year... Some days of a diet of fruits and veggies, that the best way to recover...

So let's see what we can eat... to enjoy the winter production without worrying ...

Some vegetables are edible all year long if they are well kept : Beets, Carrots, Celery, Potatoes and Onions.
Same thing for nuts...
Exotic fruits, even if they are produced in warm lands, are also connected to seasons.

Better than eating food supplements in winter, try the natural vitamins and the right minerals...

Links are connected to recipes or specific vegetables and fruits produced here ...

Vegetables
Beet, Horseradish, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Celery, Chicory, Cress, Crosne, Fennel, Jerusalem artichoke, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Salad, Salsify, Turnips
Fruits
Apples, Clementines, Kiwis, Mandarins, Oranges, Pears
Dates Nuts
Exotics Banana, Grapefruit, Lychee, Papaya, Pineapple



Vegetables
Avocados, Beets, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Chicory, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Salads, Salsify, Turnips, Watercress

Fruits
Apples, Blood oranges, Clementines, Kiwi, Lemons, Mandarins, Pears
Nuts
Exotics Bananas, Grapefruit, Mangoes, Passion Fruit, Pineapples



Vegetables
Avocados, Beets, Carrots, Cabbage, Celery, Leaves, Leeks, Mushrooms, Onions, Potatoes, Radish, Salsify Spinach,Turnips
Fruits
Apples, Clementines, Kiwi, Mandarins, Oranges
Exotics Bananas, Mangoes, Pineapples

If you want to eat the right products at the right time, the easiest way to do it is to go to the market next and buy the vegies and fruits produced in your area.
You'll discover vegies that we do not eat often anymore and you need just a bit of imagination to accommodate some vegetables! Bon appétit

Read this post in French : Fruits et légumes de saison : calendrier d'hiver

It's summer ... the best season to enjoy veggies and fruits ... because they're plenty...because the fruits are sweet and juicy... And because you can prepare nice cold salad with so many different kinds of products.... because it's the best diet... to loose weight (Vegetables and fruits are low in calories) or to feel fit and healthy... Natural vitamins for a beautiful complexion and a nice skin. The best time to eat fresh food.

You can still eat Beets, Carrots, Celery, Potatoes and Onions as they can be preserved all year long but try to enjoy some other ones...
As the weather is nice and warm, enjoy eating cold... outside...

You can also enjoy collecting what you would like to eat by going to farms where you can pick what you want to eat and savour... In Brittany, it's possible, in many places...

You can also when walking around, collect blackberries, sloes and other nuts and chestnuts ....

Remember that exotic fruits do not grow all year long....

Here is your monthly calendar... July, August and September. For free and full of nice local recipes...

Blue links are connected to vegetables and fruits produced in the region... and the culinary specialties...

Vegetables

Asparagus, Artichokes, Batavia, Broccoli, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Fennel, Garlic, Green beans, Lettuce, Peas, Peppers, Radishes, Rockets, Salad, Spinach, Tomatoes, Zucchini

Fruits

Apricots, Blackberries, Blueberries, Cherries, Currants, Melons, Nectarines, Peaches, Plums, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Strawberries
Exotics Bananas

Vegetables

Artichokes, Broccoli, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Fennel, Green beans, Lettuce, Peas, Peppers, Rockets, Squash, Spinach, Tomatoes, Turnips, Zucchini

Fruits

Apricot, Blackberries, Blueberries, Currant, Gooseberries, Grapes, Figs, Melons, Mirabelle, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Raspberries, Strawberries, Sloes

Vegetables

Artichokes, Cabbage, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Fennel, Green beans, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Peppers, Pumpkins, Spinach, Radish, Salads, Tomatoes, Truffles, Zucchini

Fruits

Apples, Blackberries, Blueberries, Currants, Figs, Grapes, Melons, Mirabelle, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Quinces, Raspberries, Sloes, Strawberries
Chestnuts, Hazelnuts, Walnuts
Exotics Bananas, Pineapples

This year, French fashion will be striped... stripped T-shirts... If you don't wear a top T-shirt or a navy striped sweater, you'll be old-fashioned... Fashion is stripped and the wardrobe of babies, children, women and men, youngs, … even old ones, Parisians and Froggs... are full of them. You have to wear some...

The reason for stripes ...
Initially, these stripped clothes have a history and a very specific use ... Fishermen and sailors used to wear (and still do) stripped clothes ... And for good reason ... A man overboard is easier to find with this type of clothing ... That's what the legend says ... I did not try !

No wonder that great clothing brands are French, even Breton : Armorlux for example... has an entire collection of marine clothing... Long or short sleeves, blue, white, red, yellow stripes... Nautical trend is back...

And to buy them cheap, you can either plan to go to France, even Brittany and buy them there on the Armorlux company at Quimper... Or get them on websites Brin de mer, for example, another marine clothing brand, where they sell the last year collection online … cheaper... at really low prices...

Other clothes are originally sailor « wardrobe »... la vareuse , a cotton jacket really thick that protects you from the wind ...

There's also the yellow rain slicker ... The emblem of stormy weather in Britain, of wet and drizzled weekends ... I discovered that its history starts in 1960, in France when a man tired of waiting his friend in the rain, (he was a clothing manufacturer) had this great idea... Before there were oiled jackets... waterproof ... but it was a different time ...

The sailor sweater, buttoned on the shoulder, has had its period of glory ... It used to be wool, 100%, … now they use cotton or other materials...
In short, these stripped tee shirts are trendy ... With the first sunbeams, everyone is wearing them... And you ?